The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-09-18
IC6ker Opposes ..~~
Mississippi Plan
Hartsville Man Suggests Differ
ent Organization

Der of reasons for his position and
gives some advice to the growers who
meet at Darlington Below are some
of Mr.. Coker's points:
AT the mass meeting held in Dar-
lington on Thursday September 2, it
was decided to form d staple cotton
growers association and committee
was appointed to consider the scope Of
such an organization and to make rec
concentrations for a meeting Of staple
growers to he called at the earliest
possible moment At the mass meet
ing the plan under which the Missis-
sippi growers are organizing was pre-
scented and fstlly discussed by one of
the Officers &f7 that association. ".G
L attended the meeting of the COM
mittee in Darlington on the 7th, by
request, pointed out palpable objec-
tions tot he Mississippi plan. from the
standpoint of the Caroline growers
and industry, and submitted sugges-
tions as to the scope of u staple grow
ers' organization for this section.
AT the committee meeting were
two members from Marlboro, one
from Dillon, two from Lee, one from
Sumter and four from Darlington and
possibly one or two others. This com
mittee, und! rstand, adopted Mis-
sissippi plan. Two and possibly three
of the Darlington delegates are, 1 un-
derstand, very much opposed to the
plan and will not join the association
If that plan is adopted. e.t. IS.
Many staple growers In this sec
ton have In the past looked to, me
for advice, and feel, therefore, that
should make my views on the SUBJ
ject public SO that the staple growers
may have an opportunity before next
Mondays meeting to consider the
whole matter, from more than one
standpoint ..,s... . ~. '...s...,..4 .4
Il am heartily In favor of the form
alton, of q staples growers association
to represent the interest, assist in the
proper maintenance OF the Carolina
staple industry. provide proper stor-
age, classification and marketing facil-
tiles and protect the growers interest
in every respect. ] am satisfied, how
ever, that IL a South Carolina asso-
citation is formed under. the MISSISSIPPI
pi plan that It will be a failure and
will totally yfail to accomplish the
purpose which the organizers of this
movement have in mind and 1 assign
the following reasons for that opin-
ion: ....' .. ...
Provision. is not made in the Mis-
sissipi plan for a proportional rep
resentation of South Carolina and q
total failure to appreciate the import
ance of the South Carolina staple in
dustry ts shown by the absence of
any reference to the South Carolina
staple area in the printed plan SUBJ
plitted.
THE head Office OF the association
will be in Memphis, and the affairs
of the association will probably be
controlled by five directors. It will
therefore, be ifnpracticable for a mem
Der or members of the executive COM
mittee representing South Carolina to
be regularly at executive committee
meetings i'm Memphis.
+ THE Mississippi plan provides that
each member will pay an entrance
fee Of $l0i and that each member shall
have one vote. Both of these cohdi-
tions. l feel are unfair and unjust. 1t
is not fair for the ten bale member
to have the same voting power as
the 100 bale member, nor is it fair
for the ten1bale member to have to
pay the same initiation fee as the 100
bale member. e..
THE Mississippi plan \provides that
Its members shall be Under contract
for five years to deliver every bale of
their cotton to the association. Such
organizations have not always been
successful. They have on certain oc-
casions fallen under the control Of
unbusinesslike or politically inclined
management and ] can not conceive
OF any grower. who will bind himself
for five years to absolutely tie up his
products with an organization which
may or may not prove a success.
Under this plan, do not believe
that any large number Of South Caro-
lima staple growers can combine and
successfully operate and, believing
this, / certainly can not advise my
clients to go into this association un-
der this plan. ~
1.-THE character and quality Of our
staple cotton is different from that of
Mississippi Some Of 1t is adapted to
different purposes to the bulk OF the
Mississippi crop. Some Of it is rated
ycertain mills as superior for their
purposes to any cotton produced in
Mississippi and some of our cottons
are rated as inferior to the bulk OF the
delta crop.
Highly specialized marketing or
CARNATIONS have been built up in this
section. These organizations are thor
oughly familiar with the require
ments OF numerous mills who require
rawImaterial OF special character. The
Mississippi plan involves the pooling
OF all cotton. each length and grade
In pool to itself and the selling Of
these pools separately. Under this
plan the marketing organizations now
existent In this territory could not
operate and the specialized knowledge
which has taken years to accumulate