The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-26

some other country will do so. for this is all poppycock and moonshine, and only a scheme of those whe want to get our cotton at low price. If they have another country hidden out some- where that can produce h. let them trot it out, and if we don't snow 1t under in less time than it takes a goat to shake his tall. then all signs fall; for if we feel disposed to do so we can produce many million bales more of the fieecy staple than we did even in 1904, for we not only have the soil but the knowledge how to produce 1t, and can secure all the labor necessary when we find it Is required, and will produce cotton cheaper than any coun- try under the sun.
 So let not this cry startle you. What we need in the future is some safe plan that will enable us to hold our cotton as long as we see fit.
 I suggested to the Committee on Warehousing and Financing Future Crops, as appointed at New Orleans, that they use their influence in having a law enacted in every cotton state re- quiring warehousemen to be under bond for at least $25 per bale for every bale of cotton they store and issue re- ceipts for. and that such receipts shall not only state the weight of the cotton but the grade and quality. That the guaranty and trust companies should deposit with the treasurer of each state in which they do business a certain amount in State or United States bonds or money. before they are authorized to issue guarantees to the warehousemen A farmer who holds one of these cotton receipts and with & policy of insurance on the cotton so stored. could get ad- vancements on it, not only in his own State but 1t would be good collateral anywhere in the United States, If not in England and elsewhere. This being so, we are not hindered in holding our cot ton as long as we please. for there will be all the money we need rendered us on such collateral as this. By such re- quirements under the law, none but good. reliable men could conduct warehouse storage business and issue cotton receipts, thus making such re- ceipts all the more desirable. In my opinion. this plan is preferable to that of bonded warehouses, in that 1t does away with red tape. and does not have the tendency to force out of business those warehousemen who have by hon. esty and fair dealing established them- selves among us, and will permit every farmer to store his cotton with such warehouses as he may choose; for, un-
 
 warehouse business and issue receipts on cotton stored unless he Is under bond; therefore, the cotton receipts Of warehousemen in small towns will pass as collateral as easily and freely as those of the warehousemen in the larg- CT towns or cities. for each bale of cot ton Is guaranteed to the extent of $25 by the guaranty companies doing busi- ness in the State. and the whole world Is put upon notice to this effect. The guaranty companies do not guarantee the price of cotton. hut they guar antee that when the cotton receipt Is presented to the warehouseman issuing it that the Identical cotton for which 1t calls shall be forthcoming. and in the event 1t is not produced the guaranty company will pay its full market value on that day. The guaranty. companies having a deposit with the treasurer of the State, and besides, not being per mitted to do business in the State with a paid capital of less than half mil lion dollars, will be compelled to stand to their obligations. Hence. I say let us have a law passed to this effect, and a great long stride will have been made towards enabling us to paddle our own canoe and stand such on- sIaughts as are frequently made on us by the great spectators infesting this country.
 Let us also make weekly or semi monthly reports of the condition of our crops and the number of bales of cotton we gin Cboth public and private gin ners). not only to the United States government bureau, but to our State ag- ricultural departments, and then let the commissioners of agriculture of each State send one another these re- ports, and let these reports be publish ed every two weeks (the aggregate of each State). and we will then be in a position to know what to do. As 1t is' now, the spectators get much informa-