The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, September 09, 1937, Image 8
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edtfM
V.
EIGHT
THE CLINTON CHBONICLE, CLINTON, 8. .C.
THUHSDAY, SEPTESIBER 9. 1987
FEDERAL COTTON CONTROL
LIKELY TO BRING DISASTER
corpse. The board's promise of cotton
* prices above 18 tents ^rave Brazil her
start in earnest‘'in cotton. E^ypt and
all other competitors began to step
were supposed to eliminate. The AAA
made the revolution worSt.^
4. The cotton loan of 1933: Ten
(From The New York Times)
The writer of the following let
ter, well known a.s the author of
several works on farm problems
and economics as. related espec
ially to agriculture, is ProfeStsor
of Rural Economy at ToTnell
University, .a chair which he has
held since 1917.
To the Editor of The New York
Times:
....' A' %,rlc
drove a strange bargain
recently
with the
Prewident. The President promised to
loan the planters 9 cents a pound on
cotton, and to grant in addition a cash
aubsidy bringing the net price up to
- 12 cents a pound, provided t'onjtress (}p,T.„any, 1,947,000 bales; Japan,
up their production. This wa? the
.... , start of the rCvidutioin. The. policy of
price,» much less does the American j “Keep the
cotton away from the consumers.”.
cent.s a pound was loaned "without
cotton crop determine price.
The American bumper cotton crop
of all time w'as, of cour.se, the 18,*
000,000-bale cEop of 1926-27. Indus
try was prosperous that year, employ
ment was^ high, demand .for cotton
was brisk, and so'the bottom did not
2. The Hawley-Smdot Tariff of
1930: The old Farm Board started to
kill the foreign mairket. This tariff
act did in fact destroy a large pof^
tion of our foreign trade. This tariff
imade it simply impossible for some
go out of the cotton market. In factj old custornei-s to buy our cotton at all.
this bumper crop of all time "^oved.^jp,, Germany, France, England
to market at an average price of 13.771 Japan showed immediate and
cents.
I» h’ave been emphasizing demand
side of the market. The question nat
urally arises. Who are the big con-,
sumers of American -cotton ?
In the year 1932-33 the four .larg-
(•.«t foreign buyers, ranked in order.
would pledge itself to pass a laiy at 1,742.345; Great Britain, 1,.559,015;
j the next session n'.storing govv>rr- France, 877,868, But demand is in a
mental crop control over cotton. * constant state of flux. The year be-
This was a strange bargain, for two f^re, 1931-.32, the big four buyers
or three reasons. In the first place .the .j^pan, 2,322,187; Germany, 1,-
flreat Britain,
drastic slumps. We kept the cotton at
home and called it a “surplus.” blam
ed the weather and talked about fann
relief and further restrictions on pro
duction and marketing.
3. The AAA of 19.33: This'wa-s a
.scheme for crop destruction and crop
reduction, to eliminate the “surplus.”
No two economists ever did agree on
the <iefinition of “surplus,” The phil
osophy hack of the AA was: Artifi
cial scarcity will bring high prices. I
have already shown the naive error.s
Supreme (ourt held in January, 1936. c,;{2,297; Great Britain, 1,371,756; j in this tVory of domestic surplus and
that Congress does not have the pow-^( 1,090,176. fh both these years [world priye. By putting a sales tax of
er to control the cotton crop. So th;s|p|g|y fifth among kuyers. By 41/^ e^nts a pound on all cotton do-
bargain flouts the .SiEfireme Court, iti
the second place, raising prices by
curtailing outfiut i.s a sl-ep toward eco
nomic nationalism. Since the South
has *-hefTT •‘t^Tprnt TTTg-i
1934-35 these countries were turning
to Itrazil and other counties for cot
ton formerly taken from the United
State.s. In 1934-35 Great Britain con-
rnestically consumed, the AAA did
greatl.v curtail consumption and aug
ment the “surplus” which these men
recourse.” The government acquired
3,090,000 bales of cotton, of whi<A it
still hat 1,684,491. Under pressure
grf»up influence in 1034 enother cot
ton loan was made, this tim^ fit 12
cents. By Aug. 1, 1936, the govern
ment was carrying 6,200,000 bales^ of
cotton—a holding twice a.s great as
that of the Faim Board in the days
of its comer. In 1935 loans were
made at 10 cents. This “government
cotton” has disturbed and disrupted
the domestic market for four years.
