The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-10-20
DABBS IS AGAINST
ELIMINATION PLAN
Farmers Union President Opposes
''No Cotton In 1815'-Gives
His Reasons for Stand


His Reasons for Stand.
The following letter by e. w.
Dabbs, president Of the Farmers
Union, appeared in The State Sat
urday morning:
wonder If our elimination
friends realize how much damage
they are doing the cotton farmers by
their exaggerated statements about
cotton! am reminded OF the letter
DR.. Stackhouse published three
years ago in which he charged that
the Farmers Union "underestimated
and over-priced' the cotton crop.
He and his associates by their scare
head tactics to force total elimlna-
ton are doing more to break prices
than any and all the mistakes the
Farmers Union ever made. Henry
Grady said, "Cotton is a fool; 1t al
ways does the opposite of which peo-
pie expect One year the pro-
phets and "sons of prophets" Of
whom we have an unlimited supply,
say, I'VE will never again see low
priced cotton" The next year these
same sky-gazers get IN the dumps
and say, 1--WE will never see cotton
at 10 cents again" The world goes
merrily on and, in less than six
months the prophets and "sons of
prophets" are put to shame by the
market going just the opposite.
The calamity howlers now forget
that part of the 100000 bale crop
of 1913 sold for 13 cents by July Of
the next year. On top of this came
the 100000 bale crop of 1912
that sold for about IL cents. On top
of this 15,OOO,OOO bale crop of 1913
sold with the prospects of this crop
fairly good cotton was selling at 13
cents when the war broke out In
Europe. In the three years of 1911,
1912, 1913 the South put on the mar
ket about 45,OOO.OOO bales of cotton
at an average price of Il cents per
pound Practically all of the loss
on marketing cotton in the past
three years was due to hysterical
selling in the early part of the sea
son of 1911, and to the low grade
OF the cotton that remained in the
fields until March, 1912. With the
example so fresh in our minds of
what was the outcome in 1911-12,
and losses on good cotton plainly
the result of too rapid marketing,
we had every assurance that we
could come out of this emergency
without great loss Of "a strong pull
long pull and pull all together" ="
That there will need to be curtail-
ment of acreage we all know. A
great many Of us believe II will have
to be done by legislation, to bring
about uniformity, and a national
system of diversification But that
any considerable number of farm
ers accept total elimination as the
only any all sovereign remedy is a
myth. The Legislators or the South
ern states will not be led to extreme
measures by these scarehead lob
oiSo' ~ 10 lOTIundte IndI some OF
the advocates of elimination referred
to the leadership of South Carolina
In Secession. While yield to none
In my firm belief that the states had
the right to secede from the Union
In 1860, and honor the names of
the men who made glorious history
for the South in that great war, the
cold, hard fact is that they made a
colossal mistake from which we have
not yet recovered Total elimina-
tion Of cotton will be blunder. The
advocates of it are doing immense
harm and the sooner a quietus is put
upon such wild statements as they
make to bolster up their plan, the
sooner will we get to a working
srlution Of our difficulties.
Prof. Conradi. DR.. Long, Mr..
Belser, Mr. McMahan and others
have indicated the remedial legisla-
tion we need, and what we may ex-
pect from a nationaf course. am
sure total elimination does not rep
resent any considerable number of
the members of the cotton congress.
The only Farmers Union expressions
that 1 know OF are an overwhelming
majority against it IN the National
Farmers Union and the unanimous
suggestion from the Sumter county
union for cotton acreage to be limit