The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, September 14, 1907, Page 7, Image 7
1
V
I New York Cotton Exchange.
As at Present Conducted, it
Militates against the Interest
of the Farmer.
From the Atlanta Constitution.
But fr?r t.h A TT%
_ in ( OU
the floor of tho New York Cotton
Exchange the price ot cotton
would already this year have
gone above 15 cents, if, indeed,
it had not reached 20 cents a
pound.
That a crowd of brokers a
thousand rai'e9 from where the
staple is grown, organized under
the name of an exchange, have
for years been arbitrarily fixing
the price of the world's s'aplo is
known to every intelligent farmer.
How they have been able
to do it he may not know. Is has
been going on so long that many
have come to regard it as an irremediable
evil. The farmer
knows that some one many miles
^ away has been fixing the price
of his staple and until recently
he has been accepting ti\e situation
and making the' est of it.
That scuh a condition of affairs
is wrong economically and
morally, no sensible man will
question. That it shou'd not he
permitted to continue cannot be
doubted?at least by the sufferers.
The cotton brokers on the
New York exchange foil not,
neither do they flpin. They are
the lilies of the cotton world
They never see the commodity in
which they deal. The money
that goes into their pockets is
subtracted from the cotton farmer
and the public. It is rot
the fair profit of legitimate
trading; it is not ihe proceeds
of honest barter and sale. This
money is the profits of gambling,
and the cotton exchange is as
much a gambling concern as
was (he Louisiana lottery a quarter
of a century ago, or as the
Prince of Monaco's establishment
is today.
Worse still, it is not even an
honestly conducted gambling
house. The public is invited to
play with a marked deck and
with loaded dice. The odds are
Jt overwhelming against the outsider,
for if he buys and demands
t^e delivery of his purchase, he
is forced to take greenj goods.
The cotton which may, under the
rules of the exchange, bo tender
ed to him is such a9 no buyer
would want and no spinner
could use. The odds in this gambling
game are fixed by the
classification committee. At
present the committee lists sixteen
grades below "middling,"
which is the basis, and only nine
above. The discounts allowed on
these low grades are also uutair.
In the bucket shops the situation
is worse still. There the
gullible plunger is fleeced while
he waits. In the city ot Washington
recently a dozen or more
"wire houses" charged with dishonest
practices were closed
within a week.
A report of the committee on
agriculture made to the fifty
third congress characterized the .
operations of cotton exchanges
as "pure gambling," and said:
^ As gamblers, if disconnected ,
from commerce in cotton, they
would be without the pale of fed- i
|
i eral jurisdiction and wholly
THE LA
amenable to the internal polii
laws of tbe st ite.
Cotton exchanges in whu
c^miutiie Duyers and selle
could ply a legitimate trade a
probably necessary and desirabl
But such exchanges should,
all reason, be located in tl
midsl of the cotton fields ai
the cotton mill districts.
As at, present conducted, tl
cotton exchange in Now York
diametrically opposed to tho be
interests of the cotton farmer an
ot all the vast class ot peop
who are interested in and a
fectod by cotton production. Tl
exchange members reap the
great est profit when they ci
beat down the price of the et
pie in the hands of the produce
This is accomplished through >
gambling devices and by a eeri'
of manipulations which lead tl
farmer into the belief that pric
are goinglower and that lie hi
better sell out before the botto
drops out of the cotton mt
ket.
The only rerour^o of the cott
farmer is to unite in oppositi
to the attacks of the exchauj
as he has already done. Orga
ization, however, will amount
nothing without cooperation. T
chain is only as ^strong at i
weakest link. Firmness is 1
quired of all, for if weak kne
producers are thrown into a p
nic when prices start downwai
they break the chain and enab
the enemies of their organizatii
to wotk their will. The rest
is that the very thing the f.irme
most fear is made possible.
There is no law to compel tl
farmers to stand firm. But coi
mon sense, the recognition of t
great need of concerted actl
and the promise of the glorio
victory which steadfastness ai
loyalty will insure should encoi
age every southern cotton gro
er to stand pat against the d
vices and machinations of t
manipulators.
Having a compact organiz
(ion, the advantage in a conte
with the cotton exohauge gar
biers are all on the side of tl
furmer. He holds the stap
and if he will only continue i
hold it and demand a fair pric
the world must come to h
terms.
The producer i8 the man \vl
ought to have the privilege <
saying what is a fair price, an
not the New York Cotton E:
change This is the principl
on which the Farmers' Union
working and this is the resu
it hopes to achieve.
