The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, April 12, 1919, Image 5
The Fight For a Fair Price
For Cotton Not
Yet Over
SOUTH MUST ORGANIZE
AND STAND TOGETHER
System of Financing and Mar
keting Crop Must Be Control
led^ South.
Editor The Sumter Item:
The great service rendered by your
good paper and the splendid editor
ials you are giving us are doing a
great deal.to assist not only the pro
ducers and business interests of our
State, but to assist in upbuilding the
general welfare thereof, and is re
sulting in a great good to many sec
tions of the entire belt. We have
taken the liberty of time and time
and time again sending to various
sections of the belt copies of your
paper and editorials from same. In
addition, it affords us great pleasure
to frequently note that your editor
ials bearing on the subjects which we
handle are copied by the press in va
rious sections of the belt.
We ? appreciate so much all that
you are doing. It is indeed a source
of great satisfaction to have asso
ciated with us in this work, which
means so much to the South, not
only your splendid paper, but your
deep personal interest.
I sincerely hope you can find time
to give special consideration to the
various resolutions passed at the re
cent convention in Columbia, which
resolutions will appear in the press
throughout the State, including of
course your good paper, on Sunday.
There are several matters contained
therein of vital importance to not
only our State but to the entire
South.
Cotton Reserve Banks and Marketing
_ Corporation.
This matter is receiving the at
tention of every section of the cot
ton belt. The leading business men
and financiers of the South state in
jnany cases that it will absolutely
revolutionize the South. Establish
ing one of these banks and corpora
tions within our State would mean
untold benefit to the entire State, in
addition to the good it will sufficiently
meet with your approval, and that
you will urge that the business inter
ests of South Carolina and your city
wake up and take steps to secure the
location of one of these chains of
hanks and corporations within the
borders of South Carolina.
Change in Banking Laws.
The, change in the banking laws
I
permitting extension of credit on cot
ton will do a great deal to prevent
forced sales of cotton which occurs
in the fall of the year, as the pro
ducer is unable to secure additional
credit under existing banking laws.
Aside from this, it will be a tremen
dous recv r nendation as to the val
ue of cotton. I sincerely hope that
you can advocate this change.
Cost of Production.
The matter of the cost of produc
tion of cotton is of vital importance.
Cotton had never recovered from the
blow it received when it was stated
that one of the hading officials of the
nation had issued the statement that
25c per pound, basis middling", for
cotton was a fair price. This state
ment resulted in the loss of millions
to the South. It has resulted in a
dispute as to the cost of production in
the South. The Federal Reserve
Bank has stated that the cost of pro
duction of cotton is 2J l-2c for 1918
(that is being the cost, basis middling
for September cotton, the cost. of
course increasing as the season ad
vanced.) Since that time they state
that the cost of 1919 will increase
one-third, which means 30c, basis
middling:. Information we have se
cured through experts show, basing
the cost or just as fair rules, includ
ing articles entering into the cost,
less all lands, wear and tear and
compensation for the farmer him
self (based on an equitable com
pensation as compared with va
rious other lines, a compensation in
which ability, experience and time
could be used) that, in this way. the
cost of production of cotton will be
considerable in excess of the amount
shown by the Federal Reserve Board,
for the coming year. There is a wide,
spread belief and suspicion that the
cost of production as shown by this
department of the government is in
correct on not only cotton but various
other articles of production. An agi
tation along these lines through the
press will certainly prove beneficial.
Urgent Request for Investigation.
The ice in this matter lias certainly
been broken. The investigation has
been requested in public in a meet
ing which was attended by fully L
500 representatives of the best citi
zens of South Carolina, also repre
sentatives from North Carolina, Geor
gia, Alabama and other sections (the
newspapers stated that there were
between S00 and 1,000 in attendance,
which writeup was issued before the
arrival of a great number of dele
gates), I am sending you under sep
arate cover marked copy containing
article bearing on the "War Industries
Board. In addition to this we have
numerous letters on the subject, and
it is the profound belief throughout
the country that th*s investigation
should be made; that there is some
thing radically wron^fe The head of
the War Industries Hoard, as you of
course know, is now on the Peace
Commission and has charge Of the
commercial side of sann . A read
ing of the resolutions mentioned will
show that the senators and congresSr
men of South Carolina are either
compelled to take steps in this direc
tion, or shirk their, duty, and if they
fail it will bring down on their heads
;a storm they cannot escape. This
[request was unanimous in the con
vention.
Your paper has never shirked a
duty. I urge that you stand behind
this request; the truth never hurts,
land the investigation should be hail
ed, with deep satisfaction. The Re
publican press unhesitatingly states
' that the investigation will be made
and a sensation and scandal unearth
ed. "An ounce of prevention is
worth ten pounds of cure." It would
! certainly be far better for the in
!vestigation to be requested now than
to be forced by our enemies later.
Then, in justice to the greatest pres
ident who has ever served this o* m
I try, President Wilson, who of co*.se
in absolutely ignorant of ail of these
conditions. 1 feel that this step is en
! tirely justifiable.
