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The Watchman and Southron Ptfbfcsired%::Wedjiesday and Satur day by -Dsteen Publishing Company, Sumter. S. C. ?Terms: $2.00 per annum?in advance. Advertisements: One Square, first msertion .. $ 1.0 0 E:ife^ sttJ)6equeiit insertion -- .5-0 Contracts, for three months or longer .will be made at reduced rates. - All communications which sub serve private interests will ^e . charged for as advertisements. . Obituaries and tributes of re spect will be- charged for. *T*he. Sumter Watchman was Sounded" in 1S450 ^and the True Southron in 186C. The Watchman .-and--Southron now has the com bined circulation and influence of both -of the old papers, and is manr ifestiy the best advertising medium in ?Sumter. THE COrNTT WTDE CONFER ENCE. ? . ? Hr. - R. E. Belser, as chairman on--Marketing Associations, has called a conference of the people of Sumfer county to be held n the Court House , on Monday, August 29th for the purpose of serious.ly and practically considering agricul tural and industrial crisis that confronts this county, as the result of the ravages of *Joe boll weevil,' which render it impossible to grow cofton . in the future as the sole rnoney cr?p^ For years the well Informed and.forward looking offi cials of the. department of agricul ture ?nd Clemson College have been warning, the cotton growers of SoutKiCaxcJina that the boll wee vilCwxiuld,eventually make thev growing'of cotton, as a speecialty and:.at the. expense of a well bal anced system of farming, not only j unprofitable* but impossible, and j have urged them to get ready for j the coming of the weevil by alter- j ing their methods. Few have heed- j ed the warnings and with individ ual, jexaeptions here and there the farmers of.. Sumter county have, done nothing to prepare themselves ?to continue' farming under boil weevil ?conditions. * | The weevil has been in "Sumter ] county for. -three years. The first j year .a few. weevils appeared, late in ^the^geason and did no damage. Th*;?ecohd year the weevils were no^^ame^dus and the weather eon^pjo%s v/ere unfavorable to the ra^i^^apltip.lication of. the pests. consequently, the damage was inconsiderable. This, the third a*eg?r?C0Kdit3ohs have been ideal for The weevlis and disastrous for the cott?a^rrow^ers. l*ast year Sumter county" produced, "in ' round num "bers, sixty thousand bales of cot tonl ; This year the total crop con iotT^xceed -fifteen thousand bales, ?according-to the most optimistic es timates*- Every nook ar.d -corner of the Purity is infested with weevils and" it is. reasonahle to assume , that little cotton can be, grown next, year. Under these , conditions the e?ff?rr growers are face to face TC&fe?a crisis, and they must, to save ^themselves from ruin, do something to revolutionize their farming ami'marketing methods. The foundation of all business and industry in Sumter county is arid has bgen for years the growing of ^Cottcrtr* ? business is to go on some other-rrop or crops must be substituted, in a very large measure for .cotton.- Under boll weevil con ditlons cotton can be produced Only as a - subsidiary crop. The chief dependence for agricultural prosperity must be diversified farm jjlJSf-h -stock .raising, fruit, truck, poetry, etc. How this radical change is to be made and made as ob^lcly as the conditions render -^^erative is the problem that mtf&t be solved. Therefore it is es sential that the county-wide con ference, called by Mr. B* 'ser, and fher neighborhood conferences that are- being, held* throughout the county under the leadership of County Agent J. Frank Williams and- the Home Demonstration Agent, Miss Caro Truluck. should be ^generally attended and wisely directed. ? Other afcrions have readjusted "^thjeraselves to the changed condi tions and have become more pros perous than ever before, despite the boH weevils-and the destruction of cotton growing as a speecialty. Sumter county has every* natural resoucce.i2JLsoil and climate and better marketing facilities, due to the^ rle'?rn'ess"to the great markeets of^the eastern section of the coun try," than other boll weevil sections, an<l by~pr?pei* methods of diversi fied farming, by organization and co-operation Sumter county can be made more prosperous than ever before. - PUBLIC OWNERSHIP. His Excellency Tomasso Tittoni, president of the Italian senate, speaking before the Williams Col lej5j? Institute of Politics, character ized government ownership and op eration of kidustries as "economic for]y," though admitting it might sometimes be justified on grounds of public safety. He cited in sup ! port of his contention the Results j and effects of some Italian experi j ments in;state and municipal own ership. "Municipal, and especially