The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1920-10-27
"SCARE in COTTON"
DECLARES HESTER
lie Issues a Statement of
encouragement
DRASTIC DECLINE
DUE TO SELLING
In Ten Weeks More Than One Million
Bales of Cotton Have Been Thrown
on the Market without Rhymt or
Reason, Says Statement.

reason, Says Statement.
New Orleans, Oct. 2O--In state
mcnt prepared at the instance of the
New Orleans cotton exchange direc-
tors and made public tonight, Henry
q. Hester, secretary of the exchange
and Tor 20 years regarded as an in
tcrnational authority on matters per-
tanning to cotton marketing, declares
there is no reason for rushing for
federal financial aid' and asserted
there was nothing the matter with
the South beyond an unreasonable
scare in cotton"
The statement, prepared "for the
benefit and encouragement of those
who are not fully informed" follows:
THE drastic decline that has oc-
CURED in cotton since the first of
august, amounting to nearly 800 a
bale, or about As per cent, has been
NANNY due to The pressure to sell or
shrinking market, undermining CON
ldence on both sellers and consumers.
acccntuating the fears Of the former
ana increasing the reluctance of the
laltcr until they practically abandan-
doned the market except at constant
concessions, which in the aggregate
probably constitute the greatest drnn
mat has ever taken place in the staple
IN any like period. In the past ten
weeks, more than 100000 bales of
spo' cotton have literally been
thrown overheard" without rhyme or
reason. .'early threc-fourths of the
ieXas ginnings to September have
Deen rushed to market and while 9th
er sections have sold more sparnplv
the reported sales at three LEADING
IeXas centers have amounted to more
than 100000 bales. Futures have per-
iorce 1oIlowed spots, the pressure hav-
ing been accentuated by sales to hedge
spot.
Various Theories Given
Various theories have been piven
for me scare mainly the question of
financing, uLfavorable attitude of tba
i'o"ral bank and tight money. Meth
er OF these. however. shouId roason
"o'y nave prccipitated practical
pane Calm thinkers consider there
was no reason for asking for federal
aid 'han during the buy bale period
ci 1911. We marketed that ycar moro
'haA was ever marketed in any voar
IN 'he h.ator yof trade and if we did
no, cet as much for our bales as vo
Fhoa!h have, we laid the foundation
o. an upward trend and BROUGHT
H'H'e money into the South. fairly
earned IN the years that followed
man had ever before been Obtained IN
our history. Why then should wn af-
yer 'our seasons in which our raw
cotton 'includi1g the seed has ox-
ceeded in value $7,97O,OOO. 900. balk at
carrying few million bales pendine
'en'oofary lull in demand? Has not
'ha' very lnll been heightened bv tho
StN""IoSS and unrcasoning fears of
producers. or course. everybody
knows that the governments cfro,t,
10 lower The nigh cost of living IN.
exercised some influence but that has
"ech ny no means entirely Responsible
lot 'hc cotton panic. Let us look at
the governments figures for tho
hlohths of August and September
''-o' IN fact OF all the talk about
reduction Of consumption, we find that
mo mills North and South consumed
or cotton from August to Septembor
80, $4,000 bales against 913.00o FOR
lhe same time last year, decrease or
only $4,000 bales. This then was NOT
Where the shoe pinched as far as do
mestc consumption was concerned
"hen the mills became informed of
me growing fears OF the Southern
producers OF a decline in values they
feli back on their supplies of raw cot
ton and during the two montbs ueod
up 436,OOO bales OF their reserve
STOCKS. thus on July 81 the ccnsus
aaid mIlls North and South held
l,2o9,OOO bales Of American lint cotton
while on October I, the same author.
ity save them total OF only 773, 600
bales. In September in face OF the
panicky feeling that was spreading