Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-12-10
A rAaMras, cnMalhI

The Farm anl rirr.ide say. that With
in the past siN months scNcni y-fiNs
thousand farmer. IN Michigan have Join
81 the grange. The reason given u that
they have b-rn forc.i 90 ,lo something
In self-iciensc against monopolle. AMI
trusts. The lesson learned from comhi-
nation 4. combination. Naturally, a'
soon as the farmers ~ any community
determine to Organize, ,fhey turn io.ihc
oldest AMI strongest Organization of
farmers Ia the country. ltas great AL.
vantage to ioin an orgsnifatl'n the ma-
ciinsry of which Z. Ia good working
onlsr
There la feature about thi. move
meni of'thc Michigan farmer. that u az
tracing .Jevlal attention. In soni" lo'
caliiic. 1T the state they are repeating
40 experiment that has be,u made with
VARYING .ucccss Ia other parts ~ the
couutry. They make contracts with =
single dealer in each llnc ~ business
agrv.ing Ia huy al the goods they nessl
in al. line exclusively from him, 40 a
specified tHrr crut advance over Nholestls
prices. i.y this arrangement the dealer
gcts fair profit on his saie- ani hls cus-
TONERS the advantage ~ low prizes. u
l. an effort ou the part of consumers o.
reduce the pric~ ~ guols they pufChass
by combination ani M" granting ~ mo
nopolles to dealers. They are expect
Ing to obtain by thi. What competition
among rival dealer. has failed 10 hring
about.
whether ~ not this policy !. sound
one and will come out all right In ths
end. these farmer. arr to De- Commended
for doing something practical that vii
give results at once. Economy aud ~
form, Ike charity. begin AZ home. They
afc trying to reform some methods of
doing business that arr within easy
reach, Instead ~ slmply meeting and
passing resolutions against few great
monopolic. which cannot b. overthrow
until the farmer. al over the country
arr morr thoroughly organized. They
.rc way to save som" Of their inri'
earned dollars.
And there Z. NO dollar that drseryc. a.
much to b. saved a. the farmers ilard
rarned dollar. "I'hc farmer. dollar l.
heavy" aid Emerson. "lt IL no Waif "a
him. lie knows how many strokes oi
al. lab,r II represents. llls bones ach'
with the days work that earned IL. H.
knows how much land II rcprc-snts-
how much rain. frost aud sunshine. H.
knows that ln the dollar b. gives YOU i
.o much discretion aud patience, so inucl
hoclng and thrc.hlng. Fry Ia llft hi'
dollar, YOU must lift all that weight.
The agricultural press l. fllei Will
columns ~ talk about the big mOnOpollc'
aud the great burden which they place
on the farmers of thi. country. Now
thls l. all very well. bat do Ne not over
look the fact that there are little cOmbl
nation. la nearly every community u
the land, aud that the burdens whici
they impose will aggregate a. much o
mOrc than those Of the big onest We ~
fer 90 the combinations of business met
aud trade.men that exist Ia nearly ever
city. town aud village. Those Who arr
In one combination may not possess AM
particular advantage over those who ar
In another combination; what l. to h
gained must come Of those Who are no
organized.
The BURDEN. these combinations i'm
pose fall most heavily on the farmers
Combinations Of trade-nen, merchant
aud artisan. completely surround them
They can hardly scll, buy or hire any
thing without dealing with a combina
tion ~ some sort. The unnecessary ta'
they pay Ia the little combinations tia
.urround them amounts To a good dea
more than the tax they pay for keepln,
up the local, state aud national govern
ments. II 1. high time for them Ia com
blne aud fight With the same weapol
that Il u.ed against them.-iewi.iol
Journal.