davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31

and her trade. also her foreign en-
terprises. In France there is
large amount OF latent capital
awaiting an -tunity.
The greater part Of this latent
capital has borne the effort Vt the
war. Some yet remains. II is true
that the war will have made ter
rible rent in the fortune of num-
Der Of Frenchmen. There will be
much to repair, to rebuild, to effect.
Yet there Is a certain tendency TO
exaggerate the damages caused by
the war. There is only about 3 per
cent Of the surface of France which
is occupied ~ the Germans. Men
Of all categories will be wanting. We
do not know what will be the eco
nomic capacity Of the survivors
after more than two years spent IN
the trenches. Yet pessimists are
rare. Plans are being made, and !
hope cur poiLus will manifest in
time Of peace the same energy that
they have shown during the war.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
BOIL wLrvu
BOIL wLEvu
BY ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS

the necessaries Of life TO fall back
upon. Il was small wonder then that
the prosperity of the South, even be-
fore the war. was largely illusory
and the cotton belt Jagged behind the
really less naturally favored sections
of the North and West. Moreover
the one-crop obsession was a menace
TO intellectual progress. The people
Of any one-crop country are prone 10
be most conservative, not 50 easily
receptive to new impressions and
more Of a one-track mind than those
Of many diversified industries, who
are as many sided as their employ
ments.
As time went the advanced think
ers in agriculture-the men Of the
Federal Department Of Agriculture
and state observation-disclosures
to make some change in the farming
WAYS of the South. But they were
as the voice Of one crying in the
wilderness. The things Of inherit
ance and tradition were hard to over
come, especially in a most conserva-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31

tive country. The negro laborer
knew how TO raise cotton, but he
knew naught else, and it was hard to
teach him new ways. Also there
was but little market locally for the
products Of Investigation, while cot
ton was always in demand and could
be sold anywhere at any time. And,
as ever. the voice of self-interest was
raised in protest against new
methods. In those days the sellers
of supplies and the lenders of money
blindly and short-sightedly thought
their interest lay in cotton and not
in other products. The occupation
Of the sellers of supplies was gone If
the planters raised their own foods,
and the money lenders could not fig
ure that any other agricultural
product was as good collateral as
cotton, none so easy 10 keep track of
and none so liquid an asset.
Such was the situation when the
advent upon the scene of a small in
sect no larger than the common
house fly broke the spell and altered
henceforth forever the social and
economic life of the Southern States.
In 1892 the cotton boil weevil
crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico
into extreme Southeastern Texas,
and thereafter the one-crop system
headed slowly but steadily for the
scrap heap Of discarded decisions.
In a very few years it became evil
dent that the cotton planter was up
against relentless fate, for the
steady northward and eastward
advance of the boil weevil Of from
forty TO seventy miles went on with
increasing regularity. Naught that
man could do checked this invasion,
nor even so much as delayed it. For
the weevil was proof against every
known method that hitherto proved
so effective against former insect
enemies Of the cotton plant. The
weevil is an insignificant looking in
sect, not over a quarter Of an inch
in length and with a long curved
snout by which it bores into the cot
ton squares and cotton bolls and
thus feeds upon them. Poisons and
sprays are of no avail, since it bores
into the plant for its food. while
sprays and poisons lie upon the sur
face. There are certain mechanical
and cultural methods Of combating
il. but all that can be said is that
they are more or less effective. Dry,
not weather is the only thing that
really keeps its numbers in check
and restraps its deprcdations. And
under such favorable conditions IT is
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31

