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COTTON WAREHOUSING /15 A SPECULATION
Harvie Jordan, president of the
Southern Cotton Association, is in
many respects a most remarkable man.
That he is endowed with abilities
of high order there can be no ques
tion, while his energies are tireless
and his activities sleepless. It will
be readily seen, therefore, what a
valuable man he would be to his fel
lows throughout the length and
breadth of the land if those splendid
qualities which he possesses so lib
erally could only be confined within
legitimate channels of usefulness. It
does not seem possible, however, for
him to keep out of the toils of schem
ers, or to hold in check those prompt
ings of his inner consciousness that
are so constantly leading into the
most glaring of inconsistencies and
paths of danger and disaster to his
blinded followers.
For many months Mr. Jordan has
been posing before the country at
large as the one and only Apostle of
Vengeance who had received a “call”
to wipe out cotton speculators and
those gamblers in futures who w r ere
robbing the cotton producer of the
fruit of his most arduous toil.
In very truth, Mr. Jordan’s right
eous indignation in behalf of the suf
fering public has impelled him to wage
an unrelenting warfare against these
classes, and he has smote them, “hip
and thigh,” and carried on such a vig
orous campaign in that cause, that he
has succeeded in getting laws passed
against them all over the south.
These glorious achievements were
rapidly placing him in the list of
those who were to occupy in the fu
ture a niche in the Temple of Fame,
for he j Is being enthroned in the
hearts >- -grateful parents whose noble
sons wefisSbeing thus snatched from
the grasp oV&the relentless Demon of
Chance w’ho was ruining so many of
the young men of the south. And
then, like Alexander of old, when he
had overcome these doughty warriors
of the bucket shops, he sought others
more worthy of his steel, and these
he found in that great fountain-head
of all the cotton gamblers—the New
York Cotton Exchange. He went for
these with such courage and skill that
many believed he would likewise put
these horse du combat, as being only
common swindlers and hence not enti
tled to the use of Uncle Sam’s mail.
Oh, yes, Mr. Jordan is indeed a most
wonderful man! It is really too ba4
that his marvelous abilities should
ever be perverted or permitted to be
exercised in other than useful and ben
ificent channels! What a leader he
could become for the poor benighted
cotton farmers who so much need his
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WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
An Old Scheme in a Nelv Dress. 'Reasons Why
It Should Not Succeed.
(The Tradesman, May I, 1Q07.)
services; but it has become a ques
tion in many directions whether he
can serve these without lending him
self to the designs of schemers and
speculators, as the following facts will
indicate.
Just consider for a moment those
policies which he aided in fastening
on the cotton farmers that permitted
the marketing of a large portion of the
crop of 1905 at medium prices and
then playing into the hands of specula
tors for higher prices when the farm
ers had parted with their product.
Why, it was one of the most notorious
of these speculators, and the very
chief of “hot air artists” in America,
who boldly and publicly proclaimed his
admiration of Harvie Jordan, so much
so that he said he had “given him $20,-
000 for his plan to buy up cotton for
higher prices.” This was at the meeting
of the Southern Cotton Association
held in Birmingham in January last.
Does any cotton farmer know the
result of that “deal”? Did any of the
profits go into the treasury of the
Southern Cotton Association for which
Mr. Jordan was presumed to be act
ing? Oh, no —for that association was
so near bankrupt that Mr. Jordan
would not consent to accept renomina
tion unless it was better financed! -
Then, again, it will be recalled how
Mr. Jordan fell into the hands of a
set of stock jobbers in Philadelphia
last year, and how he announced with
a great flourish of printer’s ink that he
had a “$15,000,000” company, with him
self at the head of it, w’hich was going
to build mills all over the south for
making paper out of cotton stalks
and that many of those mills would
be in successful operation by January
1, 1907. But none of those mills has
as yet been erected, because The
Tradesman is read by the business
men of the south, and it gave away
his little game, which was to unload
this stock on those localities which
bit at his mill scheme.
But now comes his crowning scheme!
Verily “the ghost will not down,” for
his sleepless activities must be in
eruption or the machine "would “bust.”
At this writing he is in Birmingham
for the purpose of establishing there a
great “system” of warehouses that
would have one parent “stock” there
with “branches” all over the south.
