The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-03-10

duu 1uUld LQdL lie NOFSIuWS0L
would lend them what would 'be the
equivalent Of eight cents pound
for American cotton, or, if they pre-
ferred, the government would give
them ten cents pound and buy the
cotton. Now, If England could do
that for the cotton planters of Egypt
and India, why could not the Fed
eral Government have done it for
the cotton planters of the South?
It has been demonstrated by. the
irresistible logic OF events that cot
ton is worth to-day on the continent
of Europe from 16 to 25 cents
pound, and 100000 bales has
been taken from US at from to
cents. But our government did not
do that. We did not have men in
Congress who had the nerve and
the courage to jack up Mr.. Dabbs,
Mr.. Barrett, and the committee that
went there at their own expense to
make this fight for the farmers of
the South, and the newspapers Of
the South, instead of backing them
up, 'belittled the effort in every way
they possibly could. No; if the
farmers of this State could borrow
money as a matter of right on their
cotton, or if they would render it
possible for cotton in State ware
houses to be sold direct to the mill
the army Of people standing there
and taking toll from your labor and
from mine, and crying down the
warehouse system or anything else
that we undertake, would be cut off
from their rewards Instead of
aiding the holding movement, the
only thing that could have put up
the price Of cotton, some with the
best intentions in the world, but
mislead by subsidized newspapers,
start a buy-a-bale movement, in or
der to supply the cotton mills with
cotton at six cents a pound, anything
TO make US turn loose.
want to tell you right now that
I have no sympathy with this cry,
keep it OUT Of politics. ;" I have
had, personally, all the politics that
I want, but I want to tell you that
you will never get your rights until
you elect men to Office, from the
President Of the United States down,
who are in hearty sympathy with
this effort of the farmers to hold
their cotton and to obtain loans on
it direct from the government, and
to make sales direct to the mills.
It is the only way that you can ever
accomplish anything. The only way
you can ever make your power felt
is through your votes. And would
like to- know why Dabbs, myself, or
any other man that is leading this
movement, should be attacked be
cause of political ambitions. Why
is politics open to every large bank
er, but closed to a leader Of a farm
ers' organization. Why, it was put
up to me squarely in this fight over
the Warehouse Bill, that I ought to
come out and make the statement
that I never expected to go into
politics, and I refused, and I will
continue to refuse. to make any such
cowardIy statement as that. will
do anything in my power that is
honest and honorable to aid the
farmers of South Carolina, and of
the other Southern States, and am
not going to be driven from that
position by the attacks Of politicians
and newspapers.
Twenty years ago wheat was sell
ing at 40 cents a bushel, and corn
at 10 cents a bushel, in the west.
In Kansas they were actually using
corn for fuel. That whole western
country was in debt, and plastered
with mortgages. But the farmers
of the West had more continuity OF
purpose than the farmers Of the
South. They organized through
their Farmers Union, and by acting
together these great grain elevators
were established, with banks that
would use the receipts for the wheat
and the other products which they
had no storage, and in that way they
got control of the situation, and
made the banks, instead Of their
masters, mere channels for the dis
tribution Of money-what they
should be. The interest rates have
oeen lowered, and the western farm
er never sells the product OF his
land unless it shows fair profit.
What better object lesson do We
need as to what can be accomplish
ed through organization, than we
have in that? Go to Kansas, Ne
praska, Ohio, and all Of those west
ern States, and contrast the conol-
ton of the farmers there with the
condition of the farmers IN South
Carolina.
Now, I am often asked the ques-
ton about the cotton exchanges,
whether they are harmful or OF
,eneft. / say most unhesitatlngly
hat, as administered at present,
they constitute one Of the greatest
burdens that rest upon he farmers
Of the South. But in the regulation
Of those exchanges they are pro-
ceeding, in my judgment, upon an
! entirely false theory. It is Just
like all the other legislation that
has been proposed for the benefit OF
the farmer-instead of going to the
root Of the matter and proposing a
measure of real relief, they proceed
upon the line of doing something to
placate and to keep the farmer sat
iSfed and quiet, without interfering
with the profits Of those who are
thriving at his expense. The theory
Of the cotton exchange is entirely
correct. It is the practice that is
pernicious. 1t proceeds upon the
idea that by permitting future sales
you can distribute twelve-months
supply of cotton over the twelve
months. But you must remember
that there are two kinds of cotton
visible cotton that must pay s5or-
age charges and insurance, and the
invisible cotton upon which they
speculate, running in the New York
Cotton Exchange alone to one hun
dred and fifty or two hundred mil
lion bales a year. The total amount
of this speculative, or paper cotton,
as l call it, in Liverpool, Bremen,
New York, New Orleans, and the
smaller exchanges, amounts to hun
dreds Of millions of bales. Well,
now, and man of common sense
must realize the fact that if this
speculative cotton is based upon the
actual cotton which is to be carried
for consumption at the mills over