Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Fifty Cent Cotton Mr. E, W. Dabbs Belives That Now Is The Time to Fix Higher Prices Editor Daily Item: * The cotton association presents a formidable array of facts and figures showing that cotton should be much higher. A manufacturer is quoted as saying they could pay 65 to 75 cenjre per pound for cotton. This is all very interesting, but the association has not told us to hold for these figures. It said hold for 35 cents, and some are doing: so v hile many have sold at 31 to 33 cents. Three 3-ears ago when cotton was selling for 13 to 15 cents Mr. R. M. Cooper and I began a car paign fori 25 cents. The July 13th storm had j devastated Eastern Carolina. Today we have almost as bad rains without the wind. But we have so much wa ter on the soil (and I have seen be tween Darlington and my home hun dreds of acres under water from six to twenty-four, inches deep) every acre sobbed?that we can not make a normal crop. Some will not dry out in time to be cleansed of grass ?all will be cut from 1-4 to 1-2 by the excessive rains that have fallen for ten days.. You know Mr. Editor the "bears" watch the weather and we have thousands cf farmers who be lieve every "bear" report. We now have the kind of weather that runs the "bears" to cover, so this; is the psycological time to start a campaign for 50 cents cotton. Get our people to j stand for 50 cents for all on hand and j that now growing. It is just as rea sonable and fair as 25 cents was three years ago. We are justly entitled to 50 cents on the money situation aside from the size of the crop?50c under present world inflation is no more than 25 cents was in 1916-17. The average farmer and business man has no idea of the relation of the volume of money in circulation to prices, so we have to use a storm or a disastrous drought to make him be lieve that cotton should go higher. But once you get him to thinking about a certain price, he will stand for it. We may continue to say cotton is worth 65 to 75 cents per pound, but so long as our association lets 35 cents stand as the agreed price it will not go higher for there will always be enough to sell just below the price we say we should' have to keep market below our set price. Let us now set the price at 50 cents and there will be the same "old guard" to hold for that price, and the same sellers below that price, but the trend will be up ward and 50 cents will be reached and that right quickly. Every time we have named a price | to hold for we have reached it. I am writing the Southern Cotton Associa tion to come out squarely for 50 cents. If in theirxjudgment, with much bet ter opportunities to know all the conditions of trade they decide to name 65 cents or 75 cents as the price to stand for, I am with them? but I think this is the opportune time - to come out squarely for "two pounds fcr a Dollar." That is my price un . til the cotton association names a higher one. I have reached that con clusion by a careful review of all that has been published on the situation, and I base it not on damage to pres ent crop,, but on relative values meas- j ured in the biggest dollar crop the world has ever grown. I am willing to concede the mills the difference to keep them from raising goods to a point where consumption will be cut down. E. W. Dabbs. ~ S?^^s4?roj#Damage - Harvin, July 23.?Not within the I memory of the oldest, since and in eluding June 8th. has so much crop | damage been done by continuous, ex cessive rainfall. Just as the crops were about to recover to some - no-1 ticeable degree from the great hail I storm of June 8th, the rains com- j menced, and with only a few days of sunshine since then inestimable dam age has been wrought by unprecedent ed precipitation, which at this writ ing gives no promise of cessation. All crops in low lands are gone. Cotton j ' in the more favored high places from j a distance presents a favorable ap- j pearance but upon close examination | it has gone to weed and there is very j little fruit, with unusual shedding on i account of too great moisture. This crop and all others for that matter are grassier than ever known before j at this time of the year. This is due j in part to the scarcity of labor and j the general worthlessness of that which is obtainable, in a good many; cases. It is to the credit of the col- j ored people of this section that they did their part well before the hail and excessive rains, but since then with such a gloomy outlook they seem to have lost courage and inter est and in face of these disasters that have come and are still going on labor has not shown that fortitude and determination to continue and save what seems possible to save with the return at some distant time of favorable weather. With a late fall there is yet a chance for a top crop of cotton. The weather is par ticularly bad on the tobacco crop which is now over ripe in many in stances, much rotting in fields for lack of> opportunity to harvest and cure. The damage to rail and public high ways, the latter suffering greatest, and now being in almost impassable condition in many places, has not been as great as if all this rain had. 