The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-24
SEYMOUR ISSUES
 COTTON ADDRESS Advises Farmers of Alabamo to
 Hold FIeecy Staple TALKS ii GENT COTTON President of Alabama State Division of the Southern Cotton Association
 Gives Facts About
 Crop.
TALKS II CENT COTTON

W. H. Seymour president of the Ala bama state division of the Southern Cot ton association. passed through Birming- ] ham last night en route from his home 1 In Montgomery to his plantation in Sump- ter county. MT. Seymour talked inter estingly of the prospects for 11-cent cot 1 ton this fall, and said that the estimates made at the Ashevile convention were as nearly correct as 1t Is possible to oo- 1 tain He believes that cotton will bring 1 Il cents in a short time. He said;
 "We believe that the figures given out ] in Asheville are as nearly correct as It ] is possible for human agencies to deter mine. We estimated that the crop is about 9.5OO,O0O.
 "The condition of the cotton crop throughout the state is surprisingly short. We have found 1t to be great deal shorter than we expected 1t to be. l would estimate the cotton crop of Alabama. judging from BOO reports received by me 1 from throughout the state, to be g0'oOo bales In the makeup of the Asheville report Alabama's prospective yield was 1 placed at 1,O25, ,OOO bales This goes to show l how conservative the committed was in making up the report at Asheville'
 Being Harvested Rapidly.
 .'rhe cotton crop Is being harvested very rapidly, and a considerable portion or it has been sold. It has brought an av- craze of q little over 10 cents per pound' Most of the cotton that has been sold was that of negro tennents, and was soia in order to pay rent and advances, Ihe white farmers, and especially those wno are living on their own farms and su- perintendlng them, as rule, are holo- ing their cotton. When all the distress cotton has been marketed, which l be- lieve will be at an early date eN- pect to see cotton advance very materiai- ly. I have not the least doubt that cottoh will go to II cents per pound and Tn lact I apprehend that the greatest difficulty will be that some farmers will hold Tor such fancy prices as will encourage the growing of d large crop next year.
 .'The most encouraging feature at this time is the general desire to organize throughout the entire state. The general support that the business and financial interests of the state are giving the move ment insures our complete victory l no- tice that the mill men seem to think that the southern farmer wants too mucf for his cotton, as they say 1t costs him only 61a cents a pound to make It. Fhis Is not surprising since the spinner, hereto fore, has been able to dictate his price for the farmers cotton, and It goes pretty hard with him now that the farmer has given him notice that he proposes 10 nave a say in making the price himself.
 .The impression seems to prevail that the Southern Cotton association IN movement exclusively for farmers. This Is not the case. It is a southern movement and one that invites and desires the CO., oneration of every business man in the south whatever maybe his line of busi- ness.'
 MT. Seymour has issued the following address to the people Of Aiapahia reia- l tive to cotton:
 Seymour's Address.
 1 To the People of Alabama'
 At a meeting of the executive commit l tee of the Southern Cotton association al l Asheville. N. C.. some days ago II "us l found from many thousand reports rom throughout the cotton belt that Tn every state inc crop Is not only short, but Is n ereat deal shorter than expected. In l fact. the reports indicate that 1T the pres ] ent rate of consumption continues, and i there is no good reason to doubt that II will not continue. there will not pc SUI l ficient American cotton to supply the oe- l mand
 l At the present rate of consumption the l world requires 12000.00O bales Of Amerl- | rf-t,. AeI,a shows ] prospective yield this year of about soOo'- ] oO0 bales which added to the surplus car l ried over from last year ana estimated 1 at about ,500, 900 bales would make total of only Il, 900. 900 bales for this year con ! sumption which would be l,0ooooo pales less than the demand,
 In other words, it would seem that if the south should make this year 1O'5oO,- GOO bales instead of e,500,0W bales as was shown by tho reports, there would be no i more cotton made than required to mset the demand If the supply were equal only to the demand the price Of lo cents I per pound ought to be easily obtained for cotton. Shall we be contented with the same price for crop that IS lnsuHiclent to meet the demand and especially when it is considered that 1t has been as un- usually expensive one to make.
 Rainent Is one of the three necessities of civilized life and cotton Is regarded as the raiment of the world, All reports from across the water agree that all eff forts to grow cotton in ot-er countries in competition with this country have proven failures. and the monopoly of clothing of the world belongs to the south and her people forever
 | t, Must Have Our Cotton.
 The other fellow must have your cot ton and he is going to have 1t. If he can get 1t by paying you an amount for it that will give you only trfie profit, he will buy It. If he cannot get it without paying you 0 fair, reasonable profit on the investment and labor required to make 1t, he will pay that price. For many years it has been customary for a few people who were not Identified with our country or its interests to get to- gether and determine the price of cot ton and as soon as determined the wires carried the message to agents in every city. town. village and hamlet in the cot ton belt with the orders not to pay more than a certain price, often less than cost of production for cotton. At Asheville. the members of the executive committee