The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-10
NEW CONDITIONS IN THE COTTON MARKET w. D. Nesbitt Explains the En- tire Situation Clearly LOCAL SPOT IS SCARCE Manufacturers Will Seek to Buy This Year and the Farmer Will
 Hold His Cotton for
 Prices.
LOCAL SPOT IS SCARCE

The demand for spot cotton in Birming- ham is practically greater than the sup ply The staple is coming in slowly. Lo- cal merchants have buying orders from persons who never before manifested any desire to invest in the fleecy substance. So far this season they have been unable to invest. With ready money in their pockets and empty warehouses they await the pleasure of the farmers to sell.
 This condition was made clear Satur- day when man with plenty of surplus cash asked local cotton man to in- vest it for him. He was told that the staple was not on the market. The re- quest, however, revealed a new and in- teresting feature in the southern cotton situation. As explained by prominent cotton factor, w. D. Nesbitt, 1t means that business men with money propose to assist the farmer in forcing the manu- facturer to come to him for his supply.
 Nesbitt Explains.
 'How do I know?" asked MT. Nesbitt. 'Its simple enough.
 Ever since the south commenced to raise cotton the farmers have beeen forced to seek the manufacturers and almost beg them to buy their product. The manufac- turers as a rule have been overstocked. They didn't want to buy. The farmers invariably insisted on making sales. The result was a sacrifice of prices.
 Mote the difference now. If a farmer wants to sell at the prevailing prices home people are ready with surplus capital to make the investment and store it away The investment may not be purely for speculative purposes; 1t may be that they desire to help their neighbor, the pro- ducer who needs ready money, and who would be forced to make sacrifice if some one did not come to his assistance. But from a speculative viewpoint many believe, like myself, that cotton will reach the minimum fixed by the Southern Cotton association, while others hold to the belief that 1t will go higher than Il cents.
 Concurs In Action.
 "I heartily concur in the action of the association at Asheville in recommend ing the producer to hold the staple for il cents. The results are bound to come, the first of which will be the establish ment of new order of relationship be- tween the planter and the manufacturer Instead of seeing the cotton merchant seeking the man who makes the cloth, you will see the mill owners coming to mammoth warehouses scattered all over the south to get their cotton. What bet ter result can the southern planter ex- pect? What better result does he want?" In explaining the slow movement of cotton from the country, Mir. Nesbitt said that the campaign of education was be- ginning to have its effect. He declared that the farmer has learned how to judi ciously dispose of his crop.
 "It is no longer the rule to see the pro- ducer rushing to market with the fruits of his years labor" continued MT. Nes- bitt. He parts with his crop at inter- vals, and, mark my word, most of the south's staple this year will be bought by surplus money belonging to southern men,"
 MT. Nesbitt was @ delegate from Bir- mingham to the meeting In New Orleans when the Southern Cotton association was organized. It was partially through his instrumentality that the gigantic sys- tenn of holding cotton was brought about.