The stress Of necessity compelled
the raising of foodstuffs for the
planters people and the planters
livestock. That was the real begin
ming of diversification, for it be-
came evident at once hat practi-
cally every agricultural product
grown anywhere in the Union could
be raised successfully in the South.
Also it developed that in truth the
most economical way TO raise cotton
was first to produce all the food
stuffs needed for the sustenance Of
the farm or plantation, and then
plant all the remaining acreage TO
cotton; for cotton is, and always
will be, the great money crop Of the
South and the greatest source of
revenue Of any one product. In
1915 the South produced 35 per cent
Of all the corn and % per cent of
al inc NiuttA wheat ClOWh III lliN
United States. There are to-day
ten states in the South which have
more hogs than either New York
or Pennsylvania, and in that same
year raised more corn than either Of
those states. There are states in the
South that had corn to sell in 1915
that had largely bought their sup
plies of this grain in the past from
the West.
There is now increasing produc-
tion Of other money crops than cot
ton, such as rice, peanuts, sugar
cane, tobacco, fruits and garden
truck. At this time the South pro
duces a greater variety Of agri-
cultural products than any other
country Of equal area anywhere on
the face Of the globe, for diversi-
fication has come to stay.
Most potent and significant Of all
is the change from long time credits
70 the shorter terms and cash basis
Of modern business. Farmers and
planters have learned either 10 pay
for what they want, or else go
without it. New and improved
methods Of farming and Of stock
raising are supplanting the anti
quated ways Of the past With
these changes there has come nat
urally a broader vision to those who
were once content with the ways Of
their fathers. There is an earnest
fight being waged against iliteracy
and for more and better general
education. The South to-day is com
ing into her own. And the COM
pelling cause Of much Of this is the
stress Of necessity that followed
hard upon the invasion of an insig-
nifcant but destructive insect.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
KING COTTON'S AFFLICIlON
This Bug Is Changing the Economic Conditions
Of the South-Mosty for the Better
Z & d * + Il 8&*
4 * & X 4 + Il + It y

possible, as in 1914, to raise large
crops of cotton, while in wet, warm
seasons. such as 1915 and 1916, the
weevil takes a heavy toll of the cot
ton planter. II knows only one
food. cotton, and but two objects IN
life. eating and reproduction, for
il has neither the monotonous indus
try Of the bee nor the airy perslfage
of the butterfly. The first effect Of
its presence in any section was an
immediate decrease in cotton pro-
duction, not alone because of its
depredations, but also because of the
great decrease in the acreage plant
ed to cotton. The production IN
Louisiana fell off from 100000
bales in 1904 to 246,OOO bales in
1910.
The one-crop system went TO
pieces like a house Of cards. Neither
advances of money nor supplies
could any longer be obtained on a
crop where the chances were against
it successfully weathering the depre-
dations Of this destructive insect.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31

frosts Of spring and the early frosts
of fall, and cheap, abundant labor.
This latter the negro slaves supplied,
and the South naturally had all the
rest. AS time went on it became
more and more evident that cotton
was the cheapest and most prac-
ticable fiber for clothing and similar
purposes known TO man, and that
there was no likelihood that any
other section Of the globe would ever
rival the South in the magnitude Of
Its output. Time has only made both
Of these things more certain. So cot
ton raising became an obsession in
most Of the territory south Of the
Mason and Dixon line, largely 70 the
exclusion Of other things.
The Southern cotton planters
bought food largely from the North
and West for both themselves and
their livestock at much greater cost
than they could have produced 1t
themselves. One added trouble was
the Texas cattle tick, which at that
time infested practically the entire
South and made cattle raising i'm
possible to any large extent.
The story Of cotton is that Of a
long and checkered career from its
planting in the early spring till its
final picking in the late fall. II is
subject TO all the consequent vicissi-
tudes Of weather as well as the at
tacks Of innumerable insect enemies.
Because Of this great lapse between
seeding and harvesting time Of its
principal product and in common
with all one-crop countries, there
grew up in the South long time
credit system which was vicious and
ruinous in the extreme. The cotton
crop was mortgaged before it was
planted 20 obtain needed supplies for
cultivating il and the food for labor
ers and livestock employed in It's cul-
tivation. AS always in such cases, the
planters who bought on such credit
paid a heavy premium in advanced
prices, with the further handicap Of
buying more than they really needed,
as lie ever the way Of him who pur-
chases on credit. Such a system in
variably breeds waste and extraya-
gance. Debt became a matter Of
course to the many, and there seemed
no way Of escape. A prosperous sea-
son that put the planters on their feet
was sure to be succeeded by an equal
IN unfavorable year, and the weary
round commenced all over again, Tor
there was rarely any reservoir OF ac-
cumulated capital, nor any stored up
supply Of those products constituting
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
Table of Values
Would Be Defective