5. The Bankhead Act of 1934: This
made the cotton curtailment compul
sory where it had been voluntary be
fore. The Bankhead act merely rnade
the revolution worse.
6. The Loan Subsidy Act of August,
1937: This act has already been de
scribed. It iJrovides two political rem
edies, both aggravating the present
revolutioin in cotton: (a) It pegs the
price, or seeks to peg the price, at 9
cents by means of loans of Federal
We come’siKJjw/to-"our-conclusions, ihibitive tariff barriers. At the en
Our “farm reheC’ fdr cettton has been j of these years cd market restriction,
essentially the isame as the schemes tariff restfiction ^d production re
in B^sh rubber, Japanese silk, Cu
la^iaiigar and Brazil coffee—schemes
to enhance price by curtailing output.
These schemes all miserably failed^
harming the farmers tgrievously in
the end.
In cotton, our “surplus” so far as
friction he-^ee's his market almost
destroyed. ,
With five more years of such re
strictions, the Southern plafter will
find *himself in the position of the
American Indian—a'ward of the Fed
eral Government. -
James E. Boyle.
we have a'real surplus, is a man- . _.
made surpltis. We can sell this sur-j Cornell University., Aug. 26,, 1937.
plus, thuspqstpom^ the day of reck-1 ^
oning. 'Which do want, sale or [BLANK BOOKS — Every ruling, aD
subsidy? \ isizes. Letter File Boxes. CoIlectioB
In 1936 the world consumed"“ more i Wallets.
cotton than it produced. W>dtive only
under-consumption, lack, of markets.
Barriers To Trade
There are markets — in Europe,
j^sia, South America, Canada—if we
reopen these markets. To reopen these
markets we must remove the trade
b^riers and permit once more the
Southern planter to sell his product
where, when and as he pleases.
The Southern planter saw market
re.itriction begin in 1929, with cotton
CHRONICLE PUBtlSHlNG CO.
tt 18 cents. After eight years cf re
fund.s, as long as Federal funds hold j striction he now sees cotton at 9
out; (b) it provides for a subsidy inicents.
cash to elevate the farmer’s cash re-1 He has seen five years of crop re-
ceipt.s to'12 cents a pound. The .sum ] striction, and at the end of these five
of $150,000,000 is provided as a start-1 years the world has the largest cotton
er toward thi.s .subsidy. The aim of crop of all time
thi.s act is sub.sidy rather than .sale.
He has seen seven years of pro
ton every .vear for 150 y<*ai>', eco
nomic nationalism. is 7i costly >'Hcri-
fice for 1 )iis '(-<‘1 loTI 'o iliake. The t'll '
mate and virgin resoiirct's of the
\ven> an'd ave the liasio eco-
■ i siinieir only 95i,i)lli() Pales or out cot-
535,000, Germany
ton, France only
only 376J)0(K ^
As illustrating sudden .'♦hifts iriTori-
suniiiti<»n, the faet may be cited that
ilast year the world eonsumption of
noniic reasons wh.v this section is the' jumped hy 3,600,000 hales over
w<uld's natural cotton field. I he J‘»il‘|t,he preceding year. 'Hie main fact
roads of the South, the hanks, the
farm', the little country town-, the
cities are all huilt on cotton. 'I o shift
to corn and wheat and dairy—all leas
prndnet+rr crops in the .South— would
mean city h'ca<l iines for sever t! mil
lion ex-cotton workers. In other
wokF, thi.' hargadi asks tlu* South to
pay too high a |)iice for (‘conomic
nationalism.
In.the third jdace, t)ii.s i.>; n./trange
hatgaiii hecaii.s<- it views domestic
surplu' as-.in e\;|, and it thinks do-
ineslie surplus depresses price. Do-
mest.c surphis is not an I'vil and it
does not depress prici*. The price of
cotton depends on only two factors,
the size of the world croj) and the
fize of the world demand. We control
reithiT <if these.
