The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-04-02
COTTON AND LABOR.


The year 1912 was the second
largest cotton yield, the crop
grown amounted to Il. .295, 500
bales. In 1911 it was l6, ,250,276
bales. With the development of
the farms, and with fairly good
seasons there is no reason why
the cotton crop should ever again
get below the 100000 mark.
The demand for the product is
greater by far than it was ten
years ago. and it will continue
| to grow in demand as the othe:
countries open up 20 rec i've ti.'
exports from America w hav'
not the least doubt. in a Jew years
the demand for raw cotton from
China alone will take tn largest
part of the CROP grown in the
South, that country is undergo.
! ins Il ne civ i zut!nn. th,' heads
of til nation are urn who have
bpen educated in America and
Europe, as these statesmen open
up thai IN! v"lopeI Country
W. h ste N and le tricity. aud
ignorance is driven irun the ma
tlves, the customs in the way Of
wearing apparel will be- demand
ed, 4hen will they reach over in
to this country fo' the staple
grown b. the peoD;a OF this
S :utGiand.
We Can easily recall when a
10 100000 bale crop Was regard
ed ruinous to the cotton farmer,
the price went down and the cry
! was "overproducsion, but it is
different now; we dc not believe
there can be an overprodactlon,
tie world will 'u,e every pound
thatcau be grown; tie ouly thing,
to our mind, which stands in the
way of the farmer controlling
the price for his product. is the
| lack of an organized marketing
system: if he had this perfected,
we believe lie would be master
Iof the situation, and could Did
the. world defiance, but as it IS,
the producer is adrift on an un-
known sea, he does not have any
fixed purpose, other than to sell
! for what the market fixes the
price at, these prices are made
by the speculator; did he have
| the same purpose as any OF the
other avocationS-a warehouSlng,
system which has something sub
stantial to back it, or q system
of dealing direct with the manu-.
| facturers, or Il system which
would eliminate the profit shar-
ing middle man, perhaps then,
he would have. a voice IN making
the price.
| There is another obstacle in
the way Of the Southern farmer,
| it IS the quality Of labor be has
to contend with, unless there is
something done to better this
condition the labor will get worse
and worse. Great is the need in
this country for a white working
population like they have in the
Northwest where one farm hand
does as much work in a day as
the average colored hand in this
country does in, two, the work
Iof the white hand is done in an
intelligent manner, while the
| work of the negro is not, Otter
it would have been better If left
alone. How is this to be gotten
at? There is only one way-co-
Operation, community co opera
ton, the farmers in community
coming together, and agreeing
among themselves how to handle
the labor situation, then when
they have done this, stand by it,
and to each other. In the West
no farmer will give employment
without references, the conse-
louence IS, there is very little
complaint of bad labor. They do
not have the credit system we
have in this country, which
amounts to very little more than
one set of people preying upon
another, and upon each other
contracts and dated back checks,
and securities where there is no
property are not heard of at all:
and when harvest time comes,
when the farmer, is ready to
gather what he has toiled to
make, his hands are responsive
Ito his call, while in this country
the hands are trying to get out
of the grasp of the officers of the
law for some debt.
We know of no more important
matter for the farmers to serious.
lly consider than the labor prob
Hem, there should be united ac-
ton along this line, if there is,
we believe the greater part of
the baneful influences which are
destroying labor in this country
can be obviated. even without
the employment of white labor
ers.