The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1905-02-09
Sam Jones Writes On Cotton.
Sam P. Jones in Atlanta Journal.

Sam P. Jones in Atlanta Journal.
The Southern Cotton Growers con
vent,on is now in full blast at New Or
leans. Resolutions galore and speeche,
ad iniinltum seem to be the order .
the Gay. Bankers, buyers of cotton
and growers of cotton, and sellers o
cotton, all homogeneous and helpful
one to the other. No more anomalous
condition ever obtained than now ex
lists in the cotton world. The wises1
philosopher and biggest toll, each has
as much data or basis on which tc
stand and reason as the other. / KEEP
saying it. every fellow is some sort OF 8
fool and there are millions OF cotton
fools, and they are the most teachless
hard headed, unmanageable of all the
tools that come down the pike. ! see
how you can corral and manage
a thousand fools or two thousand
| fools or even three thousand, but
how in thu name of sense can you cor
raj five million fools? I am too old to
| be fooled with old tricks. You will
have to get up new trick, gentlemen,
to fool me, and there is nothing new
about decreasing the acreage. That
things been going on for nearly forty
years and yet our last years crop was
the largest In the history of the world
The average farmer in the South when
he learns that his neighbor is decreas-
ing his crop, is going to double his
When Georgia cotton growers learn
that Texas has cut off her acreage 33
per cent, the Georgia farmer will add
80 per cent. to theirs. II the lamp OF
experience and observation is to be a
guide don't believe the trick is going
TO work this time, any better than 1t
has worked in the past, and yet am
perfectly candid when say that the
resolutions proposed at the New Or
leans cotton convention are all sensl-
BILE and sound and feasible; but the
sounder and more logical thing il
the harder it is to get tools to take
hold of it, and want to say right now
that l don't mean the cotton growers
of the South are fools about anything
except making cotton, and they are
going to make all they can, and say
indy to them, the only short crops
'ey have ever had was where Prov
ldence INTERVIEWED aud cut down the
yield per acre SO that they couldn't
make it. ! have no sympathy with
the Theodore Price, Wall Street or
cotton speculation in any way. Ny
sympathy is with the cotton grow
ers, and if 1t is true that the South can
get more for ten million bale crop
than she can for a fourteen million
bale crop, then am I not right when
| say that nobody but a set of fools
would raise a fourteen million bale
NtOP' <AaA SbO AOuAlOOA ululOA
bale crop of 1904 was grown and
picked out by the very crowd who
have sent their representatives to
New Orleans and unless 1 am mis-
taken, almost criminally mistaken,
that same crowd will raise IA, O0O,O 600
bales next year it Providence don't
Intervene. If the cotton growers OF
the South will disproye what L have
said and bring to naught the proph-
ecy make, I'll be glad to know that
have misjudged them and mis-
stated what though: was the facts
/ grant that there is a temporary
iet-up In the sale of cotton and that
the famers are now holding on TO
what they have. but how long they
will hold deponent sayeth not, or
they will get any better
price by holding it, deponent sayeth
not. Their only hope Is to walt until
the crop OF 1905 is planted and let
facts and figures show that tie
acreage has been cut SO per cent,
then, not till then, are they in posi-
ton to command 10 cents for tie
present crop and Is cents for the
next crop. never bought bale of
cotton in speculation In my lite. I
would no more dabble in bucket
shops than I would dabble in poke r
or shoot crsrs. I wish cotton would
stay at Is cents pound and the only
thing that will keep 1t below Is cents
is the crowd that grows the crop.
Don't forget these facts, gentlemen.