Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-01-01
miscellaneous Rsaaina.
LEVER WAREHOUSE BILL
Tells of the Measure Passed by the
House.

his cotton warehouse bill after many
efforts, was asked a few days ago tt
give a brief outline of what the bill
will accomplish and what it will NEAR
to the people to which he replied ir
part:
What does this bill undertake to
do? What measure of good does /,
seek to accomplish? What is it's pur-
pose? 1t undertakes and will result
in the establishment Of uniform sys-
tenn of warehouses and warehousing
for the storage of agricultural pro-
ducts. At present there is no such
system. Whatever Of storage facili
ties we have is Of a hodge podge char
acter, entirely lacking in that unifor-
nifty so desirable for the greatest
simplicity and efficiency and economy
1T will result in the adoption
throughout the country OF uniform
warehouse receipt for agricultural
products of the same kind. This Is OF
the greatest Importance. To illustrate:
Assume that l am a farmer living In
Lexington county, S. c., operating a
private warehouse, properly insured
and fully bonded in which l have
stored 100 bales of cotton, correctly
and expertly graded. Upon this cot
ton issue my private warehouse re-
ceipt 1t is possible that l would be
able without difficulty to negotiate a
loan upon such receipt with my own
local banks. where my integrity is
known and my credit established. But
suppose l should find myself In the
city Of Birmingham. the home city OF
the gentleman from Alabama (Mr
Underwood), with this receipt in my
pocket and a desire to borrow upon It.
Does anyone imagine that the Bir-
mingham bankers would take the risk
of the integrity of this receipt unless
he had full confidence in my own per-
sonal integrity? The combination
might get me the loan; but suppose
this receipt had been indorsed to a
third party, an absolute stranger to
the banker; l think no one will doubt
the difficulty which he would have In
getting it's face value. To him the
value of this receipt as collateral OF
for loans would be worth no more
than the paper upon which 1t was
written. But If all warehouse receipts
for cotton from Texas to South Caro-
lima were uniform in character and
meant in Texas what they mean In
South Carolina, the value Of such a
receipt would Of necessity be greatly
would become easily negotiable and
transferable in the ordinary course OF
trade.
1T will give an integrity and GER
tainty of value to warehouse receipts
for agricultural products, which they
do not now possess. The meaning OF
this was clearly brought out in a
statement at the cotton conference
called bv Secretary McAdoo last Au-
gust Of H. r. Eldridge of the National
City bank Of New York, in which he
says:
I'm the near future the bankers OF
the wheat at-producing sections VIII
probably have surplus funds to invest
and the eastern and northeastern
states as we'll as those Of the middle
west and the west will be reasonably
easy in the matter Of money and will
be attracted toward good paper, well
secured and Of assured payment when
due. Under the old order Of things
paper secured by cotton and many
other commodities was rarely present
ed on the market in such form as to
command the respect Of investors, ano
1t can now be so presented this sea-
son unless conditions are changed ir
certain respects. One essential to this
end is a uniform warehouse receipt OF
undoubted integrity. AS things now
are such warehouse receipts are few
Where 1t is deemed necessary to i'm
prove the standing Of warehouse re-
ceipts, warehouses making application
to the proper authorities should be
governmentally licensed under regula
tions to be established, and each ware.
house so licensed should be supplied
with a government inspector, wh(
q
bale Of cotton or other form Of pack
age representing a commodity stored
certifying thereon the mark, thu
weight, and the grade. This system
would create a form of security goot
beyond peradventure and one thai
would command the respect OF al
bankers and investors everywhere"
Let me illustrate this by taking vi
again my private warehouse receipt
for cotton stored in my own ware
house in Lexington. Such receip
will have full integrity among those
who know me and know that 1 have
such a warehouse as l claim to have
and that l have in it such an amount
of cotton Of such grade and weight a.
l claim to have in it and as represent
ed in the warehouse receipt upol
which / am seeking TO borrow money
Such a receipt is good locally; i
would not be good in Houston, Texas
and a banker in Texas who would LOAF
the face value Of such receipt woult
be treading indeed upon dangerous
ground as a banker. If, however, thi:
receipt should show upon its face tina
the warehouse issuing 1t was either
supervised or operated by the state o.
South Carolina and that the state o
South Carolina vouched for ever!
claim of the receipt, the Texas bankel
would be within the bounds of goot
and safe banking in relying upon th'
integrity of it. Now, If this last prop
osition is true, does it not stand u
reason that if this receipt had ISSUED
from a warehouse supervised by TIT
Federal government It's value as col
lateral would be greatly enhanced. II
my judgment such a receipt woulC
pass current in the channels Of trade
almost as readily as a bank note. Mr.
Eldridge, you will see, says that
warehouse receipt to be or undoubtet
integrity should issue from ware
houses governmentally licensed under
regulations and should be uniform II
character. Such a system, he says
would create a form of security goot
beyond peradventure and one ina
would command the respect or al
bankers and investors everywhere. II
this opinion Mr.. Eldridge is supported
by every student of the economic
question involved, and this bill pro
poses just such system as is sug'
geSted.
Under the provisions Of the bill
uniform warehouse receipts will bt
issued upon agricultural product:
stored in warehouses governmentallI
licensed, graded, weighed and certifi
Gated by governmentally licensed in
spectors. We are trying in this bill tt
make liquid the evidence of the owner
ship of agricultural products, some
thing that is not the case at present
we are trying to give more ready
negotiability to such evidences OF
ownership than they now possess; We
are trying to bring into proper rela'
tionship, to link up. as it were. agri'
cultural products and banking and in
vesting capital. We are trying tt
make the provisions Of this bill dove
tail into the provisions of the Fedora
reserve act in SO far as they touch ag'
ricultural products. The secretary o.
the treasury has expressed his will
lingness to issue currency on ware
house receipts for cotton, tobacco ant
other staple and nonperishable agri'
cultural products, but the secretary o
,Lo u-n,,ll 10 Ia oL-inp in th9