Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-01-12

JESDA-Y, JANUA A
state warehouse measures, and the eX-
| ira sessions Of their legislatures. This
has been the potent factor In this
splendid holding movement, and tnt
present advance Of two and one-hall
cents from the low level Is due largel!
| to these two states. 1t has saved mil
| lions Of dollars to the south, but 1t has
nearly reached its limit, and something
further must be done.
Seven hundred and fifty thousanc
bales Of cotton, with all its potentia
| credits locked up, Is paralyzing the In
dustries Of this state. With the same
| conditions existing all over the south
1t means that the producing power Of
| our section is curtailed, and busines:
| all over the country stagnates.
| This condition will continue unit
| these credits are unlocked by sale o.
, cotton.
| Other factors are now coming in t
sustain the price Of cotton, and II
FOREIGN selling movement can be start
ed, while there may be recessions ir
prices, we are over the worst. Foreign
| spinners are buying futures in New
Orleans and New York. at constant.
ly advancing prices. The short sell
ers know that spots will be demanded
and that they are in for loss II the
holding movement continues, and l,
can only be successfully continued BY
taking advantage Of the high prices
offered abroad.
The marketing Of cotton is Of world
wide import, because when the gold
standard was finally adopted cotton
became the cornerstone OF interna.
Improvement in business until our
cotton goes abroad and starts the tide
Of gold to these shores. It Is through
cotton that the United States controls
the balance Of world trade, and the
great aim Of the south should be not
only to export its cotton from south
ern ports, but that the gold which II
yearly brings in should be deposited In
southern banks, instead Of going to
New York to maintain a supremacy
which rightfully belongs to the Sec
ton which produces the only distinct
lively gold crop.
Reduction Of Acreage.
OF course any student Of the eco
nomic situation realizes that the fu-
ture price Of cotton Is going to depend
upon the acreage and production OF
1915. One of the reasons why cotton
is now advancing, under very difficult
conditions, Is that astute observers
gather from the wheat acreage figures
recently made public by the agricul-
tural department, that acreage reduc-
tion Is becoming a certainty. II the
June acreage report on cotton confirms
the small grain figures, there will GER
tainly be sharp advance in prices.
Last year the cotton states had g.
253,000 acres Of winter wheat. This
year there are about 100000 acres.
The increase in South Carolina Is,
regret to say, only twenty per cent,
while Alabama shows an increase OF
one hundred and eighty-five per cent,
Mississippi one hundred and twenty
five per cent, Georgia one hundred
and eighteen per cent, and North Car
DINA seventy-five per cent. Add to
this the enormous increase in oats and
rye, and the knowledge Of the fact that
the increase Is taken from the lands
heretofore in cotton, and 1t would ap-
pear that there must be q reduction
now Of about forty per cent In the cot.
ton acreage.
It must also be remembered that
fertilizers will not be used as hereto
fore.
If intelligent restraint is exercised as
to acreage, and we can find an outlet
abroad, the price Of cotton will, within
one year, compensate us for the sacri-
flee which good citizens are now max
ing to prevent the confiscation Of our
property, not through lack Of money,
but the destruction Of credits
The Trust Principle.
.sThe principle upon which rests the
prosperity Of this country, as whole,
Is cooperation. The power, concen-
trated in the hands Of few, to fix
prices makes the so-called trust. Ev-
cry article entering into consumption,
except raw cotton, has its price fixed
in this way. This price should never
be 80 high as to check the consump-
ton, nor so low as not to yield a fair
profit to the producer
With all the other business interests
Of the country conducted upon this
basis, we have reached the point
where it is impossible to continue to
raise cotton at profit unless the pro-
ducers control the surplus, and through
it, fix a minimum price for the COM
modify.
Voluntary organizations among the
twenty million people, scattered from
the Atlantic to the Rio Grande, will
always fail. The warehouse systems
Of South Carolina, Louisiana and Tex
as, are attempts through our state gov
ernments, to secure that cooperation,
which, in the nature Of the case, Is
otherwise impossible.
The civilization of South Carolina,
and the well:being, directly or indi-
rectly, Of every citizen, depends upon
our cotton crop. Therefore the con-
servation Of it's profits demands and
should have our best thought and
Wisest craftsmanship.
It costs, including interest on the
investment, ten cents pound to pro-
duce cotton. If more is placed on the
market during the fall than can be
absorbed at a profit, the price must
fall to a point under the cost Of pro-
duction to induce purchases on the in
vestment basis.
To secure it's full intrinsic value, we
must, to some extent, not only control
withhold the surplus from the chan
nels Of trade, so as at all times TO
maintain the equilibrium between sup
ply and demand.
II the southern states last August
had each had warehouse systems In
operation, it would have been easy to
have secured concert Of action through
the heads Of the respective systems,
and, under the ruling Of the secretary
Of the treasury, comprehensive use
Of state warehouse receipts would
have transformed our cotton into a
negotiable security which would have
prevented the terrible depression Of
the past three months. We could have
established twelve cents a pound as a
minimum price for cotton, and seven
ty-five per cent of that value would
have been the loan basis. This would
have stabilized prices, and the domes-
tic mills would have taken cotton at
that price, and, knowing that it could
go no lower, would have been spared
the heavy expense they are now un-
dergoing in making hedge sales and
continuing form Of speculation
which has ruined many Of the ablest
mill men in the south.
In finance, England is the model for
all the nations. Here is what she did
for her Indian and Egyptian cotton
planters: She passed a decree for
bidding more than forty per cent OF
the lands heretofore in cotton to be
again planted in cotton. In addition,
she has been lending money direct to
the cotton planters to purchase their
cotton from them at a stated price,
and they have Jared far better than
the people in this country.
| think that the following extract
from the London Statist Of November
2S 1914. will be Of interest to you, in