The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1908-04-02

got that we can convert into I
money. bHsides cotton? We
cant raise corn in competition
with the Northwest, where they
raise il for - cents bushpl
Taere are but two necessities
fo1d and ChtlIinL and Of the
product from which one OF these
natural necessities is made, cot
ton, the South has an absolute
monopoly.
In Illustration of cause and eff
feet lie referred TO 4 terriple
plague that at one time wrought
great destruction to human life
n London, when meetings were
held in churches and prayers
we're offered thar the plague
might be stay ed; + u the prayers
we're not ans Wered until some
nan who reasoned from cause tn
effect suggested that the swamps !
and bitches from which the mi
lhsma came be drained, and when |
this was done, the cause being
r4moved, the plague ceasecG
smallpox destroyed 80 per cent.
IF it's victims until nan discOv'
cred it's cause and The remedy
The South has the most won
1erful resources God ever en-
dowed a section with, Yet it has
remained poor and there is q
, cause for it's poverty and ignO-
rance. What is pound of cotton
worth, what is it's intrinsic value
to the human family? Some
people hold up their hands in no
ly horror at demanding Is cents
-. for cotton. Value depends upon
three things-demand, what may
be used as a substitute, and cost
of production. Flax, wool and
silk are the only things that can
be substituted for cotton. It
cosCs % cents to produce pound
of fax, 48 cents to produce a
pound of wool, 81 40 cents to pro-
Q duce a pound Of silk, and you
might put all the fax, wool and
silk in the world on the market
- and they would not supply one
half the demand. The average
: price of theseis 70 cents a pound
hence cotton Is worth absolutely
: SO cents a pound. Cotton is not
only competitor but a substi
tute for all of these. It is sub
- stitute for wool that it takes al
- expert to discover; it has prac
:. tically driven out linen; and IN
= der the mercerizing process it ii
=. hard to tell the difference be
- tween cotton and silk. 1t is tn
= king of all fabrics, and we are it.
= subjects, but the poorest subject
:. of any monarch. And there is
reason for it.
Cotton is the quickest asset i
!; the world. Everything in th
- South is between the baggin
:; and ties on a bale of cottoI
10 When farmer brings a bale {
or cotton to market, who weighs
al and buys itP The representativ
~ of foreign capital. The South
no the softest snap the bushes
world knows, and the organize
mr. forces of the world are wringin
ne from the South what should
no gotten for cotton. The man WI
,cb will not join in the fight for VIII
,uo cotton is worth is not worthy tt
Tho name of Southerner. If it WI
or raised in New England the
.r. would get more for the seed thu
ho we get for the cotton.
-. Education does not consist in
, 20 knowledge Of figures and book
NV but in thought. An individu
aT drop of water you may take
mo- your hand and it is powerless
oLo do you harm; but combined wi
loo other harmless drops it max
oro the resistless power of a Mas
+ m ra, with which you dare not
,si. ae. And so one man cannot
,tb anything toward raising t
,o;r priceof cotton, but if all com bi
rst it can be done. The farmer
tho bound to sell a twelve-montl
IN supply of cotton in four mont
limo and the purchasing world has
in. build warehouses to store it
Oh. So the purchasing world dedu
Ids enough from the price to bu
in the warehouses, aud also to
sure it, and then they take c
ght- Oinca'e lor One co'Con ana
eng noneS irOn Jus 4ocal oan
tor which shows that the South
ness ready pays for building wa
IN of houses and insuring cot
and for the purchasing world.