Newspapers / The Farmville Enterprise (Farmville, … / March 28, 1919, edition 1 / Page 6
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Secretary Houston, "crtL^the federal >pertaent of agriculture, <was ab from Washington, and Clarence as||y, assistant secretary wrote: 3 **?e outstanding {act ft that to is^ial conditions in a targe part of Me and the dislocations of busi sm following the European war ake it impossible now to distribute ie eo'tton which under normal con iti^|s would be in active demand, o In man mind can possibly, forecast ? BlQN BUTLER. . the price "of cotton futures] to drop irnfo- m Slough of De it occurred to me. that some for the trouble would be apr It we could get to 1be people ; so 1 wrote a number of letters, to men prominent tare bankipg, shipping, manufacture ? lag, 'picking men whoknow, who are thinkers and students, men in the ~f-\ Ssteand out of the state, and I I hate a pretty good symposium of information. It may not be to ac-, cortance with the opinions held by | * ao*e of the readers, but comtog from the sources it does I think this ma- j ttfbl is "worth reading fry every * thoughtful man interested In North] Carolina, in cotton and in farming. Views of Geo. E. Roberts. As a banker I picked Prank Vin derlip, of the National City Bank, of New York, with connections to the cities of the world. He proved to .be out of the city; but his assistant, George EL Roberts wrote me as fel lows: . * *The decline o?. cotton since tM'l armistice was signed expresses- a re- 1 ?ulsion of sentfcaent caused by dis appointment over the fact that the expected rush of foreign orders, for raw cotton and ?>tton goods. $jd not Evier since export jpf ] cotton to the countries of Central Europe was cut off by the war, to friends of cotton hare been predict ing that as soon as the war ended there would be" a great demand from that region and from all oyer the world. But when the armistice was signed, instead of a great demand*! wih higher prices, there came a can cellation, of orders of cotton goods at home and abroad. Buyers had con cluded that peace meant l^wer trices. Furthermore, Central Europe has not yet been opened up to cotton, and Fr&nce and Belgium are not yet in a position to resume the manufacture . of cotton goods on a normal scale. -This disappointment aj to the exr pected European demand tor raw cotton together with the slow but ^ log of cotton goods to this country. South America and Asia has the rernlaion of sentiment Many good judges believe ' that this revul sion represents hasty -conclusion. They hold that H is loo early tocon Ifc- jfclnde fiat the earlier expectations ? > - demand will net be realized, fact when Europe is ac ed up to cotton Imports, 1 consuming markets find has been reached for ? a healthy consumptive ^be realised. ,ys believed that the would serre their f- by Bot' devotlug tasively to cotton their make"1 for tb* ?sh | advice agriculture \ the Other about cot Brtainly want | -When the mar trade is gen always be,. ! and: efforts , to d?e purpose of ^mightbeeieiwr ?*? extent We would artificial mis uses of this ^ktod bio decline in. all things, including labor, was highly probable. Every merchant la buying only such irier chandiae (automobile lines excepted), many** short time, and some few doled in definite^ because of the great oerU la^pillng up- goods made of cotton at wages tremendously greater than be* fore the war. < This is why I~thlnk cotton has declined. As to the crop I, believe my personal interest would be best served by a large planting, but r have always been, ..and am to- 1 day a preacher for reducing acreage. 1?, Present uncertain conditions powers should prepare to make their cotton cheaper , on a reduced acreage than they can hope to make" it by planting Che earth as they usu ally prefer to do. Planting 40,000, 000 acres- to make 12,009,000 bales is an inefficiency that should not exist Pot four years tho average yield has been 155 to 4C6 youQds of Hnt to the acre, and at 30 cents a pound a farina- 1 [ er cannot make much -mon?y at th'at yield. I favor reducing the acreage of cotton and increasing the acreage] ot cattle, hogs and grain." ^ Alexander Sprunt * Son. ?'> Alexander Sprnut 4b S<m, -of Wil mington, the big- exporters, write: ?:? "We do hot advise- a reduction of j acreage. tfhe pqjsent crop is not I -large. The decline is due to the can- 1 ceUatton of large government con- I tracts for cotton products and to the j drop of ' 30 per cent in the market for cotton fabrics, &so to speculative I holding for higher prices when the | wholo crop might have been sold at 80 to 34 cents. Cotton bales ex posed to the weather will rot rapid ly nnd?r the spring rains; the dam age may be 25 per 'cent. We' advise selling the'exposed cotton at the mar ket price without delay." - Georfe A. Hotdernesa. ' From George A Holderness, a big farmer <and a banker, of Tarboro, I get this: l* "There is more cotton than there Is' demand for, consequently the price is low. If this situation confronted any manufacturing concern k would im mediately curtail its production so the amount already manufactured j would onfy be available during some I fixed periodC: If" the fahners qge fit ( not to curtail production by reduced acreage they may expect a stm low- 1 er" priced But with reasonable reduc tion in acreage the consumers ef cot ton will- realise thaf there yrttl not be J a large supply of?C?ttpn and the .fanner will be able to get an ad- j vanced and fair price for his pro duct. The problem is up to the j farmers theniselves, and if W large { crop is made this year they will have I only themselves to Llame.'l Stuart. -Cramer. ' Stuart Cramer, one of the biggest cotton manufacturers in the world, fittirra*: -My personal opinion is ?*? the decline in the price: of cotton is due largely to the general feeling that the prffee of all commodities will au tomatically be tq&mA during the period of recousli uwBLboth fitthls j ebon try and abjhoa^^^winft the war. For exactly, the same reason cotton goods are practically unsale- I able now, even when Offered at the [ cost of production ; yet1- the stock in the hands of the retailers was prob ably never ao low as now. "I belief* the best interests of the I country will be conserved main- 1 taiainfc a fair pric^ both for labor aaidJ commodities-; and. I hope wb\wUI not { see, and I do not expect Jo see, a re- 1 txpn to pre-war values. . I do expect to see a readjustment of prices, of j commodities that, show an abnorail profit, and that 13 all. ' i' do not be lieve cotton to be one of them, and as a cdttonv manufacturer I should be ikd to pay the present, prices of cot ton for next year's crop if the price is maintained. The outlook, now ia that the demand might possibly war- 1 rant; the planting of a normal crop, but * record crop would probabl^be forts1 U> matotUn ft." I W. m Cooperi cStoT exporter banker of Wilmington, writes: N . "If the Soixift plants acreage equal to 1^1,8 it means 15 cent cotton. If' .tfcMpv# gives good seasons lWipfr ton guano cannot be paid for with 15 cent cotton. - Two-thirds at last iected with inflnenza not set out, and cot 'owders FARMV v ???'? , JOSEPH, Instructor in the Modern Dancing, who gives you two piM time, cut# tter crops. id leaf ARE CO M M ?\2s!AdbatiR^&i?3?SS,3i nKfifc.^
The Farmville Enterprise (Farmville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 28, 1919, edition 1
6
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