Evening star., 1933-11-23
Size of Cotton Crop Made
Test of Reduction Policy

land" The Evenings News also COM
ments: The outcome, attributable to
favorable growing weather during the
Fall, might lead to the conclusion that
the plow-up campaign. on which the
Government spent Sill 100000, was
failure. To determine the worth of that
measure, however, one must consider
what would be the situation had the
10,340, 900 ploWed-up acres produced a
crop. Under the circumstances that
area would have yielded nearer 5,000,-
900 than the estimated 100000 bales
In that event the total harvest would
have exceeded 100000 bales, and the
effect on the market readily can be
imagined. Evidently the Wallace plan
came in the nick of time; 1t averted
utter collapse in prices. The necessity
of keeping acreage down another year
now appears more urgent than ever"
"In the first two months Of the cur
rent season." according to the Wall
Street Journal, total world use was
more than year ago. This gave US
the pleasing prospect of a still further
reduction in the large surplus, II the
world mills can continue their present
activity. The if is large one, but is
not beyond the possibilities. England is
operating at much greater percentage
u IOILldl tlldIl d year dSO, COASu1up-
ton in Continental Europe has been in
creaSing for the past year and present
prospects are that there will be no de-
crease this season from the total of
last year, but possibly there may be an
increase. while Japan, in protest against
the Indian tariff of rs per cent on nom
empire cotton goods, is increasing i'm
ports of American cotton. But these
facts do not entirely eliminate the IT,
The indicated production of other than
American cotton is larger than last sea-
son and we are striving to raise the
price of the domestic product. II the
price does not go beyond its usual re-
lation with Indian and other growthS,
there should be no incentive to change
from American. One other thing to
consider Is the reduced purchasing
power of the foreign consumers Of
goods. That power could be crippled by
too great an increase in the price of
raw cotton, and should that be done
the great surplus, now happily decreas-
ing, would begin to mount again.
Taking up another phase of the sub
ject, the Atlanta Journal declares; The
Governments policy of lending cotton
farmers 10 cents pound on their 1888
crop has proved heip1ui IN meeting
eAAS bSASA % ahoA nv PAANOt
and in promoting the broad purposes of
the national recovery act. It is now
proposed to increase all these benefits
by extending the same loan privilege to
the so-called option cotton held by
producers who plowed up a portion Of
their 1893 crop. When the reduction
campaign was under way last Summer
the farmers who co-operated therein
were offered, as one form of compensa-
ton for the acreage they destroyed, an
option to buy at cents a pound a pro-
portionate number of bales of the cot
ton held by the Government. These
farmers were to receive all profits aris-
ing from an advance in prices beyond
cents, and in no case we're they to
be liable for any financial loss. Thus
the option cotton which they took from
the Government was placed upon much
the same basis as the cotton which they
themselves produced In 1888. Hence.
the logic and fairness Of the proposal
that the loans of 10 cents q pound
allowed on the latter be now extended
to the former"