Senator Price's Bill Creates State Cotton Warehouse System, March 11, 1919

From the editorial page of The Monroe Journal, March 11, 1919

The Price Warehouse System

The bill introduced by Senator Price of Union County to create a State cotton warehouse system has become a law and is a measure long advocated by leading farmers and business men. The purpose of the bill is stated in section one as follows:

“That in order to protect the financial interests of North Carolina by stimulating the development of an adequate warehouse system for cotton, our great staple crop, in order to enable growers of cotton more successfully to withstand and remedy periods of depression in prices, in order to provide a modern system whereby cotton may be more scientifically marketed, and in order to give this important crop the standing to which it is justly entitled as collateral in the commercial world, a cotton warehouse system for the State of North Carolina is hereby established as hereinafter provided.”

The system is to be administered by the State Board of Agriculture, through a suitable person to be known as the State Warehouse Superintendent, who shall be under heavy bond for the performance of his duties. He shall make and enforce rules and regulations and fix charges for storing cotton in local warehouses and shall have local managers, examiners, inspectors and expert graders as may be necessary. Receipts issued by local warehouses endorsed by the State Superintendent shall be identified with each bale of cotton stored and in convenient shape to be used as transferable collateral.

In order to raise funds to start the system and to provide for any unforeseen loss, a tax of 25 cents per bale is to e charged on every bale of cotton ginned during the years 1919 and 1920. This fund is to be collected and invested by the State Superintendent, one-half in government land loan bonds and one-half held for lending to promoters of local warehouses on mortgages secured by double the value of the money loaned. It is not proposed to levy the tax of 25 cents per bail after the two years, it being estimated that sufficient funds will be provided thereby for inaugurating the system.

The managers of a local warehouse can be appointed only on recommendation of the county commissioners. The standards and classifications of the Federal government shall be used by the State system. Private or corporate warehouses may come under the State system and receive its benefits of supervision and operation under certain rules and regulations.

Such are the general provisions of the bill and there are necessary regulations of details. The main idea is to enable the farmers themselves to co-operate in establishing an adequate warehouse system which may be used for their protection in holding and marketing the crop and securing expert grading. Thus the funds are to be raised by the small tax of 25 cents per bale for two years in order to get the system going, when it is expected to be self-sustaining. This means on every bale of cotton ginned and not merely on cotton that is stored. Cotton stored will of course have to pay its own reasonable charges for storage and insurance. Senator Price has put over a big piece of legislation. He got it through the house and senate only after hard work, for the principle reason that so many of the members did not understand its purpose or its necessity.