Southern Mercury United with the Farmers Union Password. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 1907 Page: 1 of 5
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Southern Mercury Eatabllshed I88O.
Farmers Union Paasword Established 1903.
Southern Mercury and Farmers Union Password Consolidated May lt I90B.
=9
Vol. XXVII. No. 8
Dallast Texas, Thursday, February 21, (907
$1.00 Per Annum
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HALE ON BUCKET 8H0P8.
Being allied with the farmers, and
being a member of the Union,
I feel an interest in all things
that affect agricultural products.
The bill now pending before the
Legislature to know out "buck-
et shops" and stifle legitimate cotton
exchanges, in my humble judgment,
Is fraught with evil, and is detrimental
to the interests of cotton growers. The
politicians are clamoring for the bill
because lt is profitable to cuss the
speculator and chuckle the farmer un-
der the chin. The epidemic of reform
will some day rebound and strike a so-
lar plexus blow on the carcass of those
bowling down the cotton gambler.
It is a well known fact that hedging
In cotton futures permits the speculat-
or to sell in advance to the spinners,
and the spinner to sell his yarns to
the weavers, and they in turn, their
cloth to the merchant. To stifle this
well establish system would deal a
death blow to speculation and rob the
farmer of his best friend, for specula-
tion is evidently the life of trade.
Show me a farm product, or any other
commodity, bereft of speculative feat-
ures, and you have a cornered prod-
uct, controlled exclusively by an ag-
gregation of wealth. The farmer's
cotton to-day Is lined up as one of
the few products of the soil not con-
trolled by trusts. Where Is your open
and free for all speculation in oil, coal,
sugar and cotton seed? Where Is your
high price for the raw material? These
conditions have been relieved by spec-
ulation. The competition for raw ma-
terial does not exist. Speculators do
not go on the floor of their respective
exchanges and -,bid the price up or
down In accord With the unwritten law
of supply and demand. The price is
arbitrarily fixed by trusts, who are
in complete control of the situation.
Who bids on the farmer's cotton seed
when he hauls lt to market? Not the
speculator, but the seed crushers. The
same results will obtain in cotton, with
speculation eliminated. Tou will back
your cart up to the door of the fac-
tory and ask Mr. Spinner to please
come out and make an offer for the
Rt&ple. : Allow me to digress Just here,
and say we have cotton factories Just
as near our door as' we need thenl.
Let the other fellow work women,
children and paupers, grow in igno-
rance, superstition and anarchy; but
let Texas grow the staples and furnish
them through the avenues of specula-
tion at a fancy price, while she pro-
ceeds to educate her boys and girls
end grow In grace. Give us competi-
tion in the market, and average crop
seasons and we will clothe the world.
Ninety per cent of these fellows who
ere cussing the speculator and shed-
<"ng crocodile tears over the farmer's
welfare don't know a bucketshop from
« legitimate exchange. As a rule, they
know absolutely nothing about the cot-
ton future business. What does the
average legislator care about reform-
ing cotton gamjjlers?
Speculation in cotton futures, unfor-
tunately, has its evil. The "bucket
shop" is without financial responsibil-
ity, and obtains clandestine informa-
tion. If, by legislation, the discrim-
ination could be made, and the "buck-
et shops" put out of business, without
Injury to the legitimate exchange, much
good would follow, but dire results
would evidently be the sequel to the
Indiscriminate legislation against le-
gitimate speculation. Eliminate spec-
ulation, and the spinners will name the
price of cotton ten years In advance.
The future market operates forgreat-
• er consumption and higher prices. Re-
move the hedging escutcheon of tha
speculator, and his business judgment
will dictate a "get-away," and sell only
as he buys. Abolish futures, and you
render the word "speculation," aB ap-
plied to cotton, a misnomer.
The only solution to this mooted
question Is,' keep your "jlm crow law-
yers at home. Send business men to
Austin. Sit down on your cotton till
the future gamblers bet lt up to your
price, then sell out and take the money
home to Mary. , J. C. HALE,
Manager Farmers' Union Warehouse,
Houston, Tex.
water mark of this season's crop. It
would have been an automatic propo-
sition, for at any time that cotton may
have been selling at less than that
figure and 10 cents was reached, every
holder would have felt justified In
throwing his cotton on the market,
and down the price would have gone.
