The San Francisco call., 1895-10-16
PLAIN TALKS WITH FARMERS.

that their beEt means Of broadening their
views is by cooperation. Before leaving
the subject for the present wish 10 say
that think the farmer who ~ not In debt
is to-day as well off as any other member
Of the ommunity-perhaps better OFF.
Farmers are not the only ones who arc In
distress. The trouble In that modern
| methods and habits have Invited, II not
compelled, a general indebtedness, Of
| which, when incurred, there was reason
| able expectation OF repayment. The Eni-
versal fa,l Of prices has rendered repay
ment in some cases difficult, in others i'm
probable and in still others, alas, inpossi-
Bile. The problem before the indebted
| farmers is how 10 escape from that thrall-
dom honestly, manfully and speedily.
| The only road is through education. We
must learn how.
The worst enemy the farmer has is his
| own suspicion, which is born OF ignorance.
! He does not know how 10 distinguish
honesty and ability from mercenaly
shreydness. 1t IS doubtless true that the
farmer is often deceived by professed
friends, but in nearly every such case 1t
| should have been known that the promises
| made were incapable of fulhllment. But
| it has always been true that the readlest
way to gain the ear of many farmers was
| to hold out glowing imposslblllties.
|
asst. who. usually in all honesty, promises
to market our products at nominal cost.
| When we give them to him his expense OF
selling is pretty sure to be greater than we
| have been accustomed 10 pay and the
| farmer at once denounces the cooperating
manager and deserts cooperation. No
! such promises should have been made and
| the farmer should'have known their fulfill
1 m m
| goods and the inexperienced cannot do the
work so cheaply as the experienced.
| There is no more earnest co-operator than
| l, but the gain to be looked for is not
in increase of selling price, but in steady
ing the markets, the encouragement OF
| speculation, the free banking accommoda-
| tions and the education in producing and
marketing. The slight possible gain in
| price comes only with experience, an
established reputation and good manage
| ment.
| And yet the experienced man who fore
warns that cooperation costs as well as
saves money and who insists on proper
| financial preparation is certain to be gen.
orally believed to be contriving the accu-
mutation of funds in order to get hold OF
| them, and stands no chance with the fool
| ish enthusiast who proposes to get things
| done for nothing. The first step in ef-
| If wisely employed the investment is very
| protita BILE; if otherwise it is lost and CO.
operation receives setback. The essen
| tlal preliminary to cooperation is there
fore the business knowledge which enables
| the farmer to distinguish the possible from
| the impossible and to trust or distrust pro-
| posals accordingly.
| 1t is astonishing what hold this nasty
| spirit of suspicion has on US farmers We
| do not seem willing to concede to any one
the possession of ordinary public spirit
and the desire to benefit his community.
! | know those who have spent in co-opera-
| tive work months of time and many hun
! dreds OF dollars without a cents compen-
| sation offered or expected whom people
distrust simply because they say they
must be after something" which they
are determined they shall not get That
seems to be the first thing thought of
| where one proposes a useful thing: "What
is he after? And how shall we keep him
| from getting it?"
| More knowledge will teach us that ex-
cept in the occasional cases of rich men
| disposing of their accumulations, serious
| and continued effort will seldom be made
for the promotion of useful public ends
without some expectation of private gain
| behind it. The grange would never have
1 O6SlTGu
| to be its salaried secretary. Camp
Roache would never have been started had
not the Highland people desired to build
| up their community. THE CALL would
not devote the space it now does to the
| farmers interests except from the expec-
tation of helping the farmers to help
themselves, thus benefiting the entire
State and ultimately increasing its circu-
| lation. The question in such cases should
| be not how the proposer of useful things
may be prevented from profting by them,
but how much he can properly be helped
to profit.
And it is not always material gain that
is sought for. The motive power is often
the spirit of leadership and the desire for
| the respect and esteem of our fellow-men.
Occasionally it is pure benevolence. I am
| convinced that the latter motive inspired
one who has spent thousands of dollars
| for the benefit of farmers of California
| and who told me of men confessing that
| they had been deliberately sent to fish out
| what his real object was, for it was gen.
orally believed "that he was after some
| thing"
That everlasting Something" which is
always suspected! 1t is the bane and
curse of farmers, and more than all else
| drives from their service the earnest and
capable. My friend told me that expert
ence in sorrow and not at all in anger, but
I confess it made my blood boil when I
| looked upon his kindly old face that such
| things should be said of him.
| A motive? Yes, there is always a mo.
tive; but it may be noble, or proper, or
| ignoble. If the latter, the face, the con-
versation, the character will disclose il.
Ignoble men will have ignoble motives.
but no such man lives who is not known
as such. What we farmers need is the
knowledge to distinguish the ignoble from
the proper and the noble and the manli-
ness to reward the deserving. If any have
| devoted their time and money to the pub
| lie service have they not thereby earned
the respect and esteem of their fellows?
And If instead they get distrust
and dislike are they not horribly
| cheated? Ii Highland Grange has estab-
llshed useful school is not its community
entitled to the advertising it gets? If The
CALL spends good money in seeking to be