The Natchitoches enterprise. (Natchitoches, La.) 1888-1965, 1920-07-22
It must be remembered that every

1t must be remembered that every
building is affected by time and usage.
This depreciat ion may be as high as
ten per cent of the investment cost,
while with building constructed OF
re inforced concrete the depreciation
cost may be as easily IS low as two per
cent These sums should be considered
as a part of the operating cost just as
much as the item Of labor or repairs.
While the natural inclination of the
laymen in considering warehouse plans
is to think of the kind of building he
will have, a moments reflection will
show that this is matter for second
airy consideration, important though it
is. He should first consister the char
acter of service the warehouse COM
pany will render and the scope of It's
organize ton.
| In some sections of the country small
local warehouses have sprung up, which
subtaL TALLY are privately owned and
privately operated. Such warehouses
meet the first requisite tor cotton
storage in that they afford physical
protection, but as practical matter,
| individual ownership and operation
affects very adversely the financial
service which such warehouses may
render. The necessarily small scale of
operation renders adequate fire pro-
lection with low insurance rate imprac
ticable. The operating expenses Of
such warehouses may of course, vary
from negligible to an extremely
heavy charge. depending upon how
closely the warehouse affords service
only to the individual who owns it.
Next comes the small town ware
house having a storage capacity of
perhaps two to five Thousand bales of
cotton, operated by corporation, in
dividuai or partnership under such con-
dtlons that its receipts issued under
the State or Federal supervision may
be satisfactory for security purposes.
However, this warehouse, in many in
stances. cannot afford such fire rrO-
lection as will enable it to get insurance
rates sufficiently low to make the
ducers; but chief of all handicaps is |
that of necessarily high overhead ex-
penses of operation with the resulting
tendency toward inferior service
Neither of these warehousing plans
afford any reasonable degree of mar
keting service or facilities, nor can i
be expected that they may be able to
develop very far in this direction, for
reasons so obvious that | need not
mention them
Contrasting sharply with these types
of warehouses is the concentration
warehouses where there may readily
be secured the combined advantages of
low insurance, low overhead expenses,
a minimum of fluctuatiOn in storage
- L. !
ing. notwithstanding these advan-
tages the farmer has not been benefited
by concentration warehouses as he
might for the reason that they have
been usually in no sense operated for
his benefit. Moreover. their operation
in many instances has been so neces
sary an profitable from q mercantile
standpoint. thct insurance rates have
been to large extent overlooked, and
poor engineering renders many of these
plants uneconOmical, both in respect to
insurance and labor costs in operation.
Where such warehouse, operated by
md in the interest of the farmers, they 6
would doubtless prove a most perfect
Machine, combined with the plans of {
he plans Cotton Association for mar
,etlng corporations.
Notwithstanding all of these advan-
ages which have pointed out for
warehouse, it is in the
writer's judgment practical impossi-l ;
ility at the pre- sent time. The cotton
roducer feels that he has suffered
UGH abuse at the hands Of inscriptions 4
callers that he il reluctant to be far q
eparated from his cotton. Therefore,
re are forced to recognize the fact
nat if the farmer is to warehouse his
otton, warehouses must be near at 8
and, operated by those whom h.
nows and has c0nliden ,e in.
The plans Of warehouse organization
hich serves best the farmers com
mes the advantages Of oil these plans
entiohsd. This plan will be discussed
the next Of this series Of articles.