The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-11-19

the producer. The mid,iIeman? Well
he can always &c to producing. can
he not?
| European agriculture is being trans
formed by this massing of farmers
into cooperative societies. Some Dan
ish peasants belong to as many as
ten of these societies. Such a farmer
| touches elbows with his fellows and is
confident in their collective strength.
Powerful Agencies for the Farmer.
In Austria, the governors Of prov
inces, the projects of cantons. the
provincial state committees. the prov
ineial agricultural councils, the priests
and the teachers in the elementary
schools are all required by law to en-
| tighten the rural population on the
Importance and the utility of CO. oper-
alton, and to do all they can for it's
extension. These European cooper
ative societies are great and powerful
| agencies. An agricultural college pro-
| lessor of one of our state colleges re-
Gently met on the train, two Italians
who seemed to belong to the class OF
efficient business men. They inform
ed him that they represented 10 600
| italian farmers for whom they were
buying agricultural tolls and imple-
ments. They We're en- route to Spring
field, o.. to buy direct from the manu-
facturers. Such societies exist all
over progressive Europe, for the pur-
chase In large quantities of everything
needed on the farms, and for the SELL,
ing or everything produced. Instruc-
tors are hired to give the co-operators
hints as to the best way of farming
The whole movement spells efficiency.
Era of Agricultural Organization.
The American farmer has done COM
paratively little in this, but he will do
more. We have now. in fact. some.
of the most efficient cooperative or
ganizations in the world, mostly in the
fruit, truck-fsrmng, and darying in
dustrial, but the urge toward col
lective action is on. Most of the
agricultural papers are advocating in
one form or another the cooperative
idea. The great agricultural organi-
cations = the American Society Of
Equity. the Farmers Union, and the
Grange are in large measure favorable
to the cooperative idea. Independ-
emit cooperative organizations are
springing up all over the land. The
error of those Missouri farmers who
started the bank-that of overlooking
the Importance of expert management
and expert leadership--is finding
recognition as the dangerous thing for
co operation. The agricultural coll /
leges are studying in the problems of |
co-operation, and teaching, in the |
language of the Austrian law, it's inn |
portance and utility The prediction |
may be ventUned that within the next |
ten years we shall enter the era of |
agricultural organization in America |
and that, taking the best tried fea-
lures of European experiences, and |
building with them on our own, we |
shall make of it a success equal, at |
least, to that of the Danes.
A Government of Farmers.
In those days the farmers will all !
be one farmer In recognition of the |
underlying identity of interest sub
sisting between producers everywhere
there is quite likely to be community |
of feeling between farmers organiza- |
tons and those of laborers. The cor
dial relations that were established at |
the Farmers congress at ST.. Louis |
and the American Federation of La /
the sort. For hint as to what may |
occur, one may again go to Denmark, |
where the organized farmers--organ- |
lied in business ways-have gained |
such power that nearly half of the |
seats in the chief governing body OF |
the kingdom are held by farmers
men who work with their hands, and /
support families on holdings of from |
three to fifteen acres. Denmark has
perhaps the best government in the |
world. The farmers have no interest /
in bad government-good government
is good for them.
What will happen when all the farm
ers-or even half of them-are one
farmer? Doubtless he will cut some
wood. There may or may not be a
great splash. But this we may take
for truth-there are symptoms that /
our national colossus is stirring with |
the prevalent mania for collective ac-
tion, and that a lot of things are like
ly to happen when Reuben gets his
ak.
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