The new South-news., 1908-03-07

recently spcn, two weeks in the Al
laniic states studying conditions pre-
vnlling A. to the cotton crop Of last
-ear and IN conference with Union
officials from other states. Whiie
on .ai~ Trip he made an exhaustive
investigation OF the situation. and
while passag through Jackson on his
return trip. gave oat the following
interview that should be read care
fully by every man interested IN our
Erea, staple crop;
"Within the last thirty DAYS | |
have visited six Of tho most important |
cotton producing states. | have con-
frrrcd witt the officers Of the Union
from all of the cotton stascs except
South Carolina aud Florida. | have
talked with leading men engaged IN
the c,ltou trade. aud with cotton mill
mea BY the scores. All who have
hrcn frank enough TO express them
selves (and many of them havcl,
aglee with me that the American crop
the remainder of which u now on
hand. is about two million bales short
of the crop just preceding II, and thai
the crop of foreign countries Which
gov cotton is two million bales short
of last years crop. making the
worlds yield OF cotton for the year
1907. four million bales short of the
crop of 1906.
"The Southern mills have enough
cotton to run them until about the
middle Of March; the New England
n.lls have only sn5ueh to run them
until the frs, Of April, the European
mill. have bought more freely. but
they must still have a great deal OF
American cotton to keep their mills
in operation the remainder of the
But what about the talk that the
trade conditions of the world VIII
in a measure counteraci this shortage
in the raw materinlS
"This is only a scare crow set nr
BY interested parties to make ths
weak -knccd break ranks and saer.
, Ace ihcir holdings. It is true thai
, trade has been little dull and ths
jobbrrs, (not tho mills), have reduced
prices a little on the light weigh
euods, but that is only temporarily
Iii isa fact that New York for SOM
. time has been crowded with Wesser'
and Southern merchants buying fIvs|
stocks. China and Korea, for the drs
time in two years, have within lh
last two weeks become active buyer
in American markets. These eountrie
!, are very large consumers OF cotto
and have bought practically noth'n
for two years, 40 their stock on han
is necessarily very low. We may FL
: : pcct them to be free buyers IN tn
~ ! 7lSsy.t 1kai1 1kai1 for 1As Tsma'nds
Of the year.
What u truth is there in the report
that the Farmers Union Of Texas
and Arkansas ere selling large quan'
: titles Of cottonf
"That is an old chestnut and no.
body is paying any attention 10 it. A
! sale Of ten bales Of distressed cotton
in Arkansas is reported by the bear
gang in Georgia ~ . sale Of ten
thousand bales Of Union cotton, and
sale of fifteen bales Of distressed
cotton in Texas is reported by the
same crowd in Mississippi as . sale
of eight thousand bales Of Union cot
ton. he fact is, that very little
cotton is selling anywhere. The buy
err-s1Il me that the Situation Tor them
is absolutely desperate.
~ the business interests Of the
South would tomorrow change front
and quit preaching pcssimism and
talk optimism on this question, ths
moral support thus gwen would ad.
vance the price Of cotton ten dollars
per bale within ten days. and would
thus make it possible for the boys in
the trenches to buy more pairs Of
shoes and barrels Of -four ss;icb 9th
erwise they. could not buy.
II il CLEANED from this Interview y
from President High,ower that the
South absolutely holds the whip rvin
as to the price Of cotton now on
hand. The mills are short and must
soon buy, the demand is reasonably
good and prices will remain firm. we
have the cotton and must get the
price fixed. Every Union man, a. weH
A. others who raise cotton and still
have some on hand. il urged TO read
thm carefully, cut it out and preserve
Tor future reference. Stand by the
Union and the battle il won for this
season Il least IL We get fifteen
cents for ths cotton being held there
will Be no trouble to hold ten times
- much this fall.