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

Fellow Citizens:
I appreciate the invitation extend
ed to me by the farmers Of Sumter,
Lee and Clarendon Counties, to be
! with them to-day.
/ wish to talk to you, first, about
the State Warehouse system, and en-
deavor to explain it's operations in
such way as to show you that,
while it should be, it is still great
| improvement over anything that the
farmers have yet had. 1t is a prac-
tical step in the right direction, and
| it's success so far should encourage
| us to go forward and perfect the
system. 1t has been fought from its
inception, and in the recent session
of the General Assembly bitter per-
sonal attacks were made upon me in
| order to destroy the State Ware
| house. II is not my purpose to
either defend myself or to indulge in
criticism of others. Let them think
and say what they please, SO long as
I approve of myself it matters little
to me what others think. l only ac-
cepted the position because l believ-
ed at the time that it was necessary
for me to do so in order to make the
experiment a success.
The extra session Of the General
Assembly of 1914 appropriated the
sum Of $4,000, and it was the lat
ter part of November before We
| could begin work. Up to the pre-
sent time We have taken over thirty
Two warehouses, and given the farm
ers OF this State practical demon
stration of how much cheaper cotton
can be stored. You can build a
warehouse on your own farm, which
will store 6OU pales of cotton, at a
cost of abou! $500. Including in
| surance, and all expenses connected
with the same, the storage of your
cotton will be about 1-3 cents per
bale per month. Is it any wonder
that those interested in standard
warehouses, with banking connee-
tiors, which have been charging from
25 to 35 cents per bale, object to the
State Warehouse I have not en-
gagged in a war on these institutions,
but, in obedience to my official duty,
l have merely gone ahead to assist
the farmers of this State in reducing
the rates for storing cotton.
Now, let me explain to you, before
1 go any further, just how to take
| advantage of the State Warehouse
system. l think that each Ware
house should have capacity Of not
| less than GOO bales, though, owing
to the emergency, have taken over
warehouses smaller than this. All
that you need is a wooden frame,
and you can go in the woods an cut
posts, and if necessary, put them III
the ground, but it would be better
to put them on sills raised off the
ground; then build a house, say,
5Gx10o feet, which would give you a
19-foot rafter. There must be two
doors on each side and door in each
end, in order to comply with the in
surance regulations and get the
lowest rate. You can put poles
down on the ground and pile your
cotton on that, so as to keep it dry,
and it would be well enough to cut
a small trench around the entire
house, throwing the dirt inward.
Then you can make application to
me, and I viii, take this house over
at nominal rental, one dollar per
year, and appoint whomever you
choose as manager, weigher and
grader, and you wili give bond to
guarantee the custody Of that cotton
and it's delivery on demand, and also
your own weights and grades. You
can get an expert to grade your cot
ton at so much per bale. It doesn't
matter who does it, so that you give
me a bond to protect the State Of
South Carolina from loss on the
grades. The State furnishes the re-
ceipts, tags, and all necessary blanks
at no expense to you. You will then
pay three cents per bale per month
to the State, and you will also pay
the insurance.
When we began business the in
surance rate on that class warehouse
was about SO 40 per hundred. I can
get you rate now of S1.75, and
have completed arrangements, which
will put into operation as soon as we
can draft form Of a policy, which
will reduce this insurance rate about
| 80 cents hundred.
Now, if you will make the ealcula-
ton, you will see that you can keep
your cotton at home at cost Of
about eight cents per bale per month
! for all expenses, that you will have
; hauling and handling it, and will
d! also get warehouse receipt in which
the State Of South Carolina guaran-
tees the weight and grade of your
cotton, and which in Boston and New
York is more acceptable as a COLA
I teral than receipt from any private
or corporate-owned warehouse a
paper which, as it becomes better and
better known, will establish its
character in the money markets of
the world, and enable the farmers. Of
this State to get the cheapest rate
4; of interest obtainable. The same
system has been put into operation
in the State of Texas, and it came
from the agitation which we began
three years ago in South Carolina for
a State Warehouse system.
Now, if there is anybody who
! doesn't understand what I have just
explained, should be very glad, be-
fore I leave this subject, to answer
any question, so as to make it per-
fectly plain.
Ny suggestion now is that each
community in Sumter, Lee and
Clarendon Counties build enough
warehouses, by number joining in
together, to take care of their sur
plus cotton. Ten men who make
fifty bales of cotton apiece can go in
and buy the iron, and with their own
labor put up the warehouse.
I desire to say, further, that in the
! purchase of the corrugated iron
needed for these warehouses, that /
can get it in carload lots, according
to the last quotations which l receiv-
ed, at S2.62. They will charge you
retail about 1915 per square for the
] II lb. stuff, laid down in Sumter.
You could probably, by taking a car
! load, buy it as cheaply through some
: of your large hardware merchants
! here. But if you cannot, and the
/ Farmers Union Of Sumter will select
! a man to get up list of parties who