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.

.-?i m Erestftt Cr|$?s and 1, to Subject of An Address Delivered ing of Group No; 1 South Greenville N The following very able address was delivered at the meeting of Groupe No. 1, of South Ca colina bankers held November 17th at Greenville. It is used through the cour tesy of. Pres. Lee G. H. Holleman, of the Peoples bank, who is having printed by The Intelligencer Job Printing Depart ment several thousand copies for distribution, Mr; President and Gentlemen: V The conditions existing in the world today; are new and strange to us all, and the whole world o? both jr-litics and finance seems to be out of joint and the great body of our people like men on an unknown sea without chart or compass. To Buch an extent does these'conditions exist that all kinds of peculiar and strange and many of these wild schemes are being proposed for their betterment. I will not in tho brief time allotted me attempt to take up these world, nation, or even State-wide conditions; but con fine myself a? far as possible to conditions existing in that part of the. Piedmont country covered by the four counties represented by you gentlemen here, pr?sent. Nor wi ii I try to eov?r the varied interests of even our own limited territory, but iaik to you as a country banker with a business experience of one-third of a century, with the country people, to < ountry bankers who must for the next quarter of a century ?eal with, and finance for these same country people, and therefore I will try to make what I have to say largely apply to you in your relations to your farmer customers. . . I want to say at the outset, that I do not believe there exists under the shining sun A sturdier or more honest citizenship than the farmers of the four counties which you represent. My long experience in dealing with them (and my bank has been largely a farmers bank) has taught me to honor and re spect them and I count my best and truest friends among tho splendid manhood of the foriners of Oconec and the fact that in the long years of my banking career in which my total loans to them aggregated over two millions of dollars on which my losses wera less than one thousand dollars speak louder of their honesty and thrif t than any eulogy I could deliver, were I the silver tongued Bryan himself, and what I say of them I feel applies ^equally to all the. counties represented by you. Descended almost exclusively from a Scotch-Irish ancestry, our people b^ve been born and bred anong the foot-hills of these beautiful" niue mountains ' They >bav?^o^'*a^moBi,two', Centnries maintained the Sturdy character and habits of their ,noble, ancestry',and no misfortune or calamity has been able to ??^^T^/M*^*'f^PP^'^^ pf character or their sterling vir 'Jft|?,^??anj? miafort?ines and much adversity has been their ^?rtionv :*nfy ' Bk? the everlasting hills which suncound tjj?^.^w. stronger under every misfortune, They fought ?fej??f^^abd B^nga Mountain and in that long seven "j^tW"rr#Mir/'^.:itrtieV patriots espoused the cause of liberty '^ffojVtfta anea?fccira nf the num who compose the. customers cf your b?riks t?4ay. men South Carolina seceded and the upon the arena of ^^?^bB^t)^'. jplaoT^t? of our counties bod few slaves and their ma t^r^! ioieres?would have led them io abstain from that bitter ??d bloody war. but they were true patriots and forgot their own interests and no braver men followed Hampton*, Jackson the men whose* names are spread cruel and devastating war with jM??^il^;&a&e save, honor, their matchless climate and rich ?^-'.;Tt^jr li^qs were overgrown with briers, broomssge and ixm a?k . any. fry/ws* .;?^uerorsT.. No,, ?mik;wjc^:orWly to work to repair their jost.forjan?, al ..?m^t?l? pcoft?e (the French not excepted) ever .paid such .^rl^^^fe^ ?W PPP**0**. 'M^?j^i triftl^hove come,-the Carpet Bag Rule, the panic Oj^??^r conditions of the eighties followed by ..tli^a^J?f jl?^ left them almost bankrupt but that same ?fe 1' courage born of adversity saved them, arid tl^io^'to 1000 there wns a Jais^ ^s^ made. 'jM^Vlft&lB Were bought, better farming was done, schools ?^^'??s^ee to develop tif?f Jbe great cotton manu jmrj?r^ Colonel; Hammett and ,?%rt*u? * .?u<* -'I .'.. . < .. !_ ."v. ?/..'. . . ' f.l .V.!