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Show o TOO MUCH COTTON. Tho shortage In last year's cotton crop, accompanied by abnormally high prices, has produced its natural result re-sult of a record-breaking crop this year, followed by an Industrial crisis in the South. Notwithstanding the efforts of tho boll weevil to restrict production, the census reports of cotton cot-ton ginned indicate a total output of not less than 13,000,000 and possibly 13,500,000 bales. That Is almost enough to supply tho entire needs oi tho world, and it exceeds by about two million bales the supply of the former high-record crop of 1890, in which year cotton sold below G 1-4 cents a pound in New York. The publication of the last ginning report drove tho price of spot cotton down to 7 cents, and the January option to C cents. A 13,-000,000 13,-000,000 bale crop at C 1-3 cents n pound would bring ?422,500,000. A 10,000,000 bale crop at 15 cents would bring $750,000,000. A farmer raising half a bale to tho aero on 1G acres of land would get $2,G00 at G 1-2 cents a pound. If ho sacrificed a quarter of his crop and sold tho rest at 15 cents, ho would get $4,500. Such considerations considera-tions might bo expected to lead the planters to listen hospitably to suggestions sug-gestions that they put a part of their supply Into the hands of trustees to be held for higher prices, but somo of them have gone beyond that to the point of accepting tho crazy and criminal crim-inal proposition to turn a largo crop Into a small one by burning tho surplus. sur-plus. A certain amount of cotton was thus summarily "lynched" at Fort Gaines, Georgia, on December 27, and similar incidents wero said to have occurred at other points, but tho early reports wero preposterously exaggerated. exagger-ated. There was a deep feeling throughout tho South, however, that something ought to bo dono to provent the fall of prices below tho cost of production, and schemes for limiting tho acreago of tho next crop aro now under active discussion. There Is an Idea, too, that the truth about large crops ought not to be permitted to leak out, and attempts, properly rebuked re-buked by tho Director of tho Census, have been made to secure a concerted refusal on the part of glnners to furnish fur-nish tho reports required by law. In tho meantime, while our growers aro trying to keep down their production, produc-tion, their foreign competitors aro energetically en-ergetically working to take their placo In tho world's market. Tho British Empire Cotton Growing Association has received a royal charter Tho work Is going on favorably in Egypt, In tho Soudan, and In tho British dominions dom-inions on both sides of Africa. In Australia cotton of tho finest quality has been grown on trees whiih merely mere-ly require a little pruning every year. Experiments aro under way in Fiji. Franco is raising cotton in tho Upper Niger region, in Algeria, and in Cambodia. Cam-bodia. Germany is going Into this work with her usual thoroughness.and sho is now subsidizing cotton culture In m iv parts of German West and East ..;ica. Tho Dutch aro raising cotton in Java and other parts of their East Indian possessions. Interest in cotton raising has boon aroused In Italy, It-aly, In Spain, and even In Palestine. Tho foreign spinners have somo hopes of Paraguay and of Guatemala. The world still buys cloven-twelfths of Its fibre from us, but If our growers count too much on their monopoly, they may find themselves permanently in the condition or having "cotton to burn." Collier's. |
