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O L L IR S. RT VOL. XL II. NO. 49 NEWBERRY. S. C., T-UESDAY MARCH 21, 1905PD.. TWICE A WE. 15A IV0. H. I MANNING 1ADE STRONG ADDRESS URGED COTTON PLANTERS TO SIGN PLEDGE. Largely Attended Mass Meeting of Farmers and Business Men of Newberry County. State Senator Richard I. Manning, of Sumter, delivered a strong and ear nest address to the cotton planters and busine'ss men of the county, at a mass meeting held in the court house on Saturday morning, under the call oi the Southern Cotton association of Newberry county. The meeting was well attended by farmers and busi ness men representing nearly every section of the county. Senator Man ning is an able speaker and his argu ments were forcibly presented. He received the close and undivided at tention of every one present, and it was the unanimous opinion of those who heard 'him that an address of such force can not but work for good in the movement in which Senator Manning has shown himself so deep ly interested, and which, if success ful, as it ought to be and will be if the cotton planters stand by an organiza tion which seeks their welfare, means so much to the southland. Reports as to Pledges. Previous to the mass meeting the executive committee met and receiv ed reports from those appointed to canvass the county for pledges from the cotton pla,iters to reduce the acreage and :he consumption of fer tilizers twenty-five per cent. Mr. J. A. Sligh, the secretary of the county association, stated after Senator Man ning's address t'hat the committee had decided to extend the time for signing ,ges to the first Monday in April, at which time the committee would meet to hear further reports. Mr. Sligh stated that the reports which t'he committee had received were encouraging, but that not as many pledges had been signed as the ..ommittee thought would be signed if further time was granted for pre senting the mater to the cotton plan ters, and hence the extension of time. Mr. Sligh strongly urged those hav ing the matter in charge to exert best energies in securing pldges, committee, at its 1 st MIonday in April, --1K like very much to receive re ports from every section of the coun ty stating that the pledge had been generally signed by the cotton plan ters. Senator Manning's Address. President R. T. C. Hunter, of the county association, presided over the mass meetinz and introduced Sena M-Aanning. Mr. Manning urged the farmers to sign the pledge requisite for mem bership in the Cotton Growers' asso ciation. He felt this movement meant a great deal for the weal or the woe of the south. He knew, there .;ere Giftieuhties in thc way of uniting on any plan whic:h would appeal to~ all the cotton planters as just and fair. He said he had the honor of 'teing 2 member of the committee on rsTktis:s in the state convention, and he spoke of the great number of plans presented to that committee After fully discussing the matter the commijttee felt if it deviated from the plan of the New Orleans convention the impression would go out to the wvorldl that the farmers were divided among themselves, arnd thati: -ion won!dlc have been disastrous to the whole movement. With this in view, the convention felt the only safe thing to do was to fall in line lh the action of the New Orleans convention. The state convention realized that there were many far :ners who now only planted a small acreage in cotton, and that the plan aopedA by the convention would work 'hardship upon some. But what stared the south in the face? Produtcion -and Consumption. In 1904 the figures gave the south 32,000,000 acres planted in cotton. The yield last year from these 32, ooo.ooo acres was more than 13,000, ooo bales. Everybody remembered the disastrous drop in the price of cotton when it became' known C the yield exceeded the consumption by about 2,ooo,ooo bales. The con sumption was about eleven and a half million bales. If the south planted a full acreage again it would make more than enough for consumption, and this excess, added to the surplus of last year, would mak'e a burden whic'h he did not believe the south could bear. If the farmer couln't pay his debts out of his crop, t' merchants, the banker and all busi ness and every industry suffered. Many Solutions Suggested. There were a good many plans talked about and many sources -sug gested from which the farmers should look for relief. He referred to the tariff question, the question of the de velopment of foreign markets, the question of establishing warehouses so as to market the crop slowly and judiciously all of which were of im portance, but questions which could not be solved in a day. The que?tion of warehouses was second in impor tance only to a reduction in acreage. But time was necessary to perfect and to carry out this idea. Reduction of Vital Importance Now. But if the question of acreage was delayed 6o days the crop would have been planted and no one was going to throw away any cotton after it was grown. So that a reduction in acre age-a radica~. reduction-was the crust of tA,c whole matter, and he did not believe a twenty-five per cent. re duction was one iota too muc-h. If the farmers failed to make a radical reduction, no sooner would it be known than the steady decline in price would continue. The importance of this matter, Sen ator Manning said, he believed to be vital even if it required a sacrifice, he believed the reward which would come not only this year, but in the years to come, would be greater than even the most sanguine dreamed of. If the movement was