Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-10-23
HOLDING COTTON.
The oconee County Union Issued ADJ
dress to All vino are In Sympathy.

; merchants, business men and bankers
OF the county who are friendly to our
2 movement:
n We appeal to you to support us in
an effort to place the business OF our
country on a flrm and reasonable
( basis. The chief industry of this Sec
4 ton Is farming, and the general pros
perity depends upon the financial con.
dition of the farmer. The Farmers
Union Is not organized for a selfish
& purpose, but on the principle of co-
operation for mutual benefit. We
think we cannot speak more clearly
and plainly than President. Barrett
does In his address to the Union, as
4 follows;
81 To the Members Of the Farmers
3 Union throughout the Cotton Belt:
Just after the annual convention at
Little Rock had named Is cents a
4 pound as the minimum price which
4 the Soutiiern farmer. should receive
y year, the spectators in the cotton
4 ranks have managed to depress the
smarket and to beat down5the price,
/ address to you this line as fra
teraal appeal to hold steadfast to the
y council Of your annual convention,
and with hero!e' fidelity abide its ul-
: timatum to the markets of the world.
Hold your cotton for 15 cents and
/, hold itll, It'll 1t brings the price.
The committee which fxed the.
minimum at Little Rock represents
all the cotton States and many of the
best farmers of the South. &S
The National Union, when 1t fixed
that minimum, knew more about the
situation than any cotton gambler or
combination of cotton gamblers. 1t
was pot fixed upon an impulse or an
uncertainty, but after deliberate
study and Investigation. With all
my heart and with all my mind,
urge you to the last limit of your
ability to hold steadfast to this policy
adopted by your National Union.
y The present status makes a def
mite and decisive crisis in the history
of our great organization. UP to this
date the farmer has worked against
{, opposition and the possibility of de-
3 feat. . il.
4 We have won victory after victory
by this splendid policy. We stand
Z now face to face with a combination
which affords us an opportunity to
show the world that the Southern
farmer Is resolutely determined to
maintain his rights. The eyes of the
world are upon him as never before,
and the history Of the organization in
4
degree upon the courage and fidelity
with which he meets the present situ-
alton. For three years you have won
out in every proposition that you
have presented to the business world
Win once more in this important
Issue and 1t will be henceforth easier
sailing for us all. Loyalty at this
time will do more to attract the
thousan| 10 are outside the ranks
than a. gument we can present or
any. IL that we can make. Let
us this victory and we will
achl. 2 tho fear Of our enemies and
the respect, confidence and admfra-
tion of the world. V5
The act of tho last national conven-
ton pulsed the whole union with
fresh and virile hope. Perfect, har-
mony and perfect unity prevailed in
all our counciles, and the Farmers
Union stands to-day as solid phal-
anx before the forces Of greed. u
Cotton is Key to Situation.
You hold the key to the situation.
You have the cotton, you have the
add the courage, the business stamina
I and the common sense to hold your
} own, you need not fear the future.
+ Do not be scared by the conspir-
acy which has been begun to make
you part with your cotton for less
than the minimum price. You have
behind you the greatest power OF the
age in which we live, the power of
/. numbers and the power Of organiza-'
tion. Only realize your strength,
only be faithful to your principle,
only stand with the shoulder to
shoulder touch with your comrades,
and tbo victory will mora than ofonn
for the inconvenience and the wait
ing. / do not ask you to hold your
cotton to the injury Of your credit
: ors. Every farmers duty is to pay
/ his debts, but this is q period when
the individual farmer and the Farm
ers' Union can use their influence
with their merchant friends to in
duce them to bear for little while
. with any farming debtor whom the
local union may recommend to their
confidence and regard.
Be Loyal to the Union.
In this emergency every farmer Is
an evangel. Let him 60 out among
his fellows to cheer them up-to
stiffen their backbones-to show
them the way to the union ware
houses and to the friendly merchant
and to the loyal way Of waiting. The
year that 1s before us simply waits
to crown the farmer who In, this
period is loyal to his union, faithful
to Its messages and resolute In main
tanning the standard which 1t has
fixed for the price of his noblest pro-
duct. feel that rarely before has
the Integrity and strength OF the
Farmers Union faced greater crisis
than In the courage and character
with which he meets this assault of
the consptrators to force surrender
upon the minimum price which 1t