The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-27
MR.. WILLIAMS Ut
TERANCES ELIC-
TIED FAVOR
That the Present High Prices
of Cotton Are the Logical
Result of Supply and De-
mand IS Agreed-Producers
Do Not Fear Foreign Com
petition.

pGl1llOll.
Many expressions of approval of the
stand taken by Mr.. J. P. Williams as
to the causes of the present high prices
of cotton, in opposition to the views of
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, were
heard yesterday, and in every instance
men in a position to know voiced the
sentiment of the interview that Mr..
Williams gave the Morning News
Not a few adverse comments have
been made on the position of the Secre-
tary of Agriculture. Mr.. Wilson's warn
ings that sending the price of the raw
material too high would have the effect
of inducing other countries to increase
their acreage and enter competition
with the Southern States in the pro-
duction of cotton, and thereby take
away the profits that would accrue
with the limited production in the
South under ordinary prices, are alto
gether disagreed with.
Mr.. Wilson does not enter into the
details of the relative value of cotton,
said one cotton man. He does not
make a statement of what it really
costs a pound to put the staple on the
market. 1t is a we'll known fact that
the raw material can be placed on the
market in the states cheaper than any
where else in the world, and that the
cost of production here has been re-
duced to minimum. The exceedingly
low prices of the staple several years
ago. when it went as low as 4 cents
taught the farmers that they had not
reached the limit of economy in the
production of the staple, and as a result
of their experience during the period
of prevailing low prices they learned
to take nearly cent a pound off the
cost of production.
Under ordinary circumstances cot
ton can be placed on the market in the
states ready for export at an ayera ge
price of cents pound and yield a
small profit to the producer This.
however, is not sufficient compensa
tlon for the risks that the producer
runs, nor the months of weary toll.
Foreign competition is little feared
by the Southern producer, said we'll
known cotton man, for the produc-
tyeness of the lands and the pc
culiar adoption of the climate here
nave long since convinced the world
that nowhere else can the staple be
raised to such advantage.
At the. close of the eighteenth CEN
I'll lllG DIlLlSn WeS lnQleS SuDDIied
10 per cent. of the cotton imported into
Great Britain, but owing to the com
petition occasioned by the rapid ex-
pansion of the culture in the Southern
States of the Union, the i'm
ports gradually decreased, the plant
ers finding it more profitable to en-
ploy their labor and capital in the pro-
duction of sugar and other articles.
AS the crops in America increased
prices declined, especially as the cost
of production was gradually reduced
by improved methods of cultivation
and cleaning and since the earliest
days of the industry in thEs or any
other country the price has been con-
trolled by supply and demand.
With the improved facilities for
handling all of the product of the cot
ton stalks in America, which is supe-
rior to any other country in this re-
spect, the profit to the producer is ex-
tended, not only in the sale of the
staple itself, but the cotton seed, for
oil and fertilizers