The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-09-09

the price Of raw material, and tho CON-
Stunning public pays for It's cotton cloth,
calicoes, blankets, hosiery. ginghan,s,
carpets, thread and clothing O sum
vastly greater than Is at all necessary
when it is remembered that cotton is
not a pershable commodity, but an
article which can be stored 80 that supply
could at any time be adjusted to de-
mand on basis OF price fixity. The
present system disturbs trade and trade
conditions, and provokes industrial dis
order not only in this country but In the
many lands which look to us for their
supply Of raw material.
The production, handling and distri-
button OF this Essential factor Of all
industrial life," this foundation Of all
commercial advancement, present ono
OF the most interesting and perplexing
problems In modern industrialism. The
course Of cotton, from the turning Of
the soil in which 1t is planted to the
door Of the mill which receives 1t for
conversion into fabrics, is attended by
costly loss of force and energy and q
waste Of material. Passing over the
fact that the average yield per acre, due
to Indifferent farming, Is less than one
half what it might be, 1t Is said that tho
actual money loss between cotton field
and mill, due to packing and rough
handling, amounts to about $50 900 900
year, or about 10 per cent. Of the entire
value OF the crop. 1t is only when
cotton reaches the mill that it is treated
as commodity OF value.
Schemes for taking cotton out Of the
domain Of speculation are not at all a
novelty. They have been preached
again and again for number Of years.
Most of them call for chain of storage
warehouses and cash advances to plant
ers, through arrangement with banks,
with the stored cotton az security.
Through central and official manage
ment of the system, sales and deliveries
would be made to domestic and foreign
spinners or their official agents. This
would guard planters by the establish
ment Of a minimum price, say 10 cents
per pound. The planter, being able to
secure cash advances on his stored crop,
would not be forced to sell at less than
the fixed price. But, on the other hand,
it does not seem to protect the spinner
and the consuming public, who might be
made the victims of huge corner en-
gineered by the associated planters,
who might decide to hold their cotton
for any price they chose.
The storage warehouse system is open
to objections. Itmight be abused, and 1t
would necessitate, at times, the tying up
of a considerable amount Of bank money.
The cost of plant, insurance and adj
ministration would involve no extrava-
CANT outlay, and the distribution Of this
expense over crop whose annual value
approximates $500 100000 would have
no perceptible effect Oh the market price
per pound. We're the system installed
on basis of 10 cent cotton, the cost OF
the staple would be about one-third
higher than it was during tho decade
1s9O-lGOO, but the advantage Of stability
and the elimination of the speculator
would more than compensate for this
advance. The average price Of finished
goods, in which the public is most in
terested, would probably be no greater
and might even be less than it was during
that period.
The meeting at Asheville is not likely
to be productive Of important or imme-
date results. But the fact that the vast
interests represented by planters and by
spinners are trying to get together offers
hope that time may come when one Of
our most important and valuable prod
ucts will be treated as q commercial
commodity rather than as preserve to be
rifed by spectators who have no interest
in either production or manufacture,
who are neither legitimate buyers nor
sellers, and for whose dancing the con-
Stunning public pays the piper.