The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-05-31

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there has been one I am told that opel
ated successfully for quite while, j
in central position because when
man comes to sell he has not one or two
but several mills to whom TO sell. ]
the warehouse is so located as to b
convenient to different territories, a
Anderson, Greenville, and Spartan
burg. Then when the producer come
to sell he has further advantages
The railroads of the South have don,
much to encourage this storing in cen
tral communities through the use o
what is known as the privilege o
"Con centration and Substitution, >
that is the privilege of shipping to ,
central warehouse where The cotton
may be stored until it's final destina
ton is decided, and then forwarded or
the same bill of lading and at practi-
cally the same expense, as would have
been the case had the shipment gone
from its original place of shipment.
The next point is the construction
of the warehouse itself. If it is con.
structed of small capacity, it is no,
apt to be of standard character. Ir
hardly anything has there been 90
marked decrease in the expense OF
insurance as in the standard ware
houses. When began business near.
ly twenty years ago, it was nothing
unusual for the insurance to pay two
and half per cent. What is it to.
day. With a thoroughly standard
warehouse, a rate of fifteen cents per
hundred can be obtained and I know
of rates now being secured from the
hest old line companies even less than
this, while in the best of the mutual
companies q rate can be secured oi
four to five cents per hundred, OF
about one twentieth of one per cent.
The difference between the cost OF
storage, consequent upon this, is
about six cents per bale per month,
or about one quarter of one per cent
per month. The small community,
however, cannot be prepared to pro-
perly protect warehouses against
fire.
Next, in small community it is
not business. Warehousing today
ought to be q business and followed
with more care, and it requires the
same tact and ability that is required
by any other business. We all KNOW
the character of the men in charge of
the warehouse in small towns. They
give the warehouse short time each
day, probably receiving or turning out
some cotton, but they are not impress
ed with relations with which they
stand as regards the storer and the
parties with whom he deals and from
whom he borrows money upon the
cotton stored. I have no doubt many
of you have had experiences similar
to what l myself have had, having ac-
cepted receipts from local warehouse
companies in the belief that the cot
ton would stay there until the surren-
der of the receipt, and then find when
the note falls due that the storer has
obtained possession of the cotton some
time since, upon his assurance to the
warehouseman that he would make it
all right with the bank when the note
came due. What you need is to have
a company of such capital of such
size and in charge of such men that
its receipts will be given full credence
in the whole community, and not on
ly in South Carolina but throughout
the United States and even abroad.
How is that to be accomplished? !
do not think there is any business
which cannot be accomplished in the
South, and l do not believe there is
any great enterprise needed in the
South but when the South has the
private capital which can be found
and enlisted for its establishment.
Today in South Carolina, capital of
$500, 900 or more could be most prop
erly expended in the construction of
and if such warehouses
were put into one large corporation
with a capital which would be suffi-
cient to show that the banks might
accept its receipts with perfect secur-
ity, then you would have the advan-
tage of being able to borrow at much
lower rates of interest than can now
be had and the banks would have a
security which they would feel was
secure. There is probably
no collateral in this country which is
better than cotton. If the system of
warehousing is properly understood
and carried out do not believe any
security will be accepted with more
readiness than cotton. We can only
get the full use of such collateral by
the establishment of such warehouses
with such capital and in charge of
such officers. This would then give
us the following benefits:
1st. Lower rates of interest.
End. Saving in waste and country
damage.
3rd. The fact that we can regulate
the trend of cotton market from sea-
son to season at normal expense,
which the producer can well afford to
stand.
lean remember in my earlier days
when the rates of storage were as
much as fifty centsiper bale per month
and that in a warehouse with little
safety. Today with a properly con-
warehouse and the best rates
OF insurance you can store at profit
at from eight to ten cents per bale per
month including insurance. There
fore, under such circumstances the
planter can carry his cotton over from
season to season in the hope of getting
a more satisfactory price. Now these
are the questions which would inter-
est you as banker.
l do not think it is necessary to go
out of the state of South Carolina to
and construct such system
If business men hav-
ing the confidence of the whole state
would take up the question I do not
think there is any business which is
open to more profit than is warehous-
ing in South Carolina. AS | have
said am interested in it as a manu-
facturer, because it will save him the
trouble of having to carry this cotton