Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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V ( \ \ r f Hamburg iirralb $2.00 Per Year in Advance BAMBERG*, S. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1921. Established in 1891 NO FUTURE FOR b COKER COMPANY DISCUSSES SITUATION FRANKLY. Get Little Return Farmer Merely Eking Out Existence Under Present Prices?Ten ante Hit Hard. \ _ The following analysis of the cotton situation has been received by The State from the Coker Cotton company of Hartsville: As the staple situation has shown very little change since our letter of December 1, we thought tha^our customers might like to have us discuss the cost of the production of cotton and its relation to the present and future situation. We believe that few outside.of the south, and by no means all in the south, realize the distressing features of the present situation or are able to diagnose their effect upon the civilization of the south and the future of the cotton industry. A brief consideration of facts, however, will promptly convince every one interested in the industry, whether in the north or the south, that there is no future for it at present prices and that a continuation of present conditions would threaten the civilization of the south. Government statistics show that the average production of .lint cotton in the south is between one-third and four-tenths bales per acre, but in order to show how impossible the present situation is we are going to first discuss production figures under the ideal conditions of a bale per acre producing at 15 cents? a price above the present market. The bulk of the crop of the south ic nrnrinoed on a share croD system, the most popular share contract in this section being one under which the landowner furnishes the land, buildings, planting seed and lertilizer and the tenant furnishes the live stock, tools and labor. Ginning and baling expenses are divided. Landlord and tenant divide the cotton \ equally, but the landlord receives all of the seed. Under this plan let us see what would be the returns to landlord and tenant on a 20 acre crop of cotton producing one bale per acre. As to One Horse Farm. The farm will contain about 30 acres including a little woodland and a few acres of corn and other minor crops. If the land is good enough to produce a bale per acre of fair valuation of the farm, including buildings will be between $6,000 and $10,000. A minimum charge for rent on the cotton land, therefore, to cover interest, repairs and taxes would be not less than $25 per acre. The landlord expecting a bale of cotton per acre would buy not less than $20 worth of fertilizer per acre for the cotton, and, as he must exercise supervision over his croppers, a charge of $5 per acre for supervision should be made. The total of these expenses is $50 pr acre. His returns will be one-half bale of cotton at 15 cents? $37.50; seed, $10; total, $47.50, less one-half ginning?$3; net income, $44.oO. These figures show a net loss to the landowner of $5.50 per acre. Some may object to the charging of rent and supervision to crop expenses. To this we answer that these are necessary preliminary expenses for crop production without which capital can not be secured. To make this crop the tenant furnished a mule and feed costing per year $125; depreciation on implements, taxes, etc., $25; hire for picking ten bales of cotton, $150; onehalf ginning, $60; total, $360, besides the labor of himself, wife and three children. Receipts from ten bales of cotton at 15 cents per pound $750 Expenses besides labor of family $360 Balance $390 Divide this amount by 3 65 and you get the magnificent sum of $1.07 per day with which the tenant must purchase clothing, shoes, and household equipment and must supply a large part of the food for the family and besides must pay the doctor and the preacher if they are paid. It is true that the tenant raises some corn, a few vegetables and sometimes has a pig, or a few chickens. The pitiful poverty under which most of them live, however, keeps them moving from place to place, the average term IN SIGHT IING COTTON BABY'S NECK BROKEN. Mother Returning Home Finds Infant Dead. Walterboro, Jan. 19.?Magistrate ; H. W. Hudson, Jr., of Ruffin, was in Walterboro Tuesday, and reported ! holding an inquest Monday afternoon over a negro infant about eight months old, found dead in bed at the home of the mother, Rosa Brooks. Dr. G. A. Burch, of Walterboro, ex| amined the child and reported that the neck had been broken. The mother contends that she left the baby j with a little child six years old, both ! ocloon in KcirJ o r> l-i o A orrxTid t r> Will j 111 U11U uuu Jjv/Aiv/ WW * * AAA | ! I | iams to church. Upon returning she, found the larger child , lying across the baby who was dead. The jury rej turned a verdict that the child