The Green Forest tribune., 1908-10-23
National Cotton Committee Issues
 Address.

dtiNl lONdy TUT lulCe NtlllS fCl pQuhd less than he did three months ago? We do not think there is. We are further removed from the panic now than we were then. Business condi- tions have improved in all lines. The demand for cotton goods has increased wonderfully in that time. While cot ton is too cheap to sell the unusual has happened in the price of grain and meat. Corn has maintained its high level up to harvest time, and is now selling for $100 per bushel. Wheat is worth S1.00 and flour has advanced fifteen cents per barrel this week Meat is selling at midsummer prices So it is with everything except cot ton. There is no legitimate cause for this lethargy and consequent loss of many millions to the South. South Carolina and Georgia will produce much less cotton than last year, Ala bama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Ar kansas are short, and Oklahoma crops are late and very much less than one year ago. Texas alone shows small increase, but her gains cannot make up the loss in other States. The visi- ble supply was considerably less Sep tember 1st 1908, than it was Septem- Der 1st, 1907. The invisible supply and mill stocks are smaller than for years. The amount of old cotton still in the hands of the farmers has been much exaggerated. There is not enough in their hands to figure materially in the worlds supply. The stocks of goods are depleted all along the line from the local merchant to the factory floors. A small visible supply, re- duced invisible supply, crop no larg- CT if as large as last year, the re- tail merchants shelves bare, the job bers shelves bare, the mill stocks de- pleted combined make a good showing for higher prices. To make the situa- tion more acute, we have an increased demand for all kinds of cotton goods. In our opinion this is the opportunity of the South to assert herself and bring general prosperity to her citi- Zens. This is a time when concert of action will count for much. Cotton today should be selling for 12 1-2 cents if natural conditions had anything to less because growers are pessimistic about the price and sell too freely. The slow marketing of the crop will cer- tainly advance the price. Fair values will benefit every interest in the South as much as it will the cotton produ- cers themselves We feel that every patriotic citizen should and will coop crate with us in our effort to market this crop as the world needs it, in- stead of following that most senseless policy of giving the world a twelve months supply in three months. The farmers who are not members of our organization, the supply merchants, the cotton commission merchants, the country and city banks, and the pro- fessional men should cooperate with us, but they cannot do so effectively without organization. We therefore appeal to all these interests to cooper ate with our holding agencies or from organizations of their own, appoint committees to confer with like con- mittees from other bodies and let that general conference be known as a cot ton congress. This would unify every interest in the South in one harmoni- ous cooperative plan for general pros perity of our common country. Each farmer, each business man, each pro- fessional man, each commission cot ton house, and each bank could invest in a few bales of cotton at the pres ent low price and put such cotton into dead cotton account, thus taking it off the market indefnately Such ac. tion would result in advancing the price of the remainder of the crop un- til it will sell for more than the whole crop.
 With the price advanced, this dead supply of cotton could be sold for profit on the investment. Such re- suits can be secured by cooperation, and we urge upon every southern man who loves his home and his country to get busy. We believe that not a bale of this crop should sell for less than 12 1-2 cents.
 The Farmers Union
 National Cotton Committee
 G. R. Hightower, Sec
 MaDnbic Tanp