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stands firm. He is the colossus of the cotton world. His effort to secure a just and equitable price for his property is right and reasonable. In his fight to protect the product of his toil, he has, with insignificant exception, the sympathy of the whole world. If he yields; if he is intimidated or bul lied or coerced into relinquishing his property; if he agrees to accept for it a lower price than its worth, he has only himself to blame. If the farmers who hold cotton de cline to sell at the price the man who owns no cotton quotes to a purchaser on the cotton exchange, the exchange gambler and the world will have to come to the farmer’s price. When the farmer sells, he has the goods to deliver. When the specu lator sells, he hopes to be able to buy cotton at a lower sgice than the one he quotes in order to complete his trade. All must come at last to the actual producer—the cotton farmer. He holds the key to the situation. He possesses the goods which the world demands. If he will recognize the futility of exchange made prices, re fuse to be bound by them, learn how the prices of his commodities are juggled and realize that the man who sells what he does not possess is not in any respect in his position, he will continue to stand firm. Even the cotton speculator who has sold “futures” must eventually become a purchaser. That the farmers of the south will stand like a rock wall against these onslaughts upon their property and their living, there seems /to be no present reason to doubt. They have learned the lessons of experience and they are going to profit by them. —Atlanta Constitu tion. COTTON GROWERS AND SPEC ULATOR. Because the first three frosts of the cotton year were not destructive, the cotton speculators proceeded to mark down contracts from 20 to 30 points, and in New York spot cot> ton, middling was quoted down 25 points. Middling cotton is now sell ing close to 11 cents —too close to admit of the payment of that sum at the farm or nearest shipping sta tion. The fight between the cotton grow er and the speculator has begun, and behind the speculator stands the eastern or foreign spinner. The spec ulator arjd the foreign spiner are. try ing to rob the cotton farmer of legit imate profit. They want all the prof its that the staple affords, and if they can keep the farmer financial ly weak and dependent they will be especially gratified. For that means that he cannot accumulate a surplus, and if he cannot build up a surplus he will continue to be the football year after yepr of the speculator and spinner. The farmer should have the sup port of all interests in the south in this critical stage of the price-mak ing period. The home bank, the home supply house, the insurance agents and all other homo agencies with whom the farmer deals should extend to him all possible support while he is conducting a hard fight with the speculator and spinner. The slow marketing of cotton is essential, and those who can hold even a single bale will aid all growers to obtain a fair and reasonable price for their cotton. The holding and warehousing of cotton at this season of the year is the farmer’s best line of defense, and every friend he has should come to his aid at this stage of the cot ton year.—Age-Herald. MRS. ROSE PASTOR STOKES ON LABOR PROBLEM. How shall we solve the problem of - poverty among the working men and working women! Give to the workers the full value of the product of their labor; in oth er words, promote economic justice. There are about 80,000,000 people in America; 70,000,000 of these 80.000,- 000 constitute the working class, and by working class I mean the class which produces all wealth, from Presidents and Managers of great in dustries to those working as unskilled laborers for the lowest wage. The rest of the 80,000,000 compose what may be called the mere capital ist class; those who, through monop olization of the land and machinery of production, without access to which the other 70,000,000 cannot live, are able to live in idleness and luxury on the produce of the workers’ toil-, while the workers,jthus despoiled, live in poverty and partial slavery. Os all the new wealth created each year the majority of the wealth pro ducers receive but a bare subsistence wage, while the idlers spend the workers* wealth in palaces, yachts, fine clothes and endless luxuries. There are thousands and scores of thousands of people in America who work hard both mentally and physi cally exploiting other men’s labor, and believe they are entitled to all they manage to take; such as spec ulators in stocks, lands or any hu man necessity. The burglar works quite as hard mentally and physieallv in planning the housebreaking and carrying out his plan; for it must be no slight mental strain to plan the best ways of getting into a house at night or to fix upon a house; and no slight phy sical exertion to do away with the resistance cf intricate locks and alarm-ariving glass windows. A man’s physical being must be taxed to the utmost to gather together the silver and other valuables after he has broken into the house ; and to make his escape. He never dreams of ar guing that he works hard, and should therefore be entitled to the silver. Besides taking away from him what he got through much hard la bor, we lock him up. Society recog nizes the parasitism of the house breaker in spite of all his bard work; but in the case of the other burglar— the speculator—though public senti ment is growing apace in that direc tion, we have not vet come to see clearly that, though between the two there may be difference in kind, there is far less difference in degree than is commonly supposed. * Superficial reform movements have proved unable to cope with the prob lem. The doling, out of alms to the poor through charities is proving not only futile so far as the. problem of the poor is concerned, but wften harmful as well. Not only does the money-powerful part of society create poverty, but after making the poor, it