Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-05-30
Cotton Prices Should be More Stable

It Is probably unreasonable to ceny
dealers in any commodity the right to
buy as low as they may and sell as
high as they can.
This principle seems to be funda-
mental, and we see nothing wrong
with it.
OF course we do not admit the right
of any individual to take unfair adVan-
tage Of the necessities Of another indi-
yidual. Under conditions that are un-
influenced by the operation Of ordinary
competition, no good man will eXtort
profits in excess Of what might be re-
earded as a legitimate return for his
labor and investment.
To be sure due allowance must be
made for the enterprise, foresight and
superior intelligence of those who de-
vote themselves to supplying superior
end more desirable articles not sup
piled by others, and in demand only by
those who are always able and anxious
to secure the best.
A commodity of such extensive pro-
duction and consumption as cotton,
necessarily has, at all times, a fixed
value in relation to other commodities
and to money, and there Is no good
reason why the price Of it should not
be practically the same at any given
time everywhere throughout the r. gion
;,o .,yniob n iS nrndncpQ
There is certainly no good reason
why the market price Of cotton IN any
one South Carolina town should be
widely different from the price of this
commodity in any other South Caro-
lima town. The difference in the cost
of handling from the point of produc-
ton to the point Of consumption, Is IN
finitesimal and the economic condi-
tions surrounding the handling are
practically the same everywhere.
One day last week gentleman IN
Rock Hill, told the editor of The En-
quirer that during the previous week
Mr.. w. N. Ashe, Of Van Wyck, hal
been offered in Lancaster cents {,
pound for a bale of storm cotton ana
20 cents a pound for a bale Of good
cotton. Later he was offered "a cents
round for all the cotton. He declined
to sell; but few days afterWard ac-
cepted from a Rock Hill buyer 10 IL
cents a pound for the storm cotton and
80 cents round for the other eight
bales.
1t is not understood that there was
any special effort to work the Lancas-
ter buyers one against the other; but
it is understood that the Rock Hill
buyer was unaware of the fact that the
cotton had been previously offered.
This circumstance is mentioned, not
for the purpose Of emphasizing any
difference between the Lancaster mar
ket and the Rock Hill market, because
under existing general conditions II
could just as easily have occurred
that the Lancaster price Nigh: have
been higher than the Rock Hill price.
The point Of inquiry is why should
there be such a wide difference In the
value Of such staple as cotton in two
such closely contiguous markets at the
same time?
1t seems that there ought to be some
answer to this question: and there no
doubt is an answer if the people who
are most concerned-those who would
get full and exact market value for
their cotton, will look for the same.
In the case of a commodity like cot
ton the common article of production
of a whole people, looking after the
conditions under which it is marketed
should be the special charge and duty
of every man who has any cotton to
market.
1t is entirely practicable to provide
for the strict grading and classification
of every bale of cotton. 1t is entirely
weighing of every bale by public OIL
ficial duly bound to give exact justice
to buyer and weigher. and also 1t is
practicable to provide and ensure that
every bale sold on the same day with
in a given area shall be paid for AT
the same price according to grade and
condition.
But in order to bring all this aoout
the sellers Of cotton must have them
selves represented collectively just as
the buyers are represented collectively.
It is necessary to discourage the free
lance seller as we'll as the free lance