It would have been difficult to have
sustained that price. But the Farm-
ers' Union stood for 11 cents. The re-
sult has been that the tendency has
been steadily upward to that point.
While all of the cotton sold has not
brought 11 cents, every point gained
above 10 cents has been a direct trib-
ute to the efficiency and the wisdom
of the action of the Farmers' Union.
It has meant millions of dollars to
the Farmers of the South.
This lesson has taken a deep hold
upon the farmers of the South, and its
good effect has been shown in the
growing popularity of Daddy Barrett
and the Farmers' Union.—Atlanta (Ga.)
Constitution.
ROOSEVELT A POPULIST.
President Roosevelt has just sent
to both Houses of Congress a long
message calling attention to what he
terms the urgent need of legislation
affecting the different phases of the
public land situation in the United
State. He advocates the retention of
coal and other fuel resources on lands
still belonging to the government, also
control of the Western public land pas-
tures with a system of small grazing
fees, etc., and asks for an appropria-
tion of half a million dollars immedi-
ately available in addition to present
estimates, to aid in detecting and pre-
venting land fraud. He contends for
a system of government leasing of its
mineral lands, and for treating these
fuel lands as public utilities.
The President points out that it
would have been better if some Eastern
coal lands had been left under govern-
ment control, and suggests provision
in the West "against recurrence of the
conditions we deplore in the East."
Citing 2,300 cases in public land in
four districts mentioned, the President
says non-compliance with the law was
fpund In over half of them, and delib-
erate fraud in very many cases. -
COTTON AND WAREHOUSES.
Some Suggestions in Relation to the
Warehouse Problem.
To all Union Brethren: I am a Un-
ion man. 1 have been organizing the
farmers of the Territory for some two j ners would never agree to the propo-
years. I read' the Mercury-Password. ; sitlon."
money to monopolize the cotton crop,
see!
To even ascertain the Idea of bor-
rowing so much money Is hypothetical.
The Union label is what we must have.
"Hold on, here, Harris. The spin-
Oklahoma Messenger, Independent
Farmer, Union Signal
In the columns of these papers I see
a great many methods of cotton dis-
tribution and the. adoption of a mini-
mum price. Just how this Is to be
done, has not been expounded. Most of
"Why will he not?"
According to his \wn word we say he
does not. Have we not struck hands
with the textile workers Do not the
laborers of all factories say that they
will stand by us? We feed the world,
and we can make the other side look
our brethren advocate the building of J gloomy. So we will just stop the pros-
warehouses, which is all right. They j ent spindles, feed these fellows till we
further recommend the borrowing of | can build some factories of our own.
money to buy the cotton offered under , We have built and paid for the present
the maximum price. Now, farmers, i ones. The other fellow Is running them
you are up against the real thing when j for us. Next we build and pay for, we
you go to buying cotton. JTou can't buy
LOCAL OPTION PETITION.
the cotton without the cash, and you
cannot borrow the money to monopolize
the cotton crop. Do you not know that
the capitalists are close on our track,
and are keeping up with us? They are
losing Just as much sleep as we are,
will control them ourselves.
We, as laborers, are in the majority.
Why not run our own business, and
let the other fellow rest a while, al-
though he never gets tired running our
business and his own. too. Hut Just
figure lt out and see if he doesn't ge>
word.
Antlers, I. T.
J. V. HARRIS.
By the time we have our arrange- ; pay for it every time. Let's h.'ar fro:n
ments made to buy the cotton and to j you Union brethren, one and all. Long
get the money, this is what the money j may live the grand old Mercury-Pass-
men will say: "Ah! you fellows are '
farmers. We can't loan you money to
monopolize the cotton crop. No! no!
Never!!" Again in the event that we
could get the money, the bears and
bulls can get all the money they want. The Legislature has just passed a
too, and they would not let us have a | law which will abate a nuisance which
bale of cotton. Did you ever think of hns long uffected districts where the
the amount lt will take to handle the , sale of liquor has been prohibited. The
WHISKEY DEALERS HIT HARD.
