L
Union
msEB
Vol. 5. No. 35.
GASTONIA, N. C., AUGUST 31, 1911
One Dollar a Year
THE CALL TO ARMS
THE BATTLE IS ON AND THE SOUTH MUST
BE SAVED FROM LOW PRICED COTTON
Union City, Ga., Aug. 29th.—National Presi
dent Barrett, of the Farmers’ Union, today
made his first official expression regarding the
attitude of that big organization in the battle
that is coming this Fall to maintain the price
of cotton at a proper level.
“The Farmers’ Union,” says President
Barrett, “issues an invitation to the entire
South to co-operate with it in saving to this
section many million dollars on the cotton
crop of 1911-12. It is for the merchant, the
business man, the banker, the smallest citizen,
no less than the farmer, to figure the difference
between eight or nine cent cotton and thirteen
or fourteen cent cotton. The fight we are go
ing to win is not alone in behalf of the farmer.
It is waged in the interest of the southern
business world, as a whole. To that degree, it
is not only the duty, but the individual profit,
of ever_y element in the Southern States to join
hands with the Farmers’ Union, to the end
that the powerful machinery of this organiza
tion may be brought to bear with complete
success upon the present situation.^
‘To the farmer, whether or not a member
of the Farmers’ Union, my imperative advice
is Hold your cotton.’ It is worth infinitely
more than the price now quoted. You should
first go to your local banker, if you are in
debt, and borrow sufficient money, with cotton
as collateral, to enable you to hold- Your own
banker knows you best, and it is to his inter
est to aid you in the fight. Should he fail
you and I don t think he will—^you can de
pend upon us for assistance.
The Farmers’ Union does not intend that
a clique of bear gamblers or domestic and
foreign spinners shall combine to dictate the
price of our product, or to rob the section of
a tremendous sum of money. It is for the
South we are working. Now is the time for
every Southerner to prove his business m-
sight, and it is not the time for hypocritical
pretensions. It is a cold matter of dollars and
cents. If the farmer suffers, the business
man, every business interest, suffers along
with him.
It is mo longer possible to produce cotton
for eight or nine cents at a profit. If we could
return to the old prices for mules, supplies,
farm machinery, land itself, the proposition
would be feasible. But as we cannot, the
farmer must insist upon the price of his pro
duct being maintained upon a level with that
of every other product.
“The South ought to be abundantly able to
finance and hold its own principal product.
The accomplishhment should be a matter of
pride, as well as of ccxnmon sense. Practical
men realize that the cotton crop of the opening
season will not be nearly so large as it has
been reported. We, who have investigated,
know that there will be a demand, at a fair
price, for every pound of the staple produced.
The main thing is for the farmer, large and
small, organized and unorganized, to get to
gether and resolve that he will not be cheated
out of the result of his toil-
“Every solitary southerner is interested in
the same result. And to each one, in what
ever calling, I extend a cordial invitation to
work with us for his own monetary interest,
no less than that of the farmer. As for the
latter—another season or two of fair prices
mean absolute emancipation from debt That
thought should be sufficient to nerve him for
the battle—especially when he is assured as
sistance in its winning.”
“Captain Reuben F. Kolb, Commissioner of
Agriculture of ^Hbama, has called a meeting
of the Commissioners of Agriculture of the
Southern States, and of all interested parties,
barring none, to devise means for maintaining
the price of cotton. This conference will fol
low the Farmers’ Union convention, to be held
at Shawnee, Okla., September 5th, and the
convention will be liberally, if not as a body,
represented at the conference. I urge all
southerners who realize the importance of the
occasion to meet with the commissioners and
with members of the Farmers’ Union in this
conference. Let all come, not to discuss the
farmers’ ‘greatness’, which may be taken for
granted, nor any other subject but the secur-
ing of a proper price for cottlon. That is a big
enough job for a gathering composed of the
South’s best brains, and it should not be in-
^ KEEP A LOOK OUT 4.
For our New Special Subscription
Offer, which will be announced next ^
•%> week.
We are going to give Union ladies’ a
chance, and the full details will be given
4* in next week’s paper. ^
^ Now let every one get ready to swell
the Union Farmer subscription list
^ when this special offer is'made.
terfered with by ‘hot air’ or discussions admir
able in their way but without any bearing on
the paramount issue.”
Prompt action taken by this joint confer
ence, following the policies outlined at the
Farmers’ Union convention, will bring
triumph in a campaign which no southerner,
however humble, can afford in self-interest
and patriotism, to ignore.”
CHARLES S. BARRETT.
Gaston Farmers’ Want Farm-Life
School.
The Gaston County Farmers‘ Union has
decided to push the matter of establishing a
Farm-Life School in that county. After dis
cussing the matter thoroughly they have de
cided that the first step to be taken would be
to have a mass meeting of the citizens of the
county for the purpose of discussing and of
learning something of the nature of the pro
posed school. To this end President Faries is
making arrangements for holding such a meet
ing, and to secure prominent speakers for the
occasion. This mass meeting will be held at
Dallas on Thursday, September 14. Among
the prominent speakers who will be present
are Dr. J. Y. Joyner, Superintendent of
Public Instruction for the State of North
Carolina and Dr. H. Q. Alexander, President
of the North Carolina Farmers’ Union. Both
these gentlemen are enthusiastic advocates of
the farm life schools, and will have some
thing to say that will be of interest to every
citizen in the county.
An acre of peanuts, properly cultivated, wi]!
produce one ton of vine, valued at $8, and
sixty bushels of nuts, worth $40 to $60. Cost
of cultivation, fertilizer, seed, etc., should not
run over $25 per acre. These figures are
averaging ones, taken from the statements of
many growers and from government bulletins
on the industry. This will leave a net profit of
from $25 to $35 per acre, which, considering
the sureness of a good crop, the steadiness of
the market and the ease of production, to say
nothing of the fact that another crop of some
other quick growing plant can usually be taken
from the peanut fiields, is a rather good mar
gin of profit for the grower.
Cabbage Seed at $2.40 per lb. Cabbage
Seed at $i.oo per lb. Plants from each kind
are offered at the same price. The Wakefield
Farms, Charlotte, raise and sell plants from
the $2.40 seed.