The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-11-30

Corporation Tor a common cause on
the part OF the farmers, bankers bus
mess and professional men of the South
organized under the banner of the South
ern Cotton association, resulted in vic
tory-a victory will always be assured
us when united
Ten cents was secured for cotton from
those who had for half a century DOM
mated and controlled the price OF our
great staple crop, and who told us we
must sell that crop at to cents per
pound A reduction in acreage was Sc
cured, as well as material reduction
in the use of fertilizers. Ten cent cotton
was secured too, within five months
from the time the organization was con-
ceived
These five months though We're full of
strenuous moments. 1t was by no
manner of means smooth sailing, the bat
tie was fierce and furious. We were
forced to fight not only combined brain Of
a very high order, but the combined
money of the world concentrated through
the efforts of the bear spectators
backed by the spnners of the world, and
in June, 1900. it was discovered that Ger
the buerau of cotton statistics in the
United States department of agriculture
at Washington were traitorously conspir-
ing with speculative interests to depress
the price of cotton and to defeat the will
of the people To the secretary of the
association, Richard Cheatham. was as
signed the difficult task of exposing the
rottenness in that department. His mag
nifcent work, facing difficulties which
would have disheartened most men, is "A
matter of history well known to the en-
tire cotton world This splendid work
OF fearless Dick Cheatham in exposing,
not only the outrageous frauds in Wash
ington, but exposing at the same time
those Wall street spectators who con-
n.ved to corrupt these officials, has made
HIM the target for abuse and Nilii1cauor
from these ever since, and there
is no disgrace to which they would
not today subject him. regardless of how
diabocally dirty the methods might be
If within their power, and solely because
OF his consistent fight on these gamblers
lin the interest of his own people and
his own southland.
The south in this battle of five months
by its intelligent and business like
methods of preclude to carry out the
plans agreed upon in New Orleans, eX-
cited the wonder and admiration of the
cotton trade ON both continents. The
farmers. aided by the other southern III
terests, carried forward to a glorious con-
clusion one of the greatest financial I'M
dertakings that had been conceived in
modern times.
The different state presidents We're
called upon in September, 1905, To secure
from the county officers and they from
the township officers of SD cotton grow
ing counties i'm the south an estimate of
probable Yield for that crop. and to re-
port this information to the executive
committee of the Southern Cotton associa-
tion. which was called To meet at Ashe-
Vile, North Carolina on September g.
1905. In the meantime the central officers
Were gathering all the data possible upon
the cost of production and the demands
for consumption etc, with a view to
presenting this Information before the
body at Ashevile and from this com
bined information the executive commit
Tee was to determine, after full and com
plete investigation into the data pre-
scented and also to consider i'm their DELHI
erations. the question of supply and con
sumption or demand. and from all this
decide upon "A minimum price To bt
charged for the crop of e05
After thoughtful. painstaking study u
all information laid before them, IT was
ascertained that the crop would not ex
coed 11,000,000 bales. maximum, and condi
tions compared with the previous yelr
at the same period. indicated a comm ~
cial crop excluding linters, city crop ano
long staple cotton of even less than To-
500.000 bales. The minimum price wa.
fixed by them at IL cents per pound, basi.
middling at all interior points