Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-04-03
IN BEHALF OF COTTON.

Of all of the participants.
IN BEHALF OF COTTON.
There was a rousing meeting Of the
York County Southern cotton associa-
ton in the court house at Yorkville
last Saturday afternoon. The occasion
of It was a visit from Mr. E. D. Smith,
state president and national organizer,
and the feature of IL was a stirring
speech by that gentleman on the OBJ
ject and aims of the association.
The meeting had been advertised to
convene at p. m, Mr.. Smith and par
ty being expected from Rock Hill at
8. 30: but the train was nearly an hour
and a half late, and the proceedings
were not commenced until exactly 5
o'clock. A large crowd OF farmers,
many of them from more than a dozen
miles, however, had gathered in res
ponse to the published notice, and
when Mr.. Smith reached the appointed
place after a hurried drive from the
train, he found an eXpectant audience
filling the court house auditorium to
it's capacity
Mr.. John A. Latta, president OF the
York Township association called the
meeting to order, and Mr.. c. e. Spen-
Ger, president Of the York County as
ISOLATION, introduced the speaker, re-
ferring to him as the cotton move
ments 'gattling gun,' a soubriquet Mr..
Smith has earned as the result OF his
energy and zeal in behalf Of the or
ganization and in recognition of his
now thoroughly well attested ability to
uphold the justice Of the contention
of the southern cotton growers as
against the spectators who have for
so long been fixing the price to be
paid for their indispensable product.
Upon his appearance before the au-
dience, the speaker was received with
complimentary round of applause. He
began his remarks with pleasant al
lusion to the manner Of his introduc-
tion, and lost but little time In getting
down to the real business Of his visit
to tell his audience Of the whole cot
ton situation as he sees 1t, the OBJ
stacles that have been encountered In
the past, the manner In which cotton
growers served a long period of prac-
tical bondage, how daylight began to
dawn at last, and what will be neces-
sary to secure the thorough and
complete establishment Of the south
ern farmer into the position with re-
gard to the balance Of the world he
is entitled to hold, and Of which he has
so long been deprived. The speaker had
the sympathy of his audience to begin
with. He won its attention and inter-
est by the time he had gotten we'll
warmed up to his subject and during
more than an hour he had complete
command of the situation.
tho nutaat Mr. Smith wanted IL
understood that the cotton association
organization was no agrarian move
ment, no socialistic movement, no ef-
fort to array class against class or
section against section; but rather
coming Of the south to her own, a
realization Of her invincible position
in the complete monopoly Of commo-
dity, absolutely indispensable to the
comfort and well-being Of humanity
emancipation from a bondage intolera-
BILE, and elevation to position OF agri-
cultural, commercial, Industrial, imam
cial and intellectual dominion over the
nations of the earth. He justified the
movement under considerations OF
business and patriotism, and declared
that 1t necessarily compelled the SYM
pathy of every loyal southerner
After going into a detailed explana-
tion Of the manner In which the we'll
being and happiness Of every southern
man whether he be connected with the
cotton industry or not Is directly con-
cerned by the welfare Of that industry,
Mr.. Smith laid down the proposition
that the price of cotton Is not fixed by
the price Of gold; but that the price or
gold Is fixed by the price of cotton
This he went on to illustrate through
the relation Of trade balances during
periods of high and low priced cotton
the balances always being regulated In
proportion to the price of cotton. He
claimed that the price Of almost every
commodity In the world and especially
in the south, was controlled to great
er or less extent by the price OF the
south's great staple, and he was quite
sure that every interest OF the south
depended absolutely upon the price OF
cotton.
Devoting considerable time to logi-
cal discussion Of the practlcaDlllty OF
producers themselves fixing the price
Of cotton, he held that there was no
question Of the fact that the matter
rested entirely with the southern peot
pie. They can fix the price OF cotton
at whatever they please II they only
will, and nobody else can compel a say
so. All the producer has got to do Is
to say that he will take a certain fig
ure and decline to take any less. The
world Is bound to have his cotton and
must pay his price. The highest price
reached by cotton during the war was
Sl.89 a pound. The European states
realizing as they had never before how
dependent they were on the south, or
ganiZed a monster syndicate, backed
by millions Of money and undertook
the development of cotton production
In yarious DartS of the world. After
a most persistent and determined eff
fort they had to confess defeat and
come back to the southern states. III
sl.S9 cents a pound was not sufficient
to stimulate a competition that would
break our monopoly, what fgures
would accomplish that end? There Is
not only no substitute for cotton cap
able of supplanting 1t at any price
hut as a matter of fact, the actual rel
atiye commercial value OF cotton as
compared with other textiles Is some
where I'm the neighborhood or ~ cents
a pound. And while 1t is'a fact that
cotton of various kinds Is produced In
India. Egpyt and other countries, 1t Is
also a fact that none of this cotton can
be used even as a substitute for Amer
lean cotton. Except for very leW
purposes 1t Is not even workable INTO
manufactured products until mixed
with our cotton, and they could not Sc
cure independence OF us no matter
how much they might be able to pro-
duce. We make 100 per cent of all the
really workable cotton of the world.
The speaker described at length the
manner in which the price OF cotton
has been fixed by spectators VINO DO
not know a cotton stalk from jimson |
weed. but who are constantly prating !