The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-11-02
A Planters Sound Plan.

IN Inc state this morning DR..
Wade Stackhouse, of Dillon, grow
er OF 1900 bales of cotton a year,
presents a plan for checking the
decline of cotton and causing a
, strong, sound recovery to profit
able prices. 1t comes nearer CON
tanning the essentials to a success
ful movement for that purpose
than any suggestions we have
heard.
The united effort OF a large num-
Der OF farmers, supported by yow-
ertul financial agency, is the gen.
eral form Of organization that has
seemed to The State necessary to
a successful cotton-holding move
ment. Large business capacity and
high reputation of the men under
taking large business affairs, are
of course, the only safe guard
against failure, the only assurance
or confidence - and in a movement
In which tens of thousands of
farmers must cooperate in business,
confidence in the leaders is of
first Importance.
IA 100000 bales, DR.. Stackhouse
proposes to withdraw one-fourth-
100000 - from the market: to
have cotton holding company"
In each State with officers of
known business ability to have
a strong bank in each State Sc
lePted as trustee to hold ware
house receipts in trust for the
cotton-holding company; to have
each farmer storing cotton make a
legal contract with the holding
company, binding himself not to sell
for less than II cents on penalty
of forfeiture of the difference be-
tween that price and the price for
which he sells. The cotton to be
stored in trust until August. IS.
1912.
Then, with only 1O,5OO,OOO bales
purchasable below IL cents. and
with much of that held off the
market by farmers to whom this i'm
provement would give hope and
backbone, there is little doubt of
a quick recovery of prices. And
as selling would be slow on ris-
Ing market, with weak holders,
already squeezed out, the advance
would be steady and would hold.
The farmers, seeing this amount
Of cotton held, would reduce acre
age; they would at least have am
pie warning to do so.
DR.. Stackhouse proposes that
Fair week he made the occasion for
the organization of South Carolina
farmers for better prices for 1912,
and also suggests that those put in
charge of the business of such or
ganization be men who are neither
office-holders nor office-seekers,
and whose business capacity has
been proved by their works. Both
are capital suggestions. 1t would
be well to secure the attendance
from other cotton Staes of as
many men as possible who are alive
to the need for a strong organiza-
tion of real farmers and real bust
ness men to turn the tide in favor
Of the South.
"If anything can be DONE" says
DR.. Stackhouse, lit should be
done quickly" Most assuredly.
Up to this writing the cotton-hold-
trous failure. While attempts have
been made to frighten off the bears
by shouting loudly and making fac
es at them, cotton has tumbled
steadily s5, $40, SIS and now $50
a bale. The poorer the farmer,
the greater he has suffered No
a wonder he thinks he is without
friends; there has been nothing
affective done in his behalf; no
railying point provided; no busi-
ness plans for meeting this emer-
gency that was bound to arise
sooner or later. Those who should
be masters of the situation are help
less and without resources in time
of crisis, and the penalty is the
loss to farmers of sources of mil
lions of dollars. And every man,
woman and child in the South is
concerned
For years The State has begged
spokesmen for the cotton growers
to adopt the policy of dwelling up
on the great amount of cotton
needed for the worlds supply in
stead of attempting to bolster the
market by maintaining the prob
able production. But that palpa-
bly, sound suggestion has been ig-
nored, in spite of the fact that
claims of small crops do not even
deceive the farmers, as is evidenc-
ed by the rush to sell in the past
few days on a tumbling market. If
1t had been hammered into the
minds of everybody, North and
South, and especially the cotton
growers, that the trade of the
world needs 100000 bales of
American cotton of the 1911 crop,
the bears could not have brought
about the panic to sell at a miser-