The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-18


 The startling headlines. Bankruptcy
 Faces the South" and its accompany
 ing interview with Mr. W. H. Kettg
 on the cotton situation in your issue 1 of Tuesday. July 13. seems 10 have
 caused a considerable amount of in
 terest in Birmingham.
 May I ask whether the idea of this scare news originated with The Age Herald or with Mir. ". H. Kettig, or
 is it's origin more remote. with a pos i sible political foundation? Fortunate ly, forewarned is forearmed, and as this propaganda was expected, the | scaremongering will do little harm. That splendid southern publication, the Manufacturers Record, has this to say in its issue of July g. in reference to the cotton states:
 Some of the politicians who last year misled the south and helped to make 1t appear before the world as beggar section, in their wild scramble to secure public favor by holding up this region as so steeped in poverty. and so lacking in backbone as to be absolutely helpless and hopeless. un- less the nation, or business men of other sections. in charity, came to it's rescue, are again much in evidence
 We are again approaching a time when, unless the leaders in the south come to the front vigorously. the sec tion may again be cursed by another campaign equally as disastrous and equally as untustified
 "A movement as unwise Is that which created the movement, buy bale at 10 cents,' and which placarded t1A t,g.1a l. help the south is being stirred up by some of the same politicians, who last year msled the south as to the handling of its cotton and now are seeking to arouse antagonism to Great Britain. demanding that the govern ment shall adopt retaliatory measures against that country. It is difficult to understand how intelligent men in the s,uth can be guilty of such piece of folly"
 MT. Kettig tells us that this is no time to be pro-English or pro-Ger- man. but 1t is time to be pro-south- ern." This ceases to be convincing when uttered by a man of German par entage and education. I know MT. Ket- jig to be a broad minded man, but ask, Is ii reasonable to believe that MT Kettig could be anything but pleased at the prospect of propa- ganda that aims at forcing the gov ernment to retaliatory measures against Great Britain unless she per mits cotton, the basis of all high ex- plosives. to reach Germany? The tor
 pedo that murdered more than 100 Americans on board the Lusitania was charged with guncotton manufactured from southern cotton. and the bombs dropped from Zeppelins on sleeping English women and children are charged with the same substance The Coio tla ,tf ff.
 of cotton used per day by Germany in
 the manufacture of munitions of war as 2000 bales. These figures do not include the amount used for small arms ammunition or that needed for 1 the navy The Scientific American also | says that if these imports of cotton l can be stopped Germany will be beat 1 en within the year, And In the face of l those facts we have MT Kettig asking why doesn't England let the cotton alone. using the same suggestion that l all the German propagandists use, that 1 the government should force Great
 Britain, by laying an embargo on mu- | nitions of war. to allow cotton, a nec-
 essary ingredient of her ammunition, | to enter Germany This. of course, would allow Germany more freely than | ever to fill her torpedoes with gun I cotton in order to sink shipments of cotton and other American produce
 going to the allies and would, of l course. also destroy the effectiveness | of the British navy.
 Confusion Regarding Effect There seems to be a great deal of
 confusion in the public mind as to the
 effect on American commerce of the
 British blockade of Germany It might | be well to point out that in all pre- vious wars the bloclading nation has | always claimed and exercised the right | to confiscate ships and cargoes in re-
 spect to breaches of blockade but Eng l land has not exercised this right in the ] present instance. and moreover, she
 has tried to lessen the harshness oi