The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-01-03
A SOLUTION

Mr.. ". A. Stevenson, County Super
visor, a successful farmer and capa-
BILE official, rents some Of his land
and works some Of it himself. That
which he rents he requires the rents
to be paid not in SO many pounds or
lit cotton but in so much cotton, so
much corn, SO many potatoes, and
other things as well.
Following oat this plan Mr.. Steven
son saves his land from exhaustion,
and at the end of the year leaves him
self and also his Tenant in better
condition financially than would they
be were cotton alone required as rent
al.
Should all the farmers, or q major
ity of the farmers Of the Southern
states require rentals paid not only IN
cotton but in corn, wheat, peas, po-
tatoes, sorghum, fodder, hay, oats,
rutabagas, barley, etc., that little
question about the price of cotton
would be finally, fully and satisfact-
orily settled.
The boys on Wall street might gam
boil and gamble like young unicorns
or a lead miner and it would be all
the same down here. No matter how
freuzied things became in the pit
the South would wear a serene smile.
1t is coming. This thing of living
at home is SO good athing that it will
finally win out. A free and %independ-
ent people cannot endure forever
what the people Of the South endure
concerning the price Of their staple.
Six cents one year and sixteen cents
the next?
And why?
When a cotton shirt will last six
months and exhibit the same thermal
capacity in 1910 as in 1911. When
there is no war, or rumor Of wars,
when singletrees, baseball bats and
life insurance remain as unchanged In
price as standard oil, why Is 1t that
we are confronted with this sixteen
to six" proposition?
People are beginning to realize that
it is due to our putting everything In
one bag" and that bag is called q Jute
bag, better known as Sisal hemp
When, like Mr.. Stevenson, we begin
to put some things in the wheat bin,
some in the pig pen, some in the corr
crib, some In the potato bank, some In
the kitchen larder, some in the smoke
house, some in the fodder loft-and
some in the Jute bagging If you like
then there will be glorious times IN
this oldicountry. and life will be worth
living.
Some farmers are now talking OF
buying all the cotton they expect to
handle next year, saying that they can
buy 1t cheaper than they can make IT,
hence, why plant? ..>
We Jump from n extreme To an
other. The golden mean will be found
pretty close to Mr.. ~stevenson's solu-
ton. Cotton may be five cents or
twenty cents next year, there is no
witch of Endor who can tell what 1t
will be worth. Brass tacks and dread
naughts will be about the same IN
price but what cotton will be the Lord
only knows.
There is one thing, however, that is
certain and that Is, unless Gabriel
sounds his trumpet, there are several
million people, mules; horses, CATTLE
swine, fowls, etc., that must OF neces-
sity eat whether they are clothed or
not. 1t were well to provide for these
things in the order Of their relative
importance.
This multiplying, troublesome
much mootedi question will be solved
one of these days. Cotton cannot be
worth six cents one year and sixteen
another. Such prices are fictitious
and untrue. E