The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1910-11-17
Texas Cotton Growers Unite
For Protection y

signs of the times must be impress
ed with the fact that cotton occupies
a more commanding position in COM
merce, finance and industry than it
has ever occupied before Only a
few years ago it's so-ca1led over-pro-
ductiOn made in it's cultivation the
source of little comfort or profit to
the producer and it served merely as
a toy for the gamblers to use in their
game of chance, the producer and
the spinner were alike abused by
these highwaymen of commerce. To-
day the world waits with eager i'm
patience for crop reports. In New
England, where the great manufac-
turers have been wont to feel that
the cotton farmer was merely the
slave producing his raw material,
there is growing sense of the i'm
portance of this cotton producer. A
Boston paper recently said: 'The
great Southern staple has been MAX
ing steady advance since the mid
die ZOOS. On the whole, the upward
tendency of cotton is natural and
wholesome and is one of the many
things at this time adding to the sum
of the South's prosperity And every
journal in this country and in Europe
is filled with statements such as this.
I take this all to be commendatlOn
of the efforts of the Farmers Union,
whereby the Union has striven to
advance the price of cotton by better
market conditions and by diverslt1-
cation, leading to lack of the so-called
overproduction. But in our efforts,
which as rule have been produc-
tive of good results, it appears we
have never been able to correct one
great abuse-namely, low prices,
while the actual gathering of the
crop is in progress. This is very ap-
parent right now. From January to
the first of September cotton has
been very high; from September list
to January it has ruled low, when on
January LIST it again becomes high.
Our people are somewhat responsible
for this; they will rush their cotton
to market in three months time and
the spinners of the world simply can't
take it and hence low prices prevail
until it is garnered into the hands
of the few, who sell it at high prices
to the spinners slowly as the spin
ners require it.
This condition must be stopped;
to this end the Farmers Union has
addressed itself. If the advance in
cotton is natural and wholesome,
then why not the farmer be the re-
cipient of this natural and whole
some profit in the advance? He is
the producer. He is entitled to it,
and wealth in his hands means the
most wholesome kind of national
prosperity.
Therefore I contend that now is
the time for the farmer in Texas to
take a stand demanded by the logic
of the situation. What is this situa-
ton? Testers figures reveal facts
upon which we can logically win our
contention and thus glorify the South
with a prosperity in which we may
all rejoice.
The last crop in America was only
100000 bales. The spinners &C
tually took of American cotton L.
174,0OO bales more than was &C
tually produced This extra supply
came from a supply brought over
from the previous years. The present
crop. in my judgment, can't be much
more than last years and it is esti-
mated by those who know, the spin
ners will require 100000 bales.
Where will they get it? The truth
is, the demand this season to supply
the spinners will beyond doubt con-
sumo every bale of cotton on earth