The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1906-05-09

Wntchzaaaa aad Southron now has the COM
Ained circulation and influence of both of
she old papers, and is manifestly the best
advertising medium in Sumter.
vhe suggestion that railroad be
built from this city to Beaulah is pre-
missed on bona fde business prop
oSition that will be submitted by busi-
ness men Of substantial financial abil-
Sy. It is not an imaginary project,
evolved from the mind Of the reporter
when he found himself short Of news.
The foundation for the undertaking
has already been laid, and with this to
hssiId npon we see no insurmountable
difficulty in the way Of the consurn-
snation Of the plans Of the men who
@essre to give Sumter another trade
builder. A railroad from this city to
Beaulah would traverse the Concord,
l,ower Salem. and Shiloh sections and
would be the means Of Fastening the
,aeyelopment of one OF the finest and
richest farming regions in South Caro-
Una. The country which the proposed
railroad would traverse would be ben
e6tted. but the benefit to this city
would be fully as great If it is with
sn the power Of the business men Of
Sumter to make the building of the
xailroad a certainty they should ex-
tend to the enterprise every legitimate
encouragement and assistance of
which they are capable
The school trustees of Marlboro
county who declined to receive for-the
use of their school districts the profits
derived from the State dispensary are
charged by State Superintendent of
Education Martin with violating the
State law. The action of those school
trustees in refusing dispensary profits
.. this late day, after cheerfully shar-
ing in the spoils for years, smacked
considerably of a play to the galleries
for campaign purposes, and if the law
Is quoted correctly by Mr.. Martin,
they would seem to have accomplish
ed their purpose without having to
give up their pro rata of the dispen-
sau school fund
The Carolina Glass Company of Co.
lumbia is a tenacious creature, and
the grip it maintains on the dispense
~ business indicates that it has a
strain of bull dog in its make up.
1SyuS9h, Jordan, Livingstone and
Ellerbe stated a few cotton facts to the
cotton spinners of England and New
England that they can well seriously
consider. If they will not consider
chem now, later ON they will be ram
med down their throats in manner
80 foreible that they will be hard to di-
gest.
York county is reported to be on the
verge of repudiating Senator Brice and
an his works. If tile Brice law is to be
dealt this mortal blow in the house OF
lis father and chief advocate, what may
we expect from other counties that
have tried the Brice law and endured
the regime Of blind tigerism that it has
heought about?
The banks Of the South have made
n easy for the farmers to hold their
cotton and have borne the burden un-
compladningy. The farmers should
show consideration for the banks and
make it as easy for them to assist
them to nold the cotton as possible,
by unloading the cotton by degrees
whenever the market advances. 1t is
true the banks receive interest on cot
ton loans just as on other loans, but
this is not the whole story by any
means. It may be just as profitable for
the banks to lend all the available
funds on cotton as to divide it out
among a number of other classes OF
borrowers who can furnish good col
lateral, but when the banks tie up the
larger part of their funds in cotton
loans in the fall and early winter, they
are thereafter not able TO extend to
their other customers the usual ac-
Sonmodations and the business inter-
ests Of the South suffer in consequence
~ being deprived Of the money need
ed and heretofore supplied by the
hanks. It is good business policy to
hold cotton when the price is low and
4 is good policy for the banks to sup
ply the money that enables the farm
ers TO do so. but it is poor policy to
hold cotton indefinitely in expectation