The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1913-05-09
COTTON MILL MEN
. ARE NOT STIRRED
Protests Against Tariff Bill Arti-
fetal, So Declares Aiken-South
Carolina Congressman Inclined
to Believe Manufacturers Pray
ers Are Mechanical.

SsAOhhi OohsICSSnudh luCiIucu
to Believe Manufacturers Pray
ers Are Mechanical.
Washington, May S.-During the
past week the South Carolina mem
bers of Congress have received
numbers of kilograms from cotton
manufacturers in the South protest
ing against the passage of the I'm
derwood tariff bill. Most of these
kilograms have been identical in
wording, although signed by diff
ferent persons, and this has led the
members of Congress to believe that
the kilograms have been sent from
some central source, and that as
rule the individual cotton mill men
are not worrying very much over
the actual effects of the bill.
In discussing the receipt of these
kilograms Representative Wyatt
Aiken said:
president Wilson and this Dem
ocratic Congress were elected on a
platform which promised that they
would revise the tariff downward.
That promise was repeated on every
stump in the country in the cam
paign last summer and fall. The
Underwood bill was prepared by the
ways and means committee and
submitted to the Democratic caucus
of the house and was approved by
the caucus by a vote so overwhelm-
ing as to be practically unanimous.
So that the Democratic members of
the house are doubly bound, by the
platform and by the caucus, to vote
for it. And / am frank to say that
even If ] were not bound, / would
still vote for it, for / believe 1T is a
good bill and just one, framed in
the interests of the people and will
give them relief. If there is tenn
porary depression it will be because
of speculation, and not by reason of
the actual effects of t hebill.
AS to the cotton schedule. The
tariff duties on many lines OF cot
ton goods will be reduced, but the
reduction in the schedule will not
be greater than the reductions in
other schedules. The cotton man
ufacturers of the South can not in
good faith ask that they be given
special privileges, and we could not
give 1T to them IL they should ask
for 1t. But / am quite sure the
lowering Of the duties on cotton
goods will not hurt the mills to the
extent that some of their pleaders
would have us believe. Many of
the mills in South Carolina now
ship entire output to Asiatic coun-
tries and have been doing so for a
Z long time. They are underselling
European mills in order to do this,
Tnd / fail to see how a reduction of
the duties on imports can affect
them. Only a few weeks ago a
South Carolina mill sold 10000
bales of goods to the Red Sea ter
ritory. This is almost at the doors
of the European mills. The South
q li,nn tfan vi fIr,N q tl.,
undersold them, and yet he will
have to ship his goods half way
around the world. How is a reduc-
tion of the tariff going to affect a
condition of this kind?
II saw a statement the other day
to the effect that the price of raw
cotton had dropped SIS a bale be-
cause of the Underwood tariff bill.
Such a decline has not been war
ranted by the actual facts. We have
had speculation in cotton under a
high tariff system; in fact, cotton
was at its lowest price during a
reign of the high tariff 1t may be
that cotton spectators will try to
use the tariff bill to unduly depress
the price Of cotton. l hope and be-
lieve none OF the South Carolina
mill men will lend themselves to
such a scheme If il should be start
ed, if, indeed, it has not already
started But If such a movement is
on foot it must not be laid at the
door OF the tariff bill, for the farm
ers OF the South will surely remem-
ber the violent fluctuations in the
price only a few years ago, under
the high tariff system.
But this effort to depress the
price OF cotton may be made, and
now is a good time TO make a sug-
gestion that has been made often
before to the farmers, and that is
that the cotton crop this year should
not be too large, and that it should
be produced at a minimum OF cost
1t is not too late for most farmers
to reduce their cotton acreage to
some extent and to plan for more
food crops. During the past few
years the farmers of the South have
profited vastly by organization and
better methods OF handling the cot
ton crop, and IL will be suicidal for
them to become careless now OF
course all this has been told the
farmers time and again before, but
1t seems to me that II Is especially
applicable at this time. II looks as
IL bear campaign Is being planned,
<and our people should begin to pre-
lare for IL now. The farmers OF the
Nouth can control the price of cot
ton next fall, but in order to do so
they must begin their preparations