Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

m \ I L v. ./ HdJUKDi AT RKHNOMD, TA. Before thte Soudiet*n. Educational Con* ference. Cotton Werdiq^e-DiscuM-■ ed and Southern ConditkMU Presented. Gentleman: I was lavlted by tbe Southern Educational Conference, to aay something on the •subject, of cot ton and cotton marketing. I auppole because. 1 am tbe author of a bill providing for a state inspection and grading, with state owned and oper ated warehouses. I see a measure very similiar in principle has been commended to the Legislature of Wisconsin by the Gov ernor of that state, and I believe, that sooner or later all of the great agricultural crops will be handled in this way. There can be no doubt that much of the high cost of living comes from the enormous profits that go to middlemen who stand bewteen the producer and the con sumer. * There is much being said in the public prints about cheapening the cost of living, but 1 hear very little about the profits of productive labor. If th.es propdganda was less for the consumer and mors for the benefit of the producer, the evil would he sooner adjusted to their mutual bene fit. More profits on the farm, would attract those now }n .non-productive fields, creating more food and cloth ing. Our census tells a story of a de creasing per centage of country pop ulation as compared to the town, and it is a manifest Impossibility in this ft»e country by any fiscal or economic policy, to compel the farms to feed an‘d clothe a constantly In creasing urban population at less and less cost. I was born in the early days of the war on a big cotton plan tation on the Little Pee Dee, twenty miles from a railroad, and am today a practical not a theoretical planter, and can truthfully say. that there is very little net profit in cotton at even fifteen cents per pound. There la a constant labor short age, becaess we cannot prices with the saw mills and. rail roads ^.and factories, and as a conse quence the most energetic labor goes where it commands a higher price, leaving us the naturally idle and un ambitious for the farm. There is nothing to keep the ener getic and educated boy on the farm. Rural life commissions, may ”cry back to the farm," but the country lanes and blooming fields do not at tract. when the only place where the comfort which wealth alone ran bring, is In the city, where traffic makes gold by its very touch. & This exodus from the country to the town, nod only effects the cost of living, but goes deeper, for his tory teaches us that a nation draws its most unselfish patriotism and purest life, from a prosperous agri culture. It Is not my purpose to discuss the tariff; mone; jt transportation ques tions. further than to say that fog !i0 years our whole scheme of Gov ernment. has revolved around their protection and development at . the expense of both producer and con sumer. The farmer Is compelled to buy in the protected home market and to sell in Die unprotected open world market. ■ 1 doubt if there is a greit fortune in this country whose source cannot be traced to special privil eges conferred by legislation. * Every article which the farmer uses in his business in addJDbn to protection. Is trust made and tbe price is trust fixed. He must either pay or do without. When he comes to sell his product, he has. nothing to do with fixing the price, he is a competitor with every other farmer, and his product is forced on the mar ket under a crop mortgage and lien law system and he must take Auch price as may be offered. Time and again we have tried to organise and build warehouses, in fact in 1911, we did not lack facil ities for storing, but found it^fmpos- sible because our debts were due, and THE PRESS AND WALTERDORO, & C 1913. lag to the grade, how can the Bos ton mhn know, if I substitute low grade cotton and tbua cause him a loss. It la ths contsant practice in many warehouses to substitute cot ton. the only care being to keep the same number of bales. A warehouse receipt to be s good collateral, should specify th© number of bales, the weight and the grade of each bale, and carry absolute ti tle to tbe cotton in the hands of any bona fide bolder. The holder of the receipt must receive on demand the Identical bale or bales described in the receipt. This requires such co operation on the part of the grow ers of cotton, sis I think will never come, except by Invoking U»e power of the state governfnent The state ia not to buy cotton. 'It ia merely to provide a warehouse where nag. cotton la stored and char gee me so much per bale for storage. The state is not to loan money, it merely gives me n receipt which will enable me to borrow money In the regular way. The state is not holc- ing cotton, she is providing storage. I am holding for my own benefit. The state In her soverign capat ity. says in this receipt, that John Doe, has one hundred bales in my ware house and gives the number, weight and grade of each with the marks so that the identical, cotton named will be delivered on jureaentation of thia receipt. Certainly they could be no finer collaterial in any of the money marketa of the world, be cause cotton properly cared for never deteriorates. It is also the one farm crop, easily Convertible into gold at a moment’s notice. A hill embodying these genera! principles passed the South Carol.ns legislature in l»H. ^ “^ lv « d th * signature of the goven - ". before the supreme court and declared unconstitutional on so count of a provision for a bond is- The court however, emphatic- ally admitted the right of the state within the exercise of her police po-v- era to build, equip and operate * warehouse system such as I have de scribed. And why not? In South Carolina—cotton is th^* basis of our civilisation. jf trusts and combinations, many of which have been declared by the federal courts to be "conspiracies in restraint of trade.” fix the price o' what consumed, is It not the duty of the government to protect me ii a fair return for the products of my labor? . Certainly