Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Watchman and Southron Entered at the Postoffice at Sum j tor, S. G* as Second Class Matter. PERSOXAIi. News has been received that Miss Mary 'Harvin, who has been nursing hi a hospital in Gaffney, was operated oh for appendiciits on Sunday morning and is reported as doing* well, and will soon be home convalescing. Mr. Claude King of Mayesville * was a visitor in Sumter Tuesday. Dr. and Mrs. W. E. Thayer and Miss Jaunita Lawrence are spend ing'the week visiting in Greenville, *S. C: Mr. T. W. Boyle of Greeleyville, representative of the Mallard Lum ber Co., spent Tuesday in Sumter. Mr. and Mrs. Irving Ryttenberg haye returned to the city from White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where Mr. Ryttenberg attended a meeting of the American Face Brick Association. Philip Jennings, who has been studying telegraphy for the past > six months, has accepted a position at JSstelL, S. C, as manager Mrs. P. J. Drew of Washington, D. C.. is the guest of Mrs. E. *W. m Vogel Mrs. H. M. Stuckey and ?-? Miss Ethel Stuckey have returned from a visit to Washington, D. a Mr.. and Mrs. R. B. Belser .have returned from Selma, Ala;,- where they spent a week. While ;m^Sel ma -Mr. Belser made a careful in vestigation of the creamery busi ness which has been an important factor in overcoming boll weevil ; conditions in Dallas county Mrs, Soloman Blatt has returned to her home in BarnweU-after a visit "in the city. i Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Shaver of Pel ham, Ca., arrived in Sumter. today wehere they will make their , home fn the future. Mr.Shaveris to.be superintendent of the canning fac tory to be established here. * Mrs. J. Sid Smyer of Newton, X. C left this morning for home, af ter spending several days 1 .with 3ics. Archie China. Mrs. W. L. Heaner of - Orange burg is., the guest of her sisteri Mrs. I*.:p. Scott Mr. Percy Harvin has moved his j family to the home place of the j late- Bunyan Harvin near Summer- i ton> We welcome him back to f^arendon. Mr. Harvin has been * hvihg in Sumter for several years, b\?f"\since the death of his brother, Pitnyani he purchased his farm, and. w?l hereafter be one of our citizens again.?Manning Times. Bridge Contracts , Are Awarded Bids From Construction Com :$fcnies Received Before Permanent Road Com % 'mission this Morning Representatives from sixteen construction companies from this ajt$fQ, Georgia and North Carolina appeared before the Permanent Roads Commission at its meeting head Tuesday at 11 o'clock in j t&e;chamber of commerce hail, and j presented bids for the construction ofVtlie nine principal bridges to t>e ; built on the first five roads to he j hard surfaced in Sumter county of! the- proposed state highway system * In. South Carolina. Present at this meeting were Road Commission members, L. D. Jennings, chairman; S. A. Harvin,! - J. P. Booth. J. B. Brittor. J F. Bland. G. A. Lemmon and Stan- I yarne Burrows. The bids presented . by: the various contracting firms were read before the meeting by j Mr. Joe BarnweU. bridge engineer of the State Highway department, j Columbia. Among the firms filing, bids were: ? The Simmons Mayrant! Co., of Charleston; Ben M. Martin Co., of Easley. S. C; Austin Bros. Bridge Co., Atlanta; Thomas D. Brohun, Wedgefield; the Arnold * Construction Co., Elberton, Ga., the Kerlin Construction Co.; : Mallard Lumber Co., Greeleyville: W. M. Padgett Co., Rock Hill; Storey and Beecham Ca; W. H. Andrews and * Co.; General Road and Drainage Co., of Columbia; Chitwood and Palmer; Hageborne Construction ' Co. oi Manning; Porter Boyd and Co.. Charlotte. N. C. and J. M. Gregory and Co. The amount of the bids ranged from $45,261.86, which was the bid presented by the Storey, and Beecham Co., to the lowest bid of $32,141.21. the bid * of the Mallard Lumber Co., of Greeleyville, which bid was ap proved and accepted by the Pcrma j xient Road Commission. The con - tract wiU be submitted before the state highway engineer for approv al* before the actual work on the construction of these bridges can be commenced. - The meeting of this morning was an important one in that ?he first steps towards the building of per manent roads in the county were * taken. The authorized amount of $.500,000 which was realized from the'sale of county bonds, has been received in Sumter and placed at * interest in equal divisions among the seven banks of the city. With the money on hand and the con tract for the construction of nine principal bridges awarded, our good roads for the county are as sured. Mr. Monteith, representing a bonding company or Columbia, ap peared before the Permanent Roads Commission aft?*r the completion of the business of the bridge contracts, and offered to take up a half mil lion dollars in county bonds at I their par value of h 1-2 per cent. The rate of the first half million dollars which were soM is 6 per cent. After considering the offer ^ presented by Monteith. it was de cided b>* fhe commission that no additional bonds be sold just at 'his time. ? 9 ? O - We are the posterity cur fore fathers prayed for?can you blame them ?7sX'ash vU1 e ?'ou ri.. r. Making Good With a New Business In An Off-Year How W. C. Durant, Famous Organizr, Became Sold On Advertising in 1921 (Printers' Ink) A..man who has always made his greatest strides in periods of de pression is worth watching. A man who will build two and buy three great automobile plants at a time, j when most other business men are I pulling in their horns, offers an in spiration to the timid and the pessi mistically inclined. And when that ! man is W. C. Durant, one of the ; greatest forces of America in the upbuilding of America's second largest industry,, who really became I sold on the force of advertising far 1 the first time in his long career in 1921, through some amazing re sults which he secured, then that story becomes of particular signifi cance to men who are interested : in advertising everywhere. And ! when, in the first 141 days of act ual operation, he secures dealers contracts for 30,842 cars during a period in which buyers are popu i larly supposed to be doing without ? anything, the story should be taken to heart by every man who is still holding back, for one reason or another. Times of depression have always been turned into times of oppor tunity by Mr. Durant. Originally a carriage manufacturer and fi nancier, in 1904 he took over the control of the Buick Automobile Company at a time when it had made only sixteen machines. Even before that, at the age of twenty one, he took over the Flint City Water Works and put that com pany on its feet when it had been through a perod of financial en tanglements. In that year of 1904, when he got through straightening out the affairs of the Buick com pany, there was about $75,000 left over. In 1907, in the midst of the panic, he was able to put back $1,000,000 out of the past three years' earnings profit into the Buick plant, and thus start the foundation of the company, which is still the backbone of the Gen eral Motors group. In 1908, when most business men, after the big panic which hit them the year be fore, considered themselves lucky if they had any money, Mr. Du rant had enough money in the j treasury of the Buick plant to buy out the Cadillac Company, the Oakland Motor Car Company, the Oldsmobile Motor Company and j Northway Motors, which, with the original Buick company, were the, nucleus of the General Motors Corporation, formed in 1908. There was another period of de- I pression toward the end of 1910 and running over into 1911. Dur-, ing that time Mr. Durant organ ized the Chevrolet Company as an engineering company. Soon after, he took over a defunct carriage plant, and as a venture indepen dent of the General Motors Cor poration, started manufacturing ir. 1912, at a time when motor stocks were excessively low in price General Motors selling at about one-t v\'enty-f ifth the amount it now brings. Four years later, in 1916, the Chevrolet Motor Com pany had assets as of December 3. i of ?97,274,713, seventy-five per j cent of it easily convertible into j cash. Here, again, as a result of I what was ordinarily a period of ! depresson. in 1910 and 1911. Mr. j Durant, through, his go-ahead and progressive spirit, managed to turn little or nothing into ?97,000. I 000, and he took a period to do this converting which most other ! men would label as 'bad times." i It is a matter of public knowledge j that it was through the Chevrolet, I which he organized out of a de j funct carriage company, that he I was able to regain control of : General Motors in 1915, and that the Buick company, of which ho secured control when it had made but sixteen cars, still forms the backbone of the sales of the great General Motors Corporation. The public also knows how, in j November, 1920, control of the General Motors Corporation passed into other hands after a "slight disagreement." , Yet the idea of going ahead when other people were sitting back, stuck with him. In the past, havinsr made his greatest strides in periods of depression, he saw no reason why 1921 was a year in which he should change from an optimist into a pessimist. In what was perhaps the worst period of the depression, along in January, he started to organize Durant Mo tors. The raising of the money to start this new corporation at a time when money was so hard to get makes an interesting sf>ry in the history of direct-by-mail ad vertising. I saw the letter which j brought home the bacon. It was a : litter written by a man to people he knew believed in -him. and friendliness was its keynote. It didn't have much "jazz" in it. and j there weren't many Ions v ords, but j it carried over the impression of j sincerity. It told his friends that i they could c?mo into the company j on exactly the same basis upon ! which he had come in. that there ! were no bonuses, no promotion fees, no stock given to people for experi ence, past performances or any any other reason. The letter had a definite product to sell. This product was an issue of a half mil i lion shares of no par value in Du I rant Motors. Inc.. and the letter ! proves that a frank statement, ap | pealing for co-operation, on the basis of accomplishment, pays. The half million shares were oversub scribed within forty-eight hour a ; In the subsequent month, four sep arate manufacturing companies were organized