The Barnwell people-sentinel. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1925-current, November 24, 1927, Image 6
Cotton Legislative
Program Announced
Senator Ransdrll, of Louisiana, Has
Two Bills That Should Help
• v
Present Situation.
Washington, D. C., November 22.
A comprehensive cotton legislative
program was announced here today
by Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, of
Louisiana, of the Agricultural Com
mittee of the Senate. He made pub
lic two bills which will be pushed ener
getically as soon as Congress con
venes, and one of them at least is
likely to receive consideration in con
nection with a Congressional investi
gation of the “carry over” controver
sy which is being urged by some
members of the House and Senate
covering cotton intended for interstate
shipments and the standard weight
and dimensions of the same. It is
clainted that this standardization of
the cotton bale will not only work for
greater accuracy in computing the
size of the growing crop, the amount
of the available supply and the annual
consumption of American cotton, but
that it will effectually abolish the
“cotton tare” evil, which is the great
est blight ^that has ever hung over
this or any other agricultural indus
try and has been responsible for the
loss of tens of millions of dollars to
the cotton growers every year.
What Is Known as “Tare.""
A square bale of cotton weigh!
about 500 pounds and is covered by
coarse heavy jute Imported from In
dia. About 14 pounds of jute is used
and it is fastened around the bale by
nine steel ties. The total weight of
the bagging and ties varies from
from the Cotton Growing States.
That dispute has been raging in the' about ^ 2 6 pound* *nd the com,
cotton trade -ever smee Secretary of t,i ne< j weight of the two constitute
the New Orleans Cotton Exchange what i a |{ nn wi
cotton is sold in America, says
ynment figures issued in September the Senator,™ deduction is apparent-
on the carry over of American cotton , y made for the weiKht of the baK
from the last crop, and one of the out-'
standing results of the controversy
to date has been the order of Secre
tary of Agriculture Jardme to the
Bureau of Agricultural Economics to
refrain from issuing such statements
jn the future. That, however, has not
settled the matter. Numerous Con-
A
gressmen in the cotton growing statrs
maintain the the Departmental report
caused a needless loss of many mil
lions of dollars to the producers, and
they insist that a rigid investigation
be had of all the circumstances and
the facts published to the world.
Count Koumf Hales as Whole Hajes?
One of the theories entering into
the dispute has been the possibility of
the government statisticians having
counted round bales as bales of cot
ton. These have generally been esti
mated by American commercial stat
isticians as half-bales, inasmuch as
most “round bales," until very re
cently, contained about 250 pounds of
lint cotton, whereas a square bale is
supposed to weigh approximately
600 ponds.
The controversy now raging in the
cotton trade in America and Europe
by reason of Secretary Hester’s chal
lenge of the accuracy of the Govern-
ment 5gur.es aumUi-uiat hawe-Oriserr
under- the terms of one- of t+rr Hanr-
dell bills. It provides thtkt the stanl-
ard bale of cotton which shall here
after be delivered for shipment* in in
terstate or foreign commerce shall
weigh 500 pounds, exclusive of bag
ging and ties with which it is covered
and contracts for the sale of the cot
ton shall be basfd upon the true net
weight of the lint cotton in the bale
In order to make the change bear . >
lightly as possible upon existing trade
practice, however, the bill provides
that reasonable variation shall be
permitted and tolerance shall be es
tablished by the rules and regulations
of the Secretary of Agriculture in
bringing about this innovation.
Senator Ransdell, evidently appre
ciating the difficulty that would be
experienced in introducing such a
sweeping change in the cotton gin
ning industry of the' South, has
sought to overcome any opposition
by declaring all gins where cottofr is
prepared for interstate shipment to be
public utilities, and vests the Secre
tary of Agriculture with authority to
prepare uniform regulations for their
operation. To this end the Secretary
shall identify each public gin with a
number which shall be pies<jwed as a
publtc record; and ft shall be the duty
of all ginners to securely affix a met
al tag bearing the number of the gin
to each bale, which shall show the net
weight of the lint cotton therein when
the bale leaves the gin, and such other
information as the Secretary may
prescribe. Authority is also conferred
upon the Secretary of Agriculture to
prescribe the materials, including bag
ging and ties, that may be died in
i .
