Weekly Jeffersonian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1907, February 28, 1907, Page 4, Image 4

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4 TALE FARMERS’ UNION DEPARTMENT. ROSTER OF NATIONAL AND STATE OFFICERS OF THE FARMERS’ EDUCATIONAL AND CO-OPERATIVE UNION 0 T AMERICA. NATIONAL OFFICERS. C. S. Barrett, president, Atwater, Ga. J. E. Montgomery, vice-president, Gleason, Tenn. R. H. McCullough, secretary-treas urer, Beebe, Ark. L. N. Holmes, chaplain, Bernice, La. Executive Committee—W. S. Mil ler, chairman, Lake Creek, Texas; W. 0. Morris, secretary, Sulligent, Ala.: Jas. Butler, Topeka, Kan.; Campbell Russell, Russell, I. T.; I. N. McAllister, Many, La. STATE OFFICERS. Georgia —11. F. Duckworth, Presi dent, Thomaston, Ga.*, R. L. Barron, Sec.-Treas., Hendrix, Ga. Alabama—l. A. Worley Pres., Guin, Ala.; E. J. Cook, Sec.-Treas., Pell City, Ala. Arkansas—J. B. Lewis, Pres., Jonesboro, Ark.; Ben L. Griffin, Sec.- Treas., Conway, Ark. Indiahoma—J. A. West, Pres., Shawnee, 0. T.; B. C. Hanson, Sec.- Treas., Shawnee, 0. T. Louisiana—L. N. Holmes, Pres., Bernice, La.; J. W. Boyett, Jr., Sec.- iTeas., Tanhill, La. Mississippi—J. M. Bass, Pres., Ha zlehurst, Miss.; G. W. Russell, Se«- Treas., Hazlehurst, Miss. Tennessee —J. E. Montgomery, Pres., Greenfield, Tenn.; J. T. Brooks, Sec.-Treas., Atwood, Tenn. Texas—E. A. Calvin, Pres., Dallas, Texas; B. F. Chapman Sec.-Treas, Dallas, Texas. South Carolina—o. P. Goodwin, Pres., Anderson, S. C.; B. F. Earl, Sec.-Treas., Anderson, S. C. THE WAY IT GROWS. —J. C. Stribling, of Pendleton, S. C , writing for the Barnesville (Ga.) Un ion News says: “The south will also take her proper position as the master of the cotton trade so soon as her cotton producers and other occupations in the south come to know that we must come to gether as a unit on cotton. Then we can control the cotton situation against the world if we can induce cotton growers to raise their own food for both man and beast as far as possible. “Our cotton growers will have done quite a big thing for themselves and the south when they have complete control over their own affairs. “Our own farming business when done in a businesslike manner should give us our full measure of profits without our meddling with other tradesmen’s affairs that do not block our progress. That disposition to mix our farming business with politics ami other things not in our way is the dose that killed the alliance.” —T. M. Odom, of Campbell county, Ga., says:- “1 am satisfied the union is the best thing for the farmer that has been on earth. There are a few good union men in this county but 1 am afraid they are scattering. We need a good organizer here.” —President R. F. Duckworth of the state union, and editor of the Union News, knows what he is talking about when he says: “This is going to be a year for hard lighting; all kinds of schemes will be laid to catch the farmer. “Such men as ‘Joe’ Hoadley will pro pose (during the spring) to finance this fall’s cotton crop. “The thing, that worries us so is to think that some of our farmers are green -enough to be caught in his trap. “Yes, he will claim to be a friend of the farmers, why not? He and his cohorts could afford to spend ten million of dollars to get the farmers demoralized this year. “Their first plan is to get the farm ers to plant everything in cotton so that enough of it will be forced on the market to enable them to hammer the price down. “Will the southern farmer walk into this trap? The Union News is going to do all it can to keep them from it. “Plant peas, corn, sow oats, let some of your land rest, don’t plant it all in cotton.” —From Montgomery county, Ga., comes cheerful intelligence, through the Union News, from J. M. D. Eth ridge, vice president of the local union, lie says: “We have twenty members; but I think it will grow rapidly now. It seems as if the people are just now beginning to take an interest. 1 can hear the people around here talking up for the union, saying that they are going to come in with us soon; and I think they will.” —The District Union of White coun ty, Ark., will have a warehouse ready for the coming crop. —There are over 900 members of the F. E. and C. U. of A. in Lawrence county, Ark., and they are discussing the warehouse proposition, and if Al vie Dillin’s advice is taken they will be independent of commission men and local cotton buyers, by building a ware house to store their cotton. —W. 11. Entrikin, of Bethel union. Miller, Miss., is writing “good stuff” and giving sage advice in the Co-Oper. ator and Farm Journal. —Hollis Local Union of Texas has resolved not to sell any cotton seed for less than sls per ton and if ev ery union in the cotton growing states would set their price and stick to J the mills would pay it. —J. E. Rankin, of Aberdeen, Miss., says: “Leave politics alone, we are not a political party, and should, as a body, abstain from even so much as a discussion of partisan politics.” As Mississippi is now entering a political campaign the advice should be heeded and thereby prevent the fate of the Alliance. —S. D. Phillips, of Madden, Miss., expects the union to derive much bene fit from local unions meeting together and the interchanging of ideas on such occasions. —The Madison (Texas) County Un ion is a hummer. It owns its ware house, got 11 cents for cotton and ex pects to sell the 1907 crop to the spin ner. Such men as J. E. Sloan know how to encourage the boys. —The local union at Beaverdam is progressing rapidly, and G. W. Touch stone says, they don’t intend the spec ulator shall sit in the shade and eat the bread the farmer toils for without paying for the toil. —All the members of Clair Valley THE WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. union, Ark., who had backbone to stick to the minimum price got 11 cents for their cotton, so says Josh Nel son, who is wide awake to everything that will advance the interest of the union. —The Winton county, Ala., local union is one of the liveliest unions in the state and S. P. Hanson will keep