The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-04-30
A|abamian Is Suspicious Ot Action Taken Toward the
 May Cotton Pool
WHY WAS NOT EATEN
 INVESTIGATED BEFORE !?
Craig Thinks It Is Very Curious That Patten Cornercd Wheat Without Alarming Government Hut
 Cannot Boost Cotton
BY wATTERsoN srEALEY

Washington April 2a--tspecial) )-Rep- resentative Craig of Alabama wishes to know why the department of justice is so very busy in Investigating alleged pools for the advancement of prices on cotton after having been splendidly inert when wheat was cornered and the price of it was run so high that the price of bread was increased and the staff of life, so far as that stick was employed in the United States, was twirled by one man. That the one man was James Patten, who Is now being investigated because he Is alleged to be one of the bull pool on the cotton market makes the sudden activity in the department of justice all the more notable MT. Craig thinks.
 His resolution was that the Attorney General transmit to Congress, if not in- compatible with the public interest, all facts in the possession of his department concerning the investigations being made in New York and New Orleans especially the fact whether or not the investigation was instgated by any person or compi- nation of persons interested in making a reduction of the price of cotton. The resolution recalls the Patten wheat deals
 
 Patten's Manipulation
 "The resolution is introduced for the purpose of having the House and the country advised as to whether there is any real reason for the investigation or whether the machinery of the government has been put In motion merely to depress the price of cotton. If the gentlemen pro- ceeded against have really violated the law, or if the Attorney General has in- formation of reliable nature connect ing them with a. violation of the law, then say. and 1 believe the House will say, that he should proceed against them at once without interruption. If. or, the otoher hand the department of justice is being used as an agency of the bears to reduce the price of cotton before their May contracts become due, then the country ought to be so advised.
 Again the resolution is intended to ob- tain information to whether any steps are being taken to find out if there is d pool formed among the New York bears to depress the price of cotton at this time. This should be as interesting to the At torney General as the alleged bull pool seems to be. It certainly is to the cotton planters.
 'The resolution further inquiries whether any prosecution was ever commenced against James A. Patten for cornering May and July wheat last year and fore ing the price of flour up to record-break- ing prices. So far as 1 have learned MT. Patten and his operations did not inter- est the department of justice at that time, the fact that the bread of the country was under the control of one man was, it would seem, mere bagatelle and un- worthy, of the notice of the government. The farmers of the north and west were reaping the benefits then, and nothing was done to stop the advance of wheat. but now that a southern product, under conditions that make t scarce, begins to come into its own and command a price commensurate with the demand for it the government thinks it must step in. so 1t is strongly alleged in the newspapers, and prosecute certain dealers, including Pat ten in that commodity with the result that the price is materially depressed.
 we wish to know if it is what Patten does that interests the department. or if it Is whether he does it with wheat | cotton? With crop of l05oo,0o0 bales and demand for 13.Ooa0l9 which is the condi- ton this wear, b and 16 cents is not too much for cotton.
 Which Are the Gamblers ':I understand that the alleged s-embers of the alleged bull pool all say that they are not speculating, but that they want real cotton, and that they contracted for real cotton The trouble seems 10 be that the people who sold to them were gam bling, and did not have the cotton they contracted to sell, and are therefore now in difficult straits.
 Hinder ordinary conditions cotton should have advanced in an unpre cedented manner this week wh an frost and snow | killed the crop all over the south, but be- cause of this investigation the market has | been depressed, and only a comparatively small advance has been realized.
 | ''The resolution In no way questions the motives of the Attorlx General. We of the south simply want 10 know what the facts are, and whether those who are fighting for a low price cotton are be- ing closely watched and investigated by