Cooperation 193 



the price of middling cotton at New Orleans with the 

 minimum price recommended by the union in that year 

 might suggest an absolute failure of the minimum-price 

 policy, it is not possible to say that such was the case, for 

 the reason that it cannot be determined whether the ac- 

 tion of the union did not prevent the price from going 

 lower than it otherwise would have gone. Statistics 

 suggest that the efforts of the union affected the movement 

 of the crop in that year. 



"Warehouse Policy of Farmers' Union. In line with 

 its recommendation for holding cotton for minimum 

 prices, the Farmers' Union has entered somewhat ex- 

 tensively upon the policy of constructing and operating 

 warehouses throughout the cotton belt. One object of 

 this policy is to provide means for storing cotton where 

 it may be held for a rise in price. There is no official 

 provision, however, which compels a member either to 

 deposit his cotton in such a warehouse or to keep it 

 there until the minimum price is realized. Another object 

 of this warehouse scheme is to facilitate the borrowing 

 of money on cotton as collateral. 



"A large number of warehouses have been established 

 by union members in different localities. It was estimated 

 in the early part of 1909 that there were at least 1500 of 

 these local warehouses. Most of them, however, are com- 

 paratively small. An important step recently contem- 

 plated by the union is the consolidation of these various 

 warehouses into consolidated companies in the respective 

 states, and furthermore the consolidation of these state 

 consolidations into a single warehouse company or the 

 operation of these state consolidations by joint control 



