Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-05-02
THERE IS DANGER IN IT.
Barrett Warns Against Movement 4
Control Southern Cotton Lands.

SOHkToi OOdhHOiH SShhSh Sa"eo'
To the officers and Members Of the
Farmers Union:
From the first moment that was
entrusted with the presidency of this
great organization, II has always been
my effort to avoid the note Of the
alarmist or the sensationalist.
But the time is come to speak plain
ly regarding a matter that Is Of the
first Importance not only to the farm
ers of the south, but as we'll to the
business and the people Of the south
generally.
It has not escaped the attention Of
the more thoughtful that an English
syndicate recently acquired a large
acreage Of fine cotton lands In one Of
the central southern states.
The tacit purpose is to produce cot
ton on these lands for English spin
ners, thus avoiding dependence upon
the southern cotton farmer.
If this were just one instance, II
need not occasion concern.
But 1t has come to my attention that
similar negotiations are on foot In
other portions Of the cotton belt.
What is more significant, am also
informed that foreign spinners gener-
ally are contemplating the advisability
Of buying large tracts in the southern
states, and produce their own staple.
OF course, in each one Of these cases
the most scientific methods will be en-
ployed, as much cotton will be raise to
the acre as the specialist can extort,
rotation and fertilization will be used
to retain the richness of the soil, and
the latest improve farm machinery
will be on the programme.
We cannot censure foreign spinners
for projecting this movement. 1t Is
simply a business proposition with
them.
It should also be a business propo-
sition with the south to take cogni-
zance of movement that may throw
the balance Of power in our so-called
monopoly" of cotton into the hands
Of foreigners.
And such is the inevitable conclu-
sion of the policy under debate by
English and Continental spinners.
The meaning Of such development
| is plain.
Hundreds upon thousands Of south
ern farmers would be compelled to
compete upon the open market with a
product raised by the buyers upon our
own soil and by the most improved
methods.
The demand for native-grown cotton
would dwindle as these foreign-owned
farms came into their full produc-
tiveness.
Prices might, probably would, be
controlled by mill interests as abso-
lutely as they used to he controlled by
cotton exchange operators before the
days Of the Farmers Union.
The penalty would not be confined
| to the farmer.
1t would be visited In a greater or
less degree upon every business In the
southern states, since southern busi-
ness and cotton are, as yet, insepara-
BILE financial factors.
The stream OF gold now coming into
the south each year from Europe would
be lessened. Cotton, which Is now one
of the country's greatest reliances for
preserving the international balance on
| the right side, would lose much or Its
vitality in that direction.
am speaking temperately, because
this menace Is yet no larger than. a
mans hand. We can avert II, and we
must go about the task without delay.
Conditions under a general invasion
| of foreign land-buyers would be dis
astrous. The absentee landlordism
that is making life such struggle I'm
| England, and more OF struggle In
| Ireland, might be reproduced on
proportionate scale In this country.
The one way is for southern farmers
| to acquire their own acres and, what
| Is of equal Importance, to use upon
them the most scientific Of cultural
methods. 1t Is a case OF fighting the
devil with fire.
We may as we'll face the truth now
as later. And the truth Is that cotton
growing in the south will not reach
genuine business basis until every
| farmer makes every acre return Its
maximum, until he reduces the cost OF
production to a minimum and raises
| his own food products.
You may ask how this Is to be done
when hundreds and thousands OF far
mers do not own their own farms, or
are under obligations to landlords.
We can, first, help ourselves. We
can do that by sacrificing, pinching
and scraping, until all Of us get out
of debt and accumulate enough to
make first payments upon farms
We can, next, reinforce this policy by
utilizing scientific methods, and all the
help we can get from the Farmers
Union lecturers, and government
agents and state and Federal agricul-
tural departments and experiment sta
tions. Hand in hand with this should
go scientific marketing and distribution
under cooperative auspices.
In this battle with problem that
is going to grow in geometrical ra-
ito, the aid of the southern business
man Is needed.
The banker, the merchant and the
capitalist will find it to his ultimate
interest to cooperate to the end OF
enabling the farmer to own his own
acres, and further to take scientific
agriculture to him in the most practi-
cal form. He should likewise encour-
age the farmer to cooperate with his
fellows.
In this matter, as in every other
that goes to bedrock, we are all In the
same boat.
Providence has given to us what
amounts to a world-monopOly, or con-
troll Of cotton production.
To hold the control, we must meet
world conditions in the proper
way.
It is equally to the interest Of the
richest and the poorest man in the
south to see that the farmer owns his
acres and that he uses upon them the
most modern and intensive methods.
We shall take this issue up to the
national convention m tha