The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-11-07
TO OUR FARMERS.
AN URGENT APPEAL TO THEM TO
PROTECT THEMSELVES.

PROTECT THEMSELVES.
Mr., Roddy, OF New York. Thinks that
the Farmers, to Avsrt HuiD, Must Or.
san1ze and Fight for Themselves Agsinst
Spectators.
COLUMBIA, S. c.. Nov. 1.-The fol-
loving article from the pen OF Mr.
Roddy, New York broker, was pub
Iished IN the State several days ago:
To the Editor Of The State:
Many of your readers may perhaps
disagree with me, but | wish to write
a few words to the thinking people
of the South and West. l verify be.
lleye that If something is not done to
bring about a change. spectators,
capitalists, trusts and cliques will 80
far depress the products OF the farm
ers and the laboriag men that anarchy
will be Inevitable. When a clique Of
capitalists, witch their power and in
auence, can combine and so depress
the prices of the products Of the South
and West as to cost the growers of
these products millions Of dollars each
year, and practically starve the labor
ing class, and cripple the interests Of
these sections, it is high time to stop
and think. Many who have a COM
Portable living are satisfied to quietly
sit and say something is worng, but
We do not know what 1t is, and many
do not care, but you had better think
and act too, or your country can
never have any hope Of prosperity and
peace. The capitalists or cliQues prac-
tically control the Liverpool, New
York and New Orleans exchanges, as
we'll as the Chicago board of trade,
and griod the money out Of any who
may oppose them, and yet they talk
of hard times aud say pOor business
is the canse of the depression In
prices of the products, whereas the
very fact that they have depressed
these prices is the cause of poor busl-
ness, for as long as the farmer or Pro-
ducer receives barely a living for his
labor and products how can business
be anything but poor. Some claim
the lsborer Is ignorant, has no educs-
tion and receives as much as be should
when in fact these same people 30 far
depress his products as to place him In
actual want and to deprive him Of the
advantage Of buying newspapers,
books and literature, and Of sending
his children to school for an education.
How can he keep up with the times?
see no ohope for you as long as clique
has the right legally to sell more cot
ton, corn or wheat than you may
raise without owning or expecting to
own what they sell. 1t forces you to
sell your products at whatever prices
they may fix. These people depend al.
most entirely upon you for their food
and clothing and yet do not seem to
care how many suffer by their depress-
ing prices of products.
Legitimate supply and demand con-
troll prices, but false supply kills, to
an extent, the demand. For instance,
Mr.. Ellison, who Is considered authori-
ty on cotton, estimated the demand for
American cotton at $500 O00-she crop
proved to be 7,50O,0C0-but did not the
clique continue to hammer the price,
ana of course check the demand; Sup
pose the price had been higher, would
not the demand have been greater;
Will Liverpool or New England mills
buy cotton freely when they expect
prices to be carried lower, or what pre-
vents Liverpool and New England
buyers from joining in and helping to
depres5 prices in order that they may
get your spot cotton cheaper? The
majority Of you sell your crOb as soon
as gathered at whatever price the e1-
changes mag fix and they know it
Ia othsr words you are absolutely
governed by the exchanges, even II the
price 70 to Two cents.
You ars blessed By Providence IL
being In the only section taaJ can raise
corn, cotton aad wheat, and should
have something to Soy regarding Lhe
price and Yet you are poWerloss. Sup
Dose splnners had to send buyers to
YOU wiCn instructions not based on ex-
cnange prices, you mignv have s"me-
thing TO Say as regards prices a5 COSY
have When you come to maze your
purchases, out Cney compel you to lake
20 so-cal.ed established pace or they
oug from one who Is forced to sell ol
account of his poverty. You see Oy
the papers tuaJ exchange price are de-
CHING, going lower and 10 |er, aud
Knowing that you are In debt, possibly
for supplies and 80 forth, you rush
your cotton to market, perhaps, after
uelng notified of vour debt by tae mer-
chants, at whatever price buyers may
dictate or allow you. Spot buyers an
ticlpate your sales on their purchases
and sell on exchanges thus depressing
prices and helping the bears. Tne ex'
changes are great benefit to the spln-
ners, they never give themselves one
minutes aneasiness about getting their
supply-they know that as long as the
exchanges fix a price, no matter how
low. YOU will have to take 1t under the
present conditions. There are probably
over million bales sold and bought
by SPECTATORS for every thousand
bales of spot cotton delivered on con-
tract and yet some claim the exchanges
are necessary IN order to get rid OF
spot cotton; does it look natural that
more than ten hundred thousand bales
of cotton should be traded in to decide
the price of a thousand bales actual
cotton? When any one with one
thousand dollars can sell the crop OF
one hundred planters, probable repre-
senting the interest and Affecting a
thousand souls, to say the least, it Is
placing a small valuation on your
labor.
These speculatiors and capitalists
would not sell cotton 80 freely II they
had to risk buying the actual cotton,
but the exchanges establish price and
they know they need not fear OF your
not selling at exchange prices. One
advantage the bears have is that If any
one have contract for a certain
month, the be.r or peVsoa who has
sold has the privilege of offering to
deliver to the purchaser the cotton
aoout.fve days previous to the month
traded In, or Of not delivering until
the end O. the month traded in, as ne
chooses. In other words If you want
the cotton be has sold you he has over
thirty days to deliver 1t and If you dc
not want It you must sell on the ex'
change whatever it will bring. Anoch-
er advantage, the carrying charges
favor the bears about one cent per
year. With such advantages is 1t to be
wondered at that spectators depress
uour prodDctS