Arizona republican., 1920-01-10

these prospects are favorable beyond
all recent experience.
Naturally, the question rises, Why?
And the answer can apparently be
compressed into very brief FORM
namely, that the worlds demand for
Gotten is increasing by leaps and
bounds. while the production of cot
ton is not expected to show any con
siderable increases before the latter
part of a decade at the earliest AS
Professor John 4. Todd, secretary OF
the Empire Cotton Growing Commit
tee, told British textile men after his
return to England from the New Or
leans conference. the supply of cotton
for the next five or ten years IS seri-
ously threatened and pre-war records
of production will not be broken. if
indeed. they are even maintained
The world demand for cotton Will go
on increasing, Yer there will be no
steadily increasing acreage from
America. and the increases now con-
templated from Egypt and India are
hardly looked for before the end of
several years.
Now. of course this sort of thing
has the appearance of being the in
evitable result of natural develop
ments. If as the cotton interests as
sure Us so seriously, every man in
midas teeming masses now aspires 70
Wear cotton socks. whereas "A few
years ago he was content 10 go bare
foot: and if. as anyone can figure out
for himself, the tremendous increase
of automobiles is alone neceSsitating
the use. in tire fabrics, of 100000
bales of cotton out of a total world
supply of hardly more than 1000, 900
bales, il is easy to see that either
more cotton VIII have TO be produced.
or else there viii he RcCner. compc-
tition FOR whatever may he aVs,ila BILE.
one might judge that no strong rea-
sons appear to be forthcoming against
increasing the production OF cotton.
Yet there is 4 reason. II underlies the
talk of cotton shortage quite generally.
And that reason is the disposition of
cotton growers to take advantage of
the general situation to raise the price
of cotton beyond anything that they
have heretofore Tcntured TO hope for
The American south. for example. at
the very time when conditions are
Sha ping up for cotton shortage is
urging the diverSification of crops. 1t
advises farmers to grow less cotton
and more of feed and food crops. I'M
proved methods of growing, storing,
and marketing cotton. are. to be sure.
n part of this advice. But the effect
of IT, If followed, will be to cut down
cotton production just at the time
when the world supply is most made
quate. And there is little doubt that
the farmer is expected to profit by the
worlds need. In a word. he is ad-
viSed to raise less cotton. and to hold
it until he shall be able TO realize
more on his reduced acreage than he
. formerly could Iealize by turning his
whole farm to cotton.
1t is to be regretted that the ethics
of business seem 1T present TO reach
no higher level than this would indi-
cate. Nobody can reasonably expect
the cotton growers and manufacturers
TO supply the world with cotton pro
ducts without fair return for their
great and useful activity on the
worlds behalf. But the weights of
such tremendous campaign as any
that would seem to hold up a world
for price, even in such a common
place affair as that of cotton, must in
the last ANALYSIS be measured in other
terms than those of legitimate profit
And the motive of the cotton inter
ests, wherever they are and however
they may be concerned, will show
clearly in proportion as they bend I'M
RENTING effort, everywhere. to slim
ulating, not preventing, the growth
of this staple OF which the whole world
now stands in need.