Withholding Cotton

The aggressive Mr. Wannamaker, President of the American Cotton Association, has again launched his favorite project--to withhold the cotton crop until it reaches a price level where farmers can make what he calls "a legitimate profit." This suggestion is extraordinary enough, coming as it does in this day of practically 30-cent cotton. But the means by which it is to be realized are more extraordinary still. Mr. Wannamaker's "plan" is to have individuals, clubs and corporations buy many bales of cotton, store them in warehouses, and borrow on the warehouse receipts at banks for a period of one, two or three years, " unless cotton goes to 50c. a pound before the time agreed upon." The joy with which this simple plan will be greeted by Southern bankers, after their trials and tribulations with the crops of 1920-22, can be imagined.