The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-20
COTTON MARKET IN AQUEER POSITION May Have to Fight for Its
 Existence SCOTT BILL IS TEST And All Attention Will Probably Be Turned to Washington This Weel
 to Watch Developments.
 March Notice Day H

New Orleans, February 19.-The cotton market this week may be put in one of the queerest positions in it's history-thdt Of being about to fight for it's very exist ence in the courts of the country Should the tide turn strongly in favor of the Scott bill, the leading cotton exchanges of the country would probably immediate ly get their legal counsel at work in order 10 test the constitutionality of a law that prohibits future trading in one commodi- ty but says nothing about future trading in other commodities. This might prove satisfactory to those who want to ses such a law tested and agitation against futures stopped, but in the meantime very little speculation or very little legitima Ls trading would be done in the contract
 market
 Because the Scott bill is now squarely
 up to the Senate, the conservative ele- n.ent, both in the future and the spot de- partments, will stay out of the market as much as possible this week. Any little
 turn in the legislature situation will serve
 to rob all other features of their impor-
 tance just as was the case last week. The opinion among cotton people all in
 this market is that the Scott bill will not
 become a law, but this will not be a cer- ta nty until the vote of the Senate goes against it or Congress adjourns without
 any action. The market will be unsettled
 until something definite takes place.
 Ii the attention of the trade is not too
 much taken up by Washington. the new crop situation will assume growing lm- portance. The first seed of the new crop
 has already been planted and this weex if the weather is favorable many points in the earliest sections of Texas will send i'll reports of planting. Much depends upon Texas and Oklahoma this season,
 and if weather conditions continue to favor these two states this week the mar net will be bound to be affected. Crop preparations everywhere in the belt will be watched closely, and if no setbacks come into sight the bear element in the
 crop will have an easier time than 1t has had since speculation entered the new crop months.
 The chief event of importance in connec- ton with the old crop months that may be looked for this week is the first notice
 day for March. Thursday will be the
 first notice day for that delivery In tiie
 market. while Friday will be the first
 rotice day in New York. It is not ex- rected that large amount of cotton Will be rendered on March contracts in thts market, but it is rumored that the pears have matte ,prepara tions for large tenders
 m New York, and, moreover, have se- cul ed the cotton belt for every bale or trashy cotton that would pass inspec. ion. Word has gone out from the bull co,on that all notices will be stopped. The extreme quiet of the bull clique of late. however, has caused much nervousness among the weaker longs in March, and it would not be surprising to see consid- ! erable liquidation of what remains Of the | long interest in the March delivery before | line notice days come around 1 statistics this week will probably show ,,p more bullishly than ever and will be of great interest in their bearing on the ,road question of supply and demand.