The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-06-22

| III III UtlC AiSies ~ S>ScNN
existence have been used ~stintingly In the
effort to bear up under each years ac'
emulation of debt hundreds Of thousands
| of homes have been blanketed with mort
cages and finally turned over to the
sheriff, when the last ray OF hope had
faded. ,
But the worst of evils are not unmixed,
These years that brought ruin to the
southern farmer witnessed the greatest
prosperity in the cotton manufacturing
business ever known In its history. New
fields have been found for the sale OF cot
ton goods, and the normal demand fol
1000 900 bales, from 5000, 900 to 10, 900 900.
and is fast exceeding the supply, and I'M
less new and more extensive methods are
tgenerally adopted, the day is not far dis
tant when millions Of spindles will have
to lie idle q part Of every year for want OF
cotton. The southern farmer, then, does
not really fear the worst that the Attorney
General of the United States can do in his
effort to depress the price OF cotton; but
when he has suffered attacks from so many
points, when he has eaten his bread In
bitterness for more than thirty years, and
when he catches the first CLEAN Of hope, tc
have his own Government attempt to ex.
tinguish that hope taxes his patient SOU
beyond endurance.
The crop for the year just closed
normal price for this crop should I've al
least Is cents, II not II cents. Certain
speculators-Brown, Rayne, Scales, anC
misunderstanding the short crop, have
for months been buying cotton on the
exchange, and sustaining the market while
the producer, disposed Of his crop. Anoth'
er set of spectators, commonly known as
bears" have sold the entire crop over anG
over again. In Offering more cotton fol
in the future market by several million
bales than has actually been made they
have depressed the market and have
bought In a large proportion Of the spot
crop far below it's actual value. But de.
mand is now made for the future cotton
that they have sold in excess Of the actual
crop. Brown and Hayne bought 1t iI
good faith; they want their cottor. anC
they have the money to pay for it.
Cotton mills have already contracted
with Brown and Hayne for the cotton, an6
unless it is forthcoming, they must &C
short. What do these bears, these VAN
pires Of the market do? They call upoT
the Acknowledgement Of the United States
to ave them from ruin, and he throws uI
his hands in holy horror, and cries, ''Pool!
"PoOlw Brown and Hayne are jerke6
| DeIOlC IuO lCuOiol Slduo jury Cu Il SOl
with maintaining q pool In restraint o.
trade, as If every transaction on the ex'
change for more than a hundred years was
not In the same sense a pool In restraint Of
trade. The farmer would have remained
shackled until doomsday had 1t not beer
for the timely introduction of cotton ware
houses, and the good law of supply anC
demand; but with the first cry Of the wary
bear the high and mighty Attorney-Gen
eral Of these great United States thrusts
in his hand to release the entrappe6. feet
That these robbers of the people dare tx
invoke the aid OF the law Is surprising; anc
that the Attorney-G General could be thus
duped into using the law to depress 6
commodity 80 purely American In Its pro
duction and so largely foreign in It's use
simply staggers belief.
Wherein has trade been restrained by
the act Of Brown, Hayne, Scales, ant
others2 Has the seller Of produce ne
rights before the the law in this country
Two packing houses have mopopolizeC
the meat business Of the United States
and the price Of meat has been forced VI
to three times its former price. The
Pa%yne-Aldrich tariff bill has placed a duty
on wool that enables the manufacturer tt
put on a profit Of more than 125 per cent
The same bill has made it possible for the
steel trust to declare dividends ranging
from 100 to 300 per cent. Corn and wheat
have been corpered within the recent past
A swelling wall has gone up from the
hungry multitude, but never q word o.
response has come from the A~ttOrney-Gen
erals office. The trouble is the present
administration occupies a position toe
near akin to partnership with those who
barter in the necessaries Of life. The
Government has held the subjects Of the
spoils in campaign contributions. The
southern farmer must pay POO per cent
corn and -four, 800 per cent on his meat
and when he asks affair price for his cot
ton the Acknowledgement Of the Govern
ment, his government, steps in and says
mo" Can it be possible that the Attor
nev-General has taken q sectional view o.
this matter? ! will not charge it; I prefer
to think otherwise, and yet how else cal
his conduct be explained: Two-thirds o.
American cotton ts exported to Europe
The foreigner pays the greater portion o.
the advance iin' the. price Of cotton, apd oul
common country Is enriched thereby. J.
our own mapufaetpries were the principa
be some mitigation Of this act. But there
is every assurance from leading manufac
turers here that they do not want the price
of cotton depressed. They have bought
their cotton with their eyes open to the
fact that the crop was short 5000, 900 bales
and they naturally feel outraged at any
effort to depress the value Of their hold
ings: Merchants have laid in q supply O.
cotton cloth on q basis of Is cent cotton
and they naturally feel outraged at any
| effort to dcpress the value Of their hold
lingS. The consumer has learned to pay
artificial tariff-made prices, regardless o
the law of supply and demand, and he Il
too reasonable to object to the patura
advance in a commodity Of which HI
knows the supply is short more thar
l.one-fourth. Then, wherein is trade re
strained? Does it not look like cotton hal
been pounced npOn as coming from tina
section in which the Acknowledgements i!
least interested?
A preacher who thought that in his de
nomination alone could be fOnnd the way
of safety, in one of his sermons jumped OF
the Methodists. After the sermon an ole
brother ~admonished him that there were
some might good Methodists who listened
TO him preach, and they usually threw
money in the hat. The next Sunday III
jumped on the Baptists, and the good bro
Their repeated his salutary adomnition
The preacher then asked in despair who HI
might jump on. The good brother replied
Jump on the Jews and give them the de
vii as there are none in your congrega
ton"
The Attorney.G General and his party hav'
heard of the bread riots throughout tn
North. thov baya hoard tho mnft.rinpc n