The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-07-02

Que ehffreiy TO the storing of this cot
Ton thSough the past winter on me
slreeu3 Of Memphis, / was amazed to
ma Ulat the marine insurance com
panpF5 raid all losses from country
oaTnS-ge on American cotton. I natur-
amy supposed that tho cotton factors
or exporters Of this damaged cotton
fSn Mem phis would stand some loss
ifn accoent OF their negligence IN al
lowing these bales 10 rot on the streets
of Mem his, but | found hat the In
surance companies paid tne fuu dam
age, and that the cotton shippers from
MeTaphis got full pay for every bale
they shipped. whether damaged or In
gQod condition.
kthen decided 70 call on the officers ~
gone Of the largest marine insurance
companies in Liverpool. I met sew
erdl of them the next day and vas in
formed that what / had heard was
substantially correct, and that the in
: surance companies protected them
selves by charging a high rate on
American cotton. They said that ar
Idavits were made by American
shippers that cotton was danagad ar
ter IL WaA Insured. and they had no
~ecoErse but to pay. The point which
1 wish 70 make - that this excessive
rate Of insurance on American cotton
made to pay damages on cotton inn
properly cared for is one of the fixed
charges which the growers have 70
pa I'LL - bl1H IHtN are IN IL
wise responsible. as cotton sold b.
in a damaged condition is
usually licked At the local ware
houses when the purchase BY the buy
ers IS made We should have some
stringent laws along his line which
VIII force the large cotton centers Of
the South to more properly store and
protect our cotton from these heavy
( losses.
Never before in the history II the
cotton trade has such activity been
displayed in the building Of new cot
: ton mills in the Lancashire district
and elsewhere. Millions Of new
spindles are being put in annually.
and new mills can be seen going up
on every hand. The foreign spinners
are making more money than ever
before. and their only fear Is that at
the present splendid condition of the
business too MAN, mills Will be built.
There is but little fear # lower prices
for either the raw me- teriaLs or the
finished product within the next
year Or two, M there need be no
fear that every bale Of good normal
crows Of American cotton VIII not be
demanded at good prices. The one
. essential thing for the Southern cot
ton grower to learn il to raise his
fool supplies largely At home. curtaiI
the credit business and begin at once
to improve the present method OF the
baling, handling and delivery Of his
cotton 10 foreign ports. We should
make the American bale of cotton as
attractive from every standpoint as any
other bale OF cotton grown on any
other land in the world. This should
be SO not only from a matter of pride,
but from the economic demands of the
present time in good business methods.
With these problems solved we will
be a long step forward On the high
way Of bringing about still closer re-
q l afjnnC hnfyyppn the CrnN-1GG and Gntn-
ners of American cotton.
The fourth International Cotton
Congress of European Spinners was
his year held at Vienna, Austria. and
his session was mark ed with unusual
interest to the association by having
as its guests. by invitation. delegated
representatives Of American cotton
/ was delegated as one of
the officials of the Southern Cotton
Association to attend the congress
and take such part in its elaboration
as would tend to bring about a closer
relation between the spirL1ers and
growers of American cotton. MI. Wal
ter Clark, president of the Mississippi
division of the Southern Cotton AS
sOciatiOn. was my Official associate
also. While Mr.. e. G.. Calvin, president
of the Texas Farmers Union, was
present t. officially represent that or
ga~nizatiou. This was the first Occa-
sion in the history of cotton produc-
ton when the growers of the Ameri-
can starle stood shoulder to shoulder
and face to face with a large body of
the foreign SpinnerS Of their raw ma
terial and in a strictly business con
Vention where problems mutually af-
fecting both interests were to be dis
cussed n tremendously worked on
It is proper that should here stat
that the reception accorded the repre-
sentatives of the cOttOn-groWing inter
ests of AmeriCya by the members OF
the Spinners' Association was moST
cordial and entirely free from al
formality or restraint. The discussions
of all subjects in conven-
ton and in business Sec
tons were perfectly frank.
open and devoid of any fort at con
cealment II prejudice. We We're
frankly old abou the many abuses
to which American cotton is subjected
before it reaches the hands of for
eign s%pinners. and urged to begin an
immediate campaign amOng the grow
ers in the southern States to secure
their cooperation with the spinncrs
in adjusting an early abatement of the
evils complained of.
The leading evils of complaint which
our foreign spinners charge against
American cotton is, first, excessive
tare: second, non-uniformity in the
size Of bales; third, a condition of
delivery in foreign ports; fourth,
HAA1o rAoNNS Ia NAAA D''S AAN'N -
treme speculation in American cotton
futures in the American cotton eX-
changes and Liverpool; sixth, the
domination of the rules and regula-
tons Of sales and deliveries of Ameri-
can cotton by the leading cotton eN-
changes and large cotton merchants
on both sides of the Atlantic, and,
lastly, excessive damp and rot in
American cotton. All of these evils
complained of affect the interest of
the growers as we'll as the spinners,
and it IS to bring about an abatement
of these abuses that the s%pinners de-
sire the active cooperation and sup
port of American cotton growers.
If the representatives of the Ameri-
can cotton growers who attended the
recent spinners' congress had done
nothing more than to secure the pas
sage OF the following resolutions at
the hands of that most important
body of textile workers their visit to
Europe Will have proved of almost in
estimable value. The resolutions,
which we're unanimously passed by
the votes of 200 delegates, represent
ing nearly 90 per cent. of the entire
spinning industry of Great Britain and
the Continent. were as follows: