The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-14
SMITH SOUNDS NOTE TO SOUTH Earnest Appeal to Cotton Growers. SPEAKS IN MONTGOMERY Eminent South CarOlinian to
 Tour Alabama. - He Presented Splendid Array of Figures Concerning Conditions of south
 ern Planter and Their Pow-
 CT to Control. F..

has sacrificed his time and talent to the tidal movement for enhanced cot ton prices, yesterday dlivered an elo- quent address to a few business men and planters of this county in the court house.
 Men have read of the economies of cotton crops in printed propaganda, they have heard speakers elucidate the resolutions of the New Orleans con- vention of January. but no more ear- nest appeal to the chivalry and patriot ism of the South was ever made. than that of MT. Smith yesterday.
 Will Tour Alabama.
 The speech was the first of a cam paign that the financial agent is mak- ing over Alabama. He will leave to- day to speak Wednesday in Eufaula and Thursday in Selma. He Is striv- ing to raise sufficient funds to pay the current expenses of the Southern Asso- citation which will accumulate until the organization is in working form.
 MT. Smith spoke for about an hour beginning about 12:3o o'clock. He in- formally addressed a small audience in the rooms of the Commercial and In- dustrial Assocication last night. One reason that may account for the small attendance on these meeting Is that on Monday the farmers are unaccustomed to come to the city. The itinerary of MT. Smith was, however, made out long ago for Alabama and could not be changed.
 His address dealt with every phase of the problem of cotton prices. includ- ing marketing, combination of all in- terests of the South in the mainte- nance of a uniform price and the ed- ucation of the people on the natural monopoly that the South enjoys.
 Introduced by MT. Poole.
 Commissioner of Agriculture R. R. Poole introduced MT. Smith as one Of the leading personal factors in the movement for the South's solution He told the audience that the orator of the occasion was financial agent of the Southern Cotton Association. MT. Poole said MT. Smith was one of the most convincing speakers 1t had been his pleasure to meet.
 Mir. Smith at the outset expressed surprise that so few of the Montgom- cry citizens were present to hear the discussion of such vital questions as those with which he was to deal. The only explanation that he. as stranger, could make was that there are people still in the South who are content to bow to the flat of the Liverpool dealer and the gambler of Wall Street"
 Tt is the same pitiable spirit." he said, which gropes along and says nothing can be done
 Arraigned Lethargic Element.
 The speaker then began an arraign- ment of the lethargic element of the South. eloquently picturing the mass of I6,000.000 people dependent on cot ton and yet not knowing anything of the intricate machinery that markets the annual crop, the toll that is taken in the process and many other details of the trade. He said this ignorance of the farmer and the majority of the people of the South is despicable. at least deplorable. in view of the boasted chivaIry and heroism that have always characterized them.
 MT. Smith then began to relate some thing of last years cotton crop in an- swer to his own question. where are we? He said Messers. Sully. Brown and Hayne last year tcotton year), recognized that there was short crop bought up spots for every months and began to buy against them future con- tracts for every month. When the time came for the bears to give up the spot cotton to satisfy these contracts they cried for the spots and were soaked by the aforesaid bulls.
 In this way the bloated price of IT cents was built up. The mills fell over one another to get cotton and showed they would have 1t at whatever price they could get 1t.
 These references were made by MT. Simth to prove that there is demand for the staple and always will be where the growers reanize with the business men and hold the product until a fair and just return Is offered.
 No Substitute for Cotton.
 There is no substitute for cotton" said MT. Smith. Sweep the streets of Montgomery clean of cotton and you would have here a bowling wilderness. Cotton is the basis of the wealth of the South. The great trouble is there is not enough business sense displayed in our section. God has said he will not strive with man. No, nor will he strive with fool"
 MT. Smith depicted the humiliating spectacle of millions of Southern peo- pie in all vacations of life dependent upon the cotton crop, deaf to the ap- peals of the great movement sweep ing the country, while the whole world is standing on its tiptoes wait ing to see If we are capable of this very thing for which we are so earn estly striving"
 A New Englander had approached the speaker recently. - he said, and asked why there should be any doubt about the success of the Southern cot ton movement. The farmers of New England would be certain to make 1t A success at once. They would know what the intrinsic price of the staple is and would hold it until the price was secured. The speaker criticised some farmers for standing still, calling 1t living easy to get a raZorback hog and peas and some cornbread to eat.
 In an interesting diversion MT. Smith told of how futile it would be to spring any worthy competitor of king cotton in the universe and how the South is abusing perhaps the greatest natural monopoly that God has ever given to man. There are three approaches to competition, he said, being wool flax and silk.
 COttOn's Nearest Competitors.
 The extremely high cost of the pro- cesses which are needed to make wool marketable eliminate it from the com petitive field. The fabulous price of silk certainly keeps 1t out of the hands of the masses The limited production of flax would deprive 1t of all chance.
 Illusions were next made to foreign cotton. Argentina is possibly capaci- tated to raise 2O.000,O00 bales of cot ton, but the artificial irrigation neces- sary in that country and other extra ordinary costs make it impossible to raise cotton for less than 15 cents a pound. f. O. b. cars in Argentina.
 Indian cotton cannot compete be- cause the short staple of that country, known as "dog-taiI' cannot stand the