COTTON 269 



producer; he profits not by the increase in price, 

 nor does the consumer who must pay it. 



WILL THE SELLING PRICE OF COTTON DECREASE ? 



Only the law of supply and demand will estab- 

 lish in the long run the selling price of cotton. This 

 law is no respecter of persons or of occupations. 

 Get production ahead and out of reach of demand 

 and prices will inevitably sink; get it below demand 

 and prices will advance just so far as the commercial 

 safety valve will permit. A supply that is greater 

 than can be immediately consumed will depress 

 the price, regardless of the cost of production. 

 There is no respite ; the law in the end will enforce 

 its own decrees. 



The question now arises, "If supply and demand 

 are properly regulated and adjusted, will the nor- 

 mal price of cotton decrease ?" 



We think not, for the reason already discussed 

 in our consideration of those economic principles 

 that govern the cost of the raw product. It is true 

 that improved tools and implements will come; 

 fertilizers will be used more judiciously, and with 

 more economy; improved methods will be adopted; 

 wastefulness and carelessness will be eliminated 

 more and more ; and the cotton picker will probably 

 come to gather the cotton more cheaply all will 

 contribute to the lessening of the expense now 

 prominent in cotton production. But these savings 

 will not be deducted from the selling end they 

 will go to the producer. And why ? 



1. The laborer or tenant, negro or white, is more 

 poorly fed, lives in a shabbier home, has fewer 

 comforts and luxuries, receives a smaller wage, 

 than the laborer or worker in almost any other 



