Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1906-08-24
ENDORSED IN
ELEVEN STATES
CALL is ISSUED FOR A COOPER.
= ATIvE CONGRESS.
FARMERS ALL TO UNITE
Purpose Is to Arrange to Control the
Farm Products-Favorable Leg
islation Is to eB Asked

Topeka, August GA call was i.
sued tonight for farmers co-opera
tive congress, composed of delegate
from the Mississippi river valley, +
meet October % The call is signe,
by James w. Butler, formerly secre
tary of the Kansas Cooperative Ship
pers Association, and is indorsed b,
the secretary of the farmers associa
tions of eleven states. The states il
which the farmers associations hay,
indorsed the call are Texas, Arkansas
Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, New
Mexico, Nebraska, Iowa, Iiinois, Kan
sas and South Dekota. In Kansas thu
call has been indorsed by C. w. Peck
ham, president of the Independent
Grain Dealers Association. The con
gress will probably meet in Topeka.
The purpose of the congress will bt
to unite the farmers of the Mssissip
pi valley in permanent organization
to control the farm products and to Sc
cure tho enactment Of laws favorable
TO the farmers. None of the Missis.
sippi valley states has law regulat,
ing the organization and control Of co.
operative associations. Kansas has O
law to cover the subject, but it is in.
adequate, according to the members
Of such associations. II limits the
capital stock to 100000 and provides
no means of regulating the stock
which one member may vote. The call
says that another purpose of the meet
ing will be the formation Of uniform
plan for the organization and cooper
atom of cooperative telephones, co
operative exchanges, cooperative
clearing houses, cooperative elevators,
cooperative creameries, cooperative
gins, cooperative warehouses, coop
erative terminal markets, cooperative
insurance, cooperative factories and
cooperative packing houses.
Meeting Place Not Decided On.
"The meeting place of the con
gress," said Mr. Butler, "will be de-
cided upon before the call is sent to
the organizations of the states timer.
ested. The congress probably will
meet in Topeka, Wichita, st. Joseph
or Kansas City; it depends upon rates
and arrangements. There are hun
dreds of cooperative telephone com.
panies, insurance companies and ele-
vators owned by farmers, and we ey-
pect to unite on plan which will per-
init all these companies to work in
harmony. There are in Kansas alone
any number of telephone companies
owned and operated in the rural dis
tricts. The farmers don't work to-
gether enough to have these connected
with telephone or terminal markets,
and we can unite such interests with
the other interests Of the farmers in
way that we make them all pay.
III we can get the reports of these
companies in the North and the re-
ports or the cotton gins and ware
houses in the South, and the exchange
and clearing house reports from all
parts Of the country together, we can
select committees composed of the rep
resentatives Of each interest and haev
them agree upon plan for the coop
Grafton Of all interests.
"If we could do no more than to
get the farmers Of Minnesota, South
Dakota and Kansas to hold then
wheM for a good prizes, we would save
them millions. These states raise as
much wheat a. the country exports
each year, and the farmers could get
q better price for their grain than they
do. The farmers are now doing the
best they can at organization in hap
hazard, slipshod way, without method,
system, experience or well defined, uni.
form plans. A cooperative congress,
consisting Of hundreds of experienced
representatives in session for n week
or longer, with experienced commit
tees in the definite lines, would, no
doubt, formulate from the many plans
submitted a splendid plan for future
work in each line. There is no way
TO estimate the value Of such action
to the cooperative movement.
"It therefore seemed to me that
we could expediate matters by hold
ing farmers cooperative congress
in which all these interests could be
represented, and it appears to me to
be the proper thing TO do. The coop
srative elevators in the grain states
are following the same system, gener-
ally speaking, but no uniform termin-
al market plan has as yet been adopt
ed by any considerable number of
them. The weakest feature of all far
mers' past attempts at organization
was their lack of business system,
business rules, uniformed plans and
disciplined methods. Such congress
would, in my judgment, attract the at.
tention Of farmers all over the United
States"