Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Established 1844. THE PRESS AND BANNER ABBEVILLE, S. C. The Press and Banner Company Published Tri-Weekly Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Telephone No. 10. Entered as second _?ass matter a post office in Aobeville, S. C. > Ter. ok of Subscription: One year Six months 1-.U< Three months .51 FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1920. GOV. HARDING AND COTTON Unless we are mistaken there is ( nnnertoH nnrJ a nersistent effort i] some parts just now to depress th price of cotton. There are man; things which cause us to think sc Evidently there are others who hav a similar belief. We say that on ac count of the following facts. July 30th, the Federal Reserve Board issued a report in which it i stated, "many New England Mills re porting supplies of raw cotton suf ficient to last until nexi year." Upon receipt of this report Rich ard H. Edmunds, editor c; tlie Man ufacturers Record, of Baltimore immediately wired W. P. G. Hardinj Governor of the Federal Reservi Board, advising that the informatioi contained in the report v.*as of fa r'i * reaching importance. He suggestei that the Federal Reserve Board woul< p. uova iccuoh a rpnnrt with f livv au ? ^ 1U4UVM "Mvi4 . - -jj - - --? ! out information on whicn 11 was baa [ ed, and asked for a list of the Nev England Mills claiming zo nave i sufficient supply of cotton to last un til another year, in order zHslz lnvea tigation might be made as to thi truth of the report. It was also suggested that such re ports could but have a depressing ef feet upon the price of one of th< chief products of the country am that the report should be backed uj with proof, or an opportunity b given to show that the report wa not in fact true. In reply to that telegram the Gov : ernor stated that the report _ wa made upon information collected b; investigators and research agent [ from cotton mills in New England the information being vosuntaril; J il--i - l!.l l.< A V given ana xnai a jisu wuuiu nui u furnished for the reason that the reports were regarded as more or les confidential, etc. It dii no: occur t. the Governor that if the reports wen confidential he had no right to us< them at all. He was perfectly willinj to ute .-:0 much of the coniicentiai re rart ;i3 was calculated to nurt th< cotton growing interests of trie South but unwilling to give information a: to those giving the information, t< the end that the falsity of the report! E'" might be shown, if in fact the repori was based upon incorrect informs tion. He was willing to publish a rt fport disartrous in its effect on th< cotton growers, without investiga ;tign on his own part and -not allow ing a chance^for investigation t)j those whose interests are affected. V 'Ctffterning 5tand of Qovernoi Mr? ^7nunds well says: "The foregping reply is wholly unp ' satisfactory and will be unsatisfac^ tory to the cotton-producing interp ' ests of the country. The Federal Reserve Board made a distinc: statement to the effect that "many New England mills have a sufficient sup I^y of cotton to last them until nexl year." Governor Harding, however declined to give any information a: to how "many" mills are meant bj the word "many," and, therefore, th< country is wholly in the dark as t< the meaning of a term which can b< made disastrous in its effect to th< producers of the South. "Tf nac -fiiv nishcd as a voluntary courtesy'to thi Federal Reserve Board by private in dividuals, firms and corporations, a stated by Governor Harding, it l entirely feasible for information o this character to be furnished to th Board for the express purpose o breaking down the market, and w are amazed that the Federal Reserv Board should accept such statement from interested parties' bearing o: any phase of industry or finance with out giving the facts to the public i order to let the public judge as t their real value. "The public has a right to deman from the Federal Reserve Board tha it shall either give the facts on whic these reports are based, or trse that i shall not volunteer statemenis base on information which may nave beei furnished for the express purpose p renting an erroneous impression a : to the amount of cotton held t>y mills Statistics are dangerous tnings t< piay with, and statements based 01 statistics withcut furnishing the pub .'