Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-12-11
sTINGING REBuKE.
Aiken Replies 10 Malicious Attack
Made by Saturday Evening" Post.

: - -, 'ps No. utuay nVSuiHB HOSC: r In
4 an edttoris 81 that has been extensive
~ quoted and commented on by the
papers of the Congressional District
tnat have the honor to represent,
4 you said: ~
We must depend principally
upon cotton, which Europe will
q Duy IN, great quantities, and
which runs into money very
fast, to oSsrturn this menace
and turn the tide our way.
Ihat, In view of such public
need, planters should hold cot
ton for mere personal gain is
eruly reprehensible. We read
tsnat the banks generally will
Keep them In the path OF duty
py refusing to extend loans on
stored cotton !, E = n
flt would be- a waste of time to
reply to such an abSurd statement.
$ii apsurdity was its greatest objee+
: uon. me editorial is gratuitously
false. n, Al a 80 HFs1 80
Living, as do, in. the midst OF
the cotton belt, and being fully con-
yersant with the Ills that the cot
~ton farmer has suffered, by reason
q OF the manipulation Of his product
by Wall street gamblers, aided and
abetted by certain subsidized news
papers, am prepared to say,, God
speed the day when the intrigue and
y iegalized theft Of Wall street can be
baked by no more "reprehensible"
act on the part of the producer, than
!. slmpiy holding his own property
until he sees fit to dispose of it.
And You say "the banks generally
Will keep them (the farmers) in the
! path of duty by refusing to extend
loans ON stored cotton" Let me in
ssform you, and your kind, that, as a
rule. the class of men who now have
cotton stored, do business on the
other side of the ledger, and If it
We're believed that the banks gene
rally" hau enlisted in a dastardly
attempt to bully the farming class,
the banks, and not the farmers,
would be the sufferers. The cotton
or the dependent class has generally
been put on the market, and If some
are weak, they will find ready help
in their own ranks If local banks
should be fooled into such a short
sighted, suicidal policy.
NOW, what are some of the facts
about this product of tho farm that
the Saturday Evening Post alleges
has so demoralized American f.
nance? The probability is, that the
crop will not far exceed twelve mil
lion bales. In an Interview in At
lanta some months ago the President
of the international Spinners' Asso-
citation, who was also President of
the largest mill interest IN England,
admitted that English mills had sold
their output Of cotton cloth on an
average of nine months or more, on
basis of fifteen cents per pound for
cotton. This being the case, and
there Is no reason to doubt the
statement, who Is entitled to the
extra margin Of five cents per pound,
between recent prices, and the price
at which mills have sold their out
put at profit. The cotton farmer
can pay the advanced price for cot
ton cloth, manufactured on a basis
of fifteen cents per pound, but If he
dares refuse to dump his cotton on
the market, at loss Of five cents
per pound of its acknu wledged
value, you brand his conduct as "rep-
rehensible."
: And this you think has brought
American finance to the brink Of
ruin?
A glance at the figures will show
the. absurdity of your statement A
private crop estimate circulated on
New York Cotton Exchange Novem-
Der 20, placed the yield this year at
] ',38S,000 bales. On the same date
lie Liverpool Exchange estimated
the crop at II, 1886, 900 bales. If this
Is near the mark, and it is safe to
say that 1t Is full, this crop is short
of last years crop by more than
100000 bales. Cotton brought in
to sight up to November 20, this
year. amounted to 100000 bales,
against 700 ono some tjmn last
year. Allowing for the shortness OF
this years crop, has not cotton been
marketed at about its normal rate?
The one true thing that you did
say, by inference, was that exported
cotton alone adds to the volume of
currency. Cotton sold and consum-
ed in this country simply takes the
money out Of one mans pocket and
puts 1t into the pocket Of the other
Now let us see how the exports
stand. The total exports from Sep
tember 1st to November 30th, this
year, amounted to 2,377,00O bales,
against 2,873,000 bales same period
sSast year. There is an approximate
Inference of half a million bales, or
Say $25, 100000. Does anybody be-
'lieve that the financial base OF this
country could be shaken by bal
ance Of trade of $25,000,00O for or
against us, when our export trade
runs up into the billions? You have
no word of censure for the money
sharks who withdrew thoir money
from circulation, but the farmer who
will not sacrifice his cotton, at less
than value, to coax this money from
its hiding, Is guilty of "reprehensi-
BILE" conduct.
ha ,,ln ~ fs.ao