Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / July 11, 1907, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER. itThursday, July 11, 1907. The American Cotton Bale Must be Reformed. resident JHarvie Jordan, Profoundly Impressed by What He Saw on His Trip to the" Foreign Cotton ; ; Centres, Makes a Powerful Plea for Reform in the Baling and Handling of Cotton. No word has been spoken in regard to the hand ling and shipping of cotton that is of more vital in , terest to the Southern farmer than that which we arc reprinting on thispage' from President Har vie Jordan's recent article in the Baltimore Manu facturers' Record. What Mr. Jordan says is. not guess-work. He went abroad to see and find out things that affect the price of the Southern 4 farm er's cottoiyand he has written the Results of his invest! eation. As loner as the AmpHrnn -farmpr sends abroad two out of every three bales of Cot ton that he .raises, the foreign buyer will be a factor in the fixing of price that" the farmer Can not. iennrf An rl Wh ATI ft rlomnnof -raarl oo Klfr' -fcj - " v v m v.-.vrJ.U vx LA K. V VA y (Aft? . ATX A Jordan' demonstrates 'it, that the shabby clothes our King Cotton wears when, he is abroad stimu lates the cultivation of the staple in foreign coun tries and that ragged cotton bales abroad make ragged cotton-farmers at horned it Is high time our growers were taking: up in dead earnest the mat ter of enforcing , a -superior and more attractive method of covering and handling their export cot ton. But we will give Mr. Jordan's- presentation of the matter, " and nothing we have printed on the subject is better worth yQur serious reading. He says: - ; - . The average grower of cotton in the Southern States hasx been educated ; to believe that', cot ton of good quality and in large quantities can be grown only in America,-and that therefore it made no particular difference as to how badly the cotton crop was handled, the spinning world had to take it and make the best of it. There is no doubt upon my mind that we arejn error as regards the idea thatforeign countries do not possess land and climatic conditions favor able to the production of the best grades of cot ton in large quantities. The trouble in more rap idly, increasing the production of foreign-grown COtton lies not SO milfih In linfamrflhlo pHTnaHo conditions as it does in rthe education of the peo ple in hose countries where cotton could bo grown to take holdv-of. the industry andpush it In Bra zil, Peru, Argentina, Australia, Egypt, India, Mex ico, South Africa ; and other countries where the staple can" be grown the natives are as yet but semi-civilized and . whpre 'hut fA-w tho mndsm - ' w . -w I v . . VAJkV UAV VLvA A facilities for agriculture and transportation have been introduced. -. - "L : " Amazing Increase of Foreign Production, 7 Anyone who 'will; take the lalns to carefully in vestigate the imports of cotton from, all sources into Great Britain and the; Continent each year will soon ascertain that a large number of coun tries are now growing, cotton and that the annual production of these foreign cottons, is increasing, and in some sections to an amazing degree.' While these shipments, aside from Egypt and India, are not large, still so, many small shipments are be ginning to foot up largely in the aggregate, "India alone produced in the past year 4,000,000 bales of cotton, , weighing on an average of 400 pounds per bale. This is as large as 4 the American cotton crop was a few; decades ago. One large firm, Piatt Bros. & Co.,; which I visited in Manchester, alone turns out annually 3,000 new gin outfits, none of which comes to America, but all are shipped but to meet the demands of other countries."; King Cotton at Second Table Because of Shabby -. . . Clothes. ; Undoubtedly the South holds a commanding position in the predominating supply of the world's cotton and will perhaps always maintain her pres tige, ' but American., cotton is bought by"? foreign spinners, under protest, and only after! similar grades of foreign-growir cotton has: been "exhaust ed, not because foreigners are prejudiced against American-grown cotton, but because of the bad manner in which American cotton is baled and de livered abroad. ., American cotton is the only cotton in the world where every bale Is sampled-and carefully, ex a mined by every " hand through which it r passes from the local cotton buyer In the interior, on through, the hands of the - foreign cotton " mer chant, and finally, by the spinners under, the roofs of their mills. It is the only cotton in the world where grades in the . same bale are not "uniform and .where deductions have to be made for "coun try, damage." If the growers and handlers of American cotton do not reform the present meth ods, of delivering our cotton abroad, it will only tend 'to intensify the detei'mination of foreign sin ners to induce a larger production- of cotton in other countries. I make 'this plea in behalf .of American cotton after having visited the great cotton centres of Europe and personally investi gated the' facts herewith recorded. , Reform of American Bale Urged -Everywhere. ' . I personally Inspected large cotton warehouses at Venice, Bremen, Manchester and Liverpool. At " XI , ""' ' ' " x- :X " - x '' ' r- "... : HARVIE JORDAN, President Southern " Cotton Association. . every point visited, accompanied by my associate, Mr. Waiter Clarke, of Mississippi, we were shown every courtesy by the large cotton merchants, the members of the exchanges, and shown through all the warehouses "we cared to inspect and freely given-ail the information we wished. Everywhere, in response to our questions as to American cotton bales compared with : other cot ton, the answers were the- same, namely, that American cotton was generally received in bad condition J ' that it required more sampling, carried higher rates of insurance, heavier tare, expensive arbitration and losses from what is termed coun try damage or rot. Everywhere we were asked if the American -bale could not be reformed. We had fine opportunity for judging comparisons, as we found thousands of bales of -American cotton stored side by side with - thousands of bales of foreign-grown cotton. The American bales were cut all to pieces from