the cotton crop of South, supporting directly one fifth of our population and affording eni ployment in ita manufacture to as many more, besides be.ng the chief factor in maintaining the nations bal ance of ft^reign trade, is worthy gov ernmental protection and the pro tection of its profits demands the con slderation of wise statesmanship anO true patriotism without regard to section. We have solved the problem ot production. Landr planted by my grandfather, making about one-half a bale are now producing ncarU two bales to the acre. We do - not need government ports to teach us how to grow th proverbial "two blades of grars. where one .grew before” let them keep the other fellow from getting our grass as well as his own. and the problem is solved. It is a problem of distribution, not of protection. I do not hesitate tc say. that If I could be assured of *f- teen cents for five years, that at the end of that period. I would li*,ce my lands making 50 per cent, more than they do now. The raschnnim 1 cot ton picker renders the harvesting possible to justify the investment. The attempt of the Fedral govern ment to settle the trust cfueMion by ( prosecutions under the Sherman Vet money to finance the crop could not was a failure, because they sought be had. There ai-e several reason* to destroy not to regulate. The read why private warehouses do not fur- ing into the act by the supreme court »f the qualifying words "in reason able restraint of trade” was I sun- I mmj te ths caat •( ter as I am a—eawni. 1 ktstf tha lassoa sad am ready to aaso- atatloa oa the term aa wall aa la tha products of the factory. So far as tho production of cotton coocoraed the failqre of ths Oraage tho Alliance nad kindred organisa tions. show that It cap only be effect ive throngh legislation. Certainly It is a function of government to do for tho people, whatever they are unable to do for themselves. Nay, more than that, ft la a sacred daty.~ In the Fall of 1911. the October report of the government Indicated a crop of 14,800.000 pad immediately tho price fell $30.00 per hale. In the Spring when It*was determined by actual count that the crop was 18 million bales, the price went ba^': to where it started from. That Is what the inexorable law of supply sad demand does for us. Cotton it made on credit, start a big scare and knock the price down in October, and the lower it goes the more of our cotton It takes to pay back advances. If tbe crop had been ten millloa bales, and we were forced to market all of it in 2 1-2 months, the rise in the Spring % wrcfuld only benefit the middlemen who bought it up. This is no exceptional case, there ia an average difference of 50 per cent be- tweerf the prjee of October and May. That is the fluctuations are 25 per cent, above and 25 per cent, below an average mean price. In 1908, the difference in the crop marketing period, and in the sum mer taking the high and the low was $37.50 per bale, as much as my cotton'averaged me in 1911. * Now the planter who sold at eight cents in October, sees the same cotton bringing 15 cents in May is begin ning to’wonder .who gets the “other blade of grass,” that he made to grow. There is need and use (or •very bale or our cotton, because pro duction has not kept pace with in creased consumption. It is not a question of overproduction, it is a question of marketing and finance— one so large/embracing interests so varied and individual*’ so numerous, that nothing short of the functions of a sovereign power can solve the problem. 9 Tbe cotton planters are scattered over thousands of square miles, in dividually producing each a few hales, that go to make the mighty whole. I am glad to have the privilege of partielpaUpg in this great conference and I take this opportunity to proh claim aay profound respect for the earnest sad able men who are making this great fight for education. 1 realise that the lack of general edu cation and the blight of ignorance ia the greatest handicap under which the South suffers. I believe, how ever. that it is caused more from pov erty than an indisposition to take advantage of opportunity. When 1 see our great crop sacrificed year after year. I ask the question, what chance against the combined wealth and brains of tbe world have the negroes and poor whites, tolling h. the March winds and the August sun. to produce the great money crop which the world is eagerly awa:tlna to infuse new life into commerce Association and cooperation are the dominating principles of human civi lisation, and their only chau^ejs to set through s government, whkh p.o claims itself to be of tho people, by the pn rl" -»nd for the \ It is just here that we are met with the cry of . *. ulisn Well I i lead ignorance of ju- \\. .t socialism means 1 know *his 25 years axo. the policies no *• advo cated by the three political parties, in ri tei^nce to railroa *• and pnnl'c D;.r.inisea of every k. :'1. would" > considered rank sot ialiam. /In Eng land. David land George is carry ing forward hi* measures for old age •ension bills, and government insur ance. In this country let one read the message of the Governor of Wis consin and the bill pending in the Wisconsin legislature, and he' 1 car see the drift of the time. It is not socialism, it is plain, simple, oldfash- ioned just ire I fgp'one. do not be lieve that we are drifting in that direction at all. Our people albeit, so called social ism. ak much as they love justice. 