The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-03-01

(Cheers.) .,
confronted by two propositions.
"First. to take care OF the present surplus
of 1000, 900 bales.
second, to curtail the acreage of the cur.
rent year.
'Third, to find new markets by 1907. so as
TO put our Industry on a stable basis and pre-
vent a recurrence of present conditions.
For the 1000. 900 bales OF cotton a pool has
been formed with ample capital to back It,
! If trusts are 10 be the order OF the lay, we
will cease TO be the only victim, and we Will
have a cotton trust too; not Il secret, DARK
lantern arrangement, but q trust formed Tor
seIf.protect on, in broad open day, by the
representatives of Is 600 900 people in twenty
states of this union, producing the crop upon
which the whole world relies Tor clothing
material.
This is the most gigantic combination
ever dreamed #. What the result Will be nc
man can tell.
zone thing Is sure, ifyou carry 1t out like
every other trust 1t will be effective. Refuse
TO sell Jour cotton, but instead deposit 1t IL
u warehouse and draw our money at Inc
banking agencies established by the cotton
trust, and In addition reduce your acreage
1t means that the men who form this poo
will have the consumers and oenr specula'
tors at their mercy, aud you can dictate
! prices for the next crop. Whether The power
would be abused or not IL another question
out l do say, that 1T makes you for the time
| The complete masters OF the cotton World,
and that you will have to be- consulted about
the price OF your product. No one Will tell
| you what he will give, but Will auXlously
inquire what you will take for your COTTON.
II say further, fellow citizens, that condi-
tons which force a whole people to attempt
| otner trust, has for It's object the overturning
IF the natural law OF supply and demand,
brands as something false and wrong the
| political and industrial conditions under
| which 1t occurs. II presents Il problem that
cries out Tor solution along reasonable nat
ural lines. The statesman who denies IL Is q
fraud, the political economist who shlrks II
is q hyprocrlte, and the Christian who passes
Il by is a traitor TO his God and county. Az
10 whether such a gigantic trust with lis
millions OF members, can succeed, ana us
effect ON public Interests, constitute prop
lems too deep for me. Ihere III no oiher
solution offered for the I'm mediate situation,
and IL is you duty and myduty to stand by
the New Orleans convention, and. organize
every county and precinct In the Stale
Texas and other states are thoroughly, or
ganized, and. South Carolina will be there
when the long roll sounds, or prove false IL
sill OF her traditions. l thought and said al
he convention that the permanent solution
OF the cotton problem would come from wider
concerted action has ever been made on q
large scale in thisd direction.
"Among the 400. QUO 600 people of China Z
| can fud a ready market at reasonable prices
Tor all the surplus cotton the world can pro-
duce. II has been figured out hat the word
can use AZ, OOO, 900 bales of cotton.
There Is another thing that 1s being done
on q constantly increasing scale, the Chinese
are importiug yarns from this country and
weaving 1t into cloth on their hand looms,
lie those our great randmothers used back
10 slavery days. What u field there is here
among these people, rich with the stored up
wealth OF centuries. The cotton plan nj IN
China Is q little stunled thing, with almost
no staple; they can raise too many other
crops Of greater value for them to make cot:
ton. Sell them our cotton goods direct and
bring back their camphor, hemp, spices and
teas. | derived most OF my Information
about China from Minister WI, and ne said
The south would find its salvation In the
China markets, and he should certainly
know"
MIR. McLaurin called attention to the fact
hat while the merchant fixes the price on
price satisfactory, The cotton farmer must
take whatever price is offered. He Is the
only class In the world Offering q com modify
for sale who has absolutely nothing 10 do
| With the fixing ofthe price OF that conmOd
lty. In 1898 wnen there was a surplus crop,
one firm opened a new market In China and
disposed OF $50, 000,0 900 worth of manufactured
goods. He had been a member OF the COM
mittee to visit the PRESIDENT and to appeal TO
congress. He had seen the president Monday
and had received assurance that Mr.. ROose-
welt would give the weight of his office TO
promoting The interests of the greatest indus.
try In the world. He declared that the repre-
sentatives at Washington get lar away from
the people sometimes until the people spank
tht NJ and teach them better manners. This
being taken as a philosophical aud good
uatured acknowledgment Of his own p0lttl-
cal errors, was greeted with laughter and
applause. For the reason that the repre-.
lsentatives get 80 far away, he argued, they
should be admonished by just such an or.
ganization as this.
THE TARIFF QUESTION.
In conclusion Mr.. McLaurin spoke as fol.
lows In reference to tariff revision:
why should the wheat farmer use free
Irvine to wrap bis protected wheat while the
cotton farmer uses protected bagglpg to
wrap bis free cotton ?" He showed how the
south Is disseminated against In the tariff.
Eastern monopolists have schemed cunning.
y TO plumber the south. Ninety per cent oi
the imports which are admitted 10 com petit.
tion In this country are competing with pro-
ducts of the south.
Let us demand that In the coming revis-
ion Of the tariff our representatives see thai
the south gets her share OF all that Is golng
mat we are recognized as an integral part OF
this union, ready TO share its burdens and II
need be fight Its battles, but demanding IL
return a full share OF all the benefits OF ma
tional li1e..
Let us organize but keep our organization
out of politics. Let the watchword be "meas.
ures not men," I have no confidence In
help coming from any political party now In
force II from any party that may happen Ia
be in power. A man never gets justice until
be isstrong enough TO force 1t with a big
stick
1.-The great questions with which we are
confronted have no place in the little
cabals, factions and caucuses OF political
parties, for their petty jealousies and selfish
ambition ever outweigh the country's good.
this sentiment, God bless South Carolina; II
she is right l am with her: II she Is wrong,
bone OF my bone. flesh OF my flesh, God bless
her still, am with her."