The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-24
COTTON IS
 STILL KING
 ----s----- Interesting Discussion in
 the House. REPUBLICANS DIscoMFITED Sopthsrn Farmers are Holding Three Million EaIes. Congressnan Henry D. Clayton Says the Recent Panic Has Net A. feetea the Honest Farsners
 ia Aiabama.- "a I 4 aI
BY ALFRED ;. STOPPER.

w asninBton,s r'eD. <s.--tepeclai.J . J-sAn recent discussion in the House in which the Republican panic" as so many of the Democrats insist upon call- ing it. to the discomiture of their po- litical opponents, Representative Clay- ton made the following pointed and terrupted by Congressman Mann of H. llnois. to whofn heE replied:
 T desire to repeat what l attempted to say a few moments ago. and that is. fected us h the cotton gfowing South up to this time, as much as it had af. fected those in the great commercial centers of the East and of the West and of the Northwest, perhaps IL cex- mers down In Alabama as much Rs 1t has the gamblers and the rotten banks of New York city and believe that the South today Is In better condition and is the most inviting field In the country for investment. On one occa- sionf our amiahIs speaker accused me of being optimistic, and he spread out his arms and said.
 Clayton you and the other 1op- timlsts get out there and you talk about our glorious country
 Now he sometimes indulges in that evidence of optimism himself. but want to say to the gentelman today that the farmers of the south hold B. VVbsVVV DaAS8 u&f CotS0ns
 Not Wall Street Property.
 That cotton docs not belong to Wall Street. Nobody has a mortgage on it. It belongs to those people in the South. aud they have it in the South today. The gentleman can realize that that cotton is worth from S2So.0o0. .00e to esoo. 100000. The South is in better condition to hold that cotton than 1t ever was. and we are going to hold it until the British spinners give us a reasonable price for it. The gentleman events. particularly in the matter ce cottOn--he 10 moro Interested in heef and pork. apd hence he ewlncna al#eYe q lively anteresk wheneKer xharn iA q B0rIt taxFEI Bxou64i3 aAt0 &zs4 1Efpunas (kaukhfer1 bus #8 haps this Asiprmoug ahnpUnt ef cotton and tfi2 eouth today is indebtsd @ the British spfnnsvs al- most altogether for the knaintsnhncs Of the present price of cotton.
 During the last cotton year the South produced fs.eo0.000 baies of cot ton. Before that cotton year had ex- pfred, and in the face of the new crop. cotton advanced to 13 1-3 cents q pound in the interior. This year; when we have a cotton crop of only about i1.500.O0o bales, cotton is atsoted in New York. think, today at about 10.45
 
 crop of f1.600.0 bales wefth only 10 t-2 centss while a cotton crop of l3, ,500, 900 bales was worth 13 I-2 centsf give this to ti1a aentleman from Illinois (AEr. MannJ Co think about. and to help us to remedy the situation and appeal tc his party to remedy the situation as far as legis-' lAtion may do it, It is on account Of a Republican panic; 1t is on account Of your failure to enact proper laws: 1t is on account of your failure to enact proper nnan- cial legislation, to enact proper tafiff laws, to do something for the good and for the benefit of the country. and you cannot wonder why the cotton growers of the South continue to vote for the Democratic ticket in the face of all of this Republican inefficieney, and, I may say. stupidity. Daughter and applause on the Democratic side).
 Mir. Keifer-W.ll the gentleman yield?
 Mir Clayton--Certainly.
 Mr Keifer--I would like to have the gentleman state from his statistics what the price of cotton vas in the Republican side). 8
 HistOricaI Referenees. s Mir. Clayton-It went down pretty low. but it went down lower under Me- Kinley in 1898. (Appiause on the Dem ocratic s.de). I am always willing to hear from the distinguished gentleman from Ohio, particularly when want to Indulge in ancient historical reference. and to hear a sweet voice from the long-gone past. Democratic ap- plsuse). .-
 In a conversation today. Senator Johnson remarked that if 1t was not for cotton, this country would be in 8 deplorable condition at times, for it is the cotton we send abroad more than anything else that keeps up our sup ply of gold. Just then the Alabama Senator reached in his pocket and pull cd out the ofiicial figures in regard to the exports for the month of January Of this year. Those figures. he said. spoke for themselves. and he proposes to use them on tie floor of the Senate at tbe first favorable opportunity.
 Tn round numbers fhe value of the exports for the month referred to was as follows Corn, S4,000.000; wheat. $i2.00O 900; -four. s7,0Oo 900; other breadstuffs. $l,000.000; meat and dairy products. sl6,000.o00: cattle. hogs and sheep. S3,000.0 900; mineral oils, S7,00O,- 900: cotton. $76.6s0.0 900.
 Those figures" remarked Senator Johnston. tell the whole story. Cotton