AGAIN8T THE BUCKET SHOPS.
ELEVEN CENTS COTTON.
The interesting announcement that
800 bales of cotton have been sold at
Conyers this week at 11 cents a pound,
and that cotton generally In that sec-
tion is being disposed of at that fig-
ure. emphasised again the wisdom of
the Farmers' Union In fixing 11- cents
as the minimum price at which this
season's crop should be sold.
For the past several weeks spot cot-
ton throughout the South has been firm
at the quoted price of and around 10M
cents a pound.
Much of it has been marketed at that
figure, notwithstanding the fact that
futures have been held far below on
account of the adroit manipulation of
the market by the cotton gamblers who
have been Interested in beating down
the price.
'But. thanks to the good work of the
Farmers' Union, the cotton growers
have the upper hand this year, and
«vhen the sale of the whole crop can
averaged, it will be found that the
<e will be much nearer fl cents
then 10 cents.
If 10 cents had been fixed as the
minimum price by the Farmers' Union,
which that great organisation refused
to do, there seems to be no doubt that
this would have represented the high-
No. 908, Roane Prairie. Tex., the fol-
No. 908, Roam Prairie, Tex., the fol-
lowing resolutions were read and
adopted:
Whereas, Bills have been Introduced
In our State Legislature, and In Con-
gress, the purpose of which Is to stop
gambling in futures, but to allow all
legitimate sales of farm products,
whether for present or future delivery;
and
Whereas, We believe the hills refer-
red to will have the desired effect, if
enacted into law, and will go a long
way towards relieving the products of
the farm from the burdens Imposed
by the New York and New Orleans
Cotton Exchanges: and
Whereas, a tremendous fight is be-
ing waged against these measures by
men who are profiting by the opera-
tions of these gambling Institutions;
and
Whereas. We believe gambling In
futures Is hurtful to the best Interests
of the farmers. Be It
Resolved, 1st. That we request our
legislators, both State and national,
to use their best efforts to have said
bills enacted Into law.
2nd. That a copy of these resolu-
tions be sent to our representative at
cotton at every town? But, says one,
would not the banks let us have the
necessary money? Will a man fix a loop
to break his own neck? Did not the
Union of Oklahoma have ten thou-
sand dollars in the bank at Shawnee,'
Oklahoma to pay for coal, lumber, etc?
Did they get It? I say to you. No!
Why? The dealers said to us "you are
farmers!" "Yes." "You are farmers!"
letter of the law Is as follows:
"Section 1. Any person, firm or cor-
poration doing business In this State
shall, at each- office or place kept, op-
erated or maintained by such person,
firm or corporation, at which Intoxicat-
ing liquors legally rMlverable are de-
livered upon payment of purchase
money therefor, commonly designated
as shipments C. O. D., pay annually
That Is why .our honorable afcent. Prof. | for each office or place so kept an an-
G. B. Patterson, got scored and ridiculed . nual occupation tax to the State of
In every manner possible. The fellows | Texas of $5000. And any county or
who work for the money bosses said,
"You old hayseederti are fixing to put
some one out of a Job." "We can't fill
your orders." "You may go hungry, and
freeze, even if you have the money to
.pay for your wants and comforts."
Now, what Is the reaeon of this? First,
we do not start at things Just right.
The greatest reason Is we have an ele-
ment of people that we can't handle.
I do not believe in force or a strike,
but we have got to have the united
any Incorporated city or town wherein
such office or place Is located may levy
an annual occupation upon such per-
son, firm or corporation herein referred
to, for each of said offices, not to ex-
ceed one-half 6f the amount hereby
levied by the State, such tax to be due
and payable nnnually.
"Sec. 2. The maintaining and oper-
ating such office or offices, place or
places, by any person, firm or corpora-
tion In this State without paying the
efforts of the people to accomplish our | occupation tax required In Section 1
aims. We even have Union men we . „f this act, shall subject such person,
can't handle. I have had the experience firm or corporation so operating and
of that here at our Union warehouse.
