Evening star., 1911-06-09
enter COTTON BELT
English Syndicate Buys Land
in the South.
WILL START PLANTATION
Invasion Is Regarded by Farmers as
Serious Menace to Their
Interests.
ILL START PLANTATION

| English cotton spinners are commencing
! an invasion OF the American cotton belt
that is causing much uneasiness among
the local growers. as the object 10 to
lower the price Of export cotton, which
| is just bringing what the southern plant
ers consider fair price.
A syndicate OF the English spinners
has gone into the heart OF the cotton
belt and bought several thousand acres
Of land at the market price, and is ar
| ranging to start a big plantation where
machinery will be used to the fullest pos
sibie extent and advantage taken OF
every labor-sav device to bring the
price of cotton to the producer as low
as possible.
The syndicate proposes to use the pro-
duce of the big plantation in it's mills,
and, while this will not furnish even
small fraction of the amount of cotton
the English spinners require, they pro-
pose to invest the saving between the
market price and the producing price of
cotton In more land, so that II the ex-
pertinent is success they can gradually
produce something approaching the ing
lish demand.
Regarded as Serious.
This move Is looked upon by the south
their field. The most powerful combi-
nation of cotton growers is the Farmers
Union of the south, and c. s. Barrett,
the president Of this union, has issued
a statement to the southern cotton grow
ers. warning them that this invasion
will have to be seriously reckoned with.
Mr.. Barrett says that the only answer
to the move of the English mills. which
| means absentee landlordism. is for the
present tenant farmers all to own their
own farms. He says this is a matter
of Importance to the south's business in
terests, and that the banks and business
men should help all local tenant farmers
to buy their holdings, SO that they will
form a permanent planting population
and have an interest in improving their
farms SO as to meet outside competition
Thomas w. Newton of Little Maulmele,
Ark, has laid the case before Secretary
Wilson, and the Secretary has replied
that as there is no law against the Eng
lish syndicate owning as many acres as
it wants in the south the only way for
the American farmer to meet the COM
petition is for him to raise more cotton
to the acre and raise 1T cheaper He
says there Is room for Improvement, both
in the character of American cotton and
that If the foreigner can use improved
methods and raise cheap cotton the
American planter can do the same.
Price of Export Cotton.
The price of export cotton Is much
more pressing in England than it is here.
America raises about three-fifths Of the
cotton crop of the world. and the Eng
lish mills have to have the American
crop or shut down. The margin of liv-
ing between wages and actual starvation
is so low fer the operatives In the Eng
ish mill towns that the gbutting down
of a mill or the curtailing Of output is
a local calamity.
The English spinners have been trying
for years to free themselves OF depen-
dence on the American crop. and several
years ago spent considerable money
clearing fields and trying TO raise cotton
in West Africa. The experiment fell
just short of being a practical success,
the chief trouble being the supply of
labor. The establishing of plantations in
the American cotton belt is another move
in the direction Of breaking the Ameri-
can market.