on the same sort of basis, all of them in a period of : a< ute depression, when money was [extremely hard to secure, especial ly from banks, as every business man knows. The first of these operating com panies was the Durant .Motor Com pany of New York, which took form in the latter part of February of this year. Mr. Durant, first of all. fixed a price for his product that he thought was right. He had in mind a motor car to sell at around $1^000 rnark. He then started af ter the production of a car. An experimental department in the Long Island factory, containing about a half million square feet of working area, worked overtime and evolved an automobile. It was not until May of this year that a i sales manager was appointed, and ! it took him a month or two to get his plans under way. In July of this year the first automobile was ready for inspection at the Long Island plant, and about this time j an advertisement was rm. in the trade press that an opportunity would be offered to purchase a "very good motor car at a very moderate price.". It was just after the New York district distrib- ! utor had been appointed that an1 incident happened which sold Mr.' Durant on the force of advertising. The Test of Advertising. As* many an advertising man well knows, in his past history Mr. Durant was never noted as a great booster for advertising. He thought more along production lines, and he caused many ah adver tising man sleepless nights thinking J up ways to sell him. This time he sold himself. Twelvc-hundred-line advertisements were placed in all the morning and evening papers in New York City and vicinity, stat ing that on the followirg Monday morning the new Durant car would be on view at the Broadway sales rooms of his New York distributor. The result was amazing. It is a well-known fact that interest in automobiles was at a pretty low ebb in August, and yet more than 15,000 people inspected the new I car during the first three da\s of its showing at the salesroom. And it wasn't all a curiosity crowd, either. Cars were , sold amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars at retail during the first three days and applications were received from more than 100 of the leading dealers in the Metropolitan district for the right to handle the car. This was conclusive proof to Mr. Durant that advertising would pay him and it has influenced him considerably in his later sales plans. It should be stated, though, .that j recogniz ug the news value of the j subject, the automobile trade pap ers devoted considerable editorial space to Durar.t Motors, commenc ing early in th?: summer, nd paid advertising had appeared in at least one of the motr opublications. The sales manager got busy at about that time and he discovered the announcement had also had a I great dealer effect. .'Ie was offer ed practically the pick of the terri tory. Instead of having to go out and find a livery stable man, f-. r instance, who might make a good automobile distributor, he found that there was keen competition cn the part of dealers of standing for the right to handle the new. car. This great interest aroused by ad vertising in a large list of news papers was not a flash in the pan. The date c* the showing of this first car was August 4. 1021. The1 actual signing of contracts for ter ritory with the distributors whose interest had been aroused was start ed about September 1, 11*21. Up to and including October 22, 1321, a total of 141 working days, the sales manasrer. as he stated recently, j signed contracts with deposits and 'signed shipping orders for 24,SI7 {Durant four-cylinder automobiles, {and 6.025 Durant six-cylinder au Itomobiles, or a total of 30,842 ! machines. These contracts speci I fied deliveries dating from Novem i ber 1, 1921. up to and including i July 21, 1922, a period of nine J months. All of this business was obtained without the assistance of i traveling men to sign up distrib utors, all contracts being negotia ted in the office of the sales man I ager at the company's Long Island i plant. The volume of business ! represented by these contracts is 'approximately $31,000,000, and the total expense, including both the j sales and service departments, from ! the time the departments were formed was $15,416.94, or a sales cost of one-twentieth of one per cent. The sales manager of the Du rant Motors Co., of New York. M. B. Leahy, also stated over his 'affidavit in paid advertising space: "1. That the portion of the ter ritory not contracted for, and which will be closed within the next thirty days, will, in my judg ment, produce contracts for not j less than 5.000 automobiles. "2. That the territory controlled by the one company (Durant Mo tors Company of New York) is ? less than one-qaurter of the do ' mestic territory covered by the ! other companies mentioned. "3. That on the basis of the ?35.00 automobiles as a total con tracted production for Durant Motors Company of New York, the entire territory would produce ;a volume-of business requiring the ; production of 140,000 automobiles in the next nine months. I "4. That contract for 0.02.5 six cylinder cars, to be manufactured 1 by the Durant Motor Company of Indiana, were executed without one cent of expense to that company.