1 believe thst what the great masses are striving for, is a state of society under a government strong enough and wise enough, to Insure to each unit, just his rights and no more. I think students of economic and governmental science are top apt to apply the same general rules to the EBBSnSi^SK—9S-. it aa slsmsst which defies ths analy tical acafeol at tha palltical scientist. Its spMtnal paver cannot bemeaanr- ,ed or defined, we only know that as It impels the tafilvtdoal to deal just ly with his* fellow-man, so carried into aefawment. It makee the Ideal commonwealth/' As some animate moved' by a sub tle instlact, cross mountains and riv ers. until they find the habitat best suited to their development, so 200 years ago. did your forefathers and mine, seek this continent feeling pro phetically that it was set apart for divine purposes, and still the hum ble men and women of Europe eager ly seek these shores. Ametlca is tbe dream that has haunted countless generations of the oppressed in their long weary search through tbe tra gic centuries for Justice. In these later days, it has come to paaa under offe present financial system that agriculture has not been able to benefit under that coopera tion which has developed oar menu factoring and monied interests. It so happens that the forces which have to do with the manufactui'n^. finan cing and transportation of commodi ties, have multiplied 'heir power at the expense of production until to day they dominate the vnDre tovern-, meet. The development of r. people is never harmonious, thst ai* of the parts do not develop ;it once, have made wonderful progress material things, and pe'liup* this great conference is the ha* truing of a spiritual growth through the po -er of education. Certainly :u th realm of political science, th rre in need, for improved devices, whsth <r»il corre spond with the handiwork of Morse. Edison and Marconi. If there had been ne more progress In applied economics than In applied politics, we would still It using wt-od on mould board plows and ginning with mole, power. We ha*-© ira l" machines, but so ter have not advan- ced on cooperative linee, except for certain favored classes, and right there Is the genesis of labor trouble and discontent on the part of pro ducers. I look upon this talk about the in itiative, referendum . and recall We 'nothing save the uqctmsc in of the great masses tat t ment of tbe principle ot association In government. It is the crying out of the people for new machinery to meet new needs and new condi tions. Thst is all thst the so called warehouse bill amounts to. a prac tical attempt to remedy an evil w hich has grown up with us. as ious working of the great masses feff the enthrone- Get your chance with every 25c cash purchase at our store—Next to the Express office. AT- Finn INC. Walterboro, S. ,C. MUST BE SOLD AT ONCE. at 15c. Per I HAVE SECURED THIS COFFEE FOR THE BENEFIT OF MY CUSTOMERS AND OFFER IT AS LONG AS IT LASTS AT THE LOW RATE OF 15 CENTS PER POUND. J. Edward finebey HYRNE’S OLD STAND. liish a aatisfaetory collateral, except for local use. w here all of the parties to the transaction are well known. 1st. A bank in New York or Bos- absolutely necessary to keep the busl- • ton must be sure about the title of ness of the nation from being destroy ed by putting all of our great Cap- THKODARK ROOSEVELT NI KS KDITOK problems of the day; which they sup pose a piece of Judicial legislation the cotton. How do they know if I present a warehouse receipt for one thousand bales of cotton in a ware house In Charleston or Columbia, but that tome merchant or hanker In my erehan r. Mar tains of Industry In prison. Anyway it means that the truata are here and here to stay. Tffh trust 4s an evolution toward cooperation, and home county, karlboro, haa a crop have educated and prepared the peo- M»n for advances and will seise the pie to accept coneolldation. not com- j petition as being the life of trade, hut liberty for man formute|ed into Cotton differs so ih price ow- Jt means greater efficiency and econ- a theory of government, but U has ia cotton. 2nd have deduced from a study® f ancient history and modern European labpr 'tiditioni. These do not apply in tbe social and economic revolution, in progress in this country. Anal ogies with other nations do- not mean much, because they do not take into account the great power bom of the spirit of our Democratic in stitutions. This ia the, only country where the democratic idea in govern ment has had a half chance for fuU add free expression. It is nothing Paper Which Haiti Former President Drank Frequently Now in Trouble. Marquette, Mich., May 23.—Theo- | dore Roosevelt will attempt to show thst George A. Newett, publisher of I the “Iron Ore,*” s weekly paper of Ishhpoming, was in error when he published the statement that “Roose velt gets drunk, and thst not infre quently. and all his intimates know It” The case is set for trial next Monday. Ma^ 28. The suit charges libel and the plain tiff names $10,000 as damages, Local lawyers estimate that a Jury can be obtained in four days, owing to tbe fact that the case haa not been “tried In the newspapers.” When the suit was filed Judge Flannigan g& pledges from both parties to the suit to refrain from dis cussing the ease with newspaper men and to keep secret the contents of depositions and the names qf, wit nesses. The pledges have been kept. The former President is expected here Monday, the day of the trial. He will be the guest of his friend, George Shirss, famous as a photog- lic character running for public o’- flee and as a secondary line of re- sistance he will attempt to prove that the editorial spoke the truth. Rheumatism Quickly Uured. “My sister’s husband had an a?- tack of rheumatism in his arm. ' writes a well kftown resident of Newton, Iowa. “I gave him a bot- . . - U® of Chamberlain’* Liniment which tapher of wild animafs in their native , he applied to his arm and on the jungles. j next morning the rheumatism was Mr. Newett in his campaign of last l * on ®-”- :t> For chronic muscular rheu matism you will find nothing better than Chamberlain’s Liniment. Sold by all dealers. year remained in the ranks of the Republicans and publication of the Roosevelt editorial was an Incident ot that straggle. - ^ In talb defenie Mr. Newett will claim tMl publication of the article was privillged as comment on s pub- Piles Cured In 8 te 14 Days will refund Money if PAZO OINTMENT fails to care any ease of Itckinf, Blind. Bleeding or PretrndtefPUea in 4 to Ildar v TbcLm application grret Esaa and Beat. Me.