Newspaper Page Text
SECONDNEWS)
'SECTION.
VOL. XVII.
Full International News Service.
UP AND DOWN GEORGIA MifH DUD" GLASS
. ,
West Point-~the
1
Place W here
East and West -
.
MeetinHarmony
By DUDLEY GLASS.
WEST POINT, Feb. 7.—Really we
are uncertain at this writing whether
we are in West Point, Georgila, or
Lanett, Alabama, as the office of The
News, “Fearless and Free,” straddles
the State line, informs, entertains
and elevates part of both States, and!
the table Editor Trox W. Bankstonl
lent us in the exact middle thereof.
But what matters it. Here is wherel
Fast is East Alabama, and West is
West Georgia, and the twain have met
(Kipling to the contrary notwith
standing) across a State line which
is purely imaginary, meandering
down the middle es Third avenue,
and under a building or two and
through neat front yards whose lawns
bear no outward evidence that they
occupy a strategic position for sher
iff-dodging. The Twin Cities are
one, to all intents and purposes,
though perforce they must maintain
separate administrations and police
departments and even postoflices. But
Uncie Sam has agreed to build a
twin-city postoffice building to cost
$55,000 straddle the State line, and
gerve both communities—the only
two-State postoffice in these United
States.
A New Tale of Two Cities.
So this new edition of the Tale of
Two Cities will deal with Lanett as
much as with West Point. It will go
further afield than that—miles down
the Chattahoochee River, in fact, to
the mill towns of Shawmut and
Langdale and Fairfax and Riverdale
—all in Alabama, but all children of
West Point, and prosperidg with their
parent city. They are served by the
Chattahoochee Valley Railroad, as
famous in this part of Georgia as the
horse-car line which used to extend
from Covington to Oxford, and by
nifty electric cars which operate by
storage batteries and run on the same
track as that used by the steam
trains. They are mill towns exclu
stvely, little cities of cotton spinners!
and weavers and their children, and‘
they all work for the group of indus
trial plants owned by Boston capital
and directed by the Laniers of West
Point. There are many corporations,
with many directorates, but they all
are owned Ly the same group of cap
italists, and their interests are iden-l
tical. They have their own stores.‘
their own community life, which ap
pears to be a very pleasant life, in
deed. But, nevertheless, West Point
proper draws a great deal of trade
from them, and the handsome stores
which bo~der West Point's well-paved
streets sell a large volume of goods to
the mill folk in all these towns.
River Divides Town.
The Chattahoochee River ap
yroaches the Georgia line at West
Point, almost exactly half-way down
the western border between the
mountains and the sea, but it does
not become the houndary until it
touches the corner of Harris\County,
only a little way below the x;vin cit=
ies, The river divides West Point
in its center, and while the business
houses are on the west side, most of
the more handsome homes are on
the hills to the east, reached by a
big bridge which runs out of one of
the principal streets. Thes homes on
the west side, too, have been built
upon high ground, for the Chatlu-‘
heochee is given to rising every now
and then, backing up through th('t
lowlands, and flooding the business
streets of the town with a foot or
two of muddy water. That's why‘
the sidewalks of West Point are
from two to three feet higher than'
the street level, and basements are
useful only for swimming pools. gg:“
these floods are infrequent, the W
Point folk tell us, never harm any
one, and recede as quickly as they
come, There hasn’'t been a real
flood since 1886,
Many Distinctive Features.