*' Sworn statements by the sales manager in paid advertising space add a n?-w note to current auto mobile copy. And when a big manufacturer, after years of honest doubt, finally decides thru advertising pays mightily, especially i" pe I riods of depression. interesting things are t<> be expected. Mr. Durant says it is too early to make formal announcement of his advertising plans. He is the ; sort of mat! who does the thing j first and makes the announcement later. From the fact that he has established five new plants in a year of depression, and has se< n . an advertising campaign in ;]).? newspapers of one locality h< sell $150,000 worth of cars, it is Isafe to assume that his advertis j ing plans will tie up with Iiis s,-,]. s i philosophy. Ajid Mr, Durant has been called "America's greatest optimist, past, present and future, of the motor car industry." ? ? o The Cause of the World's Business Depression. (Manufacturers Record). Professor Gustav Cassel has been described by Lloyd George as one of the most brilliant of living eco nomists, and it is well known that his views are always given deep consideration b\ the British and other governments. Professor Cas sel was invited by the League of Nations to prepare a memorandum on the financial condition of the world for the use of the internation al conference at Brussels. In view of the changes in world affairs since that time, Professor Cassel was recently invited by the assem bly of the League of Nations to sub mit a second memorandum. He has done so, and the publication of it has occasioned a profound sen sation in Europe. It is believed to have influenced materially a change in the British financial pol icy, and by some is thought to have been a decisive factor in inducing the Harding administration to have the Federal Reserve Board reverse its extreme liquidation policy and announce lower rediscount rates. Professor Cassel denounces dras tic deflation, which he declares was deliberately brought about by fin ancial leaders, to increase the val ue of money; he charges th^t the policy is responsible, in great meas ure, for unemployment and world trade stagnation, and he reaches conclusions in complete agreement with the position which has been taken by this newspaper in its long fight against the ruinous and de structive activity of the Federal Re serve Board. It is a supreme vin dication of the Manufacturers Rec ord by one of the foremost of liv ing economists, and is a corre spondingly authoritative criticism of Governor Harding and those of his associates who have co-operated with him in his deflation campaign. Professor Cassel, who holds the chair of economics at the Univer sity at Stockholm, declares that the policy of deflation adopted in the United States undoubtedly drove other countries to follow its exam ple. Indeed every position taken by the Manufacturers Record since 1917, when it warned this country that if drastic deflation was under taken at the close of the war it would result in business chaos, along which line we have unceas ingly fought ever since, is over whelmingly sustained by Professor Cassel, a vindication rarely ever received by any paper in the world in such a fight?for two years al most a single handed fight?against the financial powers of the country. ? We can offer to our readers noth ing more important than the fol lowing extracts from an elaborate report to the League of Nations made by Prof. Gustav Cassel of Sweden, at the League's request, on world financial matters. Prof. Cas sel said; "The downward movement of prices has not. as is sometimes as sumed, been merely a spontaneous result of forces beyond our control. It is essentially the result of a pol icy deliberately framed with a view to bringing down prices and giving a higher value to the monetary unit. This policy of deflation has , its root in the popular idea that prewar price-levels are still to be regarded as "normal." and that ntablc economic conditions can be [.attained only by bringing prices \ down to the old levels. In most j countries, in spite of the enormous : fall of prices that has already tak en place, we are still far from this I end, and there is consequently plenty of room for a 'continued ; policy of deflation on such grounds, j "A prolonged fall of prices must I necessarily have an extremely dis turbing effect on production and i trade, and it is this consequence j of a policy of deflation which has : manifested itself most clearly dur ! ing the last twelve months, i "A year ago the productive ca j pacity of the world was fairly well occupied, and labor, on the whole, found fairly sufficient employment, i In this respect conditions are now, I as everybody knows, very different. ! The world's work has been brought ! to a standstill to a degree that we : have never witnessed before, and i unemployment has risen to alarm i ing figures, particularly in countries i where the policy of deflation has ! been applied most severely, i "It is only natural that our at itention should now be directed primarily to the situation created by this development, and that a critical examination of the whole policy of deflation should occupy j the