Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-16
E:j.ipl)FII)E:I5i'i GIlEl SHIT.
7E:fIII::j King GljIli)H|'ts5
THI}IAE:
FLEEGY STAPLE MYsv PAY RAN
som INTO THE GOLFERS or
war
Nation Rings With Cries Of Stricken
Industry
BY Peter Radtore


King Cotton has suffered moro from
the European war than any otile, as
ricultural product on the American
continent The Shells of the 5elliger.
ents have bursted over his throne.
frightening his subjects and shatter
ing his markets, and panic-strickon
the nation cries ont God save The
king
People from every walk of iife have
contributed their mite toward rescue
work Society has danced before the
king, inilady has decreed that the
family wardrobe shah contain only
cotton goods: the press has plead
with the public to buy a bale;
bankers have been formulating hold
ing plans; congress and legislative
bodies have deliherated over relief
measures; statesmen and writers
have grown eloquent expounding the
inalenable rights of Ills Majesty
and presenting schemes for preserY-
ing the financial integrity Of the
stricken staple, but the sword of Eu-
rope has proved mghtier than the pen
of America in fiXing value upon this
| product Of the sunny south. Prices
have been bayoneted, values riddled
and markets decimated by the battling
| hosts of the eastern hemisphere until
the American farmer has suffered
war loss of 100000 coo, and a bale
of cotton brave enough to enter
European port must pay a ransom of
half its value or so to prison until the
war is over.
Hope of the Future Lies in Co-opera-
ton.
The Farmers Union, through the
columns of the press, wants to thank
the American people for the friend
ship, sympathy and assistance given
the cotton farmers in tho hour of dis
tress and to direct attention to CO.
operative methods necessary to per
manently assist the marketing Of ali
farm products.
The present emergency presents as
crave situation as ever confronted
the American farmer and from the
viewpoint of the producer, would seem
y
ures, even to the point of bending the
! constitution and straining business
rules in order to lift a portion Of the
burden off the backs of the farmer,
for Unless something is done TO check
the invasion OF the war forces lpon
the cotton fields, the pathway of the
European pestilenoe on this continent
CT. =,
and famine and poverty will stalk over
the southland filing the highways Of
industry with refugees and the bank
ruptcy court with prisoners.
i All calamities teach us lessons and
the present crisis serves 10 lluminat te
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
VIII come a volume Of discussion AID
a mass of suggestions and finally a
solution of this. the biggest problem
In the economic life of America. if.
indeed, we have not already laid the
foundation for 81 least temporary re.
lief.
More Pharaohs Needed In Agriculture.
Farm products have no credit and
perhaps can never have or 2 perma
nent and satisfactory basis unless VIC
build warehouse cold storage plants.
elevators, etc, for without storage and
credit facilities, the south is com
PEELED to dump It's crop on the market
at harvest time The Farmers Unions
In the cotton producing states have
for the past ten years persistently ad-
vocated the construction of storage
facilities. We have built during this
period 1000 warehouses with q ca
racity of approximately 1000 coo bales
and looking backward the results
would seem encouraging, 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.
9 In production we have reached the
r nigh water mark of perfection in the
! worlds history. but our marketing