A standard for deferred payments
may be established by table OF
commodity values, but this means
that the amount Of money TO be PAID
shall be less or more than contract
sum, according to the table. But will
the rest of the world do business by
that table? And how will balances
between countries be settled-by
shipping a proportionate amount Of
all the commodities of the table!
Who will keep the commodity re-
serves? Will the wage earners have
their wages measured weekly or
daily, and will the farmer sell BIS
produce and the grocer fix his prices
by it?
Under the gold standard there has
been in every country a currency
fixed in it's relation to this one value,
because redeemable in it, and fxeo
in relation to all other currencies
because the gold coins could Dc
shipped to another country and con-
verified into the coins Of that eoun'
try. IL is an effective world organ
ization, the practical, automatic 40
vantages Of which far outweigh W
defects. It is safe to say that u tne
world modifies its use Of the go'u
standard il will be done by agree
ment. so that the advantages OF
common standard will not be ios''
But the business world is conserV''
tive. and in no country more so tnan
in Great Britain. Financial aha'f'
in all countries are directed by very
practical men, and the traditions ana
experiences Of the past, the kno"n
opinions and prcjudices OF the ous,
ness community at home ani aoros''
are likely to have very mucn nor
weight in determining monetary p0.'
cies than any scheme Of theorists "
legislate the value out OF gold.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
Reasons for
Gold Standard

NIOl1 olaiiooia
It has been suggested that the
warning countries, having by the end
of the war disposed of nearly all
their gold, instead Of striving and
toiling to recover it, may perpetrate
a coup by demonetizing it, leaving
the United States and other gold
holding countries with great stocks
Of the discarded and deprecated
metal on their hands. Although this
idea seems hardly worthy of atten-
ton it has obtained considerable cur
rency. In the first place, it may be
said that Notwithstanding the dis
position of foreign interests and the
creation of foreign debts, Great
Britain at the close Of the war will
surely be a creditor country by
very large balance, and the same
will almost certainly be true Of
France and Germany. Bur there is
another and broader reason why the
gold standard will not be discarded.
The suggestion proceeds upon the
assumption that the worlds stand
ard of value has been established
wholly by concerted and arbitrary
action, and that the world might
Just as we'll have adopted silver, or
gotten along with fiat money or by
the use of an ideal or multiple stand
ard. The truth is that gold came
into the position of primacy which
it holds among commodities to-day
by a process of natural selection
which eventually eliminated all riv-
ais. No other commodity is COM
parable to it in qualifications TO
serve as a standard of value and
basis Of monetary systems. Silver
has ranked next to it, and down TO
about 1870 held the larger part OF
the field, but silver even at that date
was about sixteen times as heavy,
value for value, as gold, and as the
world has grown richer the advan-
tage of gold in convenience as the
money of international settlements
has been decisive.
Theorists have always argued that
the value of gold was artificial, the
result Of legislation, etc; but the
fact is that from the dawn of his
tory, among all peoples, from saw
ages to those of the highest civiliza-
ton, gold has been priced next to
the actual necessities Of life. II was
made money by legislation because
it was money before states provided
the medium of exchange. No mat
ter what forms Of money states may
provide, all forms get their value
from their relations to gold. We
had the gold standard in the United
States from 1862 to 1879, although
our currency was irredeemable pa
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
d WHY NOTHING CAN EVER BE BUILT BIC ENOUGH

uERE graphically the INTERIOR
IL ough Rapid Transit Company
tells of what efforts have been made
to keep I'D with the New York
crowd, which, while multiplying
enormously in numbers has progress
sively developed the riding habit.
When there were only horse cars to
ride in the per capita trips a year
were i47; now that there are roads
over the streets and under the
streets, as well as on the streets,
Zach inhabitant Of the city rides S32
times year.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
Foreign Trade OF Italy

The foreign trade Of Italy during v.
first eight months Of 1916 resehe'
total Of sl,O27 ,s4e,S4O. EAp'",
amounted to s2s5,i7O,6ss, q loss o
sso.6l5.o75, as compared with the eo.
responding period Of 1915. i"p'' :,
to,slled sTS2,775,702. an inere"'
sI59. 627 ga over the first eight m0n'''
OF 1915. IN
Exports to the United States W
valued at ISL ,2ss, sol, a decrease OF ,s,t
1853 $50 from the same period 70 c,.sl
while imports from the Cni'ea $50
amounted 10 $500 ,2o7 $50, sur
the 1915 figures by $lbl,2so,S'-r
balance c, trade in favor OF tns
States is. therefore. almost 'sn'o''
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
By GEORGE {. ROBERTS
former Director Of the United States Mint.