We have a Farmers'Union warehouse
at Hugo, I. T. We agreed to the mint-
mum set. 11c per lb. Our agent was
maintaining such office or offices, place
or places, to pay to the State of Texas
the sum of $f>0, and to the county and
any Incorporated city or town In which
appointed by the board to handle our i HaJd off|ce or offices, place or pluces,
cotton. Everything pertaining to the fnay maintained or operated, and for
warehouse was complete. We were In- j each office or place so operated; and
corporated under the law. capHnHzed ; the State or county or any Incorporated
. x town may Bue for and recover,
either Jointly or severally, each the said
sutfl for euch day that ench of said of-
fices or places may be maintained and
at $5,000. Yet, a great many of our
members dumped their cotton at 9MjC
to 10c. While our agent sold every
bale from the warehouse at 11c per lib.
As I have said, I do not believe In
operated without prepayment of the
boycotting, strikes, or force, hut there , aforesu|d occupation tax
are mild, sympathetic ways of bringing
them to measures, and make union men
out of thousands. Lets Just see: Wo
will get at It about this way.
Did not the spinners at the conven-
tion last May tell Hon. R A. Calvin
that they were willing and ready to
turn the gamblers loose and deal with
the farmers? 1 see In Inst week's
paper that Bro. Calvin says that he has
letters to the effect that the spinners
are tired of the cotton speculators.
This being a fact, we have, or will
Also to The Mercury-
A. L. EUBANK,
Secretary,
Roane Prairie, Tex.
Washington.
Password,
WILL STAND BY THE UNION.
Resolved by Oak Hill Union, after a
full and free discussion, that while we
do not approve of the way the vote
on the National constitution was tak-
en and counted, we hereby resolve to
submit to It as it now stands.
2nd. That we will pay the National
dues and the special tax of 10 per
cent.
3rd. That at this time we must not
Austin, and to our congressmen at j,ave sufficient warehouses to handle
the cotton by our next market time.
Now, according to the spinners' own
word, all we need Is to have a delegated
body of farmers to meet In convention
with the spinners and have them to
sign a contract, specifying that they
will not manufacture a single bale of
cotton without the union label being
placed thereon. Now. where are we?
Would not that force every cotton
raiser to Join the Union, eat Ills cotton
or quit raising lt, one or the other?
The cotton gambler would not buy.
not being able to affix the Union label,
and what would the merchant want
with a mortgage on your cotton. He
could do nothing with It. Therefore,
the spinner could see these above facts
allow a trivial matter to undo the la-
bors of years of building up our be- j Bn(^ WOU|,j sign such contract. For the
loved Union. We realize that united : „p|nner knows, as we do, that we farin-
we Btand, divided we fall. . I erK could Bell him the cotton cheaper
4th. That we condemn the action of ! than the cotton "bears" do. The spln-
all brethren who withdraw from the
Union until they have exhausted all
available means In the Union to get
redress.
6th. That as much harm is done to
ner knows that the gambler extorts
from him as he does from us. Now, I
do not think the above would harm
anyone. We very well know that so
long as we have such gambling and
the producers by the bucket shops, . speculating In the market, that a vast
we condemn the practice, and call upon ' amount of our people will dump their
our legislators to enact such laws as
will put an end to the practice in fu-
ture.
(th. That a copy of these resolutions
be sent The Mercury-Password for
publication. J. N. WILLIFORD,
Secretary,
PURE JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRA-
CY.
If you want to keep up with the po-
litical happenings of the day—the
scheming and planning of the bosses
In both the old parties, you should read
Tom Watson's Magazine and Tom Wat-
son's Weekly Jeffersonian. They are
the cream of political thought and the
exponents of pure Jeffersonian De-
mocracy. Both these matchless peri-
odicals and The. Mercury-Password sent
for one veers for $2.78. -
cotton.
So we will Just have to reform the
methods of marketing. Under the above
rufes each farmer, that needed any
money, could take his cotton to the
warehouse and say, "Boys, Just hold
it till the spinners, who are our friends,
get ready for it, and I will Just take my
warehouse cotton receipt and go to the
bank and get what money I want."
"Yes, but Harris, you said the banks
would never loan the farmer money."
