The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-08-19
Plan FOR REMEDY
COTTON CONGRESS WANTS GOV
EMINENT WAREHOUSES;
lever has LEADING PART

Congressman Acts With Other Legis.
lators From the South in Their Ef-
forts to Ameliorate Conditions for
the Cotton Farme, ,s-Bonded
Warehouses Are Planned.
The problem Of saving the cotton
crop of the South in the face Of the
closing of the European cotton mar
kets by war was taken up Thursday
by a Southern Cotton congress COM
mittee, which met at Washington in
special session. Delegates represent
ing the cotton states organized, lis.
tened to members Of congress who
outlined legislative plans for meet
ing the cotton crisis, discussed the
situation and named a committee to
thrash out plan for saving the 49,
100000 bales of cotton which will
soon be harvested in the cotton
states.
Representative Lever of South
Carolina and Senator Hoke Smith Of
Georgia, who have had charge of the
legislative end Of the movement to
provide federal aid to meet the sit
uation, addressed the congress. They,
with Senator Ransdell of Louisiana,
formulated the scheme which will
probably be put through. It, con-
templates the establishment Of
standard cotton grades, government
licensed cotton warehouses and the,
issue of sufficient emergency curren-
cy, about s300,000,000 to be loaned
on cotton, to enable the South to
hold the surplus of the crop over
until market cnditions become more
nearly normal.
A food of suggestions and plans
were proposed by delegates to the
congress. They ranged from pro-
posals that the government valorize
cotton or issue currency against it,
to plans for the destruction Of half
of the crop, to maintain the price.
All these plans were referred to COM
nittees elected by the various state
delegations.
The congress adopted a resolution
indorsing the amendments to the
emergency currency act proposed by
Senator Ransdell, which would make
emergency currency available on
warehouse receipts for cotton as Sc
curity. Senator Ransdell told the
congress that although the treasury
department had decided such receipts
would be proper security under the
present law, he was anxious to make
sure of it.
The resolutions committee elected
was: r. c. Rhett of South Caro-
lima; W. L Lewis, Texas; Hugh Nc
Rae, North Carolina; L. Melton, Ala
bama; E. E. Paten, Virginia; Frank
Tomlinson, Arkansas; F. S. Ether
idge, Georgia, and J. Frank Adams,
Florida.
The committee on legislation in
cluded: S. G. Mayfeld, South Caro-
lima; E. R. Kone, Texas; A. J. Nc
Kinnon, North Carolina; Ray Rus
sell, Alabama; Chas. W. Perridy, Vir-
ginia; Ben B. Well, Arkansas; H E
Stockbridge, Georgia, and J. D.
Smith, Florida.
The congress also named COM
mittee Of two members from each Of
the cotton states to confer with Sec
retary McAdoo Of the treasury as to
the financial aspects of the situation.
When Commissioner Watson Of
South Carolina, president Of the
Southern Cotton congress, called the
congress into extraordinary session
just before noon, he saw before him
gathered in the spacious House eau
Gus room somewhere between 400
and 500 serious minded, determined
looking merchants, bankers and cot
ton men gathered from all over the
cotton growing states bent on their
mission of saving the cotton crop
from going for song because of the
European war situation. It is prob
able that never before has any set Of
men come to Washington more de-
termined to work out some plan that
will save themselves and their neigh
bors from financial loss and ruin.
At the afternoon session Senator
Ransdell of Louisiana addressed the
congress. He urged that anything
like valorization scheme be put out
OF mind. He declared that legisla-
ton now pending would make it pos
sible to obtain all the money neces-
sary through regular channels and
would permit the holding of cotton
on farms or at least in the communi-
ty where it is raised. BY making the
Vreeland-Aldrich law apply to State
banks, to new banks that have no
surplus, and to small banks. Sena-
tor Ransdell told the congress, he
felt certain the greatest obstacle in
the present crisis had been met.
AS to warehouses, he said, these
could be constructed by erecting
platform surrounded by a fence and
tarpaulins could be used for covering
the cotton. It developed that the
cotton farmers are now nearer out Of
debt than at any time since the war
and wuld probably have required less
help from the banks this year than
in any previous year had not the war
come on.