Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, September 03, 1912, HOME, Page 4, Image 4

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4 COTTON FARMERS ARE VICTIMS OF TARE RULES Corporation Commissioner Re ports Injustice From False Weight Practices. Washington Sept 3 a false standard of weights which inject un certainty into practically every Ameri can cotton sale in the important mar kets of Europe resultinc in serious abuses. Indefensible practices and even fraud on the part of cotton merchants in this country, has been created by the rules of foreign cotton from the United States, according to Luther Conant. Jr. commissioner of corpora tions. in a report to President Taft. The reixirt is based unon an exten- , sive Investigation of cotton tari -the allowance for bagging and tics inclos ing a bale of cotton in order to ascer tain the net weight—which was under taken on complaint that American cot ton producers were subjected to seri ous loss because of excessive deduc tions for tare under the regulations of leading European markets The pro ducer does not ordinarily suffer under these rules, according to the < ommis eioner because' of the active* competi tion among merchants In the purchase of cotton Lorn thi fartnei for export The existence of competition and its remedial effec t. however, he points out. cannot always be* relied upon, and it Is im|M>ssib|e to escape the eon- lusion that the product may be injured, anti Sometimes is. Complicates Price Figures. Tin tare itiles. the report declares, complicate price regulations with an unnecessary element of chance, and in volve economic wash- bee ui.-c .if the use of excessive bagging If this «aste dots not injure the producer, or merchant or spinner, it must Impose an unnecessary burden upon the con sumer of cotton goods, says the- report Commissioner Conant declares that im mediate action should be taken to remedy the evils, and offers suggis tions foi temporary and ultimate per manent relief. The American producer sells his cot ton gross weight and. as a rule, ac cording to the report, believes that he makes a big profit on tare by receiv ing the same price* foi bagging that he obtains for cotton. This is untrue, the* report says, as the evidence demon strates that the buyer of cotton takes the tare into consideration in fixing trie price he offer-. Cotton for * xport, on the othe r hand, is sold net w ight. It Is in this con nection that c nplieation and uncer t.crflty are injected into cotton sales. Tlie American exporter, by tin terms of his invoice eontiact with the for, ign buyer must compute th* net weight of his cotton by deducing 6 per cent from the gross weight. The average hale of cotton, weighing 500 pounds gross, contains about 17s pounds o! cotton and 22 pounds of tare a- it comes from the producer to the ex jcortei. A deduction of cl pc i <■< nt, un der the foreign tare rule from c gross weight of 500 pounds, how. ver. would leave only 470 pounds m t or S ixmnrls less than tin- actual weight of the net cotton the bale. In addition to that discrepancy the report points out. tin situation Is furthe r complicated by th* fact that when the cotton reaches >•< destination, the foreign buyer nutlet the contract with the American ex porter, Ims the right io demand an actual, test f.> tare In this test Uie rulu« tlx a maximum allowance for tare of 5011 pounds. This j- ;1 discrep ancy of three end one-half pounds u* c.mifiaied with tiie lin-pcmnd Invoice deduction, and th* foreign buyer call upon the export,” to make" good that amount Exporter Faces Problem. Tin American exp-rter. unde, ip. -e circliinstam s. according to the* report, fm.'s a rlous | ruble in 1., avoid . in ducting business at n loss Some cot ton merchants. Jli c'.min. 'ty-,argue that these facts . e thoroughly under stood by the t’.e in I are adjusted In lite price which the exporter asks for his cotton Th.* < r ( |o<s not entirely agree w ith this view. and says that tile practical r. suit of the rules has been that the exporter adds unnecessary t ire to his cotton The exporter, he says "naturallv adds tare up to the amount allowed by the rules .roughly 26 1-2 pounds). ||, does this by ’patching’—that is. piscine strip-bagging on the bah . \ small part of such patching is usually nee . ssary to cover sample hoi.* How, \ er. since the exporter. In making out his invoice must eieduct six pet cent. h< frequently goes further and adds tar.- up to at least six pet cent of the total weight of ’hr bales; sometimes he adds even more "(.tbi ious'iy if the exporter makes ~ complete adjustment in tip* price, and ai«e adjusts by adding tare, he make.* a proflt of such added tare. If. how ever, complete adjustment is not made in the pine, this addition of tare be comes simply a means of protection against loss, although in the trade it ls» usually spoken of as a profit on patching.’ "Granting that the prl<* of cotton is in no wav affected by the six p» i eent rule, it is nevertheless highly ob jectionable. It results in changing thf gross weight of th« bale and thus in troduces an avoidable- element of chance, both as to the ac tual w» igrt of cotton to be paid for and as to uric. ” Half Over-Tared. As a result of this s,x per e.-m ■ul the comm'.-sioner < s’m. etr.-- teat . least 60 per cent of Amerl- an exporta ’ions of cotton are over-tarod .rd 11. an insignificant proportion .1 i< * mainder is under-cared It is this use iof unnecessary tare, rays the report, that injects uncertainty and possible 1 fraud into the cotton business. "This uncertainty.’’ adds the report, i "strikes at the basic factor of every I transaction. namely, the amount of the I commodity actually sold. It in effect establishes a false standard of weights i with the invariably unfortunate con sequences of such a c ondition. It thus I gives an advantage to a skilled class of specialists whi best understand the complicated details of the business with a corresponding disadvantage to the leas expert, it is not sufficient to say that the competition among these skilled classes often forces them to turn over the benefit of this false 1 measure to the producer. It is not -erlousiy contended that this is always 90. and there is thus ever present the i open door to fraud. There is always the invitation Ao cotton merchants to adopt improper practices, and there is thus enticed Into the trade a class of men who bring discredit upon hon ■st merchants. This is not only the retically so, but ft is actually so. Buy ers of cotton, both in this country and abroad, are constantly finding them selv* s involved in transactions where shippers have taken advantage of these opportunities to defraud ” Standardization Remedy. The Ideal remedy for all these evils. Mr Conant com hides, is the standard ization of tare to be put on a bale of cotton by making it a definite or read ily ascertainable amount, so that the net Wright may he determined with out controversy or test. The present careless and irregular methods of cov ering cotton, if the evils are allowed to go uncorrected, he declares, seem like ly to Invite legislation. Pending the adoption of a thorough remedy, the commissioner believes’ substantial benefits will accrue by modifying the six per cent contract so as to provide for a deduction of five per cent or some other percentage more ac curately representing the amount of covering actually necessary to protect the cotton. The requirements of the contract, he says, should certainly be Identical with the a How ante established by the rules under an actual test. There would be a great saving, the report says, if the cotton could be com pressed at the gin. Under the present practice, the staple is pressed at the gin and later compressed to greater densi ty at numerous establishments scat tered over the cotton belt. Compress ing at the gin. he says, would encoun ter opposition from the ow ners of com presses because it would destroy their business. Furthermore, he adds, it would be Impractical at this time be cause It would require a capital outlay of at least $100,000,000 to equip gins with compresses. Nevertheless, he be lieves, this is an ultimate ideal condi ' tion to which the cotton tiLide must look forward. RAUER’S PURE I’LWORING EX TRACTS have no equal. Sold every where JOc and 25c the bottle, at your BIRMINGHAM AND RETURN $2.50! Tuesday. September 17th Special trains leaie old depot s a. in. SEA BOARD I . .. EXQUISITE WEDDING BOUQUETS AND DECORATIONS. ATLANTA FLORAL CO. Call M;un 1130 WE WILL MAIL YOU $1 for < ach <d of old F'alse Teeth sent us Higae-t price paid for old Gold, Silver, old Watches. Broken Jewelry and l ’re< lous Stont , Money Sent By Return Mall. Phlla. Smelting and Refining Co.. I'lstablislied ?u. Years 863 Chestnut St.. Philadelphia. Pa. TO DENTISTS We will bi|> your Gold Eilings. Gold Scrap and Platinum. Highest prices paid. i Pi Hirns has given his entire life to the study of the human < \ • and how to correct refracted errors with lenses. With him it does not matter how compti » rated or how dim The sight might be. if the » yes» respond to the I light he can um over any and all hidden defects, and correct same <[ with glasses in a manner that I gives pl 'usurp, comfort and re- * suits h< rrbvforc unknown. Hr ‘ wishes all to know that his prii o are no higher than elsewhere, ami that there are no charges for « xamining when glasses are bought. HINES OPTICAL COMPANY 91 Peachtree St. Eel ween Montgomery and i 1 cazar Theaters I .■ ■ muwn in iihib ■ I. ■■■■ ■ 11.1. . Men and Women I CURE YOU TO STAY CURED. of all chronic, nervous, prixati blood and ! Wjjf \ skin diseases I use _ J, ' t A < ed results. I give x ’T' 606. the celebrated | X German preparation. 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