The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-11-18
FIRST, PAY DEBTS; THEN ESCAPE
BONDAGE,

BONDAGE.
The first duty OF the southern far
mer in year unprecedented since
the Civil War is to sell enough cotton
TO pay his debts.
The second duty, and IT is hardly
less emcrgent. is to plan TO escape
next year the bondage OF all-cotton
by raising foodstuiiffs at home, re-
ducing cotton sharply and using rs IT.
he nS possible to produce even his
minimum OF cotton.
These are the fiat terms of the
.;outh's emancipation.
The Constitution makes the state
ment. advisedly. that the salvation of
The South is in the hands of the far
mcr; and We say further, that the
landlord who cOmpels the tenant TO
oycrplant in cotton, or who himself
holds too much cotton. or who will
not permit the tenant TO plant food
stuffs. is a public foe!
If cotton were crop that were
raised debt-free, it would be legiti-
mate to hoard it indefinitely.
Cotton is not raised debt-free.
Most OF ii is raised on credit.
That credit influences starts at the
CROSS roads grocery store and stretch
man in every city In the South. That
is just how tyrannical and all-pervas-
i've cotton Is.
The landlord, therefore. or the far
ner, who is boarding cotton and not
paying his debts is boarding the cot
ton OF other people; he is paralyz-
ing the current OF activity all along
the line; he is affecting people living
hundreds OF miles away who never
heard Of him.
That is why The Constitution says
the first duty of men who control cot
ton, and IL isn't always the bona fide
farmer, is TO sell enough to clear
debts. What cotton is left can be
boarded.
The Constitution realizes and sympa-
thizes with the disappointment over
low-priced cotton. The Constitution
knows, too. that cotton, intrlnsically.
is worth more than the price 1t will
now bring. But the South must, as 1t
has on previous occasions, face the
situation as | tnow exists, not as we
would like It to be. We have the nerve
for that process. We must get about
1t. We must recognize that the cotton
market is readjusting itself to a level
that. while it will postpone many of
the things the South hoped for. will
permit good. sound living. added to
the accustomed surpluns of many
years OF good prices. Next year, the
indications are that we will return to
normal. But we are dealing now with
this year. And we must act according
ly.
If cotton were not a debt-raised
crop, the South today would be faced
by no problem.
One OF the big lessons of the present
emergency Is, hencesorth. to raise cot
ton with as little debt as possible; to
broaden our agricultural program to
include foodstuffs. The country that
feeds itself need fear nothing. The
South can feed itself. 1t can produce
avery pound of meat and every other
article of food necessary to the susie
nance of man and beast.
And yet, the anomaly Is presented of
This enormously versatile section
sending annually fortunes away for
the necessities of life, and for the
bills, saddiing mortgage Or cotton.
The wonder Is we have done SO well.
despite this self-created and main
tanned handicap.
The time is come to escape this
bondage. The lesson of the war in Eu-
.ope ought to hammer home the wis
dom of an immediate beginning.
1. Sell cotton enough to clear
debts!
9. Blaze a way out of the system
of bondage Atlanta Constitution.
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