Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-02-03
Senator H0ke Smith N|r1tes
Of Congressional Euent5
In Interesting LeHer

president through the secretary Of
state, protested to Great Britain
against the interference by that coun~
try with shipments of non-contra-
band goods through neutral ports
from the United States into Ger
many. In the midst of the effort
of our government to force Great
Britain to cease interference with
these shipments. the Germans bru-
tally and stupidity sank the LuSl-
tania. This action of the Germans,
causing the loss of American lives.
so absorbed the attention of the pub
lie that it was hard to make them
consider the mere destruction of
property belonging to citizens of the
United States by Great Britain.
Still. kept up the fight because I
knew the great loss it would put on
you if you reached the fall of 1915
with ali your middle and northern
European markets cut off by the il
legal conduct of Great Britain.
In July, 1915, one of the most
prominent men in the United States,
who had been largely interested in
shipments of cotton to Great Brit
tin, came to me and suggested that
if 1 and my associates would cease
criticizing the illegality of Great
Britains conduct in interfering with
cotton shipments, British interests
would arrange to take over suffi-
ciept amount of cotton and hold it,
to make up to the southern cotton
raiser the loss of his European mar
kets caused by British interference.
1 told this gentleman 1 would not
trade off the rights Of my consti-
tuents, but at the same time 1 told
him that if British interests would
buy enough cotton to put the price
in the fall up TO figures above those
which it brought before the Euro
pean war began, nobody would pay
any attention to criticism of Great
Britain.
On August 81, 1915, Great Britain
passed an order formally ( making
cotton contraband. This, of course,
was illegal, but a few days before
this was done, representatives of
British interests in Washington con-
ferred with government officials and
asked advice as to how Great Brit
ain could prevent this action from
ers. They were advised that if they
would buy cotton enough on the Liv-
erpool and New York exchanges to
prevent a fall of the price as a re-
suit of making cotton conAaband, ana
if they would buy enough to put cot,
ton above twelve ce is per pound,
they would make up, in a measure,
to the cotton growers and to the
United States the injury they other
wise would cause
The day after cotton was made
contraband, it went up on the Liv-
erpool exchange, and in two days it
went up on the New York exchange,
British interests bought heavily on
the New York exchange. This also
lead to purchases by German inter
ests on the New York exchange, and
the purchases by German interests
of spot cotton. These combined pur-
chases of cotton carried cotton in the
fall OIL ) to figures higher than it
sold for before the war, and you re-
ceived the benefit from it. am con-
scfous of the fact that, although
falsely charged with being pro-Ger
man, my work for you helped re-
lieve you from your losses in the
fall Of 1914, and helped carry the
price of cotton in the fall of 1915 up
to a figure that enabled you to avoid
| losses.
L could give you the names and
details of these English and German
purchases, but it would take too
| much space to do So. The price of
cotton kept climbing through the
winter of 1915-16, and the prices
were fairly satisfactory in the fall
of 1916. Your big crop of 1914 had
| been consumed. The fact that your
cotton crops of 1915-16 were small
crops helped the price by making the
supply no greater than the demand
! FINALLY the Germans, by their stu