The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-06-15
DIAL AMENDMENT
 WILL BE REPORTED
 OUT PRESENT WEEK
Seems to Be Fair to Producer, Manufacturer and Stock Exchanges of New Dr.
 leans and New York
By HUGH w. ROBERTS Washington Bureau The Ase-Herald
 500 Davidson Building


 Washington, June 14-(Special)-
 The agricultural committee of the
 Senate is prepared to report the Dial
 amendment, the successor of the ill.,
 fated Conner amendment of the pre-
 ceding session. under which the buy
 CT of cotton exchange would get an
 even breaek In delivery.
 The committee would have acted
 last week, but for the insistence of
 Senator Ransdell of Louisiana, pres
 ently in New Orleans, who requested
 delay for fear that in his absence,
 injury might be done the stock ex
 changes, the operators of which are
 his friends and the operations of
 which he regards as necessary to the
 welfare of the country. Senator
 Ransdell will return the end of the
 week. Thereafter, action may be ex-
 pected.
 Senator Dial declares that his sole
 object is to give the producer and
 the buyer of cotton exchange an even
 break He denies that he would de-
 stroy the exchanges. In that con-
 nection he authorizes this correspon-
 dent to say, however that the ex-
 changes are tertiary consideration
 First consideration, he holds, must be
 given the producer; and second con
 sideration, the manufacturer.
 Expose of Exchanges
 The cotton exchanges, which bit
 terly fought the Conner amendment,
 are not apparently violently opposed
 to the Dial amendment Senator Dial
 has made public a letter addressed
 to him by William Ray, one of the
 organizers of the New York ex
 changes, in which, it is declared,
 that the proposed amendment is fair.
 Excerpts from his letter follow;
 Your amendment is a just one.
 giving an equal basis to both buyer
 and seller in all contracts made on
 the exchanges. It will prevent ex
 treme and wild fluctuations as ire quently occur under the present rules
 of what has become Corporation for speculative purposes and which admits of manipulations calculated to l injure legitimate dealings. "The present method of trading on the exchanges is, to say the least, in- adequate 10 conduct it's dealings with Just and equal regard for all inter- ests involved. Speculative interests have in view only their profits. They are nither the producer nor the con- sumer. hence the exchanges are simply methods of clearance for financial security during the trans
 fer of actual commodity from pro- ducer to consumer"
 South n Football | Mr. Dotr q mi ifc ir1f hi lntf hat the exchanges, dealing in southern cotton, make artificial values at l their pleasure. He continues: | Our exchanges, insofar as cotton | Is concerned, limit their clearance in | the actual cotton to that stored at | the point of their trade. New York
 has an actual clearing association, which undertakes to clear all con tracts between it's members for 12
 months, and while it clears thousands of contracts every day. clears only actual cotton Cor warehouse receipts)
 that is in it's local stores, and then only for the current month. Our New York exchange is often thousands oi bales long or short on margins, while its available stock is much less. As it is mostly speculative In it's char acter of dealings, pools can be formed that take advantage of it's condi tion and make artificial values at their pleasure" Mir. Ray concludes tn the rather cynical observation that "the south is now getting its education at con- siderable expenses"
 Plen of Exchanges W. B. Thompson, president of the New Orleans Cotton exchange has failed to make criticism of the Dial amendment which appeals to the Senate committees sense of fairness. His argument is that the Dial amendment would make 1t so hard on the seller. that is the ex- change, that in the long run there lwould be no seller.
 In that connection, he wired Sena- tor Ransdell a long telegram of pro- test out of which the following gist is extracted:
 r Senator DiaPs fifty-fifty argument seems plausible enough but in prac- tical effect. 1t would drive sellers from the future market and make said market innocuous. The fault with the Dial argument lies in the ifact that the obligations assumed by the buyer and the seller in the fu- ture contract are not equal If the
 buyer could demand that even 50 | per cent of contract delivery should
 be two specific grades designated by
 him, he would naturally demand the grades which seller would have most difficulty in securing even If he
 could secure same at all Such con- tract would make sellers position so Il hazardous that eventually there Il would be no sellers"
 Il The Dial Proposal Il Senator Dial thinks MT. Thompson
 makes out his own case. He, thinks Il its only just that the hazard of the Il exchange should be as great as that Il of the manufacturer and producer It Il Is his point that if the manufacturer
 can secure a legitimate hedge with Il assurance of delivery in the grade on Il which the hedge is based he will Il have no concern with the mounting H price of cotton.
 Il The Dial amendment would give the II buyer the, right to demand half his II purchase in two grades selected by Il him, the other half to be delivered in H two grades nominated by the ex- change. It islthe opinion of the South Il Carolina senator that his amendment I would eliminate the heaviest mill Il stone now decorating the neck of the I southern producer.
 Il NEGROES INCREASING LAND Il HOLDING THROUGHOUT SOUTH Il Washington. June 14.-(Special.)-- Il Although 1t is definitely established II that the trend of negro population III during the last dacada frop, tba