University of South Carolina Libraries
AIKEN. SCORES COTTON MEARS. Some Interesting Facts About Ex change Manipulations-Attor ney General WickersI- th * Touched Up. Afr. Hay: Mr. Chairman, I yield 15 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Aiken.) Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: Mr. Chairman, some time ago I intror duced a bill (H. R. 12408), the pur pose of^ which iz Lo regulate trans om' \,tiB on the produce exchanges of this country. This bill, if enacted into law, will confine transactions on the exchanges to crop products actu ally in existence and ready for deliv ery, fixing proper penalties for viola tions of its provisions. At the same time I introduced this bill-July 12. 1011-I knew in a general way the evils of exchange methods, but their enormity was not known to me fully until the closing' months of that year. Only a few years ago a large per cent of the lands and homes of South- j ern farmers were under mortgage. Reduced to poverty by the war, the I Southern soldier came home to en- ' list in an industrial struggle full of deprivation and little less terrible In its effects than the scenes of blood j and carnage through which he had passed. Cotton, by reason of its cli matic adaptability and ready market, j value, is the natural Southern crop, and its cultivation offered tho only hope to the Southern farmer after the War of Secession, in the history of its decline in price to less than half the cost of production could be written a history of deprivation, suf fering, and' even want never before experienced by a people of like re finement and intelligence. Northern cotton mills were reaping a harvest. They extended their investments to the South and, North and South, mill interests nourished as never before in the history of this country. South- j ern homes were swept from their owners and converted into mill pront8, and these in turn placed in new mills. Hard as was the struggle i with the cotton farmer, it was not without its beneficial results in ere- j ating new demand for the cotton. I Though many were driven from their farms to seek work in the mills, a better day began to dawn on those wlio remained on the farms. In- ? creased manufacturing took cotton moro and more out of the hands of the speculators, and it began to com mand a price that gave a profit to ifhft; prpdii?flr. Mortgages, yellow 1 with age, were lifted from Southern bornes, t\nd pence and contentment' could bo rend oven in the lines pf'tho furrowed brow. These' dark days In our history will never be re-enacted. Our peo ple have concluded thr.t they are en titled to a par! of the profil of their crop. They have built warehouses and have so diversified their crops as to stand the assault of the cotton gambler, and a few of them, at least, : will share the profit with him and the mill man. Determined, then, as a few of our people are, to have a shore In the profit on their cotton, tho indignation hey feel toward a lot of cotton gam blers whose market manipulations have robbed them of millions of dol lars' profit, on this crop is not hard to inderstand. The poorer, the more iielpless, farmer has been squeezed out and forced to part with his crop below the cost of production. This hal already been fed to the greedy bear. Two years ago, when Messrs. Brown, Heyne, Scales and others were charged with maintaining a ,)Ool to hold up the price of cotton, .he Attorney General of the United States had thom indicted before a Federal grand jury. And for whoso protection? It was done at the in stance of a lot of bear thieves who had systematically robbed Southern planters for moro than 30 years. Tho indictment alleged that mil] men had to pay a fictitious price for their cot ton, and many of them were forced to shut down. 1 know something of the Inside history of that so-called bull p?ol, and I state as a fact that the idea originated with a Southern mill president of La Orange, Cia,; that the details were worked out at Greenville, in my own State, and that so-called bull operators were brought fyi to aid the cotton manu facturers to uphold the price of raw material against the manipulation of a conscienceless band ot* robbers. As evidence that tho Attorney Gen eral proceeded at the Instance of the bear clique on tho exchange, note the character of tho witnesses called. Without exception they were repre sentatives of firms who bad sold col ton heavily in oxcess of tho supply, And note the furthor fact that not a single mill man appears In the Hst of witnesses. At tho timo tho so-called "bull" pool