The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-21
.COMER SAYS VITAL NEED OF STATE IS !. MAKING OF COTTON RECEIPTS UNIFORM Writes Letter to Carmichael Asking SOlOns to Pro-
 tect the Crop by
 Legislation
QUOTES HARDING ON NEED FOR HAVING
 GOOD COLLATERAL
Says South Carolina's New Law Is Being Indorsed by the Greatest Bankers and Financiers
 of the South

Former Gov. R. B. Conner yesterday wrote a letter on the importance of legislation providing uniform cotton letter is addressed to Speaker A. H. Carmichael of the house of represen- tatives.
 Governor Conner in discussing the subject informally yesterday said it was of vital importance to Alabama at this time-t to protect it's warehouse re- ceipts and to make them of such char acter that they will be negotiable un- der the federal government standards
 In his letter he cites the words of W. P G. Harding in Sundays Age Her aid; tells what Texas and South Car olina have> done; points out that all the greatest bankers and friends of the south urge the importance of ac- tion for the protection of the, fall crop and asks his friends in the legisla- ture to do all they can to see that adequate laws are enacted on the sub ject
 Letter to Carmichael
 His letter to Speaker Carmichael Is as follows:
 Hon. A. H. Carmichael, Speaker of the
 House. Montgomery:
 Dear Sir-Begging pardon for call ing your attention to most import ant matter, the wide necessities Is my excuse. Alabama's most important crop, the price of which carries more veal or woe than any other crop is cotton. The continuation of the east ern war will continue to accentuate the depression which surrounded the cot ton crop of 1914, except that of finances The firm establishment of the federal reserve banks and the power of their catholic care is one of the greatest attainments of the democratic party. MT. W. F. G. Harding, former citizen of Birmingham, understanding fully all our conditions. fortunately for the. cot ton growing section is one of the lead ing members of the reserve board.
 MT. Kettig, a director of the fed eral reserve bank at Atlanta, has been severely criticized for pessimistic in terview. In large measure MT. Kettig was correct. Alabama on account of the vital inter-relation with the value of cotton, must look the cotton future square in the face. We have some of the wants of the neutral countries have been supplied. The 9.600,000 bales which have been exported all have not been consumed. A large surplus is in our midst.
 Must Be Kept Off Market
 "The converters of cotton goods are pA ir, !, of tai prices. The cotton factories of America are not bubbling over with profits. The crop Of 1915 is at hand. 1t goes with out saying that the large part of the 1915 crop has got to be kept off of the market. It also goes without saying that the more that Is kept off the market, the better will be the price for those who have to sell.
 How are we to keep this cotton off the market? Last year in the archaic conditions at the beginning of the cot ton season. if I had been governor, I would have called the legislature to- gether and advised six months mora torium. with the power in the hands of the governor to continue 1t six months If need be. I believe this would have saved our farmers and merchants millions of dollars. This proposition on account of the greatly improved money conditions. uIu tnt uIHl eStdDllsnnenl Ol the leu- eral reserve banks, and the sympathy of those banks for the cotton conditions, is no longer necessary. One thing Is needful. and that Ia to provide condi- tions which will make of our cotton crop valid security. Mir. Harding has mapped out the way Quoting from the article in The Age-Herald Sunday:
 Receipts Must Be Good Collateral
 Most southern people realize that the sooner the war Is over the sooner normal conditions will be restored in the cotton market, and they are willit g to hold their cotton in the hope of this consummation if they can borrow money to pay their maturing debts That they may do this 1t is not only necessary that the money. should bc Available. but that cotton should be tn the custody of warehouses. whose re- ceipts are good collateral That the money will be forthcoming is assured by the present plethoric bank reserve. The warehouse capacity itself Is now estimated at over 9,000,000 bales but in many of the southern states are archaic kws impairing the value of warehouse, receipts. In South Carolina