Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-07-26
THE FARMERS INEFFICIENCY.
Henry Wallace of Wallace's Farmer
Won't Stand For Such
Complaint.

them that they do not farm well
enough, that they manifest a tota
lack of business capacity, that they
do not take sufficient care of their
agricultural machinery and of theil
live stock, that they are not as
scrupulously honest as they should
be; and all that sort of rot.
The farmer has his faults. He
does not farm as we'll as he might
He does not keep books and know
just where he stands financially, as
he might. He has prejudices which
do him no credit-so do other peo-
pie. He has a mania for getting
something for nothing; in this he is
no different from city people. He
has other faults which we need not
mention, but this complaint of the
farmers inefficiency does not come
with good grace from other classes
of people who are quite as inefficient
in their way as the farmer is in his.
We will give an example: In the
city of Des -Moines, and in every
other city and every considerable
town in the country, we find a sam
pie of inefficiency of which the farm
er would be ashamed. The farmer
has long since quit manufacturing
his milk and cream into butter. He
sends it to the creamery. He does
not take it himself, but the creamery
wagon gathers up and carries the
milk or cream on the entire route,
and brings back the skim milk. How
is it in the city? There are hun
dreds of butcher shops and groceries
and stores, each one of which de-
livers its own goods to its customers
We have seen four milk wagons,
from four different diaries or milk
supply depots, standing at the same
moment at four different houses at
the intersection of two streets. At
certain hours of the day one has
to look sharp to keep from being run
over by delivery team when trying
to get across the street.
The people complain of the high
cost of living. They forget that a
large part of this high cost Of living
lies in the inability of the merchants
to devise a way of delivering goods
at a minimum cost to the consumer.
If the merchants of the city had as
much gumption as the farmers mani
| fest in handling their cream, they
would do away with all this waste by
establishing a delivery system in
which there would be a delivery
three times a day, not of the good;
of one store. but of all the stores.
The farmer is interested in this
because this lack of inefficiency in
the delivery Of goods in the city is
one reason why he gets such a small
per cent of the dollar that the con
sumner pays. A local delivery sys-
tenn tcall it a parcels posD could
have from fifteen to twenty per cent
of the consumers dollar, would en-
able the consumer to secure his
goods at lower prices, and would
give the farmer more for the food
that he furnishes. Owing to this
lack of inefficiency among business
men, outside of grains and meats the
farmer gets not over thirty-five cents
of the consumers dollar.
The foolish opposition of business
men to a parcels post, even in the
form in which it has of late been
advocated, is another example of the
utter inefficiency of business men
for parcels post would do in a large
way what good delivery system in
the city would do in a small way. 1t
would no doubt tend to wipe out in
| efficient business men. 1t would no
doubt tend to check the undue null
duplication of shops and stores, but
in the end it would help the real,
up-to-date merchant as well as help
the farmer nightly
Any system or method which puts
more of the consumers dollar into
the pocket of the farmer will help
the up-to-date merchant, who takes
as his reason for existence his ability
to minister to the wants of the con-
sumer, whether farmer or towns
man. If the farmer has more money
in his pocket, he will buy more
things and buy better things; for
he is really great spender, not
wasteful as a rule; but he will sup
ply them with the best that can be
had.
1t is a mistake to believe that the
prosperity of any one class means
necessarily the adversely of another
class. The body polite, or the ma
ton, does not become healthy and
vigorous by the weakness of any
one of it's members If one mem
Der prospers, all the members pros
per with it, A prosperous farming
community means prosperity i'm the
business community that meets its
wants, and prosperity in the business
community that merits its wants and