The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-01-20


 l have therefore suggested briefly the general plans for the best warehouse and where detailed information can be had. After this l have suggested ideas as to the operation of the warehouse, especial ly the character and use O. It's receipt and the necessity of an underwriting or guaranteeing of this receipt at certain times. I am sure that all who have given any thought to this question, will agree with me that a system of warehouses scattered through the south, especially when placed at the larger railroad and cotton centers, would be tremendously beneficial and profitable. This is no new conclusion. Business and financial men both In the south and east and across the water came to this conclusion in vary ing degrees of earnestness as far back as six years ago and a good many under takings were started looking to big cor porations to operate warehouses None or these suggested enterprises have come 10 the time of bearing fruit. The reason is that in their inception they were inner ently wrong These promoters saw the tremendous necessity for warehouses put In their contemplation of the enormous savings and profits to be derived from operation, lost sight of the important first requisite, providing plants for the sys- tenn. They all offered schemes some or them good, to apply to some one else warehouses; but none of them offered to furnish a part of the money necessary for first-class buildings. They tried to capitalize an idea. Instead of starting at the foHndation and building one ware house at time as it was needed and CO., operating with individuals. organizations and communities that had tonnage 10 offer, in the construction of warehouses and through this method developing gradually the system that in itself com pleted would fuhll all their -reams, they tried to put a roof on the unconstructed edifice.
 Best Guarantee.
 "rhe very best guarantee and the one most satisfactory to the consuming cot ton world. as well as to the banks, would be the endorsement by very strong warehouse company of the receipts of it's constituent warehouses. The building of warehouses at different points under in- dependent management at these points, but with an inter-lacing Inter dependency and a general oversight by parent head representing the whole would give the aggregate of assets necessary to make acceptable it's guarantee of the receipt of any warehouse of the chain. fire insurance company with S500O,O0O of as- sets may safely carry insurance risks of $o0,00Q,000 or more. It's risks are scat tered and fire that would destroy all of it's risks in one block or in any one section of a city would not be sufficient to impair it's ability to pay losses; so it is with the warehouse company the theft or loss of goods in one warehouse for which it may have to pay, would not be sufficient to seriously cripple 1t hnan- cially or make it unable 10 protect the holder of the receipts of the embarrassed member. You must agree with me from these facts, that our warehouse system Is to come as was suggested in the re- port of the warehouse committee to the first cotton convention in New Orleans, from the general publicity and discussion of these ideas and the consequent build ing of warehouses at different points by business people either local or distant and then an earlier or later cooperation, each with the other, for their mutual protection and profit. It would not be hard today to secure the money necessa- " to pay one half the cost of building warehouses of an improved pattern at a dozen different points in the south, pro- vided the people at these points were willing to cooperate and raise the other half of the capital. With these ware houses those already built would be will ing to cooperate and join their assets to those of the new company and thus es- tablish a system. which would expand from place to place as the need of trade demanded.
 q beg to thank the cotton association for this opportunity of expressing my views of a subject in which 1 have been much interested for number of years and I trust that some of the suggestions which I have made will result in the bet ter care and protection of at least part of our cotton. There is no direction in which money r--l energy can be spent with the absolute assurance of the re- turn of such large dividends as in the de- velopinent of warehouses which will af- ford protection to the south's agricultural products, and at the same time furnish needed terminal facilities to our congest- ed railroads"