The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, July 02, 1926, Image 11
Former TwcKr nNMM.
I .aureus, J una 20.?Willi* P. Wingo
who had served nine months of an indeterminate
sentence of three to six
years for larceny, was today given a
parole by Governor McLeod. The parole
was received at the clerk of
t-ourt's office this afternoon and a few
hours later Wingo was released froiu
one of the county chain gang camps
and taken to his former home in
Spartanburg county.
Wingo was formerly teacher of
agriculture in the Laurens city
school. Last September 29 he was
found guilty in sessions court here on
a charge, alleging the theft of an
automobile and was sentenced by
Judge M. L. Bonham.
Sales of life insurance policies increased
12.2 per cent the first four
months of this year over the corresponding
period in 1928. ;/ .
The
BULL'S EYE
~?ditor and Qentrcd Jdanaqer
_ WIU. ROGEtyg 7
?;=== " r " r I
Aii?lher"llull" Uurhimndvcr- V.
Ml tlocmoRt by Will Kover*. Ztcg* I
I rcldl'oltienuni]Hcr??natar,nn<l I
I leading AniMicin humorist. |l
k. Moru conilnt'. Wnlrhforthem.
Meeting the "Bull"
Durham Smoker
Face, to Face
- Im just making, as the Politician
says/'A swing around the Circle/' ,
to seeTvvhat was going on in "Real
America." I had been in NewYork
; o long, I was getting a kind of a Subwry
"Slant" on tilings. I was be- coming
as narrow as a Metropolitan
In ewspaperEditorialW riter. My cycriyht
was getting so poor I couldn't
see beyond the Hudson River* and
ir.y mind wouldn't function farther
r .v. v than ^Mbany, N. Y.
1 iinew that NewYork was* 'amusi
the world," but I wanted to meet
the fellow who was "feeding it."
1 am kinder oddly constituted. You
can cut off my amusement, $>ut if my
food stops you are going to have an
:.ryumcnt on your hands.
I, as Editor and Proprietor of the, _
Hull's Eye, wanted to meet not only
the readers,but thcfonfiTtncrsoiTHIS
Wonderful Product of OURS. (The
American Tobacco Company and
no.) Well, 1 wish you could See the
type of Men they were, Big fine
healthy upstanding He-Mcn. They
were not the little Ancmics that has
to tap his Cigarette on thehax before
he c an smoke it. They were our Producers
of Life.
W hen I saw the type of Ho-Men
smoking "Bull" Durham; Itrtthnost
made me cry, that I wasn't a smoker
myself.
I'.S. There will be another piece here
a lew weeks from now. Look for it.
Durham
-Si !?1"
kk *o?dU^d ^
THE BASIC TROUBLE WITH
AMERICAN AGRICULTURE
Many Mythical Causes Given But the Chief Financial |
Problem Rises From Inflatioirof Capital Account
Based on War Prices?Remedy Pointed Out?
"Trick Legislation" Will Not Help,
mm 1
. By MELVIN A. TRAYLOR
Flret Vice Preeldont American Banker# Aeeoclatlon.
IN recent years agriculture and the welfare of the farmer have
been our most fruitful topics of conversation. Political fortunes
have revolved arotind thp u nhnnnv sifnnHnn nf fVio fnrmpr
and the business barometer has gone up and
down with varying proposals for his relief. Only
a few years ago there was widespread feeling
voiced by the leading agriculturists that the time
was fast approaching when America would
not be able to feed its rapidly ipcreasing population
unless there was improvement in soil culture,
fertilization, reforestation and larger production.
What is the situation now? The worry seems no
longer to be for food for the hungry millions but
for more millions to consume our tons of food.
Evangelists of despair have talked so much
about over-production and surrthia of atrrir.ultural
products since 1920 that we are warranted fn fc#*
to a f??t or two which may be enlightening to those
felt that there has been a crushing surplus of the staples of the ]
farm
Mf * t yju A9X1 VU AViO
production of cotton was 14,176,000
bales at an average price of 12.41
cents per pound, while from 1921 to
1926 production, averaged 11,362,000
bales at an average price of 21.86
cents per pound. In the 1911-1916
period wheat production averagpd
806,368,000 bushels at an average price
of 89 cents, while In 1921-1925 the
average production was 804,384,000
bushels at a $1.11% average; In the
former period corn averaged 2,754,000,-j
000 bushels at 60.3 cents wliile In the
latter the average was 2,873,000,000 at
69.6 cents. Cattle on farms for 19111916
were 37,178,000 at an average
estimated price of $26.52 while in t^e,
latter period the aunual average was
4616,000 at $26.08. Hogs on farms
In the lirst period were 63,161,000 at
an average price of $9.68 per hqad,
and In the latter 60,418,000 at $11.34.
