The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-09-26
THE OUTLOOK FOR TIE FARM
ER.
u. &. Dunbar Discusses the Result
Which Will Como IL Another big
Cotton Crop il Raised.

The cotton situation is one of vital
interest today To everybody and it
seems to me that the farmers of the
South should be learning Il lesson that
they may not forget soon; but we are
u very hopeful people and have the
greatest tendency to trust to luck of
any other class on earth. We had n
very serious experience i'm getting
rid of the cotton crop Of 1911 and it
does seem that we should have profit
ed by it. but here we are again in al
cotton crop on hand and can not find
anybody that wants it under the pres
ent conditions. 1t does look like COM
mon sense should teach us as a class
that il we go ahead another year
without cutting the acreage that we
are ruined people. Should we ig-
more the lesson that Is now laid out to
us and pay no attention to the
admonitions that are coming to us
from every side. we will not deserve
the sympathy Of those who are do
ing all they can to relieve the pres
ent situation. The Buy Bale" move
ment will be a thing in the past, as
1t should be, should we put forth such
efforts for big cotton crop as here
tofore AMI there will be no alterna-
tive but to meet market with
prices that we cannot live at Nobody
knows how long this great struggle i'm
Europe will last and should ii close by
the first of the year, everything is so
demoralized 1t will take some time for
business to become normal, and we
should know from past experience
that the outlook for business in the
manufacturing centers must be bright
and inviting before we can get good
prices for cotton.
We all hope that this war will not
last long, but we can not arrange our
plans altogether on hope in this in
stance and must begin to get ready to
meet the conditions. Should the
whole of Europe become involved i'm
this war (and there Is n large part of
1t now) we will have to look to this
country with our 80 million spindles,
Canada and the far east for a market
for our cotton. We find that Japan
Is involved in this war now to some
nd 10, xor
before she will be into it in earnest.
While 1t may be improbable that
China will get into 1t yet 1t Is not i'm
possible. Somebody may say that this
country will capture the trade Of
China. while this war is raging. Well,
we wish we could, but such is only
hope and speculation. Somebody
writing about the situation when the
war started, said we were not in such
deplorable condition after all, as we
would monopolize the South Ameri-
can trade and would find a market for
great deal of our cotton as well as
other stuff.
Mr.. Lewis w. Parker, the president
Of the cotton mill merger in the wes-
tern part Of this State. tells us not so.
That through intermediary transac-
tions with the banking and CONNER
cal interest OF England, she is under
such obligation, she cannot get out
OF English grip and will to continue to
give her her trade. Now brother farm
er. want to say to you, we must
view the situation as 1t is and not as
we would like to have it and exercise
our brain little more; get out Of
this 'all cotton" business. Let the
first object he to make a living at
home and something to spare and il
will not be many years before you will
decide you have solved the problem.
Above l mentioned that this country
has &c million spindles which are not
one-fourth of what there are in the
world and should conditions develop
that we would be confined to our own
country and Canada for a cotton mar
ket. would we not he in predica-
ment? OF course this is, as | have
said, only speculation. hut we may be
sure that. If VIC go ahead and make
another big cotton crop, we will have
an elephant on our hands that we
can not find purchaser for The
thing To do is to cut the acreage i'm
half. even if it takes legislation to do
IL. Some of our lawyers. who are
pretty we'll verscd i'm their profession,
tell us they believe such a measure
would he constitutional. | hope the
next session Of the general assembly
VIII pass law requiring every farm
CT to plant not over Onc-half of the