The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-06-30

pound for the cotton, and giving
the class of goods into which it
was converted, and saying that
they expected to make a profit
of about three hundred dollars
on the manufacture of the cot
ton. The farmer received about
nine cents-so he stated in the
letter-for the cotton; so that
there was seven cents a pound,
thirty five dollars a bale, that
went IN profits and expenses to
six or eight middle-men stand
ing between that farmer and the
cotton mill in Germany. Now,
there is no reason IN the world
why, with the proper facilities,
l could not. as Warehouse Com
missioner, sell cotton from, a
State warehouse on a plantation
in South Gasoline direct to a cot
ton mill anywhere in the world.
We have daily reports that come
in from every ] warehouse
in the State, which are laid on
my desk every morning. that
disclose the mum Der of bales of
cotton, the grade of each bale
and It's weight. II there was a
ship in Charleston, and we had
a compress in Columbia, have it
compress and go direct on board
of the ship from the cars, and
from there to the cotton mill in
Germany or England, and it
would never be touched by any
one else. All that I would have
to do would be to see to it that
the grades come fully up to the
standard and, in case they fell
below, have a business system
that would enable me to go back
and make reclamation from the
party for whom the cotton was
sold. If that was done, I have
made the calculation that in
time of peace it would add at
least three cents a pound to the
value of every bale of cotton.
and that would amount in one
year in the State of South Car
DINA to about SIS, 100000. Of
course I realize the fact and ex.
pect that any system as far
reaching as that would meet
with the most strenuous opposl-
tion, because every middle man
who is either directly or indi-
rectly concerned would fight bit
terly a change of that sort. They
don't realize that in the long run
it is best for the entire public,
themselves included, that we
have some uniform system of
handling and marketing our. cot
ton crop.
GRADERS MUST BE LICENSED
There is another thing: The
United States Government has
established standard grades for
cotton, and yet every year the.
cotton exporters and buyers in
every State in the South take
millions of dollars out of the
pockets of the people by syste-
matically under-grad;ng cotton.
I myself have shipped cotton
from South Carolina to New
York to be delivered on contract
there, and in one instance the
grades given me by the New
York Cotton Exchnnge were
sixtyfve points above that of
the local buyers in the town of
Bennettsville. There must be
some law passed that will not on
ly adopt the definite and fixed
standards of the United States
Government, but the graders
must be licensed and required to
grade that cotton accurately.
Why, think of the system of
grades upon which cotton is
bought and sole in the open
markets in the towns of South
Carolina, and the way it is prac-
ticed in the exchanges of this
country. If you buy 100 bales
through the New Orleans or
New York Exchange, and that
cotton is rendered to you, the
man who tenders it is not per-
mitted to grade it; you are not
permitted to grade it: but they
have sworn, disinterested grad
ers and the graders do not know
to whom that cotton belongs. It
is carried to them on numbers,
and they grade it without the
SLIGHTEST knOWledee as tc its