The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-12-13
CAUSE Of I'LL PlIds.
n W. DABBs SAYS THAT ExTEN.
NON or CURRENCY DE.
CREAsEs RuRCAAS-
ING POWER
OF DOL
a.~ LAR

DaE,y re- M: baSss Points /. &
Wcaknessee ID Other Theories IA.
vaSced IS % hSI&&scd Prices 10.
Fsnn Prdatcts add High Cost Of
iAvn :. .@,ss =. s, .,
me f1tsfsfy pis.st; 1 have read
with a great dsaI OF interest Your cot.
ton article In last weeks issue. wha,
surpfiSSs me v that not one Of the pa.
pers quoted. ana you have q splendid.
" REPRESENTATIVE ilst, made any men.
ton 81 TIE leading FACTOR in the high
price q cotton. and in your article on
'Tssd Xmsrtca First. there Is the
same omii ION, viz. the tremendous
world. szps6siob Of currency. II &
the dltninisk,ns purchasing power Of
: dollar. due TO Increased gold pro-
tsctiop In the past twenty years, to
The ssppsndcus issuei Of promises TO
pay~ mad, BY tho great powers of
Europe. that n sending prices sky
ward. Cotton should, be 80 cents the
pound x properly measured by the
purcAssins power Of the dollar. ] have
tried All the season to. make our
farmers, and business men see that
this has more to do with the rising
Price than demand and storms. It is
- much more than our people dream
- q would, ever again sell for that
thsy have rushed Il on the market
without regard to It's value. The Same
mlght Be AID AZ eli foodstuffs.. and
nansfsetprsd foods. The only thing
70 Do : 70 advance Wages - YOU show
~ the many ovetatlons you make,
and - I know 10 being done n the
fArms and ~ the saw mills Of the
south. I trust you VIII give this
pinos In your widely read, journal.
1hsre. 4 ny Hsed to elaborate the idea.
EvsTS studsnt Of events ouEht 10 rec
ognie9 iPwpdietsly thai. this Il. the
fundamental basis OF high prizes and
that eottenis surs, s9. 80 to mpcf, higb-
= Isiess IN ihs next Z , or 90 days,
1hia e written with full. knesledse
~ tps rscsnt ilump in cotton.
~ =, 4 a 2. W. Dsbbs.
peRtor The Daily item: z.
A. mailing the aboxs today, Il
!!
49, ncvsf svs6 alludss to Il except
n sAia quetatien; wage, advances
rsys The Commercial and Financial
chrqnicts (Nsw. York; ."are an alb
soiuts neceHity." and IAN act Of
simple 1pstice to the, work people. in
asmpch a. owing to the great rise in
prices tho purchasing power Of "a CIV
en- sum Of money is SO very much
lee than formerly" This In the ar
ticle More In the Pay Envelopes"
Not n word in the pages devoted
10 cotton and to Fitxgerald's food en-
largo scheme said. about expansion
Of the currency being the cause of
high prices. by the expansion Of the
currency the money In the world has
been provided TO pay for cotton and
all other products including labor.
how are we going to get our share Of
IL II we let, . gang of spectators fix
pricts to their profit and u undoing?
Why can't the business men Of Sumter
and Of the south see that cotton
should b selling for rs to 30 cents
Per pound ~ it,is tookeep pace with
other products?, What does the re-
cent drop Of 2 1s2 cents q pound IN
two weeks meant Nothing moro than
that spectators think that by SO do
Ing they a make the holders Of
actual cotton turn loose, most of
them still In the South, and many Of
them the farmers who grow 1t.
IL spectators can SO manipulate
prioes In face Of this short crop. what
VIII they do for the Southern farm
ers next year. n We plant an lncreas-
Cd acreage to the neglect of food
crops? II will be 1914 over again on
q bigger scale.
i want to call the attention Of the
readers Of this paper to the threats
from Washington to investigate high
prices. including cotton. Will the
Southern Commercial Congress and
Southern Cotton Congress that NEE,
In Norfolk this week stand for any
such demasosic interference with
free trade. when there In never I'm In.
vestigation OF low prices that brine
distress to more millions than high
prices do to n few thousands? ] wish
n roulA astouA shls coc~~o.. g. ,x.o