The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-12-30
ASSOCIATION.

a recent issue OF vouE paper. 80 IN
terested am and yet was so fearful
that my plan would not work that be
fore I said anything about 1t, I got
some farmers together to prove it.
This proof Of it I now wish to give
along with my pima. ALI attempts to
organize the farmers have proven
futile, and think one reason is that
there was no money for the farmers IN
any of them. The best sticking plaster
in the wotld is dollar, as it will
stick a beautiful woman to a miser-
able old "cuss'' of a man. Et Will
stick the farmers together, and is the
best sign, password and pledge on
Gods earth, and is the basis, the
spring and inspiration of all effort, both
individual and corporate.
Therefore if my plan makes money
for the farmers they will stick. 1t is
as follows: In place Of each farmer
carrying his cotton to his local market
and selling it to the local storekeeper
or export agent, let all in a neighbor-
hood combine themselves into an
organization and pledge themselves to
sell only through their agent. Every
man who handles our cotton makes
something out of it, and the greater
number who handle it the less there is
in it for the man who sells it. There
fore, my plan is to eliminate as many
Of these middlemen as possible and
bring the farmers as near as possible
to those who are the last to handle it.
At Lynchburg, Sumter county.
where I live and where I tried my
plan, we were able to get from one
eighth to one-fourth cent per pound
more than surrounding markets were
giving. Our pledge was as follows: ::
1--WE, the undersigned, pledge our
selves to sell our cotton through our
AGENT We then contributed enough
to enable our agent to take the New
York report and use the telegraph.
Fifteen minutes from the time ] went
on the cotton platform we were able to
get 81 of a cent per pound more than
was offered US by the buyers in our
town.
It will be seen that by this plan our
agents business is to get all he can
| for our cotton, while it is the local
! buyers business to get it for as little
as possible. Our agent can communi-
cae with any exporter, and having cot
ton in lots can command the best
prices. Another great advantage is
| that the farmer who has but ore bale
gets as much as the man who has one
hundred.
l acted as their agent this year at
Lynchburg and each day the farmers
would bring from 10 to 40 or 100 bales.
! By careful weighing and grading
soon built up a reputatin for fair deal
! ing, and handling the cotton in such
lots got better prices than any market
in that part of the country. The farm
ers gave me 25 cents per bale as q COM
mission, and according to the prices
which prevailed at the markets just
FIVE miles away on the same railroad
and nearer the seaport where our cot
ton was shipped they made from 81.
to 50 per pale by the operation. Sc
much for the local plan. Now.
want every shipping pcint in this
State to have it's farmers selling
agent. What is the use for as to allow
other men to rlake from Si.50 to 5:
per bale on our cotton, when by 6
little effort and concert of action we
can save it. We make in South Caro-
lima about 800, 200 bales Of cotton
annually. By saving 81 per bale woulc
make $500, 000, which would enable Us
tc put man in every seaport towr
within reach of this State. This woulc
enable our local agents to have cor
respondent at the water front who
could deal directly with the exporter:
and handle thu cotton from as many
points as vas most convenient
This seaport agent could be or
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