Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1921-07-22
ABOUT KING COTTON - From Londor

Tmes-Aftcr an interval Of more than two
years, delegates from nearly every country inter
ested in cotton, either as growers, splnners, or
manufacturers attending the second World
Congress- which opened at Liverpool on Mon
day, and will be continued in Manchester today.
The congress is essentially busness-like gath
ering and the unprecedented difficulties which
now face the industry, not only here but else
where, will tend to enhance its value. Certainly
the exchange of views between these business
men from all parts of the world will help them
to understand the peculiar difficulties which each
has to face.
Since the first congress the cotton trade has
passed through unexampled BOOM" followed
by no less dramatic slump" Therefore it is
not surprising that the discussion at the opening
meeting should have turned at once upon the
question of price. Raw cotton at little more
than pre-war price is unremunerative to the
grower, and the result is seen in an inevitable
reduction in the acreage planted. This reduction
IN Its turn, may be attended by serious dangers
What is most needed is stability in production
and price, but how to insure these very desirable
objects 1t is difficult to decide Yet as the pres
ldent of the Liverpool Cotton Association re.
minded the growers of the United States, the
collapse in the price is not due to anv action on
the part of Lancashire, but to economic causes
over which the industry itself has little control
Nobody in Lancashire he said wanted to receive
raw material at price that meant poverty tc
the growers. 1t is, however, not only for the
harmful effect on the American cotton industry
that an unremunerative price is undesirable The
question is also of the utmost importance to the
development OF cotton-groWing in the empire
subject which has received considerable atten
ton at the congress We cannot hope to estab
liSh vigorous cotton industry in the domnons
unless the price obtained for the product is suf
hccnt to reward the efforts of the planters, who
it must be remembered have usually choice O
alternative crops that may be more remunera
tive. 1t is to nobodys interest that there should
be rapid oscillation between large crops ant
small, state of affairs that plays straight into
the hands of SPECTATORS whose operations inev
1tably accentuate the difficulties of those en-
gagged in the industry
A good deal of spade work has already beer
done with characteristic Lancashire thorough
ness IN promoting the growth of cotton in the
empire, and the governments gift of 100000
pounds will enable this work to be carried on il
future with greater rapidity than has been pos
Sible hitherto. In 1920 the British Cotton Grow
INV Association was able to record an output Of
over 100000 bales an increase of so per cent
on the previous years total. This is an encour
aging report, but it is nothing more at present
his generation must be content to work fo1
those that will follow it. By an unhappy coin
cldence the congress is being held at a time
when the industry here is parayzed by a wage
dispute The mills and factories in Lancashire
nave been silent a result of a disagreement
which, to the onlooker, would seem to have been
susceptible to friendly adjustment There is now
reason to hope that settlement is near at hand
Tor even in Lancashire it is felt that the cotton
industry, which has prided itself on long i'm
munlty from serious labor trouble, has little
excuse Tor its present lapse. While it is unfor.
tunate, therefore, that the delegates from 5 O
many different countries should have found evil
dences of internal strife in a British industry
which can undoubtedly claim an envable record
so tar as its relations between EMPLOYERS and
employed are concerned t.e spectacle OF these
silent mills will have been a forcible reminder
that we, the buyers of the largest share of the
cotton crops of the world, and the sellers of a
vast quantity of manufactured goods have 70
face grave economic difficulties of our own.
clear appreciation of these difficulties on the
part of our visitors from overseas will have ben
ehcial results 1t will do much to remove the
causes OF friction, due often to misunderstanding
which, in the last few months, has shown itself
IN some OF our great markets and have retarded