Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Melaurin Writes Mack King On i Cotton Situation. , 1 Bennentsville, S. C., Sept. 11, 1919. < Hon. J. Mack King, Anderson, S. C. i My dear sir:- i Yours quoting from a speech I < made i.n Anderson in 1916 as follows: i "Cotton went down first, it will b* i the last to rise and remain up longer < than any other commodity." You ask i my opinion aow. It is the same as 1 then expressed. In 1916 price fixing : was unknown as well as the threats ( by war industries board. In the long < run government authority cannot 1 permanently overturn a ntural eco- ] nomic law. Ultimately the price of ; oottoc will be fixed by the volume of I money in circulation and the supply t -- - ?? * 1- -4.L. and demand lor cotton, as rowntm er or not the farmer will get the s benefit Sure to come from the unre- t strictcd operation of these laws de- t pends upon his intelligence and the i means at his disposal to carry his t cotton during the period of readjust- t meat through which we are passing, i 1 hope that the cotton association t under the able leadership of Mr. i Wannamaker will help us. It is a j compl cated situation with which we v are confronted. \ The South has a natural monopoly a in the production of cotton. Someday s we will comprehend and utilize it, 1 when we do our section will be a t dominating figure in tforld finance, a Up to 1914, our cotton crop was a the main factor in the nations bal- i ance of foreign trade, but it never f did the South much good except in- c directly. When war was declared the \ throne was usurped by war material i and food. The present situation is a i real struggle by King Cotton to re- a gain his lost throne. The price of $ cotton is largely a matter of utilizing credits. Up to the state ware- t house development, cotton was a t good basis of credit in everybody's 1 hands except the man who grew it.' c Now it is a better credit in the hands c of the farmer, than anyone else. This 1 "" ? hn?i? from which to \ work. It is not generally known, but c in Section 13 of the federal reserve c act, the farmer can discount rent g notes and crop mortgages as well as t actual cotton. We lack the proper t machinery to use these securities to c pay the expenses of the coming crop, c If we did this it would lighten the t load ,,on the actual cotton in the c spring. '.;< 1 sun more firmly convinced than \ ever in my life, that the development c of a itate warehouse system in every f cotton state is the only effective so- t lution of the problem.*It was a great I step to go as far as we did in enab- c ling the farmer to hold his cotton, i borrow money and pay his debts, but [ after all cotton is made to sell and t not to store. The middlemen are get* ? tint; coo much of the profits. In this t county they make as high as $50.00 c per bale profit on long staple. It ? doesrit matter where the price goes \ uncier the present system, the mid- s die rien get more clear profit from i handling the cotton than the farmer t docs from growing it. I^hoped to add t the direct sales of the State ware- 1 house, but I could not move one step t with out state insurance on swreu t cotton and a bank in connection with ? the system; those interested in mak- ? ing money out of existing conditions j had .sufficient political power to pre- t veiit me from getting the legislation t thrt I needed. I refused to remain j commissioner merely to store cotton t and finance it [i l^et us suppose, 1 could have se- i cumi this legislation, what could be; c dor.e today. 1 The world is clamoring for raw j t cotton. There are plenty of ships top carry it abroad, the only difficulty is i < that Europe is unable to pay and j lackf the credit There is no machin- 1 ery through which this credit can be j ex ended. t ']7he rate of foreign exchange is < pn h .bited. Gold for exchange has ] practically ceased to move from this t country for commercial purposes. ] We are being throttled by the avail- 1 ab.e gold of the world being dump-j1 ed upon us for war materials. The. j pound sterling is normally $4.86%. t It "s now around $4.20. This means ths> if an English mill purchases i $101,000.00 worth of cotton the dis- s count would be about $15,000.00. If < it was a German merchant the dis- i count would be 75 per cent because < the mark now sells in New York 1 for 5^. This foreign exchange rate is 1 based upon the principle of the can- t ceilation of indebtedness. Trade bal- ] ances and exports are not paid for 1 in gold, but the money of the credi- 1 tor country is adjusted to the cur- < of the debtor country. The only j remedy for present coditions is for s European countries to increase their j exports to us. 1 How can they do this unless they 1 can get raw material with which to < manufacture the goods? < H<jw cap they get raw material 1 unless we extend credit? Europe is j bsoikrupt unless we extend aid. If 1 we make eleven million bales of cot- ; . ton and carry over four million we .