Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-02-24
POWER OF THE SOUTH
Has Only To Will To Con-
troll The World.
SENATOR M'LAURIN TO CONVENTION,

II Is q Long Hard Fight, Well caIeu'
lated to Try tho Faith Of the Elect
But " the Farmers Of the South vii
Only Remain True to Each Other
There Can Be No Other Result Thar
Victory.
Columbia State. Wednesday.
Mr. John L. McLaurin of Benefits
Vile electrified the Cotton Growers
convention yesterday. His speech
might not stand a Democratic micro
scopic examination without showing
something distasteful to the party
which favors tariff for revenue only
but whatever arguments ne made ir
favor of protection had the force oi
logic In the attractive manner In which
the subject was presented. Mr.. Nc
Laurin quite captured the convention
and for the 40 minutes Of his speech
there was rapt attention. Frequently
there were outbursts Of applause
While he was given a f1attering recep-
tion when first called upon for 9
speech. yet the applause at its conclu-
sion was very much more demonstra-
tive.
"Just few years ago." he said. 1.-THE
farmers Of Kansas and Nebraska were
burning grain to reduce surplus, as
we have heard recently Of burning
cotton in Georgia and Texas. For the
few years past the crops in the west
have been the largest on record and
yet wheat is today selling at nearly
s1.2O, the equivalent of 123 cent cotton
while oats, corn. barley, rye and al
other breadstuffs are proportionately
high. There Is a striking analogy be-
tween wheat and cotton; they are the
two great agricultural export crops oi
the United States; more and more. the
civilized world is looking to our coun-
try for food and clothing.
1T is interesting and instructive ir
this crisis to find out why 1t Is tina,
the wheat farmer has been able fol
the past year to hold prices 80 high
above the European party. I haven't
made the comparison in some time
hit not long ago I did and while the
European farmers were getting about
80 cents the American farmer was re.
ceiying about 81 per bushel. Right
across the border in Canada, wheat
was selling for much less than 1t was
in Michigan. The wheat farmers know
that sooner or later European supplies
will be exhausted and they must draw
on the United States. Making due al
rowance for war, which always makes
provisions higher, would not answer
the question, for that would mean thai
European prices should be higher thar
in the United States.
IA shortage in the American crop o1
$4,000, 900 bushels from last year Is no
sufficient explanation. The great COM
petitor Of cotton Is wool, and trade
journals speak Of the almost complete
failure of the wool crop Of Australia
and It seems to me that under the or
binary laws of supply and demand thi'
should be a factor in fixing the in
trinsic value Of cotton, but we fai
to see its effect.
Mature has given the cotton plant
er a great advantage over the whea
grower. While the south enjoys al
almost complete monopoly In the pro
duction of cotton. wheat Is produced
all over the world. from the Arctic te
lower temperate zones.
There Is but one answer to the
problem, the wheat farmer Is organ
lied and has learned the lesson OF nov
to manage his affairs on the business
principles that govern the other indus
tries of the world.
The Lullaby Of Misrepresentation"
"A few years ago they were singing
him to sleep with that same old sons
.overproduction,' coined by selhsf
greed to enable the privileged few tt
rob the many. He was pointed. as yot
are, to the laws of supply and deman
another law of God that has beer
prostituted and made to turn the prod
ucts of honest labor into the coffers o.
those who toll not, neither do the,
spin.'
"The wheat farmers of the west re-
piled to these doctrinaires. away witt
your devils gospel Of greed: we do no
believe it. Every grain Of our whea
Is consumed each year, and yet We
hear of famine in Ireland, England
India and Russia the wall or the
hungry poor of New York. Liverpoo
and Paris reaches our ears. There are
bread riots elsewhere, while we burr
corn and feed wheat to cattle. foul
economic theory is all a lie. for yot
tell these millions that they starVe be-
cause there is no bread, while you tel
us that we starve because Of Its yer,
abundance That is just what Is be-
ing tOlQ the cOltOll luihhcio eoN'' ~
Tom Watson said at New Orleans: Il
we make no crop, it Is ruin; II VIZ
make a crop, it is ruin too 1t Il
the devil. fellow citizens. not God, wht
promulgated the creed, You can anc
you can't, you will and you won't, yo'
are damned If you do and you arr
,,o,, 6nn,t'
What Wheat Farmers Did.
What did the wheat farmers do
They first organized. They built ware
houses all over the west. When th'
farmers can store their wheat they
get a certificate for this. and they cal
90 to any bank and draw their none!
on It whenever it Is needed. He needn'
force his wheat on the market unit
the price Is an inducement. The trao'
journals told us a year ana maj
ago that the farmers had passed th'
word around that they wanted and IN
tended to have 81 per bushel for thei
wheat, and in spite Of the combined Ell
forts Of the spectators more than
wear ago wheat went to 81 a bushel
For a few weeks they forced the price
under 80 cents, but the farmers sim
plv refused to sell, and today II
oo,,iyalant In cotton would be 12a cents