The Cotton-Holiday was a 1931 proposal by Louisiana Governor and US Senator-elect

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

to alleviate an oversurplus of cotton. The holiday would have banned cotton production in 1932, decreasing supply and raising prices. It has been credited as the first suggestion of

artificial scarcity Artificial scarcity is scarcity of items despite the technology for production or the sufficient capacity for sharing. The most common causes are monopoly pricing structures, such as those enabled by laws that restrict competition or by high fi ...

as a solution to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Background

A record 1931 cotton crop of over 15.5 million bales, over two million higher than projected, resulted in a plunge in prices of agricultural commodities. At its lowest since 1905, the price of cotton was less than the cost of production. In a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

to the governors of fourteen cotton-producing states, the

Federal Farm Board The Federal Farm Board was established by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929 from the Federal Farm Loan Board established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, with a revolving fund of half a billion dollars Snyder (1977), pp. 138-139. Unlike other industries, cotton had not experienced massive prosperity in the 1920s, worsening the impact of the

Proposal

Long proposed that the states mandate a "cotton holiday" in 1932, in which not a single bale of cotton would be produced. Long wired his proposal to the other governors and invited them to discuss the proposal at the New Orleans Cotton Conference. To protect domestic prices, Long further proposed that the holiday be imposed internationally, in which some nations, such as Egypt, expressed interest. The 1931 convention was attended by delegates from every major cotton-producing state. After defeating a countering Texas plan of only 50% reduction, the delegates agreed to codify Long's proposal into law on the caveat that they not come into effect until states producing three-quarters of US cotton passed such laws. As the proposer, Louisiana unanimously passed the legislation. Conservative Texan governor Ross S. Sterling, whose state was the largest producer of cotton, condemned the law as radical. When the Texas legislature voted against the measure, the holiday movement collapsed. Long alleged that "Texas legislators were bought to kill the cotton-holiday plan like you'd buy a slot machine." Texas instead passed the Texas Cotton Acreage Control Law, which stated that no more than 30% of cultivated land could be used for cotton. Difficult to enforce, the law was found unconstitutional in 1932. Mississippi and Arkansas passed similar legislation except with escape clauses which set dates for the regulations to expire.

Legacy

Although traditional politicians would have been ruined by such a defeat, Long became a national figure and cemented his image as a champion of the poor. Senator

Carter Glass Carter Glass (January 4, 1858 – May 28, 1946) was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both houses of Congress and served as the United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

of Virginia, one of Long's most adamant opponents, said regarding the Cotton-Holiday, "Contrary... to popular supposition, neither Secretary

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

of the Agriculture Department, nor the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

should be credited with the original idea of 'scarcity of production' as a cure for the depression. The credit for this peculiar notion should go to Mr. Huey P. Long." Snyder (1977), p. 160.

References

Citations

Works cited

* {{subscription needed Great Depression in the United States Huey Long Scarcity