ging and ties. Thus in every day
practice, when a farmer sells a 500-
pound bale, on which the tare is, say,
24 pounds, leaving 476 net pounds of
cotton, the farmer is paid for 500 It is just as feasible to cover the
board the ship to insure that it will
not have less than 30 pounds of tare
when it reaches the English custom
er.' While the American mills appar
ently do not make any reduction for
tare, yet, as a matter of fact, just as
the English spinner deducts 30 pounds
so the American mills which buy the
cotton compute thSl it has a certain
amount of tare that is useless an l
computes the price it pays according
ly. In every case,' whether in the
United States or abroad, the ultiitate
consumer pays only for net cotton
and the producer suffers the loss on
bagging and ties.
By prohibiting the sale of baled cot
ton in interstate commerce unless it
bears a metal tag furnished by the
Secretary of Agriculture, showing the
net weight of the lint cotton at the
gin, Senator Ransdell believes that
the wasteful and costly ;;-.i*es can be
effectually eliminated, especially as
the .Department, of - Agriculture —
empowered to make rules and regu-
tftrgwgfirtfr ’Bf. thr hair?"
Opens Wide Field.
This opens up a wide field for the
use of low grade cotton which is now
produced at little, if any profit, and
the accumulation of which to the ex
tent of millions of bales works to de
press the price of the better grades.
pefr week; for the . spinner, $1.40 per
week; for the winder, $1.91 per week;
for the beamer, $2.37 per week; for
the weager, $2.84 per week.
“I imagine there is not a single
common laborer in an-American mill
who does not earn more every day
than the most skilled laborer in In
dia earns in a week;_yet tnat jute pro
duct in the shape of lurlaps comes in
competition with the cotton goods
produced in this country by our high
paid employees out of cotton grown
by American farmers—the bone and
sinew of our Republic.
~ ^Suppose we could get that sort of
measure enacted into law. It would
rrtean, from the best information I
hkvir been able to obtain, that a
market would be furnished for about
2,000,000 bales of low grade American
cotton. This estimate includes 1,-
700,000 bales for all the purposes to
which juta m the way of bags and
sacking in-put-r-nnd 300<000 ’batwfor
pounds—or at least he thinks he is,
and in settling with him the compu
tation is made at so much per pound
for 500 pounds.
Can’t Spin Ragging and Tien.
Rut what actually happens?
The mills cannot spin bagging arid
bales with bagging made from low
grade cotton a s with imported ju*e
and by dipping it in a chemical which
is not expensive, the cotton baggirg
becomes much less inflamable than
jute. Furthermore, it requires only
5 pounds of cotton bagging to cov»r
ties, and they keep that fact in mind « bale a s compared with 14 pounds of
in all purchases of American cotton. | jute, thus effecting a saving in weight
Thus, when the bale reaches Liv^r-, of 9 pounds to the bale.
In order, however, to build up an
American industry of low grade cot
ton bagging and burlaps that can
withstand competition with the jute
materials imported from India, Sena
tor Ransdell says that it is necessary
to impose a duty which will equalize
the increased cost of American Bro-
duction and manufacture, and his
second bill is intended to do this
very thing.
“The Jute mill in Bengal,” says the
pool, the tare, or weight, of th«'
container — in other words, the
bagging and ties, estimated at 6 per
cent.—is deducted. If the bale weighs
500 pounds the Englishman pays for
500 pounds less^30, or 470 pounds, 6
per cent, of the gross weight being de
ducted for tare. The exporter who
ships to England knows that his bale
is going to be deducted 6 per cent., so
if the bale only has 22 pounds of bag
ging and ties when it leavea the
baggi-ng to cover cotton for an average
TTTTfr
for jute bdgging. All grain' of every
kind is shipped in it; the sugar crop
of this country and the tropics; all
the fertilizer of every kind; cement,
to a large extent; furniture is wrap
ped with the jute when it is packed.
It is almost impossible to conceive
the uses to which jute materials are
placid in this country, uses which
could better be served by cotton.”