The Surplus Production Myth .
From these figures, which eliminate
the period that embraced the war and
the early post-war Inflation, It will be
observed that, with the exception of
I cotton and cattle, production has been
[ almost uniform ill the two periods. In
I no case has production anywhere ap!
proached an Increase commensurate
with the increase In population. Socalled
surplus production is largely o.
myth and the cause of the farmer's
j complaint must' be looked for in some
? other direction. It must be admitted.
[ that all has not been and Is not well
uvitli tills Industry... After all, what la
r the matter with agriculture? Thqrfi1
are a few facta which, seem obVioOsas
a part at least of the underlying
causes of the situation and which suggest
.something of the remedy that
sooner or later must be applied.
Present difficulties had their inception
largely in inflation of prices for
agricultural products from 1915 to
1920 with consequent large expansion
| of profits. . This led lnevltably with
the farmer as with the manufacturer
to expansion of plant and eqp.proent
7. .> the acquirement by the individual
of larger acreage and modern, if not
always efficient, machinery. These
statements do not apply to every one
because there are always some'who
I play safely and conservatively. Pr<>ved
by the fact that there are millions
of farmers who have gone
the recent crisis without any difficulty
and are today prosperous and contented.
In fact the complaints joday
are coming from less, -than 25 per
cent of the farmers of the country
T and from: the hordes, of pofltlciana
who ate seeking to make capital out
of the situation. #
Results of Inflation and *xp*n?lon
With the average and with the ma
lority of those who were swept off
their feet by the wave of Pr??Perl^
through which they were m
us analyse the results of this Inflation
and expansion. The farmer ?Per<?
lng on land that he was casing[ In
his capital account,at a value of.Bay,
1100 per acre, and who perhaps had a
1 inon nf $50 an acre, suddenly found
that because of the Increased profit,
- rom hie operations, his land had .
market value of *200 per acre and
that if he had a new tractor and soifce
new' farm machinery, he c6uld
menace his production. Bntif he d?
he would need a larger barn
I a mnrfl warehouse facilities. The
SJnSHrJthat With an appraisal^of
I200 ner4cre on his land he incredied
Iff man to,$100 per acre, thereby
tmihllng-illR capital account ami his
kwilri debt?not out of earnings but
KSEL 0? & Shll.tr .0 e?ec. a
write-up" Of 100 per cent of hi.
Pl:}? heCdM"llot effect the doubling of
" account In thla manner.
j. ?rh& 8100 acre farm was clear.
II orobably bought hie neighbor's
rorm for *200 per acre and mortgaged
'hi new and the old for S100 per
^re in this latter case, he increased
his raoital account 160 per cent.
urn saw to "e *""" d ? t"\
hii net percentage of Income. If he
JLa been able to make 6 pbr cent on
Ms Original investment, without any
,? anr(* for the increased cost of
3KS21 which of conrae did lake
rut his net Income, based
capltjllra'1"". aboutone-halt J
hh^~coo>p,e,?d hi. expansion
nwwrku. But worse than that .bap-;
^ST"hI. calculation, had been
S^ npon a price for hi. product
which reflected wartime demand and
a
j Fra&f - " J > :jd> W.? wd - rd
u _ ~ - -r g-r"a '{ " , **1 ;
^ ? ^
w? 1 ? - demand
gone and buying power withdrawn
he found his gross selling price
cut In two. His gross at the high figure
had enabled him to make 3 per
cent net on his new capitalization.
This now was cut one-half by the reduction
of his gross selling price and
instead of making a fi per cent return,
as he was . able to do perhaps on his
original $100 acre farm, he has since
been lucky If he has made 1% per
cent on his new capital account.
The Remedy
I am confident that something of
this kind underlies 76 per cent of the
present difficulty. How can It be
remedied? I believe that time and intelligent
hard work is the surest
restorative of better conditions. No
magic of trick legislation can accomplish
the result. There are s~few
facts which must be faced and accepted
before a start to better things
can be made. The first and most important
is recognition that farming
never was, is not now, and I do not
believe .ever will be a so-called
money-making proposition, tty this I
mean a business in which a man may
engage, with the certainty of being
able over a period of years from the
production and sale of farm commodities
to accumulate great wealth.
