Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-12
Manufacturers Record.

Manufa cturer's Record.
Events Of the past seven months
have demonstrated in a forcible way
the importance Of cotton as a factor
in local, national and international
trade and finance.
The cotton belt of the United States
extends across the continent from the
Imperial Valley in California through
parts Of Arizona and New Mexico to
Texas Oklahoma and Arkansas, and
thence eastward through the gulf and
south Atlantic states to the southern
tier Of counties in Virginia. About
one-iifth Of the entire population OF
the country is resident in the cotton
belt, and Is either directly engaged or
closely concerned in the production
and marketing Of the crop.
1t may be interesting to consider
for a moment some Of the elements
that enter the production Of cotton
from planting time until the staple Is
ready for conversion into finished pro-
duct The preparation OF the ground
before planting stimulates raising OF
livestock, as the motive power draw
ing the plow Is either a horse, or a
mule, or an OK. Plow points, trace
chains and cotton ties connect the
farmer with the metal trades, while
the plow handles, made Of hardwood,
are contributed by a branch OF the
lumber industry. Fertilizer, generally
used throughout the belt east Of Tex
as, is the product Of highly special
lied manufacturing industry, which
in assembling. its raw material and In
marketing its output employs thou
sands Of men and furnishes vast
amount Of tonnage for transportation
lines. In most cases the food and cloth
ing of the cotton farmer and his
family, from the time his crop Is
planted until it Is marketed, is
bought on credit, as well as the fer
tilizer with which he enriches the soil.
The outbreak Of the war in Europe
occurred just as the Southern States
were about to gather and market
what has proved to be the largest
cotton crop ever grown. Prices FOR
several seasons Immediately preced-
ing the last had been high, and had
stimulated the production Of cotton,
as shown by the increased acreage
and larger use Of fertilizer. 1nvesti-
cations made last fall by chambers
of commerce in several southern cities
indicated that the average Of all
advances made against the growing
crop in several Of the states was
between and cents per pound, or
about s42.50 per bale. About 40 per
cent of our cotton crop Is consumed
in normal times by the mills Of the
United States and Canada, and the
remaining go per cent goes to foreign
countries, principally to Great Brit
ian. Germany, France, Russia, Italy,
Japan, Austria-Hungary, Belgium
and Spain. Cotton for domestic con-
sumption comes chiefly from the
Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and
Mississippi, while the crop grown west
of the Mississippi River is nearly all
exported. Texas, with about 40 per
cent Of the total crop. exports about
95 per cent Of her product.
On the first Of last September. when
the new cotton year began, it was
evident that a crop Of over 16,00O,-
900 bales was about to come in sight,
against which there were debts al
ready incurred and charges pending
for picking and baling Of probably
about s56O,000,000. Just before the
outbreak Of war the market price had
been IL cents per pound, or $50 per
bale. The closing Of the exchanges,
the arrangement Of shipping facili-
ties, the panic which seized upon the
commercial world and the financial
chaos that Immediately followed the
beginning of hostilities destroyed the
market for cotton and reduced the
demand for it to the daily needs Of
such mills as actually required it to
supply their spindles. Every purchs-
err actual and potential. was over
whelmed with offerings. and while
the prices asked were admitted to be
far below intrinsic value and cost of
production, 1t was found by buyers
that purchases on a given day were
followed on the next by offerings at
lower figures. Each mill owner was
afraid to buy freely, even where he
was able to finance himself, lest his
competitor could by holding off secure
his supply Of cotton on a much lower
basis. Not only were the merchants
and bankers Of the cotton-growing
sections embarrassed by the inability
Of the farmers to convert their pro-
duct into money, but the transpor-
tation lines, accustomed at that season
to the heavy tonnage created by the
movement of cotton to market, suf-
fered so serious a loss Of business and
so great reduction in earnings that
they were forced to adopt drastic econ
omies, such as annulment Of trains
and abandonment of Improvements
and repairs, with consequent stoppage
Of purchases of supplies. This neces-
sary action threw much of their own
labor out of employment. besides de-
moralizing the market for coal, iron
and steel products and lumber. The
entire suspension or curtailment of
operations on the part Of coal mines.
furnaces, steel plants and sawmills
greatly augmented the ranks Of the
unemployed and aggravated the gen.
eral distress. Obligations to fertilizer
companies, to jobbers and to banks,
both in the south and in the north,
were maturing, and bankruptcy SEEM
ed imminent throughout the cotton
sections, although nature had been
most bountiful and had rewarded the
toll of the tillers of the soil with the
largest crop ever produced. Exports
fell to less than one-tenth Of normal,
and foreign countries, mostly bellig-
erents, that held maturing obliga-
tions Of American merchants and
bankers for large sums. aggregating