The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-16
Secret Conference of the State Presidents in Progress
 Here for Two Days
COUNTY COMPANIES ARE
 TO BE FORMED AT ONCE
Financial Agent Smith and President Moore of North Carolina Tell of Experiments Already Made
 In Their State.

'fWe have at last devised and will at once put into execution plan which we are confident will forever eliminate the possibility of cheap cotton in the south" said the state president of the Southern Cotton association, who after a two days secret session at a hotel in Birmingham gave out a scheme yesterday afternoon.
 Present at the meeting were w. H. Sey- mour chairman, Alabama; Paul M. Potts, Louisiana; M. l.. Johnson, Georgia; C. C. Moore, North Carolina, and Walter Clark. Mississippi represented by VIII II. Woods. secretary of the Southern Cotton association.
 The work of the attending presidents is lndorsed by those from all the other cot ton states
 Meeting Held Secretly.
 This meeting of the state presidents, though unannounced and carefully guarded against publicity, was held in ac- cordance with a resolution passed at a ses- sion of the national executive committee in Birmingham in January for the pur- pose of formulatng plans for cooperative companies to be organized in counties, the object being to protect the weak or dis tressed cotton and hold it in the south until the world will pay it's commercial value for it. Each company Is to meet and appoint a committee to solicit sub scriptions to capitol stock of as much as $5 per bale for the cotton grown in that county.
 Smith Discusses Plan.
 According to E. D. Smith of South Carolina, financial agent of the Southern Cotton association, who attended the con- ference, the conditions out of which has grown the Imperative need for such a protective plan as Is given below are that the value of the currency of the south Is determined by the ignorance and pow rty of the south going up in commercial warfare against the brains and capital of the world. "On one side of a bale of cotton,' said MT. Smith, are some of the brightest minds of the business world bankers, cotton buyers and min people, and on the other, in thousands of cases, l ignorance and poverty.
 'In addition to the fact that millions of bales of cotton are each year forced on the market at unsatisfactory prices be- 
 proportion which Is held the holder must pay the carrying charges interest and insurance, amounting from $1 to S1 50 a bale Cotton Is the basis of southern credit. Under the present system S5 per cent is manufactured outside the south and practically 90 per cent of it is financed by foreign capital. In other words the profit made on it's goes away"
 Moore Talks of North Carolina. | As an evidence of the practeability of the plan, c. c. Moore, North Carolina, | president of the association, reports that | already eleven counties in his state have subscribed $9OO 00O on this basis. He said When we were in Birmingham last 1 January we were authorized to work on | this plan When 1 went to North Caro- hna 1 published 10000 notices and rural routed them. 1 called newspapers to my | assistance. Then l made appointments
 in ten counties. When I presented the plan they adopted 1t and opened books | for subscriptions at once, with the cap ital ranging from $JO.0OO to s15O00O per company. At this time there are eleven | local county companies aggregating s90O.- O. I he stock Is being subscribed by | lawyers, bankers and other business men
 as well farmers We raised about 6tOOOO bales in North Carolina. If we pro-
 tect our weak cotton capital of S300,
 900 is necessary"
 Shows Attractiveness of Plan.
 This working out of the plan operated so for merely an experimental way shows | not only the vast amount of distress cot ton annually thrown on the market, thus | breaking the price to a point far below | It's real value, but 1t also shows the at l Df n proposition.
 l Asked for his opinion as to the outlook I for ths growing cotton crop MT. Moore said l. has been many years since condi- tions had been so unpromlsing First of all," he said, we had too much rain to plant cotton as early as usual-then 1t was too cold for that to grow which was planted. And now again we are not only having far too much | rain. tut in the considerable replanting | that r ust be done we are seriously ham pered by the great scarcity of seed' Cotton is really worth 69c q pound" | said MT. Moore, that Is, if you base it's | value on the cost of the commodities you
 would have to if there was no cot | ton An average price of wool flax, etc, l s 70. Hence, l say, cotton Is worth cer- , tainly 69c.'
 l Mir Moore will remain in Birmingham | several days in attendance on the Pres l byterian general assembly.
 Plan Officially Outlined | Here is the official statement issued | by the conference which is signed by | five state presidents namely w. H. Sey- mour, Alabama; Walter II. Clark by | Will H. Woods, Mississippi: Paul NJ. | Potts Louisiana; M. l.. Johnson, Geor- gia; C. c. Moore, North Carolina, and indorsed by all the presidents of the cot ton growing states:
 Plan for warehousing and holding com panies of the Southern Cotton assoca- tion:
 Every fall thousands of bales of cotton are forced on the market regardless of the price, because the producers and own CTS have incurred debts in making their crops, and have no other means of meet ing their obligations. other than by selling their cotton. It is this very condition that hac caused every year unsatisfac tory prices to obtain for the product. It Is useless to tell a farmer or owner of cot ton what it Is really worth without giv- ing him the means by which he can real ize its worth. The people are demanding practical. simple. uniform plan of CO., operation by which cotton can be stored and money borrowed, and the floating cot ton purchased. retired \ om the market. so that the price can be fixed and main tained immediately. It is, therefore. evil