< will have a surplus of six million bales at the lowest calculation. No natter what was the price of cotton 1 Europe could not buy except on creiit. The foreign exchange rate is a nere barometer. If you want proof, n 1915 the London rate went to M.45 and England could not buy war nunition nor food until our governnent deposited a large amount of cold with Canadian banks and our :*ich men bought American securities leld abroad. Even this did not suffice tnd targe loans were made by this country to the allies. It is a significant fact that the amount of the oans to England and France were >ractically the same as the experts *>ld them, so that you can see that Europe can only buy when she sells ;o us or borrows from us. Now if South Carolina had such a itate warehouse system as I hoped :o be able to have in readiness when he war ended we could extend crets to EuroDean nations and sell them he entire South Carolina crop, getting pay as the cotton was turned nto goods. If you were to cut the liscount rate on the German mark n half cotton would bring 50tf per >ound today. The only way that we vould ever sell it is on credit, but vhy not get the benefit of the transition for South Carolina instead of illowing it to be pocketed by New fork ? No one need to tell me that he exchange rates quoted in London md New York are holding good igainst the "Insider". Mr. Harding inderstands this and for that reason iro posed the one hundred million lollar export corporation which Mr. pVannamaker is trying to organize inder the Webb act. It would be unlecessary to tie up this tremendous imount of money if the State of South Carolina could act If cotton was a North Dakota crop, he industrial commission would exend a European credit through the >ank of North Dakota and the crop if this state could be placed immeliately at from 40 to 50< per pound. There is too much lost motion in a 'oluntary organization with pillions if members; a European government inly knows how to deal with another government. They could* understand he state of South Carolina when hey don't know what to make of a otton association. Remember that otton is an export crop, and that he portidn exported fixes the price ?n that which enters into domestic :onsumption. If the state waretouse commissioner would negotiate lirect with the German government or the sale of one hundred thousand ales of American cotton it would lave a tremendous effect on the price if cotton in the United States. In ill export crops the price of the ex>orted cotton determines the price of hat which enters into domestic consumption. The quickest way to raise he price of cotton is for someone onnected with the state warehouse lystem ^o go to Europe and negotiate vith some government there for the ale of South Carolina cotton, securng us from loss by proper guaranees. There is nothing to do except o wait until credits are extended to Europe and South Carolina can exend these credits herself and at less ixpense than throngh Wall street I rtrongiy suspect that the present stagnation and the general slump in irices is manipulated from Washing on so as to force the ratification of he peace treaty. There is something sinister in the alk about lowering prices and raisng wages at the same time. It s alright to say "living must be cheapened" but at whose expense? ,s the relief to consumers to be enirely at the expense of producers? The farmer feeds the hungry and clothes the naked and yet, in the Must 10 years home owned farms lave increased only one per cent, ind tenant farms 20 per cent, while he population in rural districts increased 20 per cent the town popuation has increased 100. The way ? check this evil is to increase