"Well, I will Just ask what this bank-
The law goes Into effect at onee.
This act does not prohibit the ship-
ping of liquor Into any part of the
State, whether it be local option or not, '
but In future any one who wants liquor, I
and lives In a prohibited district, must
order the goods and -send the money, j
and when It comes to his address he l
can get It out of the express office
Just the same as now. Some, however, '
pluce a more liberal construction on I
the act, and maintain that a person j
may order liquor to be shipped to his i
address, collect and pay the company j
upon Its request. It Ih maintained that |
all that the bill does Is to put a stop to |
the C. O. D. liquor business In Texas.
ANYTHING TO KNOCK 'EM OUT.
Cold Corner Union, No. 2688, passed
the following resolutions Feb. 11:
1st. That we favor the enactment
of any antl-"bucket-sliop" bill, or any
measure for the abolishment of the
cotton exchanges and gambling In cot-
ton future* In any way whatever.
2nd. That we greatly regr.t that
some of Hubbard City's best citizens
have signed a petition against said
measures.
3rd. That a copy of these resolutions
bo furnished The Mercury-Password
for publication, and a copy be sent our
representatives at Austin.
W. R. EMMONS, Secretary.
Hubbard City, Tex.
ROWDEN COTTON 8EED.
I have 2G0 bales of Rowden cotton
seed for sale at GO cents per bushel,
delivered on the car. Address R. W.
Ray, Decatur, Tex. R. F. D. No. •,
Have you some dear one laid away
in the cemetery whose resting place
you would like to mark with a beau-
tiful monument which would not cost
you too much? If you have, you should
write to the Monumental Bronee Com-
pany of Bridgeport, Connecticut, for
their catalogue of designs and prices.
This will cost you nothing, and may
enable you to find Just what you want
er would do then. He has got to turn i at a price which will suit you. See
the gambler loose. Therefore he would i their ad. elsewhere In this Issue.
have to deal with us. He knows by the
cotton redelpt that the cotton is In the
warehouse, and Insured, and they know
the spinner will pay us for It. and hi-
will get his money. There Is quite >
difference In that, and h'.rr>>v' r.
Arkansas now has 2290 locals, and
the number Is growing rapidly. Bro.
n <-< iier I.ewIs Is a wheelhorse in
i work and makes his Impress
. hi* i-oes
The Honorable Legislature of Texas:
Throughout its early history the
State of Texas sedulously excluded the
principle of local option from her ju-
risprudence. This was done by or-
daining the mode of legislating. Be-
fore the subsisting constitution was
ordained and established, only one ef-
fort was made to enact such a law.
That was the act of Feb. 11, 1854,
which is quoted and adjudged uncon-
stitutional, in the case of the State
vs. Swisher, 17 Tex., 441. After the
constitutional provisions construed in
that case had been reordained in 1861,
without material alteration, Swisher's
case was approved in the case of San
Antonio vs. Jones, 28 Tex., 31-2, the
Court saying it "was correctly and
conclusively settled." And later, in
the constitutions of 18t!t>, 1809 and
1876, those provisions were repeated-
ly reordained without alteration in that
respect.
lt is familiar law, that the reordaln-
Ing of a constitutional provision wltn-
out alteration, after lt has been con-
strued, is an adoption of the construc-
tion. And the history of American
constitutions doeB not present an In-
stance where this rule is more eligi-
ble than this. If the people reordain
a construed provision without, altera-
tion, and that, too, for several times,
as in this, should not that rule apply?
Assuredly, if anywhere.
The principle of enacting laws of
uniform operation throughout the
State, by duly chosen representatives,
a safeguard against stormy elect Urns
and a bulwark of equal protection of
law, was borrowed from the older
States and laid at the basis of ours.