foreground in any discussion of the monetary problem at the pres I ent time. It is. indeed, of the high ! est importance that the aims of this i policy should be reconsidered, and ! that the effects of it. as far as they j have shown themselves hitherto, j should be brought into the clear est light. * * * "The United States have, by this ! violent reduction of prices, prob ably brought themselves nearer to ! the pre-war price-level than any i other country. This achievement I has undoubtedly been the result of I a mere deliberate and consistent j policy of deflation than has been [enforced elsewhere, and therefore i the effects of such a policy can best be ascertained by a study of Amer ! ican experience. "These effects have, in the case Of the United States been rather j pernicious. The continual expec tation of a further fall in prices has ( vidently had a very restricting influence on the buying of the j general public, and important branches of production have suffer ed severely from this sudden col ; Lapse <>f the market. "Tlie trades most seriously affect ed Liave been those engaged in building and construction, because the prospect of a continued fall of j prices naturally makes enterprise I particularly dangerous in cases j where large amounts of capital have to l?e sunk in an enterprise j which yields only a slow return over a long period of years. The steady reduction of prices has made it impossible, in a great many case?, to pay back money borrowed | at a time when prices were higher. I Thus a huge amount of what is called "frozen credit" has been ; created. The liquidity, and even the uliimate solvency of smaller! banks have thereby been impaired to such an extent that severe j measures became necessary. Fur- \ ther restrictions of credit have fol- j lowed, with the result that prices | have been forced down still more ! and fresh amounts of "frozen cred- j it" have been created. The pro- ! cess of deflation has evidently, in this case, led to a vicious circle from which it seems extremely dif ficult to escape. "The monetary policy of the United .States has had an import ant bearing on the treatment of the corresponding problems in other countries anxious to keep up their j currency at pre-war parity with the dollar, or at any rate not to let it suffer a further depreciation in comparison with the dollar. "Such countries have undoubted- j ly been driven, by the action of the United States, to proceed further on the way of deflation than they would have deemed wise or expe dient had they only had to look upon the matter as an internal monetary problem. The incessant: rise in the purchasing power of the dollar has, however, made vain every effort of other countries to keep up their monetary stand ards in relation to the dollar. This is particularly conspicuous in the case of England. * * * "Eefore entering upon a discus sion of the course that should be taken in regard to the programme of deflation it is necessary to set out clearly what the process of de flation actually means and what are its practical effects. "Deflation is, shortly, a process by which the internal value of the monetary unit is increased. This means a deliberate raising of the purchasing power of this unit in regard to commodities and ser vices?i. e., a general and uniform reduction of prices, wages, and sal- j aries as.measured in terms of the] monetary unit. Even this simple observation is important if we are to clear up the current ideas on this question, for deflation has un doubtedly gained a par: of its pop ularity from the widespread be- j j lief that it meant a reduction of j expenses without a corresponding | reduction of incomes. "The means of effecting such a! rise in the value of the monetary j unit is a restriction in the supply j I of the means of payment and a j consequent reduction of the nom- j I inal purchasing power of the pub-! I lie. To this end there are two i ! measures at our disposal, and in I present circumstances both must be Sapplied simultaneously. The first and the most general is "a restric tion of credit, involving a curtail ment of the amounts of loans and a more stringent selection be tween the different demands for loans. "But the principal instrument of i such? a policy is an abnormally high i batik' rate, calculated to raise oth { er rates of interest corresponding ! ly above what the real scarcity of j capital would require, and thus to place an effective brake on all forms of demand for credit. By combining such restriction of cred ! it-with a high degree fo saving, a j j considerable reduction of the ac j tual purchasing power of the pub i lie may be effected. The second I measure consists in raising, by tax j ai ion. over and above what public ; : expenditure would require, a sum j j of money to be used for cancella ! tion of a part of the means of pay- I ment of the community. I "Theoretically, it is no doubt j possible to bring down prices by ! these means ?s much as need be. I and to raise the purchasing power '; of the unit of money almost in- j definitely. But. unfortunately, the j ! process is incidentally attended by some rather disagreeable effects, i Indeed, we have to take care that i we do not get into