Evening star., 1926-09-28
MEM -:AND MONEY
By NJ. S. Rukeyser
tCopyright, l026.J

| elected to the presidency or the New
York Cotton Exchange, the largest
cotton futures market in the world
| told me that he thinks the South
| generally is soon to benefit from a
! striking revival of prosperity in the
textile trades which clothe the human
race. Incidentally, he is confident
that New England. despite the recent
drift of cotton mills to the South, has
brilliant business future and will
| share in the renaissance which ne
| expects before long in the textile
trades. which up to the present have
been depressed. while other industries
! have been prosperous to a high de-
gree.
To any one who gets his economics
| from the Congressional Record ano
| looks upon the cotton market as the
| greatest gambling den in the world
| Mr.. Hubbard will be somewhat of q
shock. Although he got his bachelor
of arts degree in 1907, he has never
ceased to be student. His operations
in the cotton market are based on
analyses of weather conditions, farm
| problems, consumptive probabilities
| and trade psychology-not on mere
| guesses, lunches or tips.
New England Lineage.
| Mr.. Hubbard. who is tall and slen-
! der, with an Oblong face and sharp
features, in appearance suggests his
New England lineage. He has ex.
pressive, friendly brown eyes. After
| college, he learned the cotton bust
ness in the fields Of Arkansas-far
| from the Wall Street ticker tape. He
toiled as an office boy and clerk and
| learned how cotton is grown, picked
| compressed and shipped. Then he
went to New England in the heart
of the cotton mill district and studied
| that phase Of the industry.
Il think" said Mr.. Hubbard, that
We are on the eve of a revival in the
cotton textile industry, which has
| been abnormally depressed since the
war. There was a great surplus OF
war materials. particularly cotton
| clothing and cloth. and also q war
time expansion of manufacturing
equipment, which have almost up to
this time hung like a cloud of disaster
over the industry, which has suffered
also from the shrunken buying power
Of Europe. This year, however
| Europe appears to be taking more
cotton than last. Domestic stocks are
| low because of the prevalence OF
! hand-to-mouth buying. The goods
trade is still cautiously feeling it's way
watching the raw cotton market"
| Asked about the crop which is now
| growing in the South and which will
probably be entirely picked by the end
| of November, Mr.. Hubbard peered
| through his glasses and, after deliber.
ating, said:
| There is an extraordinary diver
sity among the trade at present as
| to the size of the new crop. ESti
mates in Thoughtful quarters vary
| from 100000 to 100000 bales"
Medium Crop Best.
Queried as to whether the farmer
would profit more from a short crop
| than bumper one, Mr.. Hubbard said
that short crop usually means great
unevenness as between localities
bringing great prosperity for some
! and hardship for others. The farm
| ers generally. he said, profit most
| from a medium sized crop
| l asked Mr.. Hubbard the reason
| for a possible short crop in d year
when an unprecedentedly large acre
| age had been planted in cotton. He
! answered that excessive rain and the
! activity of bugs had. In the opinion
| of many persons, seriously damaged
| the crop. In addition to the boil
weevil, familiar foe of Southern pros
perity. the hopper or the Mexican
| flea. has been for the first time active
throughout the belt. he said Both
types came from Mexico. With all
| our restrictions on immigration,
which select and examine human be.
| inss, We have not succeeded in ex-
Guiding these pests from below the
Rio Grande. which are certainly more
harmful than an influx of non Nor
! dies would be,
! THE farmer" explained the presi.
| dent of the Cotton Exchange, is
| necessarily a speculator. First. he
! Speculates on the weather. Then,
after his crop is picked, he must de-
! eide whether to sell at prevailing
prices Or hold in expectation of a
| higher price. If he holds his cotton,
! he becomes long Of cotton a bull
| speculator."
I asked Mr.. Hubbard what the cot
| ton farmer can do to heighten his
| prosperity. The farmer" he eX
! planned, can improve his lot through
/ attending agricultural schools, learn
ing how to use fertilizer more eff
| fectively. the use of better seeds, the
| best use Of the soil through rotation
of crops. Moreover. he can learn
| something of the price situation by
| watching cotton markets and statis
| tics and learning how to interpret
| them.
Variation of Ability.
There is as wide variation of abil
| ity among farmers as among business
men. Some are just two-horse plov
| farmers and others, like L. X SAILS
| bury of Memphis and Lee Wilson OF
| Wilson, Ark, run their enormous
| plantations, covering many thousands
| of acres, with all the skill of corpora
! ton executives, fully conversant as tc
| costs and other factors which condi
ton their prosperity
| Mr.. Hubbard thinks that the long
term prospects for the cotton growers
are good because he believes that the
/ world. when post war normalcy is
| fully established. will take 16,O0O,0 900
| bales of American cotton a year. AS
| for New England, he believes that the
! labor leaders are constructive and in
| telligent, and will help employers and
managers Of the textile mills to work
out a satisfactory wage basis and bet
ter methods of production.
II believe the trend" he declared,
will be toward more staple products
| in the textile field. We have gone
to extremes in style changes, and
many women are beginning to tire of
| radical and quick changes in fabrics
| and colors. which comparatively soon
become obsolete"
Mr. Hubbard is striving to make
New York one of the great cotton
ports Of the world. Recently the
New York Cotton Exchange entered
into a contract with the Bayway Ter
minal providing for the establishment
Of a cotton concentration point at
Elizabeth. on the New Jersey side of
the Staten Island sound, where 200,
600 bales of cotton eventually can be