carno into oxlstence the futuro cotton market was a cent a pound or more below tho spot mnr kot, held down by tho bear gambler. The dry goods merchant wanted to base tho price In buying on the fu turo and nof on tito spot-cotton mar ket, and refused fo buy except on that j basis. This produced stagnation in j the cloth market, and it was to elim inate this feature that mill men orig inated the so-called pool to maintain a parity between the spot and the fu ture market. But suppose American cotton mills - were placed at a slight disadvantage by "bull" support of the market. Can the Attorney General be excused for ? protecting even them at the cost of j millions to American commerce? j When we consider that the United States raises 69.9 per cent of the world's supply of cotton and con sumes only 24.7 per cent the magni tude of the injury done to American j commerce and American business by the effort to depress the price of cot ton is apparent. That his act did not I reduce the price of cotton at the time more than 2 cents per pound is due to the stubbornness with which Hayno, Brown, Scales and . others bought all actual cotton offered, In stead of accepting settlement of mar gins, which is a trick of the trade to sell large quantities of cotton not in existence. Such a decline was con fidently anticipated. A week before Brown and Mayne knew that they were going to bc (prosecuted a "bear" firm, in trying to get a certain party to sell the market said: 1 know something is going to hap pen that will ca.?se a break ia the market of from 100 to 200 points. Suppose, the break had material ized. The result would have been, on a basis>of a 1 2,000.000-bale crop, and at a 2-cent decline, to give fo? eign spinners about $90,000,000 to save about $110,000,OOO, ostensibly to American spinners, really to Wall street gamblers. Will the time never come when government representa tives and officers can see other inter ests than those that are centered in New York? ls the hard-worklnu, re spectable citizen of tile United States to be held up by the government and fleeced under its protecting arm? The enormity of the Attorney Gen eral's act did not fully appear until the present crop was brought into sight. The world's consumption of cot ton, as stated in Bulletin 113, page 2!?, of tile Department of Agricul ture, is 21.000,000 bales. On the same page we find tho statement: lt appears probable that 14,500, 000 bales of .American cotton can be absorbed during the year ending Au gust 31, 1912. In other words, the present cror will barely meet the demand, condi tions being normal In other cotton raising countries But conditions ar< not normal in olhor collen raisin? cou pi vies, in Ind in, for Instance, tin ero.; ? conceded to be short about l,f?00,00( bales, and we have heard nothing o a large crop in any other part of th? world. We raise, as hertoforo stated approximately 70 per cent, and thli represents say 15,000,000 bales. Tin other cotton-producing conntrie raise 30 per cent, or 0.4 00,000 bales Tho total, then, w|ll be 21,4 00,00? bales as against a consumption o 21,000,000. But india, as stated, i 1,500,000 bales short, which, takei from the total supply, would seen to indicate a shortage in the world' supply of tlie crop of something lik 1,100,000 bales of cotton. We neei 21,000,000 bales of cotton; we hav only 19,900,000 hales with which t< supply them. In tim face of thes facts cotton has been hammerei down to 8 cents p8r pound, 2 cent below the cost of production, by merciless set of vampires. Meaning no disrespect, but in crit icism of the narrowness of the Al torney General's view and the shorl sightedness of his policy, I charg that he, more than all other cornhill ed agencies, is responsible for thi condition. His prosecution of th so-called bull element of the e> change has driven out competitlo and made the market a one-sided al fair. No singlo operator can affec prices on the exchange; and no san "hull" operator would enter a comb nation while he or his fellows wei under prosecution by tho Feder,' courts charged with tills very o fense. The "bears" may combine f will, but. for tho "bulls" to cornhill is in restraint of trade, ls an affroi to tho gentlemen of Wall street, an proper cause for government inte von i ion. What a spectacle! Mr. Chairman, if the Attorney Gel eral concludes finally that ho cannc proceed against "hull" operators, believe a committee of Congre! should make Investigation of e: change methods. If lt ls a fact tin millions of l?ales of cotton are sol annually on tho exchange that