The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-06
Cotton; It's Use and Abuse
BY B. II. CONFER. of Alnbama and President AvondaIe Mills.

Former Governor of Alabama
 Cotton growing is sectional, its use, like sunlight. reaches the farthest cline, the world demands it, and like sunlight, the world demands it cheap. Cotton fabulous in it's beneficences, depres- sent, a curse, only to the section which produces it. Cotton brought the slaves from the east to the south at a price, was productive of internecine strife, and of civil war.
 The invention of the cotton gin con- verted Daniel Webster from a free trad CT into a tariff advocate. changed John C. Calhoun from a tariff advocate into a free trader.
 Cotton helped make New England great manufactur'ng center '0a c New England the governments ward in tariff protection, made New England rich.
 Cotton made the south the defenders of slavery, the derelicts of agriculture. the victims of a vindctive peace, and consigned them to a sectional prejudice in the country's government The un- natural demand that cotton should he grown cheap and sold cheap, placed the south in everlasting defense of it's life product, and in the fatal position of or ganizing within the government an ex- parte government for it's own protection All these things have made the south poor-not rich.
 That the south is poor, the poorest section in the United States. is evidenced by the tax assessments of the govern ment in the calls for the Liberty Leans, Red Cross, Y M. c. A., and other gov ernment demands on the loyalty and ability of the people. The south was assessed the least, not because they were the least loyal, but because they had the least money. The section which has made the most out of cotton, more out of it than the growers, New England, was assessed more, not because they were more loyal, but because they had more property.
 NEW ENGLAND s ATTITUDE
 New England fights the price of cot ton. In 1914, war just declared, a big cotton crop comine in. eyport demand shut off, it was evident unless stabilized that the price of cotton would go to pieces, and that there would be wide spread loss and suffering to the cotton grower. The Secretary of the Treas ury, MT McAdoo. called a meeting in Washington to see what could be done. The writer was present, and when recog- nized by the chairman, stated. first call ing attention to the secretary that the year before when the corn, meat wheat and cotton crops were about to be placed on the market, there was wide sugges- tion of a money panic because there would not be money enough to finance the crop MT. McAdoo gave out an inter- view that the United States had y00000,- 900, or any other millions, that might be necessary. There was no panic. Contin- uing to speak I suggested to MT. Me Adoo that with the on, the export demands stopped. the cotton crop coming
 in, prices going to pieces. that if he would say to the reserve banks that he would recognize loans at Sc a pound on middling cotton, that while Sc was far below the cost of producing cotton, it would immediately stabilize cotton at this price, and that this price would take care of the pressing wants of the farmer, that the manufacturers could use it. the trade would take the goods and there would be no irreparable loss to the cotton section.
 A gentleman from Fall River. Mass, attending the meeting, getting recosn- ton, objected to the proposition that the government should help to stabilize the value of cotton at Sc, stating that the manufacturers were going to have an opportunity to buy cotton cheap, and that the price should be at supply and demand, and vet the gentleman was from the home of the Home Market club. the section which had received the greatest
 benefits from the tariff Cotton went to l Dc a pound. and there was lncalculable 1 loss and suffering.
 Great fluctuation in the price of cot- | ton is to the worst interest of the man. ufacturer: the manufacturer doesn't hene- 1 fit from cratic values in raw material | They want stabilized values, regular val ues price which kills the producer,
 does not help the manufacturer. The hy- %40,x ok, , ,rrAc- made possible bv the rendition of the
 Smith-Lever hill in the Secretary of Az 1 riculture's office. resulted in hardships not only to the cotton grower, but also
 to the cotton manufacturer. It is down. right irreligious that cotton should be | made the Armenian, or the unspeakahle l Turk in the political economy or the land Cotton should not be subjected
 to sectional defense, but should have
 national defense, or an international ! defense.
 1 The labor producing cotton is paid the 1 lowest scale of any class of labor in the i United States If the war labor board 1 had fixed the rrice of cotton field la 1 borers at anything like the equivalent
 of any other labor. the cost of cotton
 would have oo~e TNqrieelirr. A picture of l the cotton field laborers getting regular l ly s1 30, s2, S9, S4 not to say s, and work l ing eight hours day, has never been
 drawn, neither has the price of cotton.
 based on a fair price for labor, ever
 been estimated, and the Congressman or ] labor agitator, who would suggest such
 a thing as right to be done, would be nut in an iron cage and carried around 1 to show as the wild man from Borneo.
 CANNOT STABILIZE PROFIT 1 have planted cotton for 50 years, was born and raised on cotton plan i tation. The clements which enter into 1 the production and cost of cotton are ! so varied depending upon soil, season, 1 insect enemies. character Of fertil1- | ger and cultivation, that stated cost value is impossible and estimated prof i it's a vagary. That the profits in cot ] ton raising are the lowest of any other agricultural product, or any industrial 1 proposition, and that the cotton pro- | ducer's life is less desirable and ideal l is evident. Cotton lands are the least l sought after. the price is the cheapest. | There is no immigration into the cot l ton lands and there is emigra tion from