The cotton of the farmers is to be
stored in these warehouses, and for
which they are to be given “warrants,”
or certificates.
Mr. Jordan says these warrants or
certificates could be “traded in,” and
that would tend to do “away with cot
ton futures” ! ! !
This scheme had been made so at
tractive to some of the most promi
nent of his follovrers that they are
trying to form a great Southern Cot
ton Exchange to deal in these war
rants. And while Mr. Jordan disclaims
that he is aiding this latter scheme,
yet it comes from some of his closest
associates, and these have so worked
on the well known local pride of Bir
mingham that it is made to appear all
the cities of the south will swell with
envy over the good fortune of the
Magic City, since this plan, coupled
with Mr. Jordan's "warehouse “sys
tem,” will give Birmingham control
over the cotton trade of the south!
And again is Colonel Mulberry Sellers
outdone in the visions of the “mil
lions” that will be in it for Birming
ham!
But there have been many, many
such schemes in the past to control
the cotton crop of the south and they
didn’t work, nor will this one. Daniel
Sully tried one of these to his sorrow,
and Mr. Jordan himself has now had
some experience along this line, and
no one should know better than him
self that it won’t work.
The Tradesman endorsed in 1905 the
only warehouse plan that seems feasi
ble or desirable, and that was known
as the “Waco” plan, and this is now
in successful operation all over Texas.
Under that plan the farmer needs no
one to help him except his local bank
er. He puts his cotton in his own
warehouse, under his own control, and
that is the best collateral he can give
for any loans he may require—better
than any kind of a “warrant”—and
then he can sell as suits him and to
the manufacturer direct if he wishes.
That plan is well established. It is
very simple and very efficient. The
Jordan plan cannot improve on or su
persede it, because it is not in the
real interest of the farmer, but it is an
other form for promoting gambling,
the very thing Mr. Jordan is fighting.
Os course, if there is “trading” in
these warrants, there must be incen
tives for “profits,” and it is this that
underlies all forms of gambling. Then,
again, this plan possesses all the es
sential features of an unlawful “trust,”
since it seeks to control, through that
“system.” the price of cotton, and if
that would not be a combination in
“restraint of trade,” what would it be?
The thing won’t work. Mr. Jordan
has been playing Birmingham against
Atlanta, and this is so transparent that
it is astonishing the fact seems to be
overlooked at the Birmingham end.
Some of the methods which this mod
ern Mogul of Finance uses to exploit
his schemes are so patent on their
face that they would be extremely
ludicrous if they were not so danger
ous.
It might be suggested to the friends
of Mr. Jordan that they extract from
him the taint of “exaggerated ego,”
with which he seems to be touched,
and then his splendid abilities may be
possible of utilization in legitimate
channels.
AND NOW FOR DOLLAR WHEAT.
(The Union Farmer.)
The F. E. and C. U. of A., at its Na
tional Convention in Texarkana, last
September, established prices on farm
products, which prices the Union in
tends to help its members to secure.
The price placed on wheat is to be
not less than one dollar per bushel.
The Unioa is now rapidly spreading
into the grain-growing states of Illi
nois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Ne
braska, etc.
Now, let us resolve to have one dol
lar per bushel for our wheat this very
year. Send in your statistics right
away, and let us make arrangements
to hold for this price. Let us double
our membership by the first of July,
when early threshing will begin.
Learn how many farmers, both in and
out of the Union, can and will hold
for the minimum price. The editor
recommended doing this kind of work
through the Union by means of a
price committee as early as May, 1901.
If anyone in America ever advocated
the plan earlier than that, we have
not yet heard of it. But, no matter
who advocated it at first, it is the
right plan, and is now very popular.
JOE’S SOUTHERN STRENGTH.
(The Chattanooga Times.)
It has been decided not to use a
Foraker button in the south. Obvious
ly the senator is moved by a consider
ation for the fitness of things. His
button would probably be worn by the
one class of Republicans who do not
vote much in this section.
IT SURELY WOULD!
(The Birmingham News.)
If a few pistol-toters who enjoy the
reputation of being respectable when
they are not using their weapons were
sentenced to jail for about three
months each and required to serve
their terms it would help some.
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