The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1919-07-08
COTTON AND PEACE.

toned to the advance IN prces ol
nearly all commodities, especially
foodstuffs. Not so with cottoI
saws an expert. The fact thai
foodstuffs enter into the lille OF
every household and are pro
duced in every section OF the
country. while cotton is confined
to a comparatively small ano
compact fraction, is no doubt re-
sponsible for the lack OF perspec-
tive by large part of the trad
ing public. For some occult rea-
son. it is the rule to try to estl-
mate the cost Of production and
Immediately jump to the conelu-
sion that cotton is intrinslcally
worth no, more than that in the
markets. Nobody seems to dream
that the farmer who makes the
crop by his sweat and labor IS
entitled to any profit, much less
a substantial one. Even when
mills were clearing 30 to 40 cents
a polnd-$150 to 5000 bale-on
every pound Of raw cotton run
through the spindles, the same
old argument still prevailed. The
farmer was deemed a shameless
profiteer, because he persisted III
holding back his crop 1ntil ne
cot what he considered a talr
price for it. 1t is all very well tor
the mills to pay enormous dlYl-
dends, but the farmer, Oh, no!
Few people realize the full Ell
feet of the peace treaty. When
Germany ratifies it within the
next few days, all embargoes
against trading with her will be
automatically lifted. No event OF
this sort in history can compare
with the situation just ahead OF
rs Imagine a stream damned up
for nearly five years and the dam
suddenly torn down But before
letting imagination take rein let
MS look backward a bit When
war fell upon a peaceful world,
like lightning from a clear sky,
the greatest cotton crop IN ms
tory was just maturing. Wlthln
a very brief time our outlets 10
the central powers - nations
which normally consumed over
three million bales a year--Were
closed tight American spinners
and others thus had a free ileid
without competition, and there
was a universal, if not organized,
movement to let the farmer hold
the bag. Everybody knew thai
there was plenty Of cotton ON this
side of the water, and everybody
knew there was no danger OF It's
getting away. They reckoned,
however. without their host. The
farmer-pure American as cotton
raisers are-showed their teetn
early, and, after the first crash IN
prices, deliberately set to work 10
market his crop only when 1t
was wanted and the spinner WAS
ready to buy it and pay what was
asked. Over a period OF nearly
five years he has demonstrated
that he is the premier merchant
of the land and can gloat over
the fact, that, despite heart
breaking odds that faced him,
prices today are at nearly the
highest point since the years I'M
mediately following the civil war,
and five times the price at which
large proportion OF the crop OF
1914 was sacrificed Immediately
after the outbreak of the world
war.
Now his long days Of trial and
struggle are behind him. After
years of carrying crop after crop
without any competition between
buyers, that healthiest Of cle-
ments will reappear, and Ameri-
can and Japanese spimers will
have to drop their easy system
and prepare to meet the demand
which will necessarily accompany
the restocking of German, Aus
trian and Polish mills. 1t must
be remebered that none Of these
have been devastated by war, and
even if their overseas trade in
goods has been seriously hurt,
there is enough immediate de-
mand from the peoples of the cen
tral powers to set their spiudles