The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-03

in the way of information to the de- partment here in Washington. Nobody under this plan could know what the figures were as they came in the mail to Washington, but now the gin reporter, after sealing his report and mailing it, is required by the bureau of the census to go in and give this se- cret information to thousand tele- graph agents. Through this plan, the cotton producers of the United States are compelled to run the risk of hav- ing the telegraph agent make all sorts of mistakes in transmitting these figures over the wires. l am unable to under stand just why this telegraphic system was ever instituted It accornpiishes no good purpose and is useless expense.
 BEAR CAMPAIGN
 "A great bear campaign has been car ried on for months. There is nothing that the bear gambler overlooks when he is spreading a propaganda to beat down the price of cotton. He always claims that big crop will be made, and he is exceedingly happy if he can get such a prediction to come from some agency in the federal government. About 12 years ago it was discovered that these bear speculators were in close touch with two men in the department of agriculture who had to do with mak- ing up the estimate of the cotton crop, and they hired these men and paid them money to make the estimated size of the crop larger than the information re ceived from the cotton states justified They changed the figures and added the amount suggested by the bear specula- tors, and when that cotton crop esti- mate was published it did what the bear spectators knew it would do-it broke the market and beat down the price of cotton-and the bears made thousands and thousands of dollars.
 SEVERE PENALTIES 'I helped to pass the law now upon the statute books, which provides severe penalties for any government official who falsifies figures and reports or gives out information to any one not entitled to It. prior to the time of it's publ lcation as required by law. This was intended to prcs ent the recurrence of another such d.sgracefu and thievlng transac- ton.
 "But--a telegraph agent anywhere along the line that brings the gin reports Into Washington can send the same in- formation by code message or otherwise to the cotton speculator and you have no way on earth of finding 1t out. That same agent. if he desires to do so. can add to the figures of every gin report that comes through his hands or over his wire
 "The point 1 wish to make Is that this ginners report should be safeguarded so as to keep the information that it con ta.ns from everybody except the govern ment officials authorized to have and hold 1t until the day comes for making 1t public. It is unfair to the American producer of cotton to subject this val uable Information to the mistakes and temptations to which this hazardous system does subfsc~ it.
 GAMBLERS PROFIT
 Tt opens the way for interruptions sI,ecuiators to defeat the very purpose that we had In mind. that of surrounding this information with secrecy. It places 1t inf theA hands of a telegraph agent through lhrelessness or otherwise. to do injury to millions of cotton producers in the United States
 These telesraphic reports are received here in Washington one day. and on the next day the bureau of the census with out having any way to know whether the telegrams are accurate. tabulates the eigures that come over the wires and then solemnly announces to the publS the sum total of the figures thus re ceived as the amount of cotton Einned in all nf tho cotton rsr drcs~~ states.
 DOESN'T ACCUSE, BUT
 This system of obtaining the gin re- ports is . danEerous system for the pro-