Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-01-04
Harding can not escape criticism for
it and responsibility for it.
The Cattle Industry.

The Cattle Industry.
The cattle industry of the United
States lies prone upon the ground by
this policy. The cotton industry of
the South is PROSTATE today, and cot
ton is selling below the cost of pro-
duction; yet the Federal Reserve
Board officers sit back and fan them
selves in their comfort and put up a
marble temple, a banking institution,
in one city, costing nearly S30,OOO,-
900. What right had they to raise the
discount rate from 8 to z per cent
and accumulate that money-take it
away from the poor, struggling in
dustries of the country and hold it,
and then dish it out to build marble
banking temple in New York, with
it's bronze doors costing $4,000 each
and increasing the salaries of that
banks officials? My good friend, the
able senator from North Carolina
(Mr. Overman) told you little while
ago of the enormous increase in those
salaries. The poor cotton farmer
comes up to the bank with 10 bales
of cotton on his wagon and says, II
want to borrow some money"
"What do you want to do with it?'
says the banker,
"I want to pay some debts I owe
hold this cotton until the price will
cover the cost of production and
yield me a profit.
The banker looks at him and says,
"John, 1 would love to let you have
the money, but the Federal Reserve
Board has sent me word down the
line not to lend money for specula-
tive purposes; and you are wanting
to hold your cotton until it goes up,
and they have held that that was for
speculative purpose"
A cattle industry man comes up
and says: "There are my cattle on the
plain. 1 have to buy feed for them.
Some of them are my breeding cattle,
and / want to borrow some money
to settle some debts l have and to
hold my cattle and feed them and fat
ten them so that they will bring more
money when the price advances"
"No," he is told, "you are doing
that for speculative purposes, and
the Federal Reserve Board has wis
pered the word down the line not to
lend money for speculative pur-
poses"
The wheat man and the oat man
and the corn man all come up and
ask to be. relieved but the Federal Re-
serve Boards decree has gone forth,
and they can not have it. They can
sell their oats for II cents bushel,
2 cents more than they charged me
for a saucer full of oatmeal on the
breakfast table in Washington.
Mr.. President, these are facts, and
they show an awful condition
amongst the farmers of the country.
/ will give you another result of this
boards deadly defation policy. The
hoard sent out word to the banks
not to lend money on cotton produc-
ed in 1919. What do you think of
that? Suppose 1 had Liberty bond
that 1 bought in 1919, and wanted to
borrow money on it. Could anybody
tell me not to borrow money on it
unless it was bought in 1920 or 1921?
Suppose 1 had note, we'll secured,
given by party responsible in every
way, and 1 extended the note and car
ried it from 1919 and wanted to bor-
row money at the bank and put it up
as collateral; if it was good, would
anybody refuse to lend me the money
because the note was originally made
in 1919? He could not if he had any
sense about him. What right had this
board to say to the farmers of the
South, "You can not borrow money
on cotton made in 1912" There was
not much, at best, of the 1919 cotton
| o,oo loft in +he Snuth
Mr.. President, in order to show
how ridiculous that position is, sup
pose a man had a hundred bales of
strict middling cotton, white as snow,
whittier than the grades pr ,.uced in
1920 or 1921, if you please, and he
had it stored in warehouse, moth
| ing had harmed it, it was perfectly
dry and he could not sell it for a
price that would cover the cost of
production and give him profit, he
hold II and then he goes to a bank