nev< had and wore never Intended to ha\ existence, thereby abnormally di pressing its price, thou tho ev should be eradicated. In tho narr of common decency, In consid?r?t lo for the Southern farmer, who coi tributes more to tho export trade < the United States than half of tl rest of this country comblnod, th piracy on his products should I stopped, if tho cotton exchanges ni to be one-sided affairs, dominated l tho "bears," il would be infinito better to abolish them altogothe Congress should know the facts, an knowing them, should pass such leg islation here as will protect the pro ducers of this country. A normal price for the present crop of cotton would have been 12 \& cents per pound. Much of it has sold as low as 8 cents per pound. Ow'ng to bear manipulations, aided and abet ? ted by tho government, tho cotton producer bas easily lost 3 cents per pound on the entire crop, or $215, 000,000; nnd two-thirds of this amount, or approximately $145,000, 000, has been given to foreign spin ners. Mr. Triable: Will the gentleman yield for a question? Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: Certainly. \ Mr. Trlbble: I understand tho gen tleman introduced bis bill some time ago. Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: Yes. Mr. Trlbble: Has tho gentleman been able to get the committee on agriculture to investigate and report his bill? Mr. Aiken, of South . Carolina: No; I have been able to get no re port at all from the committee. Mr. Trlbble: They had not Inves tigated that, so far as tho gentle man knows, so as to report that bill? Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: They have not, so far as I know. I would willingly accord sincerity of purpose to the Attorney General If, accepting this horn of the dilemma, he did not appear ridiculous in the sight of all good citizens, Interested in the welfare of a common country. Perhaps, as a newspaper in my dis trict tersely puts it: "He prefers the hug of bear to the horns of the bull." (Applause on the Democratic side.) While 1 thought the prosecution of Brown, Mayne and Scales was little less than, criminal, since .tho Attor ney General has assumed the respon sibility And given the "bears" the benefit of the government's support 1 could see no reason why the "hear" element, who had robbed the pro ducing class of fully $3,000,000 should not also be prosecuted, and to that extent aid in demoralizing their robber band. With this Idea In view, 1 directed a letter to the Attor ney General, asking why these men should not be prosecuted. 1 have my letter to him and his reply. I shall not read them, but will ask leave to print them In the Record. In his reply thc Attorney General says if he had evidence of the exist ence of a "hear" pool he would pro ceed against lt, as he has proceeded agsinst the so-enlled "btill" pool. White i cannot furnish him such evi dence ns would bo conclusivo In court, such investigation as I haye made convinces nie hat the evidence against the "bear" and "bull" ele ments of thc exchanges ls tangible alike: that the market can neither be boosted nor beared by one man (Applause on the Democratic side); that there are men on the exchanges who operate almost exclusively on the "bear" side and operate In collu sion with other "bear" operators; that these raids on the market are often planned months before the ac tual coup; and that the robber band planning them will use every possi ble instrumentality, including tho government, to cary out their dam nable purposes, How many times have they had advance Information of the government reports? Who would deny that they have or have had agents in the statistical depart ments of this government? "Now, these facts are all known to the At torney General, and yet ho comes up with the prosecution of the "bull" clique in his right hand, and in his left hand with the lame excuse that he does not know who tho "bears" are. (Applause on the Democratic side.) The regular "hear" cotton specula tor ls as well known In exchange cir cles ns the ofliceia of this govern ment are known to the people of Washington. I have here in my pos session the names of several "bear" firms who will be found on the "hear" side of every Important exchange transaction, and they were the Imme diate beneficiaries of the govern ment raid on the market two years ago. If the Attorney General will ar raign his witnesses In the pending case and call on the parties under prosecution for evidence, and then rake tho letter files of the "boar" element, as he did In the case of his prosecution of the "hulls," he will not bc lacking for evidence. A bear pool was on, which held the future market a cent a pound below the spot market at tho very time the gov ernment began proceedings against the so-called "hull" clique, and that very act, as I have shown, gave rise to the so-called "hull" pool, ns a de fense measure, originating with tho cotton mills. Mr. llellin: Mr. Chalrmnn. will my friend permit, a question? Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: Certainly. Mr. lieflln: Is lt not a fact that at the time the Attorney General prose cuted what Is called tho "bull" raid the spinners were taking cotton? Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: Yes; I have just mentioned that. Tfie explanatia W?deiri?ithe/ everynigredk test of oar OJ therepn?t?tor Fertilizers. Sold J3y Reliai P.S.ROYST Sales N (MikVa. Tari 33 diittiore Md. Mont? Macon Ga. Mr. IK . . The spinners were tak ln.-', tili? coti?h? . Mr. Aiken, of Soutli Carolina: C< rtniitVj Mr. li Un: I have not had the pleasure ol hearing all of my friend's Speech; hui .ins the gentleman heard of any > i 1 jury indictment of "bear'; i this fall? Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina: There ha.- leen absolutely none, so far is i h Mr, ?rici i: Since the gentleman called u ,i. . . I he Attorney General has he reason ci think that anybody In the Dena tn nt of Justice has Inves tiga teil o il reported on a "bear" raid ? Mr. Al , of South Carolina: Noi to ui> knowledge. I have heard of no thin i; tho sort. Of course the interns! pl ihe producer was not con sidered) an i ls evident that the At torn oj o ? .li's assertion that the proseen Mon was for tho protection bf the nilli interests' was at that time grounUKth. rh'l? lott? ' tit the \( torn ey General shows ignorance of .ondilUms that <s lamont c Mo or bins that uh worthy an oflicer of this govern men t. 1 I give my letter and his are ri ply to tile publie for what the worth! (Applause.) i few's This ? \V- foi one hundred dollars re war 1 v any case of catarrh that cannot ho cured hy Hall's Catarrh Cur. . P. J. Cheney & Co., Toledo, Ohio. Wej tho undersigned, have known F\ .(. Chonoy for tho last 16 years, and bel BVO him perfectly honorable In aul buslnes? transactions and finan cially ;ide to carry out any obliga tion;., nade by his firm. m linn, Klnnan & Marvin, I V. desal? Druggists, Toledo, O. Ii;.: CH a .rh Cure ls taken Inter nail v. .H'?ii;-. directly upon the blood and 1 lueous surfaces of the system. Tesl i Mah; sent free. Price 75c. pen bo tie. sold by all druggists. Tab. Hair?? Family Pills for con st!)):. Siuitll 1'nlon Honor Roll. P'ollowh?f! is the honor roll for Jan irs for he pupils of the South Unico si hool: SM rsl rad.- (Neille Wyatt,teacher) -virgil ?hvr, Joe Thomas, Obevn Powell, kal /otte McCarley, Ethel Shiv , )'. >berl Gray, Adell Gray, War ley ??lbso?, I tlon Allen. BecQ d ?.r de-Casey Blair, Bessie Harri. . ?iy'do Gray, Harry Goodman, ObT'.vii . j sri . Third Grade (May Pant, teacher) -Cordi i Oakley, Lila Smith, Leland Cole li by Gibson. I t v.ide-Birdie Harris. Oli ve?! ilia, i*ake Gibson. W ood's Seeds fY>P 1012. Our ! t;v/ Descriptive Catalog is fully up-to-date, and tells all about tito best Garden and Farm Seeds. fSvery fa i mer and gardener ehpulci ba> a copy of this cata log, v/)uch has long been recog nized aa a ?Midard authority, for tb? hil) >\T\d complete in foi - malton which it gives. { We arc headquarters for Grtu-v. anti Jlovor Seeds, Seed Potatoes, Sued Oats, Cow Peas, $oJa Beans Mid all Farm Seeds. Wood's Descriptive Catalog mailed freb on! request Write for it. T W. SONS. (Seedsmen, - Richmond, Va. ER FER! SPOT EVER 7 is snnple;ihey< greatest care a int has to pass ti m laboratories iniss'aboii tf?oys )le Dealers Everywhere ER GUANO C< Offices ) or o NX. Columbia S.C.^ ornery Ala. 5par?anbur/? c Colambu^ 6a. N'EU Ito ATTEMPTS BLACKMAIL. Police Capture Negro Girl by ?H?coy Letter-I>eiiiiuide<l $10,000. New York, Feb. 23.