Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-03-06
scientific COOPERATION
The One Great Need Of Modern
Civilization
STUDY OF PRACTICAL ECONOMICS

The Interests and the Rights of Pro-
dueer, Manufacturer, Carrier and
Distributor are Identical, and the
Problem Of the Times is to Bring
| About Equitable Adjustment.
| [By Hon. John L. McLaurin].
The average yield Of farm products
per acre Is very low in this country,
and shows few, If any, signs OF i'm
provement In large measure this is
due to the superficial methods Of farm
ing which naturally have to be resort
ed to in bringing land under cultiva-
tion in a newly developed country. But
the almost entire absence Of an i'm
provement in the yield per acre indi-
Gates that there Is osmething wrong in
the economics Of farming. The inevi-
table inference is that the profits in
this industry are too small or irregu-
lar to enable or induce the farmer to
reinvest them in improving his land.
This Is particularly true Of cotton. The
/
monopoly Of the southern states It is
claimed that the cost of raising cotton
| Is about IL cents a pound, and this
estimate is based on the cheapest la
Dor procurable. The demand for this
staple has steadily increased, and
there has been no difficulty in cleaning
up all the supplies at the end Of each
crop year. Yet under the supposed
rule Of the law Of supply and demand
the price has been more often below
the cost Of production than above 1t.
This would seem to prove that the op-
Grafton Of the law Of supply and de-
mand is subject to exceptions, or that
there Is something radically wrong
with the organization Of the market.
The fact Is that, while there Is an in
crease in the acreage, which shows
that labor is not wanting in the south,
there is little, II any Improvement In
methods Of farming and yield per acre
which indicates a lack Of working
capital. The industry has become more
or less stagnant, and this stagnation
is not without it's harmful influence on
the political economy Of the country.
Cotton is the most important staple
grown in this country because Of the
part 1t plays in the economic system.
1t is largely exported, and, being prac-
tically a nom n-competitive article, 1t Is
an excellent medium with which to in
fluence or regulate our foreign COM
merce and render the same highly
profitable. Yet this golden opportunity
has been-one might almost be tempt
ed to ay-systematically neglected.
Whatever view one takes Of the eco
nomic, social and political conditions
of this country it can surely not be
maintained that any harm can result
to any one Of these systems by the
much needed improvement Of the eco
nomic conditions Of the southern
states.
The Causes.
Inadequate profits are the result Of
poor management, waste or too low
selling prices. The farmer can control
the first two causes, but he is helpless
as regards the third. He Is told that
the law Of supply and demand regu-
lates the prices Of his products, and
that he must be satisfied with the
prices resulting from the natural op-
Grafton of this law. This law ought to
be respected, but the trouble is that
few people agree as to its correct in
depreciation, owing to the fact that
the conditions under which it operates
are as often man made as nature
made. To make matters worse, the
farmer has really very little to say re-
specting this Interpretation which Is
left almost entirely to the discretion
Of the speculator on the commodity
exchanges. Speculative trading in
commodities is useful IL confined with
in the limits Of the purpose Of the
market, but 1t Is too apt to ex-
ceed these limits and develop into
pure gambling, causing then quite
unreasonable fluctuations in prices
which are bound to hurt either the
producer or the consumer. Since the
crops are usually marketed under a
heavy pressure Of supplies 1t Is but
natural that the speculator should
utilize this pressure to depress prices
far below their normal level. The
farmer thereby continues in financi-
ally weak position. On the other hand,
as soon as the farmer has parted with
his supplies, the speculator turns the
tables on the consumer. 1t Is easy to
see how the necessary equilibrium be-
tween production and manufacture is
thereby disturbed, and how this dis
turbance must extend its evil infiu-
ence to the ordinary industries Of the
economic system, such as banking,
transportation, merchandising, ETC.,
and finally it contaminates the social
and political systems. The manufac-
turer has, fortunately, been favored
and helped by protective tariff which
gave him more or less control over the
home market, and the more adequate
profits which he thereby secured en-
abled him to attain, in many instances
an uneXcelled degree Of efficiency.
But the farmer, who enjoyed no such
advantage, has continued to deplete
his soil in open competition with all
the world and under the rule Of law
of supply and demand the operation
Of which. to say the least, is open to
many serious objections These OBJ
jections can best be shown by dis
closing the practical working Of our
system of political economy or civil
lied society.
Political Economy.
Political economy, comprising all
the physical and intellectual affairs OF
civilized man, is divided into three
distinct sciences or systems. Eco
Monies, sociology and politics. This
division is correct enough, but there
should be added the principles upon
which civilized society is based, so as
to enable us to better determine the
purpose and functions Of the various
subdivisions. These priciples are: CO.
operation, evolution and morality.
Civilized society has not always liv-