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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 JOHN A. STEWART COKE & DAVIJ STEWART & DAVIS Life, Accident, Casualty and Surety Insurance 504-5 6 PRUDENTIAL BUILDING, .... ATLANTA. GEORGIA MANAGERS: THE MARYLAND LIFE INSURANCE CO., of Baltimore; THE GENERAL ACCIDENT, of Perth, Scotland; THE METROPOLITAN SURETY CO., of New York. Live Agents in Georgia cities and towns can increase their writing capacity and earnings by communicating with us. Special Inducements Offered First-Class Men- 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. PAGE ELEVEN