^ -^_-: s ers of the Piedmont" ?y W. P. Anderson at the Meet? Carolina Bankers Held at ovetttber 1?. - Smyth started at Piedmont and Pelzer and which has spread all over onr counties, brought honte marketa for cotton and produce and a wave of prosperity has come to our section of] which pur fathers never dreamed. Our lands have grown ia value and a new era has come to our country. So great YIP A been our prosperity in the last teri years caused by the large crops I and remunerative price for cotton and the rapid advance inj the irice of real estate that our expansion has been too rapid. Competition in business of every kind has been keen, and credit has become too cheap. We have forgotten about pay day, and our farmers, like the rest of us, have spread out too much, and our very success has weakened our sinews. What adversity could" not do our great prosperity has accomplished, and the farmers of onr country whom adversity could not injure have been injured, by fawning politicians, demigods and misguided friends. The politics of the last thirty years have had too much of appeal to class and class prejudice in them. Wrong ideals have been taught until these ideals haye permeated our whole political and business structure, and we see today the sons and grandirons of the men who came home from Appomattox and who spurned to accept anything that their strong arms could not get them-we see the sons of these brave men nursing a new and to us a strange ideal to their bosoms that dangerous and subtle doctrine Paternalism, which if let grow to maturity in the hearts and minds of our people will poison and eventually-destroy every semblance of man hood. That this iden has grown is shown by the feeling that exists in the minds of our people that the State ought to pro tect them against loss in personal ventures, until now in this good year of grace 1914 when although we find our fields and orchards yielding great abundance of every kind--a large crop of cotton, a great crop of corn, and unprecedented crop of oats and wheat and hay, and a crop of fruit that has sup plied our wants to the fullest all summer and has filled every pantry to the running over point, at almost every farm house big porkers are ready to bo or have Lc*n butchered-plenty abounds. Clemson and Winthrop Colleges are running over with the sons and daughters of our farmers, every grade and. high school in our country is taxed for room. We have the best roads, the best mules and best farm ^implements ever known in our land.. The "mountains on which we have gazed Binon children n*-e >ES blue, our water is as good and the ?un shines as bright as it ever did, and yet notwithstanding all thia, yon see today ja strange sight Commerce, which ordi narily is at its babiest stage nt this time, is at a standstill. Tour bills receivable .which should now. be small are larger than at any time during tho year, your note eases full of past due papers, your biilis payable unpaid, your doctors, preach ers, merchants and dealers of every kind unable to meet their paper. What is the matter f Your '?Huera have declared n moratorium, the war has come, the years of unexcelled prosperity have bit,a bump, cot ton has gone down--our farmers who have, just passed through a political campaign where tb^y were promised ev-j erything, are waiting for a delivery of the goods, abd besides j fourteen years of great prosperity have taught them to be; poor losers. They are laying down, on the proportion and for j the moment forgetting how their actions wiU hurt the people j they owe. , They Ate stunned, they feel that they are mined, they honestly feel that no one ^yery auffered as they are suf fering now. Now, are these men different frbfci their fathers or different from w^t they have been! . I any most emphat ically No! Thay are thc fame honest men but their"ideals have beeb changed ; arid unie? they wake up and seo then* mistake they will have their ideals so much changed that it will destroy the finer and nobler instincts of* their natures. ??or this situation we are ail to blame and-we are dangerously nour to changing from ah independent peopleib? more wards of a Paternal Government. Which if carried, out will bring to us thai degeneracy which no amount of adversity in the | past has been able to acoompl'ab. That'these baneful ideas aro abroad in tho land we have only to look at what has trans pired in our country in the last ninety days., ^/?*> ??me of j our members in congress tryirig to get legfcnifcn passed j which if it had beeb successful, would have risen up in) future years to curse us; and besides we have aeen our own legisla ture, composed of some of the ablest and best men of our own State, men whom we honor and respect so completely lose their heads that they actually passed a bill for the Slate to vote on-a proposition to pay to the farmers fifty per cent, more for their cotton than its market value and saddle a debt upon our people that would go down to our children's chil dren as a souvenir of the great war of nations. Wise men say that Europe has gone crazy, is the reason of this awful war. Have not we too lost our heads f After what has been pro posed and don? in South Carolina in the last ninety days, T understand nullification. I no longer wonder at the Seces sion ; nor are some later things which have ccr?e to us in later years so hard to understand. We have made the impression upon the world that we are at starvation's door. Lei me read you these lines : ' *New York, November 13th.