.c the opportunity of analyzing thesi ^ statements may be deadly dangerou j jv.iblic welfare. "If the information was furnishe. I oy the Federal Reserve Board agent j in New England, it is entirely oon Li ceivable that these agents, influence! L> by the constant efforts or many Nev 3 England mills to break down tlr . price of cotton, might have seen bias J ed by that feeling and without ade _j cuate investigation as to how "many j .^i"' were supplied with cotton. "If this information was furnish a ed by the mills direct, we insist tha jJ the Federal Reserve Board had n< e right to publish such a statemen y without specifically announcing tha ^ the statements were based on infor e mation furnished by New ?nglan< corporations and the number definite J ly specified which claimed to have ai e ample supply of cotton for the bal 3 ance of the year. 'Mr. Harding's telegram has no - thrown any light whatever upon th< situation. It only serves the mor< - strongly to emphasize the seriousnesi . of the blunder which was made bj :t the Federal Reserve Board when i' r put forth the statement of "manj e New England mills reporting supplie: i of raw cotton sufficient to last unti r next year" without any facts 01 i which the public could judge as t< 1 the correctness of these reports. I: - this is a fair sample of the value o: the reports issued by the Federal Re v serve Board, then the sooner Its re a ports are discontinued or put on i . sounder basis the better for th< - country.." COTTON AND COTTON FABRICS ine iouowing irom tae weeKij e review of the New York Times will 3 be of interest: p Aside from the fluctuations ir e the quotations of cotton shown dailj s in the reports of the exchanges, anc based on reports of weather condi" tions in one section or another s there is one outstanding fact whicl" Y militates against any permanent ins crease in price. This is the practical '? certainty of a fairly large crop ^ combined with a carry-over suffi5 cient to more than provide for the " world's probable needs for the yeai s to come. Loud outcries followed the 3 statement of Secretary Hester, oi 2 the New Orleans Cotton Exchange - that the carry-over was G,000,000 ! bales, and a lot of efforts have " been made to try to whittle this : down. But no one contends that ? there will be less than 3,500,000 3 bales, and this, with the probability } of about 13,000,000 bales of the 5 new crop, will give more than ample ^ supplies for all heads. This is es" pecially true since the indications of " a lessened demand from abroad. ? The seriousness of the situation " from the standpoint of those who r are trying to keep up price levels is r a?paient from a {iyrry call for a meeting sent out to members of the Southern Cotton AspociaM0w to take steps to conserve their intei' ests. Curtailment of output by the ' mills is not helping matters any, ' and spinners are determined to get ' their raw material at as low a price ' as possible in order to meet the pub' lie demand for cheaper cotton ' goods. During the last week the goods market has been comparative? ly stagnant. Most of the offers 5 which have been made for goods in J the gray have beer, below the cost 1 of production. The mills are showing } a disposition to let go fabrics on thi 1 basis of about SO cents a pound, 2 against the $1.30 or so which they were demanding ninety days ago. * Bleached and printed fabrics .share 2 this kind of weakness, and most ' goods are unsalable in any but small s lots. Despite curtailments at 'the: s mills there does not seem to be any * lack of spot goods to be had, nor i* e there any great stickling as to pricc * i ' a customer with cash comes e along. Krit goods and hosiery man e ufacturers are still marking time, s very much undecided as tojiow and n when to proceed, n WOLFE SAYS WOMEN o MAY VOTE IN FALI d Renders Opinion on Suffrage Ques t tion.?No Change Is Needed. h it No amendment to the election laws d of South Carolina will be necessarj i in order to allow women to vote in ; f the general election in November s according to an opinion of Attorney General Wolfe rendered yesterday 3 response to an inquiry from Gover, nor Cooper. "The amendment (An_ thony) will be adequate in iteslf to e confer the right without the necessis ty of an enabling act" says the attorney general in his opinion. 