state, ownership," said the. distinguished Italian," can never have for its ob ject simply ' economic advantage. People generally expect from gov ernment-run industries the latest improvements and the best com modities, little caring whether the concern is in financial condition to pay for them: or. whether it means J going into4ebt. Thus, every public j concern' must, in ; order to content the peopje,. lend t^rard the free distribution of. eommodities." ; It is hard to quarrel with Signor Tittqni's conclusions, for the recent experiences of Russia and of many another country, -not to mention j our own, are fresh in the public I mind. Yet very few will deny that, if the question be considered in the abstract, there are at least two side's to it?not counting the sides of those who hope to profit by state ownership in financial or political ways. The real difficulty?and we must regret that Signor^ Tittbni did not elaborate upon it?is that most of us are no more qualified to partici pate intelligently In the manage ment of public utilities, even by our votes, than we are to pass upon intricate questions Of financial pol icy or the involved details of dip lomatic negotiations. In business, as in government (and the two are pretty much in distinguishable in this generation) we can all sjand a. lot of educat ing.'-;-; ?;? ';,./ ;J ". .- . - m ? ? . - RECALL IX ?S?RTH DAKOTA. North Dakota's recall election, aimed at the-' Non-Partisan Leag?ers in the state: administra tion, is now .assured.. More than enough signatures 4*ave been ob .** ? --<?"?? ? ?'- > ? t?ined to the petition, and the date has been tentatively set for No vember 1. It is not .to be a political elec tion in the generally accepted sense of the word. - Republicans and Democrats will not count, as such. The question is, briefiy, "Are the voters of North Dakota for the Non-Partisan League, or are they tired of its promises?" The election is . of more than state-wide, interest. ... Every Ameri can who has followed ttis experi ment in State -Socialism, e^ery stu dent of economics and govern ment and, of course, every poli tician, is keenly interested. So is every hopeful, and every embitter ed radical. Just; now the Leaguers are at a disadvantage. The .Rank of North Dakota k not honoring ^he checks pf its depositors. The Mill and the Home. Building Associations, of j .which much : was . - expected, have j stopped work with no. record of worthwhile, accomplishment. The Chain .stores and,newspapers which were to simplify the farmer's prob lems and. fight his battles are no longer .active. There seems no mar ket for the state :bonds, which have been offered extensively in Chicago and New York and through the columns of publications which strive to create and capitalize un rest. The enemies of the League are confident. They expect to. oust Governor Frazier, Attorney-General Lemke and Labor Commissioner H?gen, and they point to last fail's election, when the governor won by .4,600 votes and Harding by 12.2,000, as evidence, that the Non-Partisan outfit's grip upon the state is far from strong. ? The Leaguers, on . their -part, profess a similar assur ance. . . ; However^ the recall vote goes, none need worry about the future of North Dakota. The great mass of the people are sane, hard-work - ng, full of. faith;.hi themselves. Whatever the. result of the -election, they will one day solve their prob lem, and correctly. ?' ?? ? ? I SCRIPTrBE.BEADING. Bible reading is said to be mark- i edly on the increase, and it is ex plained by persons conversant with j such matters that this is largely due to the Pocket Testament j League. The League's pledge is simple?to 1 carry a Testament constantly in one's pocket and to read a chapter daily. It binds one to no church or creed or open profession of re ligion, yet its effect in spiritual up j lift is said to be plain and far- j j reaching. There are branches of | i the league all over the country. ! Where the idea has been given ! i j j publicity it uas been followed by an i I awakening of interest among in- j j dividuals who formerly had appear- ? j ed to be entirely hound up in secu-; lar affairs. Chapters of the league in many of the big states' prisons 1 beor witness that "the Testaments j are worth their weight in gold" for j their effect upon the readers. The habit of daily reading of the j Scriptures is a good one. All of: 1 1 the great truths upon which life is founded are there set forth, simply and powerfully. And aside from the Bible's moral and spiritual qualities, it is a handbook of pure and beautiful speech, a well-spring of romance and a record of history with few equals in any tongue. If the Pocket Testament League fur- : thers acquaintance with it, human ity stands to