Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-09
HOW TO HANDLE COTTON
CONTINUED from Page One.)

lSOllllIluCo o6S SllSsI
fore in the history Of the state. There
Is not enough wheat planted to make
all the t1our that will be needed for
south Carolina, but there Is an enor-
nous crop Of oats, and we have he
cnance to supplement the wheat crop
with corn, n plenty Of corn means
plenty or meat n lard. l am glad
tnat even the farmers Of Marlboro
county are going to show more good
judgment in the use Of fertilizers this
year than they AVE ever before. l
nave seen more compost piles during
lne past six weeks than since l was q
boy, and II the price Of cotton stays
uown-and sometimes l hope 1t will
even go lower until after the June
acreage report-our people next fall
Will be in a position to warehouse their
cotton and demand q price for 1t. 1t
has been a very difficult thing to hold
cotton with the market price OF 1t
running from q to 71-2 cents, be-
cause the borrowing power Of a bale
OF cotton depends upon its market
price. Blu If you ever get cotton up
TO ten or twelve cents a pound, and
can then borrow within two cents q
pound OF the market price, you can
get tiIteen to twenty cents a pound for
lne crop-and 1t Is going to take big
prices 70 tide US over the losses or
1914.
rhere is another thing: Under the
old banking system all the reserve
money Of the country vas concentrate
ed in New York city, and the local
borrow their money, and they could
not get extensions, because New York
was determined that cotton should be
sold abroad for gold, in order to main.
tain their supremacy in the financial
J world. The new currency law de-
centralizes that vast power, and the
country is now divided up into twelve
districts, with a regional reserve bank
in each Of these districts. These
regional reserve banks will discount
a farmers note, secured by q state
and 1t can be renewed for another
six months. The only trouble about
this is that it absolutely places the
farmers in the hands Of h local
banks which are members OF the
Federal reserve system. The act Of
congress goes 80 far as to say that
paper Of that sort can be accepted
either with or without the endorse
ment Of a member bank, but can only
be presented through the bank, but
under the rulings OF the board, they
N1N &eSSe ~ S~SSfs 1850
agricultural paper not endorsed by q
member bank. Now, in order to get
the full advantage Of the new currency
law, 1t Is absolutely necessary that the
farmers have a banking system thor
oughly in sympathy with them. What
the warehouse system needs to make
1t a complete success Is a chain Of
banks-farmers' banks-to handle this
agricultural paper. There are too
.oo-x, ho rl,o NJ ~-oaa~t ~ C1,th Noro-
lima so completely under the DONNA
zion yet Of the New York banks, that
they are unwilling to do it. When the
emergency currency was issued under
the Aldrich- Vreeland act last fall,
according to the secretary Of the treas
ury, it vas issued to the banks for the
purpose Of enabling them to allow
their customers to hold their cotton.
1t was let out to the banks at three
per cent, and in a great many cases
was used, not for advances to farm
ers, to enable them to hold their cot
ton, but to pay up the debts Of the
banks to New York, thereby defeat
Ing the very purpose that the secretary
Of the treasury had in view. The New
! York banks did everything in their
power to nullify the efforts Of Mr..
McAdoo, and the money which he is
sued. found its way back into the
NcW IOTh UduhS " Slll luTlilcI
strengthen them, when, as a matter Of
fact, the only thing that would re-
lieve the situation was to increase the
price Of u export products n
bring in this fresh money from abroad.
l would like to see, in this state, a
bank in Columbia, with its capital
stock owned by the farmers Of this
state. If every cotton county in this
state would get men who would put in
q 1 mn aDta1a M frr,nr man rrh0
would put in $500 apiece, 1t would give
it a capital stock Of $500, 600. Then II
every one Of the stockholders, and ev-
eryone whom they could influence,
when their cotton was sold, or when
they borrowed money on the receipts,
would deposit it in that bank, 1t a
readily be seen that the deposits
would make it the strongest banking
institution in South Carolina, n 1t
could handle the state warehouse re-
ceipts-everyone Of them-and get
you the money from the Richmond
bank, or other Federal reserve banks,
at 4 1-2 to 5 per cent interest.
What the farmers Of this state need
to realize, first Of all, Is that 1t Is the
cotton which they make that forms the
basis Of the entire banking system Of
South Carolina You furnish the
credits that gives South Carolina her
/ PioSSp LIZ ySt ySeA NASNA eANS SAS
national banking system, under the
present currency system, Is confiscated
and made a property Of the banks In
this state, and while the money which
they get upon credit, created by you,
Is doled out to you at 8 per cent dis
count. We create the credit; why not
organize and use 1t ourselves? 1t Is
not only because Of high storage rates
that the farmers have not heretofore
&L~s- f@~ ~ AL
value, but 1t Is the high interest that
lis eating US up. And one Of the
worst things about the whole situation
Is that the men who are the least able
to pay interest are the ones who are
charged the highest rate. A man with
some standing in the financial world
will borrow money at from six to
eight per cent, but you know that
these people who have to borrow $50,
500 or 5000, are charged from ten to
twenty per cent on loans Of that char
acter. l know plenty Of them. The
only remedy for 1t Is to create q sys-
tenn where a pound Of cotton Is the
unit of credit, and where a bale Of
cotton in one mans hands Is as good
as it Is in another mans hands.
Reviewing the state warehouse sys-
tenn, in this connection, / realize the
fact that there are some who oppose
II on principles. Iney nOlQ mat tHe
purpose Of the government should be
restricted to the mere exercise Of the
functions Of governing, and they
raise the cry Of "~paternalism" about
i the state warehouse or anything else
of that kind. For a long time that was
accepted as a fundamental doctrine,
and / have no criticism Of any man
who has opposed the state warehouse
system because he adheres to that old
fashioned principle. But times have
changed and government has gone into
all kinds Of enterprises. We have seen
it in South Carolina go into the
whisky business. We have seen the
Federal government last year send a
ship, with $780, 900 in gold on 1t, to
bring tourists home from England.
We have seen the British government,
since this war started, valorize cot
ton in Egypt and India, by offering to
lend the cotton planter the equivalent
Of eight cents per pound, or buying
cotton from him at ten cents per
pound. We find that Germany has
nationalized the potash industry, and
holds the balance Of the world, and