The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1906-06-29
ORGANIZATION OF FARMERS
Find Protection Worthless and Rebel
Against Tariff-Fostered
Trusts.

Those new organizations OF farmers
and planters known as the Equity
society and the Farmers union, have
the agOwed purpose OF increasing the
price Tor which agricultural products
shall he sold That is very natural
undertaking OF the farmers 10 try and
benefit themselves by cooperating to-
gether. They see others combining and
plunlering them, why should not they
emulate the trusts and corporations
and put their own price on their own
products like the trusts do? Instead OF
selling their wheat, corn and cotton
AT the price the buyers offer. why not
hold IL until the buyers come around
and are willing to pay a profitable
price?
Why it looks just as easy as fall
ing OF iog or gliding down the cellar /
door that little grease has made 1
slick and slippery. All you have TO I
do. say the leaders, is TO refuse TO
sell until you get your price. One dol
lar a bushel for wheat and Is cents a
pound for cotton and the price of 9TH
err products in proportion. Eureka!
the world is ours, II we only hang to-
gether. Everything we buy Is on the
boom, from agricultural machinery TO
zinc paint. Why can't the farmers DO
the same2
The trouble is, the farmer, unlike
the tarin protected trusts and COM
bines, has no monopoly. His wheat
is sold at the price of the worlds
market, according 10 supply and de-
mani. All the surplus wheat of all
the countries goes to the markets OF
! other countries that do not produce
! enough to supply their own wants. II
there Is a scarcity the price rules
high; If there are bumper crops the
world over the price is low. II all
{ the surplus we raise in the United
States was kept at home, when other
4 countries hal good crops, there would
probably bo still enough TO supply the
LIVERPOOL market, which rules the
worlds price. In that case, with
nearly 100000, 900 bushels of wheat on
our hands more than we could con-
sumo. what would we do with IL?
What would the price at Chicago be
then? Instead of one dollar 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 proc
ess. Il costs money to store wheat
besides, it will only keep couple OF
years without damaging.
A II does not look encouraging for the
EQUITY society members as far as the
price of wheat Is concerned, and sim
liar obstacles will be met with II
Z trying to fix the price of corn, oats ant
cattle
. With the cotton planter the outlool
is more promising. This country raise
: nearly all the surplus cotton. and IN
price is greatly influenced, If not en-
- tirely fixed in this country. Cotto
70 will keep, merely requiring goo
roof ever it. The greatest danger
~, from fire. and insurance OF such
- lnhammable substance Is expensive.
-, Borh the southern planter and tn
t.r northern farmer can, however, pr
tect themselves from the trust hig
:. prices by uniting for the abolition {
the protective tariff. which has fo
- tered these combines. With reason
able prices for what they buy they ca
- afford &c take reasonable prices forwh'
they sell, and still come out ahea
= In place of very high tariff rates. as
present. there should be a tariff f
reyenue-that is, enough tariff tax {
- imports to provide the necessary re
-. enue for the government, and not his
80 enough to protect the trusts in char
=. ing their plundering prices.
Sc, II will pay the organized farmers
talk that important matter of tar
reduction over in their meetings al
In their homes The Republican par
has tiled to prevent this, by declarii
hat ell organizations OF farmers mu
be nonpartisan. and as far as the
tional Grange is concerned, the X
oublicsns control II, which has dout
less driven the independent farme
-, 70 10Th the Equity society and Farl
isn' srs' unions. where more latitude Is
lowed for political discussion. The
is no political issue that is so impt
80 tant 10 the farmers as the tarin,
Pr n fosters trusts and combines Will
thunder them The pretended prot'
~ ton of % cents a bushel on wheat.
cents on corn and 10 cents on OF
the oen's on 10 ,aw hoe ha
,,,b provided In the tarlH Ia" haS "e
found by the farmer TO be enur'
worthless. because the surplus OF thu
nus crops sold abroad fixes the price
'ne home. and the price would be just
ugh good II there was a tariff duty of
Iruin cents o pound, 1t would not add to
med 'euuOe -"
,theI puo,,dsr, Roosevelt has deci,