' The action of your good paper will
have a great deal of bearing upon the
decision of the congressmen and sen-'
i ators from our State as to what steps
they will take in regard to the mat
te . They are requested to meet in I
? Columbia on April 15th. ]
j Assuring you that your action in
ithis matter will be highly appreciat
ed, i am, with very best wishes,
j Very sincerely yours.
J. S. Wanna maker.
Chairman.
Columbia, April S, 101 0.
j Agreement on Saare
Valley
-
Council of Four Leaves Sover
I eignty Unchanged, But France
Gets Coal Duty Free
j Paris, April 9 (By the Associated
j Press).?The council of four reached
! an agreement this afternoon on the
Sarre valley. The agreement leaves
j sovereignty over the valley unchang
i ed but accords to France free of duty
[sufficient coal for the Lorraine iron
industry and to replace the produc
tion of the mines destroyed in the
I Lens mining district with the priv
ilege to the Germans of restoring the
j Lensminesa.nd S90S X..6 6 6 6660
j Lens mines and thus relieving the
Sarre valley of that charge.
This agreement removes one of the
: mos; difficult obstacles tot he conclu
sion of peace. ?
I Chinese Women Adopt New Styles.
Papeete. Island of Tahiti. Feb. 20
j (Correspondence)?The Chinese wo
I men of Papeete have, with one ac
i cord, discarded their national dress
! of oil-cloth pantaloons and tunic and
[adopted the semi-European dress of
[the Tahitian belles of the'town. This
; includes the highest of high heeled
French shoes.
The result has been the indiction of
much torture which the women are
enduring with the greatest fortitude.
For centuries tin y have trod the bos
om of mother earth barefooted but
today they parade the length of the
beach road proud in their new ac
quisition. As soon as they are out of
the public eye off come the shoes
and they return to their dwellings, af
ter the fashion of their ancestors?
carrying their shoes.
Sensational Termination of
Peace Conference Hinted
At in Latest Reports
PRESIDENT'S TRANSPORT
ORDERED TO FRANCE
! President Not Believed to Con
I template Immediate Use for
Ship But Will Be Prepared
I Paris. April 7 (By the Associated
j Press).?President Wilson's orders
'that the United States transport
; George Washington proceed immedi
Jately to a French port have aroused
[much comment here and are even
construed by some officials as pre
! liminary to a determined move to
force an agreement at an early date
by the conference.
As is usual in such cases, various
rumors were soon in circulation, and
I before night one report was current
j that the president had delivered an
j ultimatum to the effect that he would
I withdraw from the conference unless
an agreement was reached wit] in -!S
hours. It is confidently ?s "ted by
j those close to the president that he
j did not contemplate any such action.
I but the same authorities have no
i hesitation in declaring that the pres
j ident has made his position plain on
the questions at issue and it is believ
I ed his determination to adhere to this
position is fixed.
j The summoning of the George
' Washington will place the president in
such a position, it is pointed out. that
he can not be embarrassed by having
to wait for the transport should the
time come when he might wish,
owing to failure of the peace dele
| gates to agree or unwarranted delay
I in finding a settlement of the peace
j question, to withdraw from the dis
I cussions. The belie minion tha-:
j President Wilson wii. i.Ot hesitate to
! take definite action if a deadlock is
j actually reached.
Tf. however, the council of four
! succeeds in reaching an agreement
land the presence of President Wilson
j for a longer time is deemed advisable
! the George Washington would be
iavailable for the transport of troops
I to the homeland, and would then be
ready to return at a later date for the
presidential party.
Andernach. German^ Feb. IS (Cor
respondence)?If there is one thins
more than another that American
sailors like to write back to the
United States it is 'We're marching
toward the Rhine.' It is a rare mar
who can resist the letter-writing urge
when he is able to start his espistk
"Somewhere in Germany."
American Relief Work
Tw? American Workers Have
Exciting Adventures in
Darkest Russia
Omsk, Siberia, Feb. 12 (Corre
spondence of The Associated Press)?
Exciting adventures have fallen to the
lot of Mrs. Carl C. Compton, of Chi
cago, who, with American woman
ly pluck, has accompanied her hus
band in many months of humanitar
ian relief work among the Armen
ians and later during the most excit
ing moments of the Bolshevik revo
lution. They had never left Illinois
before coming to the Caucasus for the
Committee on Armenian Relief. Naw,
Mr. Compton is in charge of the
American Young Men's Christian As
sociation work at Oms.v.
They wer first stationed at Alex
andropol, Caucasus. then$ in the
hands of the Russians, and were
occupied with industrial relief work.
Positions w re found for refugees as
they arrived, fleeing from Turkey.
They estimate that they and other
members of the corps distributed
clothing for 15,000 Armenian or
phans, whose parents had been mas
sacred by the Turks. Help was fur
nished to about 60,000 refugees.
