The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-01-24
TO SECURE COOPERATION.
Iowa Farmers Seeking to Dispense with
Middlemen.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
DES MONIES, Iowa, January lO.-At
the mass meeting Of the Iowa Farmers
Alliance held here to-day for the pur-
pose of discussing the extension of the
system of cooperative purchasing of
supplies, which is now practiced to a
limited eXtentin Western Iowa, varl-
Gus members were called upon to give
experiences in local alliances, and.the
results of their buying and selling
varied with the number Of delegates.
The local alliances in many parts OF
the State carry on a systematic dealing
in groceries, flour, and agricultural i'm
plements, buying of the jobbing houses
or manufacturers and selling to the
farmers direct, thus securing reduced
rates. The present loose organization
of the alliance makes it impossible to
properly guard the commercial trans
actions, and this sometimes leads to
difficulty in securing goods. Other
dealers in goods combine and refuse to
do business with houses that sell direct
w to farmers ut wholesale, and thus
cut off the profits to jobhers and retail
dealers. A gentleman from Dakota
told about the operation Of the purchas-
ING system in that Territory. He said
they had organized four years ago
without capital and that it proved
failure. They then incorporated with
capital stock Of $4,000 in shares of $40
each. They mad" their purchases for
county organizations, and wagons were
wanted. BY havinga u county organiza.
ton the clerical work is reduced and
shipments are more easily effected than
through the local organization. They
buy the coal direct from the mines,
secures estimates on agricultural imple-
ments, and make contracts for such
implements for five years for the entire
Territory. They build their own wagons
do their own insurance, insure their
own buildings, and their own lives:
They pay 10 per cent on the capital
stock, and the organization had been
a success. Oflate they had thought it
best to make it something Of q secret
organization, and had found it good
thing.
Secretary August Post and others
thought it would be we'll to adopt some
such plan here, though he thought the
profits could not he made as in Dakota.
There wasa general feeling sszong the
delegates in favor of asecret work, or
rather private work in the alliance,
and the pledging of all members not to
divulge the Proceedings to outsiders and
not to tell the prices they paid for
goods. A thorough reorganization is
needed. The State dues will have to be
raised in order to have more capital to
pay those engaged in the work.
Some Of the members thought this
would be Objectionable, but it seemed to
be necessary. \ committee was appoin-
ted which during the afternoon made a
report recommending that this conven-
ton authorize and instruct the execu-
tive committee to call a delegate conven-
ton, at the earliest date possible, of one
representative from each alliance, with
full power to adopt plan favoring a
State purchasing agent to act for the
subordinate agencies, and the subordi-
nate agency in reach ofevery local alli-
ance. So that the farmers of Iowa will
renew their efforts Of fourteen years ago
to eliminate the middlemen from the
business economy of the State.