Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-05-05
NEED FOR MORE WAREHOUSES; FOR
 STORING COTTON
Government Survey of Con ' ditions Reveals Defects i'll
 Present System.

Washington, May 4.-The cottoli warehouses already in existence are ample in aggregate storage capacity, | according to a recent survey made by the United States department or agriculture, to store as much of the croD as there is any need for but they are poorly distributed. The best are not available to the farmer and the charges of the others are higher than he is disposed to pay. These facts cemplicate the financing of the crop, and are largely responsi- ble for keeping So many cotton farm CTS under the blight of the credit system. A sbetter system of ware houses would do much to help the situation.
 "Country Damage" Great. Cotton, according to the govern nr2ne specialists, is considered the very best collateral, and bankers and business men ill general are willing to lend money on it at lower interest than on real estate. An essential condition is, however, that the cot ton be properly stored and insured. At the present, however, this is very rarely done. The farmers are ac- customed to dispose of their crop at the earliest possible moment and in the nearest town. Much of the crop, if not all of it, is frequently pledged | in advance, in order to obtain sup plies for the farmer. Even when the prices drop as low as it did in the fall of 1914, the need for immediate cash induces the farmer to depress l oA cA; F,,v n>., ! all of his cotton upon it. If this is not done much of the crop is left in. sufficiently protected and suffers what is known to the trade as ''coun- try damage"
 Cheaper Storage.
 On the other hand, it is pointed Out in new publication of the United States department of agriculture, Cotton Warehouses" that an ade- quate warehouse system would en- able the farmers to store their cotton at prices lower than those charged for the same service now, because the insurance rates On cotton stored in standard warehouse would be much lcwer than at the present time. Since cotton is regarded as such a safe collateral, the merchant would be willing to extend time to the far Inner if warehouse receipts were de- Fposited with him as collateral. The local bank would take these receipts l from the merchant as further accom- modation, and the larger bank, from which the local bank has in all prob- ability obtained the loan, would also ! extend time., :. In. this way the crop could be marketed gradually and prices stabilized in consequence.
 Free Farmers of Debt.
 i Moreover, such a system would | tend to free the farmers, especially those of the tenant class, from the endless chain of debt. It would not, of course, end at once or completely the credit system by which the sup ply merchant sometimes obtains l interest of from p to B cents on a i dollars worth of supplies. If, how ever, such cotton as was not abso- lutely necessary to settle accounts was stored and economy in liv1ne practiced. many of the more determ- med growers should in the course of two or three years be able to place themselvaA tn cash basis.
 At the present time the best ware houses have been put up by factories and miils .tSr their own uses, and are of no service to the farmer. The owners of small warehouses in which the farmer can store his cotton are usually lo:,:ng money on the invest ment largely because of poor con struotion and correspondingly high iates oa insurance. The eoyernmant iinvestlgators present a number of interesting statistics to show that in many eases 1t is actually more ex- pehsive 10 Dnt up and operate an inferior warehouse than one of stand ara design. For example in coraio and North Carolina the insurance