Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-07-27
Mr., McLAURIN IN GEORGIA
Warehouse Commissioner Tells Of His
Experience in Atlanta.

w dTcTOuoC
Experience in Atlanta.
Yes, / think the Georgia legisla-
ture will pass some kind of a state
warehouse law" said Hon. John l..
McLaurin in talk with the editor OF
The Enquirer on Friday. but as
saw things in Atlanta. 1 am not pre-
pared to promise hat such legislation
as NAV result will be as much In the
interest of the cotton growers as 1t
will be in the interest of the bankers
and manufacturers"
Mr.. McLaurin was in his room al
the Jefferson hotel down In Columbia.
He had just finished the preparation
of the speech that he was to deliver
at Orangeburg next day, and when
appears elsewhere in this issue of The
ENQUIRER. He was not exactly In q
very comfortable frame Of mind eth
er. He had taken Mrs. McLaurin to
the Charlotte sanatorium a few days
before, and he had information that
lead him to believe that a very sert-
Gus operation would be necessary. All
this was weighing heavily upon his
mind: but nevertheless he was not
averse to talking about the situation
over in Georgia, about which the edi-
tor had asked him. =.
ct had been under the impression"
Mr.. McLaurin went on, that n pre-
dominent selfishness Of the bankers
and manufacturers was so great IN
South Carolina that it was not equaled
anywhere; but I found myself. very
much mistaken. They AVE II on us
over in Georgia Those Georgia bank
ers seem to think that the whole earth
belongs to them, and the idea OF CIV
ing the cotton growers something OF
a show seems to impress them as some
kind of impudence that they are not
prepared to comprehend.
1.-The time originally fixed for my
second speech, Wednesday OF last
week, was changed to Thursday after
noon so as to give representatives OF
the Georgia Bankers association an
opportunity to hear what I had to say.
OF course I did not object to that,
and when I had covered the ground
as fully as seemed necessary, l gave
them to understand that I would try
to answer any question they might
ask to the best Of my ability.
"Mr. Coles. the manager Of the
bank Of Gambler, the Coca-cola mil
lionaire, acted as spokesman for the
bankers. The Coca-cola fortune, you
know, is the biggest thing in Georgia.
and by the facetious manner adopted
by Mr.. Coles when he undertook to
question me, / was impressed with the
idea: hat he seemed to think that II
the whole system was not INTENDED
for the convenience and profit of the
banks instead of for the benefit Of the
farmer, it must be changed. He told
of the immense sums he had loaned
the farmers last year and Of n mil.
lions that he could lend II the bill
should be passed sc as to require the
storing of the cotton in Atlanta In
stead Of on the farms and all that.
answered his questions in a manner
that showed very clearly hat the OBJ
ject of this bill was not to facilitate
loans by the banks at a high rate OF
interest-not to tie up the farmer
tighter than he is now tied; but to
give him cheaper money; to help the
small farmer to put his cotton In the
form Of a paper that could be nego-
tiated anywhere, without asking any
odds of anybody. 1 pictured Mr.. Coles
as having to compete with other
bankers in hunting for the farmer
with the negotiable receipt. instead OF
the farmer, provided with a receipt
that was not good without the banks
endorsement, having to hunt for Mr.
Coles and depend on that gentleman's
pleasure as to whether he could get a
loan or not"
In the repetition Of the story Mr.,
McLaurin appeared to be very much
tickled at the gradual change in Mr.
Coles lordly and facetious manner
until he began to show signs of impa-
thence, followed by i'll temper, and al
length sat down in sullen silence.
I'm conclusion" said Mr.. McLanrin,
ct told the members Of the legislature
that I perfectly understood what they
were up against. I told them that
thought I knew better than they did
I was satisfied that most Of them were
beginning to understand this whole
proposition, and that they were be-
ginning to appreciate the effect of 1t.
I could see, too, that they wanted to
make the warehouse bill as I had out
lined it, a law. But as to whether
they were going to be allowed to do
what they wanted to do, I could not
predict. However, I warned them
that the people of Georgia are gradu-
ally catching on to the situation, and
the more the proposition is talked the
better the people understand 1t. This
legislature may not be willing to pass
a warehouse bill in the interest Of the
cotton grower, but if it does not the
people will sooner or later elect a leg
islature hat will do that very thing"