a position in : I which we have to admit that, ; though the cure was a success, the j patient succumbed. The warnings i enunciated in the first memoran jdum in regard to the dangers of a I policy of deflation have shown i themselves during fhe past year to be only too well i nJed. "The first and most obvious af ! feet of such a policy is on enter j prise and production. Artificially i increased difficulties in the way of I obtaining necessary credit accom j modation. combined with an arti I ficially increased burden of taxa I tion. would in themselves have a dangerously depressing influence on business activity. But the end : which is expected to be attained i by these means is even more dis I astrcus in its effects, fc? t he pros pect of a long period of falling ; prices is most likely to kill indus ! trial enterprise and the very spirit ! of economic progress. "The experience which the Unit | ed States and some European I countries have gained in this re j spect during the last year is indeed j so serious, and so valuable for ev i erybody desirous to learn, that we j should do well to pay it the very 'closest attention. This experience '? should on no account he taken as j concerning only a small class of ! capitalists or business men; it ox } tends more or less to the whole; ? community, involving particularly ; the threat of ruin to farmers and I widespread unemployment to wage ' : earners. ! "Hardly less serious are the ef ; feets of the policy of deflation on ' international trade * "Finally, we have to take account ; of the effects of depreciation on I public finance. Bv the enhance-! ' ment of the value of money which has taken place during the past \ year the real burden of the pub-! | lie debt has in many countries 1 I been increased to a most serious ex- I : tent: in some easts so much as to! make it very questionable whether] the country will be able to be;:'.' the ! burden. In consequence, a corre- , ; sponding aggravation of the burden of taxation will have to be faced whereby enterprise and production will inevitably be gravely handi-1 capped during a practically unlim- i sted series of years. The uncertain tv whether countries which used I * 1 to be regarded as first class debtors will be able in the future to meet i their obligations is. of course, a! new and very serious influence, ! which operates against that restor ation of confidence which we so! sorely need. If deflation be car-; ried still further in such countries! there can be no doubt that their j state finances will break down and public bankruptcy will have to be declared, or, if this last stage is to be avoided, and a veil thrown over the situation, their monetary policy will be again directed on the path of inflation, with the result that a new and probably rather violent! fall in the value of the monetary i unit will ensue. * * * "In a period of severe depression i brought about by a process of de flation a return to a more liberal I credit policy will set production go ing where it has come to a stand- ! still, and procure employment of la-j bcr, machinery, and other instru-' ments of production which have: before been idle. The mass of commodities to be bought will, ' therefore, very soon be increased, and thus there will be something to set up against the additional pur chasing power which may have been created. The rise of prices caused by the extension of credit must consequently in this case be ' smaller than in the case of con-' tinned inflation. '?The policy now discussed will have a decidedly beneficial effect on the economy of the community, increasing its real income and miti gating the social troubles connect ed with prolonged and widespread unemployment. These advantages; will go far to balance the evils un- j avoidably caused to certain classes by every reduction in the value of j the monetary unit. And if the policy of stopping deflation and re verting to a higher normal level of prices is managed well it is quite possible that the balance for the community as a whole may show a very considerable net advantage. "A return to a more liberal credit policy during the deepest depres sion is not likely to cause a fresh wave of over-speculation or to be a temptation for investors to spend further capital on industrial equipment, which is already more than sufficient. The psychological conditions are very different from those prevailing in a period of con tinued inflation, and the effects of a more plentiful supply of means of payment will therefore be dif ferent even in this respect. A low rate of interest may certainly call forth considerable issues of new se curities on the stock exchange. But in reality such a result will mainly represent the transformation of old floating engagements to more dur able investments, and ought there fore to be greeted with satisfaction as a sign of a wholesome consoli dation. "Still the directions which invest ments take and the purposes for which fresh capital is required should be carefully watched. A certain selection will be necessary. j and for this purpose the coopera tion of the whole business commun : ity, and particularly of the banks is required." We leave the issue with our read i crs. Has not our