The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-29
tcoptinued from Page EIeven.l


 cotton trade. In 1906 the American Cot ton Manufacturers' Association, at it's annual convention, passed resolutions advocating the adoption of such a strictlons upon contract deliveries.
 It has been show that the exclusion of some of the lower grades of cotton SSa.a sssa.iy segSss sf grade differences. and that consequent ly It would give greater stability to futnre transactions and especially 70 a adop;ion or 'Ue Iow-middiins I clause might permit limited number of spin ners to receive cotton on contract. While 1t Is thus claimed that low chaser of contracts, 1t is urged that such a clause would not be any real lnJustice to the producer of cotton or the seller of contracts. since only a nal years. falls below low mIddling. In the crop. 1say: over 75 per csnt) Is com oSSoSs SSSose ad clause sSs E1sdsas EEoaa therefore. in an ordinary season, ex- clude from the privilege of contract tender only q small proportion of the tive to greater care in picking.
 Opponents of the low-middling clause base their objections on the general
 sS souS ss sroa entnsh 5nsS o
 
 care of the crop, and that the inclusion and properly valued by means of cor purchassr of contracts. Some oppon- ents of the low-middling clause also lay stress on the fact that the Liver pool Cotton Association. which . few years ago had such a clause in It's. con. tract for American cotton, abandoned that provision and made the limit good
 ordinary. This action of the Liverpool rss1 soms as sH sviSsnes of % the Imp iinpracticabii- ity of . low-middling clause. As a matter of fact. good ordinary cotton In the Liverpool classihcation Is dis
 nary in the American ciassifcation. be- of the New York standard. If. the
 American sxchangss wOuld eselues s aSs 1 sil | erpool standard. this would go far to
 the adoption of . low niddling clause; Suggested RessSiSsion Upon Dete ot In addition to restrictions upon the | range of deliverable grades, 1t has also | been urged that the option of the seller should be restricted. At the present | time the contracts of both the New | York and New Orleans Cotton Ex- ] changes permit the seller to deliver his whatever tn this matter. It is con- tended by some that this privilege IS
 unduly liberal and that the buyer his cotton at any time after the 18th | of the month. Such a restriction, how ever. is not generally favored In the cotton trade Iss practical tactical snscs. ,,s,ls lt ls option to the first half of the mouth; | this, 1t is further urged. would. owing to delays in railroad transportation, be one which ultimately would react upon the buyer in the form of higher price for contracts. On the whole. such . limitation upon the sellers option ap- The suggestion has been made that while permitting the seller to deliver his cotton on any. day during the de- livery month, he be compelled ,on the | day that he issues his notice Of deltv- cry. which in the case of New York | would be three days before the actual | delivery, and in New Orleans i've days,
 to specify the grade or grades of .ot. set. | would give the buyer several days notice of the kind of cotton which he would receive. and would enable httn tS msRs sone pTSv1ssiOtn TOT dispGsan hs snrs saw no ready demand for it. would give him better opportunity for re-tendeTing 1t iIl the future market. In view or the fact that the seller of distant con- 
 get his cotton ready for delivery, this moderate restriction upon his present wide privileges with respect to deliv- cry aeems eminently fair. and the bu- reau is disposeS to recommend its adop- ton by both exchanges.
 ConclualOna.
 From the facts presented it is clear that the classification of cotton at New York in recent years has at times been very faulty, and that on the whole grade cotton. Complaints that New Orleans classiflca tions have been un- duly severe are not equally well suS' tained. It is not unlikely, however. l that at timss the arbitratlopa in New Orleans have been too rigid. The most | important suggestion to be made in connection with classification in either market is that greater care be exerS | work of classification. It is reasop- ably certain that many complaints against grading in either market are due more to a careless or Improper ap- plication Of the system than to the system Itself, although in the case oE New York 1t has been shown that the system is. in some respects, tunda- mentally wrong. Many disputes over part to the absence of a common basls of classified Son. The adoption of uni form standard. of course, should so Tar to reduce the number of such contro- G0s greater uniformity In the quotation of spot prices of cotton, the beneficial et- fect1 of which would be far.reaehtnS.
 Aside from securing greater care Tn thst ths potk Sotk the I Kew SS; York and the New
 Orleans Cotton Exchanges adopt more specific definitions of the character of cotton which shall be tenderable on contract and more specific rules for tn e guidance of classers anu arbitrators
 Such improvements are particularly ds- staple. The proposition that the value of tineed and stained cotton rendered oYa contract in New York be determined by arbitration instead of by the use of arbitrary types for such grades, even also appears to contain some merit, all though there are practical dinicuities in thus modifying the certificate sys- tenn. Suggestions that appeals and re classiheations in the New nork masket ant committee appear to be of doubtful value 1t Is. however, altogether aesir- able that appeals at New Orleans De referred to a larger body of arbitra- tors than that which makes the original Examination The Identification of in dividuaI bales of cotton in New York is innperatlvely demanded, and this irn- proVemeat should be adopted at once. The uncertainties which confront the buyer of a future contract are neces- sariiy great, and the failure to identify excused. At the same time 1t Is desir- abie to increase the efficiency, so far es possible. of the assistant inspectors who make the preliminary examination Of the cotton at the dock or warehouse, so as to secure 6 more nearly uniform connposition of individual lots. As al ready noted, effort has been made by the management or the New fork cot