COTTON WAREHOUSES. 25 



and thereby avoid the unnecessary profits of the buyer and eliminate 

 various other losses. It is needless to say that the storage houses 

 operated by such a system should be standard in every respect. 

 Cotton should be fully protected by insurance, and convenient forms 

 should be provided for making and recording all transactions. This 

 system should aim eventually to store cotton in the compressed 

 form in order to increase the storage capacity of the building. All 

 warehouses should use uniform receipts, and so far as it is practicable 

 the business should be fully standardized. 



SUMMARY. 



1. Financing is one of the greatest problems in marketing cotton. 

 A sufficient number of warehouses would be erected if it were pos- 

 sible in the present emergency to borrow on cotton when stored. 



2. Cotton is considered the very best collateral, but it is not 

 available unless safely stored and insured. The banks are always 

 willing to accept cotton as security, but during emergencies their 

 capital is insufficient to meet demands. 



3. A system of warehouses would simplify our financial system 

 and eventually free the southern cotton farmer from the present 

 disastrous credit system. It would stabilize the price of cotton by 

 distributing sales throughout the year. The farmer would stop 

 depressing the price of his own products by selling his cotton as soon 

 as it is ginned. 



4. In storage capacity the present cotton warehouses are ample, 

 but these warehouses are poorly distributed. The best warehouses 

 are not available to the farmer. The charges of the others are too 

 high because they must pay a high insurance rate and the cost of 

 handling is necessarily great. Some new standard buildings should 

 be erected, but many of those now in use should be remodeled. 



5. Cotton keeps in storage better than any other farm product. 

 Protected from the weather it never deteriorates. It resists decay 

 even when exposed. Consequently, it is neglected more than any 

 other valuable product. The cotton mills should encourage storing 

 by paying a premium for cotton in good condition. 



6. The dealers, or middlemen as they are frequently called, are in 

 much better position to hold cotton than the farmers. They not 

 only control the best storage houses, but have better financial con- 

 nections which enable them to get money more readily and on 

 better terms. The farmer sells his cotton when prices are depressed 

 and the dealer gets the full benefit of any advance after the rush 

 is over. 



7. A large standard storage house pays ample dividends, while 

 most of the owners of small warehouses actually lose money on the 