West Point has several dlstinctive]
features which stamp it at once as|
different from other towns, One ob- !
serves the first of them at once.l
when arriving at the railroad sta
tion and inquiring for thé hotel. He
finds that the Charles Hotel is part
of the station, the lobby adjolnln_'.:‘
the ticket office, and the rooms being
just above it, convenient to all trains,}
of which something like eleven mii- |
lion pass between 10 p. m. and dawn,
most of them with flat wheels. But
it 18 a very pleasant hotel for all
that, and no harder to sleep In than
one of those hostelries in a public
square used as an automobile repair
shop by a score of midnight mech
anicians. |
City-Owned Auditorium. |
And next, you sce the auditorium
@and the clubs, and begin to take no- |
tice that West Point i{s an unusual
tewn, indeed. Here is a handsome
auditorium of brick and stone, own
ed by the ecity of West Point and
paid for by munlieipal bonds. It
seats 916 persons, cost $15,000 when
buildings were cheaper than now,
and is used for all forms of public
entertainment and uplift. Between
such public gatherings it is the the
ater, for it is completely equipped
with stage and curtdins and scenery
representing palaces, hovels, the in
terior of Lord Cavendish's drawing
room, and the garden outside the
mansgion of Lady Isabel. Some of
the same road companies which play
in the Atlanta Theater stop in West
Point to break the jump from Mont
gomery, and the city profits by be
ing in the show business, w. G
Shaefer, who manages the audito
rium, told us that the reccipts from
the shows added materially to the
funds for conducting the building.
A Busy Young Man,
Mr. Shaefer is one of the busy
yvoung men of West Point, helping
materially in all the war fund cam
paigns, acting as general publicity
director for most of them, and run
ning his own business when he finds
time. His own business consists of
two motion picture shows; one for
tleywhite movie fans, and the other
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the best negro movie house in Geor
gia outside the famous resort
on our own Decatur street. Mr. Shae
fer says the negroes are hungry for
movies; there are no others open to
them for many miles around, and
they drive in, by Ford or buggy, from
points for forty miles around, to see
Doug Fairbanks climb a second-story|
or Charley Chaplin walk down the|
center aisle. There seems to be a
business hint here for other towns
outside Mr. Shaefer's reach.
“And now,” remarks our genlall
guide to West Point, who is none
other than W. Trox Bankston, owner
and editor of the West Point-Lanett
News, member of the Legislature, and
man-about-Georgia, “and now we'll
stroll over to the club.”
Whaddayamean Club.
“The Club?” we inquire. ®*¥VWhad
dayamean, ¢lub’?”
“Come and see,”” says Mr. Bank
ston. He escorts us across the street |
to an avenue which runs parallel!
with the river, but on an elevation
high above it. Between the avenue
and the Afiver bank is a trim build
ing, two stories in height, and with
a wide portecochere sheltering the
automobile from which two visitors
are alighting. +« .
“Welcome to the Riverside Club."‘
says Trox. “Press that button,
please. Now what'll you have?” '
“Why, a couple of high ——"
‘“We have coca-cola, ginger ale,]|
etc.,” says Trox, sadly., “Never mind, |
Clarence. Just bring us something
to smoke.”
: Well-Appointed Place.
We remember that we still are ini
Georgia, and take a look about the|
club. There are pool tables, a read- |
ing room, a dining room, and a broad l
screened veranda for dancing, over
looking the river. Upstalrs are suites |
of bedrooms, with private baths, and
all that' kind of thing, as well fur-'
nished as any private home in Druid
Hills. These are for out-of-town |
guests, and we are urged to make
ourselves at home, l
The club, we hear, is an outgrowth !
of necessity as well as West Point's
demand for a center of social life.
The “big chaps” from Boston come
down frequently to visit the mills,
and even the best of small city hu-l
te!ls hardly would suit thetr tastes,
so they are put up at the club,
greatly to the profit of the cook and
butler. Tae smart set of West Point
has its dances and card parties there,
ahd the business men gather in the |
late afternoons for a game of Kelly!
‘;:o?l and a chat over the cotton mar- :
et,
Excellent Athletic Club.
“Now, we'll go over to the other
club,” observes Mr. Bankston.
