The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-08-03
CIRCUS SHORTAGE
OF COTTON LIKELY
,,n DEMAND FAR AHEAD OF
WOonnDUCTIoN, A NEW YORK
nANx REVIEW ASSERTS.

note of warning against posi-
,rorId shortage of cotton is
DIG lod in the July number OF The
SOpn oricas" of the New York National
n a.. Rank, which declares that the
ivy ~ world demand for cotton is
pi sniro far in excess of production.
r 1r world is now consuming about
81 1I 100000 bales of cotton annually.
= i stated. but the present decade is
.noctod to see an increase in the de-
aand Of at least 100000 bales,
NTH like increase in the succeeding
decade.
"Wbere the cotton is to come
from" says the bank, "to allow the
world to double its annual consump-
4;or Is q problem. 1t certainly cam
w. W. come from the southern Ameri-
n non states; assuming that the Amerl-
oan iron will continue to average
o obou+ II 100000 bales, as it has for
e a. mast five wears and will probably
onnaI this wear, it is plain that the
vast cotton producing districts In otn-
er narts of the world must be devel-
oned without any loss of time if
uronounced shortage of cotton IS to
be avoided. H.
5000 900 persons are directly en-
oaped in the production, manufac-
fnre and distribution of cotton, while
rpiiable estimates have placed the
amount invested in the business at
S30, 100000. The amount of cot
ton produced in the world has shown
a remarkable increase. While sta
tistics of such a widespread industry
are necessarily more or less approx
mate it is believed that cotton pro-
duction has grown from 100000, 600
Mounds in 1900 to 100000, 600
bounds in 1850, 7,500,000,0O0
bounds in 1900 and $4,000, 100000
pounds in 1918, which is the last
wear that can be called normal. The
most interesting phase of the figures
inst quoted is the practically doubled
production since 1900. showing that
even in these modern times great ca
pacitv for the expansion of cotton
CONSUMPTION exists. Since 1914, how
ever. little increase in the worlds
cotton production has taken place,
and one of the greatest problems now
confronting the industry, and one
which is receiving a great deal of Sc
rious attention. is the increase in the
area allotted to cotton cultivation
necessary to keep uD with the IN
creasing consumptive demand.
"Should the present American
crop fail to come up to the most re-
cent estimates it will mean the sixth
short crop, an unprecedented sltua-
ticn so far as American cotton IS
concerned.
''From the date when the southern
American states first began to supply
The world with its principal stocks of
cotton there has always been a feel
ing in textile circles throughout the
world that when more cotton was
needed America would supply it. Up
until the present this hvpothesis was
reasonably accurate; now, however,
different state of affairs exists.
There is a certain point in every
economic situation where the peak,
or saturation point, so far as ability
to produce is concerned, is reached.
This is very near the case in America
today. While it is true that consid-
cradle areas still exist that might be
turned to the cultivation of cotton, it
is also true that with the growing
tendency of Southern planters to di-
versify their crops there is steady
encroachment on the amount of land
that will hereafter be devoted to cot
ton. Besides that, the boil weeviI
pest has been "a hard one to contend
with and labor conditions have been
anything but satisfactory"