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COTTON: TWO PICTURES.Value* on staple cotton* and on *11 line* of fine yam plain and fancy cotton good* show a tendency to climb to higher level* a* the first of the year approaches. The sold-up condition of the leading line* In the primary market Is the moat remarkable that ha* over been recorded In the history of the trade and place* merchandise for the next three to five month* beyond the possibility of a serious break In values as a result of a downward movement In the staples.. I - . I II r •The above Is nn extract from a review of the dry goods market on last Tuesday, the day on which the government Issued Its estimate of crop of cotton for the season of 1906-7.The Item reflect* the condition of trade In cotton goods In all consuming countries of the world, with the possible exception of China,where, though trade Is fairly actlve.lt Is not as good at the moment ascould he desired. The lack of an urgent demand, from the Orient, however, Is not n serious complication; In fact. In the present state of trade It Is woll that the Chinese are not In the market for their full quota of goods. The mills are working full time at present, the output being restricted only by scarcity of labor.The prospects of tho spinner are brilliant for the next three to five months. They have orders enough to keep thorn hard at work practically without any new luminous.In the same Issue of The New York Commercial under the heading. Washington's Crop Guess Smashes Cotton Prices—Causes BtampedeApproaching Semi-Panic on Local Exchanges, appears the following:At 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon the agricultural department Issued an estimate on the cotton crop of tho season. It created a semi-panic in the cotton market, and cauaed every bale of American cotton In the world to lose $3 In value In a few moments— that Is, under the supposition that future prices can be taken to Indicate the price of real cotton.The estimate platPd the crop at 12.346.000 bales of 500 pounds each, and the statement waa made that this estimate did not Include llnters. As soon as tho report was read there was bedlam as the broken* fell over each other around tho ring in their efforts to sell. Prices went down 5 points at a trade. Customers who sfint In thelr’ordors aflor the report did not know where they were going to get off. Even the oldest and coolest floor brokers were upset for a few minutes, and had It not baen that the shorts * finally began to reach for profits, tho break would have gone much further than It did.For some time there have been rumors in the market that yesterday's report wss to bo very bearish. There hss been much gossip about selling supiKiaed to be for Washington Interests. Tho market was being sold by Wall atreet men, not cotton men, and being sold with the greatest confidence.Monday there wan a report by the census bureau on the amount of cotton ginned up to December 1. This report was unquestionably bullish, but the people who bad been selling continued to sell on the report with Just aa ’much confidence as If It find been bearish. The market rang with rumors of 'leak' for several days, but there was not (he slightest proof of nny such thing, beyond the rather peculiar conduct of the market, and while It Is possible that some sort of rtli Investigation of yesterday’s report may be asked for. the Initiative In uny such action will not be taken by the members or tho local exchange.There Is quite a difference Intheso two stories. The spinner andf the denier In the goods manufactured from the South's only money crop are assured of nn unprecedented heavy business n» steadily advancing prices for months to come, while the fanner—the man who makes It possible for the manufacturer and dealer to hecomo captains of finance, Is compelled to market Ills crop nt n time when officers high In authority la Washington arc using every effort Ht tltelr command to smash prices and cause a stampede uppmuchiug a henil panic In tho coton exchuuge In New York. The farmer learns as a result of a government guess thnt ho Is poorer by $3 a bale, from n speculative standpoint, for tho trouble and expense of making n crop of cotton. It Is true the actual cotton did not shrink In value to the extent of $3 per bale, but the machinery was set In motion £iid it in the hope of the bear—he Is not a cotton man— that the holders, through fright, will glut tho market, thus enabling him to reap a rich harvest at their expense.There aro members of congress representing tho states that produce American cotton. The Interests of their constituents are their Interests. The guesses Issued by the government of tho cotton crop through all Its stages of growth do not benefit the producer and are not Issuod for that purpose, and for that reason the agricultural department through congress should In some way ho forced to discontinue reports thnt nrc of use to speculators nlono.A request to this effect by the farmers would, no doubt, be favorably acted upon by every Southern member of congress.
Newspaper Details
Atlanta Georgian
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Fri, Dec 14, 1906
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 07 May 2021
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