The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-11-17

1--WE 70 i..e bearing oi the corporation
! plans on our pressing cotton problem.
~ihquirlcS are invited and are gladN
answered. For full understanding
= una uiScusslon of the corporation
everyone is invited 70 attend one of the
meetings arranged for by the cam
palgn committee in each county next
Z MONDAY and Tuesday, November 18th
lana loth. The following statement is
made public today by the committee
ana covers many points about which
! frequent inquiry is made:
Character Of the Organization
IL Is corporation orGa nized under
our own state laws, having as stock.
holders southern people among whom
are farmers, bankers. merchants,
icachers, lawyers, doctors and others
interested directly or Indirectly i'm
aeeing that cotton IL marketed eff
ciently and Without loss to growers
IL is the practical outgrowth OF MANY
years OK EFFORT on the part Of cotton
! producers TO better the conditions sr-
J tecting the marketing Of cotton.
| DuflnS the past simmer a success
1ui effort was made to increase the
number OF cotton warehouses and to
make available to cotton growers an
| oficial grading service The organ
l2ation of the export corporation fol-
! lows naturally as the next logical steu
! toward bringing into existence the ef-
/ hcisnt marketing OF cotton. In other
words the activities Ct individuals and
| or farmers organizations in years past
| nave not been, as some think, thrown
| away, but have been essential steps
| IN leading up to the actual marketing
oil cotton as proposed by the corpora
tion.
| The conditions in the cotton mar
ket now do not admit Of argument as
10 Wnether some action should be,
| Quickly taken. Farmers are now
hoiding cotton with more dctermina-
tion than at any time in the past. The
| corporation will De one means OF
finally putting this cotton on the mar
! ket.
Past efforts to- market cotton by
interests friendly to the growers have
largely been broken up before ginning
much headway. This, OF course. has
peen done py those whose interest lie
III buying cotton from growers as
cheaply as possible.
How Organized
Tho plans for organizing the cor
porauon are such that selfish interests
cannot gain control. This is forestall-
ed through an arrangement by which
the voting power remains in the hands
or number OF individuals, each one
OF whom has been known by cotton
growers for years as being ALWAYS
friendly TO their interests. These in
diViduals are men of undoubted ability
ana character SO that even if un-
friendly interests should nttemnt to
control the activities Of the corpora
ton by buying up stock they would
lind impossible. This arrangement
Tor concentrating voting power Is COM
mon among corporations. IL is not
desired, however, thar q voting proxy
run indefinitely, and December 3lS,
lSZZ, has been set uS the time When
the proxies shall end. This will at.
| ford sufficient time for the corpora
ton TO prove without unfriendly in
corruption the s0unGness Of the idea
! or direct marketing OF cotton. Tho
Cahfornia raisin growers sign away all
rShtS In the marketing Of the entire
crop FOR periods OF five years at
liin", In order to secure the benefits
! OF cooperative effort in mariietinu
Ihey nave learncd through bitter eX-
perlence mat II pays IL il a signitl-
cant fact that the raisin growers now
constitute one Of the most prosperous
Clhssss of farmers. To give voting
p"Wtr 10 reliable proxies for short
period on small and fixed amount
OF stock Is, therefore. n comparatively
small concession towards securing cf-
hcGncy and saving lost motion.
Cooperative Features.
The corporation is organized along
sound business lines and it's plans
Lave the approval of the best legal
and banking talent. II has certain
, features, however, which set it aside
distinctly from the ordinary corpora
ton These are the cooperative fea-
IH"cS providing for the payment of
patronage dividends, and are deemed
OF such Importance that the exact
wording adopted to cover this fea-
ture is quoted as follows:
"All stockholders to be entitled to
) per cent. cumulative dividends on
aid in stock.
After deducting from tho total
amount OF profits realized during any
year the aforementioned per cent.
dividend, One-half OF the remaining
profits shall be paid out as patronage
IlNthnnnA n hn ftNI x.i I'll