The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-01

L farmers lIuOD 10 Cu6dSc III
ness of merchandising; and yet IN
some communities where the farmers
have a grievance against thcir local
merchant they do esta blsh ana sue
cessfully operate a store. Let tieii
alone; We cannot control this, neither
can you. h G are Witnln theli
rights. / dare say that the fnest
farms around this city are owned ana
operated by men not calling them-
selves farmers, but by lawyers, mer-
chants. k and the like tit is
true of my section, and they are 40
ing the best farming because they take
theip business methods into their farm
ing o~perations), and no farmer thinks
Of complaining-one thing we may
do tina Will increase our interest IN
respect for each other. 1T is this:
Practice a spirit Of reciprocity-not
of the Taft-Canadian-party splitting
variety, which IS being signed up to-
.day to the detrimant Of the armer
but the reciprocity of Live and Let
Live"
? There are some things which you
as individuals through your organ2-
zation may and can help US to ac-
com plfsh and I know that my brethren
will excuse me for, and stand by me
in, making an appeal to you: We
,realize that it is a long way between
the producer and consumer. The
road to Jericho is beset with many
pilfererS-they strip us Of our raj
ment, wound US and leave US nall
profits which these middle
men take and which they must have
if they operate, enter largely into the
problem and add materially to the
high cost of living. We ask you to
help US to eliminate the needless Of
them ana hat you adopt such bust
ness methods, wherever practical, as
will put you in as close ouch with
the producer as with the
Only recently a friendly manutac-
kturer showed to me how hat he
places his entire output into the hands
of a broker; the croker without, in
this case, the intervention of the
wholesaler old directly to the retailer
and gobbled up the lions share OF the
profits, selling at fifty per cent ad-
vance, while the retailer sold st
~thirty-three and one-third, thus MAX
ing a round one hundred percent the
consumer paid above the factory
price. This is a small article retail
ing at ten cents, but serves as a fair
illustration of the trend Of business.
except that some lines of merchan-
disc employ a whole army of the best
talent in the country to ply between
the broker, wholesaler and retailer
and the ultimate consumer pays the
bill.
o. may help US to discourage the
credit and mortgage system which for
forty ears has been. The bane of the
p~Southern farmer. We are making
some advancement in this direction
but could much 20 eradicate it
altogether with your assistance. 1t
is one of the basic principles of the
Farmers Union to set out of debt
and stay IL of debt. Help us to
instill this principle for the good of
humanity. Men / know who are SO
completely under the domination Of
this direful system thai they buy on
credit everything hat comes into
n household or upon the farm from
the wife's bonnet to the c%ultivator in
h field or to the wagon that hauls
n final products to town and dumps
them into the merchants treasury
veritable human chattels.
The government Of this country
freed four millions of slaves at one
blow-one proc1amation-and then
backed it up by four years of cruel
no less a benefactor if you would
strike the shack1es of debt from our
poor, deluded, misguided brethren and
hand back to them their manhood.
their freedom. They would make
better citizens, better husbands, better
f1atnerS, ana the WhOIe country would
feel the impetus Of the better condi
tons.
You may help US to secure an ade-
quate parcels post, not such as is nOW
proposed to be put on trial by the
Postmaster-General, for the rural
routes only having it's beginning with
the initial of the route and ending
With the finish of the samoa meas
ure which will benefit nobody and, il
its final results are to be the criterion.
will only defer the better measure
It is deceptive and has already fooled
some of our leading members into
endorsing it. We demand a parcels
post, not for the farmers alone
Though they would be it's Creates
Ebeneficiaries, but pro bono publico. Dc
you look displeased at that? YOU
cannot be selfish enough to wish tC
stand longer in the WAY of this whole.