benefit. - PRICES AND .PROSPERITY. One of the big banking concerns of the country sees indications of returning prosj>erity. and sees them in-advancing prices. The price rise j is mainly in the wholesale world, j and has been noted in Japan and j Great Britain for the past month j or two, showing that the turn of the tide is general. The poor commoner who knows i little of finance has pinned his faith | rigidly to descending prices. To j him the idea of returning prosper ity being indicated by a price rise is a polite invitation to believe that black is white. But none the less it is true. The hope comes in right here? wholesale dealers no longer are forced to keep cutting prices in or der to move , their-stocks. Purchas ers enough have appeared to keep business moving, and to deplete stocks sufiieiently so.that the buyer is wiling to pay a little more to in sure a supply of the commodity he wants. This means that somewhere n in the retail world there is a stir ring, and also that money is freer, I so that necessary payments can be j met. People are getting over their i scare. When business moves, that; means employment* and that in ! turn increased purchasing power,! and so the big wheel begins to j move. Florence Beats Camden Murray's Two-Bagger Sends Over Winning Scores Florence, Aug. 22.?Florence won from Camden here today by a score of 2 to 1 in one of the most interesting and exciting games of the season. Both pitchers were in fine form. Camden scored in the second on Murray's error. Murray i drove in Florence's two runs in the eight with a two-base hit ..over j second. Patterson at short and i Wilson at second featured for Cam. den. Sherrill pitched a splendid game for Camden and was not in danger except in the eighth. Warn er pitched a great game from start to finish. Ephie Holmes did stel- j lar work as catcher for Florence. The two teams play in Florence Tuesday and Wednesday. Peters will pitch for Camden and Reeves for Florence tomorrow. Score: Camden.3 2 Florence ._2 3 6 Sherrill and Rhame; Warner and Holmes. ? ? ? New Counterfeits Circulating Washington, Aug. 23.?Warning of the circulation of four new counterfeeit federal reserve notes of fifty, twenty, ten and five dol lar bills is announced by the treas ury. # ? ? New Prohibition Officer W'ashington. Aug. 22.?Federal prohibition directors were named today by Internal Revenue Com missioner Blair as follows: South Carolina: Maj. George C. ! Bowen, Greenwood, succeeding W. F. Robertson. Mississippi: W. H. Daily of Cold- \ water, succeedng W. Calvin Wells, j Man Sues Wife For Alimony Minneapolis, Aug. 23.?Benjamin Liss has filed suit against his wife, Minnie, "for support and alimony" and the question whether the gain ing of the votes makes a woman liable to pay alimony, is under con sideration by the court here. Boll Weevil in Up Country j Greenwood. Aug. 22.?Farmers , answering a questionnaire sent out | by The Index-Journal estimate the boll weevil damage to the cotton crop this year in Greenwood county at 50 per cent. A few estimate the damage in the southron part of the county as high as 75 per cent. They declare that the cotton looks bet ter than usual for this season of the year but it has no fruit on it. Farmers are already planning for j the next year with the hope of i meeting boll weevil conditions. Sys- j terns of cooperative marketing as- j sooiations. by means of which truck j crops may be marketed, are being j advocated. In answering th.e questionnaire sent out farmers were practically unanimous in declaring that the old system of all cotton would prove certain ruin and more food and forage crops had to be raised. Fatal Wreck in Colorado Grand Junction. (''>lo.. Aug. 24.? The engineer was killed and 25 passengers injured in a wreck on the Denver and Rio Grande west bound passenger train. No. I, thir teen miles east of here earlv today. Camden Forfeits Game in Florence Decision as to Pitcher Leaving Box When Batter Changes Was Cause of Wrangle Florence. .Aug. 24.?The base-j ball game stood Florence 4 to Cam den 2 in the last half of the sixth here today. Two men were down and none was on bases when Cotton of Florence, batting right handed, walked behind the catcher and changed to bat left handed. The Camden pitcher was out of the j box. as claimed by the Florence J players and the umpire. An argu- i ment arose as to whether or not j the batter was out. Umpire Burch ruled the batter was not out. Man ager Mallonee of Camden with- j drew his men from the field and i refused to continue to play. Umpire { Burch forfeited the game to Flor- J ence, 9 to 0. It was a very un fortunate occurrence and is to be regretted especially so on account of the splendid sportsmanlike spir it that prevailed at the first two