The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1915-01-28
european IRlDP'lE|Alh MI SHAT SHAT
TIERS KING C011ONs
~ 49,
n ! THRONE
rLEEcY sTAPLE MUST PAY RAN.
aoM INTO THE coFFERe OF
WAR.

Com INTO THE coFFERs OF a..,
WAR.
Nation Rings With crlss2of Stricken
Industry.
BY Peter Radford
Lecturer National Farmers' Union.
King Cotton has suffered more from
The European war than any other ag-
ricultural product on the American
continent. The shells Of the bslliger
ents have bursted over his throne,
frightening HIS subjects and shatter.g
Ing his markets, and, panic-stricken,
the nation cries out God say the
skingl"
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 q BALE;
bankers have been formulating hold
Ing plans; congress and legislative
bodies have deliberated over relief!
measures; statesmen and writer's
have grown eloquent expounding the
tnalienable rights OF Ills 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 b%ayoneted, values riddled
and markets decimated by the battling
hosts Of the eastern hemisphere until
the American farmer has suffered a
war loss Of 40O.0OO,000 and a bale
Of cotton brave enough to enter q
European port must pay a ransom Of
half its valued OF go to prison until the
war is over.
Hope OF: the Future Lies In co:opera.
tIon.
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 an
farm products.
The present emergency presents as,
grave q 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 a portion Of the
burden OF 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 pestilence 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.
DDS and the weakness Of our credit
system, and out Of the financial an.
guish and travail Of the cotton farmer
Will come>a volume Of discussion and
a mass of suggestions and finally q
solution of this, the biggest problem
In the economic life Of America, IL,
indeed. we have not already laid the
foundation for at least temporary re.
lief.
More Pharaohs Needed In Agriculture.
Farm products have no credit and
perhaps can never have on q perma.
nent and satisfactory basis unless we
build warehouses, cold storage plants,
elevators, ETC., for without storage and
credit facilities, the south is com.
PEELED to dump It's crop on the market
at harvest time. The Farmers' Unions.
IN the cotton producing states have
for the past ten years persistentIy ad.
vocated the construction of storage,
facilities. We have built during this
period 1000 warehouses with q ca,
pacityo Of approximately 100000 bales
ana looking backward the results
would seem encouraging, but looking
forward, we r able to house less
than one-third Of the crop and ware
houses without a credit system lose
W per cent of their usefulness. The
problem is q gigantic one-too great
Tor the farmer to solve unaided. He
must ihavesthe assistance Of the bank.
e., the merchant and the government,
IN production we have reached the
nigh water mark of perfection In the.
worlds history. but our marketing
methods are most primitive IN the
qawn OF history we find agriculture
And ra%1.A~ $50.