the jrofits on the farfhs and make the iving in the cities more difficult. i'ou cinnot expect to feed at less und less cost an ever increasing ?wn population. The most complete and unjust nonpoly in this country is in cotton seed and fertilizers. It is hard to corner cotton because of its world vide use and the vast size of the crop, but Armour and Swift who are >etter known as meat packers, with ;heir associates, have absolute con;rol of the oil mills and fertilizer plants in this country. They often lire men not for their real value but jo prevent competition in the pur1 * ?fnrfili. :nase 01 seeu ur mc ux xv.u., . sers. The recent so called cotton ;eed conference in Columbia is a' sample of the boldness with which hey are seeking to destroy compe:itive markets. If the farmers do not >rganize intelligently they will be steadily pushed to the wall. This Tust intends to name the price the farmer is to get for his seed and then sell him his meal and fertilizer it the price which the trust will also name. Yours truly, JNO. L. McLAURIN. I GUN COTTON BASIS OF S French Inventor, After Lgng 8t< Ha* Evolved a Truly Wenderfi Artificial Product According to Count Hilaire. lcvci off artificial silk, which Is now duced by vast factories In Switzerh Belgium, France. England ahd Caited State*. It has for Its basis o !*( less than gun cotton. One of treatest problems be had to solv< perfecting It for everyday oae wat render It nonexploslve. The gun cotton under the cban net process 1* first dissolved in a i tore of alcohol and ether and t span through fide capillary tubes means of hydraulic presses. Other chemical processes give it computable ana nenexpiomve tie*, together with the cgpslstenfy the transparency of the finest *flk f Japan or China.' * It took just 90 years of the 80 wl Cennt Hilaire has completed to ] feet his discovery and render it of eal and practical commercial value The illustrious chemist and sdei has just been elected to the sapr honor of membership In the Frt Academy of Sciences for Mk'dioceri of how to put one over on the i worms. During the -whr he had I decorated by the Ffoneh ministet war with the Cross of a Chevallei the Legion of Honor for dlacore relatlTe to the manufacture of high plosives prowing out of hit resoart made primarily to render artificial stockinrs nonexplosive. STYLES KEEP WOMEN YOU Doeire far Latest and Prettiest Thl an Evidsnes of Wisdom, A?, cording to Authority. "Woman has gained bar political intellectual freedom," said Emll Kehn 1b an address before tin 1 York Retail Jewelers' convention Saratoga. "She has declared In pu and la private that never again ahe be the slave of men. But I 1 tare that she will remain the wll slave of fashion. The woman who declares she w< rather be dead than ent of fashion presses a thought in every worn mind. As it is a man's privilege to the bills, he may at times express pleasure. That man. however, wh permanently and chronically displei at or indifferent to milady's pretty becoming gown and beautiful jew is a brute and should be caged i other wild animals. "To he contented with the thouj and things of yesterday la to si still, and stagnation breeds decay, he sensitive to new Ideas is to youthful. Woman's desire to poa jewelry that la new and fashion: and beautiful la an evidence of gro and growth is the law of life." aft Light for Miners. Nowadays the up-to-date miner rles a package of electricity about v him while underground. It is a si storage battery attached to the t of his bait, and is connected by a < with a lamp fastened to the fron his cap. The lamp, provided with a reflet throws quite a flood of light in ft of the miner. But its chief advanl is absolute safety. In olden days miners (who mosl course, have light) carried about i them open-flame lamps. These cat Innumerable disastrous acctd through ignition of coal dust or gs Sir Humphry Davy's invention c safety lamp whose flame was prote by a wire gauze saved an 1mm< number of lives. It is la common today, but the electric mine lam] better and more convenient To Photograph a Star. A discovery may be made ph graphically by some astronomer fall or winter In the constellation G ini, according to Isabel M. Lewli the United States naval observat It will be a star of the fifteenth ma tode In an elliptical orbit and has t difficult to find and identify