The Kemper herald., 1908-03-05
y q. I BLAKEsLEE. Jaens.n. Mis-,

President Hightower Of the Mis-
sissippi Branch Of the Farmers Union
recently spent two weeks in the At
lantic states studying conditions pre-.
vailing as to the cotton crop Of last
year and in conference with Union
officials from other states. While
on this trip he made an exhaustive
investigation of the situation, and
while passing through Jackson on his
return trip, gave out the following
interview that should be read care
fully by every man interested in our
great staple crop:'
"Within the last thirty days ]
have visited six Of the most important
cotton producing states. / have con-
ferred with the officers of the Union
from all Of the cotton states except
South Carolina and Florida. / have
talked with leading men engaged in
the cotton trade, and with cotton mill
men By the scores. All who have
been frank enough to express them
selves land many Of them have), !,
agree with me that the American crop
the remainder of which is now on
hand, is about two million bales short
of the crop just preceding it, and that
the crop Of foreign countries which
grow 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
mills have only enough to run them
until the first of April the European
mills have bought more freely, but
they must still have great deal of
American cotton to keep their mills
in operation the remainder of the
year.
But what about the talk that the
trade conditions of the world will
in measure counteract this shortage
in the raw materialf
"This is only scare crow set up
by interested parties to make the
weakened break ranks and sacrl
fee their holdings. 1t is true that
trade has been a little dull and the
jobbers, (not the mills, have reduced
prices a little on the light weight
goods, but that is only temporarily.
It rs fact that New York for some
time has been crowded with Western
and Southern merchants buying fresh
stocks. China and Korea, for the first
time in two years, have within the
last two weeks become active buyers
in American markets. These countries
are very large consumers Of cotton
and have bought practically nothing
for two years, so their stock on hand
is necessarily very low. We may ex-
pect them to be free buyers in the
American markets for the remainder
Of the yea" !"
What is truth is there in the report
that the Farmers Union of Texas
and Arkansas are selling large guam
titles of cottonq
"That is an old chestnut and no
body is paying any attention to it. A
sale of ten bales Of distressed cotton
in Arkansas is reported by the bear
gang in Georgia as sale of ten
thousand bales of Union cotton, and
a 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
ers-4rll me that the situation for them
is absolutely desperate.
"If the business interests of the
South would tomorrow change front
and quit preaching pessimism and
talk optimism on this question, the
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, which 9th
erwise they could not buy"
1t is cleaned from this interview
from President Hightower that the
South absolutely holds the whip rein
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, as well
as others who raise cotton and still
have some on hand, is urged to read
this carefully, cut it out and preserve
for future reference. Stand by the
Union and the battle is won for this
sesson at least. If we get fifteen
cents for the cotton being held there
will be no trouble TO hold ten times
as much this fall.