Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-11-16
MARKETING OF COTTON.
Hon. John |. MCLaurin to North
Carolina Farmers.
WAREHOUSE MEANS TO AN end.

| WAREHOUSE MEANS To An END
Cotton an Economic as Well as Po
liticaI Issue of Paramount Improve
ment-Finaneins Of Warehouse Re
eeipts Points the Way to Rural Cred
its-Study of Economics as Appliet
to Present Day Conditions.
Durham, N. c., Nov 16.-Address
ing the North Carolina State Far
mers' Union, in annual convention
here today, Senator J. L. McLaurir
of South Carolina, outlined the oper'
alton Of tho state system in Soutf
Carolina, urged the passage Of a
warehouse law in this state, and blazet
the trail towards a system Of rura
credits in the various southern states
in the movement for which the state
warehouse system is a large begin
ming. His address was listened to with
evidences Of approval, and its result
has been to stimulate the vigorous
effort of the Farmers Union for q
| warehouse system in this state along
similar lines to the South Carolina
system. The outlook for a state sys-
tenn in North Carolina, which would
cooperate with the South Carolina
system Is very encouraging.
Senator McLaurin in his address
today, stressed the point that a ware
house system is only a means to an
end; that cotton Is not grown to ware
house. but to sell, and his remarks
clearly and logically pointed to sys-
tenn Of rural credits with an illumi-
mating exposition of which he closed
his address.
"For the second time in the history
of the United States" he said, cotton
has been a political as well as an &C.
onomic issue of paramount import
ance. The fundamental cause Of the
War Between the States in the six
ties was the fact that public senti-
ment outside Of the south was in
favor of the abolition of slavery, and
the election Of Abraham Lincoln was
the expression Of that sentiment.
Opinion in the south was almost un-
animous that the monopoly which
we enjoyed in the production Of cotton
could not be maintained without
slave labor. Therefore, secession was
a perfectly natural sequence.
with the breaking out of hostili-
ties in Europe, cotton at once became
a national question. Every thoughtful
man in the south was convinced that
it was the duty Of both state and
national government to take radical
action in sustaining the price of cot
ton until the export demand revived.
1 go further than that; I believe
that It is the duty Of the government
in normal times, by legislation, to
stabilize the price Of cotton and en-
able the producers to get the benefit
of the operations Of the law OF supply
and demand. / mean supply and de-
mand for money as we'll as for cot
ton. The south has reached the point
where the average production Of cot
ton is about fifteen million bales.
which, with the by-products from
cotton seed, is worth about one bill
lion dollars. A little more than one
third Of this cotton is consumed in
the United States, and the balance Is
exported, The price Of the product
consumed at home is fixed by the
price of that which is exported.
"Out of our two and one-half to
three billion bushels Of corn only a
bout seventeen per cent. ever leaves
the farm; the balance Of it is con-
sumed at home. No crop on earth
creates such vast international COM
merce as cotton, and for that reason
it has become, to a large extent, the
medium of exchange between this
country and the balance Of the world
taking the place Of gold in the settle
ment of international trade balances.
Cotton is in class by itself, and pos
sesses more of the attributes cf legal
tender currency than anything pro-
duced by human labor. 1t is the cor
ner-stone of international finance.
and cannot be compared to wheat,
corn, meat, or anything Of that sort.
1t is distinctly an export crop, and
properly baled and warehoused, 1t Is
imrerishable and always convertible
into gold at a moments notice.
II believe that the state warehouse
idea is the beginning of a movement
which will revolutionize the market
ing Of our cotton crop and inaugu-
rate a prosperity on the south which
will be lasting because founded upon
correct business principles. 1t will
pave the way to a system of rural
credits based upon land which will
unlock vast capital now lying idle and
almost useless. If the product Of our
land, cotton, can be transformed into
fluid asset, why can't the same thing
be done for land, the basis Of all
wealth? Our state warehouse re-
ceipts are negotiable instruments
which are now passing current in the
money centres just like bonds and
stocks. OF course we have made but
a bare beginning, and need further
legislation, both state and national.
!! 1.-The great lesson which this world
wide war is to teach, is that our
civilization has reached the point OF
complex social and commercial life
without political machinery to give
it expression. The purely selfish ap-
preparation Of the comforts and bless
ings Of material life for the use OF
favored classes is the rock upon
which these nations have founded. II
the United States would be spared
the social, political and industrial up
heaval that Europe will see at the
close Of this war, our best thought
should be how to use our land and
its product, our labor and its fruits
to develop good living and sweet pros
lperity for our people as a whole.
1--WE have seen cotton within the
past year go from five cents to twelve
II