t 
SEA ISLAND COTTON INDUSTRY. 6 
During this same year the consumption of Egyptian increased practi- 
cally 21,000 bales (500-pound equivalent), and consequently it may 
be concluded that not only the entire loss in consumption of extra- 
long staples but the increase in Egyptian was at the expense of Sea 
Island. 
CAUSES OF DECREASED CONSUMPTION. 
In looking for the causes of this lack of consumption many reasons 
have been advanced by those engaged directly in growing or in selling 
or in manufacturing Sea Island cotton. The reasons given by differ- 
ent interests sometimes conflict, and mistaken ideas have been 
advanced in a few instances, but there is substantial agreement among 
all interested parties as to the essential facts in the case. 
There is room for a difference of opinion as to the relative impor- 
tance of the different causes for the falling off in demand for extra- 
long staple, but it seems reasonable that all of the following causes 
have contributed toward the diminished use of Sea Island cotton: 
(1 ) The deadlock of 1912-13. — In dealing in Sea Island cotton there 
is no ^' futures " market, as there is for Upland or Egyptian. Spinners 
desiring to purchase their supplies against sales of yarn, which are 
frequently made for a year in advance, must buy Sea Island cotton 
outright, or else find some dealer who is willing to assume that risk, 
and sell contracts for the delivery of a definite number of bales per 
month during the time covered by the agreement. 
In September and October of 1912, early in the cotton season, 
spinners were buying Sea Island at the prices then prevailing, paying 
about 23 cents for Extra Choice Georgias. The demand was not 
strong, but the crop was late and there was no pressure to seU^ so 
prices were easily maintained. Then in November came the Census 
Bureau's report indicating a crop of approximately 70,000 bales for 
the year. The better-informed farmers and small dealers decided that 
the crop was short and that the price would advance, so they resolved 
to hold for higher prices, which resulted in an immediate advance in 
the primary asking price of 2 or 3 cents per pound. Accordingly, the 
cotton buyers and exporters found themselves unable to buy cotton 
at the price which spinners were willing to pay, and they therefore 
[refused to seU spots or to make contracts with miUs for future dehvery 
at the prices which millmen offered. In short, there developed a 
deadlock in the market beginning in November which lasted until 
(early spring. 
The spinners, who considered their margin of profit as already 
narrow, regarded this advance as an imposition on them by specu- 
lators and turned to other sources to look for their supply of raw 
material. They had already been experimenting with the new 
Egyptian variety known as Sakellaridis, and naturally turned to that 
and to brown Egyptian for their supplies of cotton. They bought 
