Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-14
Its Constitutionalty Set Forth Before Su-
preme Court Today.
MASTERLY ARGUMENT BY HON. JOHN |. McLAURIN.
The Scheme is Necessary, it is Practical and an In
telligent Operation of it WILL by Emancipatlng
the Cotton Producer Tremendously Increase the
the Prestige, Power and Prosperity OF the States
that Look to Him for Support.

lgovernment so many barrels of whis
ky or so many carats Of diamonds
The state has nothing whatever to d.
with whether money is borrowed OF
the receipt or not. The state does no
guarantee or endorse a loan for any
body-it simply says that John Do
has one thousand pounds of middlinl
cotton in my warehouse in Columbi'
this cotton will be delivered on th'
presentation Of this receipt.
If congress with its delegated pow
ers can deal so broadly with ware
housing, the state legislature exercis
ling all of the reserved powers Of th'
people, can surely interfere in pro
lection Of the greatest commercial as
set which the state possesses.
| The court in order to decide thi'
question must go into the realms o.
finance and consider the conditions
surrounding the production, price ant
sale c. cotton.
1t is in fact a broad question o.
public policy. I take it, your honors
coming squarely down to the issue
that it depends on whether there is
First-A real need for such legis
lation.
Second-If so, is the scheme pro-
posed practical and effective?
If these two questions can be an
swered in the affirmative, then l an
sure sufficient room will be found ir
the constitution, and If they cannot
then the sooner the plan is abandon
ed, the better it will be for all con
cerned.
| I will, If you please, discuss frs
the plan itself-if 1t is practical, will
| it be effective?
! A Scheme of Finance.
Really the so-called warehouse bill
might with more propriety be called
scheme to finance the cotton crop
The warehouse is the incident OF
means to an end.
In Manchester, England, congre-
gated within a territory not larger
than the county Of Richland, are two
thirds Of the cotton spindles Of the
world-it is the oldest and richest tex
tile centre. Great as are the steel
and iron interests Of England. cotton
manufacturing has contributed more
to her general wealth and commercial
importance than any single industry
within her borders. The cotton grown
in India is uncertain and insignificant
she depends on these southern
states for her supply Of raw material
There is no financial or Industrial
centre in the United States whose bus
mess interests are by the natural laws
of trade more closely interviewer with
ours than England. In the war be-
tween the states, England was on the
point of recognizing the Confederacy
| She must have our cotton, and was
ready to fight for tit is her great
commercial necessity. 1t now costs
about seven dollars to land a bale OF
cotton in a foreign mill. Great as this
seems to be, and as much as 1t can
be reduced by modern business meth
ods, it lis nothing compared to the
real burden borne by the cotton plant
er under the present unscientific
method Of marketing the crop. About
five years ago the European Fedora
tion Of SpinnerS with headquarters in
Manchester, sert a committee headed
by their president. Sir Charles Maca-
ra, to thisScountry, to establish, If pos
sible, direct trade with the cotton
planters of the south. l saw those
gentlemen in New York and had many
talks with various members Of the
committee. They hoped to accom-
plished their end through the cotton
association, but / am sorry to say that
this organization. like every other far
mers' organization that we have had
lacked the cohesive force to accom-
sary noise to elevate a few of its pro-
] lmoters into office. 1t occurred to me
at this time, that the only practical
solution was through the government
A few of us had discussed this at New
Orleans. but with reference only to the
Federal government. About this time
the city of New Orleans began to see
the great vision of what her future
might be when the Panama canal was
completed, the banking centre Of the
south, and the worlds cotton distri-
buting point. The city took charge
of the docks and all the standard
warehouses, as we'll as thirty miles OF
terminal facilities. 1t was huge un-
dertaking, the terminal facilities alone
requiring three and one-half million
dollars. Of course, the plan met with
determined opposition, but under the
leadership Of live, up-to-date men, II
succeeded. 1t was a financial success:
and the beginning of Greater New
Orleans"
Finding municipal ownership work.
ed so well, it was then proposed tC
bring in the state, so as to give the
warehouse certificates a wider cur
rency in the money markets of the
lworld. You will observe the differ.
ence between the Louisiana and South
Carolina ideas. is that in the former
the primary purpose was to build vi
a single port and magnify the indus
trial Importance of New Orleans
while in South Carolina it is to finance
the cotton crop without reference tc
any particular port or city
In Louisiana they merely borrowed
the sovereignty of the state in behalf
of a successful plan already in oper'
tion through autonomy of muncl-
pal ownership. Naturally. the city die
not wish to relinquish its control ovel
the system by turning it over to the
state to become the prey of politi
clans, so an amendment was proposed
to the state constitution authorizing
the city dock board to sign warehouse
receipts for the state. In other words
making this board an administrative
arm of the state government. / asked
Governor Sanders and others why they
needed a constitutional amendment