602 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 590. 



An elementary principle in political 

 economy is that the raw product should 

 remain at the most available market near- 

 est its field of production until required 

 for actual consumption. Such a policy 

 will save to the cotton belt losses estimated 

 at over $100,000,000 annually from coun- 

 try damage, waste, violent fluctuations in 

 prices, and other unbusiness-like results. 

 The country damage alone to the crop of 

 1904-5 is estimated at from $5,000,000 to 

 $10,000,000, an amoimt sufficient to erect a 

 most efficient warehouse system through- 

 out the entire cotton belt. To save these 

 losses for the next and all succeeding crops 

 a warehousing system should be established. 

 This weather damage is a slight loss com- 

 pared with the costly results which follow 

 the inexperience of farmers as salesmen 

 and the outrageous effects upon the market 

 brought about by artificial influences. 



The prices actually paid for single bales 

 of cotton on the streets of a country mar- 

 ket town, contrasted with the prices re- 

 ceived by farmers who concentrated their 

 several small holdings in a small galvanized 

 iron warehouse in the same town, show that 

 this single warehouse, by bringing under 

 its friendly control a few hundred bales of 

 cotton offered and sold in lots, realized 

 from one eighth to one third of a cent per 

 pound, or from 60 cents to $1.60 per bale, 

 more than if sold by the single bale on the 

 farmer's wagon. This rate of increase in 

 price would realize from six to sixteen 

 million dollars on the entire crop. 



Therefore, I favor erecting a small ware- 

 house in every town marketing approxi- 

 mately 1,000 bales of cotton, or over, an- 

 nually, as contrasted with a few large city 

 warehouses, because: (1) The farmer 

 would be willing to hold his cotton in his 

 market town, but would not be willing to 

 ship it to a distant city warehouse; (2) 

 the farmer would sell his cotton at a loss 

 rather than ship to a distant city ware- 



house; (3) a local warehouse full of farm- 

 ers' cotton would bring the increase in 

 price to the farmer, whereas the large city 

 warehouse, full of exporters' cotton, would 

 not help the farmer who produces it; (4) 

 the local warehouse full of farmers' cotton 

 would bring to the local banks for deposit 

 the increased volume of money flowing 

 from the excess in price received by the 

 farmer for his cotton; (5) cotton held by 

 farmers in local warehouses would provide 

 for local banks the best possible collateral 

 for farmers' loans to carry the cotton; (6) 

 the increase in deposits and choice collat- 

 eral for loans would tend to decrease the 

 rate of interest and miiltiply manifold the 

 local bank's volume of business and its 

 profits, while serving its customers better 

 and upbuilding its home town; and (7) 

 small warehouses would do more to en- 

 courage cotton mills in the cotton belt than 

 all other influences combined. Large ware- 

 houses at distributing centers would take 

 care of themselves. 



Factors Determining the Price of Sugar: 



Dr. Frank E. Eutter, Washington, 



D. C. 



The remarkable increase last year of 50 

 per cent, in the price of German raw sugar 

 for exportation was due to a decrease of 

 only 7^ per cent, in the total sugar produc- 

 tion of the world. The price of clarified 

 sugar in New Orleans advanced over one 

 cent a pound, but this year has returned to 

 its former level. 



The main part of the paper deals with 

 deviations in the sugar prices of the United 

 States from the world prices as represented 

 by German quotations for export sugar. It 

 is shown that the tariff reductions in favor 

 of sugar from particular islands — from 

 Cuba, Hawaii, Porto Eico and the Philip- 

 pines—has considerably depressed prices 

 for raw sugar in the New York market 

 during the months from December to June, 



