The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-10-05
A STRONG ADDRESS.
The Cotton Growers Are Urged
to Combine.
AN INTERESTING PAPER.
Way for the Farmers to Protect
Themselves is Pointed Out
in Detail. The Dam
get imminent.
To the Cotton Growers of South Caro-

To the Cotton Growers Of South Caro-
lima:
The special committee appointed by
the Cotton Growers union Of the State
held in Columbia on the 20th inst,
desire to say that the exceedingly low
prices of cotton at the present, with
the indication of lower prices still in
the future, painfully admoniSh US that
We have reached crisis in the history
of the industry. Prices today are not
only far lower than they have ever pre-
viously been at this season Of the year,
bat lower than they have been for 90
years, and the months of November.
December, January and February are
selling on the Liverpool market lower
than during the great depression Of the
forties, and even at these figures Eng
lish agents are advising the spinners Of
Great Britain to withhold their pur-
ehases upon assurances that prices will
soon be so points lower. In view Of
these conditions we desire to call the
attention not only of the cotton grow
ers but Of every business association in
the cotton belt to the portentous fact
that for the want of organization di-
rected by ordinary tact and foresight,
We as people are allowing this great
element of wealth to pass beyond our
borders for mere song; that our birth
right is going for mess Of pottage,
and our great natural advantages sacri-
feed with the careless Indifference of q
drunkard, who filings from his lap his
treasures. Foreign spectators and
manufacturers, fully aware that the
staple is passing out of the hands Of
the growers at figures far below the
cost Of production, nevertheless hold
aloof from the market to allow the ma
turing obligations of the farmers to
force the crop out Of their hands for
mere pittance De6antly claiming to
command the situation they boldly pro-
pose to avail themselves of conditions.
which could be remedied by a combina-
tion Of the cotton growers and business
element Of the cotton belt, to rob the
growers not only Of the profits of their
years toll but of nearly one-half the
value of 10, 900, 900 bales of cotton, and
thereby impoverish the most favored
section of The globe. Blessed with the
natural advantages of climate and
soil which alone can produce this great
staple in quality and quantity sufficient
for the demands Of the world, we should
be the most prosperous people on earth.
Efficient organization, which would
control the volume Of production and
regulate its marketing, would make
these advantages mine of wealth; but
with every cotton grower separately and
independently striving to increase his
acreage and nullify his bales, first above
and then below the cost of production;
with vicious financial system that
causes the claims of the local merchant
and banker to force the entire crop on
the mark ct in four months, these nat
ural advantages are distorted into
blight and la curse, and the cotton grow
er is made to become a prey to the
usurer, the speculator and the manufac-
turer. Never was there situation
which more peremptorily challenged the
wisdom of economic craftsmanship;
never was there more inviting way, a
more imperative field for organization;
never was there an exigency which
would more fully justify it. Yet we
are told that the cotton growers are an
IGNORANT class. devoid of leadership and
without the power to organize; that it
is impossible to organize 500, 600 cotton
growers. Why even the lower animals
willrally for defense and self protec-
ton. Can it be possible that the cot
ton growers constitute the only element
Of the animal kingdom which cannot
unite? Are they so devoid Of manhood,
intelligence and foresight that the
strongest Neutrality-suspicious.,
competency, the welfare Of their Sec
ton and the maintenance Of their fami-
lies cannot induce them to unite? fit
be true that as class they are so de-
void Of spirit, so ignorant, so helpless
and supine that the most direct and
forceful appeals to sentiments the most
calculated to stir the human heart can
not induce them to organize for pur-
poses Of mutual protection and self de-
fence, then truly We should hear no
more complaints of the oppression Of
trusts and combinations, but as a class
We should meekly accept that law Of
nature which DEGREES that the improvi-
dent, the weak and the careless shall
serve the vigilant, the active and the
strong; then should we join in the re-
frain of the other avocations.
4 hold the farmer simple tool
Born to labor and not TO rule.
aud VI do unto hin that which Isse
viii bring the most money to mine and to
me-
Prompt and concerted action on the
part of the cotton growers would change
present conditions in 80 days Through
the complete organization which would
enable them toact as a unit would place
them in command of the situation in
three months and change their condi-
tion from one Of bankruptcy and dis
tress to one Of competency and profit.
By what means can organization ef-
feet these ends? Adopt the recommen-
dations of the National Cotton Growers
union, organize promptly, hold all the
cotton on hand and firmly bind our
selves to reduce the extent of this years
acreage 80 per cent. the ensuing year.
No intelligent man of business expert
enee will dispute the soun6ness of this
proposition. As soon as effective
measures to these ends have been taken
and become certainty cotton will i'm
mediately advance and more money can
be borrowed on it than it is worth to-
day: because it would then become a
security constantly anticipating in val
ue. The visible supply of cotton is not
above Is, 000.0 and the invisible sup
ply, or stock on hand at the mills, is
to+ol &