successful he believed it would bring a yearly pros perity, making the south independent. If the proposed reduction was made the acreage would be reduced to about 24,000,000 acres, which would yield between 9.0oo,ooo and 10,0oo,000 bales. The 2,000,006 surplus from 1904 would give between 1I,000,0o0 and 12,ooo,oo0 bales to be marketed during the coming season. This would be about the consumption, and there would be a demand for cotton such as the south had scarcely ever seen. He. felt constrained to adopt the idea that there was only one side to this question and the thing for the farmers to do was to sign the pledges a'ad let it be known t'hat they were united and had the solid backing of every indus:ry of every business and of every profession in the south. Diversification of Crops. The advantage in diversification would be almost as great, though not as immediate, as the advantage in a reduction in acreage. The Southern farmers would not only he indepen dent of the crops of other sections, but diversification would work a great improvement in Sout-hern lands, because it would prepare the lands for a quicker rotation of c,ps. The whole matter amounted to this. A reduc:ion in acreage would mean an increase in profits. Failure to reduce wvould mean cotton grownu at a price belowv the actual cost of production. He believed it the duty of every man to do what he could to aid the move ment for a reduction. Fertilizer Movement Not Ala:rming, Senator Manning stressed the point fertilizers ought not to discourage the cotton planters in their efforts for a twenty-five per cent. reduction in acreage. With the view which he took of the matter, he said, they ought to be encouraged by it. He believed the present active movement was due to the large grain crop which it was pro posed to raise in the south this year. The farmers always fertilized their grain crop heavily and he believed this the cause of the present active movement of fertilizers. Profit Better Than Loss. Continuing, Senator Manning said surely it was better to work eight acres at a profit than twelve acres at a loss. Just as soon as it was known this movement was going to be successful, he believed that every question con nected with the cotton situation would settle itself.. If this organiza tion was not gone into by the far mers -he did not believe that in the life time of thisgenerationthere would be a good opportunity to carry it to a s.uccessful end. There had never been a time when the farmers were as unanimous, when the interests of the entire southland, town and coun try, merchant, mill man and farmer, were united. In all earnestness, if this matter was allowed to fail now, he believed that "we had iust as well throw up our hands and surrender to the powers that have heretofore con trolled the situation." Senator Man ning closed with a strong appeal to the farmers that "you will not fail in :his duty of the hour." THEY DO NOT RETRACT. The Editors of the Barnwell Sen tinel Stand By Their Ed itorial. News and Courier. When the intention of . Chairman H. H. Evans, of the state board of control, to prosecute the editors of the Barnwell Sentinel on the charge or libel was printed in th,: Columbia corresponderv., ri The y ew and' Coi-rier a re.gest was ma'- through 1 the Barnwell ear:espondent of The News and Courier for a statement on the part of 4he editors of the Senti nel. The following has been Aceiv ed from Barnwell: Barnwell, March 8.-When seen by your correspondent Messrs. Mar shall Moore and R. Boyd Cole, the editors oi 11e Barnwell Sentinel, said in reply to the article published jin The News andl Courier, that Mr. Evans sent his attorney here to con fer with them in regard to the Senti-1 nev editorial and that they inform ed Mr. Elliott they had nothing to retract. T'hey claim that the Colum bia correspondent, in quoting only a part of the editorial, left the impres sion that the mention of Evans in that connection was unwarranted. The complete article is as follows: A Unique Case-Supplement No. i. The Sunday night sermon of the Rev. J. L. Harley was one Ip11 of practical thought and interest for the people of Barnwell. His subject, "Evil in Power is Tyrannical," car ries with it a volume of thought and application. The purpose of this edi torial, however, is not to comment .on the entire sermon of the Methodist minister, but on one statement in the discourse, wvhich is news not only to Barnwell county, but to the state ofI South Carolina. We call it news; it: may not be new to some people in < the state, vet we trust will neveri grow so old and out of date as not to be commented on.C In commenting upon the tyranny evil exercises upon men in public life, Mr. Harley had occasion to refer to an incident of the last legislature, in which the senator from Barnwell county was the hero. It is stated on good authority that while the Toole bill was pending, one Hub Evans, of dispensary fame, approached George H. Baes senator from Barnwell1 county, and invited him to attend his box party at the theatre. Mr. Bates replied. "Excuse me, sir, I cannot ac cept any courtesies from you." Mr. Harely added that the Evans box was filled with 2X legislators. This is an incident of no weak im port. The answer of Sei-ator Bates to the professional lobbyist has a golden ring about it and sounds much like the seats of our legislature are being filled with men. Truly Hol land reminds us of the time in which 1 we live. God give us men a time like this de mands, Y .