The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1914-12-25
EUROPEAN WAR SHAT.
TIERS KING COTTON'S
THRONE
FIEECY STAPLE MUST PAY RAN
SOM INTO THE GOLFERS OF
WAR.
Nation Rings With Cries Of Stricken
Industry
BY Peter Radford

King Cotton has suffered more from
the European war than any other az
ricultural product on the American
continent The shells OF the belliger
ents have bursted over his throne
frightening his subjects and shatte7
ing his markets, and, panic-stricken
the nation cries out God save the
king"
People from every walk of life have
contributed their mite toward rescue
work Society has danced before the
king: mi'ady has decreed that tn
family wardrobe shall contain on
cotton goods; the press has pleac
with the public to "buy bale
bankers have been formulating hold
ing plans; congress and legislative
bodies have deliberated over relief
measures; statesmen and writers
have grown eloquent eXpounding the
inalienable rights of His Majesty
and presenting schemes for preserv-
ing the financial integrity of the
stricken staple. but the sword Of f
rope has proved mightier than the per
Of America in fixing value upon this
product Of the sunny south. PriC
have been bayoneted, values riddle
and markets decimated by the battlin
hosts Of the eastern hemisphere uui
the American farmer has suffered
war loss Of 100000 and q bal,
of cotton brave enough to enter {
European port must pay ransom
nalf it's value or go to prison until thC
war Is over
Hope Of the Future Lies in Cooper
tion.
The Farmers Union, through tn,
columns OF the press, wants to than
the American people for the friend
ship, sympathy and assistance givei
the cotton farmers in the hour OF dis
tress and to direct attention to 60
operative methods necessary to per
manently assist the marketing of al
farm products.
The present emergency presents
grave a situation as ever confront
the American farmer and from til
viewpoint OF the producer. would seen
to justify extraordinary relief meas
ures, even to the point of bending the
constitution and straining business
rules In order TO lift a portion of the
burden of the backs of the farmer
for unless something is done to checl
the invasion of the war forces upon
the cotton fields, the pathway of the
European pestilence on this continenf
will be strewn with mOrtgaged home
and famine and poverty will stalk Owe
the southland, filling the highways o.
industry with refugees and the bank
ruptcy court with prisoners
All calamities teach us lessons and
the present crisis serves to illumnat'
the frailties Of our marketing meth
DDS and the weakness of our credit
system, and out of the financial an
guish and travail of the cotton farmer
will come a volume of discussion and
a mass of suggestions and finally q
solution Of this. the biggest problem
in the economic life Of America. if
indeed. we have not already laid the
foundation for at least temporary re
lief.
More Pharachs Needed in Agriculture
Farm products have no credit anC
perhaps can never have on a perma
nent and satisfactory basis unless We
build warehouses, cold storage plants.
pInVQtnrS for uyithnnT ctr -
credit facilities. the south is com
PEELED to dump its crop on the market
at harvest time. The Farmers Unions
IN the cotton producing states have
for the past ten years persistently al
vocated the construction Of storage
facilities. We have built during this
period 1000 warehouses with ca.
pacity Of approximately 100000 bales
and looking backward the results
would seem encoura ging, but looking
forward. we are able to house less
than one-third of the crop and ware
houses without credit system lose
80 per cent OF their usefulness. The
problem is gigantic one-too great
for the farmer to solve unaided. He
must have the assistance of the bank
er, the merchant and the government.
Ia production we have reached the
high water mark Of perfection in the
worlds history, but our marketing
methods are most primitive. IN the
dawn Of history we find agriculture
plowing with forked stick but with
a system of warehouses under govern
mental supervision that made the
Egyptians the marvel OF civilization.
for who has not admired the vision OF
Joseph and app!auded the wisdom of
Pharaoh for storing the surplus until
demanded by the consumer, but in
this age we have too many Josephs
VINO dream and not enough Pharaohs
who build.