Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-11-01
CROP NOT LARGE, SAYS PRICE.
Thinks the Cotton Producers Are
Guilty of Financial Suicide.

ing OF the Governors of the cotton
States to devise some plan by which
the cotton planters can be saved the
millions Of dollars they are losing by
selling their cotton at the present low
prices, Theodore IL. Price. the great
cotton dealer of New York, offers
some valuable suggestions and gives
his views on the cotton situation.
The following extracts from Mr..
Prices letter will be read with inter-
est:
"My work in connection with the
cotton picking machine. has, for the
past two months, taken me into num-
bcr!cS& cotton fields throughout the
State Of Texas, and | have had an OPP
portunity to make comparative
study OF the crop that few men have
enjoyed. do not think that the crop
Is much In excess Of that Of last year,
and am more and more impressed
with the arduous and unremitting
toll that is required to produce cot
ton.
81 have felt for some time that the
producers Of cotton were guilty Of
financial suicide in their present com
petition, as to VINO would sell their
cotton cheapest, and | therefore ex-
press my sympathy with and hearty
approval Of your plan to call meet
ing Of the Governors of the cotton
States with a view Of considering the
situation.
Under normal conditions, be-
l'eVe that the cost Of producing cot
ton Is 9 cents pound. And when we
take into consideration the invest
meat and the hazard involved in the
planting and cultivation of cotton, to
say nothing Of the picking, it is ridic-
ulous that the South should sell it's
cotton without profit, and at a loss If
the grade be below middling, as a
great deal Of this years crop prom
ises to be.
"The question is not a local or sec
tlonal one. 1t is true that the price
OF cotton affects the entire business
structure and the 1S,0OO,OO0 people
resident In the cotton States, but the
Importance Of the issue becomes ma
t1onal IN its scope when we remember
nearly all our exports Of cotton con-
stitute nearly our whole balance Of
trade, and that 1t is with cotton that
We pay our debts to Europe. If the
price Of the article is deprecated our
debt-paying power is impaired.
"Although in Europe and America
the spinning industry is highly or
ganlzed. and in America at least our
splnners arc the beneticiaries Of an
exceedingly high tariff, | think | am
correct IN stating that the spinners Of
the world would rather see cotton
selllhS at stable than at an abnor-
| mally low price. 1t is only because
each spinner fears his competitor
may be able to buy cotton cheapcr
ana so produce goods cheaper. that
! he prOcraStinates i'm securing his SUP
! plleS at time when the cotton pro-
| ducerS OF the South, through their
! own iatuity, arc daily depreciating in
| value the results Of their painful toll.
'Onc pound OF cotton produces on
! an average five yards Of cloth An
| advance or cents pound in cotton
| therefore means an advance of less
| than one cent yard in the cost Of
cloth The world requires all the
! cotton goods that can be made from
an American crop OF l4,0OO,00O
bales. In ten years it will require the
equivalent OF 20,OoO,00O bales of
American cotton and a cent a yard
| more or less is difference that is
| not appreciated by the thousands and
| millions consumers Of cotton goods.
'On the other hand, cents a
pound on crop Of 1000, 900 bales
means $3.50. 900. 900 annually to the
South and to the United States It
means the difference between imDov-
erlshmcnt and prosperity for the peo-
pie IN TINS section and it means diff
terence OF 5 100000 annually in
the basis OF Q rcdit abroad.
"While the Il ting OF the Cover
nors Of the Southern States that YOU
have called is step in the right di-
rcction, fear it will be without cf-
feet unless at that meeting some def
mite and concrete proposition is
agreed upon that will afford relief
from the present Situa don. The num-
erous agricultural organizations of
the South have, in the past, from
time to time, met and passed resolu-
tionS calling upon farmers to hold
their cotton, but in every instance
the farmers have ignored these rcso-
lutions and proceeded to sell their
cotton, so that their last state was
worse than the first.
'Thcir inability to hold t'cir oct
| ton was made clear by their diSrc-
gard Of the resolutions and those in
trrcSicd emphasize the weakness OF
| the situation as thus expressed. AS
| a mattcr OF fact, it is impossible for
| the Farmers OF the South to hold their
| cotton during the first two or three
! months or the season, and % per
| cent OF the crop always comes i'm
| sight by December |.
''Practically all the cash and credit
resources Of the Southern States are
tied up In the planting, cultivation
and picking Of cotton and to with
hoil the crop from tn" market when
! ii is ready to be sold would be to
| diSarrangC the entire credit machin-
cry OF this section. If. therefore,
your convention shall only have what
| | may describe as Il conversational