Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1915-08-11
THE COTTON SITUATION.
Congress Gives His Views and Some
Interesting Figures.
(COluIGbia Record

been declared to be, will in my judg- |
ment find favorable response with a
large majority of the members Of
| Congress.
The proposition Of English tinan-
ciers to purchase from American eX-
changes 100000 worth of cot
ton that would normally go to Ger
/ many, Austria and Hungary, and
! $25, 900 worth that would nor
mally go to Holland, Denmark, Nor
| way, Sweden and Switzerland, and
allow the English government to de-
clare cotton to ne absolute contra
| band, is but an insidious proposal
| for England to take our crop at her
own figures. The amount English
fnanciers would thus spend would
buy about 100000 bales Of cotton,
which is far below even her normal
supply of cotton; for she has bought
! for the / months just closed 3,712,-
! 502 bales. Her purchase for the
! year will easily exceed 100000
bales.
If English financiers will buy the
! 100000 bales of her normal sup
| ply, and agree to hold the surplus
off the market during the continu-
ance Of the war, or to be used by the
government only for the manufac-
ture of explosives, this country
might suspend action on an English
order in council making cotton con-
! traband, but certainly not otherwise
Contrary to predictions by the
prophets Of evil, the foreign demand
! for cotton has not been decreased as
an effect Of the war, but on the con-
! trary it has been enhanced. Despite
! English aggression at sea, even Ger
| many and Austria nave taken more !
than their normal supply Of cotton,
indirectly through neutral ports, and
in shipping to those ports we have
violated no law Of neutrality.
Even if the war continues the de-
mand for cotton will increase. 1t is
estimated that 100000 shells were
fired in one day in the battle north OF
Arras on June II. The largest of
these shells consumes 372 pounds Of
cotton at each explosion. There
! were probably over 100000 bales Of
/ cotton conauwed in this battle alone ,
( rhnu. all available labor is being
used IN Lhe manufacture nl tents and |
! uniforms for the soldiers. ID is con
Gudcd That il the war should g.oae
! the demand for cotton would soar
1 into new high levels.
If the United States government |
can prevent England from taking |
over the present surplus and the new
crop, at her own figures, there is |
every reason to believe that cotton !
will sell for more during the next . !
months tnNn it has sold for since the |
American civil war. Either the cot
! ton exchanges are not informed as to
conditions affecting the cotton crop,
or are assuming that the growers are
not informed and are trying to effect
a corner while prices are absurdly
| low.
AS bearing on this question, it will
! probably not be amiss to give some
! figures. For those touching on the
consumption of fertilizer l am in
debted to the enterprise Of the publ
cst at Clemson College.
| In 1914 eight cotton growing
States. not including Texas and Ok
lahoma, used 4,431 900 tons Of COM
mercial fertilizer. In 1915 these
same States used 2,636,O00 tons,
falling off Of Al per cent, and the
| grade was much lower than Of the
previous year.
In Texas and Oklahoma rainfall
during the growing season has been
heavier than in years, and the raw
ages OF the boil weevil have been
| proportionately greater. conser-
vati"c citizen Of Oklahoma, who for
meNy lived in Greenwood county,
this State, informs me that the crop
in Oklahoma (in sections) may be
short Of normal by 40 per cent.
! In 1914 there were approximately |
5000 mules shipped into South |
! Carolina. In 1915 there were only |
about 1900 shipped into this State. |
| While we have no data as to the |
number Of mules and horses shipped |
out Of the State to the war zone, ! |
would be safe to say that several |
thousand would not be an excessive |
estimate. However the cotton bear