The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-27
NATURAL MONOPOLY
D, D. SMITH PRoCLAIMs CoTroN's POWER
0rwanfseF Of Growers' Association ' Makes Addresn In Rooms of Con- mercfai Clnb on Import
 amce es Crop.


 D. D. Smith. National Organiser of the Southern Cotton Association, de- iivsrsd an address at the rooms of the Commercial Club yesterday afternoon on the subject. Cotton"
 In comprehensive anaylsis of the situation. in fervid eloquence. and in powerful portrayal of present condi- lions, the address was excellent.
 Mir. Smith made passionate appeal convincing logic held all listeners speil-bound.
 w. H. Seymour briefly addressed the asscmbiage. and in a few fitting words introduced the speaker of the after noon.
 Mir. Smith began his address by stat ing most positively that the Southern for the benefit of the entire South, and was designed to benefit the interests not only of the planter. but of the sectian as a whole.
 The South, said Mir Smith. Is an ideal location for the investment of brains and capital. The advantages accruing from soil and climate are the Southern man, and by virtue of these advantages the South Is pos sessed of natural monopoly. There are two indispensable factors of hu- man existence, declared the speaker. food and clothing. and of the latter of these factors the South. by virtue of unchangeabie natural conditions should have supreme control
 "A world monopoly is in our grasp" emph aticaily declared Mr. Smith. and yet, the people who could exercise all the privileges engendered by such a possession are the poorest and most i1llterate of all sections of this coun- try. The poverty germ Is spread all over the cotton belt" and he exhorted his hearers to ''use the microscope of common sense and destroy st.''
 Cotton is the medium through which the energy of the South is drawn" said the speaked. continuing the topic He gave figures to illustrate that cot ton constitutes large element of the Scuth's resources.
 Passing then to the producer, the farmer. MT. Smith summed up the diff faculties with which he had to contend in hss struggle for prosperity in these words. "On one side, the tremendous world force: on the other. the poor. ignorant negro and the poverty striek- en farmer"
 The banker Mir. Smith cited. lent money to the merchant the merchant, in turn. advanced goods to the farmer, and the goods were employed by the AAIAuCE III tnS NIaAiAA OA n CEOp. ou cotton stood for the financial, commer- cial and civic energy of the South. When cotton was offered in the mar ket by the producer, it was met by the representative of the organized bra:n and capital of the world. while the producer himself, Mir. Smith de- was of disorganized, debt ridden class.
 Then, too, MT. Smith cited the fact that prior to the season of 1904-1905 the cotton crop of the South was sold for sS5O.0O0.000 since the organiza- ton of the Association it was sold for s700 900 900.
 After considering the monopoly, speaking. with whi ich the South was endowed Mir. Smith said that for cotton there were only three flax. and that the average price of these substitutes was 70 cents per pound. Wherein. then. he demanded, is the Absurdity of IS cents cotton, es- peciaily in view of the fact that the entire output of all these substitutes for cotton could not supply one-third of the demand.
 Tn closing, Mir. Smith made an appeal on behalf of the farmer. He pictured. In moving terms, the pitiable condi- tions with which the farmer had to contend in the narrowing times suc- the Civil War. He begged that the merchant. and. in fact, the entire Southland, jon in the struggle to aid the farmer in his fight for better prices alluding in impassioned lam yuage to the part played by the lat- ter in the great struggle of the South In 1ss1-1Se5.
 The orator was repeatedly applauded, and toward the end of his speech. cries ,f Don't stop, Mir. smith, testified l to the interest and enthusiasm of the | audience.
 At the end of the address. coiiec- Lion was taken up to asd the Associa- | ton In their fight for the supremacy | of cotton.