The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-04-23


official statement is given out from
the meeting, it may be stated that
the Intervention OF federal authori-
ties in the market just at this time
is deemed unwarranted, and is TAX
en- as showing a possible bias in fa-
vor of the markets depression In
dividual statements concerning the
situation have been obtained from
number Of mill men and these out
line plainly the position of the manu-
facturers.
Lewis w. Parker, president of the
Olympia and CRANKY mills Of Colum-
bia and Victor and Appalach mills
Of Greer, said, after the conference:
IF the action of the grand jury in
New York looks towards the inves-
Southern mills to take up cotton in
New York, can only say that / have
purchased contracts on the New
York cotton exchange and have ar
ranged to accept the cotton due on
these contracts. The New York cot
ton exchange has always claimed that
its contracts represented actual cot
ton and that there would be deliver
ed actual cotton when contracts were
purchased. The Southern mills have
simply found it to their interest to
buy these contracts and expect the
cotton, and the New York exchange
owes it to itself to see to 1t that the
cotton is delivered.
There has been long in my mind
a view that the effect of extreme spec
ulative selling of cotton contracts
was to depress the price of spot cot
ton and ] have felt that the only way
didn't have lesson was for the spin
ners who need cotton to buy con-
tracts on the exchange. This year
conditions were such that the mills
who needed cotton, inasmuch as cot
ton was selling considerably cheaper
on the New York cotton exchange
than it sold in the South, were justi
fed in buying on the exchange. Be-
sides that, it has been to the inter-
ests Of the spinners to maintain a
steady price for cotton and to pre-
vent the extreme fluctuations which
have appeared from time to time"
Capt. E. A. Smyth, president of the
Pelzer mills said that he understood
that the representatives of the New
York cotton exchange, when they tes-
titled before the congressional COM
mittee to investigate the New York
cotton exchange, said that all sales
on the New York exchange were ex-
pected to be for delivery Of actual
cotton and that the exchange stood
! to see that all cotton sold by mem
bers Of the exchange was delivered
Some weeks ago the New York cot
ton exchange depressed the price of
| contracts in New York far below a
in the South, and the mills needing
cotton felt they could secure cotton
cheaper in New York by buying those
contracts than they could buy the
actual spot cotton in the South at
the time.
''They did SO, I understand, having
two objects in view," he said. Zone
to buy cotton cheaper than they
could buy it at home, and believing
that the cotton would be delivered to
them without question, according to
the testimony above referred to, and
the second reason was that the New
York contracts, being depressed, were
having an injurious effect on the
value Of cotton goods, and by buying
the cotton in New York they believed
they could maintain the full relative
value of the New York contracts on
| a parity with spot cotton, and in this
way stimulate the dry goods business.
SO far their expectations have been
realized and cotton quotations in
New York, on which values are bas-
ed as a general rule, have been main
tanned nearer the value of spot cot
ton and the law of supply and de-
mand has been followed; but it
would appear now that some cotton
dealers in New York have sold cot
ton that they did not have and are
applying for relief in some way to
avoid filling their contracts with the
cotton mills"
President j. M. Geer of EaSley
mills said:
"The interference by Mr.. Wicker
sham is simply outrageous. An at