The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1908-04-09
CREAMERY MEETING.
Farmers and Business Men Convene
at Opera House and Discuss
Cooperative Project.
A Proposition for Establishment of
Pickle Station is Also Submit
ted for Consideration.

A meeting called at the request of the
Commercial club for the purpose of
cooperative creamery
with the farmers, and of
offering them bonus of 81, 500 should
they see tit to erect building and
operate such a plant in this village,
was held at Brands opera house
on Saturday afternoon. More than
hundred representative farmers we're
in attendance.
Thos. H. Galley presided over the
meeting, and after briefly explaining
the purpose for which it was called,
introduced Attorney e. L. Mcmillan.
Mr.. Mcmillan said that in conse-
quence of the failure of creamery
expert-who had been promised by E.
K. Slater, state dairy and food comis-
arrive, he had consented to
address the assemblage, but as he
was not a practical dairyman he
could only cover the subject along
general lines. Then, again, he had
been afforded but little time to prepare
an address or look up data. The
speaker, however, gave very inter-
esting talk on the subject and clearly
set forth the benefits to be derived from
cooperative creameries--beneft to the
farmers and benefits to the business
men of the towns in which the cream
cries are located. Prosperity for the
farmers means prosperity for the mer-
chants, said Mr.. Mcmillan, and vice
versa. He stated that cooperative
creameries were virtually conducted
upon similar plan to the Equity
society's warehouses; is, they
the middlemen. He re-
ferred to southern Minnesota as an
example of the prosperity which CO.
operative creameries have brought to
that part of the state and mentioned
particularly Freedom and Steele
counties. In the former there are %
cooperative creameries and in the lat
ter 2s,s,aq all prodtably con
Quoted.
The proposition submitted by the
business men of Princeton to the
farmers of the surrounding county,
said Mr.. Mcmillan, is that they, the
farmers, build and operate in the
village of Princeton a creamery on
the cooperative plan and the business
men will give them, as soon as they
are organized, bonus of $1,000,
such sum now being ready for them in
the bank. The merchants do not want
any stock in this proposed creamery
they merely offer to assist the farmers
in building it in Princeton because
they know full we'll that they will reap
a share of the benefits. With CO.
operative creamery in the village it's
would increase, and the
value Of lands in the surrounding
would in consequence ad-
vance. Mr.. Mcmillan had no doubt
that the farmers, after considering the
proposition, would come to the con-
clusion that the establishment of CO.
operative creamery in Princeton
would be a good thing-both for them
and the merchants.
Mr.. Fox, buttermaker at the West
Branch creamery, declared that the
farmers made a great mistake in SELL
ing their cream to the centralizing
plants. Their object in paying a cent
or two more for cream is merely to
drive the cooperative plants out of
business, and once they have accom-
plished this purpose they will buy
your cream for whatever they deem fit
% pay. This has been already demon
strated in several instances.
r. G. Dunn gave a brief talk and
among other things said he wished to
make plain the fact that this proposed
was not to be in opposition
10 the West Branch or any other CO.
operative creamery. There is plenty
Of territory to support cooperative
creamery in Princeton without at
tempting competition with other con-
Germs of like nature. He advised the
farmers to stand by the cooperative
creamery even though the centralizers
offered a few cents more for butterfat.
They only did so as bait. Whatso-
over is given by the business men of
Princeton to the farmers on this
creamery proposition is a direct
bonus. He believed in giving to the
producers-the farmers-and he never
in his life attached his signature to a |
subscription list with so much plea
sure as he did the one recently circu-
lated by the Commercial club. The
business men would get the money
back Indirectly while the farmers
would reap material benefit.
Organize, said he, get good men