games. Florence plays HartsviUe here tomorrow and Friday. ? ? ? j Mayesville News Items Concord and St. Charles Meet on Mayesville Diamond Mayesville, Aug. 24.?A very in teresting game of ball was played between; Concord and St. Charles this afternoon on the Mayesville diamond. The game was carried ; through in fast time. All enjoyed the fun caused, by one of the play el's, the manager, Mr. Watkins, who was an older man. He seemed afraid of batting, jumped back from the first ball thrown and the next he ducked low and the ball struck his bat behind him. From the way he acted it looked very much as if he was scared speech less. Batteries, Concord, Du Rant and Brown. St. Charles, McCutchen and ! Wilkes. Score 2 to . 1 in favor of | Concord. Mr. Laskey, one of our dry goods merchants is moving his entire! stock of merchandise to Mt. Tabor, j X. C. We certainly will miss him. j But business is so dull it does not j pay him to remain here. Mr. A. F. Ragan, the A. C. L. operator, spent a very pleasant evening over near St. Charles at a picnic given by Miss Carodel Wil son on Tuesday. Beer Price Declines j - j Good News For Canadians of Northwest Victoria, B. C, Aug. 23.?Price j of beer dropped today from $4 to - $3.50 a dozen quarts. Weekly Government Crop Condition j Report. Texas?Cotton . deteriorated in most sections putting on but little new fruit and many complaints of shedding and premature opening on account of drouth and heat condi- . tion mostly rather poor but locally j satisfactory in central west and north portions and generally very poor in east and south weevil de creasing damage still moderate. Oklahoma?Cotton and :her j crops generally deteriorated. Cot ton shedding badly especially in 1 southwest portion weevil still active in many localities. Georgia?Cotton making slow progress condition very poor. Cot ton opening rapidly in southern and slowly in northern division, j Boll weevil, continue extremely j numerous and destructive. Alabama?Progress of cotton ranged from deterioration to satis factory conditit i rather poor to satisfactory opening perraaturely in : some sections considerable shedding J weevil have caused considerable j damage many sections picking and j ginning progressing in south. . j Mississippi?Progress of cotton j generally poor, bolls opening weevil I causing moderate to considerable damage south and many localities north. Arkansas?Favorable for cotton all sections moderate damage weevil numerous except extreme northeast where shedding has occurred pro gress of cotton varies from poor in south to satisfactory in north eastern portion condition rather poor in southern portions satisfac- | tory in northeastern portion cot- j ton opening in southern and central portions. South Carolina?Condition of cotton stalks excellent but fruitage poor on account of weevil with ser ious damage except extreme north ern counties early crop opening more generally. North Carolina?Progress and condition of cotton vary from very good in south to very poor near j border some scattered bolls opening j in south weevil reported in Roben son county. Tennessee?Progress and condi tion of cotton satisfaetory to very good some damage from recent wet weather. Florida?The warm dry weather j caused cotton to open prematurely in some localities several bales were marketed during week weevil damage vary condition and progress mostly poor to satisfaetory. Louisiana?Condition of cotton 1 mostly poor to fair weevil doing ! moderate damage picking has be gun. Horneil, X. Y.. Aug. 24.?Four teen business places were destroyed j and sixteen families made home less by a fire which swept through 1 Wellsville today, causing two nun- ' dred thousand dollars damage. Xew York. Aug. 23.?Plans have j been perfected for daily passenger j and freight air service between \ New York and Washington. Each j plane will carry six passengers and ; one thousand pounds of freight. Mountain Climb - erfc at Tryon Mr. Dabbs Recounts Experi ences in Scaling the Sum mits of Try on and Warren Mountains Tryon. N. C, Aug. 20.?Wo have recently enjoyed, fine trips to Chimney Rock and the tops of Tryon and Warrior mountains. Some account of these trips may be of interest to some of your stay-at-home readers. Our home is about 1,000 feet from the top of Warrior mountain. So on Wednesday afternoon F. W. Jr., Mrs. E. W. Jr.. her hrother, Loraine Glasscock. McBrlde and the girls and the writer started up the .mountain just back of the house. Two bush knives to cut the trail. Several hundred fe.