Nero having fiddled while Rome
burned, we presume Coolidge may be
granted the privilege of whittling
while the maple sap runs up in Ver
mont. '
American gin, he adds 8 pounds of Senator, “pays for the carder 89
jute bagging before it is placed 6n cents per week; for the rover, $1.75
I '
INSURANCE
FIRE
WINDSTORM
PUBLIC LIABILITY
ACCIDENT - HEALTH
SURETY BONDS
AUTOMOBILE
THEFT
Calhoun and Co.
P. A. PRICE, Manager.
Card of Thanks.
We wish to thank, each and every
one for their kindnqss to us on the
occasion of our .little darling Jewell’s
death and also wish to thank Dr.
Brinkley and Dr. Hood for their kind
ness.
♦ Mr. a nd Mrs. E. G. Delk.
Ellenton, S. C.
Called to Pleasant Hill.
Williston, Nov. 19.—Rev. J. E.
Owens, of White Pond, has been called
to tso pastorate of the Pleasant Hill
Baptist ( Church, near Williston,. and
will enter upon his new duties at an
early date.
V-'". ♦ ♦ ^
ADVERTISE in The People-Sentinel.
New Dental Office for Augusta
Drs. Gibson and Nolan have opened dental offices at 722 Broad 'W;
Street. They will be glad to serve you with their new method
Painless Dentistry. Prices reasonable and work first class.
You are eordially invited to visit them.
TREASURER’S TAX NOTICE
The County Treasurer’s office will be open for the purpose of receiving
taxes from October 15th, 1927, to March 15th, 1928. A penalty of one per
cent, will be added to all unpaid taxes on January 1st, 1928; two per cent.
February 1st, 1928, and seven per edit. March 1, 1928.* Tax books closing
and executions issuing after March 15:h, 1928. Taxes are ascertained by
the valuation multiplied by mills levied. Treasurer's duplicate as made up
by Auditor lists real estate and does not itemize personal property, which
must be secured from Auditor. When inquiring as to amount of taxes due,
you are required to give each and every tax district you own property in
as a. separate tax receipt is issued for each district for real estate or per
sonal property. Your tax receipt, giving number of acres covered by it.
No. 24—Ashleigh
No. 23—Barbary Branch .
No. 45—Barnwell
No. 4—Big Fork
No. 19—Blackville
No. 35—Cedar Grove
No. 50—Diamond
No,-20—Double--Pond _ —
Dunbarton
Slo.21—Edisto
k No. 28—Elko —
No. 53—Ellenton
No. 11—^our Mile
No. 39—Friendship
No. 16—Green’s
No. 10—Healing Springa.
No. 23—Hercules
No.‘9—Hilda
No. 52—Joyce Branch
No. 34—Kline
No. 32—Lee’s
No. 8—Long Branch
No. 54—Meyer’s Mill __
No. 42—Morris
No. 14—MX. Calvary —
No. 25—-New Forest
No. 38—Oak Grove '
No. 43—Old'Columbia __
No. 13—Pleasant Hill.
No. 7.—Red Oak
No. 15—Reedy Branch _
No. 27—Reeves Creek —
No. 37—San Hill
No. 2—Seven Pines
No. 40—Tinker’s Creek _
No. 26—Upper Richland
No. 29—Williston
Tresidnu Coolidge:—“Stop! You shall not rob -the dead.’
State
Ordinary County
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27
58
The commutation road tax of $3.00 must be paid by all male citizens,
between the ages of 21 and 55 years. Alt' male citizens between the ages
of 21 and 60 years are liable to poll tax of $1.00.
Annual ciypitation dog tax of $1.25 per head, payable during morith
of January, on all dogs, male and female, old and young,, except suckling
pups (See Acts 1924, No. 655, at page 1088.)
It is the duty of each school trustee in each school district to
that thi* tax is collected or aid the Magistrate in the enforcement
the provision^ of this Act. ~
Checks will not be accepted for taxes under any circumstances ex
cept at the risk of the taxpayer.—(The County Treasurer reserves the
right' to hold all receipts paid by check until said checks have been paid.)
Tax receipts will be released only upon legal tender, postoffice money
orders, or certified checks.
* J- ARMSTRONG, Co. Treaik.