There are those who will say that
unless farming can be made a- successful
money-making proposition
there is no hope fdr the future of the
country. My argument with such people
will turn on the correct definition
''of. what is a satisfactory money-making
business. I believe that if farming
is intelligently and Industriously
followed it is a satisfactory business
but I do not believe that it is sufficiently
a money-making proposition
to attract those who are ambitious to
play for big fortunes.
There are those also who say that
many men have grown rich In the I
past in agriculture. I do not think
they have from the mere production
and sale of farm commodities. The
men Who have grown rich in the past
from agriculture have owed their
success most largely to the ownership
of what would now be considered
very oheap lands, which over a period
of years have shown quadruple
and more Appreciation in values.
The Advantages of Farm Life
Hut if agriculture does not mean
great wealth, and It certainly does not
involve a .life, of idleness, ease,1 or
I luxury, it does mean much more. It
[ means if intelligently and Industriousj
ly followed a character of independence
vouchsafed to no other trade or
professions How do I know this? I
know It by experience and I know it
by observation. The farmers of today
have more good, wholesome food
than any man working on a salary of
$2,600 per year can buy for his family
and be able to pay hi8 grocery bill
without paying any other of his <Jebts.
The farmers whp are complaining of
thelt inability to make money enough'
to pay for their necessities of life are
enjoying at home as a natural heritage
of their business eomforta and
luxuries which the man in the Industrial
centers working for a salary is
spending every dollar; of his Income
to obtain and then Is hot getting anything
commensurate with those enjoyed
by the farmer. It
is these po-called unledgered
Hems of the farmer's income that are*
too often lost sight of in the calcnl*.
turns made by our reformer friends'
who would legislate a living wage and
universal prosperity to those engaged
In agriculture. If the farmer as a
whole would be happy again be must
take stock of his blessings and thank
God for them, got rid of his quack
doctors of political bunkuffi, revalue
his plant and equipment, and start
over again in full knowledge of the
fact that he must face keen and effective
competition, that he must work
hard and Intelligently, that he must
calculate in his income inherent and
undeniable items, which are not
measured in dollars and cents.
When he does this, I feel perfectly
certain that over a period of years,
taking the good and the bad as it
comes to all classes of business, he
WllLftud that he hns lived well, that
he has had a fair margin for the enjoyment
of all tha necessities of life
and a surplus for those luxuries which
he has a right to claim, and above
that he will have had a t
an independent indlvidaaj, a real ,
and a self rpepecttag dtiaen.u
M. A. Traylpr
<3. ?r
COTTON PICKER INVENTED?
J. B. Neil, of York, Has Worked Many
Year? on Hfa Model
Rock Hill, June 27.?Work will begin
here Monday on construction of
two models of a cotton picker, which
its inventor, J. Brown Neil, of York,
claims will revolutionize cotton harvesting
methods, it was announced
The cotton picker is simple in prin|
eiple yet entirely different from the
many other pickers which have been i
unsuccesfully introduced. The models
to be built by C. A. Deas, expert
mechanic, are to be tested in the
cotton fields of Oklahoma and Texas
this season and upon the outcome of
the tests will depend decision of Mr.
Neil and his backers, J. C. Wil'born
of York and C. L. Cobb of Rock Hill,
as to whether they will establish a '
plant here to manufacture the machines
or will sell them to another
I concern on a royalty basis, it was an[
nounced.
The machine, it is hoped, can be
produced at a.price of from $100 to
! $200 each so that it will' be in the
| reach of every farmer. It will, its
inyentor claims, pick 95 per cent of
the cotton on the stalk without injuring
stalk or green bolls, and will '
separate the cotton from trash
equally as well as can be done by
hand. The machine has been patented
to all respects except one and it is
expecjted that this patent will go
through soon. It weighs about 500
pounds and will pick, it is estimated, ,
from five to twelve acres of cottpn
per day.
Its inventor has been working to
perfect a cotton picker for more than
eighteen years and announced his invention
after defects discovered when
it was tested out late last yetr had
been corrected. The principle is that
of a row of concayd-convex brushes j
Ivvhicb pick the eotton, eliminating
trash, and delivers the staple on a
carrier which in turn delivers it to
containers. The model here is designed
to be horse drawn but provision
for motorizing the picker is to,
be mad^' J
Peruvians carry spil for hundreds (
of miles in baskets and on pack,
horses to make productive the ter-'
races they build along the mountain
sides. These farms, many of them1
hundreds of years old, show no signs ,
ofsolTdepletion,
KILLING AT HORATIO
Drunken Negro Trie# to Shoot Up
Store and in Killed by Keeper.
