The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1906-03-10
'EECH DELIVERED BY HON. C. C. HANDY
Open Door Meeting Of the Farmers Union at Gen.
ter Point School House in Hampstead County on
the Night, Of February 18th, 1906.

district will be thing of the
past. If | can't get the prosecut-
ing attorney to break them up |
will appoint an attorney that will.
If the grand juries will indict
those gentlemen | guarantee that
that species of gambling goes out
of business. Gambling in cotton
futures is ten times more demon
alizing than gambling for silver
dollars. When the gambler puts
his cold cash on the table and the
other fellow wins, the loss is di-
rect and personal and only eff
fects the parties but in cotton
future gambling, every deal in
jures and effects the whole cot
ton belt.
But one says how are you 60
ing to get at these fellows. Risk
that to me. | will force the tel
egraph operators to go before the
grand juries and carry their
books and give the names, dates
and kilograms sent, to buy or
sell cotton futures.
It's just as much a violation of
law in Arkansas, to buy or sell
cotton futures, as it is to play po-
ker for money.
Every farmer ought to receive
a price for his product that will
pay the expense for making it
and for the use of his land. Every
merchant in Hope or elsewhere
in this country receives a profit
on his goods or ought to. When
you go to buy goods you don't ex-
pect to get them at cost, at least
you ought not to expect such a
bargain. The merchant puts in
his time, the use of his money
and ought to have a profit, that
profit to be governed by compe-
tition, and demand for the things
sold. And the farmer ought
to stand on the same plain. His
products ought to sell for a price
that competition demand and
consumption creates and not for a
price fixed by few schemers
thousand miles away who never
expect to handle an ounce of the
product bought or sold. It's not
your home retail merchant that
fixes the prices that hurts, its
the combinations among and
back of the manufacturers and
wholesale fellows. The consum-
err is completely shut out. No ten
of you farmers can get together
and go to Hope and buy from a
drummer a thousand dollars
worth of goods at wholesale pri-
ces. Suppose ten or fifteen of
you farmers club together and
make up a list of the articles you
will need this year and delegate
one of your number to go to st.
Louis or elsewhere and buy. Do
you think you could buy at whole
sale? No Sir. If a drummer
were to sell M q pair of shoes or
even a box of shoes at wholesale
prices he would be discharged at
once. They are combined. Then
it is nothing but right and prop
er for the farmers to combine
and demand certain prices for
their cotton and ] am proud to
know that the Farmers Union has
done something along that line.
But while you are combining to
protect yourself and secure liv-
ing prices for your cotton, beg
you not to neglect the education
of your children. Remember the
merchant, the lawyer, doctor
and preacher keep their children
in school and the farmer ought
to do the same thing. 1t is brains
that wins in the long run and the
school is the place to prepare a
boy or girl for the battles of life
no difference what they follow.
desire to call your attention
to our free schools. The free
school system of Arkansas is not
perfect. ] The boy in the country
school, # he attends the country
free schbol, will not be as far
advanced when he is sixteen
years fold as the boy who at
ttends4he free schools in Gown,
who 2 only twelve year, y old.
Yet d1they both go to aC;free
SCH That is not fair ar'd it
is 4 right. The result is S that
if.Le farmer on the farm wishes
hi boy to advance along with
u & boys in town he must either
Nave his farm and move to town
and send his boys to school or,
he must send his boys to town
and pay board and tuition