came to its death by a broken neck which | crime was committed by parties unknown to the jury. No arrests have been made. of farm tenancy being about two years, and it is the exception rather than the rule for the tenant to have any live stock besides his mule or any poultry. Has Poor Chance. Please note that with cotton at 15 cents per pound, $1.07 is the maximum amount that a tenant can receive for the labor of himself, his wife and three children in producing the ideal yield of one bale of cotton per acre on 20 acres and this is a larger acreage than the average onehorse crop in this section and must be further curtailed this year. The item for picking ten bales is absolutely necessary for the tenant and his family can not gather more than half the crop in time to prevent serious deterioration of the grade. Please remember that the average production in the South is less than four-tenths bales per acre. The production in , this state, however, for the past year has slightly exceeded one-half bale per acre. Based on ^ ^ 1 P VvaI/n A f An QTlf I ULLtJ-naiJ. uaic ^luuuvuuii, mc wtuaut farmer's expenses would be reduced by the item of picking?$150 and half of the ginning?$30, making his expenses $180 instead of $360. He would receive for his half share of ten bales, $375, leaving $185 or 51 cents per day for the sustenance ot his family. But, at least half the tenant farmers make less than onehalf bale per acre in South Carolina or less than one-third per bale in the rest of the cotton belt except in North Carolina. How can these people keep body and soul together much less maintain a decent standard of citizenship if cotton does not advance materially? During the years 1917, 1918 and 1919 we had a -period of comparative prosperity in the south during which both the landowner and tenant classes made more money than they ever j | dreamed of. Many, however, never I j having seen a $100 bill before had no | training in thrift and spent' their money without thought of the morrow. Many are poorer citizens today ! than they would have been if we had not had this period of prosperity for, having had a glimpse of financial heaven and being again plunged into the hell of abject poverty, they are naturally bitter and discouraged. Acreage Reduction. The only remedy for the present situation upon which all seem to be agreed is acreage reduction. Most j cotton sections know no money crop AV A Ar\f A Atf A T_J A A + V* A 1 A uuuuu. xiutt *~au me laiiuowner or tenant figure to keep body and soul together on a greatly reduced acreage of cotton even if the . present price is doubled? Yet they must somehow do this if better prices are to be hoped for. What the south needs is a steady i # price for cotton which will allow a i fair return to the landowner and de- i cent wages to the tenant. At the 1 present cost of the commodities they i must pay for crop making purposes, ! 30 cents is, we believe, the lowest 1 price which the industry should con-ji sider. Thirty cents will not pay the; landowner or tenant on the very re-,i stricted acreage that must be planted; 1 this year. It will give the tenant ? farmer producing a bale to the acre i on ten acres only a little over $1.50 ? per day for the support of his family i or about half of this if he makes a I normal yield of one-half bale per i acre. ? A few weeks ago the writer was I talking with a banker from West i Virginia, who told him that he had *f just o. k.'d a payroll for a small coal t i CORBETT WINS POINT. Judge Sliipp Sustains Plea of Former Jeopardy. Orangeburg, Jan. 19.?Judge S. W. G. Shipp overruled the demurrer of the prosecution to the plea of former jeopardy offered by Carlos Corbett, who was placed on trial here Tuesday for the murder of Jule Cooper. By that order Corbett will not be tried at this term of court or any other term of court, unless the supreme court does not sustain Judge Shipp. The prosecution has announced its intention to appeal. Last September Carlos Corbett was arraigned under three separate in dictments, charged with the murder of Bryan Salley, Jule Cooper and Hugh Fanning. The state went to trial on the case for the murder of Bryan Salley. In that case.Corbett was acquittel. On the trial for the killing of Jule Cooper Corbett entered the plea of former jeopardy and acquittal and the prosecution demurred to the plea. The case was argued all day yesterday by counsel in the case. The court room was crowded, owing to the interest taken in this case. Corbett will remain under bond until the supreme court passes upon the appeal. <?? "Some Bean." Huntsville, Ala., Jan. 19.?The claim of Joseph Jones, of Merrimac, to hospital attaches that he had "some bean," was borne out today when his story that he had been kicked by a mule on the head and that, as a result, the animal was lying helpless with a broken leg, was investigated and