The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1920-07-08
WORLD IS FACING
COTTON FAMINE
Commissioner Believes There i No
Competitive luying - Sixth
Short Crop.

Short Crop.
when are you going to tell us 10
sell cotton?' is the question put To
Commissioner B. Harris by one of the
extensive cotton planters OF the mid
die section Of the state. Not until
you are able 10 get for it what it is
worth" was Mr. Harris reply. The
tanner then stated that he had So.d
Il few bales at iG cents because the
bank Was pushing him to take ~
loans. Mr.. Harris SUSPECTS that this
is being done by a number OF banks
over the country. ThiS. farmer did not
sell any more of his cotton than he
was forced to do, because he agrees
with Commissioner Harris phIloso-
ply that cotton has not attained
anything like its real value.
The South has had world mono
poly in cotton since the staple was
first planted and what has this mono
poly profited them?" asks Mr.. Har-
ris. The fault has not been in the
cotton. The South has produced the
fiber that has clothed the world and
has grown up citizenship inpoverty
and illiteracy-all because that sta
pic has not been marketed with any
degree of intelligence and business
judgment. If the New England States
had had this worlds monopoly for
the last so years, we would be unable
to buy the lowest grades of spinnable
cotton from for less than so cents
pound. We know they would do this,
for any crowd of men smart enough
TO sharpen the other end" of sur
plus stock of shoe pegs and send them
to South America and sell them for
seed oats, as was done just after the
Confederate war, would get all there
was in the cotton plant.
Facing Cotton Famine.
1T is a recognized fact the world
over what | have been telling the
people for two years, the world IS
facing a cotton famine. We are now
confronted with the prospect of an
other short crop, the sixth in succe2-
sion. This means that some one will
have to shut down their mills. And
with the enormous profits the manu-
faciurers are now making they will
never shut down their mills as long
as they can get cotton to go through
their machinery.
1--WE know it TO be a fact that
dry goods can be reduced 25 per cent
and more and the mills can pay 40
nable cotton and then have net prof
it of S10O on each bale. AS | have
said several times in my articles there
is not enough spinnable cotton in the
world to keep the mills running full
time for over months. That the pub
lie may appreciate that was not talk
ing through my hat, but know wha'
7 was talking about quote from Inc
Manufacturers Record Of Baltimore
which paper sent special representa-
tive to Washington to dig up the lls-
ures from the bureau of markets and
with the assistance of D. S. Murph OF
South Carolina, now specialist in cot
ton marketing. it was learned that
the carry over of cotton on July l
was only 2,S50,343 bales, not enough
TO run the mills of the world 1--WE
months-and another short crop COM
ing. Tell me cotton is worth less tnan
70 cents a pound today? l don
believe it.
"The carry over" Of cotton one
wear ago was 4,154,S55 bales and
there was more spindles in operation
today than there were then. Euro
pean manufacturers are getting upon
their feet and will require more cot
ton In 1920. The shortage will be fe't
keenly in the next manufacturing
year.
Some spots holders do not under
stand why cotton has not been ad'
vancing more rapidly. l will try to
show them just how the cotton mar
ket Is manipulated There Is no COM
petitive buying in spots cotton-only
one faction, and that this is the bear
speculator. There has been for the
last 20 months the most determined
and long continued bear raid ever
known in the history Of cotton. II
has been necessary to do this to save
the bears who were caught short
when the war ended suddenly.
81 know a farmer who has some
800 bales of cotton. mostly l 1-6 and
full one inch staple. He offered this
to a cotton factor in North Carolina
and got the surprising answer that
the factor did not want any cot on
at all. or course he did not want that
lot, for ii was out of his territory to
buy It, no matter how badly he want
ed 1t. He was under contract not TO
buy. only in his territory. In fact. the
cotton market is virtually controlled
by one firm.
"If there were any competitive buv-
ing in spots cotton, it would soon
reach a price we'll above so cent.