It muv be avered tliut no state In the
Union would think for a moment of
substituting that wise principle with
tlmt of local option. Texas would not
put our general laws against public
drunkenness, desecration of the Sab-
bath, disturbing religious worship, giv-
ing and selling Intoxicating liquors to
minors, disorderly houses, gambling,
swindling, und the other evils within
the category of public policy, on that
principle. What discriminates the evil
of the liquor traffic from any other, if
it one, is that the State should tempor-
ize with lt by remitting lt to vacillating
local option? If it Is an evil in Dallas,
it Ib an evil In San Antonio, Irrespec-
tive of local morals or opinion. If It
is un evil In the country, lt Is an evil
in the cities: and the very fact that
some local optlonlsts put their option
In favor of the evil In cities, because a
police force Is present, ought to sug-
' gest that disorderly houses are In 1 lie
same situation, and that whatever can-
not exist except under guards, at pub-
lice expense, should not exist at all.
Local option Is, therefore, unphlloso-
phlc, inharmoneous with our general
principle of law-making, temporizing
und inadequate.
But, wisely or otherwise, Section 20
of Article XVI of the Constitution of j
1876, a demonstrative mandate for care-
fully prescribed penal legislation, In-
troduced the principle of local option
as to the liquor traffic. That section Is
an exception In derogation of the gen-
eral grant of police powers, constituting
a constitutional mandatory injunction
for a particular penal law, and of course
must be strictly construed, like other
definitive mandatory Injunctions. The
law, the enactment of which It requires,
Is the condition precedent, and meas-
ure of local option, without which no
expression of local option run be valid.
But no sooner did the Legislature come
to comply with this narrow command
than, actuated by a laudable desire to
facilitate temperance, lt began to
broaden the law beyond Its chartered
boundaries. Then began that conflict
between the Legislature to extend local
option beyond, and the Judiciary to re-
strain It within, Hie grant which has
lasted nearly thirty years. And the end
Is not yet. It Is certnlnly time this
unseemly strife were terminated In ac-
cord with the will of the people. The
pertinacity of the Legislature Indicates
that the people want plenary local op-
tion as to the liquor traffic. Tills can-
not be secured under Section 2(1. So a
Joint resolution should propound an en-
largement of that provision command-
ing adequate legislature. I therefore,
propose the ensuing
Joint Resolution
Amending Section 20 of Article XVI of
the Constitution of the State of Texas,
extending the Issue of election and
Jurisdiction of local option, and com-,
mandlng the enactment of a adequate
law.
Be it resolved by the Legislature of
the 8tate of Texes: That Section 20 of
Article XVI of the Constitution of the
State of Texas be amended as follows:
8eetion 20. The Legislature shall, nt
Its first session, enact a law whereby
the qualified voters of any county,
Justices precinct, city, town, or such
subdivision of a county as may be de-
signated by the Commissioner's Court
of said county, by majority vote, from
time to time, may determine whether
the Introduction, delivery, giving away,
exchange, sale and all other disposi-
tions of Intoxicating liquors shall be
prohibited within the prescribed limits,
except for such useful purposes and
under such regulations as the Legisla-
ture shall prescribe.
This mandate Is cumulative with the
general police power of the Legislature,
and not in derogation thereof; and It
shall not be construed to deprive the
I crisis lure of power to enact operative
laws of the same prohibitory and regu-
lative nature.
independently of the nature of local
option, as long as the principle is re-
tained in our jurisprudence, it should
not be restricted into Inadequacy. Let
the grant bo amended; and give the
people a good law. They should have
one. That a principle Is not the best>
Is no reason why it should be crippled
while It prevails. And If local option
be made to consist with plenary legis-
lative power, most of Its deformity dis-
appears. All Is contemplated In the
proposed resolution. And I hope you
will see proper to propose and iiive
passed the Joint resolution proposed or
a better one; und accept assurances of
my kindest regards. Very respectfully,
N. G. TURKEY.
Dallas, Texas.
FIELD NOTE8.
Favorable Reports From 8tate Lec-
turer Neill.
Thursday evening wo took the train
for Comanche, where the Comanche
County Union was to be held Friday
afternoon. We talked at 2 p. m. In the
court house to a good audience, after
which the County Union went Into
session to consider the building of a
Farmers' Union warehouse at Co-
manche. After the afternoon session,
Bro. Wllliford took us out to his home
for supper, and then to Gum Springs,
where wo had an appointment. Here
a large crowd had already usseinbled,
many more than could get Into the
house. After some music by the Gum
Springs band, we presented the claims
of the Farmers' Union for more than
an hour. Here Is a loyal Union-loving
people, a people who bellc-ve In the
Union. A more enthusiastic body of
earnest farmers I have never visited.
