The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-15
lHEFL|N DELWERSA l WARM AGGRESSION 1 COTTON OUTLOOK I Replies to Press Criticism of Southern Repre- I sentatives PRESENT CONDITION
 IS UNPRECEDENTED Southern Farmers Being Robbed of
 s39O, 900, 900 on a Single Crop
 and the Government Off,
 cials Are Inactive
BY WALTER HARPER


 il, front of the speakers desk today, con gressman Heiin of Alabama devoted 4o mirute speech to the cotton growing sltu- atcr in the south, the work of the bears in Expressing prices and the charge Ill d xvashington paper that the southern dem o1rats to retalate for low prices In cot . ton are trying to raid the prospeipS oi | the northern farmers.
 r& MT Hehin, as he almost always ooes' A commanded the close attention or "eh &crowded house. He was unsparlnS Ill HIS of bear operators, ana tolo a number of amusing stories appropriate E to his arguments.
 E He said in part:
 .sThere is no reason for the statement that southern members are back Tn con sress, after an effort to aid those WHO produce cotton in securing good pllce' E to depress the value of northern proouc's. f As d member of this House l have always E voted for the agricultural interest or ihe E north. As member of the agricultural commmittees of this House l nave oohe l that. and my southern brethren upon that l committee have done likewise. Southern IA members in this House have done like | wiSe and no man on that side would charge that we have shown any differ enoo believe in our efforts to aid the 1 farmers of the whole country-south, north, east and west.
 Statement False
 'And why the Post should drag raise statement like that into it's columns, when the farmers are being robbed now sys- l tematically by bear raid of $50 to SSo per 1 bale upon this years crop, reducing 1t be- low the cost of production, because we have dared to demand better price ana to urge the farmer to work in concerted action to hold to his cotton, to sell spar insly in order to keep the market Keen and hungry instead of dumping it all on the market at once, do not under stand.
 we are criticised by the Washington Post. and they say that we are now. be- ca,,se the farmer of the south is being ep- ,ressed. trying to oppress the northern farmer. l sympathize with the western farmer, and the northern farmer ana the eastern farmer. The south has done much for the western farmer. The south puys her corn from him, her wheat and many oa.s. her live stock, and her meat, and so long as the southern farmer can oo- tain a reasonable price for cotton he was willing for the west to grow the grain' and the stock. and produce the meat.
 But, my friends, this years eHperi- ence in the production of cotton VIII open the eyes of the United States. Southern farmers in my district are blowing up cotton fields now, making ready to plant corn. They are sowing fields in oats now that produced a cot ion crop this year Our people will raise meat on larger scale next year than they ever have, and after all the experience that they have had, 1t may be good lesson to them.
 Is Not Amusing
 "It may be amusing to the Post that 20OO. 900 farmers of the south are be- ing robbed of $780, 0000 900 on single cotton crop It may furnish amusement to them to criticise those of us who have told the farmer that he ought not to sacrifice his crop at that price, but do not see anything about which to laugh. They say that we have told them that half crop would be better than a large one. This is absolutely true The farmer of my section last year obtained more than 10 bales Of cotton than he has obtained for 15 bales tl1S year. DocS lldL lul illSli amusement to the fost?
 My friends, it is a serious problem to us We are facing situation in the government where the Attorney General of the United States prosecutes a bull ring. Those who buy actual cotton and hold it for better price are prosecuted in the federal courts today, and the case is pending in the supreme court of the United States, it already having been argued. We have charged that this year that they re- duced the price of cotton $50 to $S5 a bale, and no indictments have been returned Does that furnish amuse- ment to the Post when our people are being robbed and nobody coming to their aid? Was 1t not expected by those of use who have studied the cot ton question, realizing it's great im- portance to those who produce 1t, and It's great importance to the United States, when we remember that 1t brings to us the balance of trade every year--this princely product of the south,
 Western Fields
 And, my friends of the west, you have been our friends. We want to call on you again to aid us to stop this speculation which is going on in New York today. where they sell a fictitious stuff called cotton, 900 bales in a single season, several times as much as the worlds crop. They have 2S dlt- ferent grades of cotton, from dogtail cotton, unfit for anything on up to grades little better, and to middling cotton, and so on and when you buy 100 bales on that exchange of middling cotton, and ask that that cotton be de- livered to you under the rules of the exchange and the laws that exist. they can make you take some one of all of the 2s different grades of cotton that no mill can spin. And by the use of that dummy stuff that they keep on hand all the time, they are selling in unlimited quantities and beating down the prices of the farmers product of my section
 That is my excuse to the Post for rais- ing my voiee in behalf of the people who produce that great staple in the southland. For two years the spnners of the world have paid l4ia and l5 cents pound for aat crop For two years they have con- Fucted their operations on that basis. They have had no reason this year to be-
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