Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-02-23
THE SOUTH CON NTR0LS.
What the Cotton Producers and Capitalists of the South Gould Do to Rid This coun- try From the Blight of the SpecuIator's Rule.

k. D. Smith general organizer for the southern Cotton Growers associa- ton addressed a small gathering at the courthouse Thursday afternoon, his subject being the cotton question in general. The audience was a rep resentative meeting of Pine Bluff citi- zens, although it is to be regretted that there were not more of them present to hear it, as this is a ques- tion of vital interest to every south erner who has at heart the best in- terests of this section of the country.
 Mr. Smith was to have been here at 1:30 o'clock to deliver his address, but his inability to make the proper railroad connections kept him till nearly four. He was introduced by E. H. Burnett, president of the Arkansas division of the Cotton Grow CTS association, and plunged at once into his subject He gave an accurate description of the conditions now pre- 4ailing in the cotton market, and then went on to describe the methods by which the association hoped in time to be able to get for cotton producers a fair price for their product, and cne which would bring to them the profit which is now being snapped up by shrewd fnanciers in the mark ct, who have made themselves colossl- ly rich through the sluggishness of the producers of the staple
 He said in part: "CCtton is southern monopoly, and is not com rarahle to corn. hay, or any other product of the soil. It is something whch the south absolutely con. trols in this country, aud something which she could control absolutely over all the world if she was only wise enough to take advantage of and deveop her opportunities. Amerl- can cotton is the best in the world on account of it's peculiar fibre, which makes it better to weave, and pro- duces better cloth than cotton from any other part of the world.
 q am not attempting in this fight te. organize the farmer alone,' he said, ,~, l,o ct Syfrln man who is interested i'll any way in the cotton growing in- dustry, and there are few who are not. The merchant. the banker, the financier. in fact, every resident and citizen of the south, is vitally con- cerned in this subject.
 ''When American manufacturers found that 1t was possible for British manufacturers to buy the raw cotton, transport it to England, manufacture it into cloth, and then bring it back to America and sell it at lower price than that at which the American manufacturers were able to sell their product, they raised an awful storm. They protested to congress- and that noble body in it's ardor to protect American industries, placed about the importation of cotton a tariff so high that the home manufacturers were completely shut out of the competive field We do not need this high tariff, however, as there is nothing to be feared from any competit on from silk, wool, or flax, or foreign cotton.
 "Here are the conditions that con- front us: The lands we own, the goods in the stores, the money in the banks, and the railroads, are de- pendent upon the cotton crop. Cot ton is the circulating medium of the south, and it determines the amount of money we can get. Every part Gle of our social domestic and business life is dependent upon the production of cotton. and it is the only hope for the development of the south.
 we have monopoly of this in- dust"y, and yet 16,0O0,000 southerners cringe beneath the lash of the cotton sreculator. The price is crowded down by the bears in the stock mafk- ct, and annually mill ons of dollars are taken out of the south because thev make no protest. We are losing millions of dollars every time the cotton market drops few points, and vet. wi h a monopoly of the industry, we do nothing to prevent it. This