The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-11-19
QUESTIONS ID BE
 CONSIDERED HERE Matters That Now Interest the
 Cotton World THE COMING CONVENTION Factions Said to Be Forming to ln- fluence the Election of Off
 cers-Gosslp Is Heard.
 Cotton Collateral.
THE COMING CONVENTION
BY PERCY CLARK.


 The coming of the Southern Cotton as- sociation to Birmingham in January is being discussed with a lively interest. One of the questions is, who is to preside over the association for the coming year.
 Like in all such organizations jealousies, rivalries, and gossip have gotten in it's work. For instance the charges of im- proper connection with cotton speculation made against President Jordan and Sec retary Cheatham has weakened their in- | huence, whether true or not. Already there are factions forming to exert an ! influence in the selecting of the officers for next year. Thus far Tom Watson, one l of the most brilliant planter-p politicians w. r. Vandiver, a very successful mer- chant and publc-spirlted citizen of Mont gomery. and Walter Clark, president of the Mississippi Cotton Growers associa- tion. are the men talked of, but there will be others, no doubt, when the day draws near for the assembling of the as- sociation.
 Cotton Futures.
 The question of the regulation of "eot- ton futures'' speculation in the south will be live proposition. It is coming to be understood that there must be some regu- lation of the craze for gambling, and at the same time it must be looked to, that commercial demands for information and legitimate investment speculation be not crippled or hampered As the business world in the south is largely dependant on the present oard-quotations which carry not only cotton quotations but also stocks, bonds, grain, hog-produets and coffee all of a speculative character the question Is, how to curb the illegtimate and not to hamper trade and the legiti- mate demands, through exchanges. It is argued that every transaction in cotton must be a bona fide contract to deliver all future contracts presumptively are In the purchase of grain there are the same speculative features as cotton for future delivery. In stocks it is different as every stock transaction on a regular eX- change" carries with it a transfer of the stock to the purchaser or his representa- tive.
 The cotton warrant system seems to point to solution in part, but there must be some means of continuing the wire pulse of business, the quotations as at present posted. Business usage de- | mands it; without it hardshlps will be | worked on many legitimate business. The Warrant Warehouse. The cotton warrant warehouse system | has already been put into operation in a | limited way, It is not broad enough nor complete in detail by any means. It will be suggested at the next meeting that the association take the matter up in the broadest and most comprehensive lines; lines apparently radical at first but de- manded by the conditions that confront the cotton planter and merchant, be- tween the Scylla of cotton gamblers and the Charybdis of seeming spinners.
 It would appear that all things point to radical changes in the manner of pack ing handling, chasing and storing cotton. The representatives of English spinners now in this country are agitating the matter of smaller bales for the reason that the present cumbersome package | leads to careless handling and improper packing, bad wrapping and loss by pilfer- ing and sampling.
 The warrant warehouse system in gen. eral use means much to both sides in the cotton question. It means an honest | market for the planter and the spinner, | it means an equilibrium in the handling ! of the greatest one crop monopoly in the world by a system of gradual absorption, | by storing and financing. It means more money for the farmer by reason of a | better handled, better marketed crop It means a fairer deal for the spinner by | the elimination of the cotton gambler, and a better system of providing for his wants far in advance, according to the demands of modern business customs. It will do away with much of the theivery of what is called the sample crop" It will eliminate the buyer who purchases cotton for one grade and marks it up to another, taking chances on the market conditions aiding him, when the ship ment arrives at it's destination.
 | If there shall come to be twenty-five million 30o-pound bales of cotton properly | ginned-that is smooth sampled, we'll wrapped, correctly classed to an average | of full grade, ordinary, good ordinary, middling, good mddling, the cotton busi- ness will lose many of its undesirable | features.
 Official Standard of Class. If the Cotton Growers association and the spnners can come together on the warrant warehouse plan one important matter could be settled. The making of an official class of grades guaranteed by the association. These grades to be placed on the cotton by brands and by metal