The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-10-02
THINKS PRICE-FTXING BY GOV
ERNMENT NOT NECESSARILY
HARMFUL.

HARMFUL.
Doubts Wisdom Of outry-Best
IS Thing, He Says, is to Show Gov !:;
e ernInent. Committees What is Fair.
washington, Sept 27.-senator
Duncan u Fletcher, of Florida, VINO VINO
spent his boyhood on q cotton farm
IN Georgia and knows from personal
experience all the processes which II ms
Egrower of the staple has to put II II
through to raise it and sell T. at at
tended the meeting. of the Cotton
EStates Advisory Mark keting Board
here recently and intended to SPEAK,
but failing to catch the eye OF Presl- e'r'ss
dent !. Brown, who was IN the ne
chair, the senator contented shInasell
wi with sending a letter to President sldso'
Brown with the. following statement q.
|of views:
| First. My idea is your organlza-. "a.
ton: and most OF the. people. attending
this meeting, feel primary Ill lnterese
in the grower, rather than IN the the
speculator, spinner or ,Iaan1pl putator oI
Ecotton. Sosfaa- as I am concerned ! !
feel no anxiety at all about the spec.
ulator. He can take care Of himself,
or if he is eliminated there VIII no. o.
be much distress. The same as to
the unaaipulator, who is after serving
his own selfish purposes. am not
greatly ,ag1tated about the interest o1
the spinneEs, foreign and domestic
Their main idea. is TO get the staple
as cheap as possible
II do, however, sympathize with
and wish h9exceedingiy to help the
man who makes the raw. cotton, tax :
ing, all the chances OF seasons ooif
weevil, high prices Of material Ter
tiiizer and labor, and by his toll and
efforts actually produces the raw cot
ton. The man who is toiling twelve
hours a day and Knows nothing OF
any, union rules, and whose children
and women-folks are actually in the
fields picking the cotton from the
open bolls-he is. the chap my heart
goes out to-. and want to do what
is best for him.
seeking interviews with the president
OF the War Industries Board as to
whether it is advisable or not to IN
stitute movement which will lead
ultimately to the fixing of prices,
That step has already been taken. II
is unfortunate that it produces, as
was inevitable, depression OF pres
ent market prices Of cotton. I have
not been an advocate Of price-fixing
generally. I can well see the dl11er-
ence between the need Of fixing the
price of wool, steel, copper and the.
like. / realize that people do not
consume raw cotton and the need OF
our government for cotton does not
exceed one-third of the crop; but we
need not take time to trhesh that out
in the present circumstances.
.4It is important, I think, for your
body to create a strong committee
which will lay the facts before the
two committees, which have been ap-
pointed by the president and present
reasons in forceful terms, showing
what prices should be. fixed to the
grower Of cotton, both short staple
and sea island or long staple cotton
st am not SO certain but what |
disagree with those who denounce
the action heretofore taken by the
department as ruinous or greatly
harmful to the producers in the long
run. At any rate, I think we are per-
fectly justified in viewing the situa-
ton from philosophical standpoint
accepting it without whining or
or denouncing, drawing
this comfort from it:
"(l) The farmer never has recelv-
ed for cotton its real value. When
eyer the price went to a point ap-
what was fair and reason
able, the cotton has passed from the
bands of the producer. Whenever ne
had it ready for market, manipula-
ton, buyers, foreign interests and
every deyilish agency was. at work to
bear the market and lower prices.
and he always had to sell under these
conditions. After he parted with the
crop. the price went up to somewhere
hear a fair and reasonable figure.
iliS AlSdlS IlldI SiiC ~ ONoSSA 49, -
was able to fix the price of cot
ton. that the price was fixed by some
body else, and by agencies and in
Auences antagonistic to the grower,
Is not this true? If it is true then we
come to-
"(2) We have no reason to be-
lieve that the government Of the
United States will be disposed to
crush, Cypress or discourage, the pro-
ducer of cotton. In all the price
fixing which the government has thus
far done it has been not only fair,
but even generous. Why should the
government be harsh, unreasonable.
unjust or even ungenerous to the cot
ton grower? 1 do not believe it Will
be, and therefore we come to
"(3) That the price which the
government will eventually fix for
cotton will be more favorable than
the price which the various antasoh-
istic interests would fix as they nave
done in the past, and when the grow
er knows exactly what that price Is
ne will be prepared to govern him-
Il. -