found to be true. Jones said his way was blocked by a stray mule and he made a threatening movement to frighten it away. It refused to stampede, however, meeting the assailant with a well directed kick to the brow. The mule's leg was found to be broken in two places. It was pronounced a helpless cripple and shot. Jones will recover. Fragrance' of the cabbage rose eminently fits these flowers for the manufacture of rose water and attar. mine and that the average daily pay of the laborers was over $17.40 per day, remarking that these laborers were working six hours per day but that they were only employed 60 per cent, of their time on account of car shortage. I have other evidence to show that the coal miners are receiving at least ten times as much as the | cotton laborers who are also paid far less than the laborers in the western wheat farms or in the mills of any section of the country. Unfairness to Farmer. Every interest in the cotton trade shbuld recognize the terrible unfairness of this situation and should refuse to consent to the continuance. Every southern interest is bending its energies to restore and maintain a price basis for our money crop which will allow something besides a dreary and miserable existence? that will allow us to build and maintain schools, churches, roads and other facilities necessary to the maintenance of a decent civilization. Bankers, merchants and professional men are cooperating heartily witlj, the farmers to protect the basic industry of the south. This is not enough, however. The whole country is affected by the condition of every section. If the south is stricken with poverty its laborers will flock to the cities of the north and west and intensify their race and labor problems. If the southern farm can not meet expenses for a long period the resulting financial chaos will affect all the money and trade centers of the country. If we do not receive sufficient money returns to support a decent civilization, the civilization of all sections will be affected. 1 Large classes in the south have except, for brief periods, struggled along ever since the Confederate war in poverty so abject that decent food and clothes could not be obtained. 1 During the periods when cotton sold ["or 4 % cents to 8 cents many families < had to live on 25 cents per day or ] less and right now the prospect for many is no better than then. The understanding sympathy of the nation can not prevent terrific losse.s 1 to the south nor remove the necessity for acreage reduction and other t measures necessary to equalize the I supply of the staple with the demand. ^ nationwide and understanding sym- ( Dathv, however, can and will make c t easier for us to get the financial 1 support ne essary to tide over theiresent emergency, and will protect * lis from the reaction of barriers to 'oreign trade without which the cot- t on farm can never thrive. c A telegram to The Herald from Columbia Wednesday aftj ernoon at 4:20 announced the I election of Thomas P. Cothran as successor to Associate Justice D. E. Hydrick. J. F. Car| ter, of Bamberg ran second in \ \ the contest. The odds were I overwhelmingly in favor of the speaker. Mr. Carter ran ahead I of the three circuit judges in j | the contest for successor to Jus- j | tice Hydrick. PASTOR ACQUITTED IX ATLANTA. Dr. Ridley Cleared of Charge of Embracing Woman. Atlanta, Jan. 22.?Charges of "disorderly conduct," made by Mrs. J. B. Hamilton against the Rev. Caleb A. RiHlPV "H nastrir nf q lar?p phnrr'li here, were dismissed in police court late today. Many members of the elderly pastor's congregation crowded the court room and loudly cheered the recorder's verdict. Scores crowded around and shook his hand. Dr. Ridley denied Mrs. Hamilton's charges that he tried to put his arms around her as he talked to her yesterday on her front porch and Mrs. R. L. Bedingfield testified she was on her porch, hardly eight feet away at the time and declared there was nothing to the charges. Dr. Ridley said he had gone to the Hamilton front porch at the request of Mrs. Hamilton who said a workman on a nearby building had tried to flirt with her. Mrs. Hamilton repeated her charges in police court and Dr. Ridley admitted that last night when her husband called on him for an apology he had told Hamilton "please go to hell." Dr. Ridley said he had nothing to apologize to the Hamiltons for and never would but that for the remarks he made to Hamilton he would "apologize to my God and \o the people of my church." After he had declined to make an apology last night the pastor was arrested and released on $100 bond. Hamilton was said to have threatened him with a pistol but neighbors intervened. In testifying this afternoon Mrs. Hamilton declared she had not invited Dr. Ridley to come up on the porch, but that as he passed she nodded to him and he came in and sat