1 "The amendment when ratified s and duly so declared by the proper _ authorities will have the effect of ] simply eliminating from section 3U v article 2 of the South Carolina cone stitution the word male and so enlarging the right of suffrage under _ our constitutional and statutory r? law as to include all citizen possessing the requisite qualifications, irre_ spective of sex" the opinion conl tinues. 1 What action will be taken with t regard to the primaries to be held t this month is still problematical. It has been held by some that it j will be necessary to call a Demo_ cratic convention in order to open the books of enrollment, thus per_ mitting women to vote in the primaries. Others take the view, that 9 \ the time for closing the Democratic ^ club rolls has already arrived and passed. The question of whether or " not an amendment to the election laws of this state would be neces sary in case another state ratified the Anthony amendment was raised some time ago by Thomas P. Cothran, thairman of the state Democratic convention in a lettp*- to Governor Cooper. Mr. Wolfe's opinion directed to Governor Cooper is as follows: ,, _ "Der Sir: "Replying to your inquiry relax tive to the necessity for calling a ' special session of the general as-! sembly for the purpose of obviating 1 any danger of the invalidity of our j , election laws, or hazard to our i electoral vote in the event of a ratification of the 19th amendment to1! T , the federal constitution. I advise I 1 | that under the authority of Neal vs. Delaware, 103 U. S., 389; Ex 1 Parte Yarbrough 110 U. S., 651 ;'| r and Guinn and Beal vs. United j ' States, 238 U. S., 347, the proposed amendment, when ratified and duly ' so declared by the proper authority 1 will have had tl^e effect of simply eliminating from section 3, article 2 of the South Carolina constitution ' ' and statutory law as to include all itizens possessing the requisite qualifications, irrespective of sex. Under the above cited authorities j the amendment will be adequate in itself to ponfer the right without the necessity of an enabling act. j "Proper provision of course must be afforded for registration. This J : - j can be done by such means as ap- i pears most expedient in the cir- \ jcumstances." j j HIRAM LAWSON SUCCEEDS j l I The friends of Hiram Lawson, j | son of Mrs. Josephine Lawson of j ;2607 Divine street, Shandon, will be'l iinterested to hear good news of j ihim which comes all the way from! j the coast of China. Young Lawson, j *yho served in the navy as a seamen ? 1 - r . I all through the world war P.ild i'eeri" ^ |listed therer.fter in the Asiatic fleet, ha? been i graduated' from the radio I school at Cavitc, P. I., ard assigned 'to the gunboat Quiros as radio opcv- j ator. The Quiros is off the harbor of I Shanghai.?The State. j MICKEY SAYS: j| j r SP03G THERE^ ^7a~SPOS?^N% II ! VNUrj \ Ot WIN-* VMK.Wr?*W. wntN I CHAH&E POP* NAPfcN PER THIS iHWimttM PAPER, NfrfclT SEE\NCr *S V\0VN NEft IsAOnENS INh & 6UBSCWB VOORTH, N fcf NA j fiNfcWT fcNNfVMNG fcXTfcft, ,N A OOtTM | PAN PER \"T - C I JE.S' TV*' SfcWVE ftS j AM^PLftCE E\3Eij | 5 , tssa&i :.8zk~ , l Qountu Saulnq The Home Is Th 0 American In< \ Women are engaged in America's lead! quires ability of the highest order?that Successful home managers pay their because it is convenient, systematic and or the paying of one twice is impossible check is indisputable evidence of paym< Tl^is institution pays particular attern quirements of women. Keep your Household account with i you arc geiung tur your money; ana yi money go further. Try it once and you count with the / # i County Savin; SOUND SAFE n (i. A. NEUFFER, President. / B ALBERT HENRY, Vice-President. <. . > ! jm new ||T?T"fali 0tHAT Stetson, Crofutt & Knap Either of these three ma please you. i New Shapes, New Shac with the New Fall Styles. Wo nvo QhmninO thp hpst f F U Ml W f * iv/ *a/ * ? ?-? v v w w uJe'oe euer carried. You'll find, a Hat to plea I Parker and B? s ^Bank I ' le Leading I v / sb dustry I SB ik ng industry, one which re- S of managing the home. . , household bills by check ? safe. Disputes about bills S because the cancelled / m HKtion to the banking re m is and know exactly what g ou can make the same I will always have an ac Efs Bank SERVICE ^ I . < I -R. E. COX, . Cashier. P. E. BELL, Asst. Cashier. IIHHIIIIHII ll ll ni"1111,1 < ^ J p and Schobles kes of Hats will les, Were ready * I line of.Fall Hats ; * j * i se you here. Reese .