-The cotion ball given under the auspices of the Southern society Iflit night for the benefit of the fund to aid Southerners in need and increase the use and popularity of cottou fabrics attracted a large assem blage." "The Christian Observer circulates in the Southern States, and a large proportion of its subscribers are dependent on cotton. Many of these are hard pressed for ready cash, and we are glad to wait on them for payment of their subscrip tion until they have the funds. We count it a privilege to co-operate with them in this emergeucy." What do you think of them ? Does any of your people need the help from the Charity Ball in New York? Is it necessary for any poor church paper to do without its money on account of the poverty among the customers of your banks f If I were a sporting man I would like to lay a wager that I emili! take any four of you gentlemen in my car and on a drive from here via Easley, Liberty, Cehtral, Seneca, Walhalla, West minster, Townville, Anderson, Williumston, Pelxer, Fork Shoals, Faii-view, Fountain Inn, Simpsonville and back to Greenville-this covers all your territory-and stop at any one of nine out of ten of the hundreds of the country homes on the road and give the good lady of the house one hour to get supper and guara u o you a better supper than any of yon had at home last night, and I don't believe that one of you wonld be fool enough to take the bet* . I do not know conditions in other portions Of the'South but I do know that while the farmers in the counties from which you come may be sick and in the hospital, tb^Mbc?^,.^..whole lot of being charity patients, rind all of this hue and cry about our condition is hurting our credit and will keep away from UH the friends we now so much need. We all agree and know that the farmers "An lose a great deal on account of the decline in cotton and it will hurt Borne pf them badly, for .which no one sorrows more than I, but let us not lose pur self-reliance, let us not mope over it and feel that of .all men we are the most miserable. Let's not get to pitying ourselves. Whenever a man begins to pity himself he has three parts lost out. It just simply won't dev lt is for eign to the traditions of our ancestry. Other men haye lost money. There bas been more money lost on cotton mill-stocks in the counties you represent in the past three years than the losses would be on, ?ottop. this year if the entire crop was sold at five cents per pound. Every body gets left sometime, and all our people are suffering now. Wc hay? our Laads, they are the same good lands. We have health and sun, and rain; yea, and food jo.-.cat. jfofc's quit grumbling, forget the war, make a virtue out of our losses, and start in on a new tack and help feed the world. They can do without clothes but they must have bread. Our lands are much better adapted to grain than to cotton. May it not be to.us a special providence from God to put us bato greater and better -things. Wie can never compete with tho true cotton belt. It is only when high prices come that we can profitably make cotton, in our section. If this change , is to come, it must begin with the bankers of the Piedmont. You must advocate it and finance the peo ple while the change is being made. It is for this reason that I have gone into existing conditions. Co-operation among the fifty banks located iii these bounties can bring any desired change. Will you do itt And again, will you make your banks fifty schools where the doctrine of Paternalism will be decried, ?nd influences started which will destroy these damn able ideas ?. And ibe old independence of the fathers brought back into the hearts and minds of the people where each man by vi-*-te and thrift can build for himself abd for his children that >?iil come after bim on the true foundations pf manhood and self-help. You can do uo greater real good for your emm ery patrons He who would really help his fellowman can do it beat by helping them to be real self-tontained men. i ;' ?1 ? i -. .- -fc-i? Before closing I went to say a few words to the younger men here present "Whatever this depression may bring to the general public, or even in temporary loss to your stock? holders, to you it is the time of times, your education as exec utive officers in your banks consists in the study of men, for however well fitted you may be in other wayB, you must know men. The last ten years have been poor years in which to learn them. Any man makes a good soldier on dress parade; everybody is honest in good times. But now the chaff sepa rates from the wheat ; now the rascal shows his hand, and don't for get the honest man shows his hand too ; and you younger men can in the next year or two get a line on the patrons of your bancks that will be invaluable to you and your institu tions for the next twenty years. It is the testing