policy been over ! whelmingly vindicated and if it had ; been followed would not the world have been in?niceiy Letter off? ? ? ? Three Negro Houses on Purdy I Street Are Damaged in Early Morning Blaze j An alarm at 3 a. m. called the I fire department to Purdy street near Bartlett where three negro houses were on fire and burning j rapidly. The tiro started in a I house belonging to Geo. Robinson, j colored, at V'-G Purdy street and '? burned so fiercely that when the ! department reached the scene, this i house was all but completely de molished, and the fire had spread ! to the house on either side. Some hard work by the firemen saved these two houses from burning up and kept the fire from spreading j to otht rs nearby. The fire in the ' Robinson house was so intense that ! it was over an hour before the I firemen could leave, and they^did ; some good work in keeping the fire ; from spreading to other houses. It is not known how the fire start j ed. The two houses at Xos. 104 and 108 which were partially burned , were occupied by B. J. Diggs and j July Pringle. Washington. Dec. 8. ? Cotton I ginned to December 1st totaled 7, ; 640.S70 running bales, the census j bureau announced today. I Xew Orleans, Dec. S.?Marshal ; Foch was welcomed upon his ar rival here with a salute of twenty one guns. o o ? Jersey City, Dec. S.?One hun dred inmates of St. Joseph's home for blind were led from the build ing while fire damaged the struc ture. WANTED AT ONCE One thousand of more Guineas and Chickens. C. L. Strauss, Phone 1092 or 5f>7. Care of Goldberg's.?Adv. -? ? Washington. Dec. S.?An increase in the cadet corps at West Point Military Academy to twenty-five hundred is recommended by Brig, (ten. Duoglas McArthur. superin tendent, in his annual report. WANTED 2.000 bushels Cow Peas. Any variety. Quote me best price. Phone 1002. C. L. Strauss, care of Goldberg's ? How To Fight Boll Weevils J. D. Johnson, of Alabama Addresses Cotton Asso ciation Columbia. Dff. 8.?At the an nual convention of the South Caro lina division of the American Cot ton association, held at noon yes terday at Craven hall, officers for the ensuing year were elected. Jo seph O. Thorn])son of Alabama de livered an address in which he dis cussed plans for combatting the boll weevil and resolutions were adopted calling upon the govern ment to make strenuous efforts to blot out the pink boll worm, to make permanent the war finance corporation and suggesting a plan for the repayment of the loans made by the American government to foreign countries. Other reso lutions in regard to the cotton as sociation and its work were also adopted. The officers elected were as fol lows: J. B. Johnson. Rock Hill, president: L. I. Guion, Lugoff, vice president; H. C. Booker. Columbia, secretary: John T. Mackey, Cam den, treasurer. Interest in the annual meeting centered largely in the address of Mr. Thompson and the debates held with regard to the adoption of some of the resolutions offered. ?'Our only hope is self-help, j Don't let us lay down on the job' and depend upon the government, j "When we go to Washington to beg from the government, it has beenj my observation that we have been preceded by better beggars than j we are," said Mr. Thompson, who I had come from Alabama specially to tell the farmers how the weevil had affected farming industries in his state. He preached the ancient doctrine of "The gods help those who help themselves." and urged that the farmers stick firmly by the cooperative selling organization holding that if it failed "we are up against it." j "In Alabama," said Mr. Thomp I son "we regard the farmers of j South Carolina as the most pro ! greseive in the south. We are of I the opinion down there that monu ments should be erected to J. S. Wannamaker for the work which he has done for the farmers of the cotton belt." j In speaking of some of the prob i lems brought by the boll weevil, Mr. Thompson said, in part: "Your most serious problem under boll weevil conditions will be the con servation of your labor. I believe we are on the eve Of a great period of prosperity and I believe it will ' start in industrial centers. If this j wave of prosperity comes and the I industrial centers flourish first, j then labor if not well cared for, will leave our farms. Keep and care for your labor. "Plant your cotton on your poorest land, one-third of your cul (tivated acreage. We fertilize usu ! ally with one-third nitrate of soda. I one-third phosphate and one-third kainit. Of course the proportions may vary- with the land. We usu ally use about 700 pounds to the I acre. "The cotton is plowed each week ! and it is a good plan to set aside j one day of every week on which { all hands will gather boll weevils; j it is well to weigh the insects so , none of the hands will neglect this ; work. A definite plan must be laid j down and adhex 1 to closely if you jare to succeed." j lie favored planting one-third of \ the farm in cotton, one-third in 1 peanuts and one-third in corn and ! soy or velvet beans and told he .v he had fought the weevil. Mr. Thompson said he did not want to see the south get in a po I sition where it could profiteer at i the expense of the rest of the i world, and