A novel entertainment In connec-
tion with the exercise was an auction,
conceived and conducted by Bro. Wll-
liford. Vnrlous und sundry small box-
es of bon-bons, nick-nacks, etc., con-
tents unknown, were sold to the high-
est bidder for the benefit of the Local
treasry. The friendly rivalry among
the bidders was lively and amusing.
The lecture's box brought tl.SO. The
total proceeds from the auction was
$19.85. The credit Is due Bro. Wllli-
ford for the success of this meeting.
The Union In Texas is growing as It
never lias before. Twenty-five char-
ters were Issued last week, and five
applications for charters were rocetved
to-day (Monday.) The demands for
organizers' commissions is greater now
than for some time. The successful
management of three of the greatest
cotton crops has elicited tho admiration
or the world. Co-operation, as taught
by the Farmers' Union, has convinced
Hie business world that the Union is
a. business organization, and a great
factor for good. D. J. N15ILL,
State Lecturer.
Dallas, Tex.
APPEAL TO THE BROTHERHOOD.
WAREHOUSES ARE THE SOLU-
TION.
We note with pleasure that wo have
got the cotthi speculators stirred as
never before. Our only hope Is that we
can Jar them loose and cut I hem out
altogether. This wo can do If every
county will build warehouses at every
point where as many as five thou-
sand bales of cotton are shipped.
Mr. Hester gives a note of warning
to us, In all the big dallies, last Sun-
day, telling us that If the "Mayfleld
bill, now pending In the Texas Legis-
lature Is enacted Into law. It will In-
jure tho cotton Interests of the South,
because under It the cotton producer
will be entirely at tho mercy of the
buyer f?) or until the Fanners' Union
took It Into their heads to control the
prleo «f cotton. Is ft not plainly dem-
onstrated that If the producers of cot-
ton will build warehouses, Hnd store
their cotton like merchants store their
goods, they will bo masters of the sit-
uation. The merchant prices his goods
without fear or favor. Why deny the
cotton merchant, tho producer, tho
same privilege? No! No! Not If we,
as the producers of nearly all wealth,
assert our rights. We note what Mr.
Garfield, In the same big papers, says
about Investigating cotton growers as-
sociations. In reply to this, we gladly
Invite Investigation. Our salvation Is
the warehouse system, planned by the
Farmers' Union. Stay with It, breth-
ren, and bull'l warehouses, and you have
nothing to fear. "Alto will build a ware-
house soon. I met the secretary, W.
E. Arrant, who Is a Union man to the
core, and makes lots of ribbon cane
syrup and he Is enthusiastic over the
outlook JOHN T. GARNER.
Mt. Pleasant, Tex.
Brethren, It seems to me that for
some time pasf a number of the bay*
have been too free to censure every
man, especially the officers at head
quarters. It seems as if some poopta.
are always trying to find fault with
our state officers. We should realiaa
the fact that they are only human, aa
you and I; that being true, can't ymt
afford to give them some latitude and
look over the few mistakes they make?
In my judgment, we have as good m
corps of true-hearted Union men as 14
Is possible for a State Union to se-
lect. That being tho case, why is It,
brethren, that some of you are want-
ing to "reorganize?" Do you think you
will help your order by calling It
an "actual" Farmers' Union? Is it
possible that there are some amony
you who are going Into this new organ-
ization for Individual gain? Or Is It
jealousy, selfishness or the hate yon
have for some of our State officers f
If so, do you really ever expect to ac-
complish anything? Do each of you
feel that God Is with you? Stop! Con-
sider! In God's name, how much near-
er can you make your order one of "act-
ual farmer" than the one we have al-
ready? Knock out newspaper editors?