numerous sampling, the lint hanging out from these jagged bales, . while the jute bagging in which the bales were originally wrapped was torn. ut and hanging in shreds. The bales were neith1 er uniform in length, breadth or thickness. On the other handa the cotton received from, other countries was baled in nice packages, wrapped in closely-woven canvas and" of uniform size. Only one .bale in ten, as a rule, is sampled of foreign grown cotton, while the cost of handling, rate of insurance, etc., is far less as compared with Ameri can: cotton,- an d no arbitrations for ''country dam age." As a Southern cotton grower and a-close observer, -1 was profoundly impressed 1 by these revelations, and I sincerely trust that my exposi tion of the facts stated will. have some tendency in turning the tide of sentiment in the South in favor of improving the American bale, which under ex tetjng methods is costing Southern cotton grow ers a heavy penalty for their apparent indifference. Great - Big - Hospital - for "Coutry Damaged" Cotton. : - - ; ; : . : "-J -. v; r y" . - '-.' - '. ; We were shown through the warehouses of the Manchester Ship Canal by the president of the Association, Mr. Robinson. Here we found the finest warehouse facilities in the world, a solid warehouse nearly bnemile in length, four stories high, and built entirely of reinforced concrete. In: one apartment of this warehouse is a large space set aside for picking American cotton bales of the 'so-called "country damage" or rot. Nc other cotton shipped from any other part of the world carries a loss for, country, damage. On the tracks on the outside of this section of the ware house I found ten car-loads of cotton being un loaded to be sent into this section for picking on account of j damage. I found that all of this par ticular lot I of cotton came from' Memphis. Some of the bales being picked showed a loss of at least 200 pounds to the bale in solid rot. , Upon my inquiry as to who stood these heavy losses which was due entirely to the storing of this cotton i through the past winter on the streets of Memphis, jl was . amazed to find that the marine Insurance companies paid all losses from country damage oni American cottonr I naturally supposed that the cotton factors i or -exporters of this dam aged cotton from Memphis would stand some loss on account of their negligence in allowing these bales o. rot on the streets of Memphis, but I found that the insurance companies paid the full damage, and that the cotton shippers from Mem phis got full "pay for jevery bale they shipped, whether damaged or in good condition. x : The Growers Have to Pay. . . 1 then decided to call on the officers of some of the largest marine insurance companies in Liver pool. I met several'of 'them the next day and was Informed that what I had heard was substantially correct, arid- that the insurance companies pro- lectea tnemseives by cnarging a nign rate on American cotton." They said- that affidavits were made" by American shippers that cotton was dam aged after It was insured, and they had no re course, butf to pay. I - - The point which I wish to make is that this ex cessive rate of insurance on American cotton made to pay damages on cdtton improperly cared for is one of thb fixed charges which the growers have to . pay andlfor which - they are In no- wise respon sible, as cotton sold by farmers in a damaged condition Is' usually picked at the local warehouses when the .'purchase byr the buyers' is made. We should have some stringent laws along this line which will force the large cotton centres of the South to more properly store and protect our cot ton from these heavy losses, x iX -'-:- -.i ---.X , , . , -XXV- rW'X.'; X - Strong Demand by Prospering English Mills. Never before in' the history of the cotton trade has such activity" been displayed in the building of new cotton mills in the Lancashire district and elsewhere! i Millions of 3 new spindles are - being put in annually, and, new mills can be seen going up on every band. The foreign spinners are mak ing more rmoney than ever before, and their only fear is that at the present splendid condition of the business too many mills will be built. There is but little fear of lower prices for either the raw materials or the finished product within the next year or two, and there need be no fear that every bale of good normal; crops of American cotton will not be demanded at good prices. The. one essen tial thing for the Southern cotton grower to learn is to raise his food supplies largely at home, cur tail the credit business and begin at once to im prove ; thq present method of the baling, handling and delivery of his 'cotton to foreign ports. We should .make the American bale of cotton as at tractive I from every standpoint as any other bale ,of cotton grown on any other land in the world. This should be so notionly from a matter of pride, but from the e economic demands of the present time in good business methods. ,. - How the Cotton Grower Can Get His Own Price. " With these problems solved, we will be a long step forward on -the highway of bringing about still closer relations between the growers and spinnerLof American cotton! ' : " The growers and? spinners of American cotton are more fitally interested in the cotton Industry than alL others combined; hence it is eminently proper J;hat : these two interests should cordially co-operate: to the mutual advantage of each. Manchester spinners Insist that farmers' first ship their cotton to Manchester, and if grades are satisfactory upon examination by- their experts, then the trader is consummated, but they are very much opposed to paying for cotton on this side be fore shipment.'; It seems to me, therefore, that the growers imu st -rfirst inaugurate the reforms noted with respect to' baling and delivery, build ware houses in which to store and finance their cotton, and .get into a position strong enough to demand such prices from the buyers, whoever they may be, as will secure for themselves a fair ' and just profit upon the products of their labor. ' Sincerity 4s the foundation of all ' honest : work. John Trainor. 4 " - ' Z . .
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 11, 1907, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75