said that restricted acre 1 age and cooperative marketing j would tend to make the I'.nds ef ? the south very valuable. He urged ! that the program of the Ameri I can Cotton ' association be carried ! out and that it be supported by the i farmers. Mr. Thompson was heard I with much interest and made a I helpful and heartening speech. Numerous resolutions w e r e adopted. One of these urged that steps be taken to check tqe pro gress of the pink boll worm lest the cotton growing industry., t>e ? annihilated entirely. Another raV" vorcd the continuance of the^war, finance corporation permanently instead of until next July. One resolution called on the bankers to make use of the assistance now of fered through the war finance-tor poration ,so that money could "be*-' procured and leaned out to^the" farmers. . > ' ? < While it was said that the^bafcks. had been of great assistance, "it-"??s11 also held that many bankers; no<w.. were not making efforts to get'thh? ' war finance corporation money and.*; thus be in a position to help farm ers. A resolution was also adopt': ed to the effect that farmers make. their fertilizer notes payable- Xo-;,, vember 1, December 1 and January 1 rather than the dates now usuaJfr*: ly mentioned im such paper** ~ The resolution introduced; to cancel debts of foreign nations drew forth much fire. The meat ofj ? the resolution was as fellows 'a***-* . "That the United States agrees ; to cancel the principal and inter- v est due it by the debtor allied na-.0 tions, pn conditions .that the-sums due this government for loans madia*, to the said allied nations during the world war are invested by said various governments in the .pur-., chase of American raw agricultural^ products over-a scries of years*, which are vitally needed f5r.* food.^ raiment and the restoration of their , manufacturing and commercial iii- ~ dustries." After prolonged debate, the reso- ' lution was adopted. . Ii. C. Hair.er, former president of the South Carolina division, no.-.. titled the executive committee that', he. would not stand for reelection. and he is succeeded as president by J. B. Johnson of Rock Hill. The. members of the executive commit- . tee are as follows: First' district, " A. R. Johnson of St George and F. C. Thomas of Manning; Second .dis trict, G. L. Toole of A.iken and B. R. Tillman, Edgefield; Third, J. P."" Stribling of Westminster and j; J. Keitt, Xewherry; Fourth, D. B. An- \ derson of Moore and L. J. Brown-*r ing of Union: Fifth district, L. L~ Guion, Lugoft and J. B. Johnson*,.* Rock Hill; Sixth, T. Ii Manning. , Dillon, and Bright "Williamson," Darlington; Seventh, R. C. Hamer, _ Eastover, and Edwin Wilson; Bish- \ opville. B. F. McLeod of Charles-: ton, whose name had been promos-, ed for the executive committee; J withdrew. Ex-omcio members' of I the committee are J. H. ? Clarrey,'" ' Orangeburg; J. S. Wannamaker, St Matthews; E. P. Grice, Charleston^ J. C. Rivers, Columbia; W. W-.' Long, Clemson college; B.:Harris," Columbia, and R. M. Cooper; '?VI sacky. ? -o-^~?-Jirtb LETTER TO COL. DAITGA^N.""a Editor of Review of Reviews C?m-' mends p- >posed Reform in Court Practice J':' _? ^ria".-. . Col. John J. Dargan has received the following letter from 'Dr^l?T-'" bert Shaw, editor of The' Review* of Reviews..which is published at* j the request of Col. Dargan: * * ] j Hon. John J. Dargan, DalzelL S. jCT, My Dear Sir: i have tjhis,. m^rxt-; I ing received your letter and-am at? : once writing to Dr. Henry . .S-. I Pritchett. head of the Cari^e^e,, I Foundation for the Ad\'ancement '?? of Teaching, and am asking^h^^toi ser.d you a copy of the volume en titled "Justice and thfc.J^ppr." which contains a. great deal q?. iRjjt formation that would he of* u^O?' you. i am confident that the^reform which you are advocating S^afv4ii nable one. and i believe that wher ever such innovations have been made they have been founds ^ex ceedingly useful. i know that.this continues to be true in CJaHforhiaL and elsewhere. J ,-: ".^V Sincerely yours. . - ALBERT SKA^y New York. Dec. 3. 3 921. . r]**?^ . ? . S ;?vJ.i? The cotton oil mill has .becsu shut Sown for several days on ac count of the scarcity of seed,*but will resume operations again when a few weeks supply of seed has been accumulated. >t %.z A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss, Neither does a rolling dollar. Interest is what you want, that is what makes your dollar grow. Tou have probably saved money and have it invested in srood securities, if not you certainly should have it in the bank. Shot bag and stocking banking is unsafe. We not only take care of your money for you but pay you a liberal interest" ' as well. Procrastination may mean a loss to you. It's far better to be safe than sorry. A Satisfied Customer is our Most Dependable Asse?. FIRST NATIONAL BANK SUMTER, S. C. \EILL ODONNELL ARCHIE CHINA O. L. YATES ...... .1 President Vice President Cashier - 'i: > ! The National Bank of South Carolina I OF SUMTER, S. C. > The Most PafnstaJdng SERVICE with COURTESY J Capita! SSOft.OOO ?nrpln* ??d Profits 1580,000 ! STRONG AND PROGRESSIV* > Give ii* the Plensare of Sorrlnc TOU ! The Hank With the Chime Clock. > C. G. ROWLAND, Pre*. EARLE ROWLAND. Cashier