Then, suddenly, the Russian revo
lution developed. The Bolsheviki
abandoned the battle front and the
Turkish army advanced. It was
feared that the Germans would come j
down the Black Sea and seize the line ;
from Batum to Tifiis. The American
consul advised all the Amer ns to
! leave at once, and a spe rain
j conveying sixty foreigners finaiii ar
l rived at Baku on the Caspian Sea.
i There they were caught in a battle
I between Bolsheviki and Armenians
I on one side and Tartars on the other,
j The street in which they lived was
f dominated by Tartars who sprayed
I the roadway with machine-gun bul
j lets. P^or three days they did not
J dare leave the house and had only
j bread to live on. Eventually, by pay
i ing a high price, they were able to
j charter a special steamer for Astrak
| han. which is situated at the mouth
j of the Volga. "We had to sleep on
the deck throughout the whole trip,"
' said Mrs. Compton. "The crew and
the families of the crew slept in the
cabins, and refused to give them up.
'AVe waited for two weeks for the
ice to break up in the Volga and then
we went up to Samara. The others
went on to Vladivostok. The Bolshe
viki were in possession of Samara
then, but we were able to carry on
general relief. Thousands of refu
gees ' me through and we started a
soup kitchen at the station. Later,
maternity and general hospitals were
organized.
?'We had rather an exciting time at
Samara when the Czechs came in. We
lived not far from the river between
the Bolshevik barracks and the prin
cipal Bolshevik club of the city. The
place drew most of the shell fire from
the Czech army. Bullets came
through our windows and our roorc
became filled with brick dust from th<
exploding shells. The Bolshevik sol
diers lay flat upon the club roof an<
fired down on the Czech soldiers, sO
we had a very good view of the fight
ing. From my jyindow I could have
touched the Bolshevik troops with my
hand.
"We were awfully glad to get down
into the cellar. There was a slit in
the wall and we could see the end of
the battle. Finally , we heard the
Czechs cheering, and saw people run
ning from the houses, all making the
sign of the cross. The Czechs had
won. Everybody put on their best
clothes and paraded in the streets
with bands. Collections were taken
up for the Czechs, who were hailed
as heroes and deliverers.
"When the Bolsheviki had the city
we would see them lying in the
streets. They were always chewing
sun-flower seeds." .
Mr. Compton said he had never
seen any Bolshevik atrocities but he
had seen proclamations issued by the
Bolsheviki declaring they would
butcher the people if they captured
the city. He said that once a Bolshe
vik broke into an American's room: ]
but had immedia'tely apologized, add
ing that America was the only friend
Russia had.
Mr. Compton also said that Rus
sian officers told him nine-tenths of
people became Bqlsheviki because
they didn't have enough to live on,
and because they thought anything
would be better than their present
condition. _
New Type Warship
London, Feb. 20 (Correspondence)
There is now lying at Clydebank,
nearly completed, a remarkable
"hush" boat of the British navy,
which, according to the shipping pa
per, Fairplay, is something notable
in the history of naval architecture.
This is the Hood, a battle-cruiser
of extraordinary size, speed and gun
power and which would, says Fair
play "have inaugurated new methods
of naval fighting and shown the Ger
mans that we are still far ahead of
them in naval construction."
The prospect of an early termina
tion of hostilities caused work to be
eased on this great vessel, but in or
der to make room for merchant
shipping the Hood has been nearly,
completed and is now out of the
fitting basin.
Fairplay says the vessel "is under
stood to be the finest combination of
size, speed, gun-power and light ar
mor yet dreamed of, and farther
ahead of the present "hush boa's"?
the Courageous class?than these
were of the Lion and Tiger. As she
! lies at Clydebank the Hood seems to -
I fill all the space which was at one
I time occupied by the Lusitania, and
a. war vessel as long as the Lusitania
?to say nothing of her other features
?is something notable in the history
! of naval architecture."
Southampton, Feb. 24 (Corr'espond
; ence)?The U. S. S. Yale, which;is
l engaged in the English Channel ser
i vice between Southampton and
i France, claims the record of the
i United States Navy in having carried
- 140,00C American soldiers without ac
i cident or mishap of any kind.
taasam ???^??i?mmm
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Nearly every man and boy wants to look well at the Easter Season.
A iid it is not always necessary to buy a whole outfit, at once, to do so. But
it is a good idea to freshen up a little on you dress at this time. We ac
commodate you in any article you may need.
Buy Where you get merchandise of the best quality. We have the
largest stock in Eastern Carolina to select from.
Copyright 1919 Hart Schaffner & Mars
All Wool Blue Sege Suits. $20.00 To
Fancy Worsted and Cassimere Suits .... 18.00 To
Knox, Schoeble, and Stetson Haats .... 3.50 To
Lion and Bates-Street Shirts . 1.50 To
...1.50 To
Bostonian and Hanan Oxfords. 6.50 To
$55.00
75.00
Varsity, M?nsing, and Rockingchair
Underwear.
10.00
5.00
12.
o.
W. A. BRYAN, Manager
The Home of Hart Schaffner & Marx Clothes