Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-02-22
MeLAURIN TALKS COTTON.
Former Senator Says Price Has Not

L
Increased With Other Commodities.
The News and Courier correspond
ent at Bennettsville. last Tuesday
called on Senator McLaurin to see II he
had any political announcement TO
| make. He said no: that his position
| was made clear by his recent public
statement and he had nothing TO add
| to or subtract from them. / asked him
to give me an interview on the cotton
situation. as he probably comes as near
voicing the sentiment Of the planters
as any man In the south. The estab-
lishment OF the state warehouse sys-
tenn and his knowledge of finance
makes him a recognized authority in
the cotton world. AS to cotton he
said:
III you could tell me when the war
will end could answer you definitely.
{ am sure that the end OF the war
| will find the world facing a cotton
famine, and that for several years
cotton will be relatively much higher
In price than food, for the reason that
food Is Of world wide production. while
| cotton Is restricted by soil and climate
to certain limited areas. Cotton has
| increased about 100 per cent in price,
| while iron. wheat. steel and other
standard products have increased
around 200 per cent. 1t Is evident that
cotton must go higher in order to
maintain It's proper commercial rela-
tions to these other articles"
Senator. what about price fixing?
Interested persons are determined.
IL possible. to have the government
fort on the part OF cotton. They even
advocate a price below twenty cents
a pound. which Is an absurdity. because
under present conditions cotton will
cost over twenty cents to produce In
1918. The cost Of merely feeding mules
has nearly doubled since this war, and
where we paid fifty cents per hundred
for picking II is now one dollar. Fer
tilizer Is practically doubled in price.
and Of inferior grade. I do not think
this price fixing movement Is en-
gineered by the spinners. but by spec
ulators. who formed a pool In Sep
tember to put the price of cotton back
| to ten cents, buy 1t up and reap huge
Chicago in September. with w. d. Grist
and we were in one of the largest brok-
erage houses In the United States.
talked very bearish to draw them out.
and the head Of the firm told US that
they expected cotton to 90 down to
eigh cents q pound. What do you
think of that? A most determined ef-
fort was made, millions Of bales were
sold short and huge crops estimates
broadcaSted all over the land. The
mills bought their cotton ahead and
these greedy gamblers are now beg
ging the government to fix the price
and let them out Of the hole that their
avarice dug for them. It makes my
blood boil to hear the sanctimonious
whine some Of their papers put up
about the patriotism of the SOUTH"
I am glad the mills bought their cot
ton from the greedy gamblers. who
confiscated our crop in 1914. The high
price Is not affecting mills which
bought ahead. nor the public: 1t is be-
ing paid largely from the ill-cotton
gains Of 1915. We went to Washing
ton in 1914 to beg the government
for help, and what a howl these men
raised. The government let us alone
then, and we want them to treat cot
ton gamblers the same way they did
cotton planters In 1914. This crowd
estimated last October that this crop
would total 14,e00, 900 bales, and sold
millions of bales, knowing their state
ment was a lie. The purpose was to
gobble up the spots. Our people re-
fused to be stampeded, and when the
mills call for cotton these gamblers