Graham guardian., 1914-12-04
EUROPEAN WAR SHAT
TERS KING COTTON'S
THRONE
FLEEcY STAPLE MUST PAY RAN
SOM INTO THE coFFERs OF
WAR.
Nation Rings With Cries Of Stricken
Industry.
BY Peter Radford

King Cotton has suffered more from
the European war than any other ag-
ricultural product on the American
continent. The shells Of the belllger-
frightening his subjects and shatter-
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; milady has decreed that the
family wardrobe shall 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 deliberated over relief
measures; statesmen and writers
have grown eloquent expounding the
and presenting schemes for preserv-
ing the financial integrity of the
stricken staple, but the sword Of Eu
rope has proved mightier 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 $400,000,000, and a bale
of cotton brave enough to enter a
European port must pay a ransom OF
half its value or go to prison unit 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 the hour of dis
tress and to direct attention to CO
operative methods necessary to per-
manently assist the marketing Of all
farm products.
The present emergency presents as
grave q situation as ever confronted
lho AIutl ldl illtI dllu lIOll Iut
viewpoint of the producer, would seem
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 off the backs of the farmer,
for unless something is done to check
the invasion of the war forces upon
the cotton fields, the pathway of the
European pestilence on this continent
will be strewn with mortgaged homes
and famine and poverty will stalk over
the southland. filling the highways Of
industry with refugees and the bank
ruptcy court with prisoners.
All calamities teach us lessons and
the present crisis serves to illuminate
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 volume Of discussion and
mass of suggestions and finally
solution Of this, the biggest problem
In the economic life of America, II,
indeed, we have not already laid the
foundation for at least temporary re-
lief.
More Pharaohs Needed In Agriculture.
Farm products have no credit and
perhaps can never have on a perma-
nent and satisfactory basis unless w
build warehouses; cold storage plants,
elevators, etc. for without storage and
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 ad-
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 encouraging, but looking
forward, we are able to house less
than one-third of the crop and ware
houses without a credit system lose
80 per cent of their usefulness. The
problem is a gigantic one-too great
for the farmer to solve unaided. He
must have the assistance of the bank
er, the merchant and the government.
In production we have reached the
high water mark of perfection in the
worlds history, but our marketing
methods are most primitive. In the
cawn 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 applauded the wisdom of |
Pharaoh for storing the surplus until |
demanded by the consumer, but in |
this age we have too many Josephs
who dream and not enough Pharaohs
who build.