The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-04

ing the government crop reports ana
more particularly the reports of the
department of agriculture, and passing
a resolution advocating that the sta
tistical cotton year should run from
August 1 to August 1, instead of from
September 1 to September 1, the In
ternational Cotton Conference al
journed today to reassemble next yeaT
should it be deemed advisable by the
various organizations to do so. 1t was
found that the delegates were not
clothed with sufficient authority to ct-
feet a permanent organization.
When the subject of governmental
crop reports came up President Mac
Coll spoke in cOmmendatiOn of the
census bureau work, but felt that some
radical changes in the methods OF the
agricultural department should be
made. President Harvie Jordan, of the
Southern Cotton Association, also COM
mended some features of the govern
ment reports, but numerous other del
egates strongly condemned them. d.
A TOmpkins, of North Carolina, char
acterized them as "a complicated sys-
tenn of guessing" while another South
ern grower denounced them as a
speculative football"
Various remedies were suggested but
as no two delegates seemed able to
agree on satisfactory plan the whole
subject was laid on the table.
President MacColl expressed the
hope that henceforward there will be
a closer bond of union between the
north and the south and between
America and Europe in all that per-
tains to cotton growing and manufac-
turing"
Another topic of discussion was the
marketing of the product, which en-
braced the question of warehOuslng,
stability of price and relations be-
tween growers and manufacturers.
A. E. Calvin, president of the Farm
ers' Educational and Cooperative I'm
ion, declared that it long had been the
dream of the cotton grower to abolish
all intermediate agents who levy toll
unnecessarily on the product on its
Journey from the field to the factary.
The grower, he said, is the constant
and persistent foe of all forms and
methods of cotton gambling. Violent
fluctuations of the market, he contend
ed, are quite as disturbing and IN
profitable to the grower as to the SPIN
ner. He voiced what he said was the
unanimous sentiment of the southern
growers to join in any movement
which promises to eliminate the gam
bier from the cotton market, to re-
duce the marketing expenses, TO eXpe
dite the delivery of cotton to the SPIN
ner and to give reasonable stability to
the market price. He declared that
the south was so completely able to
supply the world with cotton that with
a proper understanding with the man
ufacturers there would be no necessity
for conducting experiments in Africa
and elsewhere. Direct relations be-
tween the growers and manufacturers
was strongly urged.
President MacColl declared that the
prosperity of the grower was a matter
of interest to the manufacturer who
would like to be able to eliminate the
speculative element. He inquired, how
ever, of the plan of constructing ware
houses and giving contracts would do
anything toward eliminating specula-
tion and also if, after storing the cot
ton in the warehouses, the. product for
any reason went up, would the growers
be willing to deliver it at the regular
price they had fixed.
Several growers insisted that they
would live up to the contracts and MIR.
MacColl said he had no doubt Of that
but wanted to know what would be
done after the contracts expired. He
thought, though, that as in all prob
ability the period of the contracts
would be about a year, it would be
sufficient to kill speculation in the
meantime.
In the discussion which followed
the proposition was laid down by the
spinners and manufacturers that if tue
farmers and business interests Of the
south will build warehouses, store cot
ton, finance it and put the produce in