The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-18


of Mississippi: C. c. Moore, of North Car
olina; C, ID. Spencer, of South Carolina
W. II. Long, of Tennessee; r. r. Daneey,
of Texas.
Afternoon Session.
The afternoon session was called to
order at 2:3o o'clock by President Jor-
dan who introduced w. L. Foster of
Shreveport La.
Mr.. Foster addressed the convention on
Acreage Cost of Producing a Pound o.
American Cotton. He said:
I'm my opinion this is the most poi
tentous, and at the same time least un-
derstood, question that confronts the
American cotton grower today Msunder-
stood by the spinner he refuses to raise
his standard of estimate and pay the
proper value. Misunderstood by the pro-
Queer himself, he mistakes comparative
high prices for real high prices, anc
rushes his cotton on the market, fondly
deluding himself with the idea that he is
getting its value.
what does 1t cost to raise cotton? It
costs labor, and the value of that labor
is the cost of the cotton. There Is the
pith of the whole matter, that Is the only
answer that can be made--the value OF
the labor to produce 1t is The cost of
the cotton. Then, to my mind there could
be but ono fair and equitable method of
thriving at the average cost OIL pfOuuClnS
cotton, and that is to allow remuneratiye
wages to those engaged in it's production,
and then, by simple mathematics deter
mine the average cost.
Remunerative Wages.
But first, what Is remunerative wages
Is it to be bare living, merely shelter
food and clothes of the coarest charac-
ter; or is 1t to be moderate supply of
the comforts of life, and to include the
education of the children of the farm?
Is 1t to mean eighteen hours labor a
day with eight hours pay, and no holi-
days, no recreation? What price must
cotton bring to remunerate the producer
to repay its cost to him? One man, who
owns his thousands of acres will say that
he can raise cotton at cents and make
money. So, he can rent his land at 81 or
81 per acre and make money. So can
many of our immensely rich men lend
this money 1t 2 or per cent aud have
an income greater than they can spend.
Then could 1t be argued that money was
worth only per cent? The man cons
tributing his weekly quota Of profits to
the central depository. of course, makes
money at any price at which his tenants
can pay their supply bills--but, how about
the tenant, the individual producer who
does the work? He is the index to the
matter, his condition is tho one that
should engage the attention of the hui
mantarians, the philanthropists among
us. It's not the rich planter, owner of
large estates. who needs the aid and as
sstance of the association Arrogantly
Indifferent to the crying needs of his
dependent brother, sometimes would
almost wish that he might be reduced to
the necessity of getting down to the
level of his tenants and experiencing those
pains Of want and privation that make us
more kind.
Is 10 Cents Remunerative?
"will 10 cents per pound remunerate the
cotton producer? As said before, the
man of large estates, with many ten
ants. has no part in this discussion--he
is not producer, he Is simply furnisher
to the producer and collector of tolls
from the producer. and he must be left
out Of consideration. VIII 10 cents per
pound remunerate the producer, the man
who follows the mule up and down the
burrows, back and forth from early morn
to- dewy eve? The fairest means OF argu-
ing this question is to take the time hon
ored custom of alloting one-half the crop
as an offset to the labor. II a man is
a tenant, everywhere that 1 have ever
Investigated the question. his labor count
ed as one-half or an Offset to the land
owners land, work stock, feed of stock
and tools Then should the producer
happen to be his own landlord, and furnish
his own team and tools, the situation
should be the same-hs labor should count
for one-half of the crop, and only one
half the crop should be counted as his
wages | want, in the very beginning, to
stress the point that there can be but one
basis from which to discuss this question,
and that is from the standpoint of the
tenant, the sharehand. the actual laborer.
be he white or black. He Is the man
who produces the bulk of cotton or, at
any rate he is the basis from which to
start. If lie makes money, then the land
owner must make money. Though the
tenant may fail to make money--remuner-
atives wages-and the land owner may
make a good profit on his investment be-
cause he was called on to make no outlay
on that particular crop He might simply
furnish land, mules and tools, etc, that
he had on hand. Hence II would be mani
testify not a fair basis to consider him
and leave out of consideration the tenant.
Tho value of the labor put forth to pro-
duce cotton not the value of the land.
mules. etc, should and must form the
only basis on which 10 make our calcula-
tions.
Most Difficult to Cultivate.
Cotton is the most difficult to Guilt
vate Of all plants that have come under
nv observation. Growing OFF slowly, 1t
must be cultivated carefully, in its early
stages barring any attempt at the use OF