Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-06-14
FAR MERS ORGANIZING
Will Try to Boost Price of
Their Products.
HIGH COST OF ARTICLES THEY BUY

by the Tariff Fostercd Trusts-Agri-
cultural Products Sold at the
Worlds Prices, SO the Pretended
Protection Is Worthless.
Those new organizations of farmers
and planters known as the Equity So
ciety and the Farmers union have the
avowed purpose Of increasing the price
for which agricultural products shall!
be sold. That is a very natural under
taking of the farmers to try and bpnc-
tit themselves by cooperating together.
They see others combining and plum
dering them. Why should not they en-
ulate The trusts and corporations and
put their w price ap their own prod
ucts like the trusts do? Instead of sell
ing their wheat, corn and cotton at the
price the buyers offer why not hold it
until the buyers come around and are
willing to pay a profitable price?
Why, it looks just as easy as falling
off a log or sliding down the cellar
door that a little grease has made slick
and slippery. All you have to do, say
the leaders, is to refuse to sell until
you get your price, a dollar a bushel
for wheat and Is cents a pound for
cotton and the price of other products
in proportion. Eureka, the world is
ours if we only hang together! Every
thing we buy is on the boom, from ag-
rlcultural machinery to zinc paint.
Why can't the farmers do the same?
The trouble is the farmer, unlike the
tariff protected trusts and combines.
has no monopoly. His wheat is sold at
the price of the worlds market, ac-
cording to supply and demand. All the
surplus wheat Of all the countries goes
to the markets of other countries that
do not produce enough to supply their
W wants. If there is a scarcity the
price rules high, if there are bumper
crops the world over the price is low.
If all the surplus we raise in the Unit
ed States was kept at home when other
countries had good crops there would
probably still be enough to supply the
Liverpool market, which rules the
worlds price. In that case, with near
ly 400, 100000 bushels of wheat on our
hands more than we could consume,
what would we do with it? What
would the price at Chicago be then:
Instead of a dollar a bushel it would
be cheaper than corn. To store all that
surplus wheat and await an advance
In price through poor crops elsewhere
is an expensive process. 1t costs mon
ey to store wheat, besides it will only
keep a couple of years without damag-
ing.
1t does not look encouraging for the
Equity society members as far as the
price of wheat is concerned, and SINH.
lar obstacles will be met with in trying
to fix the price Of corn, oats and cattle
With the cotton planter the outlook
is more promising. This country raises
nearly all the surplus cotton. and the
price is greatly influenced if not en-
tirely fixed in this country. Cotton viii
keep, merely requiring a good root
over 1t. The greatest danger is from
fire, and insurance of such an infam
mable substance is expensive.
Both the southern planter and tbs
northern farmer can, however, protec-
themselves from the trust high prices
by uniting for the abolishing of the
protective tariff, which has f~ostere(
those combines. With reasonable prices
for what they buy they can afford tt
take reasonable prices for what the!
sell and still come out ahead. In placs
of very high tariff rates, as at present
there should be a tariff for revenue
that is, enough tariff tax on imports tt
provide the necessary revenue for the
government and not high enough tt
protect the trusts in charging theil
%plundering prices.
1t will pay the organized farmers tt
talk that important matter Of tariff
reduction over in their meetings an(
In their homes. The Republican party
has tried to prevent this by declaring
that all organizations of farmers mus
be nonpartisan, and as far as the ma
tional grange is concerned the Repub
licans control it, which has doubles.
driven the Independent farmers to joir
the Equity society and the farmers
unions, where more latitude is allowed
for political discussion. There is nc
political issue that is so important t.
the farmers as the tariff, as it fosters
trusts and combines, which p!undel
them. The pretended protection of 2;
cents q buShel OF wheat, Is cents or
corn and Is cents on oats provided il
the tariff law has been found by the
farmer To no antira1v 1orth1occ no
cause the surplus of those crops sole
abroad fixes the price at home, and the
price would be just as good if there
was no such tariff law. Cotton is OF
the free list, and if there was a tariff
duty of Is cents a pound it would NO
add to or reduce the price.
A Sample Tariff Argument.
Representative Charles Beary Lands