McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, February 20, 1930, Image 7
Thursday, February 20, 1930
McCORMICK MESSENGER, MeCORRIICK, South Carolina.
Spartanburg Solon
Doesn’t Like County
Board Control Plan
Inasmuch as someone frequent
ly speaks of abolishing the super
visor’s office and having McCor
mick County’s affairs run by a
county board of control or some
similar board of men elected by
the people or appointed by the
governor upon recommendation of
the county delegation, the follow
ing letter should be of more than
passing interest at this time. The
letter is taken from The Spartan
burg Herald of February 13, 1930,
and was written by a member of
the house of representatives from
that county. It follows:
MR. JACKSON GIVES HIS VIEWS
Editor of The Herald:
Being a member of the delega
tion for four years I would like to
state my views on county affairs.
First, take the county board of
contrbl. I have nothing to say
against its personnel, if that is
the best way to run the county, I
would vote for the men now on
the board. But I am opposed to
the principle of it. It seems to me
that they have very little author
ity, except to pay out the money
as long as they have it, and then
come to the delegationi and tell us
they are out of funds. Then we
have to arrange for more money
or stop the schools and road work
and everything else.
I don’t see how people can pay
the taxes they now are paying,
still under the present manage
ment they are spending at least a
fourth more than the 26 mills lev
ied, and it is going to -break the
people; they cannot stand it un
der the present conditions. In the
requested supply bill for next year
they have asked for $1,479,666.07. •
You see, if we were to levy a tax
of 26 mills as last year and grant
the requests we would still have to
float a bond issue for $362,916.31 to
run next year, which I am oppos
ed to and I am going to vote to
cut expenses. If we were to put on
enough mills to grant their re
quests, we would have to increase
the millage to from 39 to 40 mills.
Luke Cantrell, Doctor Lancaster
and myself introduced a bill three
years ago making it unlawful to
increase the bonded indebtedness
of the county without leaving it to
a vote of the people, but the dele
gation killed it. If it had passed
we would have been thousands of
dollars better off, in my opinion.
The amount requested does not
take care of the school situation.
I do not know what they will
want. We cannot go on spending
money this way without losing our
homes. Most of the money is go
ing into roads and schools. We all
believe in good roads and good
schools and are willing to support
them, but they are breaking us up.
There is too much money being
wasted on them. I doubt if we are
getting over 60 cents on the dol
lar of the worth of our road and
school money, measured from a
good business standpoint.
The School Situation
I think my record will show' that
I have done more for the common
schools than any member of the
delegation, but it seems to me
that people have gone wild on ed
ucation. It does look to me like
if taxpayers are willing to tax
themselves to build good school
buildings and give a boy or girl a
high school education, they should
get to the school themselves, and
not ride there on the back of the
taxpayers. I think it would be
better for the pupils; besides the
school buses are ruining us. Most
of the high schools are paying
from 56 to 60 mills in taxes now,
and running in debt every year.
The Road Situation
I have always supported good
roads, but in my opinion, there
are too many boards and commis
sions and organizations in the
road program—too much overhead
expense. I doubt if there is more
than one dollar out of every three
appropriated spent for real work
on the roads. They are running
too many automobiles, and not
moving enough dirt. The County
Board of Control has a good deal
to do with the roads. Then there
is the highway emmission, five in
number; the township supervisors,
ten in number, then the rural mail
carriers. None of these are res
ponsible to the people except the
township supervisors. They all go |
ahead, spend and waste the money
and then pass the buck from one
to another, as long as they can.
Then they come to the delegation j
out of money and work the ma
jority for more. Then they pass
the buck to the delegation by say
ing they cannot spend anything
except what we appropriate. The
JCounty Board of Control sent us aj
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At the first warning, supnly yourself for the needed
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STROMS’ DRUG STORE
. Main Street McCormick, S. C.
HANK ACCOUNT IS IKE
ENEMY OF HAM) LUCK
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The loss of a job, sickness in the family, or unex
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Once ybu have entrusted us with your business,
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our customer.