| Strong minds. great hearts, true faith. and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office can not buy. 1 Men who have opinion and a will, Men who have honor, men who will t not lie. Nlen who stand before a demagogue, And damn his treacherous flatter ies without winking. Tall men, sun crowned, who rise above the fog, In public duty and in private think ing." r Is Evans to rule South Carolina t with a salary of $400. when many a I oor devil with $6oo or $700 has to cratch for hungry mouths? Ye econ )mists, if ye will tell us how a man an give box parties, keep daughters it college and be drawn around the ;treets of Rock Hill in a coach and )air on the pitiful sum of $400 per innum. There is something rotten n the state of South Carolina and t t reeks from Columbia to Barnwell. Since the matter has been mooted n Barnwell the Sentinel 'has been of ered all the free counsel they want, id many business men have said :hat the suit shall not cost the editors ; i cent. Mr. Evans attempted to em- 1 ;oy prominent lawyers here, but :hey refused to take the case. The Barnwell Sentinel, formerly dited by Clarence L. Brown, is now )wned and published by the Barn iell Publising and Advertising com )any, an organization of business men >f Barnwell county, banded for the >urpo?e of building up the farming ; d trucking interests of this sec i0n. The Columbia correspondent of The News and Courier explains the1 act that the entire editorial was not eproduced in his dispatch of March 4 as followvs: With reference to the special from Barnwell relative to the libel suit o~f Vr. H. H. Evans against the editors f the Barnwell Sentinel: It 'is only fair to state that the entire article was not available and that the para ~raph quoted was what had been pub ished in county papers and seemed to >e the special occasion for the suit. The entire article as quoted above would gladly have been published as iving the reason for the suit and what was used was simply to show :he basis for the action. Mr. William Elliott, Jr., who rep -esents Mr. Evans, today stated that t was entirely incorrect to say that ny lawyer at the Barnwell bar hadt efused to act in the case. He had >een in Barnwell and the only law ger he asked to be associated in thet :ase had accepted, and he understood hat the editors of the Barnwell Sen :el had regularly employed their :ounsel and that there was no grat itous service about the matter. \r. Elliott s:ated that he had been :he only one to visit Barnwell about :he case and certainly no lawyeri :here refused to go into the case, to xhomn such an offer had been made. i Mr. Elliott was busily engaged in1 :he United States court today, but ;tated that the warrant for criminal< ibe woul be lodged within the nex? TO MEET IN SUMTER. Dispensary Investigating Committee To Hold Session in That City On Wednesday. It was learned yesterday that the iext session of the dispensary inves, igating committee will be held in ;umter, on Wednesday afternoon of his week. 4EWS & COURIER ENTERPRISE Big New Press Order and New Building Erected. lorence Daily Times. It is understood that The News and ourier company has closed a con ract for a new Hoe press, which will >rint, when occasion demands, twen y four pages at once, folding and :ounting each paper at the same time. [his necessitates the purchase of far nore extensive stereotyping outfit, Lnd in addition to this, the company s tearing down the old and building a iew two story building to give more oom in the composition and make up 00om. Work on the new building began his week, and a contract with the -ioe company was completed Satur lay. The press will be shipped at )nce, and it is hoped to get it in op ration within 6o days. As to Warehouses. The warehouse committee of the ;outh Carolina Division of the Sodth rn Cotton association, consisting of he following gentlemen: E. W. Zobertson, Columbia; W. E. Burnett, ;partanburg; T. B. Stackhouse, Dil on; LeRoy Springs, Lancaster; B. . Harris. Pendleton; L. W. You nans, Fairfax, met in the office of the Lssociation, in Columbia, on March r and adopted the following resolu ions: Resolved*st: That the committee ecommend to every community in ;outh Carolina, where the necessity or warehouses exist, to build these varehouses through their own efforts >r by outside assistance if proffered, >r if possible to obtain, at a cost of rom $8oo to $i200, with a storage ca acity, respectively of from 5oo to ooo bales of cotton. Resolved 2nd: That we urge upon he farmers the importance of storing heir cotton promptly, upon being ~inned, in the standard wvarehouses, vhere they can get negoitable ware ouse receipts, thus saving it from oss in weight and damage, and put ing it in negoitable shape sothatthey vill not be forced to market it except t their own pleasure; as it has been. lemonstrated by the action of ,the fIew Orleans convention that reason ble prices can be obtained, irrespec ive of the size of the crop, by the udicious marketing; and this can on y be accomplished by an effective varehouse system. Resolved 3d: That any informationt s to construction or outside assis ance can .be obtained by communi :ating with the Columbia office of the outhern Cotton association. That a :opy of these resolutions be filed in his office and that a copy be riven to the press with the equest that all county papers publish It takcs less than twvo half truths o make a full sized lie. It's a (queer mind that persuades it elf it is working for the Lord when is only working the church. ew days and that any suggestion that he suit was a "bluff" was not a fact -e had been instructed to bring a riminal suit first and he was going