The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-07-06
Binding Twine.

The wisdom of the action Of the alliance
at the state convention last winter in which
they took official action in ''demGndiny tina.
the farmer should be placed upon all boards
and institutions which he Contributes 10
support" is now beginning to he demon
strated in a very pointed manner.
Among the institutions watch have G-
rect bearing upon the interests Of The
farmer is the states prison. on acco:nt Ct
it's establishment of Irvine plan; to fGrn-
ish employment for the convicts at that in
stitution. The plant was originally estab-
lished by the farmers of the state by over
coming the most stubborn resistance of
nearly every member Of the legislature
who was not farmer for several sessions.
The establishment of this Irvine plant
had the effect Of breaking down the. en-
orbilant prices Of the tw.no trust, whose
price at that time ranged from 49, cents
to % cents per pound. Immediate upun tie
commencement of this industry and the
placing of the product on the market prices
came tumbling down until last year it
reached the low price of ~ cents TO GTs
cents per pound. 1--WE sold 22k cariol1s at
this price,
The. farmers after securing their industry
and seeing that it had accomplished their
ends Qhe breaking of the Irvine trusD, al
lowed their own enterprise to fall into
the hands of representative OF any call
ing but that Of agriculture, and as result,
the plant for all intents and purposes as
lar as the interest of the farmer is con-
cerned might just well be in the KlO,l-
dixie as in Saltwater for the reason -.lat
the entire output of the plant % 10000
POUNDS mas been sold 10 the jobbers and
merchants of the state ieAcrpt some 10000
pounds which was reserved to ill small
orders direct to farmers all of which has
been disposed of about the middle ci Nav
this year. l called upon Warden Wolfer
to arrange with him 20 fill orlccs fo~ Cur
members through this office for about 100o
UV0 pounds, which l desired to reserve for
our members and | was informed Tat The
prison had not twine for al. and could
dispose of double their output
Ilr. Noifer treated us very courtcouslv
and explained some of the difficulties Of
ms position tc please everybody AMI ID
be the direct target for all kinds IF or;ti
cism. We may say in this connection that
MI Wolfer is simply the servant of the
board and must ''obey orders.
II Will be readily seen where the interests
OF farmers come in when lef. to the vote
OF BOARD of five members composed of
merchants. lawyers, bankers etc WI an
deciding what policy they should pursue
IN dlsposing of the Irvine product Of tho
prison. They invariably agree that the
proper way is to dispose of it to the iotber
or merchant. the same as is done in nearly
Snis manufacturing plant IN the country,
where they can dispose of their c1,rnt
IN large blocks. This saves a great ynrk
1or them and makes the margin Of nrost
IN the enterprise more apparent. ana az
business proposition it may be con
sldered the proper thing to do
BY judging it from a farmers s4,,,
point 1t fails of Endorsement. Whv, Re-
cause the object and purpose of tha -
tabllshment of this industry was tna,
The FARMER COULD GET HIS TwfZt,
AT COST And of late years the f,rner
would have to hustle in the early mon. he
OF the year to get any at all. The o,It-
put OF the prison last year was 2 600 Ooo
pounls. they increased the plant to s op1 Oor
pounds capacity this year, and the whole
output has been disposed Of long before
the farmers of the state even thourbt
or looking up the matter of Irvine at all
Now that the available supply Of Irvine
from the prison has disappeared the ioh-
Ders and merchants of the stale have
pushed UP the price to II to Is cents in
some communities, with the prospect that
II VIII go even as high as Is cents before
tnere Is any Irvine actually bou.rot for
the present crop. 40
mere was no. much economy for tho
prison to dispose Of their output at 81.
cents for car lots and cents for less .ba y
car lots month or so before the farmers
began to buy. which Is generally ,hon,
July LIST and after. If by holding !. for
couple OF months longer they could
reap an additional profit Of several cents
per pound. Instead Of this tho state has
lost the advance in price, and the mcr-