The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-30
A Problem III Cotton.

New Orleans Times-DemOcrat.)
The recent sharp rise in cotton and
the general temper of the market
pose q problem which, though almost
purely academic Just now, may be-
come extremely concrete later Oh. For
it would seem that the trade has be-
gun to lose faith in the possibility
of an adequate American crop and
fill the prospect Of famine-supplies
throughout the next year fills splnners
and zeal spectators alike with alarm.
It is a classic maxim Of economies
that a commodity will always be pro-
duced in sufficient quantities, it the
price be kept high enough. Per con-
ira, economists assume that an alb
normally how level of values will. by
stimulating consumption and restrict
ing production, cause an unWieldy sur
plus to vanish. This theory was not
proved to the entire satisfaction OF
its advocates. during our Civil War:
for, despite the immense stimulus
which other countries then had, they
were not able to fill the void. There
is q limit, beyond which a densely
settled land like East India can not
go IN meeting q crisis Of this sort,
for the people have first to feed
themselves. Even with cotton at 20
pence in Liverpool, the ryots and the
f~ellaheen must think Of their W
SIOIlidcIlS, DClCiC ljiSy illhh u AIlC
worlds back
areas over which cotton may be
grown have vastly wldened of late.
South African continents rave been
brought beneath the British flag and
have, therefore, the ~bulwarks OF law
which go with British rule in all
c~lin1es. Eot only so, but lancashire
is FESTIVE under the American yoke
and iC nranara1 TO SnonI ,Tirnoly
sums in self-defense The town which
raised 20, 600, 900 sterling for the con-
struction Of a sllip-canal 40 miles
long will not hesitate to pour out its
wealth, in the effort to assure I'M
failing supplies of raw material,
be a mere toy. We accordingly find
that the British Cotton Association is
bending all its energies to the task
and that the government is of the
same mind. The American crop Of
1905 was hardly more than 10,50O,-
go: il the crop of 1910 be taken at
1880 900, the average is but II IL.
Or, if we take the aggregate output
OF 1908, 1905 and 1910, we shall have
an average Of less than Il IL which
is by no means enough to give the
spindles a full meal and leave a safe
reserve Britain must, therefore, get
relief from her colonies, or minimize
liz dCttI II W SOI1SA leu dIlu
short time.
In practice, 1t matters not in the
least that our production has shrunk
from causes quite beyond our con
troll. BY no fiat of the human will
can the raVages Of the b~oll-Weevil
and the elements be stayed. The
speculative campaigns n the fierce
fluctuations are not causes. but effects
that are certain as the sunrise. There
wOu1d be neither corners, nor talk Of
orners if Europe could draw cotton
ad libitum from Argentina, Russia,
and Australia, as she draws grain.
The tremendous shortage in ne
Northwestern wheat crop has not
stirred the transatlantic grain mar
kets, as the Texas drought has stirred
the centres which depend upon the
Lone Star State for a sufficient supply
Of the South's chief staple. One need
not marvel, then, that Europe is re-
solved 20 experiment with cotton Gull
ture in South Africa and elsewhere,
It'll she gets what she wants. The
whole fabric of our finance would
feel the loss Of the practical monopoly
which we have hitherto enjoyed. Elk
ports Of grain cease when the price
IS abnormally high, but we continue
TO export cotton all the same. The
SUBJECT deserves the closest thought
OF FARMERS, merchants and ~financ1ers.
Inc periodic famine is, rightly CON
s1oered, no less disquieting than was
the periodic glut which which we