The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-26

Now, that the Cotton Growers Con vention at New Orleans has met and decided upon the "modus operandi or conquering the foes of the cotton in- dustry of this country, and whose duiy appointed officers are now in the act of inaugurating the plan throughout the entire cotton belt in every county, in every State, and In every militia dis trict of every county. let us rally to their aid and lend them every en- couragement possible in the premises not only by meeting together at the designated places, but insisting on our neighbors doing so; and by so doing and working hand in hand and shoul- der to shoulder, we will place ourselves in the position of defying our enemies and holding our own against any ana all corners. There never has been the time in our history when we were so well prepared to do battle with them as now, and the opportunity will never again, perhaps, be given us to throw off the galling yoke which we have chafed under for so many years. For are not the merchants. the bankers and many of the strongest capitalists, as well as many of the consumers Of your cotton (the mill men), under solemn promise to aid us in our just and honorable warfare on our implacable enemy? What excuse have we now, what excuse can we ever plead, to justify us in keeping in the back ground? Shall we stand or skulk in the rear, and permit others to fight our battle for us? Shall we be stragglers in the wake of the vast army of patriots who are fighting for our free dom and independence? Shall we fat ten at home, when our neighbors and brethren are barring their arms and yielding the sword in defense of our homes and our firesides? Will you be 4 traitor in the camps? Will you
 while your neighbor is under promise to assist his neighbor in the good fight to secure independence for your coun- try, be false to him and play into the hands of the enemy of your country? Would you not be doing this were you to, in the sneaky. low-down way, in crease your acreage. or plant the same acreage in cotton this year as last, when your neighbors were planting less and felt that you were under pro- mise, either explicit or implied, to lock hands with them in this issue, which now confronts us all? Yes. you would not only act the traitor to them but to yourself as well, and should be treated by your good neighbors as a traitor. And, in my opinion. the bet '
 have made up their minds that those who fail to do their full duty in this hour of their dire extremity, or those who act the traitor in this the crucial moment, shall suffer the odlum that should follow such acts. and, in a man. ner not to be doubted. be given the cold shoulder by their farmer friends. You have only to take note of the commotion happening in the camps of our enemy at the very sounding of our buEIe call to see that they fear us. for already has the price of cotton ad- yanced over $5 a bale since we formed our skirmish line at New Orleans a few days ago, and even the leader of this strong army which we have to do bat tie with has not answered our call. mean Theo. H. Price, the great bear whose roar we have heard and feared even at our very outposts when we were declaring war against him at our headouarters in New Orleans. Why is 1t that he is now so silent? Has he sent us a flag of true? No, Has he been deserted by his followers? No. What. then, is he doing? We'll my fellow farmers, he is fortifying his position. He is laying in supply of ammunition and provisions and impress ing into his service as many more men as possible, and will meet us with a bold front when we storm his strong hold. But from whence will come his future supplies? Have we not sent them to our rear and placed them where he nor all his vast army can reach them as long ss We stand to-