The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-04-25

your compress was st''king at the
right thing for Sumter. To develop
really great cotton market, you
cannot afford to depend upon the do
mestic trade. 1t Is the export trade
which fixes the prices and affords q
never failing market. You cannot de-
velop big export trade without q
compress. 1 begged the legislature
three years for a compress to no avail.
A compress in Sumter would do lust
as we'll and can compete with one in
either Charleston or Savannah. Cot
ton could be shipped at one rate of
freight from Bennettsviile to Liver.
pool or Bremen. it would be taken off
and compressed in Sumter and 90
from the cars right on board a ship,
just as 1t does in Charleston. The
warehouses; in Sumter connected with
the compress could store nearly don.
Die the cotton and the saving in space
would greatly increase their profit. ]
lave been hoping that gin com.
press would be perfected. I saw ono
In Atlanta but 1t is too expensive and
requires too much power Col. ]. H.
Marion OF Chester has one that If it
does what is claimed may revolution
ize the methods of handling cotton,
as 1t would all then be compressed.
said would talk about the effect of
war on cotton. Statistics show that
when war comes, cotton always goes
down first and stays down longer than
any other article of commerce. Peo-
pie can wear their old colthes but
must eat every day. On the other
hand cotton finally goes higher and
stays up longer than any other pro-
duct. Cotton has not yet gone as
high relatively as grain, meat or
metals, and under this rule it must GO
higher and remain up longer. The
reason for this Is the firse drop cur
tails production and high priced food
forces more land into grain and
stock. If war continues a. cotton ia
mine is as sure as fate, because the
reserve stock Is used up and the
clothes on hand are worn out. There
Is another rule that never fails to wor;,
out. war means imitation from credit
money. / never had the slightest
doubt in 1914 as to what the imitation
sure to come meant in prices of cot
ton. I have a considerable portion of
my 1914 crop yet and 1 know of sew
eral wise men i'm Sumter who fore
saw 1t as I did. I congratulate them.
The price of cotton will be determined
by the price at which we who have tAo
spots turn II loose. / said when cot.
ton was selling at 12c per pound il
was worth Csc compared with the 9TH
er products and am of the same
mind now. In 1914 the middlcmen
reaped tremendous profit. Intoxi-
Gated with their success they sold
more cotton ahead than has been
made I'm 1916. and we farmers are in
position to even up with them. The
New York future market has been
manipulated shamelessly to break the
spot market. They ran ii down under
13s but the markets of the South re-
fused to follow and now we are at the
zoe lever again. The submarine war;
fare has interfered with shipping and
raised the insurance rates or cotton
now would be &c per pound higher.
The entry of the United States Will
undoubtedly shorten the war. Some
way will be found to abate the subrna-
rine nuisance. Both the submarine
and airship are Americas inventions,
and once the inventive genius of this
country is focused on the proposition
they will find way to handle it. II
may be that vessels will only leave in
great fleets conveyed by battleships
with numerous destroyers and aero
planes. England must have cotton
and some means will be provided The
United States will need at least one
half Of the cotton on hand for the
manufacture of explosives, uniforms,
tents. and other equipment. I saw the
statement that one munitiOn concern
mad used up million bales of cotton
since the war began. The plant ut
Hopewell, Va, had the product OF a
quarter OF million of bales on hand
at one time last summer. It takes an
average of two and half acres to
make one bale of cotton and one dis
charge Of a i6-inch gun consumes it.
Cotton will be high for several years
for the following reasons: 1st. The
scarcity and high price Of foodstuf