Yes, sir, West Point has two
clubs! Or, to be exact, two club
houses. When the Riverside had
won success it was agreed that it
lacked athletic features, Instead of
enlarging the building, they put up
another, just across the street, Tlis
conting bowling alleys, a big gym
nasium and basketball court, and a
white-tiled swimming pool with wa
ter warmed by steam for winter
bathing. The swimming pool is used
liberally by the women and girls, but
it has never hecome popular with
the men and boys in the summer
time- -for there is the deep river ~lt
stone's throw away, and the high
bridge to dive from, after dorning
bathing suits in the club dmusmm‘
rooms. There's no golf at West
Point yet, but Newnan, half-way tn!
Atlanta, has a prosperous <lub; La-
Grange, twenty miles or so away, ls
planning one, and West Point vym
not he left behind long.
Social Life Pleasant.
One can see that the social life of
West Point ig pleasant indeed., The
business life seems to be equally
worth while. The town is filled with
attructive stores, retail and whole
sale. There is one department store |
which sells «¢verything but some- |
thing to eat, anl does an enormous |
business. There are jobbers whose |
trade stretches far into Alabama. |
There are four big “supply houses" |
which provide everything a farmer |
can use. There are four live stock'
firms which sell 50 carloads of mules |
a year, and Trox Bamkston says this!
is a never-ceasing wonder to him,
for where can 80 many mules gu.}
for. nobody ever saw a dead one!
There are two banks, and neat deug
THE —— o
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AI LA N 1A U
\{l"u.“ 3;1 r}f, 'l‘? G NEWSE “{'»)\(‘j‘l\ r‘?}?%flf‘\@’\ \‘f‘}‘,’f WTH ',‘d 3 UTHEA ~ (s._‘_».7'. \\(
By T SR T . 3 2 g .
- This is the eighth of a series of ‘‘Little Journeys’' to be
'made by Mr. Glass and Artist Griffin to the cities and towns of
Georgia.
| These are not paid writeups. They are pen and pencil
views of the places visited and have for their purpose the in
; troduction of Georgia communities to one another and the
- spreading, through the wide circulation of The Georgian, of the
' manifold advantages in climate, in resources, in opportunity
for those seeking the ecomforts, the materials or the business
' locations possessed by this State.
E We ask only for Messrs. Glass and Griffin that they be put
' in possession of the facts; that the romance, the resources, the
~ ambitions of the communities they visit be given freely. They
- will do the rest. There is no chargé. The ‘‘Little Journeys’’ are
- a Georgian enterprise for the good of Georgia.
stores and soda fountains, and the!
uptown streets are paved with brick.
There are sidewalks everywhere
near the center of town, except in &
few muddy spots, and these are (o
be paved as soon as the contractors
can get 'round to them. For West
Point’'s public improvements, like
those of other cities, were interrupt
ed by the war. ‘
It was at this point in our tour‘
around town that one of the older
citizens took us across the street to{
th® iron works building, to point out
an iron pillar or column, supporting
the corner of the building.
“See that colyum?” he inquired.
We admitted it.
Has One Jug, Anyway.
“Well, sir, you ought to get a pic
ture of that there colyum,” he ob
served. “It's holler, an inside of it
there's a gallon jug of the finest licker
that's been known to mankind since
the Civil War.,”
We inquired, naturally, as to such
a peculiar storage reservoir for pre
cious fluids. It was explained that a
workman had concealed said jug in
side the column while erecting the
building, and the column had subse
quently been put in place without
the builders knowing the jug reposed
therein, and it had been there ever
since.
“It would be right smart trouble
and expense to saw open that there
colyum or tear it out,” observed our
irformant. “And if the building-—
and the colyum-—belonged to me, 1
don’t believe I'd take chances any
longer. These folks are going to ¢ume
down here some morning and find
that there colyum just naturally
vanked out by the roots.”
New Hospital Planned.
