The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1918-09-26
STATEMENT BY SENATOR HoKE
SMITH

production this year will be approx
mately three millions of bales less
than the worlds demand, even if all
the lower grades of spinable cotton
are used. This will compel an active
effort to purchase in the spring and
early summer of next year.
No price fixing can compel the
farmer to sell his cotton. He can fix
for himself the price at which he is
willing to sell and cannot be COMPEL
ed to sell until he is satisfied with the
price offered. There is one excep-
ton to the rule: The Government can
commander cotton for actual Govern
mental requirements, but an exagge-
rated estimate has been made of
those requirements. Little cotton but
linters is used for the manufacture
of powder and exlosives.
In 1916 | am advised the entire con-
sumption by the Allies of linters was
five hundred and fifty thousand
bales. Last year it is estimated that
the entire use, including the use by
the United States, was eight hundred
and fifty thousand bales. The linters
produced this year will fully supply
the demand for powder and eXplosi-
YES.
The Government buys it's material
for clothes, tents and other military
purposes generally from manufacture
ers. The Government could comman-
deer cotton for this purpose, but it
would not, in my opinion, require a
million bales. The Government would
only commander it when the buy
ing agents of the Government could
net agree with the cotton growers on
the prize. If the Government CON-
handlers the cotton it would be COM
PEELED to pay seventy-five per cent
cash of the price the Government Of
Tered, and then the cotton owner
could go to the courts and have a
judicial determination Of actual val
NC What | mean is, the Government
cannot arbitrarily fix the price of
cotton, even If needed for Govern
ment uses. The owner CT the cotton
would hn entitled to decision by the
coul is as to actual value.
AS shown in the statement author
lied by the President on September
18th, the Government will act as a
common buyer for purchases in the
United States by the allies, and this
agreement will apply to purchases
not only for the allied governments
but for all cotton used by manufac-
turing companies in allied countries.
A committee may appointed to der,
| . ,hof fln
cotton, subject to the approval of the
President
If the committee determine to
offer fixed price, farmers will not
be compelled to accept the price, but
will have just as much right to fix
their own price and say at what they
will sell as the committee would
have to say what it wished to pay.
considerable part of the activity
| by the War Industries Board and
those who have been considering pur-
chases for the Allies has been due
to the fact that it will be necessary
during the coming year to use all
spinable cotton to meet the demand
Of the manufactures.
am confident the Administra'
ton is especially interest in bringing
about a distribution to the various
allied countries of all grades of spin
able cotton, requiring them to pre-
rate the higher and lower grades in
their consumption. Were it not fol
the fact that all grades of spinable
cotton must be consumed during the
coming year to meet the demand,
scarcely believe the movement which
was expressed in the statement o.
September 18th, approved by the
President, would have taken place.
still hope that the purchasers fol
the Allies will buy in the open mar
ct If they undertake to name a fix