The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-25
WAKING UP
To the Fact That There is Scarcity
 of Cotton.

To the Fact That There is Scarcity of Cotton.
 Fall River Letter in Providence Journal When gentlemen of speculative tenden- cies, Variously called brokers. factors or
 gamblers, acording to the point of view, succeed in cornering a market and gra- clously inform distressed customers that the expected has come to pass and that normal, rather than artificial, conditions are obtaining, said customers are disposed to regard them from the corners of their eyes and to make due allowance for what may be assumed to be natural trend of
 thought.
 Accordingly, when manufacturers the country over, were advised by the clique
 that had gained control of cotton that
 that staple had become scarce owing to
 the enormous demand and consumption: that the figures quoted were not exorbi-
 tant considering the circumstances, and
 that the next crop would be so late that
 1t would barely escape being marked ab- sent they were not profoundly impress ed. Nevertheless 1t has been evident for
 some time past that the theory was gain ing ground that there might be more truth than poetry in the assumption that the
 business of growing the raw material and | transforming it into cloth was passing | to a higher basis, and that 1t might be
 idle to look for any material drop in | prices.
 In spite of all reflections bearing on ad- ditions to the cotton supply from India, Africa and the islands of the sea, it is agreed among a majority of the experts
 that the South is going to furnish the
 world with cotton for several years to | come, and 1t is equally clear that the
 number of acres planted below the war line is not keeping pace with the capacity | to wear out the product of the looms. As result, more than two agents in
 this centre have about concluded that
 they have unconsciously witnessed the
 passing of cheap cotton; that existing conditions may be more permanent than | many realize, and that the avenue of l escape does not lie in curtailmentI 1t is l good deal plainer than the first example
 in arithmetic that if these premises in correct there Is no escape in a refusal
 to purchase cotton at odd intervals, be- cause if there is any one lesson that has
 been drummed into heads in Fall River it is that the mills were built to run
 and to run every day in the week barring
 the remedy for a situation like the present
 is to be found in advances at the cloth end. The cost of operating cannot be reduced to any considerable extent, in- l asmuch as labor is going to call for larger incomes unless all signs fall, and If everything that goes into cotton goods tends to increase actual values and capi-
 tai must have margin for profit con
 sumers must pay mora for what they consume.
 It Is not maintained that such an in-
 ference has been widely accepted as yet, put there are indications. revealing them selves in inquiries for cotton, which go to
 show that the local program which has been adopted is likely to be varied before | many days. At any rate, if the curtail-
 ment is continued indefinitely 1t will be because the management is not persuaded
 that 1t can lose less by starting up or Is not satisfied that the output in the | end will bring what 1t Is worth.