That would possibly be good, but why
not bind ourselves the closer together
for that purpose, and all other griev-
ances, rather than start out with a few
men In a new order cxpectlng to keep
it pure! The brethren tell us that the
new organization does not wish to an-
tagonize any other order. You certain-
ly must be mistaken. How do you ex-
pect to go Into a county where the
Farmers' Educational and Co-operative
Union of America Is organized without
causing dissatisfaction among our
members? You will have to tell your
grievance, and If you have none,
"whither are you drifting?" Now, 1
wish to state here tlmt If you are going
to keep your word, we would ask you
to let well enough ulone. We are a
small band over hero, battling for our
rights, and we are In strict harmony
(as I shall show you soon through The
Mercury-Password.) We do not ^ylell
to molest our brethren, or be molest-
ed. It may be you have a way-
ward brother here and there, but when
we wish an organizer, we will let our
wants be known. I do not endeavor to
say this slightingly, but from the fact
tlint a few of us have been fighting
valiantly for the past year, and have
accomplished great results for so small
a body. You brethren who have tried
to organize successful Unions In thinly
settled counties know where we ure at.
As to the National constitution, I do
not condemn It, only a part. While I
prefer a national council, and would
work to that end, but to be successful
we should unite ourselves still more
closely together, rather than try to dis-
rupt our grand order.
One more word! Brethren, If you
feel, deep down In your hearts, that
you are doing the best you can for fall-
en humanity and for future gener-
ations, then I crn't speak harsh words
to you. If, on the other hand. It Is
for your own Individual gain; If It la
an evil motive you have; If It is de-
signed for the purpose of disorganizing
our great order, then I must say that
you will be of short growth: ye shall
be cut down. Bo considerate! Be con-
servative! "A house built upon tha
sand will not stund."
J. A. KINARD.
Hlg Springs, Tex.
svJ
The Local at Mexico, Mo., has dis-
banded. What's the matter, boys? If
you'll come down here to Texas we can
show you what the Union has accom-
plished. Three hundred warehouses,
11-cent cotton. 60-cent corn, 90-cent po-
tatoes and $20 hay are what the Union
has brought us. There Is no reason
why the farmers of Missouri can't make
the TTnlon a success of great benefit to
them. Don't give up! Keep the ball
rolling! There's daylight ahead.
7t Is a burning shame that the rail-
roads should treat the farmers of Okla-
homa and Indian Territory as tliey do.
More than u. million bushels of corn
are rotting on the ground along the
tracks at shipping stutlons In Indian
Territory because the railroads do not
furnish cars to move It. In order that
the Interstate Commerce Commission
might fget an Idea of the enormity of the
loss and its great extent, photographs
have been made showing the great piles
of corn going to ruin. Elevators have
been filled for months and shippers de-
sirous of moving crops must dump them
on the ground at railroad stations. At
Broken Bow 40,000 bushels of corn are
piled up awaiting shipment. At Chel-
sea one pile contains 60.000 bushels.
Similar conditions exist at many other
points. Heavy ruins are rotting the
corn badly.
State Lecturer Nelll fills appoint-
ments at Mt. Pleasant In East Texas,
Anson In West Texas, end Moody In
Central or South Texas, this week.
What a pity that the work Is not sys-
tematized so as to avoid the waste
of lime njonev nnd labor entailed by
such long distance appointments.
DIRECT DEALING.
I wiftit to say a word about the ben-
efits we are getting from our Union
work In Robertson County. We have
just delivered our Becond shipment of
flour to the different locals In tha
county, and they are all well pleased.
We have saved 25 cents per sack on
every suok sold. We bought direct
from the mills at Hlco, Texas. Tba
flour Ib up to the standard, and tha
price satisfactory.
We hope our brethren will adopt tha
plan of buying in round lots, as w«
do, and thereby save money.
J. B. BOATNER, Secretary.
Elliott, Texas.
Parlln ft Orendorff stand at the head
of implement dealers in Dallas. Theli
stock la large and varied, and theii
terms will suit the most exacting.
Honest dealing Is their motto. If yoi
want any farming implement, wagon
buggy, etc., write them for catalogut
and prices. We take pleasure in en
dorslng them as worthy of the con
fidenoc and patronage of nay - Unlpi -
. ' * * • •• «' • •-*«
man.
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Southern Mercury United with the Farmers Union Password. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 1907, newspaper, February 21, 1907; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth186281/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .