The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1921-07-15
Financial Aid
Staple Cotton
Grou7ers Assn.

OGOOS . SOt[.
Money to be Secured From War Fl
nance Corporation by Long Staple
Cotton Crowsrs Association.
! The following is a part of a news
item which appeared in the daily
press Of July IL. One Of the prime
if not the prime, movers in the or.
ganization Of the Long Staple Cotton
Growers Association, was Hon. Oscar
F. Bledsoe, of Greenwood, son Of Col
o. F. Bledsoe, Of Grenada. The
headquarters Of the association OF
corporation will be in Greenwood
The executive Offices being in i'm
mediate charge Of w. NJ. Garrard,
now of Indanlola, but who was
reared in Greenwood. What has been
accomplished reflects most creditsbly
upon the ability and foresight of Mr..
Bledsoe. What Mr.. Meyer, head Of
the War Finance Corporation, and
others say about the probability Of
$4,000, ,0OO being advanced to aid in
marketing the entire cotton crop of
the south is encouraging and will
give cotton farmers renewed hope:
The staple growers OF, the Mississ-
ipni delta, headed by Oscar F..
Bledsoe, Jr.,. of Greenwood, and Lee
Roy Percy, Of Greenville, have sue
ceeded in their efforts to secure fl
nanciai. backing for the Staple Cot
ton Cooperative Association. This
organization secured a loan Of $5,-
100000 from the War Finance Cor
poration, based on a SO per cent val
uation of the total crop. In other
words the corporation will lend
money to staple cotton growers to an
amount equal to one-half the total
value Of the cotton they produce.
! This money is not Immediately
available, although local bankers
point. out that the very fact that it
will be available when the cotton
crop is harvested will be of material
assistance to farmers in securing
loans from other sources. The loan
is guaranteed to the co-operativ as
socistion when it can be secured by
$10,00O,O00 worth Of staple cotton
for export. The association, in turn
will lend the money to individual
growers as an advance Of cash pend
ing sale of the product exported
Such loans may be carried for one
year, if market conditions do not
appear favorable to immediate sale
of the cotton.
= means Sy.tsmatie Handling.
tts Mississippi Stap.e Cocoon Co
operative Association is composed Of
planters who practically control the
Af h srrh ln II
cotton in the United States. These
planters have pledged under contract
approximately 100000 bales of this
years crop to the association for
expectation. The association is moth
ing more than a centralized agency
for selling single commodity in
quantities assured to it by its men,
bers. The idea of organization is to
feed the cotton TO the market in an
orderly and systematic manner, in
stead of dumping the entire crop on
the market during period Of from
two to five months, as heretofore.
With sufficient financial backing
to stave off obligations that would
force the early sale of this cotton.
the growers, through the selling
agency, may hold their cotton from
the market for at least one year.
This not only will insure better
prices to the planters, but will re-
duce speculation to the least posi-
BILE minimum. Aside from a small
tax per bale to defray the expense
of operating the cooperative agency
He becomes a stockholder in the
agency to the extent Of the number
Of bales of cotton he pledges under
and the organization pays
no dividends. The largest expense
will be the maintenance Of Offices for
the accommodation of the sales force,
buyers and weighers, and,
considering the immense volume Of |
business that will pass through the
agency this expense is negligible.
In as much as the War Finance
Corporation was reorganized for re-
lief in the export trade, all cotton |
loans made from the $5,O0O,-
900 fund must be exported. Mr..
Meyer points out that the corporation |
can not extend general relief to the |
cotton farmers, because a large por-
lion of the crop is for domestic con-
sumption. The corporation has no
authority to make loans for the re-
lief of domestic industry and can
not undertake to finance the domestic
,rade.
Memphis bankers who attended
he Washington conference last week
ire in favor of the suggestion made
~ Mr.. Meyer of a pool for financing
he entire domestic crop. 1t seems
they say, that the War FL
lance Corporation is in position to7
axe care Of the export trade in cot
on by extending the necessary fl
,ancial assistance. With this assur-
nee, naturally the next problem is
o get money behind the domestic
otton trade, and the suggestion
made by the director has created a
asst amount of interest throughoAt
he country.
Gilmer Winston, vice president of
he Union and Planters Bank and
trust Company, who attended the
Washington conference, stated that