The Forrest City times., 1912-02-02

bAA'1 ACA @CNeOh-
 The application of the future trade or hedge prerogative to the spot deal is what makes the cotton market and makes of cotton cash asset and sale able every day in the year at every town and hamlet in the South. If the market was deprived of this facility, as both the Scott bill, which died In the senate the last session, and the present Hefin bill would do, cotton would at once become a commodity like rice, sugar, tobacco, steel and oil. and salesble only on demand. In other words a farmer might drive to town with his cotton, and the buyer, unable to hedge his purchases by sell ing cotton against them, could only buy when he had specific orders in his pocket. and the farmer would either have to haul 1t back home, or leave 1t on consignment to be sold on an order from the mills. To pass a national law to prevent dealing in cotton futures would so cripple the American spot cotton markets that Liverpool would at once dominate the entire cotton world and fix the price, because our cotton buyers would be forced to transact all business on the Liverpool Cotton Exchange and thus clothe that institution with all power, which would be used to the disadvan- tage of the producer and to the advan- tage of the consumer. because Liver pool is the consumers market. The mills have d habit Of getting out of the market when the farmer has cot ion for sale
 When the mills tnus seek to de- press prices by limiting demand, the future contract system may be in- goked to sustain prices, and there is no other agency that can create q de- mand in such a contingency.
 The autumns of 1909 and 1910 were the first years in all the history of cotton that the producer got a good price for cotton, while he had cotton to sell, and that because the Ameri- can cotton exchanges enjoyed all the normal functions, which would bs limited by such legislation as the Hefiin bill, and by the hedge preroga- tive buyers of spot cotton were en- abled to support the market in ths absence of demand from the spinners.
 An enterprising Texas firm in De- cember. 1909, did this very thing. pay ing from fA fcr spot cotton, hedged by future sales, and thereby helped to maintain good prices for the farmers spot cotton Is not this irrefutable proof of the value and the necessity of future systemy It Is the farmers only defense when the mills combine to keep out of the market and refuse to buy actual cot ton. Is there any farmer or politi- clan so dull as not to comprehend this proposition9
 The terms of the anti-future bills expressly forbid the purchase or sals of cotton when the purchaser does not intend 10 receive 1t. or the seller intend to deliver it. The effect of such drastic legislation would be to prevent spot purchases secured by future sales. and the mills would be in complete control r,yen a blind man can see this
 In all products not governed by ax- chang. Ike cotton and gran. great trasfs have been or auized and plum, dared sae Heoale Sec what r.e Fed eral government has had to do 10 the zHsar tobacco. steel oil and other trusts. 1 suoB that corporation G.. Sttahuaag1a Nas tentatively formed To corner tba cotton market had the Scott a.a passed
 When f#e scott bH came near passing fine senate last February t broke the price Of cotton $I5 per bale because il woald have killed the Am. erteaa bHI1 the only friend to the cot ton market. aaiie + could nor reach Inc European bear. tho enemy nf high priced cotton Not only this. but tbe bears secretly encourage the in-rodqc- uon and passage of such legislation 6eeaase ii is always a blow to cotton.
 do hot specially blame our Farm CTS tnion friends for supporting an ttfHtare hiHs. because t is always represented to them as cotton gam bling while the necessity of sucn system for the actual legitimate spot traffic IS neser explained to them make this appeal To the public at large. as wei IS to my audience. be- cause dc nor want 10 see our people commit themselves 10 a policy that vii prove injurious 10 the best in- terests of cotton but on the other hand GNantto ask ay hearers To at once petition their congressmen to oppose all legislation that will affect our cotton markets adversely. while a the same time conrerring a cores bonding advantage on those markets 10 whom We sell our cotton