'as in other years, come more heavily in a shorter period. Senate Confirms Lever Washington. July 2L\?The senate today confirmed the nominations of Judge H. H. Watkins on the federal bench and Representative Lever to be a member of the farm loan board. Mr. Lever was out of the city today and a statement could not be secured from hirn as to the exact date he would take up his new duties, but it is un derstood to be August 1. Mr. I^ever nns secured a home at Chevy Chase, one of Washington's fashionable su burbs, and will shortly move there y?th his family. House Passes Drastic Prohibition Bill Dry Measure Sent to Senate By Votiof Nearlv Three to One Washington. July 22.?By a vote of nearly three to one. the house, weary of talk on prohibition, today passed a bill for its enforcement with provi sions and penalties so drastic as to bring from the men who framed it the prediction that it would forever suppress the liquor traffic on Ameri can soil. Exactly 100?52 Democrats and IS Republicans refused to support it. Against this even hundred, the prohi bitionists, putting up a solid front to the very last, polled 287 votes., and just as the result was announced, little girl in the gallery, too young to jknow what it was all about, leaned j over the railing and waved' a tiny ; flag. The house broke into applause, the * teries, only half filled, mean : whil oking on in silence. A broad smile spread over the faces! ! of the prohibition leaders, for the j measure was ready for the senate where, however, many of its restric tions may be modified or stricken out. The cloak room rumor persisted this 1 week that all of this legislative effort might end on the shoal of a presiden tial veto although the general view was that it would be signed as passed. Before the house put the bill on its passage one final, but feeble hand was reached forth to strike it down and put in its place a briefer and more liberal measure. This took the form a more liberal bill took the more drastic one later when there was no other choice. Representative Pou, Democrat, Xorth Carolina, an ardent prohibi tionist, voted against the bill, after having asserted that a law so severe as not to permit a farmer's wife to make a bottle of blackberry wine for her own use, never could be enforced, of a three paragraph bill by Repre sentative Igoe. Democrat of Missouri, introduced some days ago and offered today as a substitute for the general enforcement measure, if the hous? saw fit. But the house did not. Mr. Igoe's motion was defeated. 25 5 t? 136, and this vote analyzed meant that at least 36 members who favored Big Price For Land Investigation Reveals That Charleston Land Owners Tried To Hold Up Government Washington, July 22.?Having found that the price per acre now demanded from the government for land requisi tioned in building the embarkation terminal at Charleston, S. C. would represent "about. 10,000 per cent, in crease" over the purchase price of six years ago, the war department board of appraisers has submitted a report recommending a flat refusal. In stead of the $798,500 asked for the principal claimant, the report recom mends payment of $42.460 as a fair and just compensation for the prop erty and all damage resulting from the government's requisition. Lieut. Col. Ralph W. D?nges, chair man of the appraisal board, fixed a maximum value of $100 per acre as compared with $ 1,887 demanded by one claimant. "It is needless to say," the board's report said, "that very compelling reasons should be shown to warrant such a remarkable increase in values as are here claimed. It is reported that there was paid about $2,000 per acre for Hog Island within a mile or two of the third greatest city of the United States, and on the Delaware River on which is very great volume of shipping. And yet that transac tion was made the subject of investi gation and much adverse criticism. "Certainly a demand for the same price for marsh lands six and one half miles from Charleston is cause for careful, painstaking investigation to determine the . cause of such pro nounced increases from $8 an acre in 1908 and $35 in 1912 to over $1,800 in 1918." The claimants are identified in the report as the Filbin Corporation es tate of J. P. Lockwood, and the Char leston Farms Corporation, the last named being controlled by "Mr. Rhett. a banker who had just finished a term as mayor of Charleston." Comparison of the various claims and the awards made in each case follows: Claimed. Awarded. Charleston Farms Corporation ..$244.523 $59.436.50 Filbin Corporation 789.500 42.360 Estate T. P. Lock wood . . .. 31,775 Of the 1,530 acres requistioned by the government, the Charleston Farms Corporation held about 90') of which 2?