The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-08-25

pound in Russia. He stated that
lotion was sold in Bennettsville last
iall at SC and &c which was sent
abroad and sold at 22c per pound.
The situation is not that the cotton
has not paid a profit, the profit is
there, money was made on it last
year on a larger scale than for thirty
or forty years, but that it had been
rushed on the market in the United
States, bought up spectators and
sold by them at enormou profits, and
that everybody, except the farmer,
had gotten rich and that instead of
making a profit on the product of his
farm, the farmer slips back a little
every year.
Talk ne said is cheap and there Is
no use to talk unless you have a plan,
as in every calling, and can exer-
else some ~self-control as do the men
in other callings. He agreed with the
first speaker that the farmer must
help himself as do other men. What
ever plan is adopted must be bus
iness-like and must be fair to every
legitimate business, other than the
business of cotton growing. He
stated that the cotton crop of the
| South was the basis of credit and that
good prices help bankers, lawyers
and every body else as well as the
farmers, therefore, it was a mistake
for the farmer to think these pro-
Ifessions were opposed to him. He
thought little relief was to come by
a few politicians going around with
nostrums. The curse of this coun-
try is poverty, '"the grinding neel Of
poverty is holding us down." We
have a monopoly prepared by nature.
He stated that England was declar-
ing cotton contraband because no
other country a get along without
it, that all depend upon it, and no
| other country can raise it. All
countries had tried to break the mo-
nopoly, that England in trying to
raise cotton had undertaken to Sc
lect it's ground and climate and soil
as near like that of the South as pos
sible. That Russia had tried it in
South Africa, but that all had made
a failure in raising cotton and that
the South retained it's monopoly. He
asked the question, what should we
do with this monopoly? He advised
the farmers to fix a minimum price,
which price would show a profit over
and above the cost of production and
that the crop be carried where it is
needed and dealt out to them as. de-
manded. We must nave something
safe, sound and business like. We
have a monopoly not dependent. on
Legislature, but guaranteed by our
climate and soil.
The speaker paid a tribute to the
new financial system of this country
inaugurated under the administra-
ton of President Wilson and pre-
dicted that it meant a new era in fl
nance. Under this system he stated
that the time had passed when capital
can control money and labor, and
when money can be handled only for
the interests Of a few.
In order to carry out the plan
which he advocated and take advan-
tage of it, he stated we must have
cheap storage. for cotton, and cheap
money. He advocated the farmers
getting together and building ware
houses of their own. He stated
| that a standard warehouse built in
this country cost so much money that
i was necessary to make very large
charges for storing cotton in order
to pay a dividend upon the money in
vested, but that cheaper warehouses
might be built by the farmers them
selves, which he would take over and
put in charge of a Manager under
| the State Warehouse law.
When the cotton is stored it be-
comes the one agricultural crop
which is the basis Of credit in this
country, that it is practically indie
structible, and may at any moment
be converted into gold. He stated
that a bale of cotton must be convert
ed into a negotiable security just like
d share in the steel company Or a
State bond, and when this was done.
all the credit of the south could be
marshalled and the people of the
south would have paper which would
pass for money. He thought any
thing which tended to build up credit
in the country was the best thing
| that could come to us. He stated