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 asthe 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- 
ga of cotton decrease ?” 
e 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 
