Archive Report
Archive Report
Bad Postwar Outlook for American Cotton
The Outlook for the cotton-growing industry, with the return of peace, is less promising than that for any other important division of the American economy. The competitive position of American cotton, both at home and abroad, has deteriorated almost continuously since the close of World War I. Cotton loans, grants and export subsidies during the last dozen years have sustained the income of cotton farmers—at heavy cost to the Treasury—but have done nothing to correct basic maladjustments. In combination, the various measures to assist the growers have operated to maintain cotton prices at levels which make it impossible to market American cotton abroad without continuing, and probably increasing, assistance from the federal government.
With cotton stocks at record levels, both ...