The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-02
BARRETT SOUNDS ANOTHER WARNING Fears Foreign Ownership
 of Cotton Lands SPURS TO ACTION The Only Way to Prevent Spinners Regulating the Price Is to Ac-
 quire Land and Use the
 Best Methods

Union City, Ga, May 1-(SpecialD D-Pres- fdent Charles & Barrett has issued the following warning to farmers and bank CTS against foreign ownership of cotton lands:
 To the Ofecers and Members of the
 Farmers Union:
 From the first moment that I was in trusted with the presidency of this great organization it has always been my ef- fort to avoid the note of the alarmist or the sensationalist.
 But the time Is come to speak plainly regarding a matter thta is of the first importance not only to the farmers 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 south ern states.
 The tacit purpose is to produce cot ton on these lands for English spinners, thus avoiding dependence upon the south ern cotton farmer
 If this were just one instance, 1t 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, l am also in- formed that foreign spinners generally are contemplating the advisabily of buying large tracts in the southern states and produce their own staple.
 Nf the most scientific methods will be em- ployed, as much cotton will be raised to the acre as the specialist can extort, rota- ton and fertilization will be used to re- tain the richness of the soil, and the latest improved farm machinery will be on the programme.
 We cannot censure foreign spinners Tor protecting this movement It is simply a business proposition with them
 It should also be business proposition with the south to take cognizanze of movement that may throw the balance of power in our so-called monopoly of cot ton into the hands of foreigners
 And such is the inevitable conclusion of the policy under debate by English and continental spinners.
 The meaning of such a development is plain.
 Hundreds upon thousand sof southern 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-own farms came into their fuil productive ness.
 Prices might, probably would, be con- trolled by mill interests as absolutely as they used to be controlled by cotton ex- change operators before the days of the Farmers union.
 The penalty would not be confined to the farmer.
 It would be visited in a greater or less degree upon every business in the south ern states, since southern business and cotton are, as yet, inseparable 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 pre- serving the international balance on the right side, would lose much of its vital ity in that direction.
 I am speaking temperately, because this menace Is yet no larger than mans s hand We can avert it, and we must go about the task without delay.
 Conditions under general invasion or foreign land buyers would be disastrous. The absentee landlordsm that is making life such a struggle In England, and more of a struggle in Ireland, might be repro duced on a 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. It Is a case of figting the devil with fire.
 We may as well face the truth now as later And the truth is that cotton growing in the south will not reach a genuine business basis until every farm CT makes every acre returns its maximum, until he reduces the cost of production to a minimum and raises his own food prod ucts.
 You may ask how this is to be done when hundreds of thousands of farmers do not own their own farms, or are un- der obligations r> landlords. We can, first, help ourselves. We can do that by sacrificing, pinching and scraping, until all of us get out of debt and &C., cumulate 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 agricultural depart nents and experiment stations. Hand in hand with this should go scientific mar keting and distribution under cooperative auspices.
 In this battle with a problem that Is going to grow in a geometrical ratio, tho aid of the southern business man il needed
 The banker, the merchant and the capi- talist will find it to his ultimate interest to 1 cooperate to the end of enabling the ] farmer to own his own acres, and fur. | ther, to take scientific agriculture to him In the most practical form. He should | likewise encourage the farmer to CO | operate with his fellows. l 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 contro of cotton production. | To hold the control we must meet world wide conditions in the proper way. l It is equally to the interest of the rich zee that the farmer owns his acres ant that he uses upon them the most moderr and intensive methods We shall take this issue up at the nex national convention. In the meantim, | ,Io Of Hr1ciy ivI xI1