The Raymer enterprise., 1912-11-14
PLAN FOR COTTON PLANTERS
II They Should Succeed They Must
Adopt Methods Used by Big
Corporations, Says Carter.

While in Baltimore recently T. W.
Carter of jackson, Miss. president
Of the Mississippi division of the
Farmers union, talked at some length
to representative Of the Baltimore
American Of conditions in the south.
Mr.. Carter is also president of the
National Warehouse company which
is an of5shoot Of the union and which
was founded for the purpose Of as
sisting the southern planters In the
marketing Of their chief crop.
The cotton planters,"' said Mr..
Carter. can only succeed by adopting
the methods used by the great busi-
ness concerns Of this age. do not
refer to monopolistic combinations.
but to the approved. upto-date
methods that successful corporations
employ. Individually the producer
down on our plantations is too feeble
to protect himself; he Is usually hard
pressed for cash and 10 forced to sell
bis bales for whatever the buyer
chooses to offer. 1t is high time to
ring down the curtain on such a bar
barous epoch Of agriculture. Rec
ognizing that the individual is power
less. the producers have at last seen
that their only solution lies in their
collective strength and that safety and
financial independents can only be
gained through concerted action.
The plan Of our warehouse com
pany. which 10 but three years old, and
up to this time in operation only In
Tennessee and Mississippi. Is based on
the ownership and control by the union
of about 1,500 warehouses scattered
throughout all the states Of the south.
Our aim il to remedy the present
defective scheme Of selling by induc-
Ing the growers to store their prod
uct In these warehouses instead of
flooding the market as they do now
with cotton Just a. soon as It is gath
cred and ginned. Naturally the glut-
ting Of the market at the opening of
the season causes prices to drop. and
the producer is kept in a state of
poverty. But the National Warehouse
company comes to the rescue by ad-
vancing so per cent Of the value of
the amount stored. and thus relieves
the producer while 1t also maintains
an equilibrium Of prices by keeping
the bales OF the market at time
when there is little or no demand.
Stability Of values is more desir-
able than high price with intervals
Of wide huctuation. The plan also
includes standardization of ware
house receipts which will be recog-
nized in every par Of the cotton belt.
There Is no better collateral on earth
than this fieecy stun, and the men
who make It. II they handle their pro.
perty with cleverness, can be abso-
lutely masters Of the situation-the
elect Of the whole agrarian brother
hood-for they are almost the sole
makers Of crop that civilized human.
ity must have regardless Of cost.
Il have been talking about cotton,
but there are other things in which
the baleful influence Of the middleman
Is Just az easily demonstrated. What
is the one prevailing subject of COM
plant throughout America today? Is
Is not the high cost Of living? And
what makes these inflated prices? l
can vouch for 1t, being q farmer my
self. that the growers Of grain and
fruits and vegetables are not reaping
any fat returns. All over the south
potatoes are allowed to rot in the
fields, and even peaches are left un.
picked on the trees when they are in
keen demand In the cities of the east
and north. The explanation is that
there is no profit to the producer, but
that all the financial gain accrues to
the different middlemen who stand
between the producer and the public.
Railroad rates are not to be blamed,
for they are not unreasonable, but
when heavy toll Is taken by four or
five different parties handling the stun
ere the last retailers tax is added,
what hope has the purchasing public
Of fair deal! repeat, that the
extortionate prices now being levied
on the necessities Of life are the direct
result of n vicious economic avatom
1t can be ended only when those who
produce can sell directly. or as near
as possible. to the army Of consumers.
The idea that the tariff or the In.
creased gold production has anything
to do with the ridiculous raise In the
cost Of living may sound we'll. but It
has no basis In truth"
GROWTH OF BIG INDUSTRIES