\
THE FARMERS BANK
McCormick, S. C.
requested supply bill down to Co
lumbia for nearly $1,500,000 for
next year, and pass the buck by
saying it was not to be construed
as their recommendation. Why
didn’t they send us something they
could recommend? They should
know more about it than anyone
else.
I am considering introducing a
bill to abolish all of the above
boards and commissions after
next year, and putting all under
one management and let the peo
ple elect a supervisor and two or
more commissioners in the prim
ary next summer.
Anderson county is operating
under this plan. Their supply bill
last year was less than $400,000,
with a 11 mill levy, and they had
a surplus qf $25,000 left. Green
ville county is operating under the
same plan. Their supply bill last
year was less than $800,000 and
carried a 13-mill levy—a little
more than half of ours.
I pledged to the people last sum
mer on the campaign that I would
vote for economy and the rights of
the people to elect the men who
are spending their money, and I
cannot do it and support the pres
ent management of county af
fairs. The tendency of the times
in state and county is to take the
people’s right away from them and
run government by boards and
commissions, and they have very
near done it. I understand some
mill men lost their jobs for signing
a petition to elect trustees under
my trustee law. Does that look
like a free country?
But some say my proposed bill
will get county affairs back into
politics. I don’t see how v/e can
get county affairs any further in
to politics than they have been for
the last two or three years. I want
to be wide open and let the peo
ple know where I stand, and care
nothing about politics. I had rath
er stand by my pledges and prin
ciples and tail the ticket, than to
eel around and trade out and head
the ticket.
J. BELTON JACKSON.
Young Folks
And Chureh
(From The Sumter Daily Item)
A group of 700 young men and
women recently attended a con
ference to discuss their religious
problems. Among the things they
decided they wanted in Sunday
church services were “shorter
sermons and prayers, appropriate
music, intelligent reading of the
Scriptures, worshipful attitude in
the church, sympathetic leader
ship and counsel from their elders,
spiritual satisfaction from wor
ship and instruction which they
may apply in their own lives.”
It sounds like a large order, one
which the church is supposed to
fill as a matter of course but
which many critics feel it is not
filling generally today.
These young people are all
church-going and come from
church-going families. It would be
interesting to know what 700 oth
ers who do not attend any church
services regularly feel that the
churches could do to gain their in- j
terest and support.
Perhaps the thing of chief im
portance in this conference was
that the youngsters had ideas,
suggestions and adverse criticism
which they. expressed fearlessly
and enthusiastically. It may also
be significant that the adult au
thorities of the churches they rep
resented were open-minded to
these criticisms and suggestions. It
is a little difficult to Imagine such
a conference in an early Puritan
community, or even in a modern
community only a generation or
two ago.
-tXJ
It’s a good idea to incubate a
few eggs before the breeding sea
son as a check on the fertility of
the flock. Keep some reserve
males on hand in case of sickness
or accident to the regular breed-
Urge Reduction Of
Cotton Acreage
%
Columbia, S. C.
February 14, 1930
To the Editors of South Carolina
neswpapers:
It is of the utmost importance
that the South reduce its cotton
acreage this year. It behooves
every interest to work to this end.
Th e South Carolina Cotton Grow
ers Co-operative Association, be
lieving that the producers should
diversify in their farming and that
they should study the prospective
demand and conform their acre
age with due regard th e reto, ask
of you the utmost co-operation in
publishing the material that is
sent to your office, in order to
help bring about acreage reduc
tion. This campaign will not be
called an acreage reduction cam
paign, but it is to b e known as
“The Facts about the Present
Critical Cotton Situation,” and
every informational means will
bring to the cotton growers the
necessity of giving proper consid
eration to it.
You will find enclosed copy of a
resolution passed at a repr e senta-
tive meeting held in Jackson, Mis
sissippi, on February 5, 1930. At
tending this meeting were three or
four hundred Southern agricul
tural leaders, principally represen
tatives of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture, state agricultural col
leges, extension service, cotton co
operatives, and fertilizer organiza
tions, also a few commission e rs of
agriculture, farmers, * 1 * * * * * * * merchants
and bankers. Dr. Tait Butler pre
sided. The principal talk of the
occasion was made by Carl Will
iams, cotton member of the Feder
al Farm Board. I am enclosing
you, first, the resolution pass e d at
this Convention, and second, the
address made by Mr. Carl Will
iams.
