CHAPTER VII. 
THE ORGANIZATION OF COTTON GROWERS AND WHAT 
IT MAY ACCOMPLISH 
"The great secret of success," said Lord Beacons- 
field, "is to be ready when your opportunity comes." 
One might go far and not find a better illustra- 
tion of the truth of Disraeli's assertion than is af- 
forded by the career of Hon. Harvie Jordan, 
President of the Southern Cotton Association. His 
opportunity came in December, 1904, when the 
Government ginners' report, indicating a crop of 
12,000,000 bales, startled the country— electrified 
the bears, and hopelessly dazed the bulls. Cotton 
prices went toppling, dropping two cents a pound 
almost immediately. 
WHEN HARVIE JORDAN^ OPPORTUNITY CAME 
For several years Jordan had been fitting himself 
for a time like this. At the head of the nominal 
Cotton Growers' Protection Association which he 
had organized and which his personality had largely 
kept together, his voice had been as that of one cry- 
ing in the wilderness ; and always, Raven-like, his 
song had borne one burden — the need of a farmers' 
organization for the purposes of self protection. 
When the crash came, and turned everything in 
the Southern States topsy-turvy, serene Harvie 