time. Loam well your lessons now and you will save thousands for your banks in the years to come. Only th? older men here, those who entered business prior to 1893 have had the opportunities for learning your business that you now enjoy. These aro privileges that this time brings to you, and they are great in dued. This time also brings great responsibility. Aro you bankers ready to assume them f . In your hands rests the weal or woe of this beautiful section. Thrift must be taught the people; credits must be restricted or expanded as conditions demands; you must teach tho people better financial ideals. These people will be your customers always. It will pay you to give time and care to them. Arrange with the teachers in the schools to allow you to make talks to the children at least twice during each school year and take to tho children high ideals of honor and thrift. It will bc timo well spent and will bring valuable returns in thc years to come. And you owe it to your patrons to keep yourselves posted on conditions in every line and to give them advice on market conditions in which they are interested. They will look to you. Arc you doing your duty by them day by day T Just now they feel with one accord that your duty is to get them unlimited sup plies oi money so that they can hold their cotton. Is this your duty? Have you studied the situationf It is a big question. v Who knows what tho wqmb of the future holds in store for rn. .Who knows but the wise thing for our farmers to do is tQ sell their cotton at once, lt is now worth seven and a half cents per pound. At what price are you going to advise, yea insist on them selling itf Don't you think that it is nearing, if not already at, the price they ought to sell ? Don't you know that Texas will flood the market with cotton at a price little if any above this? Would it not be wiso to get your customers unloaded now? I think so. Besides, you must remember that it will be humanely speaking, impossible for your customers to get the price thoy are holding for. Have you talked over thc matter with them, don't you know thn' most of them are looking for twelve cents, don't you think you had better begin to get that idea out of their minds? You must if you would be true country bankers : become, tho financiar fathers of your customers and sometimes, like all father's, you will have to do things tor your children's good ol which they will stringently disapprove;.bul go oa and do yojir fluty and in the end they "will thank you for it. I might odd to this a few words about overdrafts and past ? rlue papers, these two curses of the country banks, bnt I will not at this tiime take up these things except to say that after my long experience, I am convinced that I neve? really helped a customer by allowing any overdraft or made a permanent: f riend for my bank by such practice. I believe also that every time yon allow a customer to let his paper hang overdue in your bank, you weaken his respect both for himself and for you. Teach your customers to value their credit that they will not allow their paper to hang fire, whether you are will ing for such a course br not. And now, Mr. President, I-am through. I realize that I have rambled far from the concise talk yon had a right to ex pect, but I wanted yob to see with me what I think is the cause of this crisis ; not of the war but of tho feeling existing in our own country today. You are the men to remedy the situation, for the farmers wilt come to yon sooner or later for advice and help. You, In my opinion, next to the Minister of the Gospel, can do more for the uplift of your tallowmen than any other class of men; and happy is the banktv who sees the minion ; Oo? has put in his hands and consecra! es bis life to this great work of helping his fellowmen to higher, nobler and better things. You will.see other men grow rich on the money you loan thom while you remain comparatively poor, but if by your devotion to your stockholders, your customers, and your dod, you can make the Piedmont country of South Carolina tho fairest land on this old earth, you may feel that you will have tho "well done" of Him'who created it all and saw that it . was good. . j ? Mr. President, I thank you. ^^^^^^^?mgtjo. gave ont tlje fol* yo?r of November 22nd, ? tjSiyjs.eii^ ?aa ?n?crri?- ts the whit* wir of our city. Hr i?*?n,res?a for ttU? fer the white way br to bliute.tffcyoc^t but to MWtmt the re WAY T?^ ^mi&P*^ ? oft Anderson bow lt wee erected, un iter Whet eootti^^ H w?? erected, the ccflt of tte meifteaance. ; ,^th" IhivlntervleV I^tei?d that m*. uichise Matter I couac? tanja passed it I nm ?o mw* yer and ot ooaree didn't know wheth er it wa? legal or not But it wie ac cented 4a good faith,nr. eonndi and I faa; flontaern fattie Utfattei Coan |ton>. Th? qnestahn In my mind te thia:. If the contract ls not lega* who ?a rea ponai bio? ^^TOttr^iesne ^of4^^^^"-' ttX moorview without^flret cohenlUajr ^Jtt^jf^new nhM8?