The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-10-02

SnITn APPEALS TO FARMERS
lfnSY ARE URtsED TO HOLD COT.
TON FOR FIFTEEN CENTS.

T.
- % the spsculaeors with Each
naAs-iDecaine n Price Not Justi-
- ~ Condlisiens. ~
Columbia. Sept T.--ThA 6ght for
- cents cotton nnds it's most ardent
"a most active exponent In Mr.. T..
q Smith. the neld agent Of the South
- Cotton Associations, Mr.. Smith
snt today In the city. after q day or
Wo at his home in Sumter county.
"a IVES seen at the once Of the assoc
(Ation In the National Loan and Ex-
(Aanss Bank Building.
latter . trip through the West"
"a Mr. Smith. II ind on my return
numerous requests from y,ikerent
rn Of the state asking me to urge
- people to hold their cotton from
- market until the price set by the
opothern Cotton Association and the
ormsrs' Union Is reached.
IF there ever was time when the
4nditions were clear aud sinmistaka-
u-without there being any compli-
lions. u Is now. II is clear case
e pure speculation against real con-
Gntons. To put the case as h is so
t1nt any one may see what tribute we
a{e paying % gamblers because We
-. not oPssnis~i 70 Withstand them.
the facts are thrssea The mills have
sold their outputs for months ahead
on = basis Of rs cents per pound; the
demand for goods at these prices In
creasing: the price Of the manufac-
tured article actually advancing: the
supply Of cotton In sight; the present
crop unouestionably short. probably
two million balea less than last year;
the demand for cotton for the current
year far In excess OF the supply; the
condition OF the crop steadily deteri-
Grating: the mills. running full time,
eager for cotton, no alarming condi-
tons In the money market: no COM
plications at home or abroad particu-
lafiy. with the spinners thirty days
ago buying cotton cheerfully and
probably at II and II 1-2c per
pound. Yet In the face Of all these
favorable conditions the price has
dropped from 1-7 to cents per
pound Why? Because q few specu-
lasors. who neither grow nor spin
cotton. please to have II 80. The ques-
ton is squarely mp TO the South. the
whole South. the merchant. banker
fArmer. lawyer. doctor. preacher and
laborer In any and every vocation. av,
ocation or profession. whether they
will tameiy submit TO this outrage
whether they will allow these gentry
90 exact toll from us. at their pleas.
ure OF from $40 to SIS per bale. ol
whether they will put their price or
their property and refuse TO accep
any other. The only answer to give
this absurd decline is to refuse e
take the prices offered.
In the West they are making 9
brave stand. They are complaining
bitterly that the Atlantic States ar,
not standing for the price agreed up
on. How true this is. I am not able
Co say. Let every man In South Car
oiina. who has cotton to sell drop rls
q postal card saying how many bales
M has and how many he will hold
I will ocmpiie the number and give Il
Co the public. so that we may know
what TO depend upon. IL we would
absolutely refuse to sell q bale OF cot.
ton now. stop receipts. then the reac-
ton would be immediate.
The only possible way to remedy
this outrageous condition is to refuse
TO submit to IT,
with present conditions warrant.
Ing fSc. cotton. acknowledged by all
parties TO be worth i5c.. IL the pcopl,
put II on the market at present prices
then we acknowledge that neither the
law of supply and demand. the condi-
tion Of trade and finance. or the cos,
OF production have anything to do
with the price or value Of cotton. but
simply the caprice Of few million
aire gamblers. Surely we are paylnl
dearly for the privilege of being dis
organized. for being without ware
houses. without organized capital 4
hold our cotton.
Can not each community meet a
once and devise means, where there