The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-07-28
!ENGLAND'S STAND
ON COTTON TRADE
.rYDINTS TO BE TAKEN INTO
CONSIDERATION PRESI-
DENT CONSIDERS ALL
PARTIES INVOLVED.
(By Jas. Norwood.)

r. s;s4a for interference on the part of
d, DEF government with the policy of
Great Britain of preventing cotton
fram reaching Germany and her al
aiss- Especially is this clamor Wig
norous when cargoes of cotton con-
~ssyned to such neutral nations as
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzer-
2and are stopped and carried into
. British ports. To those who raise
This clamor, it appears that u gov
~ eminent is not protecting u Sec
lion of the country as it could and
should, showing great partially to
Great Britain and her allies while
holding Germany to a strict account
ability fo- her misdeeds. Those
Nho raise this clamor are laboring
under certain mistaken ideas which
: this writer wishes to point out.
That we should take this view of
the situation in this section is natur-
ai, as cotton is the product upon
(which we depend for our livelihood
and we naturally resent anything
which seems to operate against its
bringing the highest price possible.
Nevertheless our people do not place
their money interest above their
sense of justice, and it is only neces-
yasary for them to see the correctness
an the attitude of u government
toward both Great Britain and Ger
Ynany. So far as the writer has
seen, practically nothing has been
drought out in Southern press
Lnaking this situation clear.
Friend to South.
Now let us look at the proposition
President Wilson and his cabinet
are negligent of our interests in the
South. That would be very poor
politics, for their strongest support
/. Is in the South. Now they can
scarcely be accused of not knowing
their strength in the South, or the
ssxtent to which they depend on that
strength for their continuance in Of
flee. Besides there are very large
Interests in the North and East
? whose trade is damaged when cotton
low. The administration could
mot afford to wantonly drive away
: their support by neglecting the inter-
tests of the South. Furthermore,
the present administration has been
= CONSPICUOUS since it came into power
for being especially favorable to, or
: section. Besides being Southern nv
{, birth, early training and sentiment,
1she president has been very liberal in
This appointments of Southern men to
important posts. Three of his cabi-
net, one of the federal reserve board,
the comptroller of the currency, are
all Southern men. Five of the IL
federal reserve banks are located in
1.-The South. This is a larger number
than r located in any other section.
The first branch bank under the new
law is also to be located in New Or
deans. Last fall when a panic was
threatened, and it became necessary
I'm order to avert it, for the banks to
Tissue emergency currency, the banks
tnn the South generally did not have
y enough government, State and NUM-
s!cipal bonds to secure all of the cur
Erency they would have been entitled
sShs, In order to overcome this diff
hn5fy, the secretary of the treasury
: agreed to accept loans secured by
= wafshuEse receipts for cotton and
other agricultural products instead
Of bonds In addition to all this,
t.Hte secretary of the treasury depos-
tilted snHny millions of dollars of gov
sernment money in the banks all over
'the South and West to help move the
crops Numerous other evidences
could be cited to show that any idea
',of the administration being indiffer-
lent to our interests is ridiculous, but
this will suffice for the present.
Ono Answer.
Then why this apparent indiffer-
renee to England's policy while hold
ing Germany strictly to account? To
any one who dose nc: care to 20
deeply into the matter, this question
may be answered, specifically to be
sure, but none the less truly, that
England is at worst only interfering
with American property, while Ger
many has interfered, to the extent
''of destruction, with American lives
:Hand threatens to repeat the offense
as often as similar conditions arise.
We can afford to go a little slowly in
adjusting ofenses which can be ad-
Justed in dollars, but when our lives