The citizens are ready to tell you
of the new hospital being planned for
the twin cities; of the library to be
Service Men’s “Ads’’
For Business Positi
3-G - -
Free in Georgian-American
T HE GEORGIAN AND AMERICAN have opened tileir “Slituations
Wanted” columns to American soldiers, sailors and marines
free of charge
Thousands of our boys are returning. Many of them are under
the impression that it will be difficult for them to resume the posi
tions they occupied before they went away,
The Georgian-American will gee that it 18 not difficult,
If you have the honor to wear a uniform, all you have to do is
write vour advertisement, bring it to the office of The Georglan-
American and request its publication without cost.
If you are now in civilian clothes, all you need is your discharge
papers. They will, as would the uniform, be all that is necessary to
secure publicatian of your advertisement in the “Situations Wanted”
columns of
- _ .
The Georgian and American
20 EAST ALABAMA STREET.
ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1919.
built with the help of the late A. K.
Hawkes, of Atlanta, whose philan
thropy was so effective yet so unob
trusive. They will tell you of the
work done by the Red Cross Chap
ter, and the woman's club. And then
they will tell you that West Point
was “first over the top” in every war
drive, even down to war savings
stamps, in which few towns or coun
ties reached their quota.
“It was easy,” explained Mayor
Mark MecCulloh, who is just begin
ning his administration, having suc
ceeded Mayor John T. Johnson, who
died in the service of the Y. M. C A.
“over there.,” “We just put up a big
blackboard and engaged a brass band,
and invited everybody to come up
and subscribe—and they did it We
never failed to go over the top at one
meeting. Of course, we went round
and dug up a lot more the next day.”
Editor a Good Cook.
We met the Mayor at thé home of
Mr. Bankston, over on the east side of
the river-—a big, old house which
once was the home of Senator Shep
pard, of Texas. We were invited to
tea, but it turned out a dinner, with
fried chicken and fixings that would
make Herb Hoover look twice—and
then ask for a second helping., Mr.
Bankston proves that he is an effi
clent assistant to Mrs. Bankston by
cooking the biscuit. At least, after
the ingredients are mixed and the
dough is just right, Trox turns a
switch and permits the electric cur
rent from the house wires to brown
the biscuit in a silver-plated dingbat
similar to an electric toaster—there
by putting one over on larger cities
than West Point. We had been
brought up in firm faith that nothing
but an old-fashioned Duteh oven
could prepare biscuits like mother
used to make. But here s Trox
Bankston, pressing a button and get-
| ting the same results, in half the time
jand with one-hundredth of the labor
|—and posing among his brethren of
| the press as a downtrodden country
editor just two jumps ahead of the
sheriff,
An Old, Old Town.
After dinner the talk wears on to
old times, though our host remem
bers no further back than twenty
years, and the Mayor dates his West
Point career from the same period.
But we hear that the town was there
long before the war, even in the old
Indian days. And as we come grad
]ually down to the Civil War, we learn
that the battle of West Point, or Fort
Tyler, was the last fight of the Con
federacy. It took place on Sunday,
{April 16, 1865, the fort then standing
‘on the high ground now occupied by
the handsome new home of Mrs, La
[Fayette Lanier. General Tyler was
killed in that fight, only a short time
laster he had been presented a flag by
Ia group of young West Point women.
One of the group was Miss Sallie
Fannie Reid, afterward Mrs. W. D.
Grant, the mother of John D, Grant
{and Mrs. John Marshall Slaton, of
Atlanta, The Grant famlily still owns
large holdings of land in West Point.
Once Trading Post.
We are told, also, of the days after
the war, when,West Point became the
center of a l/ast. trading territory,
!with “camping traders” driving their
covered wagons many a long mile to
Ibuy goods, and camping overnight in
the street, or on the shady road out
, side the town. And then we drift
| down to the coming of the cotton mill
: industry, which marked the beginning
]o' the new West Point, and the birth
| ofs\her industrial progress.