--; uo we crossed the survey of the Southern Railway's line to avoid Melrose grade. It was pretty stiff climb ing. So steep we had to pull up by bushes and zigzag around rocks as big as a house, until ?ye reach ed Mr. Fisher's pasture fence that semeed to be at the top of the mountain, but we found it much more tiresome in the open woods of the pasture than in the steeper part and the thicker growth. .Many splendid views of the foothills to the southeast and of the moun tains to southwest and north, we had through open places in the trees. After we had explored the very top, said to be 2,800 feet, we started down the north slope. We soon found a spring and follow ed its water course finding two old stills that had been destroyed sev eral years, and came out to civili zation at Mr. Fisher's, near the Howard Gap road. Here we rested awhile and drank of his fine water, and then took the road back home around the eastern and southern slope of the mountain. The difference in the natural growth of the southern and north ern slopes of the mountains is mar velous. On the north the trees are scrubby and broken topped?on the south big, tall and tropical in ap pearance. Some as big as any in the Wateree or Black River swamps. And the f>rns and under growth waist to shoulder high. When we got back what was our amazement to learn that Mrs. Furman and Alice, the maid, had followed us. Jt was growing dark. We did not know whether to take our trail up or go back by the road to Mr. Fisher's. But before the search really b^gan they came down from the 5teep trail, having decided at the pasture fence near the top that our partv was too far ahead to overtake, they returned the nearer and steeper way. Next day the roads had drted suf ficiently from the Monday and Tuesday rains for seven of us to take the trip to Chimney Rock. By way of Columbus, the county seat, 7 miles and Mill Spring, 12 miles, it is 30 miles from here ^ the Chimney Rock. From Mill Spring to the Wilmington-Charlotte-Ashe ville highway the road is bad. And the highway from that point to Bat Cave is not good by any means. But from Bat Cave where we leave the Asheville highway for the Henderson ville-Brevard highway on back we had good roads. I will not attempt to describe Chimney Rock. It is so popular that 12,000 people have passed through the style since July 1st. and there must have been a thou sand there Thursday. Miss Hood from "Suinter and Mrs. W. S. Haynsworth from Florence were the only persons we knew. The place is so big and cars were com ing and going so there was never any part crowded. Yesterday we went by Saluda and then to the top of Tryon mountain by way of the Howard Gap road. 500 yards from the electric transforming station, right in the gap, we found the monu ment to Capt.. Howard who with his trusted Indian guide Skyuka administered a crushing defeat to the Indians in 1776. There are sev eral Indian graves nearby, and near Mr. Fisher's about half mile distant. The monument was erect ed by the J. O. U. A. M., Tryon iodge in 1909, is about 4 feet square at the base and 15 feet high of broken rock picked up on the grounds with two bronze plates bearing the inscriptions, and is by the side of the old road, but some distance from the new road that reaches the gap by easier grades. Leaving the battlefields we cross ed a gap into the heart of Tryon mountain. Looked at from the railroad or even from Saluda which gives a good view of Rcfks Haven, one would never guess there is a wonderful valley in the western end of Tryon mountain. The road winds around this valley and long before the top is reached wonderful vistas of lowlands and mountains are obtained from time to time. Ricks Haven is a well built home on a splendid terrace facing the west with open views to south and north that is so far the finest that I have yet seen. We tramped about a half mile to the very peak, 3,SOU feet: there we ate our lunch and then by a grad ual descent along the wonderful comb of the mountain for a half mile just like comb of a house, we came to a flat plateau along the southern side of which a road leads to Skyuka hotel. Just before getting to the hotel the descent is quite steep and the road winds back and forth in a series of re verse curves. This place has not been used for several years and is fast going to ruin. A road leads up to it from Lynn and another from Columbus. By going one and a half miles further east we could have seen Log Cabin Inn site di rectly above the court house at Co lumbus or half mile to the north side of the mountain to Sunset rock. But we did not care to risk any more steep climbs, so retraced our steps to the west and cros? 1 to the north side of the mountain along a narrow rocky path back to Ricks Haven where we left tie car. At interval . we could see. the Green river basin at our feet. 1 and the steel bridge on which we ?crossed it the day before. Wei eould also see to the Rutherford ! road that leads up Broad river to Chimney Rock and the ion of the red rock cliffs north of Chimney j Rock. We could see the mount.'!in j of which Chimney Rock is a part. . but intervening mountains kept us ? from seeing the tiag on the rock. i Today we are so tired with three days of sight-seeing that we loung-1 ed around the house until 5 o'clock j when some of the young people went to Tryon to get some hooks j from the Lenoir library and to get the mail. There is a Sydney Lanier club j and a good library here in honor of; the Georgia poet, who spent the! last years of his life in Tryon. Tryon is twice as big a place as Saluda and will be the headquar- | tears of rhe new Polk County Farm- j ers' Market Association. Being so ! close to South Carolina it will be of inestimable benefit to Spartan- j burg and Greenville county farm ers, many of whom now trade in Tryon. What has become of the market ? organization that Mr. Belser was to start in Sumter? E. W. DA BBS. j Great Dairy Project Promoted! Florence. Aug. 24,?A $230,000 dairy and poultry development for! the Pee Dee section of South Caro- [ lina, for immediate accomplish- : ment was virtually assured this af- i temoon when the banks of Flor ence underwrote the sum of $150, 000 to induce the building of a plant here. Plans for commenc- I ing work at one an- being shaped up now in conferences of the lead ing business men of the city, the extension service agents, farmers, dairymen and the builder, under the auspices of the chamber of commerce. M. W. Cartwright of Fort Wayne, Ind.. secretary and general manag er of the Sherman White & Co., is interested in building the plant. Jle has spent the past week in the j section going over the status of the i dairy and poultry industry to aid j him in determining the /possibili- i ties of development here. W. W. Long, director of the state extension service, has been called in to aid personally in handling the proposition. The parts which the banks have underwritten is to finance farmers in buying good creamery cows and I provide themselves with proper! equipment. Convenient and attrac- j tive terms, such as are used in the I boy:' calf clubs, will be given to j persons who desire aid in buying; i the cattle. Approximately 1,000 ! cows must be brought into the.ter- j ritory to assure the production j which is necessary to support the j plant Mr. Cartwright plans to J build here. From this -nueleous" of 1,000 cows, the plans contemplate ' the development of a tremendous j dairy industry in this section of \ South Carolina. Already applica tions have been received for be tween 200 and 2:10 cows, said the j secretary of the chamber of com merce tonight. The plans contemplate an exten sive program of educational ?r? development work after the dairy poultry plant is built and the cows are brought into the territory. This, is to overcome the obstacle of th* ? South Carolina cotton planters not being informed and experienced in , the handling of dairy cattle. A big dinner was given last night by the chamber of commerce to about 40 bankers, dairy-farmers, business men and development agents when the plans were map ped out quite definitely. After a careful survey Mr. Cart wright has made the statement that i this section of South Carolina should be producing 10,000,000 i pounds of butter per year. In stead, the- state is importing an ' nually $3,000,000 worth of butter and eggs. j The undertaking is not a Flor I ence local project, stated the secre tary of the chamber of commerce j tonigrht. It is intended to supply a J need for such a venture is this*sec ; tion of the state. South Carolina I dairymen today are overwhelmed i with a surplus of milk, which they ; cannot sell. The boll weevil is on i the cotton industry, a change of j methods is imperative and the op j portunity of getting such a plant ! here is commented upon by local ' bankers and business men as a ! godsend. -? ? ?> Congress Takes A Recess Washington. Aug. 24.?Congress ! took a recess tonight until Sept. 21. without a vote by the senate on a T>ill prohibiting the manufacture I and sale of beer to the sick. The j senate ended its work at 11:34 I o'clock and the house at 11:58. I President Harding was at the ! capitol late tonight to sign a num ! ber of bills. The last to be put be j fore him was the dye embargo ex tension, the last measure to be passed by the senate. The senate is expected to resume work upon reconvening but Repre sentative Mondell, the Republican leader, obtained an agreement to have the house declare three-day recesses from September 21 to Oc tober 3, ? ? ? SOLDIER DROWNED WHILE FISHING Columbia. Aug. 24.?The body of Private Elijah Babcock. of the t?th field artillery. Camp Jackson, who was drowned in Sailor's Lake, Cal houn county. Tuesday afternoon, was sent t<> his former home at New London. Conn., today. The soldier was drowned while on a fishing party Tuesday. Friends and soldiers from Cam]) Jackson dived for the body until midnight Tues day night, without finding it. The search was renewed Wednesday and the remains located about noon. Gompers Blames All Ills on Employers Leader of Federated Labor Declares Unemployment Situation is an Economic Crime -Atlantic City. X. 