The Hecord of Five Years'
Note the following five typical
yoars,—with their lack of corrtdation
Ixd weenWorTd croji.s alone and price,
the demand factor being omitted:
In 1920-21 the world crop decreased
3.2 per cent. I>id price go up? No.
price ilecreased r>i».6- per-cent.
about consumption is thi.s: What wei
somelime.s call “overproiluction” is!
merely underconsumption. For exam-j
pie, when our AAA reported “over
production’’ and ft “burdensome sur
plus’’ in the .South in 1933, and efliis<*d
to l»e plowed^under one-fourth of. the
whole crop, photographs showed that
.some of the men plowing tinder this
cotton were dres.sed in rags and tat
ters. — --—
In the .South there are )0,(H)(),()()0
people. If these jieople had enough
Workmen's pveia!!' for the men and
lioys, enough sheets ami pillow ca'cs
and curtain.s arnl plain cotton drus.ses
for even a decent .standard of living
for all th<' -homes of thi' South, the
1933 I'ottsm crop would bave lallen
far short of supplying these actual
needs. 1 consider the <leli))eialc sa
botage of 4,500,000 hales of cotton in
1933 4ia a crime, a blunder and a sin.
Our cotton problem is very simple,
namely, .to sell mdri? cotton, not to
grow les.s cotton. With million.s of
people in the w’orld nearly naked to-
lay, the problenr is to grtm more cot
in 1921-22 the world crop decreased|Ion and to sell mon* cotton, Andrthis,
25 per cent; price in this case went
up 8.1 4H*r cent
In 1922-23 world crop increased 22.4
piT cent; price went up 44.9 per cent.
In 1923-24 worhl crop increa.sed 4.4
per cent; price went up 16.9 per cent.
In 1924-25 world crop increasctl 26.3
p<‘r ci-nt; price licci cascd 20.1 per
cent.
If woi|(l crop doivs not determine
-J
Clinton
Finance Co., Inc.
.Auto Financing
Fire Insurance
Office:
JACOHS & C().' bLD(5.
in turn, means we must have free ac
cess to the Torcign market
Future historians of the Hoover-
Roosev/i*lf cotton program will report
it as the eight-year cotton revolution.
Tht* perichl will de.serve this name be
cause of the revolutionary changes in
cotton consumption and cotton pro
duction.
Fight years ago our share of the
world’s cotton exports was l’»3 per
cent. Toilay it is 44 imr cent.
During the five years ending in
1929 the worUl used 8,300,900 bales of
.American cotton on the average each
Gray
Funeral Home
Clinton, S. C. .
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
and ...
EMBALMERS
Ambulance Senriee
Phones 41 and 399*1
L. RUSSELL GRAY and
T. PARKS ADAIR. Gca. Mfra.
RUBBER
STAMPS
Any kind, to fit any
business. 24*hour ser
vice. Reasonable prices.
Telephone 74.
The Chronicle
Printers • Stationers
nPEWRITER
RIBBONS
For All Make Machines.
Standard* and Pohal^le.
ADDING MACHINE RIB
BONS
ADDING MACHINE PAPER
Can 74
Chronicle Pub. Co.
year.
During the five years ending 1931
this volume was 7,500,000.
During the two years 1935-36 the
volume was i>,0tHl,000.
I During the year eiideil July 1, 1937,
jthis volume was 5,000,000. Here is a
Irevohrtion which ha^< put 1.000,000
people out of work in the South.
Brazil in 1928-29 pixiduced 376,000
bale.s of cotton. This was the year be
fore the Hoover market re.<tri,cIion.
In 1935-36 Brazil pnaluced 1,530,000
bales.
During these past eight years the
world has increa.s«‘(l its consumption
of foreign cotton by 7,006,000 bales;
at the same lime it has decrea.sed its
consumption of .American cotton by
2,500,000 bales.
Many farm “relief” bills have been
considered and pa.ssed by Congress,
hut no bill has been passed to check
or alleviat^rtdffis revolution.
On the contrary, many things have
been done to promote and aggravate
it. The oirtton South is geared to the
markets of F.urope and Japan and
other distant customers. The need for
ac^^eaa to these markets is instant,
overwhelming and not admitting of
! delay.
