Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1905-02-08
Observations o of q Meeting Street
Citizen Upon the Cotton
Situation.

49,
DEAR ADVERTISER: The cotton
growers convention recently held.
in New Orleans is:llke the South
Carolina Dispcnsary 1t is almost
too big thing to be helpful. Of
the two thousand delegates many
of them advertised themselves and
created some notoriety; while
others probably had a good time
but will never make anything out
of it. And 90 doubt mostot them
would like for other fellow to
re.1uce the acr. age.
1 am inclined to think the
Wall Street bears will not be
greatly disturbed ny the actions
Of the convention. The Grange
and The Alliance and every other
organization the farmers have
gone into accomplished so little
that the world hasn't much con-
6dence III their "stickability." !"
The great trouble is they will not
"tote fair" Go into almost any
1eighborhood and some one will
say, "It's good time to plant a
big crop of cotton, they say they
are gwine to cut down he plantin"
This expresses the sentiment Of
Iothers whose wisdom forbids them
from expressing it. | am afraid
ths farmers have lost their ''rpp"
by allowing all previous organi-
zations to run Into politics. They
have often given others al Office
or good paying job and been used
as "cats paws and got no chest
nuts either
NV opinion may be worth but
little or perhaps nothing, Eotwith-
standing am priviledged 10 ex-
press it. There IS going to be the
biggest effort to make cotton this
year that has been made since
Abe Lincoln put the darkies to
renting. The individual farmers
(those who work wages hands)
may reduce acrcages, but they
will double the fertilizers aud in-
tensify cultivation to such an ex-
tent that it will more than COM
pensate for reduction. Aud the
negro tenant will do as be has
always done, plant little but cot
ton and spread 1t all over crea-
tion.
1t is the negro tenant that
makes the cotton aud it is easy to
explain. It is cop that stand
abuse aud neglect and after ali
does fairly we'll. make very
LITTLE cotton and my neighbors who
live at. home make very little. W.
can't do it and mike a living. II
I had gone to the convention ]
would have asked the convention
to pass one more resolution, just
one, as follows:
Resolved, that every man. living
in town or city and owning lands
in the country, either sell it to
=laboring white men or enclose
same with barbed wire and put
therein some breed of beef cattle.
The idea of men whooping up
resolutions to reduce acreage and
at the same time renting from
500 to 10000 acres Of land to ne
groes, is to a thinking man very
inconsistent
A bumper crop of thirteen or
fourteen millions halns and -ra-
duction in the price to 81 to 5
cents will do more towards
strengthening things than any,
thing / know Of. 1t will hurt.
but that is the remedy. AS long
az men will rtnt to negroes, and
the banks furnish money the con-
ditions we are now confronted
with will continue to occur, and
remunerative price for cotton will
be obtained just about as often as
the democrats elects q president.
I predict that the farmer who
fails to produce sufficient supplies
for home consumption this year
will not be able.to get to the smoke
house and corn crib in the west
with FIVE cents cotton. And un-
less some act of providence inter-
vents there is where cotton will
drop-to five cents.
O. H. F.
Meeting Street, S. G.