El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-05-20
CarOLinianS In
ReUOIt Against
OLdKing
Will Restrict Output and
Diversity Crops to Keep
Up The Price.

Columbia, S. C., May ga rugged
hobo stopped q ciuzen of this place
on the street yesterday, and asked for
aid. saying that he was starving. The
Columbia man took this as a slur on
his native state.
Impossible" he declared. no man
that's able TO get around can starve
iu south Carolina"
And it's about true. If you can
scratch the soil and throw a hand
ful OF seed you can get a crop in this
land OF fertile acres and long grow
ing season. Crop failures are almost
unknown; there are no long winters
good land is cheap and abundant.
They have great success here in
raising crops. and always have had
Selling them is the problem, and the
Caroliuians are at work on that prob
lem now
Too Much Cotton.
Briefly. the trouble is TOO much cot
ton And the solution, in the opin-
ion Of local authorities, is 10 raise
less cotton and more Of everything
This does not mean that there is q
strike against raising cotton II
means that the southern planter is
tired Of being dependent upon the
vagaries Of the cotton crop. The
planter is tired Of taking what he
can get. He is now determined 70 get
what he can take. in a word, he in
tends 10 exercise an influence upon
the price at which his cotton IS sold.
VIII ReEulate supply.
The plan now put forward IS 20
plant only as much cotton this year
as can be vel fertilized and cul-
tivated, and 10 plant the rest OF the
land in other crops
All the world needs cotton, we are
told And yet OF the last years crop
of about 100000 bales in this state,
about 100000 remain unsoid- AND the
market is falling an the time No
one can predict what IL VIII be next
winter. But It is certain that an
other big cotton crop VIII not improve
it, Just as long as the cotton planter
Is forced 20 rely upon the law Of sup
ply and demand for fair price he
IS going 10 be compelled 10 keep the
demand up by keeping the supply
down. That is the logic OF the pres
emit movement
Cotton seed is supposed 90 sell for
enough 20 pay for the picking and GIN
ming Of a crop Thus the cotton, 20
make a paradox, is velvet As long as
the government fixed price Of 81 a
ton for cotton seed prevailed, cotton
was velvet The only trouble Is that
with the siEninE OF the armistices
the market for cotton seed az Sll a
ton came 20 an end The cotton seed
oil companies have their tanks tul-
and are calmly waiting for the price
to come down before buying any more
They realize that another large cot
ton crop cannot fail TO bring them a
large supply Of cotton seed But
maybe there won't be any large cot
ton crop next year. Then the price
won't come down So figures the
Other Things Rise.
While the price OF cotton tends 20
fluctuate downward, the price OF sup
j aH1.a al
terins into the making Of crop,
tends 10 fluctuate upward, so far as
it fluctuates at all With fertilizer
selling az S6s a ton, labor getting So
a day, and the cost Of picking cotton
about SIS a ton, 10 Is no longer posi-
bic TO make a profit on cotton at 10
Of 10 cents
This new movement Is not backed
by the planters alone. IL Is backed
also By merchants. bankers and busi-
ness men The banker and commits
sion merchant are behind the move
ment for less cotton and more diversi- /
In The cotton crop. these men OF
business have been handling a very
volatile security. They have needed Z
q lot Of protection They have gotten T
IT, and the planter has paid for IT, /
when cotton went up. the business I
men took most Of the profit and when I
&c went down, the planter took most 4
lf the loss. Under this system the /
goose that lays the golden egg is i
getting % be a poor bird. and mighty /
restless
Labor T. Higher.
one important factor in every cot I
ION situation is the negro He is es- {
ientiaL There Is no labor supply TO j
axe his place on the fields. And the /
leero. during the past few years. has d
leen north 10 work in the munitiOu /
'actories. Quite a few are still there ]
BE has been i'm the army, seen the 1
world. made a reputation as fighter. Il
Gone are the days" as Old Black i
Zoe sang, when the darby Is satisfied I
% work from suu-up TO sunset for /
bout 40 cents a day And that is
lne Of the most important factors
n the making OF Decent cotton.