The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-09-29
R .R||.Oj|BBER 0 BARONS
Fleaee The Producers Of Cotton by the
Aid Of The Tariff Law.

FARMERS ARE ROBBED
Under, the Operations of this Protec-
tive Iniquity, and They Should
Combine and Work Together for
Self Protection, Says Senator Smith
in Explaining His Position.
On account Of the misunderstand-
| ing on the part of some newspapers
with referance to the statement con-
cerning the cotton crop, issued by
Senator E. D. Smith few days ago,
the senator Saturday gave out the
following statement with the view of
clearing up the matter and putting
him self in the proper light:
'Tt is rather remarkable how a
carefully guarded, conservative
statement can be misinterpreted in
to Just the opposite. In my inter-
view in regard to the cotton crop a
few days ago, I used the following
language:
81 shall not attempt to dictate
to the farmers of the South what
they shall do. But under the cir
cumstances I should be delighted to
see them combine and hold their
cotton from the, market wherever 1t
is possible for them to do so, until
it shall bring such price as shall
measure the artificial price placed
upon manufactured articles by vir-
tue of the tariff.
I'm reference to my own opinion
used the following language:
"'My honest conviction is that 20
cents for the present crop is none
too high, in view of the supply, the
cost of production, the comparative
value of cotton with other textiles,
and the artificial price that now OBJ
tains on manufactured goods.
"The headlines and newspaper
comments have made it appear that
I have advised the farmers to hold
their cotton for 20 cents q pound.
One newspaper, in an editorial COM
ment, has said that the farmer
should sell his cotton at present
prices and pay his debts. That past
experience has been to the effect
that where the price looked entic-
ling in the early fall, that farmers
held and suffered a loss. This Is
true. -
'I have never advised any farmer
who had pledged his cotton to>a mer-
chant or to any one to withhold It
| from the market when it caused en-
ibarrassment or loss to the one that
credited him. But have always ad-
vocated the banks Of the South and
the financiers of the South doing. all
in their power to help these weak
and unfortunate ones to withhold
|
their stuff from the market until 1t
should bring such a price as would
remunerate those that helped and
give profit to the unfortunate ones
who needed help.
Il have never advised any price
on cotton, nor have stood for any
specific price on cotton until the
farmers of the South, in convention
assembled, determined what, in their
Judgment, was righteous price for
what they themselves produced, and
then l became on uncompromising
advocate for that which they, In
their Judgment, deemed a fair and
Legitimate return for their labor.
81 rave been criticised for stand
ing for Is cents cotton. I stood fol
Is cents cotton when the farmers
of the South demanded it, and had
some of my critics been as loyal to
the cause as /, the Is cents mark
might have been the sooner obtained.
II sometimes marvel that we are
as we'll off as we are, when / think
of the fact that the advocates of pro-
lection with their newspaper organs,
their lobbies, their powerful advo
Gates on the floor of the house and
senate shut out competition from
abroad, combine their capital IN
America and force the price of artl-
cles beyond any reason, thus fore
ing the producer of the raw material,
the salaried man and the wage-earn-
er, to pay exorbitant prices for those
manufactured articles which are a
common necessity. 1t is marvel
the seeming prosperity that the
masses enjoy.
II am not asking, nor have I ev-
er asked, that there should be a leg
al enactment protecting any one, In
dividua or corporation. But when
the government is committed to the
doctrine of protection by legal enact
ment, think those who are the VIC
tins should resist this unnatural
condition by invoking the law of
God-which is the law Of supply and
demand-and, by standing sol1dly TO-
gether, force it's operation.
IF the price of manufactured ar
.:1., &, foroad RI artificial airhts