The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-03
Cotton Association Presi- dent Speaks.
URGED FARMERS TO SELL
 COTTON SYSTEMATICALLY
Eliminate Middle Man and Raise
 Their Own Food.
These MOaitions and Appeal fer More Warehouses ana Gln coma- presses Were Features
 of Talk.

Delegates representing four of Mont- gomery Countys six local Farmers Unions assembled at the court house Wednesday in the annual meeting ok the County Union. During the greater part of the day an open session was held. in which discussions of the cot- ton situation, of corn growing. fertiIi- zation. and different phases of scien- tifc farming were heard.
 Harvie Jordan. President of the Na- tional Cotton Association. Addressed the body. directly after 1t had been called to order by c. L.. Gay, head. of l the Montgomery local. Mir, Jordan, the recognized leader of all efforts of seif- help on the part of cotton growers. en- tered an earnest plea for eoncentra- tion in all things appertaining to the production and distribution of the staple.
 "concentrations was the keynote of his admirable cornUonsense talk, tha elimination as far &s possible. of the middleman between the farmer and the consumer. who reaps from the man | of toll his hard earned profit. And | then, concentration of effort on the part of the farmer; he directed that they unite to bend their efforts fin ons 1 direction. efa
 Mir. Jordan denounced the wagon sale of cotton as unwise and unremun- erative to the farmer. He. advocated 1 that each farmer store his cotton in i warehouses. where an expert cotton I man would take charge, evaluste tha staple. and offer it for sale most ad- l vantageously for the planter. ''In the warehouse" said Mr. Jordan. leach bale should lose fte indtviduail- ty. the farmer places hla staple in the | zqa AZ ceives From the merchant a recefpt. l which stands for the bale. The farm CT now has the cotton receipt, which Fepresents the cBtfon itaelk and 4ha nc.
 s2l cotton should not trouble tho l farmer any more The receipt is mo- I can thus EAfn renlunera tion for his ef- | forts while his cotton Is held, without | worry or bother to him. for an In. 1 c-eaEe or until 1t can be sold without Hrisk of glutting the market. and thus lowering the price or inturing the de- I mana . ......t ....,.
 This widespread and indiscriminate selling of. the 1903 crop is responsi6le declared MF, Jordan for. the present | low price During the first of the sea l son, the. staple was thrown upon the market. as fast as it was produced. too fast for the demand. which rapidly shrunk a the staple piled in quantities I a sequence. he said, the mills all have cotton for months ahead and do not l need it at present, or at least, are not in such need as to necessitate the pay nent of more than 3-4 or 7-s,
 ErrQFs h Marketing.
 The marketing has been too fast, and without foresight. The low price is altogether due to the lack of tlis- crimination in distribution. and to no other cause. There is no doubt but that the price will increase with time. as is natural. but 1t will be for | months. The farmer deludes himself with the hope that his holding of the cotton for a short while will bring an | increase. but. it will be long before the decline which the erroneous mar keting brought about will be over- como.
 And the system of marketing is wrong. In itself 1t Is one cause of the present impecinuions condition of the South. whereas every other sec tion In which a staple commodity Is grown is immensely rich. The fast marketing system should be over- thrown, to be succeeded by q more scientific distribution. TheFe should be better facilities for marketing. more warehouses. as the prosperous, , growers of grain have numberlees granaries, in which to store the wheat and corn when the price is low, and when there is prospect of a market becoming glutted.
 Into these warehouses the farmer should store his cotton. to sell each month in the year, one-twelftA of his crop By this method. if # Is strictly observed. the demand win be peren- niaI the price constant, and there will be no more slumps far below the bread and meat" line of ten cents. to 1 the starvation figures of eight and nine cents.
 And besides the installation of more warehouses, winch are to be the property of the farmers. there should be less patronage of the middIe-men. and the street buyer should be dIsre- garded."
 Estimated Loss.
 MT. Jordan declared that the pres ent price of cotton represents a loss to the South of from sS5,OoO.00o to l $75.00O.000
 Who loses it?' he asked. "of course the farmer should get 1t. as an advance in the normal price above the present price; but he does not lose that amount. The loss falls upon the currency of the South, which Is de- pFeciated to just that amount. The business man feels the low price as much or more than the farmer, The abnormaiiy low price, brought about by this reckless selling. Is a general loss to the section And 1t Is to the merchants and business men that we farmers should look to aid us In this movement. in our every effort to sus- tain the price above the bread and meat line of ten cents."
 Mir. Jordan advanced several opin- ions that proved fruitful. He advo- cated the raising of food crops in connection with cotton. as that the people should support themselves. and that the money derived from the staple should not go immediately to the West for cereals and meat. Ae present.. he declared every cent Ecea west and East. as soon as 1t ia re- ceived, and the only person In the sec tion who receives a margin of profit