-Bessie Grien. a mulatto, 23 years old, was arrested late Tuesday charged with attempting to blackmail Francis H. Arnold, father of Dorothy Arnold, who mysteriously disappeared from lier home more than a year ago. Ac cording to detectives who made the arrest a band of six persons, of which it is charged the Green ?toman is one, since last June have been send ing letters to Mr. Arnold demanding a large sum of money under threats that he would be shot. Fifteen threatening letters were received, John S. Keith, Mr. Arnold's attorney said, ill of which were turned over to the police. # Following the receipt of a letter a week nen demanding that. Mr Arnold send $ J ,350 by wa J 01 a hrt.r lo.; in ? beVvsp?p?) pfflco", Detectives ob tained fi chi'- .vbicb led to the Gtvon woman's arrest. A decoy letter sent through the newspaper ofllee was traced to an apartment house. Ac cording to the detectives I he Green woinari called* for the letter and her arrest followed. She was held in $5',000 bail for examination to-mor row. Otlier arrests aro expected. . The police said to-night that one of the letters received by Arnold contained a demand for $10,000 and that others stated that if the money was not paid in a reasonable time Arnold's other children would dis appear as did Miss Dorothy. How ('old Affects tho Kidneys. Avoid taking cold if your kidneys aro sensitive. Cold congests tho kid neys, throws too much work upon them, and weakens their action. Se rious kidney trouble and evon Bright's disenso may result. Strengthen your kidneys, got rid of tho pain and soreness, build them nj) by the timely use of Foloy Kidney Pills. Tonic in action, quick In re sults. J. W. Bell. Without the "ot" l?ense. (Columbia Record.) "J. P. Carey, of Bickens, ls one of the ablest and most conservative met? In the General Assembly," says the York vii le Enquirer. Me was, emphatically, "one of the ablest and most conservative men in the General Assembly," but he is not at this time a member af all. Per haps the Enquirer meant his bro ther, F. M. Cary--without the e, please-of Coonee, who ls a loss ex perienced, but hardly less valuable legislator. Thero's nothing so good for a sore throat as Dr. Thomas' Eclectic Oil. (biros lt in a few hours. Believes any pain in any part. If Not Too Turbulent. If Mr. Wilson should bo placed at the head of navigation on the Demo cratic boat, do you really think he Wood row ?-K co woo Cou rior. Yes, of course he would if the Water (son) did not become too tur bulent.-IOasley Progress. A Warning Against Wet Feet. Wet and chilled feet usually affect tho mucous membrnno of tho nose, throat and lungs, and la grippe, bronchitis or pneumonia may result. Watch carefully, particularly the children, and for tho racking, stub born coughs givo Foley's Honoy and Tar Compound. It boothes tho In flamed membranes, and heals tho cough quickly. Take no substitute. J. W. Boll. HLIZER HCKSTING HTlflAM PI PF KI?AAS. Engineer Peter Kitchens .Instantly Killed nt Gaffney. (Ja ff ney, Feb, 22.-Probably Ibo most horrible accident in tho history of Gaffney occurred this morning about G o'clock, in the origin? room of the Gaffnoy Manufacturing Com pany's mill, when Petor Kitchens, en gineer ol' the mill, was Instantly kill ed by the explosion of a six-Inch steam pipe. The man was "literally roasted, aside from sustaining some torrlblo blows In different parts of the body. A piece of pipe struck bim In the face, and a fearful wound wns nlso sustained In thc head. It ls presumed that he waa killed Instant ly. There wero no eyo witnesses to the tragedy, tho watchman having stepped from the room just an In stant bofore thc explosion. It ls said that Kitchens bad cob o shortly bofore (' o'clock, jirop?Tatory lo tho. opening o' tue mill at 0 it vyns two minutes laol tdx bj thti eugine loora clock when tho pipe burst. The onglne room was almost wrecked by the explosion. Windows were torn out and thrown for some distance, one going across the mill yard and stopping on the railroad track, A section of the pi pe How through a window, doing considera ble damage, while posts and supports in the engine room were bent and twisted, some being knocked from their jilaces. Kitchens' body was found in a pool of blood about six feet from tho engine. The bursting of tho pip? was accompanied hy a loud explo sion and the watchman rushed to tho scene, finding Kitchens already dead. The pipe was thc main steam pipo of what ls known as "the old mill" and carried a tremendous amount of steam, but lt was impossible to as certain just how much steam was up at tho time of the pipe bursting. Following tho accident tho body of the dead man v/ns taken to under taking parlors, where an Inquest was held by the coroner. No evidence could be found that anything but na tural causes had caused the death, and a vordlct was rendered by tho jury to this effect. Scott's Emulsion is thc highest type of curative food. The nourishing and curative elements in Scott's Emulsion are so perfectly combined that all (babies, children and adults) are equally bene fited and built up. Be ?ure to get SCOTrS it's the Standard and alway? the bett. ALI, DnuQttiore ?MM?a??H?MI iff* li-17