beet in the Milky Way there are count others that are brighter. The orbits of all the planets cepting Mercnry, are nearly per circles, and discovery of a planet terior to Neptune that moves li greatly elongated ellipse will st one more blow at the nebular hypo sis, which assumes, says Miss Le that the planets' almost circular or are due to the fact that originally 1 were thrown off as rings from y tracting. solar nebula. Irregularities in the motion of 1 tune indicate that the unseen plane drawing near to Neptune and du this period of conjunction astronon hope to determine the mass of the: body. \ Reclaiming Waste Places. Twenty years ago a news story f Washington savs land in the Louis! parish of Tangipahoa was worth cents an acre and human life worth scarcely anything at all. It a case of cause and effect Then the immigrants came. 1 were chiefly Italians and Hungari They had Jived at home on land ' was poorer than the Tangipahoa. T practiced intensive cultivation. Tc their parish is one or tne grea strawberry farming districts in United States. Land that soid for 50 cents is worth $100 an acre. And the scl authorities have practiced lnten cultivation on the human product that land. Americanization has a life worth more there than It ever before.?Binghamton 2fewa. ILK ??m ?? * ? CYPRESS " . SASH i \ DOORS i QtOT j ^ BLINDS jf ' | 51 \% % ] ?' <& ** MOULDINGS P** AM ft- ^NP > MILLWORK ttlCt ? ~y HK , ^^ <*n - 17 11 " . ? - M. D. NESMITH, . 0f >..: .r i. . uj cj i o r ?t DENTIST, t Lake City, S. C v, ( jim . KIN8STREE m wsfe7 wn,io. 46 '"'/^\A.F.M. Meets the second Thursday night and in each month. Visiting brethren W. cordially invited. B. R Clarkson, W. I s-e^ M., W. W. Holliday, Sec. 2-27-ly 5 A. M. SNIDER 1108 Surgeon Dentist mid Office at Residence t?5 Railroad Ave.. KINGSTREE pay CHARGES dl's- Full upper and Lower set $22.50. o Is Gold crowns $7.00. Bridges $7.00 per ised tooth. Extracting 504 per tooth or 4 for $1.00. No charge for extracting for bride or plate. Extracting free for children or persons over 70 years thu 0f ageand -- Te Rub-My-Tism is a powerful be antiseptic;, it kills the poison gess caused from infected cuts, cures able old sores, tetter, etc.?Adv. irth. .. . . car What Music ?ack i0* If None, Tn Thor tags : Wondc ents ises. if a cted snse use p Hear the Diamond ment that so thorough otothe voice of the world* I of nrv. Uama nnnlrl tint fp v ICM9 Wilt VWIMU uwi. ?v gnlluse and when the recorded less exfeet ex'Kav. ,UCJ day test the z ThefSteek f" ' KB iade * was i ? The all-the-year-roand Waists I for thrifty women. 4B J jL ^ The Wirthmor; 1 H NEW MODELS NOW ON SALE.' The WIRTHMOR might be truthfully termed the all- Hj . ^8 Season Waists, for they are worn throughout the entire year W V:? by thrifty women the nation over. || 8 This is due to their unusual excellence, their unfailing fa 8j dependability, their modest price, but perhaps more particular- II ly because of the fact that the NEWfctyles are constantly Be- fl ing developed and shown here but a brief time after their orig- II 8 i nation. J| And so its is that WIRTHMOR styles are always time- If 8 ly as well as tempting; appropriate as well as appealing; style- II I ful as well as serviceable. jr 88 In September we show the new September Models, just 4. I as in all the other months of the year we show the Models .11 1 made np for deliveries inthe respective Months. II fl II Still Priced at just || f The Same Low Price Everywhere. n I Wirthmor Waists can be sold at just one Good II I Store in every City?and they are sold here only. I I Kingstree Dry Goods Co., | ] Mail Stmt, KIHGSTSEE, S. C. J I r* r* .A Have You In Your Home? , 1 en Come to Our Store and See nas A. Edison's 1 r ' ;? rful Instruments Amberola, the musical instru- J ly re-creates and reproduces. ^ A j 1 s be? singers, that in actual ?m 11 just when the singer left off , B vnirA was sinflrinsr alone." * HH1MUH " 11 1?I ??= '' '>i No Needles! No Changes!! | # When you own an Edison you * never bother with needles. The fuss and bother of changing is gone frtfniroi* fnr \7A11 llCJVP d DrPnilinP I KJ X ^ V V.X ^ X V/ X J V/ % i 1AM V M VAAAA V Diamond stylus that never wears out. _____ > Come in and see these Wonderful Machines! ? H 5 Furniture Company NGSTREE, SO. CAROLINA. / * % > - i A'j( a ; Vfi - . M~k~ W'-" , J ' x . i