'J.f Aug. 22.? The present unemployment situ ation is an "economic crime" that is resulting in a loss of $27,500,000 a day in wages to the workers of the country. President Samuel Gompers declared tonight follow ing a session of the executive Coun cil of the American Federation of Labor at which present unemploy ment conditions were discussed. Wage reductions will not relieve the situation, the veteran labor chief said, adding that such action will further curtail our domestic purchasing power, and more fac tories will close because the people have not the money to buy their products. 'The present depression," he added, "will become even more acute and the reductions, if they ; can be forced upon us, will not only prove a boor, erang to the employer but a menace to our economic, financial and political structure. "In all this talk about readjust- j ment and reconstruction, why is it j that the pressure is always brought to bear upon those whose stand- j ards of life and everyday existence i would be demoralized and deter- 1 iorated by a reduction in wages, and why this drive to reduce their i wages first? The rank and file can : not understand how readjustment | and reconstruction can mean only reduction of their wages. "I have been asked who, among the capitalists, has suggested a re- ; auction in the rate of interest on a J loan or a reduction of profits, or j even a simultaneous reduction of wages and profit. "The cost of living has not come j down. Instead, with profiteering unhecked and unrestrained, it is ; going up. especially rents. Ninety per cent, of the homes in the Unit- ! ed States w -re built before the j war, but the exorbitant rents j gouged out of the tenants by the 1 profiteering and unscrupulous land lords is blamed on the high cost of labor during the war." The council had before it a pro posal to call upon congress to take steps to relieve the present unem ployment situation by legislation and making appropriations that would aid in speeding up public work. Action on this will probably be taken lat'r this week. -1? * ? New Freight I Bate on Cotton i. - I To Take.%Ei!ect on September L \ 10th * Columbia. Aug. 23.?The rail roads of the state are being ad vised by the railroad commission today of the new cotton freight rate, which takes effect September 10. being a reduction for hauls of less {than 1-1 miles. The commis ?'sion has issued a circular and this ! is being sent to the officials of rail , roads,, to shippers, to cotton buyers j and other persons interested in 1 rates on cotton. The new' rates are applicable be f tween all points in South Carolina, j They will probably also be adopted : by the North. Carolina Railroad ; Commission, as they are bas-^d on ! a schedule recently submitted by ? the railroads to the commissions of j the two Carolinas. The railroads offered to -educe the rates for hauls of i 20 miles or less, but wanted to increase them for hauls j over 130 miles. The railroad com j mission ordered that part of the [schedule which was a reduction, for i hauls of 120 miles and less, to be-' ! come effective September 10, but i declined to allow that part of the ! new schedule for hauls of 130 I miFes or more. The saving in freight on cotton I for the shipper, effected by the new ! rates, ranges from about thirty j per cent for hauls of less than ten ', miles on up to about three per i cent for 110 mile hauls. For hauls j of more than I2u miles the rate ; will be the same.' # ? i> Steamship Calls For Help j New York,. Aug. 23.?Fearing I for the safety of the women and j children passengers the captain of j the steamship Allianca from Cris | tobal asked aid from the battle ship Connecticut and twenty-two marines were transferred to the ', steamship at sea as the result of a rebellion among the figremen. ' The vessel dociied today with the ? mutinous crew in irons. -? ? m Bandits Make Big Haul Denniston. Texas, Aug. "25.? Masked bandits held up and robbed the mail coach on the Missouri. Kansas and Texas train. Half mil ? lion dollars were stolen the postal authorities report. Treaty With Germany Berlin, Aug. L':k?Germany in the ; next few days will likely sign treaty of peace with the United States, final instructions having been re ceived from Secretary of State Hughes b:j American Comniission jer Drexel. {Making Hard Dollars Philadelphia, Aug. 