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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 standarcized. 
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 