>'l were said to he "salt marsh lands, having an elevation of approximately normal high tide and ? being covered at spring tide and storm j tides." The upland property was de f scribed as originally deriving "prac tically its entire value from the standing timber, cut over land' being of very little value." "The peninsula was a wilderness with no passable roads through it and visited only by th?- lumbermen working there and an- occasional hunter." Colonel D?nges found, and rails attention ic tin- fact that prop erty in the center of the city's water front sold recently for from $380 to $2.300 per acre. During the last t<-n years only t%v. new industries have located mar th< property in question, the report] shows. These industries i>:iid less than half the price asked for the terminal j property although they secured in l>oth cases water and retail faciltie. entirely lacking in the acreage now involved. Of the witnesses produced by the claimants to hear out th<> val ue placed on the property Colone' D?nges describes four as "promoter: of the project and naturally saw fu ture possibilities rather than presen' values. It was evident that none o: the witnesses had made a earefu analysis of conditions in order to testi , fy in a helpful way, Tt was apparent that all projected their imagination into the future." i j Veterans in Greenwood Annual Reunion Attended by Nearly Five Hundred Old Con federates Greenwood. July 22.?A gray clad army, 500 strong, commanded by Muj. ! Gen. W. A. Clark of Columbia invaded Greenwood today, the occasion being the annual reunion of the South Caro lina Division, United Confederate Vet erans. Never was a city more peace fully and joyfully occupied. "A liner set of men never walked God's green earth," declared Dr. John O. Wilson, j president of Lander College, in a few chosen words of welcome to the veterans. Representatives of every oi> ganization, business, municipal and : professional in Greenwood told them of the city's pride in having them as guests. Responses by representatives of veterans, sons of veterans and j Daughters of the Confederacy left no doubt that the visitors were just as happy to be here. G'>v. Robert A. Cooper greatly pleased the large aud ience when in a. short address at the afternoon session he declared that the Confederate soldier is loyal today as he was in 1861 and that the cause for which he fought was the same that has become a principle now with a majority of the nations of the world. The governor said that he had had abundant opportunity to test the pa triotism of the veterans in Red Cross and Liberty loan drives in all sections I of South Carolina last year when he found that every single Confederate l soldier had the fighting spirit and showed no respect for the citizen who was not 100 per cent for his ! country. I Discussing the question of State rights the( governor said that he be lieved in the constitution of the fath ers as understood by Jefferson and j Madison and that if he could so change things he would tie to that stake. He pointed out that every po-' sition in the sectional issue maintain- j ed by the South was upheld by the j constitution and sustained by the su preme court. The doctrine of State rights has never been repudiated. The Confederate soldier, said the chief executive, has taught the world not only how to fight but how to die, and the military tactics of Generals Lee and Jackson had been adopted in all succeeding wars. "The martial spirit of '61 had exhibited itself on the oth er side of the sea." The governor issued a note of warn ing against the threatening dispropor tion between material prosperity and ?educational facilities and pleaded for an increase in every educational insti tution in the State ' from top to bot tom." He also expressed deep anxiety j of the wave of lawlessness, stating that there had been a homicide in the! State for every day in the year, and calling upon all citizens to create a| sentiment for law enforcement. He asked each individual to study the cit-1 uation seriously from his own respon sibility. By a vote of 44 to 13 a resolution adopted at a recent meeting of Camp Hampton in Columbia and presented by Gen. Fuller Lyon, calling upon the South Carolina division to appoint a committee of three to go before the next session of the general assembly and ask for a repeal of the pension act proposed at the last session was tabl ed. The vote was taken from the floor, all veterans being permitted a voice, and came after a spirited and some times heated debate for more than two hours. The resolution, stated that the act was "ill advised and unjust" and admits veterans who are not needy! while it reduces the amount of those who are in need of support. General Lynn. General Walker and Commander W. H. Yeldell. of Green wood, were the leading spirits of the resolution while pension Commission- j er McLaurin. John M. Grier. of Green- j ville, and several others argued that the law should stand as it is. Mr. McLaurin stated that the pension sys- \ tern is being operated on a cheaper J basis than before the act was pro duced. Gen. C. Irvine Walker of Charles ton voted for the resolution stating that he did so in accordance with in structions from Camp Sumter of vhich he is a member. The city of Sumter has extended an .nvitation to the veterans for the 19l'0 reunion. The feature of the morning exer cises was the annual oration of Col. James Armstrong, a member of the1 editorial staff of the Charleston News and Courier, who was introduced by General Clark as the hero of many battles and who bears on his person wounds which will accompany him to his grave. Colonel Armstrong's ad j dress abounded in wit and humor. At th" morning session weIcon.