The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-11-15
DIFFICULT TO GET
COTTON ABROAD
Central European Mills Badly
Hampered-Operating Part Time

Washington, Nov. 1.-THE cot
ton situation as it now exists IN CEN
trail Europe was today explained to
Senator Dial of South Carolina af-
ter request that Howard w. Adams,
representative of the department Of
commerce in Berlin, make special
investigation and report reached the
department by cable and is now for
the first time being released for
publication.
"The spinners and textile mills in
Germany, Holland, Ozechoslovakia,
Austria and Jugoslavakia, only 70
to 80 per cent of their full capacity
except in the case of Holland" the
report says. "This situation is due
not only to the lack of fuel but also
to the lack of raw cotton.
"Considering the unfavorable rates
of exchange of the German, Czecho-
slovakian, Austrian and Jugoslavian
currency with respect to the Ameri-
can dollar, the spinners and textile
mills can afford to buy raw cotton
only when they are able to simulta-
neously market the converted goods
for export. This is very difficult for
them to do because they can get
weeks after purchasing it and the
mills can never be sure about the
cost of labor two months ahead. The
consignments of raw cotton now
stored in the warehouses at Bremen,
Hamburg, Eisenbrod and other
places were bought by the cotton
dealers before the crop in the price
of cotton in the United States, and
consequently the prices (which the
owners of these consignments are
now asking from the consumers
with the additional cost Of the rela-
lively long storage of the, goods in
the warehouses, render the pur-
chase of this cotton extremely diff
cult for the mills. because the goods
which will be converted from this
raw cotton will be too costly for ex-
port, and they can not compete
with the prices existing abroad in
the countries where the mills are
using the cotton bought recently.
This difference can not be evenly
balanced by lower wages existing in
Germany, Czechoslovakia eand Au-,.
stria, even if the money Of these
countries could be converted into
money of other countries.
"In order to effect a better
method of getting raw cotton into
Germany and to eliminate possible
speculation, the spinners and textile
mills in Germany are now organic
ing into groups, according to their
geographical location.
"Some of such organizations (Ver-
bands organize private corporations
as, for instance, "Ditag" and others,
with the purpose Of : handling,
through such a corporation, the i'm
ports of raw cotton and the exports
of converted goods for all the spin
ners and textile mills which partici-
pate in this corporation. Other spin
ners and textile mills are endeavor-
ing to do their exporting and i'm
porting through a specially organi-
zed government department, as, for
instance, in the state Of Wurttem-
berg, where a special department
buys all the raw cotton necessary
for the mills located in Wurttem-
berg and distributes the raw cotton
among them."
An estimate Of Germanys possible
requirements for cotton Is made dif-
ficult by the fact that the consump-
ton is dependent upon the deliveries
Of coal to the German spinning
mills, The. exchange question furni-
shes another serious obstacle. It ap-
pears that about the only way cotton
transactions can be carried out here
under existing conditions is by
shipment Of this commodity to
Bremen and Hamburg and there
stored awaiting demands Of buyers
on terms to be arranged by cable.
German cotton buyers offer not the