The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-07-23
SELLS COTTON SLOWLY
PLAN THROUGH WHICH TEXAS
FARMERS MADE MONEY.

Peter Radford, President Texas Far
mers' Union, Outlines Plan Used to
Prevent Cutting Of Market.
In a recent address Mr.. Radford,
President of the Texas Farmers
Union, said:
I want to speak a word to the far
mers and bankers of this nation
through the press on the plan of CO.
operation in marketing cotton which
has been adopted in Texas, and it is
one which can be easily extended to
all states and to all products. If the
plan is not readily adjustable to con-
ditions beyond Texas, then I submit
the spirit Of cooperation as worthy
of emulation by the agricultural and
financial interests of every communi-
ty in the United States.
In Texas cotton is the money crop
and the problem Of marketing it in
telligently has absorbed the attention
Of the leaders of economic thought
for half century. The crop Is Oft
times mortgaged and debt is such a
hard taskmaster that the farmers, in
order to escape it, rushes to the mar
ket with his products and down goes
the price and the anxiety for the an
nual payday causes many others to
seek an early market.
To relieve the pressure, the bank
ers are advancing the farmers S35
per bale at per cent, payable when
the cotton is sold. The title to the
cotton rests with the farmer, and he
can sell when he pleases, and there is
no longer occasion for disposing OF
his crop on a weak or glutted mar
ket. There is a strong demand in
Texas for money at 8 and 10 per
cent. on terms to suit the lender, and
an offer to lend the farmers on de-
mand at s per cent. is a concession
on the part of the bankers which the
farmers appreciate. estimate that
it will require approximately s40,-
900, 900 to hold the distress cotton off
the market, and this amount the
bankers have made available to lend
on cotton stored in our warehouses.
It will require much smaller sum
to handle the business, as the money
the farmer borrows will be paid on
his debts or spent in his home town,
and most of it will be Immediately
redeposited in the bank available for
lending again. We have $50 ware
houses in the interior and adequate
storage facilities are provided at the
ports to take care of all cotton which
can not be accommodated in the in
terror.
A Dollar With Soul.
1t is refreshing in this strenuous
commercial life to find 80 many dol
lars in Texas with souls. When a
dollar is approached to perform a
task that does not yield the highest
rate of interest, we usually hear the
rustic Of the eagles wings as it scars
upward; when dollar is requested
to return at the option OF the bor-
rover, it usually appeals to the God
dess Of Liberty for it contractural
rights; when e dollar is asked to ex-
pand in volume to suit the unknown
requirements of industry, it usually
talks solemnly of it's redeemer, but
soul material has entered into the
bank vaults of Texas, and rate, time
and volume have new basis Of reck-
oning in so far as the ability of the
banker permits him to cooperate in
promoting the business Of farming.
Constructive Banking.
Many bankers in Texas have for
several years been lending money to
farmers without compensation or at
very low rate of interest to buy
blooded livestock. build silos, etc.,
and no usurer who ever bowed at the
shrine of dollar received as large
returns on the investment as these
progressive bankers who made loans
without interest to uplift productive
industry. The spirit Of the builder
which actuated the bankers in these
smaller transactions is now extended
into the financing Of the cotton crop
on a mammoth scale and returns will
be correspondingly increased.
The time was when money loaned
on such a basis would severely test
the sanity of the banker; such a
transaction would pain the directors
and shock them like a blow in the
face. A cashier who would dare to
cast bread upon waters and it did not
return .buttered side up in time for
annual dividends would have to give
way to a more capable man. The
plan does not necessarily mean that
the bankers are getting any better, or
that the milk of human kindness is
being imbibed more free by our fin
anciers. It indicates that the bank
ers are getting wiser. becoming more
competent citizens. The vision Of the
builder is crowding out the spirit of
the pawnbroker wherever it occurs.
A light has been turned on a new
world of usefulness where the vermin
of greed and avarice can never enter
and where the germs of business
genius flourish. The bankers have
always been liberal city builders, but
they are now building industry.
God Almighty's Noblemen.
The work has had its hardships
and has met with such obstacles as
all progressive movements invariably
encounter. It will have to break the
shackles Of shiftless habits Of many
farmers, melt the adamant heart Of
many bankers and it has become the
target of ridicule and suspicion of the