The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-10-30
'][.E s. ]! ENT T'T Y
Benefit Southern Cotton Mill& GSWspns GSsp
s. s. l ere, Says Mr. Edmon IDS. 3 sssS'' ss
By PLAINsFAOrs AND FIGURES

t1s ~ S72 ~ y o NJ
BY 3, PLAINsFAO5lrs AND FIGURES,
He Shows that Cotton is too Cheap
sWhens itsss F'alIss Bell 6ws tho :
Average Of Ton Gents
Pegss 4 Pound III i.,..S /, -. = !.
Since the days OF Solomon it las
ever been true that the buyer. is "a
"bear," for today }Stas stheri 1 6 Annahght,
naught, saith the buyer" has s7bee q
the cry Of the man who seeks to force
down, the price Of that which, he, de-
sires1 to purchase; butsitswould 8seem
that it has been lefts for this day and
generation to produce . seller who
joins in with the buyer and seeks to
depress the value Of his low11 goods.
The south is the great seller Of cotton
TO the world, and in these days it
seems to take delight In letting the
buyer Of its cotton not only TX the
price, but even joins in with the
buyer In helping to create the i'm
preston thatethe "bull"! on cotton is
a dangerous animal, while the ''bear''
Is the only truly good animal in the
| menagerfe. ti.sftisft
1t Is to be expected that the great
cotton manufacturers Of Europe and
New England should unite their forces
In beating down the price OF cotton;
| tpf,s nt nf hot 'nfr,,y 4.
create the ilnpreSsiOnthat the man who
seeks to advance theprice OF cotton is q
constituencies gambler who deserves
to be executed by all 'right-thinking
people; we are not surprised that they
hold him up as the enemy OF man=
kind in forcing the closing Of mills
and the stopping df employment for
thousands OF hands. But it Is little
surprising that the south 50 complac-
emily accepts these teachings, and
that southern people give heed to them
IS though they were the honest con-
victionS Of sincere men. On the 9TH
er hand, the hear" the man who
lives on the sufferings entailed upon
the millions OF cotton producers by
forcing down the price Of cotton, is
held up az Il great heneiact0r. Even
let it be granted that both be gam
blers, yet the bull is a power helping
to secure for the producers fairer
price than he has had for many years,
and to that extent at least he is doing
great good to the south; while the
l'hears work results in keeping fine
cotton grower pnor for the uenefit OF
the manufacturers of Europe and the
north.
At the recent meeting of the New
England Cotton Manufacturers AsSo-
citation, the president aud number
Of other speakers bitterly denounced
the efforts OF the bull leaders which
brought about the higher prices of
cotton. and the president expressed
the'hope that the time would soon
come when other countries wonld
grow enough cotton to make the
world more independent of the south
as Its chief source Of supply. Here
was the president Of a great American
business body expressing the hope
that the south might lose Its monop-
oily on cotton by the development OF
cotton growing elsewhere, and against
such unpatriOtic sentiments prompted
only by his desire that In ths way the
price Of raw cotton might be forced
down to lower level, / have not seen
u single word OF protest In northern
papers and very little in southern.
What cared he whether the cotton
producer, be he black or white, get q
fair return on his cotton? lis only
concern was that he and his fellow
manufacturers might buy cotton at a
low figure, since the margin of profit
to the mill Is always.much larger on
low Price than on high price cotton.
Nobody can blame these people fol
lighting for their own interests, but
the south has right to ask that they
make an honest fight, and that they
do not seek to convince the world that
the man who leads In breaking down
cotton prices is a saint, while the one
who works for higher prices is the
great test of sinners.
COTTON NOT TOO HIGH.
AS said, the strangest thing about
the matter is that without studying
the subject many southern people
adopt these views and think that it is
a misfortune to the south for cotton
to command high prices. Only yes
terday prominent southern banker
said to me; hope these high prices
Of cotton will not last longer than
this year, for if they do:the southern
mills will not; make so much jAe4ey.
1t Is doubtless true that with high
prices the mills wouldn't make such
arge profits and no one more highly
appreciates than do the magnificent
work Of the mill interests Of the south
in the development OF This section in
the creation OF employ ment for .hith-
erto idle people and in every good
work that tends to the upbuilding or
the whole south. But suppose high
price cotton should cause a net de-
cline Of & per cent in the earnings Of
all cotton mill capital in the south
the aggregate decrease would be Say
$40, 1000, 900 to Sl2 2,0O0,0Dl, as there s
now about Sl75,O00, 900 to 5000, O0O,-
900 invested, IN southern mills though
even this might not CONT true, as the
mills might be able to SO, adjust their
operations as to avoid any decrease.
On the other hand an advance of
even cent pound In the raw sta pie
would mean an additional profit to the
growers and thus to the south Of S5O,-
600. 600 to $50, 600, 00O, which would