France, this is an entirely reason
able estimate. Reckoning upon the
basis of the pre-war stocks in the
countries included in the review, 1t
represents an increase in the gold
reserves Of about % per cent.
1t is not likely that the countries
at war, excepting Japan, will be
able to add to their gold stocks dur
ing the war. The new production,
running at s5OO,OOO,OOO per year,
will 90 to the neutral countries, and
the present holdings Of Great Brit
ain, France, Italy and Russia prob
ably will be depleted by payments
to the neutral countries. Norway,
Sweden and Denmark have now
raised obstacles to the importation
of gold. and the Bank of the Neither
lands is discouraging further i'm
portations. 1t looks as though the
United States would have TO take
the bulk Of the worlds production
and of the stores released by Eu-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
European Reserves
Show Increase

Altogether, not counting the
French and Russian credits in other
countries, the five belligerent coun-
tries named have about S475,000,000
more in their banking and currency
reserves than when the war began.
This takes no account Of gold in the
Allied pool, if, as understood, these
funds do not appear in the state
ments of the Bank of England. Be-
fore the war the National Bank Of
Belgium held approximately $780,
100000, which presumably has been
added to the reserve Of the Bank Of
England or the Bank Of France.
The total net increase in available
gold, in all countries, according to
these figures is about 81 $50 100000.
The worlds production of gold from
the mines has been about $1,000
100000 in two years, and the con-
sumption Of new gold, although pre-
sumably much less than usual, must
have been at least from S75,O0O,OOO
to s10O,OOO,OOO per year. If these
figures are accepted, the amount Of
gold gathered into the great CEN
trail banks from other banks and
from circulation, from private
boards and recovered from use in
the arts, would aggregate approx
mately SS5O,OOO,OOO. Knowing what
has been done in Germany and
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
GOLD THE STUFF THE
WORLD MUST PAY IN
European Belgerents Could Not Afford to Play Neutras
the Trick Of Demonetizing the Precious
Metal After the War
ByCE ROBERTS
Of tn nhed

per, and the market value in thn
country Of every commodity Of world
trade fuctuated daily in correspond.
ence with the fluctuations Of our cur.
rency TO gold. The wages Of labor.
however, did not follow 50 closely
the fluctuations Of the paper to gold.
and the farmer who sold wheat at
country market had one more Auctu-
alton and extra risk between him
and the worlds market. Every els-
ment Of uncertainty between pro-
Queer and consumer is a barrier to
trade, and the business world is a.
ways striving to eliminate them.
Trade Intercourse
Is Facilitated
The United States. after many ex-
periments. brought all It's varieties
Of money TO the gold standard, FOR
one reason in order that its pro-
ducers and wage earners might ~
ceive their pay by the same measure
of value by which their products
we're sold in the markets Of the
world. Another reason was that
capital from other gold standard
countries might flow readily in and
out without the risk Of loss in ex-
change. With the unit Of value Of
every country fixed in gold, the
money of every country has a def
mite relation TO the money OF every
other country; contracts to buy in
one country and sell in another are
upon the same basis, risks are elm
mated and intercourse is facilitated.
1t was a triumph Of civilization 10
bring practically the whole world to
the use Of one standard of value, and
the same influences that brought it
there, step by step-country by
country, feeling its way-will keep
it there. No single nation can az
ford to leave it, for by so doing it
would introduce an element Of IN
certainty into al transactions be-
tween it and other countries.
Will Great Britain with her world
trade, or Germany with hers, set up
independent standards Of their own
fluctuating in value from day 70 day
from the standard Of their custom
ers? 1t is one thing to suspend gold
payments, temporarily, in a time Of
war, when, as in the case Of Ger
many, foreign trade is suspended,
and, in the case Of England, other
considerations are momentarily more
important, but it would be a dh-
ferent thing to cut loose from gold.
Germany suspends gold payments
now to buttress her monetary sys-
TEN and to make more certain her
ability to maintain the gold standard
after the war.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31

