372

AGRICULTURAL RELIEF
Mr. Kincueror. What do you mean by “proof of origin?

Mr. Stewarr. I mean to say that if some cotton is brought back
into the United States from Cuba, let us say, after having taken
the debenture on its way out, that cotton is easily identified. Of
the 300,000 bales coming into the United States, most of it is of
peculiar physical description, either because of the length of staple
or because of the peculiar characteristics of Peruvian, Chinese, Jap-
anese, or some other cotton. The foreign cotton is nearly all iden-
tifiable when it comes into the United States. It is different from
our ordinary cotton.

Mr. Jones. Mr. Kincheloe referred to cotton going elsewhere and
coming in.

Mr. Stewart. Take North Mexican cotton from the portion of the
Imperial Valley, which is in Lower California. From that area
cotton is brought directly into the United States and handled
through our channels.

Mr. Kincueroe. I am talking about if you make the debenture
high enough above the world’s price that growers of cotton in other
nations of the world can afford to ship it over here and pay the
freight on it and bring it in here and sell it. how are vou going
to keep it out without a tariff?

Mr. Stewart. You can not do that. But you can do this, you can
prevent that cotton which has taken a debenture when it went
out——

Mr. KincHELOE. There is no doubt of that.

Mr. Stewart (continuing). From coming back in without sacri-
ficing the debenture.

Mr. KincHELOE. That is a matter of administration. I was talk-
ing about principles.

Mr. Jones. I will say in this connection, Doctor Stewart, in refer-
ence to cotton: Most of the cotton that comes in here from abroad
is long-staple variety and does not measurably compete with the
average cotton grown in this country, and there is so much greater
demand in foreign countries for cotton’ than there is production of
cotton in those countries that unless you very greatly increase the
domestic price there would not be any tendency to bring cotton in
here, at least for the present; and, in addition thereto, this country
raises such a very great percentage of all cotton in the world that it
practically controls the world market anyway.

Mr. KincrELOE. Do you think, Mr. Jones, that 2 cents a pound
would be a material help to the cotton farmer?

Mr. Jones. I do. It would mean $150,000,000 on the average
crop in the South of 15,000,000 bales. We have grown as high as
18,000,000 bales; and that is a big help, especially when cotton gets

own around the low price where the farmer is really not getting
oat of his cotton except expenses, say, and then if he can
g 3 mcrease, ]

Be got ated i e, or $10 a bale increase, that may be all that
r. KinceELOE. Do you not think, further, in view of the f
’ e fact
hat, the dchpitie of 5 cents a pound would likely be so high that it
Pations t 2 Teens 1ve, to say the least, to growers of cotton of other
ations to ship 1t in here, that we better not have it too hich?