The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-10-31
IN EIGHT DECADES.
How the Revenue and Financial Syste,ns
Eject the Price.
-ror the Atlanta Constitution.

,ror the Atlanta Constitution.
Persons unacquainted with the his
tory OF the prices of.cott"n vii! be ex
cused for saying present prices are with,
out precedent. Those SO uuacquainteo
might include the expert III the price
and quantity of cotton, for if one does
not search for the history he will likely
not know it. Therefore, | think II
important that this should be known
In this, as in nearly everything, we
cannot understand the present an0
predict the probabilities of the future,
unless we know the past. The MARIA.
tive shall make will no doubt astonish
the overwhelming majority of the
present generation-even of Intelligent
men.
In March, 1885, short staple cotton
was worth II cents per pound. 1t sud
denly took q decline until IN short
while it got down TO cents per pound.
The lower grades touched four cents
and there were transactions at and q
fraction. That cotton should ever have
been as high as II cents per pound will
surprise many, and it will be more sur
prising when I say found among
ihe papers in a lawsuit where an ex-
ecutor has charged himself with 20
cents q pound. sod 10 1918.
Sad to say from 1887 to the summer
OF 1S49 cotton sold at s. cents. 1t was
only occasionally it would jump up to
7 and perhaps to s cents, and just as
quickly recede. It will be perceived
that for twelve long years cotton ruled
at prices that it cost to make it and
even less. In plantation and slavery
times it was the estimate of the cotton
planters that it cost 8 cents to make
cotton, and this where the planter
owned his labor and his land. Reuce,
unless cotton brought s cents there was
no profit in growing it. The period l
speak of was one of awful financial dis
tcess. 1t was during the presidential
campaign Of 1910, and defeated Martin
Van Buren for his second term, for the
people could not help thinking it was
the fault of his administration. The
times would have defeated any party
in power. Georgia, although generally
Democrstic Stat-, went against Van
Buren by 5000 majority. but at the
,ey next election elected the Demo
cra!ic candidate for governor, Charles
7. Mcdonald, by more than four thous-
and.
ALI things considered, the times now
are not near as hard as they were dur
ing the years mentioned. It ls now
felt almost entirely by the laborlng
classes, or those who have to depend
upon their personal exertions for liv-
ing. Then everybody felt it, and none
as much IS the property owner. Dur
ing the flush times" large indebted
ness was contracted. Judgments for
large amounts were rendered against a
very large per cent of the population,
the banks failed in every direction and
large properties, both real and personal,
were sacrificed under the sheriff 8 ham
mer.
Nevertheless, wheat, corn and bacon
commanded good prices. Now the man
who gets only low. wages can buy near
~ everything he needs at lower prices
than ever before. Wheat is even cheap
er than corn and sugar is to be had at
twice as much for q dollar than the
price it bore at the time write of.
Wearing apparel aud the fabrics neces-
sary to make them are hwer than ever.
Then property shFank in value much
more than Eow. A man slave worth
ST 900 would sell at sheriff's sale at
from $500 to $3GG, and lands and plan
tations in proportion. To escape the
impending calamity some of our rich
planters abandoned their lands and ran
away with their slaves and live stock
TO Texas. Texas was then the inde-
pendent Lone Star State. Persons to
escape the penalties of crime, also ran
away to Texas, and the State was large
" populated by those who had run
away from the States for debt or crime.
These were so numerous that that ele-
meut was q factor in politics. It did
not hurt 8 man if be went to Texas to
keep from paying his debts. One rum
away planter l can recall was made
governor of the State, and a runaway
lawyer was made United States Sena-
tor, and q grand man he p'oved him
self to be. Before he held office be
remitted back to the States ahe amount
of his Indebtedness.
Now, what was the cause of this
sSringency, and as connected with 1t
the low price of cotton? Liverpool con-
.lolled the price of cotton then, as now
that is, if it is true that Liverpool is
the only factor in the price Of cotton.
But then, as now, there was trouble in
the United States growing out OF the
tariff and our financial system. AS to
tariff, we were living under the com.
promise of 1882, which was high tar
if compared with that of 1840, under
which cotton went as high IL cents per
pound and hardly ever fell below 10
cents. We were all feeling the effects
of our change from the United States
bank to what was called the national
bank system" by President Jackson,
and the establishment of what was
called the Independent treasury sys.
sen," in 1887, under Van Buren's ad'
nlinistration.
It seems from this that the tariff and
the financial systems are important fac
tors in the price Of cotton. 1t also seems
that the price Of cotton is an important
factor in the prosperity of the people.
How it is I do not know. only state
facts. The present low price Of cotton
comes wi en- the Mckinley tariff has
been in force, and when silver has been
demonetized, and when that demone'
tizstion has been intensified by the re-
peal of the obligation to coin so much
Silver every mouth under what is called
the Sherman law. 1t is not possible
that the two have run cotton down,
although Liverpool controls the
pr;ce?'' If cotton was run down, " hen
the tariff and currency were as they
were before, may not that be lthairn,
portspt factor in the low .psiee of cotton
BsTk although Liverpool controls the
tu R1t assar all, what I have written is
more for the encouragement of our peo'
,,Ie than to discuss the questions. We
have seen that although cotton ruled
from 4 to Z cents-mostly 6-for twelve
years. afterwards it ruled from 10 to l.
cents. It surely will advance again
unless the supply should continuously )
LARGELY exceed the demand. This is
improbable, because cotton is constant
" extending itself to other foreign
nations and is being more and more
used ss substitute for wool, silk snc
hsx. .