From on address deIivered before
tho American Economic Associ1-
ton at Columbus, Ohio
OINCE the beginning Of the war
the United States has made a
~ net gain Of gold, according to
Treasury estimates, Of approximate
~ $500, 900, 900, or about al per cent;
the state banks of six neutral coun-
tries of Europe, viz: Norway, Swe-
den, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland
and Spain, have gained 1884 900, 900,
or about 1879 per cent. In all, the
neutral countries have added ap-
proximately S1,184,0O0,O00 to their
gold stocks. Japan, which, although
a belligerent, is commercially rather
in the position of a neutral, has
added S42,000,000 to the reserves of
her national bank.
While these gains we're being made
elsewhere, the belligerent countries
of Europe have not, on the whole,
lost gold. The Reischsbank, of Ger
many, has increased its holdings
since the war began from about
1915. 00O.0 900 70 about S625,000, 900.
The larger part of this gain is I'M
derstood TO have come from gold
coin, ornaments, plate, etc, turned
into the bank by the people Of Ger
many in exchange for the bank
notes, but portion of it may have
come from the Bank Of Austria
Hungary, which at the outbreak of
the war held about S250,000, 200 and
has published no report since. The
Bank of England holds on its own
account about SIS 100000 more than
at the beginning of the war, and
also holds about s142,000,000 as a
redemption fund against the ex-
chequer notes. Inc BANK OF rance
holds in its own vaults about the
same amount of gold that it held
at the outbreak Of the war, and also
shows in its statement gold holdings
or credits abroad amounting to about
$175,O00,OOO. The latter probably
represents its contributions to the
Allied pool. The Bank of Russia
also shows large gold credits abroad,
and although for a time it showed
more gold in vault than at the be-
ginning Of the war, it now shows
about $25,000,000 less than at that
time. The Bank Of Italy has lost
about s30,O0O,000.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
which IS

The boil wl the first made its appearance IN
1892 shown the above diagram the IN
black I9O0 the
the State OF Texas and crossing the
the Southwest grown while march has
sfrontEn
Georgia taking agoodEc Of Florida OF the south
black the dotted which marks
approximately which to-day still free from the
pest
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31

~ HERE is a popular song from
comic opera now going the
rounds, the refrain Of
which is
Some day
A little bug
Will get you"
Now. that is what has happened TO
the cotton belt Of the South. and it is
a serious and important enough mat
ter TO be chronicled in the history Of
that section. This is how it came
about:
For some centuries back the life
Of the South was bound up in the
raising Of cotton, and its social and
economic existence was largely pred
icated on that fact. This misfort-
une. for such it proved to be. became
riveted upon the South with the in
PRODUCTION Of slavery. For its sue
cessful production cotton requires
several requisites; a fairly fertile
soil. ready and economical access TO
market. a climate free from the late
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-31
Spain Acts on
Food Problems
Government Is Given Au-
thority to Seize Supplies
if Necessary

The Spanish government, Consul Cen
oral Carl Bailey Hurst, Of Barcelona.
reports, has just enacted a law whereby
it is hoped the many problems arising
from the scarcity and high price Of pro-
visions will be solved.
By the law OF February IS, 1915, the
Spanish government was authorized to
take certain measures in connection
with the provisioning Of the country
with alimentary substances Of frst no
cessity and OF raw materials, both in
the interests Of the national food sup
ply and OF manufacture and agriculture.
These measures were temporary and, in
view Of the continuation Of the war,
the law, limited TO twelve months, was
extended for another year-that is.
until February 10, 1917. The circum-
stances under which the law was drawn
still exist, and show no signs Of change;
in fact. the difficulties Of provisioning
the country have increased, and the
government finds tina, in order to prop
erly meet the situation its powers
must be extended.