The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-24
THE COTTON s%PECULATOR.

theirgmake up than these scoundrels,
cotton Tyers, some of whom have
made,itttheir life trade to prey upon
the ignorant, helpless, unorganised cot
tonffarmers. Some OF these leeehes
live, here among US, and for small pi-
tancstdo'their very best every cotton
season to delude the cotton season to
deludethe cotton farmer into selling
their cotton for much less than 1t is
P worth. 4 These home raised henchmen
of the foreign cotton spectators have
. aidedtheir employers in robolng many
of our cotton farmers this year OF more
than eight dollars per bale on every
bale that these farmers have raised thls
veal, now since cotton has been forced
: to move up in price towards Its full va
lue by an organised body, these farmer
rmen who have been fooled into selling
their whole crop-can now do nothlng
but grin and growl at the spectators
for deceiving. them, when his neign-
-.bors, the organised farmers, did their
best to keep these bumpers losing from
their own hard earned money and the
same time force his wiser neighoors TO
wait longer for remunerative prices Tor
his crop or do like the bumper, lose
money.
The following circular letter Issued
8 few DAYS ago by Crutchfeld d Co.,
bankers and brokers of New York, is
the best and most conservative we
have seen:
Speculative liquidation and the OPP
Grafton of bear cliques have been the
recent features, and prices are now a
little over a cent a pound below the
high level of the season. This decline
has been accompanied by a loss of less
than half as much in the Southern
spot markets, and it is evident
that operators on the short side of the
market are again entering dangerous
ground. unless there Is q serious break
in the ranks Of Southern holders.
There seems to be no logical ground
for expecting such weakness. The
, South has marked nearly 7,000,O 600
bales of the crop at remunerative pri-
ces and must be in q. much better po-
sition, financially, to hold than was
the case when a refusal to market spot
cotton last winter checked the down.
ward course of speculative markets
and rallied prices in the spring. Those
working for lower values will point
out that situation at this time ID dill
erent, for the reason that present
prices are nearly 5 cents a pound high
er, but this may be partially offset, by
the fact that the amount of cotton re-
manning to be mBrked after January
LIST, this veal, is so very much less than
came into sight after that date last sea-
son The exact extent of the remnant
of The r is still the subject Of argu.
ment. Itseems perfectly safe to as
sumo, however that With the excellent
weather this autumn, cotton was GIN
ned at least as rapidly in proportion to
the total as was the case last year, and
if 30, the total yield should be under
10, 250,0 900 bales, and as the South is in
q position to carry over quite as much
as it did last year, if nessecary 10 Sc
cnre the price, this ought to cover
practically the entire commercial crop
unless values shold advance to a point
that would bring out all reserves and
sweep the interior clean,
/ The question" Of the forthcoming
acreage is oEc which is being used by
bear operators to justify the hammer
ing contracts below a parity with spot
supplies TheI argument ,is that the
Comparatively high prices of this win
ter will encourage an expansion In
area equal to the reduction of last
season, and that the Southern holder
seeing iu this the probability of anoth-
or monster crop, will modify his ideas
as to the value Of the cotton remain
ing from the last crop and show his
unwillingness to run any chances of
carrying cotton into next season bv
making concessions inprice.. We firmly
believe that the Southern planters as
q class are fully as able to reconize, as
the Spectator in contracts, the danger
Of too great an expansion of acreage,
and q course of action will probably
be decided upon at the mass meeting
of planters to be held under the au-
spices of the Southern Cotton Growers
Association, on the 18th, 18th and
18th of this month, to avoid an in
GREASE in area which would seriously
threaten a fair commercial profit to
the grower.
It will be readily appreciated, that
after the big crop of lsO4-05 has been
balanced up by the smaller growth of
the present year, the next crop may be
a medium one without furnishing an
over supply or causing depression,
particularly in view of the rapidly in
creasing and the generally increased
value of all commodities as q result of
the increased production o fgold. And
to limit the area planted in cotton, to
an extent that will prevent depression
in price can readily be accomplished
without restricting the agricultural
development Of the South. The South
can successfully grow other products.
To do 30 would be to her own -advan-
age, and there is little doubt but
that the pledges will be prepared at the
forthcoming meeting OF the Southern
Cotton Association, looking to a more
thorough diversifcation' of crops,
which will secure ready signers when
circulated through the interior by the
Associations agents and representa-
tives.
On the whole we can see no reason
whatever for abandoning expectations
of continued high prices. We do not
believe In taking too extreme a view
nor do we favor an effort to cause u
sensational and trade disturbing adj
vance by a stubborn refusal to market
spot supplies. But the statistics show
that the remunerative prices Of the
present season have in no wise cur
tailed the activity of spinners, for the
takings. to date are practically the
same they were for the same period
last year and we take the position,
that spot cottonisi worth every cent
that the mills can pay and still find a
ready and profitable market for their