Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-11-20
CAUGHT SHORT OF COTTON.
Price and Other Bears Have Sold
More than They Can Deliver.

More than They Can Deliver.
New York, Nov. 1S.--Pressure or
the most pronounced sort Is being
brought to bear upon the cotton
| growers of the South to break up
their holding movement and thus
bring into the cotton market such O.
mass OF the staple as will enable the
enormous speculative short interest
in this city to depress prices, SO that
the bears can close out their mar
ket CANDLES by shifting their losses
upon the growers of the south
AS December draws near and the
members of the big bear pool are
confronted with the possibility OF
| paying prices at present ruling In
the South, or even higher prices, for
| cotton with which to cover their
short December contracts, they are
resorting to desperate means in the
hope of eXtricating themselves from
most uncomfortable position. Sto-
ries of the widest sort have been
circulated freely with the idea of
convincing the banking interests that
the cotton growers, by keeping their
crop out of the market until better
prices could be obtained, have de-
ranged the entire normal market for
foreign exchange and are adding to
the money stringency from which
the country is suffering. In this
their efforts have been entirely un-
availing. The banking interests,
knowing the facts, have refused to
take this view of the situation. They
are satisfied that the trouble lies
with the exchange market and not;
with the cotton market; that 1t Is
the inability Of buyers to finance
purchases that is delaying the bring
ing of fresh gold from abroad.
The real trouble responsible for the
| threatened squeeze in December op-
tions in New York is not due to o.
speculative long interest because
none exists; it Is due to the tremen-
dous short interest. The bear pool,
headed by Theodore H. Price, is cur
rently reported to be short more
than 100000 bales Of the December
option. Against this speculative
short interest are the hedges held
by the spinners and exporters who
need the cotton for legitimate manu-
featuring and exporting. The need
of the hedge 'longs' has inspired
the current premium This also has
! given an oportunity to the specula-
tive shorts to circulate story that.
some thousands Of bales were being
shipped p,lck to New York from Liv-
j
port, however, met speedy death
through the action of foreign spin
ners In taking every available bale
of spot cotton in the Liverpool mar
ket on the very day after the re-
shipment story was started
The latest among Mr.. Prices in
teresting moves in the hope of In
ducing the Southern growers to aid
him to get cotton to New York for
the purpose of covering the short
contracts of his poool, is a widely adj.
vertised offer to deliver currency to
the South in exchange for cotton. AS
his offer is good only up to 80 per
cent Of the selling price Of the cot
ton, and as he announced that the.
prevailing New York premium on
currency, now ranging around per
cent, will have to be paid by the cot
ton shippers, such move is by no
means benevolent on Mr.. Prices
part. 1t also shows how badly Mr..
Price wants to get cotton here for
December delivery.
The entire situation, as regards
December cotton, has resolved itself
into a struggle between the Price
pool on the one side and the tre-
mendous bona fide demand for the
actual cotton on the other. This de-
mand resisted all the ideas of the
men in the bear pool and now, salts
fed that the cotton on their, con-
tracts is required for spinning and
exporting, Price and his associates
appear to realize that their only
chance of averting tremendous losses
on their transactions lies In COM
) plete breakdown of the entire hold
ing movement, thus forcing the grow
ers to sell their crop at ridiculously
low prices.
1t was not long ago that Mr.. Price
: was speaking disne::.eingly of what
he termed the :Iew York paper con-
, tracts" Row that he Is heavily short
of these paper contracts" he is sur
J prised to find that the delivery OF
actual cotton not only is wanted, but
, Is demanded of him.
: If the holding movement Is main'
tanned at its present strength the
Price bear pool may be compelled to
pay the growers the price to which
: they are entitled. 1t is the chance of
the Southern growers to make them
pay on the full basis. .t
1