{ . Laniers Start Cotton Mills.
| Lafayette Lanier—the “old” Lafay
elte Lanier—founded the industry, it
{seems, The first mill was buiit at
: Langdale by Eastern capital, started
!badly, and failed. Mr. Lanier bought
’it in. He interested capitalists in Bos
ton, and they poured their money
into the industry. The mill flourished,
and another was built, and then an
other, Now they are five in five
towns, on the little C, V. Railroad
#long the banks of the Chattahoochee
south of West Point. They are all in
Chambers County, Alabama, one of
| the reasons for placing them across
lthe State line being that Alabama
taxes were more favorable to new in
' Qustries than were Georgia's. There
'is more than $5,000,000 invested in
| these mills now. There are 4,000 em
ployees, and other thousands in their
"homes and at school. The Lanett
.+ Mill, which is just across the State
Iline from the West Point station, has
[ the largest mill building in America.
Its spindles number 83,000, and sev
eral of the average Georgia cotton
*mills could be tucked comfortably in
@ide of it. The group of mills con
| sume 100,000 bales of cotton a year,
and the weekly pay roll is around
$60,000,
Three Lanier Families.
: You will find, when you discuss cot
tton mills and other industries in West
| Point, that the name of Lanler is a
| magic one. The Laniers—there are
| three families of them now--are the
| financlal overlords in industrial cir
| cles, Their names appear as officers
lund directors in all the five corpora
tions which control the mills, the rail
| road, the bleachery, and the several
allied enterprises. Willlam H, Wel
lington and Horace 8. Sears, of Bos
ton, are the blg flgures representing
the Eastern capital, and the firm of
Wellington-Sears & Co., of Boston
(and a dozen other cities, sells the out
put of all the mills. But at home, the
Laniers are the outstanding figures,
and it is a tribute to their way of do
ing business and handling human
problems, that all West Point and the
five towns seem to have a deep alfec
't!on for the family, George H. La
| nier, a handsome young man who
might in appearance typify the suc
cessful American business man, is
president of two corporations and
general manager of all of them, W.
C., Lanier is president of the First
National Bank. E. F. Lanier is head
of the West Point Investment Com
pany (not in the mill group) which
conducts a big iron works, oil mill,
planing mill and other industries in
the town. Smith Lanier is head of
the Interstate Telephone Company,
which is an institution worth a ehap
ter for itself,
In no other mills in the South has
Issued Daily and Entered as Second-Class Matter at
the PostofMice at Atlanta Under Aet of March 3, 1879
“welfare work” for employees been
carried to greater extent than in the
‘Dve cities” of the West Point group.
There are schools and kindergartens,
baseball fields, civic centers. There
are neat homes for the workers, with
paved streets, waterworks, and sew
erage. There is a nine-months’ school
for the children, though the State of
Alabama provides funds for a much
shorter time, and the mills put up the
money for the remainder. There are
2uditoriums and theaters, swimming
pools, tennis courts. And there are
churches of many denominations.
We asked one of the West Point
folk about the downtrodden workers
in the mills, the terrible child labor
conditions which have caused our
muckrakers to weep copious tears.
Workers Well Cared For.
“These people come from the poor
farms of the back counties in most
cases,” we awere told. “They lived in
cabing a town dog would turn up his
nose at. They come to the milis and
find neat cottages, with good sanita
tion. They put their children in
schools such as the backwoods never
dream of. They are cared for in hos
pitals when they are ill. They are
given new ideas of comfort; they
have their first taste of luxury. The
children go to school until they are
14 years old, and then they find work
in the mills if they like, and the work
Is usually light. 4've never seen any
children stunted by work in the
mills.”
An Odd Phone Situtaion.