it alive if any one can. —President E. A. Calvin of the Tex as union is a live wire. When he drops into a town there is something doing and when he drops into a dis trict or county union good bye to carpers and kickers. Rubber goods won’t save them. —“Some men’s heads are longer than they are wide, while some men’s heads are wider than they are long, and there are some other men’s heads that are neither, but just like an old time black bottle with a hollow space in the bottom of it, consequently you can never get it full. If you fill it at the mouth the hollow at the bottom is empty, and if you turn it over to fill the hollow, what you have put in it runs out. So you see you can’t satis fy everybody,” says “Old Dick” (B. R. Carter) speaking of things in Polk county, Ark., and of the men who know it all. —Bob Nelms, of Brookland, Ark., says local union of Antioch is “on a boom, and never, prior to the present time, have the farmers been stirred up as they are now. They have dtermined to make 1907 the banner year of the farmers’ union, and to make the spec ulator hunt his hole.” —The district union of Yell county, Ark., has built a warehouse at Riley, Ark., which is full of cotton and noth ing under 11 cents can move it. A co-operative store with $2,500 stock of goods has been opened at Havana, and Dave Broaddrick says the prospects are that every farmer, worth having, will unite with the union—those who expect to get everything and give nothing will be weeded out, you see. —W. E. Beasley, of Austin, Ark., says: “There is not a farmer in reach of Camp Grand local union who is not a member of the union, they have built a warehouse at Cabot and stored their cotton.” What a valuable exam ple these Arkansas farmer unions are setting for their Georgia brethren. —Georgia farmers, listen at this from T. J. Johnson, of Baldwin, Miss.: “We will never let the fires slow down so that we have to blow the sparks to start them afresh. Our county trade agent delivered two carloads of flour last week and we are all now supply ing our tables with union flour, sugar and coffee.” —A. J. Dunn, of Farmersville, Texas, says: “I have stored all my cotton in the farmers’ union warehouse to stay there till I get 11 cents.” Suppose ev ery cotton raiser in the south should, in 1907, follow this example, cotton would easily bring 15 cents. —According to Charlie Cooper, of Monroe City, Indiana, the farmers of his state suffer as much from the speculator as the cotton farmers do and his people are willing to contrib ute their best efforts to rid the coun try of the vermin. Why can’t the farmers’ union unite the west and south? Their interests are identical. —“I am a boy only 14, and live and work on a farm” says I. L. Taylor, of Wheatly, Ark., in the Co-Operator and Farm Journal. “I read in history that 200 boys, cadets at the Virginia Mili tary Institute, during the late war, went into battle, with a courage that knew no faltering, charged and fought mid withering fire driving the enemy before them and winning the victory for General Breckenridge. We farmer boys are enlisted for this fight, and like those matchless southern lads nev er intend to halt until the battle is won. Under the leadership of our National President C. S. Barrett, we are going to drive the speculating horde off the field and plant the flag of Golden Rule above the ramparts of Greed and Graft, to float over the fallen walls and broken ruins of every speculator stronghold in all the coun try.” What an inspiration this noble boy’s enthusiasm should be to every weak-kneed adult who carpingly cries “The farmers can’t do anything be cause they won’t stick together.” —ls S. O. Broussard is not greatly misled by the 62 members of his Iccal union Bodoc, La., will store the cotton crop of 1907 in the farmers’ union ware house. So may it be throughout the cotton belt. —President J. B. Lewis will meet with the county union of Garland coun ty, Ark., at Myers March 7th, when the organization of a stock company will be considered. The farmers of Ar kansas are not negligent of the advant ages of the farmers’ union. —The Farmers’ Union State Central Warehouse has been completed at Winnfield, La., and opened for busi ness. The local banks have agreed to advance two-thirds the value of all cot ton stored at 8 per cent per annum. A. P. Collins is president and J. E. Croker, Secretary. —The farmers of Texas mean busi ness. They are now building ware houses throughout the state sufficient to store 6,000,000 bales of cotton. In addition to this they contemplate a great number of cotton mills to spin their cotton. The plan advanced to build the cotton mills is the co-opera tive plan: Every time a farmer sells a bale of cotton he deposits one dollar, for which he gets one share of stock; said stock is subject to transfer and negotiation at any time; to this fund is added local subscriptions from com munities who compete for the location of the mills; to this is added subscrip tions of local investors. Some farmers are subscribing from SSOO to SI,OOO thus showing their faith. And all of this home rule, progress .and interprise must be credited to the Farmers’ Edu cational and Co-operative Union of America. Wake up, Georgia farmers. —A number of local unions have been organized in Crisp county, Ga., and the farmers’ union will have cause to be proud of its Crisp county con stituency. —Elbert county, Ga., farmers are getting interested in the farmers’ movement. Thos. L. Johnson, Middle ton, Ga., secretary and treasurer of the Elbert county union, says: “The time has come for the farmer td get a move on himself, in his own ranks, among his own class. If cats and rats are put in the same cage the cats will surely destroy the rats, and if bankers, merchants and cotton spec ulators are tied up in an organization a like fate awaits the farmer. No, boys, you can’t bring them togeth er and expect the farmer to get his rights. Oil and water will mix when ever the speculator, the spinner and the cotton producer can make their respective interests harmonize.”