The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-03-01
STATE CONVENTION
MET in COLUMBIA.
Every County Sends q
Delegation.
THE PLAN OF ACTION
Officers Elected, Committees Appointed,
Resolutions Adopted, and Adjourned
With Interest Unabated.

The Cotton Growers Convention,
which met in Columbia on the 21st ult.,
was attended by farmers, bankers and
other business men interested in the
price of cotton.
The meeting was held in the House of
Representatives., and every delegate
seemed to have the success of the move
ment at heart.
The Association was permanently or
ganized by the election of e. d. Smith
as permanent Chairman and President;
H. B.ITindall, of Greenville, Vice Presi-
dent; F. H. Hyatt, of Columbia, as
Treasurer, and F. H. Western, of CO.
lumbia, as Secretary.
Messrs. e. d. Smith, the President,
and w. S. Lipscomb, of Gaffney, were
made members of the National Execu-
tive Committee.
Two delegates from each county COM
posed the committee on rules. wv. L.
Gray and j. H. Wharton were on from
Laurens.)
The committee on resolutions SUBJ
mitted the following, which were
adopted:
First. The reduction in acreage to be
planted in cotton during the present
year, as contrasted with that of 1904,
by 25 per cent.
Second A like reduction in fertilizer
for cotton.
To these two points your committee
insists that there shall be no exception,
either directly or indirectly, and they
shall be requisites for membership in
the Association.
Third. The firm holding of cotton
now on hand and to judiciously market,
in accordance with plans now before the
Convention.
Fourth. The increasing by every
means within our power of the enlarged
market for our cotton products.
The committee further recommends
that our farmers and ginners cooperate
with the agricultural department at
Washington in obtaining correct sta
tistics of cotton production and con-
sumption.
All other questions we recommend to
the State executive committeee
MIR. f. III. Hyatt, as Chairman of the
Finance Committee, made report as
follows;
First. That each and every farmer
be assessed ten cents per head horse or
mule worked on his or her farm each
year.
Second. That this Convention re-
spectfully asks that each and every
fertilizer company selling fertilizers in
this State be asked to contribute ten
cents per each ton sold.
Third. That each and every person
now holding cotton be assessed ten
cents per bale.
Fourth We recommend that this
money be collected by each county or
ganization and sent to the State Treas
urer of this organization not later than
the 18th of March.
Fifth. That each County Chairman
collect this amount at once and remit
same to the Treasurer of State Finance
Committee.
The report was much discussed, and
finally tabled by vote of 80 to IS. At
this stage Mr.. Hyatt suggested that
there was nothing for the finance Com
mittee to do but resign. Mr., w. l..
Gray, of Laurcns, thought that the
vote should be reconsidered, and this
was done. He then moved that report
of finance Committee be adopted, and
L a hot
be made five cents instead of ten cents.
The clause regarding the assessment of
cotton now on hand should be stricken
out.
Mr.. Ellerbe offered as a substitute
that the fertilizer companies pay five
cents per ton and that no ner assess
ment be made.
Mr. Johnson wanted to know why
this was not offered forty years ago.
The substitute offered by Mr.. Ellerbe
came to vote and was adopted. The
assessment made bill on the basis of
fertilizer sold in 1904 which was the
largest made in the history Of the State.
and in addition to this there is an initi-
alton fee of 25 cents for each farmer.
1t was decided to wire President
Roosevelt a vote of thanks for his re-
ception of delegates of the Cotton AS
sociation.
Col. Johnstone wanted to know how
much money the Finance Committee
needed and for what purposes. This
was discussed but not settled. The
matter of fixing bonds and salaries was
left to the Executive Committee.
Mr. j. A. Banks offered a resolution
that negro farmers be asked to help the
movement
j. e. Smith, of Lee, was the only
negro delegate present.
1t was decided that the constitution
covered the ground
The salaries of the officers, as fixed
by the Executive Committee, are as
follows: President, 81 900 per annum;
Treasurer, 5000 per annum, and Secre-
tary, 5000 per annum 1t was also de-
cidcd tomakc the bondof the Treasurer,
as provided by the bylaws, $4,000.