Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-09-20


graders make the receipts pass cur
rent in the money markets. or with
| the Federal Reserve Bank. Then
| the portion OF the act guaranteeing
grades and weights could be repealed,
thus relieving the State of this con-
! tingcnt liability. 1t was necessary at
| the time, in order to get the State
Warehouse system started, but If this
other plan will work there Is no need
for the state to run this chance, if
the receipts will pass without it.
Favors' Farmers Banks.
"Thcre IS another thing: think
that the members Of the State Ware
| house Association should establish a
farmers bank to handle our re-
| ccipts. and to accommodate the small!
State banks and enable them to COM
pete. in discounting receipts, with the
| national banks. | do not mean that
this bank should bid for deposits, or
| do commercial business in any way
at all, but merely handle paper cligi-
bic for discount at the Richmond
banks. If the small State banks
were thoroughly alive to the situation
they would see that this was done.
Cotton, Money, Credit.
'Now, | wish to say word about
the price of cotton. We are in the
midst Of the greatest imitation of
money and credit that has ever oc-
Cured in the history of the world. 1t
is due to the war. The first step--
| and think that perhaps this has had
as great an effect on prices as a short
crop, and will try to put it clearly
SO that our farmers can understand
1.-THE first step Of the allies was to
| declare a moratorium. Then when
the attempt to resume specie pay
ments was made, the decline in for
eign exchange between this country
and Europe threatened to become
prohibitive Of all trade. England
tried to sustain the exchange value
| Of the pound sterling by selling back
the several billions of dollars Of
American securities held abroad. The
| demand for war material and food
stuffs, however, was so great that
| within two years America has bought
| back nearly all Of her securities held
abroad, has loaned England and
France more than one billion Of dol
lars, and has Il balance of trade on
top Of that Of more than two billions
OF dollars. These sums. so tremend-
| Gus that the mind can hardly take
| them in, were not paid in money, but
in the way Of credit in the pur-
chase Of supplies in this country. The
trade balances are no longer settled
in gold, but in credits based on pro-
duets. If this be true, then the Uni
| ted States has made herself a party
! to the European imitation caused by
! the war. There is a time coming, a
long ways off, when. just as has oc-
| Cured after every war in history,
there will be an effort to reduce an
| inflated currency, and prices Of pro-
ducts will go down lower and lower
, until the bottom is reached. But un-
til that time comes, the trend Of
, prices for products is upward There
! fore, products, not money, is the
thing to hoard, because products will
grow dearer as money and credit
! grow cheaper. The general public
has a dim idea OF ii is technical stu
alton. No cotton mill will contract
for future delivery on a basis under
&c cents. Twenty cents a pound for
cotton if the present crop we're s.
| 100000 bales, would be no more.
with the money situation as have
stated. than ten cents in 1913. With
a demand for l5,50O,0OO bales OF
American cotton, and a crop which |
do not believe will turn out over 1 1 :
100000 bales, with Europe bare Of
stocks Of raw cotton, and its goods
practically consumed, where should
cotton legitimately 90 when peace
comes?
Worth Is Cents Pound.
"Of one thing | am sure: Initiation
OF money, easy cerdit, and the spirit
Of feverish speculation will put cot
ton as much too high as it has been
| too low. Wiping all this out, 1t is
easy to demonstrate that cotton,
compared with everything else, is
worth 25 cents a pound to-day. Here
is what our people should do: Let
| the SDeculatOrS sell the naDer cotton