The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-08-19
Nl 4 lEll eelfsS.
4 W. DllBBs, SAYS i,us CROP, VIII.
nRllsG THAT, If FARSkERs
3tS HOLD PRODUCT.
nAhs mat Nsk 4. he Time Tor
iNAs~srs to usiss t. UpAon Price
s.sd fsssAlsy Rcepup ,IosscsTCa
Aqla ES&iS mdcr STATE warehouse

""s D'ack kiver, Aug. 10
Since MY fxst letter describing crop
condltions from here to Hartsyille, I
hare bssn In Florence by way of Nor
weeds X roads and bingham and
returned by Ebeneser and Timmons-
Vile iast Thursday. I have talked
with conservative men who have seen
much more Of the cotton crop and
have stidisi the weather charts for
tho cotton oeh- In my former letter
I urged the getting tsgether OF all the
business and farming interests of the
cotton States for much higher prices
for cotton. ! believe the time has
come to navno price for tho 1915
eottQn crop and that price should be
. cents the pound. II will take that
price f. put ~ much money In circu-
latben'in the state east OF tho Missis-
sappi river N 10 cents would have
done from . normal crop. and with
our pasa experience we all know we
could have marketed 1s-million bale
ercp at 10 cents or above. Besides the
statisthal position Of cotton. the con-
sumption and supply are such that
shcre WIN be q cotton famine by Au-
gust. 1p17. VIII tho farmers SIT down
snd eco their short crop sold for IL.
~ or 1s cents to 60 into the hands
of SPECTATORS to be sold to mills at
- csntsr Or will they organize for
. price that will pay their debts and
in'a messurs recovet some OF the loss
- on other crops, Will the business
men join the farmers to bring into the
ce'snty and state the money needed to
make slf bustness prosperous? Or
viii they See business stagnate. farm
erH 30 down. and many OF their best
customers lose out or be burdened
with dsbts many Of them win not live
to pay OF? These are pertinent ques-
items and every man VINO Aas'the well
fare OF the country at Theast' should
psEdsf them carefully ~ ! +.
A. the orangeburg Sun says: "op-
portunity is knocking At the door of
the eoath. Will she grasp it?~ Have
We leaders among the farmers. busi-
uess men. bankers and newspapers big
enough and patriotic enough to lead
the people TO work out their salvation
BY marketing their cotton on 4 parity
with other world commodities? Or
win they SAY "a cents Is pretty price
for cotton and let Il 20 at that. as
ssr& without fsafuSf ~contradiction,
That csrnpArsd with the prices Of wool.
nsx paper. sisai. beef meat. wheat,
esrn. steel. and wages everywhere but
u NE 'sotton belt. that rs cents Is only
. hir price for cotton and we must
lave n or the farmers will lose out In
Industrial competition. Why is 1t that
OF all the industries Of the United
States that OF cotton farming is the
pooresi: paid to the laborers, as we'll
a. TO the operators? 1t Is because our
people have never been able to grasp
the idta OF the real worth of cotton.
and men who try to enlishten them
are rldicaled. ss witness Cotton
smith," or are charged with having
ponticai aspirations. The farms of
shs South see It's best laborers at
tractstI to. other occupations because It
can not compete In price. We see
small farmers leaving the farms be-
cause they can make more as labor
srs In other occupations.
In the state warehouse law and the
reserve banking system we have the
machinery to 30 market cotton as to
make II bring Its full worth. There is
juiN IN much a crisis upon us now as
there was In 1911 or 1914. VIII we
nsss II In the spirit OF those days
win the benefit of the experience
then gained to guide iis? 1 believe we
VIII when the full significance of the
fa<ts are made clear In our noonlo