Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-09-09
Speech Is Feature of First
Days Session of Ameri-
can Cotton Association at
New Orleans

New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8.-Blunt-
ly diagnosing the cotton situation
and advising the southern producer
of the staple that he should turn TO
other crops unless an adequate price
is received. Senator Hoke Smith, of
Georgia, stirred here today the dele
gates to the convention of the Amer
lean Cotton association.
II earnestly hope that the farmers
will quit raising cotton in America
unless they receive a better price
for it," was one of the vigorous and
frank statements Of the senior Geor-
gia senator A moment previously
he had declared that the south
vastly more prosperous condition if
they had never. raised a bale of cot
ton"
AS startling as these statements
seem when isolated from the bal
ance of Senator Smiths address, he
elaborated upon them to show the
southern cotton farmer he must con-
tinue to conduct IN uphill fght( for
a better price r5r his product and
must let TIE -eeorld know that fair
prices are Imperative or the south
will quit producing cotton.
Senator Smith declared that the
farmers should stand together col
lectively, organized by counties, and
mold their cotton until it brings a
price that compensates fo' the labor
put into it's culture, and that means
reasonable profit to the producer
Senator Smith theoretically as
serted that no longer must the
southern farmer feel compelled to
rush to market with his cotton as
a The Ion
advised, the producers should let
the world know that next fall they
will meet the sitaution independent
and owning their own cotton
81 view the situation with conf
dence," Senate! Smith said near the
close of his address, because [ be-
lIeve in the nerve, the courage and
once aroused. 1t is for the American
Cotton association to bring them into
action"
Diversification of crops was urged
by Senator Smith as a chapter in
the notification to the consuming
PUBLIC that the southern farmer does
not intend hereafter to be entirely
dependent upon the cotton crop. I'm
less cotton brings a remunerative
price, he said, it were better for the
1I-mer to turn his land to other
Products.
poverished the southern farmer and
deprecated his lands" said Senator
Smith. 81 hope they will quit rails
ing cotton unless they can receive
better price for it,"
The Georgia senator then related
mad grown. rich by producing food
Stuffs. Their lands, he said, mounted
in value to $3.50 per acre, while
southern lands remained at less than
$40 per acre because the south was
welded to the production of cotton.
A National Asset
Senator Smiths address was not
devoted entirely to advice to the
cotton producer. His opening state
ment was that cotton was a national
asset, not sectional one. Within
cotton had brought back to the Uni
ted States more than twenty billion
dollars. Until the European war,
cotton largely met each year the
credit liabilities of this country
abroad. Even now, he showed, cot
ton exports are of great Importance
in worldwide balance of trade and
the United States has almost a
monopoly in the great raw material
required for the clothing of man
kind.
at length the fight made in con-
gress for cotton while the world was
at war. The Georgia senator was in
the forefront of that fight and traced
it's history from the time of Great
Britain's embargo on the product to
industries board inaugurated it's
movement for a rehabilitation of
cotton prices.
Senator Smith showed that for a
time this virtual threat of price
fixing demoralized the cotton mar
L. hy11 r t11,, hi Of
prices. The price-fiXing campaign.
he said, was finally abandoned be-
cause cotton had dropped so low un-
der the threats of price-fiXing that it
was concluded by those in authority
that there was no necessity for
common purchasing agency to ham
die all purchases for the allied gov
ernments. The ill-advised action by
this governmental agency was eSti-
mated to have cost the cotton farm
ers several hundred millions of dol
lars.
Another eason for the abandon
ment of the price-fiXing, or stabiliza-
zion movement, was the contention
vigorously advanced by the Georgia
Senator and others. that no agency
could force man to sell his product
ut a given price.
One of the striking and. pioram
ic expressions used by Senator Smith
in his speech here today was:
ut is useless to cry back from
the cities to the farms unless the
prices for farm products offer op-
portunities of farm life reasonably
equal to the opportunities Offered in
the Cities
Although the Georgia senator con-
vincingIy asserted that the cotton
question is not sectional, but nation
al, he brought the matter home when
he said to the applauding delegates:
THE southeastern states would be
c c0nd If tbev baG oI nevar se1
bale of cotton. Their farm lands are
splendidly suited for raising food
crops. In no section can cattle and
hogs be raised at less cost. In these
states pasturage is good nine months
out of the year. Corn can be pro-
duced in limitless Quantities.\ Pea
nuts and velvet beans fatten hogs
and cattle at nominal COST
Senator Smith made plea for the