Yours very truly,
ALFRED SCARBOROUGH.
General Manager and Secretary-
Treasurer.
Resolution
WHEREAS, the world will use,
ev e n under favorable economic
conditions, not exceeding around
fifteen million bales of American
cotton per year and there now ex
ists an actual supply of more than
nineteen million bales of Ameri
can cotton and
WHEREAS, because of world
wide distressed economic condi
tions the demand for American
cotton is now below normal and
will certainly continue so for some
time to come and whereas under
the circumstances another crop
equal to that of 1929 can only
mean financial disaster to the cot
ton grower and all business inter
ests of the South, which the Fed
eral Farm Board and all other
agencies will be powerless to avert,
and
WHEREAS, this burdensome cot
ton surplus now depressing prices
far below the cost of production
has been built up with acreage
yields below the ten year average,
it is evident beyond question that
in order to keep production within
the limits which will insure a pro
fitable price to the grower, there
must be a radical change in the
usual farm program of the cot
ton growing states in 1930,
THEREFORE, be it resolved that
we, the representatives of the U.
S. Department of Agriculture, the
State Agricultural Colleges, the
Southern Agricultural Workers As
sociation, the Railway Agricultural
Workers of the South, Cotton Co
operatives, and general Farm Or
ganizations of the South, State
Officials and business interests
and fanners here now assembled,
do hereby endorse the cotton pro
duction program of the Federal
Farm Board and urge all farmers
and business interests to hee$ the
warning against excess cotton pro
duction in 1930, which the Board
has given, to the end that produc
tion of cotton may be made pro
fitable,
And we hereby pledge ourselves
to do om- utmost to bring the
truth of the present cotton situa
tion to the realization of every
farmer and business man in the
South as the basis for intelligent
and concerted action on their
parts to avert the impending dis
aster.
In a formal address by Carl
Williams, member of the Federal
Farm Board, the following state
ments were made, which are of
the greatest importance to the
Says Sargon Brought
Back His Health
JOHN C. SPENCER
“For the past year I have been
in wretched health. Three bottles
of Sargon put me in wonderful
condition. My appetite is splendid
now and my digestion is sound. I
have gained ten pounds and my
strength has returned in propor
tion.
“I wouldn’t be without Sargon if
it cost twenty-five dollars a bot
tle.”—John C. Spencer, 498 Sixty-
third St., West Allis, Milwaukee,
Wis. .
Sargon’s record of marvelous
achievement is an open book to
all, and only those who have used
this famous treatment know its
real powers.
Stroms’ Drug Store Agents, Mc
Cormick, S. C.
Ipiillifi
SAFEGUARDS
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Insurance Agency
PHONE 66
McCormick
Pace Number Sere#
«
slowly Increasing in value,” hs told
the agriculturists.
“British aid in India has been
the reason for betterment of the
foreign cotton crop,” he said. “Vi
dian cotton of the same quality as
produced in the south is now sell
ing for approximately two and or e
half cents per pound less than
ours” Mr. Williams stated. He
pointed out that foreign inous-
trialists are naturally purchasing
Indian cotton in preference to toe
higher American product cf sim
ilar quality.
The farm board member point
ed out that America is at this tirr.e
aiding Russia in cotton product’an
and that soon Russian cotton of
equal quality with American cot
ton will be in competition on world
markets.
Russia now producers over a
million bales of cotton on lands
owned by the Soviet government
and from seed of a high type pro
duced from the United States.
“These are facts that the South
must face, there is no argument,
no necessary discussion, all the
talk in the world won’t change it, T
the speaker emphatically declared.
