The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-20
President of the New Orleans Exchange Speaks Before the
 Cation Association
COTTON GAMBLING IS
 BROADLY DISCUSSED
MT. Thompson Declares That the New Orleans Cotton Exchange Is the Best Friend the Southern
 Planter Has.

Dallas Tex, February 19.-The featura
 or the first days proceedings of the an- nual convention of the Southern Cotton
 association here today was the addre,s
 Of W. B. Thompson. president of the New orieans Cotton exchange. Mir. Thompson,
 "hose subject was "fhe Functions of
 Legitimate Cotton Exchanges" was fre quently interrupted by questions from del egates The substance of his argument
 was that the New Orleans Cotton ex-
 change is an indispensable adjunct to tha
 cotton-raising industry of the south in
 that it furnishes market where the sell CT may post the price he is willing to take, and the buyer may post what he is
 Willing to pay for the staple He de-
 elared against gambling where no actual cotton was involved. but favored dealing
 In futures, saying this was absolutely
 necessary
 several delegates replied to MT. Thomp-
 son. B. w. Marston of East Point. La. declared that the distinction which Mir. Thompson attempted to draw between an
 exchange and bucketshop was the dff-
 ference between tweedle-dee and tweedle- dum."
 C. H. Jenkins of Brownwood, Tex. au- thor of the Texas anti-bucketshop law. asked why the New Orleans Cotton ex-
 change. if it was really opposed to gam bling In cotton. could not really indorse the Texas anti-bucketshop law whicl, did not prohibit dealing in futures. provided
 
 that the New Orleans Cotton exchange att tempted to get through the Texas .legisla- | ture in place of the bill which was act- l ualls passed, what is known as the wat son bill. and desired to have all the small
 CT exchanges and the New York exchange | closed so it could have the entire field to itself.
 Not Responsible.
 MT Thorpson denied that the New Or leans exchange as an exchange had ever attempted to influence legislation in any state, and that the organization should
 not be held responsible for individual members.
 J. A. Taylor of Guthrie. Okla. R. F.
 Daneey of Houston and NJ. L. Johnson of Class Station, Ga. also joined in the dis eussion. E. D. Smith of Columbia S. C., declared that in going after the buck etshops, the convention was allowing itself to De switched from the real issue. Men get rich by attending to their own business,' said he. Let us attend to our business by proceeding to make ar- , engagements to warehouse and finance the cotton. What somebody in Liverpool or New York or New Orleans may write on d piece of tissue paper about the price of cotton is no concern of ours Let us get together and demand the price. and
 no longer be deceived by few idle fig ures on tissue paper"
 c. C. Clark, associate statisticlan of the United States department of agriculture.
 read paper on the methods employed by the bureau in relation to government cot ton crop reports. President Harvie Jordan said tonight that by tomorrow the delayed delegations will have arrived. and large attendance will be on hand.
 Thompson's Address. MT Thompson spoke in part as follows: The cotton growers of the south are the greatest wealth-producers of the world The cotton growing industry is potential to make the south the richest country in the world. In the years gone by, because of helplessness for a while. and then because of the habit of sub mission the south has realized the mini mum benefit from it's great opportunity, and like blind and listless Dives has accepted the crumbs, while the body of the feast has been swept away and fed to others. Let the cotton planter realize the possibilities of his advantages and
 1t will follow that every other business
 interestin of the south and every acre of land and every share of stock In busi-
 ness enterprises will increase in value.
 believe that the time is ripe for the sue
 cess of a combined and well directed ef-
 fort to realize these possibilities. The is-
 sue is sectional, but sectional only in
 the just and patriotic sense. We should
 unite to help our country and ourselves
 and not to harm each other wrong any
 one. The pride and intolerance of ind-
 vidual opinion as to means and methods:
 the misunderstanding that unfortunately
 exists between those who pursue different
 lines of thought and the prejudice that
 arises from this want of understanding are the obstacles that obstruct and nullify
 many great general movements for good.
 But I am sure that if we strive to throw
 aside our prejudices and utilize the best thought of honest and earnest men a com- mon ground of understanding and endeav-
 or will be reached eventually and soon.
 A Gold Mine.
 "The cotton crop of the United States
 for the past four years has averaged a
 little over 12. 000.000 bales per year The
 average value of each of these crops was
 s650, ,000oOo Of this total average crop.
 100000 bales were exported to foreign
 countries and were exchanged for $400,000-
 0O0 This enormous value is each year
 created It is snatched from nothing and added to the wealth of the world It is as if each year the cotton growing states disc vored a gold mine that yielded close to $1 .o00,0O0 900. A difference of cent per pound in the price realized for the crop each year means difference of over S60- O0O 0O0h A saving of even 30 cents per bale in the cost of handling and market