The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-16
MARKET STILL DULL.
IS TaEaE ANY EscogR-
Factors Continue 10 Believe That the Price VIII Advance Dur
 ing the Last of the

"a
 The local cotton market remained dull at same price. @ f-4 cents. No- where Is there any encouragement tinue to believe that the price is bound to advance during the last of the
 A prominent house in New York wires. .sThis market without any ap- parent support fails to respond mate riaiiy to any hammering or efforts to talk 1t down.
 The boil weevii and its damage along with abundant information as to general disposition to diversity the crops and together with the knowledge on the part Of the manufacturers that q good deal less than 2,o00.0O0 bales of last years growth wih remain to be drawn from after March l. are bull ish features which mean gradual lift ing of prices until values are normal.
 From the dry goods market there Is every indication of good demand Re ports from the large wholesalers show regarding that end of the held and that optimism Is on, every ones lips.
 Reliable information from Atlanta. Ga. says: The mill situation seems to be in good shape except for the dulinsss in spinners' yarn. All the, cloth mills are doing good business.l A large consumption of fertilizers IS assured though prices are demoralized dRu0 are 1OWGH bHdu TUT gCAIes
 liverpool-seemed to have weakened yesterday both because of the lack of spot demand and reports of rain in Texas. The latter. however. are turn ing out to be scattered and insignih- cant. in the important part of the State. There were rains in the north ern and central portions of Texas but scarcely any in the western and south ern sections.
 J. H. Kempton. an expert on cotton residing in Galveston wires, Pains in Texas absolutely insignificant. Ex- treme cold weather following will dry up fifty per cent. of the moisture. The lack of rain is growing serious In
 Following Is conservative resume of tho mill situation in cotton:
 The Fall River cotton mannfacturtng corporations dividend exhibit for the drst quarter of 1903. while on it's face . very favorable one. cannot In any sense be taken as indicative of recent or current. conditions In that industry. On Q capitalization of zzb,126, 900 there average of 2.71 per cent. stockholders In eaph of the thirty -four establish. ments which our compilation embraces participating. Furthermore. the cur rent quarters average dividend is ing period Of any year in our record. and appreciably exceeding the result for the first quarter of 109S. But In the present instance the average Jivi- dend gives e fallacious, idea of how shareholders have fared. 1t does not follow that they have not done com paratively well. thanks in part to &C.,. cumulated surplus income from the excellent returns from operations Tn not in any way warranted an average distribution. Supplies of the raw ma terial. it Is trueS are now, and have been for some months past, obtainable A fe..A Aaa am .~H lac Hfaaa rs earlier. out the drop in the value of goods has been relatively much more important. ,s reducing materially the margin for profit. And to the credit taken advantage of the right this mar rowing of profit gave to reduce the wage scale. The wisdom of their fail ure to hold the operatives to the strict letter ot the wage agreement; whiSs doubted. That gracious act should make for more cordial relations be- tween employer. and employe.
 As already stated. the first quarters or an average of 2.71 per cent on the aggregate capitalization which com pares with $561.6S0. or 2.27 per cent. for the corresponding period of 1908. But this years total is swelled to the extent of.esSe0, 900 by one Of the. oc- casiona1ly very large cash dividends of the Union Cotton Manufacturing Co Eliminating that company's dividend from the aggregate, however the av- craze rate Of distribution to share holders in the remaining corporations is found to be 1.60 per cent, which, although lower than in. either of the three years immediately preceding, is above the average of recent years. As regards the individual establishments. 1t is to be noted that twenty-one have maintained the same rate of distribu- ton as in the first quarter of 1908, notwithstanding the less favorable trade situation; and OEe (the Luther Manufacturing Col has declared its initial dividend. On the other hand. eleven will pay out less than a year ago, and in some instances the reduc- tion is quite heavy. In addition to the regular distribution for the quarter, the Troy Cotton and Woolen Manufac- turing Company made provision to is- sue to it's shareholders a 100 per cent. dividend in the shape of coupon bonds.
 Current reports from Fall River fu- dicate that a very fair volume of bust ness is being transacted, and the out look for the future is considered quite satisfactory. although the agitation of tariff revision is not conducive to &C., tive trade.