The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-06
NEW ENGLAND's cor
 TON MILL INTERESTS
An Alarm Cry Sounded by the Provi'
 dence Board of Trade.
Phone $50

 An Alarm Cry Sounded by the Provi-
 dence Board of Trade.
 Providence, (R. L) Board of Trade
 Journal
 Is the business life of New England at stake? Does the sword of Damo- cles hang over its head? These ques- tions are not idle thoughts, nor are they written without a full appreci- ation of their meaning; they are writ ten in soberness and truth, with the hope that they may awaken the peo- pie of New England, the bankers. the individual capitalists and merchants, as well as the manufacturers, to a se- rious consideration of the possible dan ger.
 Possibly the public at large has not quite understood how absolutely es- sential to the business life of New Eng land is our cotton industry. For years we have faced its relative decline; we have seen Southern consumption in crease in ten years from 60O,000 bales to 1,900,000 bales while New England has stood still, its consumption being only 100000 bales now against 2,000,- 900 bales as far back as 1891. We have seen the Dwight, the Merrimac, the Massachusetts Company and other great corporations for a generation or more the pride of New England. build great mills in Alabama. Georgia and other Southern States, and now we face a new crisis greater than any of the past in the organization of the South eru Cotton Corporation. Let us seri ously study, for a moment, the plans of this company as they may be made to affect the future of New England unless we are wise to meet the situa- tion. We know the character, the power and the financial strength of some of the men back of this organi- zation, men who have done a mighty work for New England's development, and who, after a most patient inves- tigation of the plans of some of the seeing leaders in Southern devel- opment, have joined in an undertaking which, besides the capital it has at its command. has also the greatest me- chanical and engineering skill avail able in this country. These people pro pose to improve the ginning and com pressing of cotton. As this will inn prove the staple. lessening the cost of insurance. and bring the cotton to market In better condition than here tofore. this feature of their plan is of importance to every cotton spinner In the world, so that this feature of the work of this company does not mili- tate against New England. Tn addi- tion, however, to the improved meth ods of ginning and compressing. the company proposes to establish through out the South a system of warehouses whose receipts are to be made gilt edge" collateral In any money market of the country That means the stor- ing of the cotton in the South by South ern farmers and Southern mills at low rate of interest, thus absolutely de- stroying one great advantage now pos hV mills in the lower rate of interest which our mills enjoy as compared with their competitors in the South. It means. moreover, an immense in crease in Southern banking business, as cotton. which in itself Is the best possible basis for banking collateral, will be financed by Southern banks through these warehouse receipts with more safety and more profit to the banks than the present system, and at the same time bring greater profit to the grower. A leading New England mill man, at one time president of the New England Cotton Manufacturers Association, is quoted as having re- gently said that in his opinion this Is the greatest and most far-reaching business proposition that he has ever seen, and although having no personal interest in it, he realizes it's tremend- 
 on the worlds cotton trade. We are advised that the Southern Cotton Cor poration is to be absolutely free from speculation; that it does not intend to buy or sell cotton; that 1t will not in any sense be trader in cotton, but it will simply, in addition to It's i'm provements In ginning and compress ing, provide warehouses for the public and issue to the farmer or anyone else
 I'll l,1f ffS houses. and then guarantee. if desired, to provide loans against these receipts Naturally Southern bankers will see in this the same opportunity which the grain elevator receiRs gave to Vest ern bankers to finance the entire crop themselves, instead of having 1t done by the East and Europe. All of these advantages vastly strengthen the South's position in dominating the cot ton world. and this move ought to be met by some comprehensive work by New England people.
 Is it true that New England's busl- ness life Is at stake, and that the plan ot the Southern Cotton Corporation Is @he sword of Damocles which hangs above us? Let us see. New England has in round figures about $30O,0OO, 900 invested in cotton mills, with as many million more invested In textile ma chinery plants' Tn engine works and kindred enterprises. absolutely depend- ent on the maintenance of our cotton Srade. Allow the cotton mill industry +o leave us, and 1t would mean not sjmplv the destruction of this industry and it's $500. 0.000,000 of invested capital but 1t would mean the transference to 4he south of the several hundred thous- and operatives now employed in our wills and kindred industries That would mean the mechanic and the day iaborez. whose families now work in