The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-16

not living in the future. We will ad-
nit all you say. What Of today?
| When one of you farmers brings your
one, or 10 or SO bales of cotton into
Orangeburg, having firmly made up
your mind that you will sell 1t this
very day, whether the buyers views
, meet yours or not, whether he wants
it today or not. Should one tell YOU
about the future you might make re-
ply in the words of that old mission
airy hymn-'every prospect pleaSes
and only mar is vile Of course
there are degrees OF villainy. The
home man is not as vile as the man
away off. The Orangeburg buyer is
not as bad as the New York specula-
tor, and he is not, for the simple rea-
son that the home man buys some
thing as cheap as he can and natur-
all tries to sell it as high as he can,
whereas the other runs down the
price of something which is the prop
erty of some one else and makes his
profit out of the other mans losses.
The simple question today for the
cotton farmer Of South Carolina ana
the South to ask himself is: is not
nv cotton worth more, or will 1t not
he worth more than / am now ofrerod
for it? If so, what shall / do to COM
pei those who want it to pay It's rni,
value? Both of these questions should
be carefully considered and carefully
answered. They are just as lnlpnr-
tant to the farmer as any OF his tn
yestments are to the banker or the
capitalist. To the farmer they ire
ouently mean his all. 1t means the
comfort of his family, the happiness
and the future of his childrel. The
prudent man is always careful now
he advises his friends in regard 10
money investments. The same prn-
dence should be exercised in advis-
ing The farmer in regard to his crop.
If your cotton is intr1nslcally worth
NO more than the market price TO-DAY
if it will not enhance in price it:ls
IN yoi1r interest to sell nov II on
the other hand, it is worth more than
the market, if you will get Il better
nrice bv holding it, why, of course,
If is to your interest not to sell now.
The answer which will be given 70
fine first of these questions. depends
largely upon who is the party: ques-
toned. ||:
"Unfortunately. there has been so
much speculation in the cotton mar
ket that it is difficult for any one
even a disinterested party after care,
full study to advise with any degree OF
certainty. He a only say Wnat
should be: what certain facts war
rant, and in the long run it is Facts
that tell. To the second question
there is but one answer, should you
determine that cotton is selling below
its value, and this answer Is that you
must give your product to the marker
only in such quantities and at sucn
times as consumption demands.
An Illustration.
'"To illustrates: I am not going 70
nav YOU your price for a horse IN the
fall and feed him all winter When 1
do not need him to pillow until spring.
Especially is this true when L must
borrow the money at eight per cent;
When l need the horse-tnen anu
not until then-will l be Wiling W
meet YOUR demands. When you are
SO situated that you can KEEP Tue
horse at less expense than I can, n
esnecially when you cal insure MIN
against dying, the proposition is SIM
nIe enough. It Is to your interest," 10
keen the horse until I am in the mar
ket: even if you have to borrow
little money on the horse 1t IS wiser
for YOU to do this than it Is Tor me
to borrow the full amount of n pur-
chase price. But if you insist upon
nv bnying him now the difference
must be bourne by you. AS 1t ls$ih
the sale OF a horse so 1t is In the saie
of a bale of cotton. All CARRYING
charges and all risks OF
markets must be assumed by the
producer, who insistes on selling be-
fore the consumer is ready to pnr-
chase. -
I'm speaking to you this morning
wish to discuss both the present
and prospective prices of cotton, and
also urge upon you the only method
which I e you can adopt to bring
about more favorable conditions@
LAS a general proposition we Will
all admit that when the-consumption
of an article approXimates its produc-
ton. when the supply meets the de-
mand-that price for the article is a
fair and equitable one which will al
low the article to be produced and
consumed at a reasonable prom 10
both producer and consumer. VI
course with cotton I use the word
consumer in the sense of manufac-
turer.
As to Prices.
"The first thing to be. considered is
the relation between production and
consumption. What are the facts to-
day in regard to the cotton crop for
the season of 1,907-0S? Do they or
do they not warrant the paying of a
better price than is now being Of
fered?
The total cotton crop for the year
ending Sept. l, 1907, amounted to
13.51O,9S2. an increase of over t. }
million bales over the crop Of 10. e
O6, and a decrease of SO odd thous-
and bales under that. of 1904-05
This increase was caused by the mag
nificent crops Of the South Atlantic
States being somewhat below the av-
erage. Last year on September %
the agricultural department placed
the condition of the Texas crop at "A
points, whereas the report just issued
places the. condition for this year at
60 points. Louisiana last year on the
same date vas placed at 70, and this.
year at 65 points. mississippi last
year was placed at IS against 69
points this year. Alabama is placed
at the same figure as a year ago.
LAS we come eastward, according
to the governmep t report, the condi-