The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-01-16
Most Remarkable Agricultural Product Known to Mankind
IMPORTANCE WORLD WIDE
Striking Figures Cited to Show lm- portance of Souths Great Staple. Make Fight for Profit
 able Prices.

Richard H. Edmonds, editor of the Balti-
 more Manufacturers Record, now in Bir-
 mingham, said last night:
 | Cotton is the most remarkable agri- cultural product known to mankind. De- 1 stroy wheat and a substitute could be | found; destroy corn and other grains
 would take it's place. Destroy cotton,
 and you would shake the foundation of | civilization itself. The advance of civil | zation throughout the earth is measured | by the consumption of cotton.
 Tt has been well said that the mis-
 sionary of the Gospel as he penetrates
 the wilds of Africa is an advance agent | for the south's imperial staple. This crop
 is the most wonderful ever given by a
 beneficent Creator to any people. It rami- l lies every financial and business center l of civilization. This royal product is as | necessary in the palace of the king as l in the hut of the peasant; on the tented | battle field and in the hospital 1t is alike
 essential It is the one great power in
 our foreign commerce. which turns the balance of trade in our favor.
 World Crop.
 'It is not sectional crop, not even
 a national crop 1t Is a world crop, for l 1t belongs to the world and wherever | on earth men do business, the south's |
 thoughtful attention. It is the most im- l portant factor in our internatinal rela- | tions
 Without our cotton Europes industrial | life would be almost ruined Probably
 $2 00O,O00 is invested in the cotton mills
 and allied industries of Europe and in | Great Britain alone over 10000 600 people
 are dependent upon the cotton trade. The cotton crop, for which the south receives | $600, 900 a year. is worth over $2,0O0,000 l. | 600 before it reaches the consumers in the
 shape of cotton goods. For many years i Europe paid us from S200000,00O to $250, ,000,- | 00O year for the cotton which under
 the better prices prevailing during the
 last three or four years now brings an-
 nually to the south $400,0OO 900 or more.
 ~"No wonder the financial powers of
 Europe are struggling to beat down the
 price of cotton to save for themselves the $150, ,000, 900 to $200 000,000 a year excess over | what they paid us during the days of | starvation prices. So rapidly is the
 worlds consumption increasing that with | in the last twelve months Manchester
 has added 6,0OO,0OO spindles to It's equip | ment, thus increasing the number of it's | spindles in one year two-thirds as much as the total number in the south. This | increasing consumption will necessitate in | the next ten years a crop of at least | 17,000 900 to 1SO00,OO0 bales a year. and
 without any more rapid increase, this | would in ten years add 5000,000 bales
 required by the worlds needs, to the 12,- | 500, 900 bales of American cotton now con-
 sumed. But in considering this gain, it
 must be borne in mind that the whole
 world has entered upon period of expan- | sion in trade, in commerce. in higher wages (and therefore more and better
 clothing), and in the creation of wealth l such as man never saw before.
 Rapid Progress.
 American progress is, indeed, going l forward at an amazing rate. In seven years the railroad traffic of the whole | country has doubled. Our national wealth | is now $116,00O,000 and is accomplishing at the rate of $5OO,O0O,O GOO every month. Our | iron and steel production is ruhing for l ward at a pace that takes all our en- ergies and qulckens our imagination. as | we try to forecast It's future. Our Port | land cement industry has grown from | S00O,000 barrels in 1900 to over 40,000,000 barrels now. Whenever we turn there is activity unprecedented in our history in | every line of human endeavor.
 eve cannot build locomotives nor cars, nor lay track fast enough by at least | 50 per cent to keep up with the pressing | needs of the hour During 1906 the rail- roads of the United States spent $3S0, ,0O0- | GOO for new rolling stock and upwards of | $500 GOO GOO for new mileage and track inn provements, while other expenditures
 would bring the grand total up to over l s75O, 100000. And yet it would take $5, ,00O,- | 000,0O0 to properly expand our railroad | system to meet the present needs of | the country, and then tax our facilities | to continue our railroad development rap | idly enough to keep pace with our mate rial advancement in other lines. All this
 bears directly upon the cotton situation, for 1t all means prosperity for the con sumers of cotton goods.
 Foreign Trade.
 ''We talk about developing our foreign | trade and this is important, but we are | bringing some of this foreign trade direct | to our doors and making 1t domestic | trade by the immigration of 100000 for | eigners a year At home their ability to | buy cotton goods was limited by their pov- | erty. Here profitable work makes these | people able to buy many times as much | clothing as they ever used before they came. This is a fact of great importance, | and one of vital interest in It's bearings | upon the immigration question.
 But outside of this development, which | means more demand for cotton, is the | worldwide expansion in business, and a | pf osperity such as was never before seen. | The whole world is busy and prosperous. | Europe and Asia, South America and l Africa, are all crowded With business a steadily advancing wages. Why should not the south reap the benefit of this world activity and secure higher prices for cot | ton? This is only a matter of organiza- 1 tion, cooperation and marketing.
 If the south would stand together. if it | would develop it's facilities for handling cotton and by so doing reduce the enor- | nous wastage which now costs it many millions year, 1t could see 12.500,000 bales crop absorbed at F cents or over, and it would see the world take all of its cotton at good prices, just as rapidly as production could be increased.
 Regarding Prices.
 Tt is not simply folly, it is almost crim- 1 inal, for the people of this section not to unite and make a determined fight in be- half of profitable prices to the growers. With a monopoly of the worlds most inn pcrtant crop, a monopoly which should
 make the farmers of the south the most prosperous In America, we are wasting our heritage and our cotton growers are ekeing out a scanty living, often in debt
 There's a big