Lexington dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1917-1919, 1918-08-21

cents per pound too much in comparl-
son with the price fixed on the manu-
factured product. The price of wool
is fixed, the price Of flour, wheat, su-
gar, and as before stated, the price
on manufactured cotton goods, IS I'm
ed, even the price of ginnery is tlNed
at $3.50 per bale then why not the
price of the raw material Of the farm
e.?
l do not understand why our pres
ent CONGRESSMAN seems SO VaclllatlnS
and unstable as to his position upon
the cotton question. 1 quote from
daily paper from the Washington cor
respondent, dated July 20, 1913 Ihe
Ashville citizen: "Government con-
troll or the fixing. of the price of the
1918 cotton crop would not be 1easl-
Bile at this time, President Wilson was
told today by Representative Lever
Of South Carolina, Chairman Of the
House Agricultural Committee.
Note that this interview was when
there were prospects Of l6 million
bale crop we may well thank a wise
providence for change III the crop
prospects.
Following this report and this inter
view With President Wilson, George
r. James, chief Of the cotton and cot
ton Linters Section of the War indus
tries wrote letter on the 2Sth OF
July to HI G Hastings, President,
Georgia Chamber of Commerce. quot
ing for same:
so far as the immediate future is
concerned, think you need give your
self no uneasiness about the War In
dustries Board attempting to 1lN
price on cotton, for as general rule
no attempt is made by the War Indus
tries Board to fix prices on any raw
material, where the surplus is as
sured."
You can therefore see from this in
terview and letter, if the Chairman Oh
the Agricultural Committee of Con-
gress is against fixing the price of cot
ION. being a, Southern man, it is evi-
dent that the President Of the y. 5.
and the War Industries Board would
be Influenced in a great measure by
his position. Of course, If the South
does not want the price of cotton Tx
ed by Congress, or any other method,
and this position is taken by Soutn-
-ern CONGRESSMAN, why of course the
price will hardly be stabilized. The
agricultural experts of the country IN
their reports say that there are ABOUT
three million bales Of cotton surplus
from last year, that the cotton crop
this wear will be around fourteen MIL
lion bales, that the consumption can
not be more than about eleven MIL
lion bales under war conditions, SO
that there will be a surplus OF around
six million bales of cotton this fall.
Now does not every farmer and busi-
ness man know that with a surplus OF
six million bales, that the price Will
necessarily fall, unless there is some
thing done to maintain the price.
take the position therefore that the
War Industries Board should ascer-
tain from the farmers Of the country
about what it cost them to make tnls
crop, add a reasonable profit for the
farmer, and fix a reasonable price,
say a minimum price Of rs cents per
pound. If this is done, cotton prices
will be stabilized, so that a man with
a. warehouse receipt can go to any
Bank, and with this receipt as a basis
of credit, draw upon this warehouse
receipt, even in the face Of a surplus
cotton crop. There is an enormous
crop of wheat today, one Of the great
est wheat rops that has ever been
made, and who knows that wheat
would be selling for today. were it not
for the fact that the Government has
fixed the price on wheat at. S2.20 per
hushel owing to war conditions: the
ordinary price of wheat being about
eighty five and ninety cents per bush
ell, It is true that wheat was selling
for over: $500 per bushel at one time,
but that was. when there was a scar
city Of wheat, and the market was be-
ing cornered. : But with an enormous
wheat crop this year, the price re-
mains at s2.20, because the Govern
ment has stabilized the price. Would
not therefore the fixing of a mini
mum price on cotton stabilize that
product, even in the face of surr'us