>n? ij^i^S^?naar ??ast; hsadtlnes.' ti.- "I *?? stitt of Uto or-lt?oe ;4*at'i w - -'-? --( ?.. :( : .. . t , MUt nothing to do with my. Interview comm* ont under 'daring h?aAjih?s.' " Vhen steos oat tho boord o? <tr*i<*y sh? ?kUfolly sashes out my ?r^WU trisad sad c?mrada 4o arias, ?T<u4*rMea ^?ora. w>*?> ce??yo??s!y setts to retrieve his-tact head hr blaming it on me/ Now. what do yon mick of that, liv comrade in sros to accuse n? ot being pushed out* vi am willing and anxtoas far my onida! caraar for the east two years to hs as an open boos. I ant ate ashaniM. tor fte people of Andereon to know where I stood on all ques tions. I must adroit I made mistakes, but I blame no one but myeeir tor Hiern-mose certainly not D. Collen Sullivan, whom 1 have the honor of ctlMng tty friend, (add I his frlendj pot erstwhile) whom I know to ho a high-toned Christian gentleman. I hold him in the highest esteem bat irish to say for hie benefit that I am of -the edme opinion as criglnslly, rna*. as yet haven't besa 'poshed **nt" and am sun 'flying the same flag;' "lt ary op*a*oo the caese ot . lassen- i tloh between Mr. Kalli van and myself il is the^vhJNre,*ay eentraet agrJ oeratand lt. he has advised als pres-jj ?feW*3?V- to jopadjate the . whit? ? ?ny contract, the ssnie contract ho < drew, drafted or allowed to be passed By hie old council. Now wno has lort bl* b?ftjar "I may be wrong but I s^rtoosiy question the morai right of one e eil i? rtpsdiate the eostrsel of a oOtha connell. If such be the - w?Xwv drift as a municipality? What wm be our financial standing with! thkanfalde world? Will not our credit,1 which ls now A l, be impaired? "l*t tte tay esifle ali personal obis (fons and ?rierances and.all tt*? jhtf whicb is best for our town and march down the white way of peace and prr^jiflr, .ttrshJUig Anderson the. most progress! re and attractive (attractive Blatas-1 of the beauUful white way) town In tho Wedniont section. V "Sincerely. "E. at JSLMORB raamjkHIftra'? fleagh ?smeey-Ta* ttethers* Favorite, "I atv? Chamberlain's Cough Hetne ?^fiKwr&a^?S Vandergrlft, Pa. It always sad ia far anterior to any ._, i medicine I have used. 1 anyone .ht need ot each a wec o ?iv? it a trial." ?er sate by alf dealers. oooooooooooooooo o mmia ; I \ . VV -, . . o o o oooooooooo?oob Dr. D. A. Burri*? WM a business visitor lu Anderson Thursday. Rev. R. fr McRse and wife of Sod dy. Tennessee, arrived here i*Yiday. afr. McKee bsa accepted the call of flood Mopp, V?rennos end Starr chorea, ead will eater fnunedlatelr upon his duties. We welcrsne these good people to our town, sad wish ifer them antea ?access Itt their new field of labor. Mr. T. K. Strtbbling spent a few data tn Beaeea last week with his parents sad dther reiativee. The School Improvement Associa tion baa purchased and Instated two water coolers Ia the school boase which sdds very much to Ita <naven mc? and cleahtlaess. Mr. sod mn. J. T. Baakin ott near ??\wndesttUe have been *leiU?% for a fee* days, at she home of the former's s*flfev'to..j?H,L Bjtakbw Ina many ?rienda of Rev. J. L. Singleton ar? reoiced to know that he haB been returned to big Old circuit, i ute iaoie* or tb* A. TL P. church, will hare an oyster and fish supper I in the hall nbovo the Farmers Bank] on next Saturday, December 12th, for the benefit of the building fund of the j church. Popular prices Will be ?hat ed and the public ls cordially tnvit to attend and encourage these ladlee! ta .their effort* to raise funds for tnt* j cause. .'. ?ce C. Ligan and .children left ] for McCormick where they spend a few days with Mrs.' Wiibnr Sirona, sister of Mts. Ltfcbn. . ?l oe-eoeaoeeoeooooci . . *| . . Att^E tows. Thanksgiving passed peacefully i and pleasantly. ! %U$? a crowd from here attended j the .TOftaiers convention at Town y i Ho. ,JnT?k Cromer has returned ? ??J PlorW*. i. C. W. Preener called on Miss tftsi' tlfcwtada?. : . Ata important event will occur on Christ tuns day. It i? rumored that the mutt handsome hod wealthiest bachelor hf Alpine will enter the paradise marriage. He has long thought of fids, bet railed to bring ?to a denn I te end. The young o will become the brid? ls a 1 r?.nd accomplished npe^iinvn fcntty. A hahdeome home this coupla Here's wishing idle?*, happiness. The school near here ls In splendid condition. . The 'bohor pui>ils ?re: Sadie Pr?cher and Florence Dob bins. In tact, ail tho pupils, are un usually bright. Counts -Cromer ?ailed - OR Lucile Sullivan, Monday ercnlng. George Dobbins called on Miss da dle Fresher rjal te recently. From all reports the wedding bells will soon be ringing. Christmas will soon he here. Wo? should all remember "we are modo happier by gl x lng than receiving." iM^wreryohe endeavor tb make some one happier and each shall feel tho better for such kind deeds. ?NaUBHlW