Ben McBride, young negro logger,
was shot and faUtlly wounded at Ho*
rutio Saturday afternoon. Ho was
brought to the Toumey Hospital here
where he died Sunday morning short4y
after 11 o'clock. McBride was
shot in the back, the pistol bullet
passing through his body, rupturing
his liver and one kidney. He is suid
to have been shot by Grant James,
who works at one of the lumber
camps at Horatio, and also runs a
store there, where the shooting is reported
as having occurred.
According ,to the story told by
James, the dead n^gro became intoxicated
Saturday afternoon and went
to a house near Horatio and ft red
into it several times, slightly. wound ing
a negro there. He then proceeded
to James' store, and with no cause
whatsoever, started shooting up the
place. James claims he was hit twice
by glancing bullets which, however,
caused only small flesh wounds.
When McBride started shooting,
James said, he got his own pistol and
shot him down. How the negro received
the wound in his back has not
yet been explained.
Sheriff Hurst visited the wounded;1
n^ro in the hospital Sunday morning
about an' hour before he died, but
was unable to secure a statement
from him because the wounded man
thought he was only slightly hurt
and would be up in a day or two.
He did not appear to be mortally .
wounded at the time, but hospital
authorities stated that it was impossible
for him to live with such a
wound, and his death occurred less
than an hour after Sheriff Hurst's
visit.?Monday's Sumter Item.
Some forty languages are spoken
in Jerusalem. - It is not unusual to
find a man who speaks half a dozen
languages, and many uneducated persons
converse with ease in two or
three tongues.
FINAL DISCHARGE:
., Notice is hereby given that one
month from this date, on Monday,
August 2, 11926, I will make to the
Probate Court of Kershaw County my
final return as Administrator of the
estate of Edward Brooks, deceased,
and on the same date I will apply to
the said Court for a final discharge
aB said Administrator.
THOS. J; WILLI A MS."
Camden, S. C., July 2, 1926.
II I? 1 - ? " ' '
Brother of Be thane Man Dead.
Hartaville, June 20.?C. C. Beat,
prominent planter and citizen of
llurt8ville, died at his home in tho
city at 10:45 p. m. yesterday, following
an illness of three months. Ho
was in the sixty-seventh year of his
life, having been born in September,
1850. He is survived by a widow, who
was Miss Clyfourn, of Bethune, and
seven children, who are as follows:
Mrs. W. (\ King, of Bishopville; B.
W. Bent ef Bethune, F. H. Best, of
Columbia; T. 11. Best, H. C. Best, Si- J
dtlle and C. C. Beat of Hartaville.
BeeBrand
protects the
baby/
File# am fllthjr thing*. Thay carry fcrm? and
fltaeaae. They am a menace Keep Them out,
*OU^f? " youiiuBw Brand Inaect Powder. li '
wUJ HUleverynylfy01! cloae doora and window*
niul Mow It about the room. It'a <*ulte harraloas ????r
to human being*. It can't explode. It'aaaTe
It alao kills Moaqultoco. Hoitohea, Bod Aug*.
Ante, Kleae. Waterliuga/\fothB, l\co on ITowl
and many other nouae and garden Inaeota.
wtBia Brand In rod alftlnK top cana at your
V-Ak*t
..i'.'uur,w*lw
aSWofe
household also.
Olvo (loaler'a
1, W.1A*
I / for'Sfe
J / Ing All
mj fa's
garden
, peat a.
MgCormick & Co.
Baltimore, Md.
I Getting Out of a Rut I
ONE'OF THE BEST WAYS TO GET OUT AND I
KEEP OUT OF A RUT IS TO HAVE SOME FIXED
OBJECT TO WORK FOR. SAVE MONEY FOR
SOME DEFINITE, WORTHY OBJECT AND YOU I
WILL FIND IT IS COMPARATIVELY EASY,
WHILE WITHOUT SUCH AN AIM IT IS HARD. |
TRY THE SAVINGS BANK ACCOUNT METHOD
OF GETTING AHEAD IN THE WORLD. : 77 ~ _ __ J
The First National Bank
Of Camden, South Carolina J
.