Let's get back to Smith Lanier's
telephone exchange. It is housed in
4 modern building, near the River
side Club. - And it is a strictly inde
pendent enterprise, not controlled by
the Bell companies. It connects with
the Bell lines, and one may use the
long-distance from his home, just as
in a Bell eity, But Mr. Lanier had
it going and prospering before the
big corporation was reaching out for
everything, and it found West Point
80 well served that it stayed out of
Smith Lanier's territory so far as
local business is concerned, and they
are excellent friends,
_Mr. Lanier is a “bug” about busi
ness methods, as you'll learn in a
five-minute chat with him, It was
he who conveived the foolish idea
that telephone subscribers could be
made to pay their bills in advance,
and on the dot. He proved it some
years ago, before the big companies
had discovered it, by informing
every subscriber that unless the bills
were pald by the third of the month
the instrumen's would be removed.
And on that fatal day he sent round
a man with a dray and a screw
driver, and he brought back 35 tele
phone outfits, leaving 356 housewives
threatening bloody murder-—but
ready to pay up.
An ldea Worth Trying.
He has had no trouble of that
kind since then, Hls newest idea
is to send out a monthly telephone
bill made out in the form of a check,
layable to the company, and al
ready filled in, The subscriber has
only to write his name on the dotted
line and drop it in the mall--pro
vided he has a bank account. It ap
pears that every one in West Point
has one.
We inquired about the ‘“hiatory”
of West Point, but beyond the bat
tle of Fort Tyler we found very lit
tle. West Pointers are more inter
ested in right now than in back yon
der, We found them very willing
indeed to discuss the things ~they
are proud of,
One of them is the publie school
system; another is the SBO,OOO of
bands which bullt the auditorium
and the waterworks and paved the
streets. We inquired about the “fa
vorite sons” who had gone elsewhere
and become famous, but It appeared
that only the Grants ever left West
Pcint, the others preferring it to any
other point whatsoever., But we found
thut the town has several presidents
to point to with pride. One is Wal
ter P, Thomas, superintendent of the
city schools, who is presldent of the
Georgia Toachers’ Association. An
other is R, C, Freeman, who is pres
ident of the Geoargia Cotton Manu
facturers’' Association, The third Is
Mrs. W. B, Higginbotham, one of the
extensive land owners of the town,
who 18 president of the missionary
socleties of the Methodist Church of
Georgla. Y ]
LOTTONMEN PREPARE T
ot | FAIR RETURN FOR
PRODUCT £ROM NOW ON
By THOMAS M. SKINNER.
Staff Correspondent of The Ooorginn.‘;
MACON. Feb. 7.—The first steps
toward organizing Georgia tarmersi
definitely into a thorough and l‘ar-‘
reaching movement to nold cotton
were taken here yesterday afternoon,
when the State-wide convention of
farmers and business men authorized
Commissioner J. J. Brown to appoint
a chairman in each county to secure a
working committee and arrange for
meetings in every section of the State,
Pledges stipulating a reduction of
?3 1-3 per cent below normal in the
1916 crop will be elicited from the
farmers, who will be called upon to
stand together for better prices and
acreage reduction.
A resolution prepared and acted fa
vorably upon previously, calied for a
reduction of only 25 per cent, After
much consideration, the convention
decided to go still farther and pledge
to cut their erop even more, adopting
35 1-3 per cent as the proper figure.
A second resolution, adopted unani
mously, urged the growers to follow
the plan of diversifying crops. Di
versification was begun some time
ago, and reports received hy the Agri
cultural Department indicate that it
has brought remarkable and unprece
dented prosperity to those who have
adopted and carried it out faithfully.
Set Date for Pledges, /
Governor Dorsey was called upon
to name February 15 for State-wide
county meetings to secure pledges
and take other steps necessary to ef
fect reduction of cotton and diversifi
cation of crops.
“Diversification has given the South
the ability and the grit to demand a
profit on its cotton,” declared the res
olutions committee, Farther and wid
er observance would, it was predicted,
make the Southern farmers inde
pendent of all other sections, and
self-supporting.
Pointing out the fact that exposure
to weather will ruin the staple, the
farmers were urged, by all means, to
shelter the cotton that is being held
for better prices,
More stringent action than first
contemgated was taken toward abol
ishment of the cotton exchange.
