Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-11-19


of the outcome. Discussing this very
financial supremacy phase of the-sub-
ject. The Enquirer in its issue Of Oc-
tober 20, had this to say:
Just here it is proper to take anoth-
er look at the situation. We have as
serted that the gamblers Of the ex-
changes have been running the Sit
uation just as they would; but we
would not have the cotton producers to
understand that the gamblers Of the
exchanges are the only obstacles in. the
way of their full share of legitimate
profits. The proposition Is far too big
for anything like that. The whole civ
ilized world is interested in the price
of cotton, and 1t is interested almost as
directly and as vitality as is the south
ern cotton producer. The cotton crop
of the south brought close to $760,000,-
900 last year. This Is an amount equal
to about per cent of all the basic
money of the earth. 1t came from all
over the world, and when we consider
that the cotton belt of the south in
cludes less than a twentieth of the
more thickly populated portion Of the
earth, and that last years crop brought
$3.50 100000 more than the crop of the
year before and nearly twice as much
as the crop of three years previous, we
can gather some idea Of the signif1-
canoe of the figures. Fifteen cents
cotton means about $950,000,000 for
this years crop, and that means that
the money of tine world will pour into
the lap Of the south so rapidly as not
only to make this section immensely
rich in a very short time; but to make
all the balance Of the world CORES
pondingly poorer, and here is the key
note to the situation. If the south
could grow immensely rich without af-
fecting the balance Of the world,
the balance Of the world probably
would not offer very serious objec-
ton; but since the south's prosperity
must necessarily levy tribute on the
balance of the world, 1t Is easy to see
that the thing the southern people de-
sire, no matter how justly it Is theirs,
necessarily meets with resistance.
AS showing how utterly disinterested
are the people on the financial watch
towers Of the east to the growth Of the
south in prosperity and wealth, the
State argues:
The financial kings" Of the country
that could have had sufficient infu-
ence to affect the currency situation,
are concerned with the stock market.
These men have about as much direct
interest in the price Of cotton as the
South Carolina cotton grower has In
the market quotations for wheat. On
the other hand, the cotton exchange
brokers and spectators are, compare
lively, small fry. They cut no figure
in shaping the country's financial af-
a. 70 N
put the shrinkage In values of securi-
ties, largely held by rich men in the
east, as the result of present stringen-
cy, at one billion dollars. That is two
hundred and fifty million dollars more
than the value Of crop of 12,5OO,0oO
bales at IL cents a pound. Now, the
financial kings" that have weight In
the money market do not buy cotton,
but suppose they did. Suppose as
result Of this stringency that they
bought the whole 12,500,000 for $12 a
bale less than its value, what would
be their gain? The profits would be
just $150,000, ,000-or only Is per cent
Of the losses incurred in railroad, min
ing, and other industrial stocks large
ly owned in New York and other east
ern cities. Would that be good busi-
ness for easterners interested In
stocks?
If there was nothing with which to
reply to this but logic, we would step
to one side as gracefully as possible,
and admit that there was no reasona-
BILE foundation for the view that has
provoked this contention. However,
there is something more convincing
than logic and that is facts.
The history of the famous Brown
Hayne- Price Sully campaign in cotton
during the fall of 1902 and spring OF
1903. seems to answer our contempor-
ary's questions with reasonable full
ness Messrs. Brown and Hayne start
ed that campaign. Cotton had been too
cheap for years, and seeing a long
way ahead an opportunity for a cor
ner Messrs. Brown and Hayne COM
menced in October to buy contracts
for July. and August Of the next year.
They were working under cover The
odore H. Price, constitutional bear,
saw the strength of the market and
got great applause by becoming bull;
but pretty soon he became frightened
and dropped back with the bears and
then Sully took the lead. He showed
more nerve than Price, but soon laid
down, and Brown and Hayne came in
to the open and continued bulls after
the price had reached II cents. The
bears now began the fiercest assault In
the history Of the cotton trade. They
unloaded tens Of thousands Of bales on
Brown and he took everything that
was offered. Prices continued to soar,
and the little pikers of the exchange,
the small fry" began to appeal to the
financial kings" for aid. One big
gambling house after another went
down until the failures among the
small fry" aggregated more than $20,-
900, 900. Panic broke out in New York
just as it did the other day, and the
values of securities held largely by
rich men in the east" deprecated, not
only one billion, but four thousand
million dollars. The financial kings,
Morgan, Rockefeller, Rogers. Sage and
others, tried to cripple Brown and
Hayne by making money tight; but
Brown and Hayne had foreseen all
that and had perfected financial ar
rangements which, by the following
March carried the price Of cotton
above sixteen cents.
The financial kings. the leaders of
finance the rich men of the east, or
however they are to be referred to,
who held actual securities. rather than
mere options on the same, did not lose
dollar and they are not out a single
cent at this time. If their real losses
in 1903 had been as great as their es-
timated supposed losses, instead Of a
contemplate little panic like they had
then and like they have now, it would
have been bankruptcy for the nation.
1t is a fact that southern yarns,
are always quoted and sold at from
one-h half to one cent a pound lower
than eastern" yarns. The reason CIV