ce. Yet it is the great markets which establish the prices, for it
is they which are in close and immediate touch with all the other markets
of the world, and it is on their floors that the merchants and brokers
meet who deal in great quantities. It is their connection with the
numerous sources of information which gives these great markets their
importance, for it is they which register immediately and most accurately
the resultant of the sum total of all the economic forces which
determine the price.

[Illustration: _The New York Cotton Exchange_]

The great cotton markets of the world are those of New York and New
Orleans, in the United States; Liverpool, in England; Bremen, in Germany;
Havre, in France; Alexandria, in Egypt; and Bombay, in India. There are
differences between these markets which give a greater importance to some
of them. Bremen, which serves a large territory, operates under
governmental restrictions which make it necessary for Bremen merchants to
deal in other markets as well. Havre serves chiefly the needs of France,
which is not one of the large cotton consuming countries. Alexandria
deals only in Egyptian cottons, and Bombay, whose dealings are confined
mostly to the native staples, has neither the responsiveness nor the
completeness of the remaining markets. Thus, by elimination, the three
great markets of the world, wherein cotton of all kinds is dealt in, and
all forms of transactions in it are common are those of New York, New
Orleans, and Liverpool. To these, the cotton world looks for guidance
from day to day. The prices established on their several floors are the
prices of the world.

[Illustration: _Cotton train going from gin to compress_]

The Liverpool Exchange, under different names, has existed since 1841,
having taken approximately its present form in 1870, in the attempts to
stabilize conditions after the great speculative period which resulted
from the American Civil War. The New York and New Orleans Exchanges were
both organized the following year. The uniformity of rules and practices
in the trade which resulted from the establishment of the exchanges have
been of inestimable benefit to the industry and to the world, and this
despite occasional abuses, which have usually been corrected as methods
for correction have been evolved.

Spot Markets and Those
Which Deal in "Futures"

The New Orleans Cotton Market, and those of lesser cities, are largely
spot markets, that is