The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-02-14
A COTTON GROWERS TRUST


correspondence Of the Progressive Farmer.
read the article Of Common
Sense" of Concord, in the issue or
January 24ib, : with much pleasure, as
it deals with subj act of vital interest
to myself and many others-cotton
control. It is in my opinion jnst as
easy to form
NATIONAL COTTON PROTECTIVE AssoCIA-
TIN,
as to form any other trust. Now while
the figures given by the writer reach
the enormous sum of $2,916 268 300,
yet there is not near that much actual
money involved in these great robbers
of the people known as TRUSTS" I do
not intend to antegonize his position,
for he has the only key that uulocks
the problem of better prices for the
great money crop of the South for
brief period. wish to help him prove
that the plan is feasible if those whom
it would benefit would take hold Of the
matter intelligently. In starting any
of the trusts named in the list given in
article, we may select either one, and
use it for an illustration in order to
prove ti5e practicability of the plan.
Let us take the knit goods combine,
for instance. Within the last few
years, several persons located in differ
ent towns and cities found that they
had little money which they desired
to invest in producing some staple
article; the
| KNIT GOODS
field was open, books were opened and
money subs cribed often not more than
twenty per cent. paid; but stock was
issued, put upon the market and sold
for what it would bring; if it brought
twenty cents on the dollar, that twenty
cents was put to work, what little was
paid by the subscribers added to what
the stock or shares we're bringing was
about all the real money put into the
business. Now as we paid 20 per cent.
of what we subscribed, and then sold
shares enough to bring the enterprise
up to $40, 900 capital, we claim that we
have a capital Of $4,000, when really
we have only invested about half that
amount. Then other companies form
and we find that competition is lDJur
ing US, as our new neighbors are un
derselling us. We then go to work tc
consolidate all these factors into one
company, and we do so, for the pur
J pose of destroying competition. We
set out to buy up our neighbors, and
we first learn from them what they arr
willing to take for their plants. L
they claim $25 600, we agree to give it
but when we come to settle up th'
business, we pay it in stock (shares il
! the combine), then we claim that oul
, capital consists Of the money We hav'
paid in, plus the money realized from
D the sale of shares, often less than hal
the capitalization claimed. None o
/ these combines have near the rea
. money invested that they claim; it i
largely shares; and some shares hsV'
! sold as low as Is cents on the dollar
Q IF farmers would organize grea
T. American cotton company, they hav
enough money and collateral tina
| would raise the money to start On
q cash basis of two hundred million
= dollarz; this would buy over half tn
( cotton annually produced in the South
t Well, with that cotton as security
Q what would hinder them from raising
the money with which to control tn
!, other halfG It could easily be done
( and if the cotton growers themselve
do not do this in the near future, W
g believe the great speculating moneye'
q element of Europe and America will d.
q it. But if they do, it will benefit onl!
+ those who own the stock in the trust
I If the farmer is not in it, he would no
g get any dividend.
d But there is another side to the quea