Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1905-11-25
LETTER FROM JOHN S. WILLIAMS.
Yazoo City, Miss. Nov. 7, 1905,

not sufficiently thank you for the flat
tcring compliment conveyed by the in
vitation of the Noxubce Branch Of the
Cotton Association through you to fix
a date for addressing its members at
Macon, Brooksville and Shuqualak.
wish | could be there, but for reasons
which fully stated this morning in a
letter to Mr.. Allgood it is impossible.
| believe that no better work Of an in
dustrial character has been done for the
State or for the South than that which
has been accomplished and which will
continue to be accomplished by the or
g~anization and maintenance Of the
Southern Cotton Association. Last
year we would have sold the bulk q
our crop, immense asst was, at, or near,
or below, the cost Of production but for
| the firm determination Of the Southern
planters and farmers to hold back the
crop until a reasonable profit could be
obtained by its sale. They were en-
ableG to do this by the elbow touch Of
organization, and that organization had
its birth in the Convention which or
gained the Cotton Association.
Nothing is more absurd than the
hitherto custom Of the South of rushing
its great crop to the market within a
period of three, or at most four months.
There is no reason in economics or phil
osophy why ALL Of a crop should lie
sold even during the entire year Of its
production. Every sensible man knows
that fat years are followed by lean
years, good crops by bad ones-not al
ways, Of course, the very next year, but
always at no distant future period.
Carrying over the surplus of a fat year
to fill the vacuum of a lean years pro.
duction is but the counsel e common
sense, Like every counsel Of common
sense, when taken and followed out
practically, results have justified it, as
they did last year.
independently of the question Of the
supply at this moment-and there can
be no doubt in the mind of any reason
able man, in my opinion, that the sup
ply is short-the consideration Of the
present existing demand and the CON
tinuance in steady force Of that de-
mand leads me to the belief that eleven
cents, the price fixed by the Cotton
Association as the minimum at which
its members ought to sell, is not only a
fair and reasonable price, but a price
below a just expectation. The de-
mand was never as large and never as
steady as it is today. The surplus Of
last year carried over and the r OF
this year will not fill that demand, or Il
they do fill it, will not overflow the
reservoir Of the worlds demand. That
lemand will grow in force, owing tc
world-conditions, especially in the
Orient. The wonderfully h~omogene.
Gus and united people of Japan have
come into the ownership of the Peninsu.
sular Of Corea and into the practical
management Of the affairs of Manchu-
| ria The hermit nation of Corea viii
be opened by Japan to the Just de
mands of the commerce of the world
As long as Manchuria remains under hel
control the policy of Russia which wa.
one Of a high tariff and a closed door
viii be reversed there, 1t is to the in.
lustrial and the diplomatic interest OF
Japan to have, as nearly as possible, ar
open door TO commerce of the world
wherever her flag floats 1t will float
Tor some time-perhaps indefinitely
in Manchuria. 1t is to her industrial
advantage, because the entire patriotic
instinct Of the Japanese people and pa
triotism is with them a rcligion-wil
be directed by the Mikado and the
elder statesmen into the field Of Of in
dustrial development. Her wise rulers
recognize that it is not sufficient for her
to have an effective, we'll deciplined
army and a comparatively large and re-
markably efficient navy, for quick re-
suits in warfare, but that she must have
likewise the staying power Of a financial
character, which she now has not. The
much misunderstood policy Of her rulers
IN making peace with Russia en- terms
so far short of those which might have
been expected rested upon this basis Of
the recognition Of this weakness. The
financial staying power will be obtained
by developing to the highest point the
industrial life of the Japanese people,
Japan will enter with gigantic stride
.nto the business of manufacturing cot.
ton goods Of the type, standard ant
quality suitable to the Oriental market
rs her people are themselves Oriental
they will quickly seize upon the idea Of
what is best suited to Oriental con.
sumption. This development may tc
some extent but temporarily hurt cot.
ton manufacturing in the United States
that is to say, the manufacturing Of
course, heavy, cheap good.and of some
1ner qualities of goods especially made
tor the Eastern market, but the i'm
nense increase in the demand FIR the
raw material cannot but help the price
Of raw cotton and the cotton fabrics.
This raw cotton will Returned into the
character of goods suited for consump.
ton in Corca, Manchuria, Northern
China and Japan itself by a labor won
l~erfully low-priced and at the same
time remarkably intelligent and adap.
tive TO the use Of machinery.
In addition to this special feature
there is a general law which applies tc
cotton manufacturing as well as to al
other transmission Of raw material into
finished product. The evolutionary
growth in a manufacturing country i.
that from day TO day and year. to year
by the invention OF new machinery and
by cheapening progresses Of production
the margin of difference between the
price Of the raw material and of the