Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-03-15
wALHALLA, 8. G. /.
WEDNESDAY. MARCH is. 1905.
What Il Promises for the South.
.[The state.l


man in South Carolina, as well as
every farmer producing bale of
cotton should familiarize himself
with the plans and purposes of the
Southern Cotton Association and
then give it that support which
patriotism, common sense and self
interest dictate.
The organization of Southern in
terests in this association is not an
unlawful combine or trust; neither
does it contemplate the infringement
of any rights possessed by others. 1t
is an effort by farmers, with the
active assistance of Southern bank
ers, merchants, capitalists and news
papers to place the vast cotton bust
ness of the South on simple business
basis. No business has ever been
conducted on system 80 contrary
to the interests of the producers.
Without regard to the probable con-
sumption by the factories of the
world, tens of thousands of farmers
have planted as much cotton as they
could cultivate. These tens of thou
sands have gathered their crops
and within eight or ten weeks
thrown the years product and
a years consumption for the
mills of the world, on the market. It
has been known in the mills and
everywhere else that the vast
majority of this cotton must he
sold at once, the farmers having no
means of storing it and no facilities
for obtaining advances if it was
stored. Under such conditions the
farmer has had little or no voice
In fixing the price of cotton. And
when there has been more grown
than the mills could consume in
year, the producer of the most val
liable fibre in the world has been
forced to sell it below the cost of
prouction.
Now the Southern Cotton Associa-
tion proposes, first, to endeavor to
hold in the farmers hands and in
warehouses the 1900, 600 or 100000
bales representing the -produc-
tion for last year and to secure such
a reduction of acreage as will produce
only so, oh cotton this fall as, with
the he, 'urplus, will make one fair
crop necessary for the worlds de-
mands. That will ensure a very
satisfactory price for the present
surplus and the 1905 crop. The
association further proposes the erec-
tion of 80 many cotton warehouses
throughout the South as will accom-
modate a considerable portion of the
annual yield. These will serve the
double purpose of supplying local
storage and enabling "weak" holders
to secure advances from local banks.
Cotton warehouse certificates are as
good as gold in financial oenters, and,
with them for collateral, Southern
banks can secure all the capital
needed for conducting this immense
business. There will be much cotton
held on plantations, and this, with
the several million bales in ware
houses, will put the producers in the
position of selling the crop as it is
called for by the factories; they can
sell or not and thus have deciding
voice in fixing the price.
Common sense and Southern con-
servatism, as well as 8 purpose to
give no encouragement to develop
ment of cotton lands elsewhere, will
prevent that price being fixed at a
point which will tend to curtal man
ufacturing or restrict demand for
cloth by forcing All increased price.
What the farmer and the South and
the manufacturer wants is steady
price; stable price for cotton and a
stable price for cloth--and 10 cents a
pound for cotton is satisfactory to
South Carolina manufacturers and to
producers--and South Carolina, let
it not be forgotten, is the second
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