The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-19

MI. NlOleL III AIdIluIdCluIS INCS-
7 beg to acknowledge your tele-
gram of even cate, reading as follows:
Are not foreign SplnnerS puylnS
cotton heavily, while American SPIN
ners are holding off, hoping TOR lower
prices? Please write me fully TOT
publication or 70 rmy own lnlorila-
tion your views on the sltuatlon:
IT has seemed to me hat the snort
time movement, either already 1naus-
urated or about to be in this country,
following the movement OF a Siihlldl
character in Great Britain ana OH Tic
Continent during the past suniidei'
has been a uslStake, IN view OF TIC
shortness, and probably extreme
shortness, of the cotton crop, ana tne
surprise has been all the greater that
the mills should nave par
ticipated in this movement, consluer-
ing how closely in touch with the
situation in the cot,on-proua :
states they are. In other words, II
naturally would have followed with a
continental deterioration in the crop
during the past three or four montns,
that the Southern cotton mills Woulu
have availed themselves OF ms knoWl-
edge and protected themselves ny
b1ving contracts at prices then rul-
ing at some three or four cents lower
than now and while this may nave
been done to q very moderate extent,
it was done, apparently, IN lew IL
stances, only ecaus or thelf paTucl-
patton in the effort to bring ABOUT a
reduction of working hours of their
resnectiye mills. Jointly with a SINH
lar movement among the New Eng
land mills.
The exports since September l snow
that while foreign spinners have been
doing a good deal of talking and
threatening, they have lost no time
in buying cotton as rapidly as the
movement to the small and large in
terror towns permitted and apparent
" thew have had it moved to the
ports as fast as freight ears could
carry it
The query arises, whether while
abusing speculation for putting the
market up, the foreigner has not been
quietly picking up all he could get his
hands on. and having bought at much
lower prices than now, he will be
able to establish a very good average
when paving present or even higher
prices, which latter, in my opinion,
are to materialize through this pres
ent season. while at the same time
the abuse of the speculation was the
burden of the song of the New Eng
land spinner but he did not follow
in the footsteps in the above respects,
of his foreign brother.
With q yield of say II. $50, 600 bales,
which MANY claim will soon generally
become q maximum estimate (agalnSt
13.S0O.OOO bales last season., the port
receipts were on the Sth inst, accord
ing to the Financial Chronicle, 1,513,-
12S bales, against 1,364,O70 last year,
and the receipts at the So interior
towns, constituting interior visible
supply of cotton in this country, show
receipts of 1,032,499 bales, against l.
O19, S14 last year But as the stocks
at the interior towns on the same
date were 321, 709 bales, against $685.
156 last year, it shows that the cot
ton has moved out, as / said before,
Just as fast as it has come in, and
therefore the port receipts, being SO
much larger than last years, is d bull
argument instead of a bear one, lndl-
eating, as it does, the extent Of the
mill requirements as quite 80 per cent
of the movement at the ports Is cot
ton for export, or on its way to New
England mills, but mostly the former.
In other words, cotton does not leave
the interior until it has been sold.
Otherwise, to consign it to the ports
and pay new storage and other
charges would be poor business.
Cotton for New England mills goes
mostly overland, and this overland to
the mills since September ], has been
1908 bales, against 36,77S last year.
How much has gone to New Eng
land mills from the Gulf and Atlantic
ports via New York, Boston, etc, the
Chronicle doeS not show, but the fig
ures given for Northern %spinnerS' TAX
ings since September l are 148,S74
bales, against 1888 last year, show
ing very clearly that even with TAX