Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-04-21
MUST COOPERATE OR QUIT
John ROddey Talks to the Cotton
Growers.
Big MOVEMENT HEAKs'A HARD FIGHT
It is the Surplus that Controls the
Price and If the CO. operative Or
ganization Can Control to be Sur
plus It Will be In Strong Posi-
tion to Protect the Producers.


tion to Protect the Producers.
Editor Yorkville Enquirer.
/ 1 have been requested by some
members of the Cotton Association to
publicly express my opinion on coop
erative marketing together with the
rather questionable compliment, 1--WE
] know you will write what you think
regardless"
marketing system to me Is it's very
wonderful possibilities. OF course, it
could be wrecked or ruined by mis-
management, (and for the Lords sake
keep politics out of it, The success
of practically everything or business
depends on its management, and to
this management will depend to the
very greatest extent the future well
fare of the south, which includes
every man in every line of business.
The man assuming the general
management, which will probably
mean the handling of three hundred
million dollars or more per annum
will have to have some head, and the
question is have we got man big
enough and broad enough for the job.
I realize that we have over ten thous-
and who think they are, but time will
prove 1t, and we must have q start.
Somehow / feel that the corner stone
is being laid and that we will sooner
or later have a monument to be
proud of, even IL we did wait half
century to start. The management
will have every big interest that has
been fixing the prices against it with
all their power, money and influence,
and will need the full support and CO.
operation Of every man in the organ
ization.
Don't let any one get it in his head
that in order to succeed 1t doesn't
mean fight, because when any peo-
plc have had things their own way
for 90 years and fixed price to suit
them, they will not surrender easily.
repeat, it is unfortunate to be forced
to have to cooperate, but in this day
and time if you don't cooperate, then
fix the books" The farmers have
stood for more and waited longer than
any other class, and if 1t Is to be
| force, then let 1t be force to the
| limit. Rockefeller with his money
could put cotton unreasonably high,
united big wealthy professional oper-
ators with the present. scheme can put
it and kept it at a barely living price,
they will present losing control. For
| instance, may I not quote from a N.
Y. editorial, Certain interests in the
North and East express themselves as
out Of sympathy with the efforts Of
the American Cotton association to
control cotton acreage. Some Of these
objectors frankly state that they
want to see the crop as large as pos
sible and the price as low as possible.
They declare that to limit production
Is to commit an economic wrong"
think slavery was abolished in 1855
ard haven't seen any law not allow
Jig any people to try to have some
sense. If every other class of labor
or line of business has to pull load
uphill, and they can't pull 1t up unless
they pull together, why should each
farmer assume that ne alone can pull
his load. He has been spraining his
back trying it long time, and nobody
else in this day and time Is doing
much extra pulling If two of us can
pull load together, and neither one
of us can pull it separately, rather
than pull together, shall we just stand
still and rot. Is that stubborness, ig-
norance or meanness?
| would like to see adopted as the
motto of this association its watch
word, Control your surplus" 1 would
like to see every farmer and his chill
dren in the schools taught the neces-
sity of controlling the surplus, for
that, with all the schemes against you
is your winning point. If you can't
control it, you can't really win.
| Twenty five years ago when l tried to
got the farmers to combine, and out
of every four bales each farmer pro-
duced turn over one bale to an asso-
citation to be marketed, thus controll-
ing the surplus, they called it "gi-
gGntic trust" and | am afraid that
when they can't fix the price as they
have always done they will try to
fight you in Washington on that
ground. When the producers realize
that this surplus must be controlled
and that it is more profitable to plant
less, not produce, and when they
are shown that this surplus Is getting
beyond the control of the association,
then I believe they will know enough
to regulate their acreage accordingly.
No particular state can win out (nor
could part of any organization, one
working in one direction, and the
other in another but the cooperation
of ali the statcs) for if the profession
nj: caught you without control Of the
surplus, they would make every ef-
fort to put you out of business, and
| thaiI. hOply - Don't he