Georgila's Senators and Congressmen
were called upon to have passed
through Congress rigid measures reg
ulating the New York and all other
cotton exchanges,
It was pointed out that Government
legislators from time to time have at
tempted to curtail gambling on the
Cotton Exchange hy certain legisla
tion, which has not been effective,
but impliedly recognized the right of
the exchanges to gamble in futures
between certain limits,
Gambling Condemned.
Gambling in futures gas con
demned strongly, and the meeting
favored putting the exchanges back
on the basis previous to the entranec
cf speculators and gamblers, who
have made fortunes at the expense of
the South, it was declared.
It was conceded that the exchange
is valuable to the farmer if operated
on an honest basis, providing a fair
means of commuanication and of con
ducting business between buyer and
seller, and that no objection could be
offered if they were operated as In
tended when they were organized.
By resolution the convention ree
ommended that the exchanges be
compelled to publish from day to day
the number of bales offered for sale
and the number of bales actually
consummated, the names of the par
ties buying and selling, the location
and the grade of the cotton,
The books would be placed under
inspection and control of the Govern
ment, through any of its agencles. It
is provided that any person or flrm
who shall make a false affidavit shall
be punished by fine or imprisoument
as a criminal,
Demand New Law.
The reselution put the convention
on record as condemning ‘“the prac
tice of the New York and other ex
changes tendering nine grades of cot
ton on middling contracts, and de
manding Georgla's representatives in
Congress to have a law passed regu
lating these exchanges and requiring
‘delivery of the actual grade con
tracted for,
The following telegram from Jo
seph A, MeCord, governor of the
Federal Reserve, was received en
thusiastically:
“Regret exceedingly that absence of
assoclate officers prevents my at
tending cotton convention today, 1
wish to assure the farmers, through
vou, that the Federal Reserve Bank
of Atlanta has been and will con
tinue to ald producers through me
dium of national banks and the
State banks that arq members of the
Federal Reserve system, in financing
the production and marketing of
their erops by the rediscount of their
notes when offered through member
banks on commodities when stored in
warehouse and insured.
“We can not render such assistance
through State banks that are not
members of the Federal Reserve sys
tem. Present conditfons of national
finance and world affairs make it im
perative that all eligible State banks
join the Federal Reserve system,
thereby mobilizing the entire finan
clal resources of this section for
proper agricultural development.”
Hoke Bmith to Help.
A telegram from Senator Hoke
Smith assured his earnest support of
the farmers in any movement they
might decide to undertake, and urged
the importance of opening all mar
kets as soon as that possibly can be
done, Here is his message: :
“The work of your convention will
receive my most earnest support, I
suggest, first, the importance of
opening all possible markets at the
earliest date possible for the sale and
consumption of cotton, You know
cotton still is on the embargo list and
Is exported under supervision of the
war trade board, They llicense\ ship
ments of cotton onar in limited quan
tities to northern Europe, The time
'SECONDNEWS!
N Y o T
'y Ry Flrogi™ [OV
SDB I ¢
4 s e ) b+ "
% §
‘Georgian Market
§
- Edi dP
- [Editor and Page
- (et High Praise
$ ACON, Feb, 7.—At the big
s LV cotton convention here on
§ yesterday, just before the
| resolutions committee submitte®
) its report, J. J. Brown, presiding,
| drew attention of the delegates to
work done by The Daily Georgian
) and Sunday American in behalf of
the farming interests, and, with
out warning, introduced Victor
{ Barron, the market editor of those
) papers.
Before his introduction of Mr.
