The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-02-24
SENATOR DIAL
ADDRESSES HOUSE

i The evils and inconsistencies OF
the present cotton futures act and the
ways and means of remedying these
evils was the theme of an hours ad-
dress before the house of representa-
tives last night by Nat B. Dial OF
Laurens, United States senator from
South Carolina. Senator Dial, how
ever, took occasion to digress from
his subject to touch upon various 9th
er matters of national and statewide
import, recommending that the South
| Carolina general assembly make a
study of the criminal court procedure
of the state, which, he said, "was obso-
lete by at least so years.; denouncing
the Republica nparty for the defeat
of the treaty of Versailles and for the
consideration shown the plan to re-
fund the public debt while praising the
socalled farmers bloc" for it's activ-
ity in behalf Of the agricultural in
| terests of the South and West. In
commenting upon the debt rcfunding
proposal, Senator Dial criticized the
appointment of Hoover as member
Of the commission to investigate the
proposition, referring to the secre-
tary of commerce as "the Santa Claus
Of the world, who wants to donate to
everybody who comes along" The
senator said that he himself was not
in favor of donating"
The first cotton futures act, Sena-
tor Dial said, was passed in 1914
only after 80 years. effort in the two
houses of congress and was designed,
he admitted, to aid the growers of
cotton. The law, despite amendments,
had, however, failed to serve it's pur-
pose, he contended, and was, he
thought, unfair both to the buyer and
the grower of cotton, whose interests
are identical, he said. Both the
grower and the consumer, he thought,
wish higher prices while the seller
Of the contract, the bear, wanted low
er prices on the cotton in order to
permit. of his profit.
The present act, Senator Dial said,
was grossly one-sided, allowing the
seller of the contract to supply any
one of ten grades of cotton in filling
the contract. "a man." he thought,
Should not be o allowed to make q
|reuntsact 1nfasss he fila the eor,tract
to the satisfaction of both parties.
Under the present act the right buyer
and the right seller are not brought
10 To oil nf N
ten grades of cotton, which are al
lowed to be given, and man desiring
a particular grade of coaaon for use
in mill or for export can have no
guarantee that he will get the par
ticular grade under the present law
Such a state of affairs leads the
buyer of the contract to bid lower
than the actual value of the COM
modify. And he can not afford to pay
the full value of the cotton desired
when he has to close his eyes and
let the seller fix the grade of the
product from any one of ten grades.
The system is wrong in that it allows
the seller ten options to the buyers
one. There is nothing fair in it and
it's mate can be nowhere found either
in practice or law"
Senator Dial said that he had pro-
posed an amendment to the futures
act which, he thought, would aid in
remedying some of the evils of the
present law and in raising the price
of all grades of cotton at least two
or three cents. The ten grades al
lowed now he proposed to arrange in
three classes, the class desired to be
specified in the contract when made
The seller Of the contract would then
be allowed to supply any one of the
grades in that particular class, COM
yensating the price if the grade
should be above or below the middle
grade of the class. This, he said,
was not unfair, nor one-sided but
would merely allow the buyer of the
contract to say to the dealer, "Deliver
me what you have sold."
The passage of his amendment,
Senator Dial contended, would result
| first in raising of the prices on the
cotton exchange and would, therefore,
also raise the prices Of spot cottor,
| giving the farmer somewhat more
| just and fair return on his product.
"The South" he said, "has paid for
the Civil war debt several times in
the money lost in the iniquitous prac'
| tices Of the cotton exchange"
| The house extended Senator Dial a