St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-08-01

tiops.- The object aimed at III YER
mont is proclaimed to he the purchase
of those articles of necessity anu com
fort. which cannot he raised on Ihe
farm, at wholesale prices, without re
sort to the stores or shops OF those WHO
make the buying and selling or mer,
chandise a business, and Ill the disposal
of the produce of their farms, diaries,
etc. TO dispense with the services Oh
..middlemen.r We think that perhaps;
under ordinary circumstances, 1t would
he of vast benefit to the farmers anu al
other producers, If there was no SUN I
person as a ..middleman,' us lie Is call
ed. There is no question OF the iacI
that the consumer pays Il larger price
for farm produce than the producer re-
ceives, and this difference goes INTO the
pocket of the ..middlcman' us his pront
or brokerage. If the services OF this
class of men were dispensed with, II Is
unuuestionable that the producer would
receive larger gross price for MS
commodities. while the consumer,
at the same time, would receive
better article and, perhaps, also,
at a less price than he had been accIls-
toned to pay for the same kind OF artl-
cles of an inferior quality. But can the
producer and consumer be brought to-
gcther without enhancing the price OF
his produce or lesSening his net profits,
or probably, both This is Il matter
which has, for years, been discussed by
agricultural societies, dairymen'S asso-
Citations and kindred bodies, without
producing any difference in the meth
ODDS of trade. Without stopping to con-
slider the matter. at length, we may re-
mark that the time necessarily conSum-
ed bv individual producers i'll taking
their commodities to individual CON
sumerS, if 'time is money as the old
saw has it. would he Il very important
element to he considered in deciding
the ..middleman" question.
When we come to consider the other
part of their avowed ohject-buying ar
ticles of necessity, comfort or luxury
without resorting to regularly estab-
lished stores, or by patronizlng coop
erative stores of their own we are
compelled to say that. in our opinion
the farmers of Vermont are making
progress backward. Such business en-
tcrprises will he no novelty in Vermont
The experiment has been tried and the
ltSlill W 'iS lilIiiS '''' Ii'''ii'ht- 80 u
new trial. Twenty or more years ag"
union OF cooperative farmers stores
could he found in every town and vii
lage-and. we were going to say. II
nearly every school di>trict-m Yer
mont Their history was one of dlSas
ter and loss. and can lie found recorded
in the records of our courts. If Il man
is Il good merchant. and makes for
tune in the legitimate transaction of his
business. it does not. necessarily. follow
that the same fortune awaited him If Inc
had commenced life a. a lawyer ol
farmer. Neither does success anC
wealth obtained upon farm indirat,
that the same man would have achieved
the same result in store OF elsewhere
We do not believe any goo,
will ever result from class or clanui>l
action. any more than ii has III the past
There are grievances under which the
mass of the people are suffering. an,
from which they must and will. proha
bly,. I've relieved. hut it must lie accom-
pl>hcd. if at all. 10y Il cordial. hearty
union of all CLASSES and conditions a
the people. and NOT 10y Il secret orgaui
Iatiun. composed of those who follow
one particular branch of industry. HUt
L,,,,I fII,L,,