New-York tribune., 1918-07-17
Mammoth Cotton
Warehouse for
New York City
Mill Men Urge Government
to Expend $20,00O,00O
for Storage Chain

The construction with government
financial assistance of cotton ware.
houses in New York and Boston large
enough to hold 100000 bales each
and Of smaller ones in Providence
Fall River and New Bedford will be
urged to-day in Washington at a meet
ing Of a committee appointed by the
National Association of Cotton Manu-
facturers. The outlay of the govern.
ment, if the tentative proposal is ac-
cepted, will be $2O,000,OO0.
Northern cotton consumers have
formulated this plan for chain of
cotton warehouses as substitute for
the demand of the Southerners for
price fixing. Representatives of the
mills assert that the unusually large
Gotten surplus that is expected this
year necessitates the provision of new
storage facilities, and declare that the
warehouses should be placed near the
consumption centres so that the re-
serve will be Immediately available for
use whenever needed.
Nature Should Govern Price
The law of supply and demand, the
Northern interests insist, should be
allowed to regulate the price of cotton.
II the oversupply exceeds 100000
bales, as the government forecast in
dicates it will, they say that they see
no reason why the price should not be
q tn HO1I
by government fiat, they add, would be
class Legislation solely in the interest
of the Southern planter, and would
have no effect on tie production Of
this years crop, which already is in
the ground The cotton consumers also
point out that severe decline in cot
ton prices, accompanied by large
holdover for next season, would auto
matically curtail the output in 1919,
and would induce many Southern farm
crs to diversity their crops and give
larger attention to the production Of
foodstuffs
AS a means of helping the grower
finance himself while the surplus cot
ton is in storage, it is proposed that
the government issue negotiable ware
house receipts for the cotton stored
with guarantees as to weight and
grade, which could be used as the
basis of bankers and trade accent
ances. Although the specific plan that
Will be discussed to-day calls for gov
ernment financial assistance, repre-
sentatives of some Northern cotton
consumers propose that the warehouses
be built by private capital. Virtually
all elements of the cotton industry
agree that warehouses must be built
under one plan or another.
Cotton Slump Caused Agitation
The slump of nearly 10 cents a pound
in recent weeks in cotton quotations
was largely responsible for the sug-
gestion of the Texas Bankers Asso-
citation and other Southern interests
that the government purchase at
fxed price all cotton for which there
are no other buyers. The first sign
of a radical break in the price of
cotton some weeks ago led to protest
in the South, and was followed by an
Agriculture that it would investigate
the New York Cotton Exchange. AL
though it was said hearings would be
held in New York, there has been
none as yet.
The National Association of Cotton
Manufacturers committees programme
tentatively provides for a warehouse
IN Providence with capacity of 5OO,-
600 bales, one in New Bedford with
a capacity OF 100000 bales. and an
other OF the same size in Fall River,
IN addition to the larger reservoirs in
New York and Boston for the forth
coming large cotton holdover. Some
close observers Of the cotton situation
declare that the governments esti-
mate of the surplus is likely to prove
excessively large