The Cairo bulletin., 1914-11-26
EUROPEAN WAR SHAT.
TIERS KING COTION'S
THRONE
FlEEcY STAPLE MUST PAY RAN
SOM INTO THE GOLFERS OF
WAR.
Nation Rings With Cries Of Stricken
Industry.
BY Peter Radford
Lecturer National Farmers Union.

Lecturer National Farmers Union,
King Cotton has suffered more from
the European war than any other az.
rieultural product on the American
continent The shells of the belliger-
ents have bursted over his throne,
frightening his subjects and shatte-.
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 bale:
bankers have been formulating hold
ing plans; congress and legislative
bodies have deliberated over relief
measures; statesmen and writer's
have grown eloquent expounding the
inalienable rights of Hts Majesty"
and presenting schemes for presery-
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 q
war loss of $400,00o00o, and a bale
Of cotton brave enough to enter a
European port must pay a ransom of
half its value or go 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 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 a situation as ever confronted
the American farmer and from the
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 portion of the
burden of the backs OF the farmer
for unless something Is done to checs
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, filing the Highways o.
industry with refugees and the bank
ruptcy court with prisoners.
All calamities teach US lessons aat
the present crisis serves 10 illuminate
the frailties of our marketing meth
| DDS and the weakness of our credit
| system, and out of the financial an
, euish and travail Of the cotton farmer
will come a volume of discussion anC
a mass of suggestions and finally {
solution of this, the biggest problem
In the economic life of America. II
indeed. we have not already laid tht
foundation for at least temporary re
! lief.
More Pharaohs Needed In Agriculture
Farm products have no credit ant
| PERHAPS can never have on perma
nent and satisfactory basis unless wi
build warehouses, cold storage plants
elevators, etc, for without storage aHr
credit facilities, the south Is com
PEELED to dump its crop on the marke
/ at harvest time. The Farmers Union!
! in the cotton producing states have
for the past ten years persistently al
vocated the construction of storagt
facilities. We have built during thi'
period 1000 warehouses With a ca
! pacitg of approximately 100000 BALE
( and looking backward the results
/ would seem encouraging, but lookins
. forward We are able to house LEST
than one-third of the crop and ware
houses without credit system los'
80 per cent Of their usefulness. Thu
problem is a gigantic one-too grca
for the farmer 20 solve unaided HI
must have the assistance of the bank
er, the merchant and the government
In production We have reached tht
high water mark of perfection In tn,