The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-07-30

! aS president. vice president, ETC., the
! local unions have a business agent.
and then there is head business
agent for the county. The main work
of the union in this section has been
! the marketin" Of cotton. \ member OF
a union. or an outsider for that mat
! ter, puts his cotton in the hands OF
the county business agent for sale.
! The owner Of the cotton makes his
price he is willing to take. When the
business agent can secure that price
he sells the cotton.
The unions have in this section a
system Of ware houses built by mem
bers of the unions, but the ware
houses are not union property, but
are organized corporations, each sep
arate, under the laws Of the state. Re-
oular rates of storage and Insurance
are charged. and fee of SO cents a
bale is also charged for sampling and
grading the cotton. These are the only
charges made in the handling Of the
staple. Several thousand bales of cot
ton were handled the past season in
this manner, and today the business
agent sold lot Of So bales for 13 1-2
cents. When a member places his
cotton with the business agent for
sale he must abide the act Of the
agent. and whether the cotton is III a
ware house or not, if he instructs the
agent to sell his cotton at stated
price. and the agent does so, he must
deliver the cotton at the time stated
under penalty Of expulsion from the
order.
Thus far, the unions have not
bought a great deal in bulk. They
state they only cooperate in buying
trust controlled goods, such as fertl-
lizers. Though in some cases they have
bought flour, etc., in large lots.
Partisan politics are forbidden by
the constitution to be discussed IN
local unions, but a leading union
member said he. would always vote
for the man representing his princi-
pies. So while the union may not be
in politics it is closely Identified.
During the past session of South
Carolina legislature the Farmers Un-
ion. Of this county, made an effort to
have the lien law repealed but failed.
The unions disclaim any connection
with the labor unions Or any other
organization whatever and claim to
operate Independently. This was
impressed on the founders Of the Or
der by the fact Of the wreck Of the
once powerful Alliance. But if my
memory is correct the National Un-
ion last year adopted a resolution
endorsing the Union Printers in their
strike for eight hours. AS the mem
bers Of the Farmers Union are most
ly employers themselves this IS
likely to cause some awkward compli-
cations should it be brought too close
home. But the Union will steer clear
of these matters when they come too
close.
The great fight Of the union now is
the abolishment of cotton exchanges
and cotton spectators. They believe
the New York Cotton Exchange is
against their interest and are fighting
for its abolishment. In this matter
thev unite with the Western unions
for the abolishment Of the grain ex-
changes. They claim it is for the
producer to say what he will take
for his produce and not the specula-
tor, and the advance in the price of
cotton the past season has greatly
STRENGTHENED the union and the faith
of its members. Cotton has brought
a better price sold in round lots than
in smaller quantities. .
Ware houses are being built at
MANY points in this section, and the