The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-25
HOLD IT, SAYS JORDAN
ADVISES AGAINST THE PRACTICE
 or LENDING COTTON.
Presadent of ProduceFs' Association Gives Warning Cencerninx Buy- CTS who Wsnt Farmers to
 seu Their staple Now.

! Atlanta, Ga. Feb. 2s.--According to reports which have been received by President Harvte Jordan. of the South ern Cotton Association. a number of
 farmers are being appealed to by the | buyers of cotton to let them have cot- ton At the present prices and should | any advances occur between now and next September the farmers will bo paid the additional amount on cotton they now release.
 MT. Jordan is out in an interview, in which he strongly advised against the practice of lending cotton, and l urges upon the farmers and those who have cotton to hold to 1t. He says: Reports are coming to me from many sections of the South indicating that farmers are being appealed to by buyers and spinncrs to get possession of the spot cotton on the agreement to pay present market prices and any advances that may accrue between now and September 1st. If the buyers and spinners can get enough cotton under this plan to meet the needs of present consumption 1t will be impossible to advance prices. 1t looks like good business proposition. but in the end 1t will prove disastrous to the holders. All holders of spot cotton are warned against schemes of this kind.
 Do not let any cotton pass into the hands of the buyers on any partial trade of any kind and do not lend cot ton or turn any of 1t over to the people who must have 1t for spinning pur- poses or filling contracts upon which they are now short.
 Hold your cotton tight and refuse to deliver it on any kind of trade. 1t will be unfair to those who are holding and ruinous to your own interests in the end. Stand pat. hold your ground and don't give away at any point along the line We are sure to win.
 Tt is reported to me that some of the mills are proposing to local hold CTS of cotton a proposition to take cotton from them at present prices and free of storage and insurance, pro- vided such cotton is delivered at the mills and any further advance will be paid between now and September 1st, In the meantime the mills can proceed to spin this cotton and to that extent will not have to go into the market to make purchases. If this plan was generally adopted there would soon be no demand whatever from the South ern mills, which would seriously affect the present holding movement.
 T do not charge that Southern mills are advising this course to defeat any advance in prices. because many of our mills are in favor of higher prices, but the effect will be the same. In Mis- sissippi. Louisiana. Texas and other States exporters are actively soliciting cotton. so am informed, under the form of an agreement to pay present prices and any advances that might accrue in the near future provided the cotton Is now delivered to them.
 While 1t Is true that this proposition will in some instances relieve the hold CTS from interest on borrowed money. storage and insurance, yet the buyers will have but one object in view and that is to get In possession of cotton which they cannot otherwise secure | for the purpose of relieving the critical | situation they are in--namely, to i'll the contracts they are short on. If they succeed the price of cotton can be depressed by increasing the receipts and relieving the situation which is
 now extremely tricitacl for the export
 CTS.
 Farmers must not allow themselves
 to get caught by these nattering propositions. I know that the local buyers and exporters are short. I
 know that vessels are now standing at
 the ports waiting to receive cotton that is yet to be bought and that spinners are meeting and refusing to extend | their contracts with the buyers any ! longer. The farmers have every en- couragement for higher prices if they will continue to stand firm and refuse
 to let their cotton go out of their pos-
 session. Let there be but one answer
 to the buyers and that is: Ten cents ] at the ports or nothingv"