The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1905-06-08
VOL. 6s
THE COTTON PROBLEM.
Every one is the architect of his
own fortune"

Every one is the architect of his
own fortune
This we all learned in our first
school days. 1t is, therefore, not my
intention to give advice to the indi-
vidual farmer as to what or how
much he should plant, because every
one knows what is to his best private
interest, how much he owes and in
what way he can best meet his obli-
cations. But being a member of the
Southern Cotton Growers Associa-
tion, | wish to submit few ideas on
general lines pertaining to the better
ment of existing conditions by secur-
ing better prices or the real value of
cotton strictly on the basis of the
law of supply and demand. My in
terest in our farmers is not merely
theoretical, for, though quite young,
was a two-by-four farmer myself
for several years after the war, and
learned, with rolled-up pants, to pop
the double whip over six or eight
yoke team of oxen, and to do all
kinds of farm work, from splitting
rails to hewing railroad cross-ties.
| planted corn, cotton, potatoes, peas,
and turnips enough to make sufficient
feed stuff, meat included, to feed the
hands and teams employed, and did
not have to mortgage the cotton to
get what few additional supplies |
had to buy on a credit, and yet
made as much cotton per mule as my
father did on an adjoining farm, who
paid little attention to anything but
cotton and who was for number of
years one of the largest farmers in
my old home county, -Attala, Miss.
believed then and do now, that if
this course were pursued by the
masses of our farmers, they would
not have had to go into debt much
after the first three or four years,
and thus their cotton would have
been Independent of deeds of trust,
which in themselves forced the sale
of the cotton crop to be made within
three or four months after it was
raised and thereby reduced its price
at least from two to three cents per
pound, if not more, than it should
have sold for. 1t is business axi-
ON, that no kind of property sells for
it's full value when the natural law
of supply and demand is interfered
with, and it HAS TO BE SOLD. The
course of diversifcation, which |
practiced, is becoming more generally
used yearly, and, if continued, the
4Santh will resume its place, which it
should have done long ere this, as
one of the richest and most prosper
Gus sections that was blessed by our
all-wise Creator with sunshine and
gentle rains.
The second and greatest reason
why we have to sell for less than any,
thing like the true value of cotton,
is that the masses of the people, and
agriculturists north of Mason's and
Dixon's line in the United States,
have been made to believe from po-
htical standpoint that the only saliva
ton for the prosperity of the coun-
try, is to vote the Republican ticket
that protection might be fostered
This fallacy of protection once estab-
blished, grew and grew, until duties
are now so high that we have to pay
double for the necessaries of life and
at the same time are forced to take
half price for our cotton in the raw
state and pay more than double the
amount it cost to put it in the manu-
featured state in which we consume
part of it. The duties are so high as
to become prohibitory, shutting out
imports to great extent, and thus
making the revenue to the govern
ment less than what it would derive
from lower tariff, under h h our
imports would treble and : ,e the
consumers the benefit of competition,
or cheaper manufactured goods, and
at the same time allow the producer
and consumer to receive better prices
for their cotton and wheat. The
cotton producer getting a better price,
he could buy more -four and manufac-
tured goods. Consequently, the pur-
chasing power of the masses having
increased, better prices would rule
for wheat growers and more manu-
factured goods would be consumed,
and the great difference between the
prices of the raw material and .he
manufactured article would not exist
as it does now. Every pound of cot
ton that is sold at an average of 8
cents per pound is now bought back
by the producer at an average of
about SIPS to $l.50 per, pound in
manufactured articles. This great
difference is caused by the trusts
and combines, which themselves are
due to the high tariff, making practic-
ally one American buyer as to cotton,
there being no competition among
home buyers. As a result they buy
from hand to mouth at their own
price; subject only to Liverpool mar
ket quotations, and the home manu-
facturer knows that the foreign buy
.er has deducted the freights (made
high because shipped over highly pro
tected steel rails, etc., to foreign