Congressional Serial Set (5322)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...a committee of the New York Cotton Exchange, in July, 1907, in an oilicial report urging the extension of the certificate system to southern markets. That committee, which consisted of James F. Maury, chairman; R. P. McDougall, E. E. Moore, T. M. Robinson, L. L. Fleming, John Tannor, and Henry Schaefer, said, in the course of its report: This season shows more clearly than ever before that what the New York Cotton Exchange needs above all other things and must have, is a large stock of spinners' cotton and a large business in spots. If we had these we would get a very large hedging business and the speculative business also, all that we get now, and much more, because the tendency of speculation is to seek the broadest markets where there are tho largest numbers of buyers and sellers. The present price of our futures represents the value of the kind and grades of cotton which the buyer expects to get if he calls for delivery. He expects low grades and mixed lots, hardly ever even-running lots. Therefore, he usually has the added expense of breaking up the certificates and reassorting the cotton if he wishes it in even-running grades for mills or for export. If we had regularly a stock of 500,000 to 1,500,000 bales, nearly all of spuiners' cotton, it would raise the price of our futures much nearer to that of spot cotton, and our future market would harmonize with the price of spots, and therefore would truly be the world's market for American cotton. With a large stock of good spinning cotton held by many members here, instead of the mixed stock held as now by a very few, the speculator need not fear corners, as a manipulated rise in price would cause large deliveries in the current month because of the profit, but they would be of good grades...