The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-02
thsir price, He did not want n horde
 of men between the field and the fac

-------------------- ! of men between the field and the fac | tory.
 | Mir. Jordan called upon the spinners | tc answer the question as to what the | consumption of cotton would be for the year 1906. None of them was in po- sition to say. ]. R. Montgomery, or the I National Association of Cotton Manu facturers expressed sympathy with the desire of the growers to get proht l from their product.
 He said that if the growers had an association that was strong enough ana | powerful enough to fix the price or cotton and maintain 1t. he would suar-
 antee that the manufacturers of the world would adjust the price of their | goods to that of the raw material He | raye as an illustration the fact that ne | had known cotton to sell as high as s1 .s3 per pound and that the nanufac- | turers made q profit under those con- I ditions.
 Could Not Answer Jordan. | MT. Hickman of the American Manu- | lecturers Association said that the | question of MT. Jordan could not pos l sibly be answered because the mills consumed a different quantity of cot | ton each year. according to the sale of the goods they were making. The
  | Messrs. Mac Ailister and Gregg of England entertained g. similar view. | The former maintained that the spin ners of the world were not making I enormous profits but only interest on | their capital invested. In England he said they were satisfied with four or | five per cent whereas in the Southern | States they were making more than | per cent on their capital
 The afternoon session was presided | over by Harvie Jordan, president of the | Southern Cotton Association. who ad-
 dressed the conference on the cotton in-
 dustry generally. He gave credit to the spinners and manufacturers for fni- tating the conference and said that in
 consideration the relations between the growers and spinners whatever affected the cotton production would react dis astrously upon the spinning industry and vice versa. The growers and spin ners. he added, had been strangers too
 long. Divided they have been the prey of, and have had to submit to the ] dominating and disastrous effects of the
 buying and speculating influences of the world" This unsatisfactory con- .dition, he declared, would continue so long as it was permitted.
 The South. he said, has awakened to
 the realization that at present, and
 indeed, for all time, 1t controlled and
 
 monopoly of the worlds cotton produc- tion. With only one-tenth of its cot ton area under cultivation, he argued. the Southern people can under an in- telligent intensified system of culture,
 annually produce 3o0,o00.000 bales of cotton should the worlds requirement. | demand that amount and he insisted | this could be held successfully against competitor of other countries, owing to the peculiar climatic conditions of
 the South. influenced by the waters of | the Gulf of Mexico. He emphasized the | fact, however, that there was no dis 1 position to abuse this monopoly or | unrighteously take advantage of so splendid an endowment But he assert ed that the cotton growers of the South henceforth would insist upon and force
 the payment of a fair and profitable | price for cotton. The day of pro-
 ducing cheap raw cotton" he declared.
 "at from six to eight cents per pound l is passing"
 l CO-speraston of Geevsern aud spahmsEn. If. he said. through the cooperation
 of the growers and the spinners the
 future prices of cotton can be main i tAined on a stable basis. showing fair l profit to the growers and manufactur- | CTS as we'll the South was prepared to guarantee the production of a sufficient quantity of American cotton to amply supply every demand from every source. Taking up the question of labor, he said that heretofore employed in the South was fast moving away to indus
 trial centres, where higher wages were
 offered and paid and he maintained
 that no foreign labor could be brought here which would work even as cheap
 ly as the negro farm laborer. Hence"
 he said, the price of cotton must be maintained at a. figure that will per x,4ff tH fa Tn ploynent of labor. or the industry must
 go backward instead of forward Any. combined effort to force down prices of raw cotton to the present cost or below the cost of production will
 result in serious consequences that will react with telling effect upon the fu- ture cotton trade of the world, Paper
 contracts and chalk markets, he de- clared, must not in future guide prices.
 He believed that there could be effect
 i've cooperation with the spinners and
 manufacturers.
 speculating in cotton futures he re- garded as the greatest evil of modern
 times. Tt overrides," he said, "the will
 of the manufacturers and subjugates
 the growers to a condition of helpless
 servitude we'll nigh bordering upon slavery.
 He pleaded for active concert between growers and spinners and all lines of
 legitimate business affected until the exchanges where the cotton is handled are placed on safe, legitimate basis Speculation should be restricted and
 minimized," he contended, and he said
 it was the duty of the Federal and State governments to enact such Iegis- laton as would give the needed re- | forms.
 The balance of the session was taken
 up with discussion regarding the ne- | cesity for standard square bales and | for more careful ginning.
 BOARDED BY MEXICANS.