*ng addresses were delivered by C. A. Mays for Mayor Hartzog. Secretary Warren Kinp:. for the Chamber of Commerce and Dr. John O. Wilson, president of Lander College. Responses were made by Col. John H. Wharton of Waterloo. Con. J. Fuller Lyon and Proctor A. Bonham of Greenville, representing the sons of veterans. Mrs. A. J. Sproles. presidenl of the local chapter of United Daughters of Confederacy read an address of wel-' come which was responded to by Mrs John Car' of Orangeburg. State pres ident. > A bountiful dinner was served the veterans in the rear of the court house, where the meetings were held. Today's program was concluded with a social session at Gibbes Hall this evening, when ih" United Con federate Veterans leaders, veteran* sponsors, maids and matrons of hon or were presented and a dance was given in honor of the visitors. .Miss .Mary K. Poppenheini. presi den; general of the United Daughters uf Confederacy, who was to have de livered an address, was unable to be present. Mexico City. July ">.?People <>f tin state of Morelos. relieved by Ihe death of Zapata and of the horrors of seven years of war. are giving themeselves over almost exclusively :<? mining. Iron and steel manufacturers in tin ? --Intal are said to be receiving steady shipments of ores from Morelos and plans for mining development in the entire state are being made. When the Firs to HE twisted the leaf into a pigtail. Soon tobacco ?ot to fee used for money. Man bought Iiis wife with. it. As time went on, he wanted his tobacco man ufactured to suit his refined taste. That's why tobacco chewers demand Moonshine is made from double old stock properly blended to produce an un equalled plug,. It is distinctive because of its flavor and deliciousness. Every plu? of "Moonshine" contains proof of our experience in producing a tobacco so g>ood that it can't even be successfully imitated, Thousands of chewers use it and enj oy "That .Mellow Flavor. Large 20c and 30c Plugs Manufactured by BAILEY BROTHERS, INC. WINSTON-SALEM, N. C. Established 1870 The Camdcn Bridge Last week we made some comment on the slow progress being made in the matter of the construction 'if the bridge over the Wateree river. We have since been pleased to leam, thai while the progress bus been slow from the first that within the past couple of weeks or more the work has been pushed with considerabh show of pro gress and if kept up at the pace i; has been going for the past several weeks there will be strong reason 10 look for its early completion. We were certainly pleased to learn that progress on this work has picked up considerably, and hope that the y*U may he completed in time at a or the accommodation of fall trat ic.- -Wateree Messenger. London. .July 1.?"A ghastly jok< " is what Joseph Ralph, of Sansulito, Calif., calls the English telephone s\ - tern, in a letter to Tin- Daily Tele gtanh. "j am absolutely mystified how a practical people like the 'ait isk can tolerat? for rwenty-fiv mm- I utes the pathetic travesty for a tele phone service with which you are afflicted, 'he also says. Ko writes approvingly of American telephone facilities. New Movie Device (Correspondence of Associated Press1?! London. .June L".<. -A. Mollock has attracted attention by exhibiting bo fore tin- Royal Society a new f-?rm i?f cinematograph which, it is said, will prove of distinct value. At preseni pictures are often shown at a rate considerably higher than that at which the photographs wore taken in order to avoid the flickerings dv? to intermittent illumination. Mol lock's model, it is clair illuminates the screen continuously .iius allowing Lie picture to be shown at any rat? desired?either slower or faster iha the speed at which the events occur rod* Iiis National Bank o! South Carolina -vi THf SA?- if of Sumter With 5 of our men returned from the Service and with Assets $2,000,000.00 Wc are better prepared than ever to Serve You C. G. ROWLAND, Preside.!*. F.* E. HINNANT. Cashier. XEILL O'DOXN'KIL, President LL THEY COME o. T.. VAXES. Cashier Practiially every day we are adding new names to our list of J depositors. There must be a reason. Can you guess what it is? If you can't we might be able to en lighten you. Drop in and talk it over with us. The First National Bank SUMTER, S. C. i !