Stabilizing the Prices of Certain Agricultural Products Volume 1-2; Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, United States Senate, Sixty-Seventh Congress, Second Session on S. 2964, a Bill to Promote Agriculture by Stablizing the Prices (Paperback)

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. 1922 Excerpt: ...Law, against which there are sales of 10,000 bales of March cotton. I will handle that cotton practically without any margin at all. In other words, if the holder of this cotton would come to me and say, "Mr. Norman, I want to sell 10,000 bales of March cotton and certificate the spot cotton for delivery," I will say, "All right. Have your cotton certificates average middling." If he is a fairly responsible man I will say, "I will charge you a dollar a bale for handling that, and I won't require of you any margin whatsoever." Senator Ransdell. You mean a dollar a bale for handling, selling? Mr. Norman. I will charge him a commission of $1 a bale for handling it. It just shows how close a margin the business can be done on with that price insurance. But unless we have the future contracts to sell against that 10,000 bales, I don't think I would loan him any more than 50 per cent. Senator Ransdell. Mr. Norman, in this case you speak of, where the mill in Europe buys 10,000 bales or desires 10,000 bales for its actual manufacture, then it buys 10,000 bales of insurance or future cotton to insure it? Mr. Norman. Yes. Senator Ransdell. When it has arranged to get the 10,000 bales of spots it has no longer any need for the 10,000 bales of futures, so it sells that 10,000 bales? Mr. Norman. Yes sir. Senator Ransdell. And the broker who is going to buy for it has need for the future cotton. Mr. Norman. Yes sir. Senator Ransdell. So he probably buys that identical 10,000 bales? Mr. Norman. He buys that identical 10,000 bales and the speculator does not come into the transaction at all. Senator Ransdell. Now, when that broker goes out to get the actual spots and arranges to get the spots, then the fellow from whom he gets his spots wants...