The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-28

ner. our foreign indebtedness has been liquidated by exports of cotton, wheat and other commodities. and we have convenience the securities offered for for eign account. Quotations for sterling ex- change. which were more than s5 per pound when the gold pool was formed, have sunk below normal and the record low figure of $479 was reached a few Gays ago. Foreign countries have come to recognize the United States as the financial Gibraltar of the world and if newspaper reports are correct, agents of many governments are now seeking loans direct and indirect in our leading finan- cial centerS.
 History records no war conducted on a scale so gigantic as that which is now devastating Europe, and nowhere in the story of American finance can be found a commercial and banking situation so serious as that which developed almost ever night during the closing days of last July. nor has there ever been crisis throughout which a Secretary of Treas- ury displayed better generalship. or han oled matters more promptly, skillfully and fearlessly: and never before has there been so rapid transition from an acute situation of the utmost gravity to one of comparative ease and assured safety.
 In the southern states where cotton is king, his power and glory mean always prosperity to his subjects: and his weak ness or dethronement Is followed by their i,npoverishment. His influence extends far beyond his own domains to every section of this country and to the utter most parts of the earth. His fall and partial restoration, however, convey a lesson that we should ponder over and take to heart, which is that he should never again be permitted to become an absolute monarch, but that his sover- eighty should be a limited one. It is probable that the present demand for cotton is due to an appreciation of the fact that it can be had for less than its average cost of production. Foreign and domestic spinners are laying in supplies, with an eye to the future, in excess of their immediate needs. At the close of the present cotton year there will be probably surplus of 100000 bales. The war still rages with unabated violence, and the danger to shipping increases daily. Cotton may at any tune be de- olared contraband. and an effort to pro- Guce another large crop this season would he supreme folly, and such a result might be attended with grave consequences. The mercantile and financial interests of the entire country and the farmers of the south should work together now as never before for the cause of crop ofversiffca- ticn. Cotton acreage this spring should be greatly reduced and every possible acre planted in foodstuffs for man or beast. The Ii, 900, ,000-bale crop in 1910 sold for more money than did the 16.O00, ,0O0- bale crop of 1911. and not only is 1t cer- tain that 100000 bales produced in 1915 would bring a greater cash return than " ,uld 100000 bales, but 1t is evident also that the larger yield may mean disaster. while the smaller, if the land released be properly utilized for food crops, would witness the restoration of Ting Cotton to his throne, and wo"ld permit his subjects once more to trip along the primrose paths of prosperity.