Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-11-19
incorporating the Farmer
By Frederic J. Haskin

! little deal, let him make his own calcu-
lations.
Two years ago the cotton manufacture
ers of the world met in England and mu-
tually agreed that under no circumstances
would they sell their fabrics under prices
| fixed by a certain schedule, and that
under no circumstances would they pay
more than a certain schedule for raw
cotton. The cotton growing farmers OF
! the southern states denounced this COM
bination bitterly, while the trade jour
nails representing the cotton textile in
dustry praised the agreement as a great
triumph of economic foresight. Where
upon the cotton growers have assembled
themselves, and they have declared that
under no circumstances will they sell
their cotton for less than a certain price.
Conditions have been favorable and they
have kept their word. The same journals
of the textile trade aenounce the action
of the farmers as piracy, while the farm
ers declare their organization and their
purposes to keep up prices Is most
praise worthy bit of economic foresight.
This is related by way Of illustrating the
fact that It still makes q difference whose
OK Is gored.
Attempts to fix the prices Of farm prod
hSNS nave DCCA htdhC III many A00hNAAu9-
Governments have sought thus to thwart
the operation OF the law Of supply and
demand. Not long ago Brazil. In an ef-
fort to keep up high prices. bought mil
lions Of bags of coffee to hold back from
the market. The Russian government Is
now considering the ACCESSIBILITY Of a
large purchase of grain in the hope OF
regulating the amount Of wheat placed
upon the market. Merchants in the Unit
ed States sometimes wickedly destroy
many carloads OF good foodstuff rather
than permit bountiful supply to force
down the market price,
The great difficulty of controlling the
prices and sale of farm products is that
there are too many farmers and that they
are too independent. Organizations look
ing to the control of limited product in
limited section OF territory have been
very successful, as witness the fruit grow
ers Of southern California, the peach
growers of Georgia and the truck farmers
OF various Atlantic coast communities.
The growers of certain variety of dark
tobacco in Kentucky and Tennessee were
goaded into reprisals by the organization
OF buyers which forced down the price of
their product to the starvation point. But
some Of the farmers refused to come into
the combination, and insisted on selling
their products to the boycotted trust.
True the trust gave them five times as
much money for their tobacco as IT gave
before the farmers organized. The result
was the night rider outrages.
The success of the dark tobacco grow
ers In forcing up the price of their prod
uet caused the growers of Burnley tobac-
1arNy@
ize The Society OF Equity was the rnedi-
UNI chosen. The results were about the
same-the price OF tobacco was raised. the
night rider depredations have disgraced
the land and some men have become very
rich. -
But the farmers insist that these trou-
bies are not sufficient to vitiate their
moral and legal rights to organize. in
view Of the fact that the selling and buy
Ing market, is organized. 1t Is clear, how.
ever, that 1t is difficult to persuade all OF
the farmers. of any section to enter into
an agrs1Elent sufficiently binding to be
effective.
Not only is 1t the purpose of the organ
ization TO fix prices and control the sup
ply, but also to regulate selling. It has
been demonstrated in the fruit and truck
growing business that land which pro-
duces bare living when its product Is
sold through commission merchants may
yield handsome profit when it's products
are marketed through a cooperative So
ciety There IS excellent reason to be-
lieve that the cooperative system of
marketing farm products will be estab-
lished. As to the other purposes of the
organizations, the history OF the past
proves that no organization can fix
prices in defiance Of the law of supply
and demand. 1t is possible, to a certain
extent, to regulate supply and demand.
and to resist for a time the operation Of
utterly to disregard the basic principles
of all trade and barter.
The farmers organizations of ths
seventies and eighties were the result Of
poverty. Those were the lean years, and
the farmer felt the heavy hand of fate.
His crops brought but small returns, his
debts were large, his land was mortgaged
and he was the easy prey OF the unscru-
pulous money lender. Now things have
changed Farm products command high
prices, the farmer is becoming more md
more competent in the science OF agri-
culture, he owes no money, his land Is
free from mortgages and he holds up his
head, proud master of the situation. His
attempts at organization when he was
the under-dog failed, Now that he has
money and the consciousness of power,
the situation is vastly different. The flu
ture of farmers organizations may deter
.. Cat, Of h.