Barron, Mr, Brown spoke in praise
and appreciation of the newspaper
assistance received from every pa
; per in the State. He held The
Ceorgian up as “having the bhest
vaarket page of any paper in this
section.” He called then for a ris
ing vote of thanks to the newspa
rers, which was giver with a will,
Mr. Barron spoke for about ten
minutes. Delegates swarmed up
to the press table on the platform,
congratulating Mr. Barron and as
suring him that The Georgian has
the friendship of the farmers.
has come when cotton should be re
moved from the embargo lst and
permitted to go to all desiring to
purchase it. It might be well for your
convention to cable the President
urging the importance of his remov
ing cotton from the embargo list,
“2. The time has passed Vrfl
cotton exchanges should be permitted
to deliver four grades above and four
below middling in settlement of their
contracts, The Smith Lever bill
should be amended to restrict P
eries on cotton exchanges to not more
than two grades above and two
grades below middling, and if m/;
ble, to prohibit short selling. ‘his
measure is in force through its tax
provision and the amendmout‘m{
originate in the House. You ¥
well urge members of the House to
press this amendment to the passage.
We can handle it quickly in the Sen
ate, but it first must be passed by
the House. £
Must Reduce Crop. -
“3. We must raise foodl:lt‘ufl and
reduce cotton planting this r.
An eight million bale crop woulj sell
for muxn than a sixteen million bale
crop. An eight mulion bale %‘x
would bring 30 cents or more. i
sixteen million fl;le crop would not
bring half that ice. These are .
lines upon which, at pljelcnt, :
can be rendered. 1 would be :
you but so many pressing g
are upon us in the closing days of
Congress that 1T feel 1 can serve you
best here.” q i
Captain L. H, Stevens represents
ing the Rumbhle & Wensel {.
of Natchez, Miss., was given a ;
on the program. This company :
been conducting a campaign of ad
vertising all over the South, urg -
that the farmers hold cotton and
ncreage, Advertisements are ru ;
now in 62 leading papers of the
Southern section, and in other trade
and agricultural papers all over twi
country, e
“For more than fifty yeards the
South has furnished the world cheap
clothing,” said Captain _Stevens.
“And what i 8 her reward? Here it is.
They are living in little mo
shanties in the rural districts, and
have little strips of clay that they
call roads. Poverty is staring them
in the face all the time, their chil
dren are poorly clothed, and are not
well educated.
North Has Prospered. A
“The farmers of the North and
West have prospered. Poverty has
caused the backwardness of the
Southern farmer. The speculators
and the mills purpose to pay the
Brower nineteen cents for his cotton
rext year. With that in view, the
‘])Hy(-hulug_v of the situation demands
that the farmer sell at the present
price of 26 cents, or thereabouts.
~ "But common sense tells him to
hold. 1 want to plead that every
farmer hold his cotton tightly, Let
none of It get away, and pay no at
tention to fluctuations in tgo mar
ket, The law of supply and demimd
soon will regulate cotton, :
Chance to Make Money.
“If we will all hold the staple now
on hand, we can make money on it,
at the prices which must come In a
very short time. And we will be
able to market our 1919 crop for 36
or 40 and possibly 46 cents a pound.
If we raise even three-fourths as
much cotton we will make about
twice as much money.”
Senator H. H. Elders declared that
the Government has lost millions of
dollurs on the revolving fuhd of five
million dollars given the railroads,
and that it recently has voted the
several hundred million dollar wheat
bill for 1019 crop of wheat, and that
we are sending a hundred million
dollars to Furope to feed our allles
and the South s paying its share in
taxation,
He declared that if the Govern
ment would appropriate a three hun
dred million dollar fund for the pur
chase of spot cotton, that it would
hold the market up, and relieve the
depreswing situation in the South. .
Mr. Elders said he would introduce
a bill at the next Legislative sessjon
putting buyers and sellers of futures
in jall and revoking charters of State
barks whose officials speculate in
cotton, He said it will provide alen
for closing exchanges in Savannah
and other Georgin cities, b
The following {8 copy of an appes!
sent to President Wilson askine flu\gé
iy iR
Confinued on Next Page. @
NO. 161