The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-09-11
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STHE,COTTON SITUATION. /
! ! IS q 3 s III @ q lss { s.;ss. .sas
SsW; York Br6ker Saysthc Farmers

ls.s3 4 2 4 s 3 -. S y S :s
SsWs = OK Br6Ker says N tho i Farmers
Gan Control It.
!. n. :ky1 1eer;,s 81 New York cotton
broker recent y presented his views on
the remarks OF SecretarysWilso and
Ger: FButler;s He. says: -
We will all have; to- recognize that
statements can be made under misiip-
prehenBi0n and that men !; as well
equipped both. intellectually and ia
the&matter Of ofyinf0rmation as NIessrs.
Butler and Wilson. can s.occasionally
be mistaken. Mr.. Wilson seems 10
have been unfortunate in the use OF
terms BY inf renee, he echaracterizes
as gamble rss sthe,meniwhola credited
willie having put the price of cotton
up. IL they are gamblers, then every
shopkeeper j, and every merchant on
earth who Buys any thing with a view
to !seslEialng lt f9r an advance on. the
purchase price,fs d gambler. Cotton
y. Bringing Qnly what manu- ractueers
will ply for IT. Mr. Wilson's 5sss, am
biors' ga nsnilr aily price t5ey please,
but, tEey can compel no one to buy.
|ssNYhie SEthfs Els so, it Is generally
thought, ndSpcrhahs must lie ad-
mttted, that existing conditions have
brought about such .manipulative
acttcS as have caused prices OF cotton
for culture moDtlis to reach a higher
epel than they would have touched in
the absence OF such manipulation.
But:eyen In this, the suggestion holds
good that no one can be male to buy
at higher price than he thinks he
caniAlord to pay. .'tf.
5e,aEhe high level reached. has acted
as asGhe ok on the consumption OF the
supply OF cotton IN existence, and this
has resulted, as Mr.. Wilson says, in
theiitclosing Of many mills and the
shortening Of time by many others,
etcffb but as has been pointed out. If
every known bale of cotton had been
In the hands Of the, manufacturers
and all or It had been consumed, this
condition would have necessarily pre-
vailed some time during the season
juSt6 closing, Tt is, therefore, clear
that the ,so-called corner in cotton
cani!ot be held responsible for the in
conyenience2and hardship imposed on
employees by the closing OF the fac
tories.
The amount Of available cotton
that has been or can be marketed
from, the past crop and old supplies
at prices above 91 cents is compara-
lively small, and taking into consid-
tion the price at which the greater
partsof2 the old crop has been sold, the
actual average paid for it by manurac.
turGis would mot exceed price at
which it could be consumed at some
prof r.. OF course, the spot prices. of
TODAY could never have been paid for
all the old crop without ruin to the
Dries unless there had been a cor
resp 3nding crease in prices Of the
Y llfactnred products Hence, it
- : 81. III,
pTG acLs ..s.i ~ 81 dVancedt
duT9ag the. coming year, the QUOTA
ttSps n Of today cannot profitably be
paldE for the coming crop.
Mr.. Butler takes occasion to call
attention To Gne quotations Of q GER
tain date, ranging around 10 cents for
December, January, etc, and says
that on that day every planter in the
South could have sold the cotton he
expects to produce at those prices for
future delivery, and that If the plant
er has failed to RIO so it is his own
fault. Now, the sale Of every bale of
cotton made on the exchanges prcsup-
poses actual delivery and whenever
more cotton is offered than is desired
at the time, a sale cannot be effected
without some sacrifice in price. For
illustration, let us say the next crop
will be II 900, 900 bales. Then let us
suppose that all the planters had Of
fered their product, ,(amounting to this
100000 bales) for sale on that day,
and had kert Offering it until all Of it
was sold. The consequence would
have been nothing less than disas-
trous panic and the crash in quotations
that would have resulted can hardly
be guessed. In this particular, Mr..
Butler seems to have been rs unfortu-
nate in his supposition as Mr.. Wilson
was in the use of terms.
The situation now is one in which
the planters could, If they would, put
themselves in absolute control. There
is no cotton in the country, and little
is available from any source supplies
must be procured from the coming
crop, and if this crop could be moved
to market only as fast as consumers
would pay l0c or more for it, that
price might be realized for practically
every bale OF cotton produced during
the coming year.
The operation Of such an econo-
mic plan as this can hardly be hoped
for, and there will surely be periods in
which the rush OF cotton to market
will be in excess of actual demands.
The result must necessarily be some
decline in prices; how much, remains
to be seen"
Ends His Own life