with her in a swing and began playing with her baby. Then, she said, followed an attempt to embrace her and remarks to which she objected. ATLANTA PASTOR SCORES HIT. Church Packed Following Trial in Police Court. Atlanta, Jan. 22.?As an aftermath of a police court trial that exonerated him of a charge of insulting Mrs. C. B. Hamilton, of this city, Rev. Caleb A. Ridley, pastor of a local church Sunday morning from his pulpit virtually charged his accusers with having plotted to make him a victim of a "badger game" for the purpose of obtaining funds which he now claims to hold to meet expenses of a new church erected by his congregation. When the pastor announced he would attempt to place the principals in the prosecution against him "be- hind the bars of a prison" he was ap-j plauded by* the congregation and the! mootintr woo 1 afpr /^penrihprl no npr H UU UVk/Vl ^ VV4 ^ V/* j haps the most sensational hour's service ever witnessed in an Atlanta church. Dr. Ridley brought his remarks about the Hamilton case up to a close with an appeal for funds to finish the church under construction and within a few moments more than $1,000 was subscribed. The Hamilton-Ridley case has attracted much attention throughout the city and long before the pastor began his sermon this morning the ^hmrrh was rrowried with manv nan pie being compelled to stand. Out of Reach. Two surburban gardeners were 1 swearing vengeance on cats. j "It appears to me," one said, "that , ;hey seem to pick out your choicest slants to scratch out of the ground." ] "There's a big yellowtom cat," the >ther said, "that fetches my plants ] )ut and then sits and actually defies ne." t "Why don't you hurl a brick at ] lim?" asked the first speaker. "That's what makes me mad," was he reply. "I can't. He gets on top 2 >f my green-house to defy me." \ ONE ARRES1 FLOREN RE-ELECTED A LIFE-TIME HABIT. Xorth Carolina Judge Has Record Second to Xone. Columbus M. Pace is serving his 54th consecutive year as probate ju<Jge of Henderson county Xorth Carolina. Xo judge in America's history has approached his record. So long as he wants to be probate judge, so long will he be judge. It has become a fixed habit to vote for him. Only 15 votes were cast against him at his first election, which followed two years' service in the Confederate army. At the last election, 50 years later, only 12 votes were cast aaignst him. Although he's a Republican, his names appears also on the Democratic ticket. It appears that he will hold office many years more, for he h&s excellent health, chews tobacco ardently and smokes moderately. "I never have taken a vacation,' says Judge Pace. "I am over 75 (how much older he didn't say) and now f dpn't want a vacation. I've been busy all my life since I hoed corn on the mountain farm where my fathei plowed with a bull." The judge recalls that the community in which he lived as a boy had nc buggies, sewing machines or coot stoves, and but one drunkard, though when school closed in those days the teachers treated the pupils to whiskey. ".My grandfather, a distiller, was put out of the church because he allowed my father to keep a fiddle ir the house," the judge relates. "My father lived to see violins in church and to see prohibition. Nowadays there is no liquor but much jazz. "But how many men today believe in that Book, as they did in those days when all things were different?' And reverently Judge Pace picks up a Bible that has been touched bj countless lips in 54 years. The Judge's Bible has been the instrument of meditation in many disputes settled out of court. He is beloved by hundreds who have beer guided by his counsel. Though old associates have become wealthy, the judge has accumulated little of this world's goods. "But I have a home and six children," philosophizes the judge, "and something greater than riches?contentment."?Columbia Record. HOMICIDE ENDS FAMILY FUSS. John Sawyer Kills Erskine Hall Neai Sawyerdale and Then Surrenders. Orangeburg, Jan. 20.?John Sawyer shot and killed instantly his brother-in-law, Erskine Hall, at Sawyer's house this morning at aboui 8:30 o'clock, the shooting taking place about 22 miles from Orange burg in the Sawyerdale section. The coroner's inquest was held this afternoon. John Sawyer gave himself up and is now in the custody of Sheriff R. F. Dukes. John Sawyer is about 35. Hall leaves a wic|ow and two children. The testimony at the coroner's inquest tended to show that Hall had ill-treated his wife. Hall, it was alleged, wanted to get his wife to sign some real estate paper for him and upon refusal beat his wife; that Mrs. Hall fled from her home this morning, came to a neighbor's house and got him to take her over to her mother's and brother's home at Sawyerdale; that shortly after she arrived at her old home and after telling her mother and brothers of her trouble and begging