also, through WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. its charities, robs them of self-re spect by causing the poor to believe that they are getting something for nothing. Very harming are also these “charities” of the rich, because, by their attitude, they blind the people to the real causes of poverty. The fact that women in the upper classes, with few exceptions, do not know that the wealth they receive is creat ed by labor, does not make it less de plorable that in returning through “charities” a. little of that wealth to the working people, they believe themselves to be rendering a real ser vice to the community. Dividends and other forms of unearned profits can be put to greatest usefulness to day only by being used in aid of such causes as have for their aim and purpose the searching out and eradication of that injustice in so ciety, which makes possible dividends and other forms of unearned prof its. THE PEOPLE VICE TRUST AND CORPORATIVE RULE. The last decade has proven con clusively that the people will never be able to throw off the yoke of tyrannical, oppressive and despoiling misrule of the trusts and privileged corporations, unless they (the people) unite. By people, I mean those that honestly and faithfully respect and abide by just laws; that desire and advocate equal justice, liberty and opportunites for all, but special priv ileges to none. The people have been deceived and misled so often, that they are filled with distrust, and almost discourag ed; and in time have become scat tered in numerous, practically, in significant and impotent squads, that it would seem to require, almost, a miracle to ever get them together again; which is absolutely necessary. Who is to bring this about! The leaders of the different reform fac tions must do it. They must first unite or agree with each other. They must shelve or table, for the time being, every blessed principle, no matter how good or desirable, upon which they are not practically a unit. They must realize fully that, “The welfare of the people is the highest law.” They must exercise the high est order of manhood, patriotism and self-denial. They must put aside even the last vestige of personal or party consideration. They must con sider that the next campaign may mean the last stand of freemen; that a victory of the present ruling power may sweep away forever even the least semblance of a government by, cf, and for the people. Alas! I am only an insignificant member of that great mass, referred to, sometimes, as The Common Herd, and yet, I dare say, that in 19C-8 the candidacy for any important office, at the hands of any of the reform factions, will carry with it a mighty fearful responsibility; yea! the can didates may bring down upon them selves the curses, instead of bless ings, of generations to come. May I be pardoned for naming three men among the reformers, who stand most prominent before the peo ple, and vho could and should take the initiative toward bringing about that grand, desirable, necessary and praiseworthy union of, practically, all the reform leaders and the peo- ple! Indeed, I am firmly convinced their efferl& would be crowned with success. Those, men are Wm. J. Bry an, Wm. R. Hearst and Thomas E. Watson. Will they do it! Tn be half of the people; yea! by all that is good and holy, I implore them to do it. Once upon a time someone said (I forget who), “I would rather be right than to be president.” God grant those three men that kind of a spirit. Surely, it will be far no bler, more honorable and praisewor thy, to be instrumental in bringing about the union of the people than being the candidate of any faction. It is truly said, “Where there’s a will, there’s away.” Surely, an honest and earnest will should not be wanting in any cf the reform lead ers : provided they are honest and sincere friends of the people. Aa to • the way, I am clear in my mind how that glorious, desirable, praiseworthy, and positively necessary union of the leaders and the people could and should be accomplished; but will de fer it for some other time, as I am not sure that even this, my little say, will ever see daylight, That is, be published. As to myself, I do not seek not|»- riety, honor, office, or money; but, with all my heart and soul, I pray for and desire to see the people at last united and win in order to es tablish and perpetuate (which, in fact, we have never had) a govern ment by, of, and for the people. DIXIT. PREDATORY AND PRODUCTIVE WEALTH. (Charles Emory Smith, Before Am erican Bankers’ Association, Septem ber 24.) There is a predatory wealth and there is productive wealth—the wealth that preys like a cormorant <>n the vitals of the people, and the wealth that develops resources and employs labor and builds up indus try. The country is tired of the mul ti-millionaires, who swell their ill gotten fortunes .in the unscrupulous exercise of corporate power to palm off paper values for solid worth or who flaunt their ostentatious wealth in tawdry display or in worse mor als. But it ought to have only ap probation for the thousands of rich men, rich in purpose as well as in purse, who honorably employ their wealth in a manner which hurts no body and helps wherever it reaches. The captains of industry, the chieftains of railroads and the mas ters of markets are placed in posi tions where they exercise a poten tial, almost a controlling, influ ence for the weal or woe of the land.d They can appease pub lic feeling or they can excite it They can make content or they can make discontent. They can establish and preserve the conditions of prosperity or they can prolong the agitation and magnify the menaces - which disturb confidence and produce disquiet It is for them to administer their great trusts in obedience to law, in the spirit of justice, in what in the long run is equally for the interest of their stockholders and of the public, and thus they will promote mutual respect, good understanding and gen eral business tranquillity and assur ance. PAGE SEVEN