Keep a Scrap-book.
The Spartan.
Every farmer should keep
scrap book, cut out from pape;
everthing that they may wish I
refer to auain and paste in th
book. Remedies for diseases <
fowls, and animals, cooking r<
ceipis, large yields of corn an
cotton, and in fa<*t eyerythin
that is worth reading a secon
time should be tlm* preservec
In a few ve ira il w/ili ha u
J V ?- ? - - " *? t/u ?* *
able book.
The New Pure Food and Drug La
We lire pleased to announce that F<
ley's Honey and Tar for coughs, co <1
and iting troubles is not afteoted by tli
National Pure Food and Drug law as
contains no opiates or other harmful drug
and we recommend it as a safe reined
for children and adults. Funderbur
Pharmacy.
NCASTEK NEWS, SEPTEMBER 1
DO I
Our Buyer
re %7
o.
i . Buying our Fall
Will Shortly I
,le tion the Mos
^ of Goods ij
,d time W
le
Bargai
re
ir rner <
in
a
tr.
ts
es ~
ie
08
id
in
irDon't
fail
011 .
on have several
? you prices t
to
i'u B
*e
ed
a We hav
Drills, ever
?.n chine on th<
jit
r? any small gi
ie v in without o
^ attachment.
on
US
0(1
irw
When yo
he horses and
our stalls, ai
aist
u;i 11 K /a nrl n ^
"?* i-'v- ^iau
le ronage.
le
bo
e,
is
10
; Lancaster 1
le
lt Father and Son Struck by
Lightning.
Anderson Mail: Mr. Columbus
Watts, an employe of the
Anderson Cotton Mills, and his
a son were struck by lightning
rs yesterday afternoon and the lat- _
o ter received painful but not necle
esearilv serious ininri?* ?. Hi
- ----- 1
Df were knocked unconscious for a
e- few moments and are confined to
d their bed9.
? The two men were sifting in
d tlieir back door and it seems t hat
1. the lightning struck the chimney
a
i- which is in the middle of the
house and run down off of therool w
to fhe edge of the house where if ui
w went through the roof and coil- te
? ing and hit Mr. Watts and hi i
ie son. The lightning tore a big
hole in the roof and in the ceilV
i n ir TI?a 1
k | ? *?o men were kiiocK
ed to the floor.
/
4. l'?07.
is Sow h
Line of Goods, a
lave Ready for
it Complete and
i the City- In
) Ha.VP sinmh
? >W VUJ.V JUiXU'
us to Offer you i]
Soods, and Early
NecessitiesBagging
and Ties
I to see us before yo
! grades; on hand and
hat will get your busi
uckeye Grain Drill
e on hand two Rnr
/body considers this t
* market, if you intern
rain you cannot afford
>ne of these drills wit
Come t>o See Us
u come to town,
mules at our well, fe<
id come in our store
to see you and have
Yours very
Mercantile
Dr. J. E. WELSH,
DENTIST.
llice in Emmons Building opposite
First National Bank.
Phone No. 8.
LANCASTER, S. C.
'his is Headquarters
- For -
Pianos and Organs
You want a sweet toned and a durjle
instrument One thai will last
long, long life time.
On" pricta are lowest, consistent
ith quality.
Our References : Any bank or reptable
business house in Columbia. !
Write us for catalogs, prices and
mis.
Malone's Music House,
COLUMBIA, S. C.
Do you take The News?
r ''
3
i (lie \?rlh -j
md as Usual we i
Your Inspec- j
Nicest Line - 1
the Mean- j
eptional \
a SumFall
|
! ?
1 i
9
11
ti
u buy, we ?
will make
ness.
I
S
keye Grain
he best mad
to plant
. to put it
h fertilizer
water your
them in
where we
: your pattruly,
ll
' la
Company.
REWARD!
We will pay a liberal reward
to the person or persons finding
in the city of Lancaster a mnre
complete and up-to-date livery
business than ours. Rubber
tire buggies and stylish horses.
We have a few mules left.
BUGGIES
We sell the following buggies;
I Piedmont, Rock Hill, Ratter1
man, A. Wrenn Si Sons, Taylor
i Cannedy and Tyson A: Jones.
Every one of them guaranteed
for 12 months.
WAGONS
We sell the Virginia, Nissen
and Carver.
HEATH-ELLIOTT MULE CO.
L fa