Evening star., 1924-03-25
1923 COTTON YIELD
FIGURES REVISED
Special Committee Named
by Secretary Hoover Reports
Slight Deduction.

The supply of cotton of the United
States for the cotton year which
closed July 81. 1929, was declared TO
have been ls.1SO.642 bales. instead Of
Is, 0.2lS bales, the special committee
appointed by Secretary Hoover to in
Vestigate the census bureaus statis-
ties. reported today. Controversy over
the 579.5 bales used by the census
bureau to balance distribution deter
mined Secretary Hoover to have a
com tnfttee OF leading statisticians ex-'
anime the question. The commit tee
reported that IL was able 20 max e
material corrections in the figures am
nounced last August by the census
bureau. but that a difference Of 3s5, ,S6S
bales, about three fiftbs OF the ofigf-
nal difference between the supply and
distribution. remained unexplained
"Gity Crops" Consiacres.
The committee agreed that the So
called city crops" made up of cot
ton taken from original bales as sam
pies by buyers. picked from bales
damaged by weather and fire and
from press sweepings. should he es-
timated at l25, 900 bales and be added
TO the supply, as we'll as about $4,000
bales OF Mexican cotton. which en-
tered the country without appearing
as imports. IL was found 33.10S bales
exported had been reimported and
should be deducted from the distri-
linters. which had been bleached and
exported at lint cotton.
Its investigation disclosed that Ger
tain Storages showed Implications of mill
and warehouse StnckG TO a degree which
If applied to other StoragtS would
amount to not less than 25.008 bales.
and the committee declared that
should be deducted from the distribu-
tion. Re-exports OF o6.l7l bales OF
foreign cotton had not been deducted
from the supply. as the committee
said should have been done.
CoRamittee's Recom me ndatfsn.
The committee recommended
An additional report 10 show cotton
cinned prior TO August l be made as
pr divided in d bill now pending in Con-
gress
Another ginning report for April /
in sections where the entire crop has
not been einned by March !. To ascer-
tain the total amount OF the crop.
Developments OF plans to enumer-
ate the cotton baled from samples and
plckerles, the so-csIled city crops"
Enumeration OF the cotton now
brought in from Mexico but not ap-
pearing in the imports statistics.
Collection OF statistics OF cotton
consumption and Of cotton held in
storage in such a manner as to dimin-
Understatement OF the supply.
Coordination under ii committee or
other harmonizlng agency of he cot
ton statistics now issued by the two
bureaus in the Department of Com
nerCe and by one in the Departmen mt
Of Agriculture.
Discrepancies Probable.
1t has been the custom of the bu-
reau of the census at the close of each
cotton year.. said the committee, ito
present in a. single statement the fig
ures OF supply and Of distribution In
view of the different methods employed
in obtaining the two sets of figur2- -
is not at all surprising <.Iat there
should be marked discrepancies be-
tween them. Each year a difference
has appeared. and on few occasions
il has been significant
I'm these discrepancies We have
found no evidence of any willfuI mis-
statement of figures by any OF the
informants or by the employees OF the
bureau. 1t has been the custom of
the bureau Of the census. in making
its annual statement, to attempt un-
fortunately, as we think, TO balance
the figures for supply and those for
distribution by adding the requisite e
number of bales to the supply The
committee has found no instructions
to this effect in any act of Congress
and doubts the wisdom OF continuing
the practice. It is in this way that
the disputed figure. 579.405 bales, in
the report OF August IS, 1879, had it's
origin