Here the speaker pointed trv a
fallacy in the reasoning of the
average farmer, who thinks In
terms of “last year.” “The farmer
must move up a year in his calc.il-
ations and think of his prospec
tive crop in terms of prospective
prices, abandoning the old system
of shaping a crop on the basis of
last year’s prices.”
“The acreage of cotton is now
above the red line on the motor
meter. Last year 47,000,000 acres;
were planted in cotton. 46,000,000'
acres were harvested. That’s too
much.
“The red line is 40,000,000 acres.
If the cotton belt goes above that
there is a possibility of ruining
the auto,” the Oklahoman declar
ed.
“Had the yield of the acreage
planted in 1929 been as good
that of 1914 the cotton belt would
have produced 22,000,000 bales last
year.
“During the last three years the
yield per acre of cotton has been
below a ten year average./ This
has never been true for years in
succession.
“If the federal farm board is
going to be able to be of the great
est possible service to the cotton
farmer, it must not have to aeal
with an unwieldy surplus,”
“It is easier to prevent thumr
than to control a surplus. What
the board does this year will be
governed largely by what the far
mer does at planting time.”
Mr. Williams made what he des
cribed as “two practical sugges
tions” to the South:
“1. That no banker finance fc*r
production credit, nor merchant
credit, nor landlord permit, nor
farmer dare to plant any cotton on
any land until he has assurea a
food crop for his family and a
feed crop for his stock.
“2. That no cotton be planted on
any year which on a five yoor
average has failed to return a net
profit.”
“Fully one-third of the acrea,©
planted this year has failed to re
turn a net profit.”
X
Order Grass Seed ,
The time for ordering lespedeza’.
and carpet grass seed is rap ml y
passing, according to Thos. »V.
Morgan, county agent, who states
that he has already placed orders
for more than a thousand pounds
of these seeds, and urges fanners ’
— 1 ■ — ! who plan to improve their pas-
United States has mounted 60’’ per j tures to ^ their orders in as soon
cent during the 24 years,” the as P ossi ble
speaker declared. “Once 65 per
cent of the cotton consumed out
side the United States was export
ed, while now only 47 per cent is
exported,” he said.
“The increased foreign yield has
been absorbed, and the southern
cotton farmer has contributed
nothing to the outside world in
the 24 year period. He is in the !
same position as he was 24 years |
ago. Only two states reduced i
their production 10 per cent, while
Lespedeza should be seeded on
pastures where there is a good
Bermuda sod at the rate of 1?
15 pounds per acre, and on cl^an
ground at the rate of 25 pounds
per acre. Lespedeza will grow w- il
on both bottoms and upland pas
tures.
Carpet grass should be seeded’
only on bottom land pastures and-
at the rate of 8 pounds per acie,
according to Mr. Morgan.
Lespedeza may be seeded on
cotton growers and their friends
throughout the entire South:
“Dixie farmers face the prospect
in 1930 of no governmental aid of
effective character unless immed-
, Mississippi and Texas boosted pro- | sma11 8 rain for a catch crr ^
duction 60 per cent; other states j ra f e ^5 pounds per
increased production approximate- acre * This should be done only cn
ly 20 per cent ” • land, however, as other hay
While the cotton fanner was in- : cr ® pS WiU pr ° dUCe m ° re ,han '
pedeza. ,
Many McCormick county hillsUe
pastures need a coating of ie*:-
pedeza to turn them into real
feed-saving pastures, according to
Mr. Morgan, who further states
iate steps are taken to reduce the
ers, or to replace males that aiv | yield of cotton.”
net reliable breeders. ! “World consumption outside the
creasing his yield and acreage, Mr.
Williams pointed out the quality of
his product was gradually decreas
ing, until last year untenderable
cotton reached a per centage of 30
as compared with 5 per cent sev
eral years ago. In Texas, he dec-
that a farmer must try lespedesa
lared the faulty cotton produced a ^ e appreciate its value
averaged approximately 40 per as a P astuie crop.
cent of the crop. i —X
“The United States cotton crop ! For speed there is nothing that
is gradually going down in quality equals a coal pile d*av:a.,
while the foreign crop has been wave.
t