The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1913-09-19
ADDRESS TO FARMERS
BY UNIONS PRESIDENT
Rural Credit System Being
Planned for South Carolina.
ORGANIZATION is URGED.
e. w. Dabbs Discusses Price of Cot
ton Bagging and Cotton Seed
in Communication.

The following is from a recent is
sue of The Columbia State:
E. W. Dabbs, president of the
south Carolina State Farmers
Union, Friday issued the following
letter to the farmers of the state
relative to cotton bagging and cotton
seed:
Letters and kilograms have been
coming to me, as the head of the
Farmers Union, requesting action
about the extortionate price of cot
ton bagging and ties and the low
price of cotton seed. coupled with
what are thought to be discriminate
ing regulations agreed on by the
crushers' association and the COM
missioner of agriculture. have
tried to answer them all but as my
answers go only to the inquirers, l
wish to say through the papers that
l see only two things to do. AS to
bagging and ties: buy only enough
to wrap the first green cotton, sell
the same at current prices of 12A to
3 cents, and arrange to quit until
such time as the bagging and ties
can be bought at fair prices. Pick
the mature cotton dry and store in
the seed until you win the fight; two
fights to win in this-lower bagging
and ties and higher cotton. Spend
all the time you can saving hay and
sowing winter cover crops for hay
next year to come in the last of
March and the first of April, or two
months before the oat crop.
COTTON SEED.
"As to cotton seed: Sell the seed
that are in danger of heating as fast
as ginned. Store in dry places all
the balance so as to have them alb
solutely sound, and wait until we see
how much the market for the meal.
oil and hulls will warrant the mills
paying. 1t looks to me like $40 will
soon be fair price for sound seed
and the market may go higher.
People must eat; they must be
clothed Do not be in any hurry,
brother farmers, to market your
crops. Take time to put them in the
you, on the one hand, refuse to glut
the markets, on the other, remember
that the people must eat and they
must be clothed and see to it that
as far as you are concerned they
have sufficiency OF your products
to satisfy their needs at reasonable
prices.
I'm all your planning, take time
to organize your local unions, and
time to meet from week to week at
the local school house to study and
discuss these and kindred subjects,
that pertain to your welfare and the
prosperity of the country. Such in
dividual and neighborhood work is
worth more than all the conventions
that can be held. And 1t is by such
work that the Farmers Union can
best aid you, and that my efforts and
the efforts Of the state and national
unions can be made effective in the
business world
"But some one will say: We can
not hold our seed or our cotton; we
need money to pay our debts I
have heard this often before and ex-
pect to hear 1t again. Sometimes as
an individual you can not borrow. 1
know this to be fact as we'll as any
one does. But have you tried to or
ganize? Have you tried to pool your
crops and have some good business
man among you, or a committee of
your best men make these arrange
ments for you? know OF instances
where this has been done to the sat
is faction of all concerned. / know
that the oil mills would like to deal
directly with the farmer, if he will
join with his neighbors to make the
deals of size to warrant. If you can
not, or will not do this; if you can
not or will not organize and stick to-
gether, there is no use for you to
call on me, or on the state and ma
tional unions, or the members of
Congress to help you.
RURAL CREDIT SYSTEM.
"The state and national officials of
the Farmers Union are ready 20 give
you all the help you need towards
organization, but we must insist that
you, upon whom these burdens are
falling, take steps to meet US half
way. We are planning for the or
ganization of a rural credit system in
South Carolina that will give our peo-
pie everything that is best in the
old world systems, adapted to our
conditions. We are planning for a
practical purchasing agency that will
give to every member the dement's of
buying in quantities.
1--WE are planning for practical
marketing OF your produce, and a
system of warehouses to handle your
cotton and seed. We have much
worked out along these lines. Your
attitude will determine whether we
succeed or not. II you are interested
send State Secretary j. Whitner Reid,
Columbia, s. c., list of your neigh
bors who will join to organize a local
union. He will then arrange to go or
to send an organizer at the most con-
venient times to cover the most ap-