Imperial Valley press., 1918-07-08

III THESE IeIlGlS. lIlS was uOQo be
cause such a development seemed suf-
ficiently reasonable to make it an act
Of folly for the cotton producing in
terests to ignore it. It should be en-
phasized also that it seems just as
much an act of folly for the consum-
ing and speculative interests to as
sumo that the producers are unpre-
pared for such a contingency.
This preparedness stands out sharp
ly defined There is no Sneed for
guessing about it. Out Of the $4,000
100000 produced by Southern farms
last year, cotton and its by-products
only contributed about $1,000, 100000.
This does not include the returns from
livestock, of which the sixteen South
ern states own about one third Of the
entire supply of the nation. Then, not
cnly is the federal reserve system
working with greater precision to the
advantage Of the cotton producer, but
the Farm Loan Bank has also become
a tremendously constructive force in
his economic life.
Twenty years ago, from September
{ " 81 dluCtIN --bliC tAO IilpNI4IS OScNoOll
the banks Of the South were under a
great strain and were loaded down
with re-discounts. This condition has
practically disappeared There are
now hundreds of communities where
not dollars worth Of re-discounts
are handled during the cotton moving
/ r2riod, and, instead Of being under q
strain, they have hundreds OF thou
sands of dollars more than are called
for hv the financial needs Of the COM
munitv. Many Of them, in fact, are
actually buying the paper Of large cor
ro,ations and loaning money in the big
centers of the North.
For many years the writer has been
travelling throughout the South look
J ing intimately into economic and in
! dustrial conditions. He does not nesi-
/ tate to say thtat the sensational re-
ports recently current forecasting the
/ difficulty the South would have in
| caring for the company crop are alb
! solutely without foundation. All of
these reports originated in the section
! beyond the cotton fields. The people
who gave them currency may know
something of the financial conditions
Of their own part of the country, but
! they certainly know nothing about tbs
, financial conditions in the interior OF
/ the Southt, where the real stregth OF
the Southern country resides.
The South can carry the cotton cror
longer Titan the world can wait TO,
it. The people of the world would be
reduced a desperate extremity shoSlC
such q situation arise, long before the
producers would feel the pinch of ne.
cessity. These things have at lengt.
become automatic in the history Of the
cotton market. 1t should be rmem-
bered that cotton is now a surplu.
crop and this is Just what surplus
crop means. ConcediDg thisp c.2a-
tiality of the producer and this pc
tentiality Of cotton as slplus crop
has certainly proven safer basis fol
all calculations during the last five
years. Are there any sound reasons
why it should not be considered the
safer basis noW2
These records, which are nothing
more Titan the history of recent years
clearly support the conclusion that tho
cost Of production, as that cost ma.
happen to be construed by the pre-
ducing interest, viii have more to ii
with finally determining the price thal
any other factor Now as to this cost.
In Bulletin 1872 the government show
that the average cost of growing cot
ton in 1913 was 1905 cents per rouut
The books of private firms and the
records of boards Of trade, both, SHOW
that, from 1913 to 1918, the advance
in staple products increased the cost
of growing cotton 1877 per cent. La
Hor during this period advanced from
around $50 pcr month to around $75
, These private and official records
are we'll known to the cotton pioduc-
ing interests. Their conclusions as
to the cost Of production are, there
fore, it is important to note, not SD
much Il matter Of theoretical spcru'g-
tlon as ii is matter Of mathcmat-
cal deduction. With this high cost
thus clearly indicated, does it look rca-
sonabI2 that the producers would soil
th9ir cotton at the ecurolut rrce of
fan contracts while the spmucrs arc
realizing such high prices On the raw
'"I5oo Docsc 'a' not the prod2ar know .aat
The surplus only means that there is
great difficulty in getting the cotton
to those whose needs are becoming
more desperate every day? Does he
not know also that should peace come
these desperate needs would mean an
urgent demand for many million bales