Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-12-04
UNION BUREAU.


enough left to control an old hen and
s chickens. a { q s., 2
Most every day you can read in
tne newspapers under large lettered
scare head lines about money mat
tors loosening up. money matters
7 now about to resume normal condi-
tons, but still there Is not enough
money to retire all the cotton that
the farmers desire to hold. We know
OF one cotton mill that is said had
TO. sell some of its stock of cotton to
get money to pay It's hands with,
while other mills hsve plenty OF
I money to take all the cheap cotton
offered at the mills prices &; = 8 3
The financial situation has been
reported eased, improved and added
TO- until all calculations were sum-
\, married into one summing up of the
j whole, this final addition would
make showdown OF something
like double the amount of money IN
that we had before Wall street start
ed this scrimmage; but, yet there is
the debt-ridden condition of the cot
ton grower that is the cause OF the
whole trouble. ~ j s.
East of the Mississippi the ferti-
lizer bills are the main cause. Ano-
ther year this can be reduced largely
or cut out altogether and get down
to homespun business and common
horse sense way Of farming. Quit
getting into trouble with eyes open
and then shut your eyes and howl
5 for help. The easiest way to get
out of bad scrape is not to get in
1t. Quit mixing so much dynamite
or debts in your cotton crops, then
you can sit down on the lid of your
cotton and smoke the pipe Of peace
with your neighbors without fear Of
being blown up by prowling cotton
bears. ~
The following extracts from pri-
yate letter to this office from our
State Agent, w. G. Moore, who is
now in Manchester, England, ex-
plains a good deal about our cotton
unions arrangement for shipping
cotton direct to ourselves or our or
der for sale at Manchester, England,
which you can readily see will net
at least $3.50 per bale above prices
here, on middling cotton, every time
and no trouble about advances there
at six per cent or less interest.
Here is what our agent says:
My trip here as the representative
of those Offices Of the union that are
supporting my work, and are doing
something in material way to es-
proper thing to do, but once estab-
lished it would die of starvation and
fail IL 1t Is not properly supported
from our members, and If they don't
understand that 1t Is worse than USE
less to try to run their cotton here
without strict recognition Of exact
rules and action.
l have just cabled the Greenyille
Office that spot cotton If it were here
In storage so the spinner could see
what he was buying, would bring
enough to net our farmers for good
middling, f . o. b. Greenville, II five
eighths cents per pound, after paying
all straight expenses outside Of the
warehouse charges Of about cents
per month, and the brokerage or toll
to the cotton association, which con-
trolls the rules and handling, and as
this price would advance as the Sou
fthern prices advance, the advantage
OF having the cotton stored Is the
same practically all the time. Then
again there Is always plenty Of mo-
ney here to loan on cotton stored
where they can see that they run no
risk of losing on some irresp
warehouse, or trick of ticket and
once the storage was established and
loans secured the owner of the cot
ton could hold practically as long as
he wished and have his cotton sold
here by the Farmers Cotton Union
Office just as well as If he had his cot
ton at his home, and at a much bet
ter price, but just now English mo-
ney is afraid Of America and they are
deliberately putting up interest to
keep 1t from going to New York. We
could probably now borrow half to
three-fourths the value of cotton
stored here at 6tper cent under the
present conditions, and under nor
NAL times 1t would ben S per cent
once we get their confidence.
l recommend consignments Of cot
ton for storage here and loans can
be expected, but the shipments must
come under the strict rules Of grad
ing, CHASING, and marking of the
Farmers Cotton Union, or there will
be mistakes, misunderstanding and
loss to our members by their own
folly, that will ruin the whole busi-
ness. 1t Is utterly futile to rush at
these people with Southern bluff and
rhetoric, because they would just
continue to do as in the past-buy
from the cotton merchants that have
the cotton here to show them, and
who they know to be responsible for
their offers.
Here Is food for thought by F. s,
Crowder, hustling organizer, who
has put 27 unions in line for work:
II the farmer fails
And cannot buy,
Then the merchants goods
Upon the shelf must lie.
If the farmer fails
And has nothing to sell,
Then the bankers account