The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-09-14
MILL MAN ON COTTON.
HE DOES NOT LOOK FOR LOWER
PRICES SOON.
Mr.. j. ID. Hammett Discusses The
Cotton Manufacturing Situation i'm
Trade journal.


lowing Interesting article from Mr..
j. d. Harnmett, a well known cotton
manufacturer of Anderson.
Making cotton cloths for the las.
two years has heen very unsatis-
factory from the manufacturer
standpoint, in that buyers of dry
goods have not been willing to fol-
low the advance in raw cotton.
claiming that this adavnce was un-
reasonable. Whether such advance
Is unreasonable or not the manufac-
turers have had to pay the price;
consequently the mills have made no
money and many of them have suf-
fered a decided loss.
The point made that cotton has ad-
vanced to an unjustifiable height Is,
in our judgment, an unreasonable
position to take, in that the product
of the farms in every other section
or the country has advanced to a
price that allows the farmers a rea-
|
we see no reason why the southern
farmer should not be allowed the
same reasonable profit for his crop.
Harsh words are often used to-
wards the southern farmer because
he asks Is cents per pound for his
cotton, but the people in other parts
OF this country and for foreign coun-
tries forget that but a short time
ago the southern farmer was paid
for his crop less than it cost him to
produce it, and we who are in touch
with the southern farmer know posi-
lively that the suffering on the farms
during the period of low prices was
intense. Though we are manufac-
turers of cotton but feel a sympathy
for the man who suffered in times
past, and we now feel it is nothing
but his due to obtain high prices for
his commodity as an offset or the
low prices obtained only a few years
ago.
|. We feel that the buyers of dry
goods at the moment are making a
very serious mistake in staying out
Of the market, because the South
made very poor crop last year, and
the indications at present are that
a large crop will not be made this
year, and unless there is a large crop
made the price is bound to be
high, and possibly much higher
than I'VE have experienced during
the last twelve months.
AS American citizens it should
be the wish of every one of us to
see high priced cotton the year
round, because with high priced cot
ton we get more money from abroad
and the balance of trade is in our
favor, which certainly must be in
the interest of all. If all the Amer
lean cotton was consumed in Amer
lea there might be some excuse for
American citizens in some portions
of the country to wish for low-pric-
ed cotton, but as the larger part of
the American crop is sold to for
eigners it is in the interest of Amer
lea as a whole to have cotton at a
high price.
| L do not wish to be understood as
favoring extreme prices, but I feel
that buyers of dry goods should ac-
custom themselves to a price of
from IL cents to IA cents per
| pound for cotton, and if goods can
be sold on that basis the mills in
America will be just as prosperous
as they would be on a lower basis.
and the farmers in America who raise
cotton would be on profitable
basis, and be able to buy many
more goods than would be the case
If the price were low.
The drastic curtailment that has
been going on and is now going on
throughout the country, and particu-
larly in the south, will take a great
many pieces of goods out of the
market which cannot possibly be
replaced, and this curtailment is
bound to be felt by the buyers of
dry goods, sooner or later when the
shortage of goods is brought home
to the buyers. as it surely will be.
| there will be a demand for goods
which will probably carry the price
much beyond any price that cotton
goods have reached in the last two
years.
Mills cannot possibly make a pro-
| mt with goods at present prices, and
as we have been going through this
period or loss for some months,