Cheyenne record., 1915-02-25
EUROPEAN WAR SHAT.
TERS KING CO1TOAPS
THRONE
FLEECY STAPLE MUST PAY RAN.
som INTO THE GOLFERS OF
WAR.
Nation Rings With Cries Of Stricken
lnGcssry.
BY Peter Radford
ecturer National Farmers Union.

hlng cotton mas suffered more NOM
the European war than any other ag-
ricu!tural product on tho American
continent. The shells Of the be!liger-
ents have bursted over his throne,
frightening his subjects and shatter-
ing his markets. and, panic-stricken.
the nation cries out God save the
kingi"
People from every walk Of life have
contributed their mite toward rescue
work. Society has danced before the
king: milady has decreed that the
family wardrobe shall contain only
cotton goods; the press has plead
with the public to buy bale;
bankers have been formulating hold
ing plans; congress and legislative
bodies have deliberated over relic!
measures; statesmen and writer's
have grown eloquent expounding the
inalienable rights OF His Majesty"
and presenting schemes for preserv-
ing the financial integrity of the
stricken staple, but the sword Of .Eu-
rope has proved mightier than the pen
of America in fixing value upon this
product of the sunny south. Prices
have been bayoneted. values riddled
and markets decimated by the battling
hosts of the eastern hemisphere until
the American farmer has suffered
war loss of $4OO.nHO.n0o. and a bale
Of cotton brave enough to enter
European port must pay a ransom of
half its value or go to prison until the
war is over
Hcae Ct tho Future Lies In Co-opera.
ton.
The Farmers Union through the
columns of the press. wants to thank
the American people for the friend
ship, sympathy and assistance given
the cotton farmers in the hour of dis
tress and to direct attention to CO.
operative methods necessary to per-
manently assist the marketing of all
farm products.
The present emergency presents as
grave situation as ever confronted
the American farmer and from the
viewpoint of the producer, would seem
TO Justify extraordinary relief meas.
ures, even to the point of bending the
constitution and straining business
rules in order to lift portion OF the
burden off the backs of the farmer,
for unless something is done to check
the invasion Of the war forces upon
the cotton fields, the pathway OF the
European pestlence on this continent
will be strewn with mortgaged homes
and famine and poverty will stalk over
the southland. filing the highways OF
industry with refugees and the bank
ruptcy court with prisoners.
All calamities teach us lessons and
the present crisis serves to illuminate |
the frailties Of our marketing meth
Ods and the weakness Of our credit
system. and out of the financial an
guish and travail of the cotton farmer
will come volume of discussion and
mass of suggestions and finally a
solution of this, the biggest problem
in the economic life of America, II.
indeed. we have not already laid the
foundation for at least temporary re.
lief
Mere Pharaohs Needed In Agriculture.
Farm products have no credit and
perhaps can never have on a porna.
nent and satisfactory basis unless we
fuild warehouses, cold storage plants,
elevators, etc. for without storage ana
credit facilities, the south is com.
PEELED to damp its crop on the market
st harvest time. The Farmers Unions
in the cotton producing states have
for the past ten years persiStently ad.
vocateG the construction of storage
facilities. We have built during this
period 1000 warehouses with a ca.
pacity of approximately 100000 bales
and looking backward the results
would seem encouraging. but looking
forward. we are able to house less
than one-third of the crop and ware.
houses without credit system losn
90 per cent of their usefulness. The
problem is a gigantic one--too great
for the farmer to solve unaided H..
must have the assistance of the bank
cr. the merchant I'D the government
In production we have~rcachad the
high water mark of perfection IN tin.
worlds history, but our marketing
methods are most primitive IL the
dawn OF history we find agriculture
plowing with a forked stick but with
a system of warehouses under govern
mental supervision that made the
Egyptians the marve! OF civilization.
for Who has not admired the vision OF
joscEh and applauded the wisdom OF
Pharaoh for storing the surn1n. upi;