New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1904-10-22
PRICE AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON

Mr.. Brown of New Orleans is using
the same kind of argument that Mr..
Sully of New York used last year in
support of the theory of permanent
price for cotton. Mr.. Sully was per-
mitted to use the pages of highly
respectable magazine to convince the
people that they must pay more for
cotton goods and continue to wear out
Just as much in order TO support the
bull movement of the spectators but
he failed of his purpose and went
down under break of prices later on.
1t is evident that this years cotton
crop is gong to be a large one, pos
sibly unprecedented, but Mr.. Brown
is arguing that the price must keep up
because the Worlds requirements
for cotton goods have increased, partly
as result of the short supply of the
last wear or two, and because the con-
sumer is fully able to pay present
prices for his needs. - The gist of
MI Sully's argument was that the
people could afford to pay the high
prices and buy all the goods made to
supply their needs at such cost as the
supply and price of the material made
necessary.
1t is quite true that the stoppage of
mills and the diminished production
of cotton fabrics was primarily due to
lack of material rather than price,
though one incident was the cause OF
the other but it is equally true that
the disminished supply of goods failed
to have the effect of advancing their
price proportionately, because con-
sumers refused to buy them. Whether
they could afford to keep up their rate
of consumption or not, they refused to
do it and mills had to cut wages and
shut down their machinery, not alto
gether because they could not get cot
ton. but because there was dead loss
| in converting it into cloth at the price
| for which this could be sold. There
was not enough cotton to go around
and meet all requirements of the
mills. but there was more than enough
| to meet the requirements of consumers
at the prevailing prices of goods, as
was proved by the accumulation OF
stocks at the same time that produc-
tion was curtailed, though those pri-
ces were not sufficient to return pro-
fit to the manufacturers.
| 1t may be, as Mr.. Brown says, that
on the first of September "the supply
of raw cotton. visible and invisable,
and the supply of cotton goods and
cotton warns were the smallest in
proportion to requirements in the his
tory of statistics, - but it does not fol
low that the deficiency is to be fully
made mp and requirements main
tanned at the prices occasioned by 9
period of shortage. Requirements
Lis an elastic term and does not repre-
sent a fixed need Existing mills may
require about so much cotton to keel
their machinery and their operative
fully employed, but they are not thu
consumers. The latter do not requir'
any fixed quality of cotton goods, - al
the mill can make, for instance, O
all that can be made from the yiel'
Of the year cotton crop. How mucl
they will take depends, not upon hoy
much can be supplied, but upon hoy
| much the goods will cost. 1t is of n
use to tell them that they need s
: much and can afford to pay certain
price for it. The mass of people hay
too much use for their small income
to be swayed by any such persuasion
The fact of the matter is that th
consumers of cotton goods, who hay
been economizing while the materie
was above ten cents a pound, eve
though the price of cloth was not COZ