The morning journal-courier., 1908-08-14
FARMERS COOPERATION.

NNN' ANNf NIllllllNNA 'hNAlAh WV Hibl lhI-
mers for their lowly conditions and
calling for a thorough investigation
was criticized in these columns the
other morning as being unoalled for
and Inappropriate, the hope was ex-
pressed and the belief was held that
our farmers would be resourceful
enough to get together and solve their
own problems, II the farmer In Amer
lea, or anywhere, for that matter, Is
downtrodden to-day, 1t is because all
of his profits are gobbled up by the
thick network Of mlddlemen which
exists between them and their con-
sumers. Their salvation lies in the
elimination OF these men. who feed
like vultures upon the farmers legit-
innate profits. zen, on the other
hand, II they can combine so as to be
able to buy their supplies In quantity,
direct from manufacturers, the far
mers' problem, of which President
Roosevelt speaks, would be a non
entity.
That the government could inter-
fere even should 1t want to, to elm
mate these conditions is doubtful.
Surely the government could not or
ganize the farmers so that they could
buy one way or another, IL they did
not want to. The initiative must
come from within. That just this in
itiatlve Is coming from within Is in
creasngly apparent. Some good In
fluence Is certainly at work. for, were
the farmers not coming into their own
financially, the big commercial rating
agencies would not be noticing them
the way they are. 1t is said that there
are to-day easily five times the num-
Der of farmers with high ratings in
Dun's and Bradstreet's that there
1 NCAc lWtuty Yeas hbu'
Frederic j. Haskln a painstaking
investigator, has just been looking up
the progress of cooperative meth
DDS among our farmers. He reports
the tendency apparent at every turn
He calls 1t "a weather vane that tells
where sets the wind of farm-pro.
gress." He finds the truck farmers OF
Virginia successfully organized and
doing business of $50, 900 a year
the profits being divided among them
pro rata. In other places he finds
the farmers building good roads and
charging tolls TO pay for the expense
of them, with the result that Their
farms are advanced in value and that
they are able to haul their produce
to market so much more easily Far.
mers' cooperative telephone lines are
everywhere. There are. perhaps. Q
thousand farmers mutual fire insur.
ance companies doing business
Throughout the country.
These are more than beginnings to-
ward the most effectual sort OF coop
Grafton. They are good beginning
and better and greater results may b.
expected In the near future. The co
operation, 1t would seem, must b,
along neighborhood, rather than alonl
national lines. But who can say tina
each neighborhood will not prove
local in a national farmers union
Organized" says Mr.. Haskln, "th
farmers of the country posses
enough ready money to put up
price-strike which would make tn
great coal strike OF 1909 look SINAI
indeed. With the strong helping IN
weak they could maintain an indef
mite strike for higher prices for th
produce and for lower prices for thei
machinery"
The government cannot bring tina
cooperation about faster As for tn
coming federal Interference, as tn
Louisville Courier-Journal says: 9TH
commission may make thorough re
search and file its report with tn
, chief executive; what then? Congress
, cannot enact laws to compel individ
! uals-whether farmers or wage -earr
ers-in Kentucky Indiana, Tennessee
or any other state to pass their live
in particular way; to endow the
, homes with all the comforts and bles!
t ings civilization offers Legislatlo
: can do many things, perhaps, but tn
task is beyond its reach. The resul
t which the president hopes for ca
!, be accomplished only by education
: example, influence. The upllft mu
r come voluntarily from the farmir
{ population, aroused by the agtatio
8 and laIbors OF Others who are in pos
n ton to WELD an effective power TT
s longing developed in the farmer
h heart for better things must be III
d motive and the stimulus for the b
O neficent growth so desirable"
Il -
= A BELOVED YALENSIAN.