The leader., 1905-02-08
NATSON'S GREAT
SPEECH.
THE GEORGIA ORATOR RECEIVED A
GENUINE OVATION.
He Told a Few Facts Which Justified
the Southern Farmers in Form
ing a Trust.

The Leader is glad to be able to
print below the greatest speech
delivered before the Cotton Plan
ters' Convention in New Orleans,
made by the celebrated Thos. E..
WATSON. 1t is the only address
that seems to have made any de-
cided impression on the conven-
ton.
Referring to the delivery of
this speech and its effect upon the
delegates, the Times-Democrat
says:
THE ease Of the speaker, his
clear sighted statements of his po-
sitIon upon the issues under dis
cussion and the brilliancy of his
power of oratory gradually work
ed his audience to the stage of en-
thusiasm where hats fly on the air
and yells supplant shouts. The
ovation accorded the speaker af-
ter he completed his address bor-
dered closely on pandemonium.
Those upon the platform flocked
about him and others jumped up
on the stage to grasp his hand.
Not content to see him from the
stage, he was dragged from the
platform and compelled to mean
der through the hall and receive
the homage of the different dele
cations, while cheer upon cheer
was given in his honor. =
MIR. WatSOn'S Address.
Il beg leave, fellow members of
the convention, to call your atten-
tion to some preliminary facts be-
fore going further into an argu-
ment about our condition. The
first that | beg to call your atten-
tion to is the fact that three years
ago there was an overproduction
of coffee. The usual worlds con-
sumption of coffee is 10000, 900
bags, and three years ago there
was an overproduction Of IA, 900, Z
600 bags. Coffee is controlled by
trust. They absolutely fix the
price, just as the Standard Oil
Company fixes the price of oil.
What has been the result? With
almost twice as much coffee for
years, as the world was able to
buy, the'price of coffee has not
declined, but has steadily adVanc-
ed during that time. (Applause.
What has become. of the IA, :
100000 bags surplus? The coffee
trust retiled it three years ago
from the market, and It's still re-
tired from the market. They
were able to do it from their
standpoint. There was necessity
for doing it, they did it, and what
has been the result? They not
only kept up the price of coffee to
its former standard, but during
the three years in which they had
advanced it, and in the following
years in which they will still adj
vance it, they will compel the u.s.
ers of coffee to pay, in that addi-
tional price, every dollar that that
surplus coffee is worth. Zap
plause.
That's one fact. Another to
which / call your attention. It is
this: That a few years ago, just
preceding the inte bagging fight,
there was a corner on cotton in
New York, full supply across
the water. The bulls having en-
tifely the advantage of the bears,
it was impossible for The bears in
this country to deliver spot cot
Gon, and they were up against the
necessity of delivering, not fcti-
tious cotton, but spot cotton.
In order to get what they had
to have under their contracts TO
save themselves from bankruptcy j,
the wires carried the message to
Liverpool and the ships brought
the cotton back to New York, and
it was that spot cotton brought ID
under free trade chat saved the
shorts, saved che bears from the
merciless grasp Of the bulls, thus
putting down the price Of cotton
to where the short speculator
could settle with safety to himself