Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1918-12-13

has been injured times uiinumbered BY the han
truth. Therefore I rather welcomed the in
curry which Mr.. Baruch felt 1t necessary, In the
discharge Of his responsibility for the cOnserva-
ton of all war material, to institute. Develop
ments since then have confirmed my impression
After the first fiurry-due mostly to the persistent
suspicious or unwarranted apprehensiOns of few
OverxealOus spokesman for the cotton producers
the situation became more stable. more normal.
and meanwhile. the report of the bureau Of crop
estimates exhibits slightly larger supply Of cot
ton than was reckoned upon the condition OF the
plant q month earlier My information IL that the
commissions representing the allies, the legitimate
traders and the more thoughtful farmers recog-
nize the wisdom of the undertaking and have full
confidence that these instrumentaties of gov.
eminent exercised under war emergency will do
no Injustice. The chief DIRECTORS are few short
sighted spinners who unwilling to take any
chance upon a reduction of the handsome profits
they have been making for three years and more
"No doubt there has been recently, as there has
been always more or less sharp practice by GER
tain class of cotton traders. l have never seen
the time when some men did not take advantage
Of any situation to exaggerate. to distort. anu
even to falsify facts for speculative advantage.
For instance, Secretary Houston was represented
as saying that Is cents a pound was a fair price
for cotton. 1t was utterly false. He had never
said anything Of the sort. How the story orig
mated have not the slightest idea. 1t was
piece Of market gossip invented for purpose
like many another c0nc0cted and circulated from
time immemOrial
.As to market influences, nothing has been 30
hurtful Of late as the attitude of few men from
the South who insisted, in spite OF Chairman
Baruch's statements of purpose, that the contem-
piation of the war industries board was to cause
q price to be fixed, and who assumed that II
price were fixed It would be lower than the mar
ket price. Market gossipers naturally have made
the most of such state Of mind. Another hurt-
full influence has been the effort in some quarters
to magnify the cost Of producing cotton. In
this connection. there are those who remember
that when the fixing Of wheat price was under
consideration some prOfessed spokesman OF the
producers sought to have the cotton price nxed
at Is cents, though the market at that time was
considerably below 25 cents. These men have
created the impression that the South desired
price-fxng upward. but was unwilling to have
the facts as to real value ascertained. As has
often been the case. much harm has been done
by the overzealous the suspicious and the selfish.
All such factors must be discounted In truly ap-
praising the situation.
whether Intentionally or not Governor
Corners article In the New York Journal OF CON-
merce misrepresents the departments reiaton 10
this whole problem. The United States depart
ment Of agriculture enforces the provisions OF the
United States cotton futures net. except those
portions which relate to the collection OF taxes
on contracts, and these portions are enforced by
the treasury department The department OF ag-
ficulture, however. does not establish dineren-
tails for grades Of cotton other than middling az
one might infer from reading Governors Corners
article The section contract, which Is the cen
tract used on the two exchanges, Is a basis
middling' contract. Cotton of grades other thar
middl.ng may be delivered. and the diherencea
on Or on middling at which such grades are de
Iivered are determined by the difference prevail
ing In spot markets designated for that purpose
by the secretary Of agriculture under the terms
Of the act.
"ThIs department has no authority to say what
differences shall be quoted by the spot markets. In
fact, the New York and New Orleans exchanges
get their quotations rect from the spot mar