23.?To re ! place three hundred and fifty mil lion silver dollars melted during : war and sold to England as bullion i the mint is coining two hundred sixty thousand silver dol1 rs daily, thus cutting interest bearing debt of United States to five million monthly. County Wide Conference Farmers'and Business Men of Sumter County Called To Meet Monday, Aug ust 29th The people of Sumter county are invited and urged to attend a con ference to be held at the court house on Monday, August 29th, commencing at 10:30 a. m. The object of . the meeting is to consider the products and system of farming best suited to Sumter county under existing boll weevil and financial conditions,.and to devise marketing agencies for the products raised under the plan agreed upon. Figures prepared jointly by the state department of agriculture and the American Cotton Association in the fall of 1920 showed that $111. 000,000 of farm products were brought into, this state from other sections during the preceding crop year. This total was made up as follows: Corn and corn products $15,000,000 Mixed feeds. 13.000,000 Hay._12.000,000 Oats. 10, JO 0,000 Flour. 20,000,000 Bacon __ _. _. 20,000,000 Beef_. 5,000.000 PJggs and butter .. 3,000,000 Canned goods. 13,000,000 Total ._.$111,000,000 Everything .in this list, except possibly a portion of the flour and canned goods, can and ought to be produced in this state. Granted that the decline in prices has cut 1 this total in half, this would still leave upwards of $.">0,0O0,000 worth of farm products imported into this ! state. These facts certainly show that ; there is a market in this state for farm products other han cotton. And with the advantage of saving in freight rates. South Carolina products certainly should be rais i ed to rill this demand. What we [ need is an effective marketing sys j tern to buy and put in shape our ! farm products and to provide for I their distribution to fill this de j mand. i It must be remembered that the | manufactures of the state, consist ing largely of cotton goods, cotton seed products, and lumber and wood manufactures,, constitute 40 per cent of the wealth and exports of the state. The producers of these manufactured products pro vide potential customers for a great volume of farm products which we ? have been allowing other sections to supply. We want to provide a selling or j ganization which wiU seU the pro j ducts produced on our farms to this i and every other market which ex ! ists in the state. The present -high J railroad rates will give us .an un ! usual advantage at this tme. Ii this problem is properly solved, j and it can and should be, this sec tion need suffer no serious ill-ef fects from the coming of the boll weevil. If, however, it be not done we may expect the suffering and business prostration which have j successively swept over southern j Mississippi. Alabama, and Georgia. ! Will our people meet the issue? . The meeting at the court'house on Monday is called to help our people solve this problem, and ev { ery citizen who has the best interest j of his county at heart, is invited to j be present and participate in the j conference. E. S. BOOTH, President Sumter County Cham ber of Commerce. R. B. BELSER, Chairman of Committee on Mar keting Organization. Negro Commits Suicide Prisoner m New York Tombs Sets Himself Afire New York, Aug. 23.?Sylvester Crockett, the negro prisoner, com mitted suicide in the tombs prison by saturating his clothing with kerosene end applying a match. Fire in Virginia Town Business Section, of Matthew's Court House Wiped Out by Incendiarv Blaze Xorfolk. Aug. 23.?Fire, which is beiieved to have been of incen diary origin today wiped out the business section of Matthews court house, destroying ten build ings and causing hundred thou sand dollars damage. Chicago. Aug. 23.?Z. W. Davis, the former millionaire president of the Winton Automobile com pany, in a letter to the head of the band of alleged swindlers, beg ged the return of "at least a little of the millions, to be exact, two million, five hundred thousand" of which he said he had been swindl ed during the last two years, feder al agents declared. A raid on the headquarters of the band netted a million in securities, the authori ties state. The men in custody are believed to be the leaders of the band. CLERKS?(Men. women) over 17, for Postal Mail Service. $130 month. Examinations Septem ber. Experience unnecessary. For free particulars, write J. Leonard (former Civil Service examiner), Equitable Bldg., Washington, ?>. C. LOST?Firestone tire, on clincher rim. 30x3 1-2, with rear light ai.d license number A122 attached, between Rembert and Sumter via DalzeB. Liberal reward if re turned to .1. 11. Hayntfvorth, at Court House.