The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-08-23
COTTON PRICES

Too High to euit English spinners
and They Kick,
Eight Cents Per Ponnd They Regard
as a Fair Prics for Our Cotton
and DON'T Want to Pay More.
representing not only Great Brit
ain, but all Europe, the international
Federation OF Master Cotton Spinners
and Manufacturers Associations have
declared war against high prices tor
American cotton. That is the mean
ing of the agreement resc2ed at the
emergency meeting Of the association,
held r, Gently, at which it was decided
to strongly urge every cctton spinner
in Europe and America to refrain from
buying American cotton during the
next three m :nths, except for inmed-
late wants" 1t is recognized in Lon
don as the most imp3rtanb step ever
taken by the representatives Of the
great cotton industry to prevent any
artificial iLfition Of The price OF the
raw material s1ch as caused widespread
suffering ard lIss when the great SuuJ
corner was ests biished. While the
statement which was given out Tor
publication at the conclusion Of the
meeting was cabled to America. an In
terview with W. 9. Macara, president
Of the association, who PRESIDED at the
gathering, throws an illuminating
lgnt on the objects aimed at and the
means Ey which it Is sought to attain
them.
II am particularly anxious" said
Mr. Macara, that it should be uader.
stood in America that this Is In no
sense a movement hostile to the Amer
can cotton growing industry. The de-
cisicn we have reached has been fore
ed upon US by the necessity OF taking
some step to counteract the psrn1cious
effect on the trade brought aoout by
the recent enormous enhancement OF
the price Of the raw material due to
the action OF speculative rings We
are united and we are in deadly earn.
est. Although the meeting was sum.
! G,oned by telegraph it was attended by
representatives re of the association from
all over Europe. The Master Cotton
Spinners' Association ia Euglard, OF
which am the president, alone stands
fer thirty two million spindles. We
delibsrated on the matter for over six
hours before re formulated our agree.
ment.
We hold that there is nothing more
important for this great, world. wide
cotton industry than to rid Is Of the
curse Of gambling in It's raw material.
EV.ry penny per pound that is added
to The cost OF the raw material by this
process represents an advance Of many
millions of pounds sterling In the cosa
of the worlds supply. Last year the
cotton crop was raised by this means-
speak Of average prices from four.
pence a pound, which would have been
fair price, to seVen.pence q pound.
In American money that means q rise
in price from eight cents to fourteen
cents a pound. have calculated that
it resulted in taking out Of the indus
Try 100000, 900 pounds, roughly
speaking $500, 100000.
In the main the gamblers alone
have profted by it, and manufaclur-
ers, operatives and consumers have
suffered by it. The repetition Of this
sort OF thing will demoralize the
whole industry, inf!ct inca!culab;e
loss and suffering and involve thous.
ands in ruin. Now, that we perceive
The same speculative gangs at work
again, and have already succeeded in
greatly increasing the price Of raw
material we are determined to exer.
else every means in our power to put
stop to their methods. We conf
IDENTIFY anticipate that public sentl.
ment In America will support US.
American cotton manufacturers have
the same interest In getting the raw
material at a fair price that we
have. And SO have the consumers.
or course the question is a mors vital
one IN England than to any other con-
tineptal nation engaged in the indus
try because it Is a vastly bigger one
here.
While American cotton, roughly
speaking, represents three quarters OF
the worlds supply, az artificial en-
hancement Of it's price is followed by
a similar increase in the price OF the
material from other sources. The
price at which American cotton Is
held controls the market price for the
rest OF the world. It is for that rea
son that we have decided not to pur-
chase American cotton for the next
three months.
But Will the manufactures
be able to get along without pur
chasing American cotton for the next
three months?' I asked.
That matter was thoroughly gone
into at our meeting" replied Mr..
NIAGARA. 'We are in e1callent shape
to make the fight. Last years crop
was exceptionally good and it has
been estimated that there will be at
least 1000, 900 bales available surpl1s
to the new crop. Reports made by
members as to the conditions prevail
ing in the countries represented show
ed that the European cottou industri-
es have on hand ample supplies to
cover their engagements for the next
three CT fur months. With possibly
a few exc: psions, cotton spiDners do
not need to enter the cotton markets
before the new cotton crop arrives at
the end OF October. What we pro.
pose to do, therefore, is simply to
keep out Of it and let the cotton
spectators deal as best they can
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