Americus times-recorder., 1919-02-25
Capital Must Be Made the
Basis of Acreage, Asserts
Dealer, on Cotton Problem

nitely without damage. under proper
! housing conditions If we fail to raise
as much cotton as can be marketed
at fair values we are standing on our
own light, as well as failing to make
the best of the blessing with which
nature has endowed our country. 1t
is true that short crops bring long
prices.
"But it is also true that these same
high prices reduce consumption and
inevitably result in overproduction the
next year. A systematic campaign to
produce short crops for an extended
period of years would induce more ex-
periments in cotton growing in other
parts of the world with climates SIM
liar to ours, and endanger our monop-
oily. 1t would also stimulate the dis
covery of substitutes for cotton, many
of which were used in Germany dur
| ing the war. The attempt to squeeze
big price from the world at large
by studied failure to raise its normal
requirements would be ill-considered
unsound and poor business.
What then is the solution? How
can we determine a path of safety, of
conservation to meet the obligations
and opportunities of our position and
yet steer clear of the evils of over
in section which have over-produced,
the stubborn holding of the balance of
the crop for higher prices is wise anc
timely advise in the present crisis. But
this is simply temporary relief, and
the same dangerous conditions will
present itself from time to time. Can
not some plan be devised by which the
production of cotton will be put upon
basis that will correct itself when
circumstances have combined to
cause an oversupply? A world COM
modify like cotton is subject to such
a wide range of influences that no
one can foretell at planting time what
conditions must be faced when the
crop is ready to be marketed We
have no actual r-production this
year.
"The trouble is not that normal de-
mand is absent but impotent. Due
to postwar conditions of world trade,
unsettled conditions regarding ocean
tonnage, embargoes and restrictions,
a large part of the world is still cut
off from our supply markets, while
the demand for military necessities
has suddenly abated The plan devils
ed to avoid recurrence of distress pric-
es in cotton must be elastic enough
to enable the farmer to meet such
conditions as they arise, strong
enough to enable him to protect him
self in any crisis.
After all, farming is a business.
Like other forms of business it in
wolves the matter of credit; even more
so than others, because it take five
or six months for the farmer to cash
in on his efforts. He should, there
fore, pursue a more conservative poll
ty in the employment of borrowed
capital since his position is more vul-
nc IL hue
should above all things avoid over
extension. He must borrow some cap
ital, but he must shape his business
so that if hard time come he can liqui-
date part of his holding and sit tight
with the balance till he has weathered
the storm. To insure the protection Of
the price of cotton, capital must me
made the basis Of acreage Figure as
best we may, we will at times have
over production. The forces of nature
have more control over the size of
the crop than our regulation of acre
age. The worlds requirements, the
conditions of distribution are de-
pendent too upon matter which we
cannot control. But the farmer can
control the available supply if his fl
nancial condition enables him to re-
tire large portion of the crop by
taking off until prices advance again
to fair level. If a farmers acreage
is determined by his financial ability
to protect his cotton after he has
raised it, an effective step will be TAX
en- in the automatic adjustment of pro-
duction.
SIT may be difficult to work this
out in practical fashion, but | believe
/, it can be done, so many dollars ad-