The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-09-16

Six Things TO DO to Help Get Het'ei
Cotton Prices.


What can l do to help get better
prices?'
These two questions are now being
asked on every hand. Perhaps the
best answer to both questions is given
in the editorial view Of the work
of the Montgomery meeting and its
plans as given in the Progressive
Farmer of September 18th, an ad-
vanced copy which has been FURNISH
ed us. Which is as follows:
CAN DO
The Fight for Better Cotton Prices:
Six Things You Can DO
The great meeting of the American
Cotton Association in Montgomery,
Ala, last week, discussed lot Of
things, but we believe the gist Of the
whole conference may be given in six
definite things every cotton farmer
in the south can do to help the tight
for better prices:
/. First and foremost. hold your
cotton. We must show the bear gam
blers and the other allies that they
have absolutely mistaken the spirit
and determination of the southern
people if they think we will sit idly
by and be robbed of half the fruits
of this years labor. 1t has cost be-
tween 80 and 40 cents pound to
make this years crop. The decision
of the Montgomery meeting was that
40 cents should be minimum price
for middling.
Not only must each man resolve
to hold his own crop, but he must see
his neighbors and insist on their hold
ing. AS J. A. Brown says. 1--WE must
shut up the market so tight that no
man can buy or beg bale of cotton
at present prices-so that the only
way to get a bale of new-crop cotton
until prices improve will be to steal
it.''
J. A. Todd, the distinguished
English authority, who came to Mont
gomery at President Wannamaker's
request, sized ub the present world
situation somewhat as follows: CD
The world will need every bale of
cotton that is produced this year.
There is no real overproduction. CD
Right now, however, there is practi-
cally no movement of cotton goods, a
wholly abnormal temporary dullness
in the business of cotton manufactur-
ers, and of course they are not offer
ing normal prices for cotton. Present
prices are only fictitious prices based
on a temporarily demoralized market.
Nevertheless if one-fourth of the
cotton farmers of the south are such
fools as to accept this fictitious un-
der-valuation for 1920 cotton, prices |
on the whole crop will be lowered.
We must keep anybody and everybody
from selling at present prices.
2. Go to your county mass meeting
next Monday, Sept. goth. Every coun- |
ty in the south is asked to hold a
mass meeting of it's cotton farmers
on this date, to make plans for hold
ing, warehousing, cutting acreage and
cooperative marketing. Go and get
your neighbors to go, both landlord
and tenant, black and white. We
must educate everybody and all class
es to the Importance Of this fight. |
And see to it that everybody makes
some contribution for supporting the
Cotton Association IN it's plans. A
good method will oe to have every !
grower to authorize his ginner to de-
duct 10 to 25 cents bale for the |
organization Business men should !
subscribe literally, for no one will be |
hurt more than they if the south's |
spending power and debt paying pow
er is cut in half
3. Cut your cotton acreage next
year by sowing record-breaklng
grain crop this fall. Don't just talk
about "cutting down acreage"-a
negative sort of programme. Tell
everybody to cut his cotton
acreage by sowing more wheat, oats
and rye, and by sowing more clover
to enrich the land for corn next year.
This is the only sensible way to re-
duce acreage:
4. Put your cotton in warehouse,
and organize cooperative marketing
association. Remarkably important1
was the comprehensive report on CO.
operative marketing adopted at Mont
gomery, the result of months of labor
by Cotton Specialist Murph and 9TH
ers. The report tells just how to
start cooperative selling with official
grading or chasing in your COM
rn11nitv