protection, Hall arrived, bringing with him a repeating rifle. Hall, it was further said, was told by John Sawvpr not to pome in unless he left his rifle in the buggy and upon refusing, John Sawyer stopped him at the front door and in effort to get the rifle- from Hall, Hall got the rifle nearly pointed at Sawyer, when Sawyer drew his pistol and shot Hall in the breast, the single shot fired proving fatal. Carlton Sawyer, a brother, witnessed the shooting. John Sawyer had been away from home for a number of years in the! United States army and had been iiome less than two years. He is a member of a prominent family of ;his county, being a son of the late Drew Sawyer. The fall in birth rate due to mobili:ation of 56,000,000 men during the vorld war, is estimated at 20,200,000. ' FOLLOWS CE TRAGEDY |. EDMUND BIGHAM PLACED IN JAIL ON CHARGE OF MURDER. To Arrest Negroes i Affidavit of Lawyer Includes State| ment by One of Dead Women Wlien Making Will. r 1 Florence, Jan. 20.?The tragedy I near Pamplico last Saturday afternoon which cost the lives of three mem'bers of the Bigham family and two adopted children, took a sensa j tional turn this afternoon when Edmund Bigham, one of the two surviving members of the family and . the first to appear on the scene of the tragedy, according to his state' ment, was arrested at the plantation ' home and brought to the county jail here. His wife accompanied him to ' the jail. Edmund Bigham was arrested by Deputy Sheriff M. B. Burch ! on a warrant sworn out by John W. . " McCracken, the father of the two I children killed. Coroner Sonith and (! C. M. Rose, an officer of tamplico, I accompanied him. Bigham is charged ' j with murder. He submitted to the '; arrest quietly and manifested little 1 or no concern.* He refused to make 51 any statement tonight when seen at the jail. The persons killed on the Bigham plantation last Saturday were: Mrs. ( M. M. Bigham, her daughter, Mrs. ' Margie Black; Leo -and John McCracken, two adopted children; and *jL. S. Bigham, brother of Mrs. Black. The mother and the daughter and one of the children were apparently 5 killed instantly. The younger child died at 5 o'clock the following morn1 ing, and L. S. Bigham, who was T thought at the time to _ have comL mitted the crime, "was found dead II. ? ? ^ -M - ? ll. ? , in tne WOOds aDOUt a nine iruiu cue ? . ' '.1 home at 11 o'clock the following ' morning. He grasped a pistol in his | hand, and a bullet had pierced the ' right temple. The other four victims 3 also died of pistol shot wounds. Negroes for Witnesses. Coroner Smith said this afternoon that several negroes would be arrested and held as material wit-, nesses. It is his opinion that now 1 that Bigham is under arrest other testimony bearing on the case may be forthcoming. In making the arrest of Bigham oh the warrant of McCracken, the affi^ fidavit of Philip Arrowsmith, an'attorney of this city, was given great ' -J consideration. In his affidavit Arrowsmith declares that he had been the attorney for Mrs. Black and for L. S. (Smiley) Bigham, two of the persons killed, since the spring of 1920 and that, therefore, he had become intimately acquainted with their affairs. At the outset of the affidavit, which 1 was sworn to before the coroner, Mr. Arrowsmith declares that Ed: mund Bigham has no interest in the > estate of the late Senator L. S. Big ham, this having been conveyed to ! his mother and brother. He also declares that the payment of the KrtnH ncniioatori hv f)r f!1pvp1and Bie ham, who was convicted for the mur; der of his wife and sentenced to * 1 three years in the state penitentiary, had been provided for by deposit of amount sufficient to cover the bond in a local bank. The money was the proceeds of a mortgage on the . estate lands and that Solicitor L. M. Gasque of this judicial circuit had in his possession the certificate of deposit. Mr. Arrowsmith also avers that he has in his possession all of the original deeds relating to the Bigham lands. Continuing, the statement says that on January 8, 1921, L. S. Bigham and Mrs. Margie Bl&ck came to his home and at their request he accompanied them to his office where Mrs. Black, who was greatly agitated, made the following statement: Feared for Life. "I signed three blank deeds in the presence of witnesses and left them with Smiley so that if anything happened to me my father's estate could be handled as my mother and Smif ley desired. All these papers were stolen from Smiley. I found them in Edmund's possession. When I attempted to secure possession of them, Edmund flew' into a passion and threatened to take" my life as well as that of my mother. I gave up all hope of getting the deeds back and his conduct is such that I am afraid that he will kill me at any moment and I want you to prepare my will, giving all of my property to (Continued on page 2, column 1.)