Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-09

poly in thirteen southern states. The
great financiers Of this country un-
derstand this thoroughly, and the
cotton crop Of the south has been used
by them for the past. thirty years to
the United States.
The business Of this world-ninety
per cent Of it's done on credit, and
where not on credit per Sc, by the use
Of paper money redeemable in gold.
New York, which Is the financial
centre Of this country, furnishes the
south the credits upon which to pro-
duce the cotton crop. Then, in the
fall, instead Of selling our cotton
crop for credit money Of the same
character that we used in its produc-
tion, the two-thirds Of the crop which
Is exported, Is sold for gold. This
gold is controlled in New York. and as
the amount Of gold in the world Is
limited. it keeps the floating gold
used by the nations in settling their
the New York banks It Is not that
these people are the enemies Of the
south, or that they would not like to
see US prosper, but for their own self
interest, and to maintain the suprem-
acy which they have acquired through
the sale Of our cotton, they must con-
troll that gold. 1t Is for this reason
that anything like holding movement
Is bitterly fought by the New York
banks, and all Of the banks and a.
nancial interests Of the south who are
dependent upon New York.
1t goes without saying that II the
farmers Of the south place themselves
in a position where they can hold their
cotton, and only market 1t when It
shows a fair profit, that they can al
ways get whatever price they choose
to ask for 1t. II any fact was needed
to show the enormous power that the
cotton crop Of the south holds in the
financial world, we have just seen 1t.
When war was declared last August,
II 1t had not been for the efforts OF
such men as Mr.. Dabbs, Mr.. Barrett,
DR.. Stackhouse, Walter Clark Of Mis-
sissippi, and others, cotton would
never have recovered, and gone back
up to eight cents q pound. AS 1t Is,
the farmers Of the south have had at
least $400,000,000 taken from their
pockets. The men who have held
their cotton, and resisted every pres
sure and influence to sell 1t, are the
and enabled others to sell at eight
cents a pound. II, last August, we
had been able to put away and abso-
lutely retire 100000 bales Of cotton,
and the consuming world had realized
that fact, the other 100000 bales
would have brought more money than
the entire crop Of 100000. And yet,
from the rate at which cotton Is be-
ing consumed, 1t looks as II there
would be a market for every bale OF
cotton in the south. The cotton which
was forced out Of the farmers hands
in November and December, at from
five to six and one-half cents, has
been exported, and is bringing from
twelve cents in England to thirty
cents pound in Russia.
have contended all the time that
there was, Immediately after the de-
claration Of war, q conspiracy in this
country and abroad to stampede the
farmers and make them sell their
cotton at whatever 1t would bring.
The treasury department OF the Unit
ed States shows, as O. matter OF fact,
that more cotton was exported IN
January and February than for the
same months last year. Instead OF
decreasing the consumption Of cotton,
war seems to have found new uses for
1t. The uniforms worn by all the
armies in the world now, instead OF
as in former days, being composed OF
wool, are made from cotton. A soldier
in the field only wears uniform
about thirty days, and then 1t Is
thrown away and replaced by g. new
one. Cotton Is absolutely essential to
pound Of powder means the consump-
ton Of a pound Of cotton. One OF the
German 42-centimeter guns consumes
500 pounds of cotton every time 1t Is
fired. The smaller guns, such as the
14-inch guns, consume about three
hundred pounds Of cotton every time
one Of them Is fired; one Of the large
battleships burns up ten bales OF cot
ton every minute its batteries are In
action. That is what Is going with
the low-grade cotton-as for Hnters,
you don't see any Of them In this
country, and 1t would be a very in
teresting thing to know what the lint
ers have been sold for since this war
began, because the linters, being OF
shorter fibre, are better adapted to the
making Of explosives. So 1t seems
that, after all, II the channels Of the
sea were opened, that there Is mark
ct for even this large crop.
1t is not a question Of there being
q demand for our cotton, but Of other
people, who have nothing to do with
the making Of that cotton, reaping all
the profits. Every bale Of cotton has
standing between 1t and the mill IN
England or Germany, from six to
eight middle-men, who must have a
profit out Of II, and that leaves moth
ing but loss for the man who made
the cotton. What the farmers OF the
south must do, and what they are
going to do, once they understand the
situation, Is not only to have state
warehouses, but to sell the cotton from
the state warehouse direct to the mill
that Is going to manufacture 1t. or
course those who are prof1ting, and
dividing between them more money
than the farmer gets for the actual
cotton itself, object to change OF
this kind, and will resist it to. the
death. We are not trying to rob them,
but we are trying to keep them from
taking from us that to which they are
not entitled.
It Is q manifest impossibility to
market a 12-months supply Of cotton
in three months, and as the debt con-
tracted for the making Of that cotton
comes due in the fall, we must place
ourselves in a position where we can
get the money to pay our debts and
hold the cotton. The first step in that
direction, my friends, iS TO make our
farms self f-sustaining. AS long as we
depend entirely upon commercial fer.
tilizers, as long as our corn crib and
smoke house are in the west instead
Of on the farm, our debts will continue
to be so great that we must sacrifice
our cotton in order to meet them.
There Is no system Of state warehous-
ing, finance or anything else, that will
give relief from any such folly as that,
and II this war does not do anything
else except to teach US to make our
farm self-sustaining, 1t is well worth
the loss to US which 1t has OCCASION
ed.
But, let me ask you a question, now.
Suppose you make 100 bales Of cotton
next fall, and this spring you have to
buy your corn and your hay and your
flour, and pay for it out Of that cot
ton, and pay the fertilizer debt, too;
what good Is that 100 bales Of cotton
going to do you? But, suppose, in
stead Of making 100 bales Of cotton,
you only made so, and you had your
own corn, hay and feed, and in the
fall only owed small fertilizer debt,
and every other farmer in the south
was in the same situation; you would
be in a position then to put your cot
too into opd hold N