The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-04-26
FARMERS
EFFORTS WILL
BE OPPOSED
Roddey Warns Cooperative
Marketing Supporters Of
Struggles Ahead
To the Editor of The. State:


cooperative marketing together
with the rather questionable COM
pliment, I'VE know you Will write
what you think regardless.
The beauty Of the cooperative
marketing system to me is its very
wonderful possibilities. Of cout.c,
il could be wrecked Or ruined by
mismanagement, (and for til e
Lords sake keep politics out Of iD.
The success of practically every
thing or business depends on its
management. and on. this man
agement will depend to the very
greatest extent the future welfare
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 $500, 900
or more per annum, will have 10
have some head. and the question
is have we got man big enough
and broad enough for the job? l
realize that we have over 10000
who think they are, but time will
prove it, and we must have start.
Somehow I feel that the corner
stone is being laid and that We will
sooner or later have a monument
to be proud Of, even if we did wait
half century TO start. The man
agement will have every big inter-
est that has been fixing the prices
against it with all its power, money
and influence, and will need the
full support and cooperation OF
every man in the organization.
Don't let any one get it in his
head that in order tc succeed it
doesn't mean fight, because when
any people have had things their
own way for so years and fixed q
price to suit them, they will not
surrender easily. I repeat, it is un-
fortunate to be forced to have to
cooperate, but in .his 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 it is to
be force, then let it be force to the
limit. Rockefeller with his mon
ey could put cotton unreasonably
high, united big wealthy profess
sional operators with the present
scheme can put it and keep it at a
barely living price, and have had it
their way SO long that they will re-
sent losing control For instance,
may 1 not quote from New York
editorial:
Certain interests in the north
and east express themselves as out
Of sympathy with the efforts Of the
American Cotton association to con-
troll cotton acreage. Some Of these
objectors frankly state that they
want. to see the crop as large as
possible and the price as low as
possible. They declare that to limit
production is to commit an eco.
| nomic wrong" I think slavery
vas abolished in 1865 and haven't
seen any law not allowing any
people TO try to have some sense.
If every other class Of labor or
line of business has to pull a load
uphill, and they can't pull it up.
unless they pull together, why
/ should each farmer assume that
he alone can pull his load? He
has been spraining his back try
ing it 4 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 stub
bornness, ignorance or meanness?
I would like to see adopted as
the motto Of this assOciation-lts
watchword: Control your sur
plus" would like to see every
! farmer and his children in the
schools, taught the necessity Of con-
trolling the surplus, for that, with
all the schemes against you, is your
winning point. If You can't con-
troll it, you can't really win. Twen-
| ty-fve years ago when l tried to
get the farmers to combine, and
out OF every four bales each
farmer produced. turn over one
bale to an association to be mar
keted, thus controlling the sur
plus. they called it a gigantic
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 real
ize that this surplus must be con-
trolled, and that it is more prof.
table to plant less. not over pro-
| duce, and when they are shown
that this surplus is getting beyond
control of the association, then [
believe they will know enough to
regulate their acreage according
! ".
No particular state can win out
| (nor could a part Of any organize
ton. one working in one direction.
! and the other in another) but the
cooperation of all the states, FOR if
the professionals caught you with
out ~,ntrol of the surplus. they
wou.u make every effort to put you
out of business, and they know
their books" Don't be diSccuras-
ed. 1t is big undertaking, and
YOU will have ups and downs. II
you can keep your organization
even together and satisfied, you
will see the possibilities. and be-
come more and more enthusiastic
lust as every other successful cor