Yet the eight years of Hoovor-
Roosevelt farm relief have been a
“planned’/ process of progressive de
struction of the ^>T'eign markets for!
American cotton. t •
Political Remedies
The political reme<lies given to the
cotton South by Presidents Hoover
and Roi>sevelt have U'en essentially
the same, and have cumulatively pro
duced the eight-year revolution which
now damns tiie cotton planter. .Any
political reme<ly merely invites the
political pressure groups to rush in
jand grab for immediate advantages.
' New Deal schemes have l>een ct>ri-
ing with dizzy rapidity. It is well to j
pause for a hrt>athing spell and look i
I back over the six s“teps which have;
■plunged us into this cotton rev.)Iu-
t'on
1. Hoover Farm Board of 1929; This
government agency announced that
'cotton at 18 cents^ythe current pnee,
, was too cheap, and steps would Ite
^ taken by Uncle Sam to tu>ost the
I price. Later the bvvard cornered the
i cotton market and even importeil cot-
jton. The price went down'from 18
! cents to 5 cents. These men found it
easy to corner the market with the
United States Treasury back of them,
but they found it hard to bury the
0&«
«
(
JA.MES W. t ALDWELI.
Phone 38
OPENING ANNOUNCEMENT!
■
: ....'A.v
CLOTHES AND FURNISHINGS FOR MEN AND YOUNG MEN
MORE QUALITY
MORE STYLE
MORE SERVICE
ADAIR’S
MEN’S SHOP
NEXT DOOR TO
ELLA ADAIR
In the Busy
Broad Street Block
MY STORY IS SIMPLY THIS: “QUALITY MERCHANDISE SOLD FOR CASH.” With the aid of other older mer-
chantH in the state, I have tried to select the besl-known lines of merchandise for your cash money. First, 1 am operat
ing a small business in a small store room, which moans low operating cost. Second, I am selling all merchandise on a
strictly cash basis, which means a still lower selling cost. Third, the manufacturers of the quality merchandise I will
sell are belhitad me lOO'i on every item. Therefore, I guarantee satisfaction or youi* cash money refunded.
1 invite the public to come in my shop for an inspection, whether you be a pros|^tive customer or not. *_
^ (Signed) I. MAC ADAI,^.
BRAND NEW
Fall SUITS
SINGLE OR DOUBLE BREAST
PLAIN OR SPORT
LONG OR SHORT
Including 16% All Wool Serges
TEMIK)RARILY PRICED
$1S and $i7.so
REMEMBER, EVERY SUIT GljARANTEED
SATISFACTION.
FORMAL OPENING
Saturday, Sept. 11
Due to the late arrival of some
merchandise, I will not open FOR
MALLY until SATURDAY, SEPT,
llth, but w’ill be open for business
THURSDAY and FRIDAY.
Complete Showing Of
OUTSTANDING
FALL
FURNISHINGS
—Interwoven Socks
—Botany and Arrow Ties
—Arrow and Towne Shirts
—Cooper’s and Towne Underwear
—Swank Jewelry
—Frank H. Lee Hats
—Universal Pajamas
—Riegel Handkerchiefs
Six Dozen UNIVERSAL
\
PAJAMAS
$L19 each
i
U
Regular ILB.*) Values
ARROW TIES
All $1.00 Values
79c each
TOWNE SHIRTS
Whites and' AsMHfed CoImts
$1,55 each -2ior $2.99
Values up to $1.95 each
All Sizes and Sleeve Lengths
PIEDMONT SHIRTS
$1.15 each - 3 for $3.00
Values up to $1.50 each
. J
I*
UNDERWEAR
COOPER’S AND TOWNE
SOc SHIRTS AND SHORTS
89c per Suit
TOWNE SHPRTS and HAN^ SHIRTS
35c each or Suit for 65c
White or Fancy
MEN'S SOX
New Assorted and Solid Colors •
Regular 25c Sellers 5 pr. for $1,00
Regular 15c Sellers 8 pr. fw $1.00
SEE
SCHAEFER’S CLOTHES
Made-to-Measure — All 100% W^ool •
‘ $25.00 up
DRESS PANTS
Pbin or Pleated Fronts
$2.95 - $3.95 - $4.95
New Fall Hats - $1.95 to $5.00
•f