The Donaldsonville chief., 1911-02-04
WHY DON'T, FARMERS UNITE?
Three Big Organizations, Strong In
Certain Sections, Encroach on
Others Territory.

The Weekly Star-FarmeT Of st.
Louis prints the following on the
question of uniting farmers organiza-
tons:
Speaking OF farmers organizations
calls to mind the fact that last week
there was a national meeting Doth
Of the American Society OF Equity
and OF the National Grange. These
meetings, although held at the same
time, werc held in different cities. Ac-
cording to the daily press q commit
tee was appointed by the Society OF
Equity to confer with the grange with
the end in view Of bringing about
some sort Of coalition or alliance be-
tween them. Whether or not this eI-
fort will be successful remains to be
seen, but 1t is to be hoped that 1t
| will.
Last spring at the joint convention
| Of the Farmers union and the So
ciety of Equity which was held in st.
| Louis, efforts were made to unite
those two, but without avail. All
| three OF the aforementioned organ
izations are good ones. Each mas its
strong feature and its great weak
nesses. All three exist. SO they claim,
and SO we all believe, with the
avowed purpose of bettering the farm
| er by means Of united effort toward
improving rural education, roads,
farm life and other needed features
Two of them lay especial emphasis.
on the organized and cooperative
selling Of farm crops. Each of these
organizations is especially strong IN
some certain section of the country,
| but all are growing and encroaching
on the territory Of the others.
| "Why these three organizations
should not coalesce is more than the
mortal asking merely for information
can understand All three are doing
an immense amount of good, and all
three are working with the avowed
purpose of bettering agriculture and
yet they are very slow to make the
move which will bring them together
and thus help agriculture more than
anything else can do.
"Offlcers and members OF each OF
these organizations will tell you that
the other two are mighty good" and
then add in a quiet but confidential
tone, that theirs Is just little better
or more suited to your own personal
needs. AS a matter OF fact, all are
good, and none have succeeded ir
reaching the great mass Of American
farmers who must be reached before
any permanent success is attained.
: "It is argued by some that certain
Of these organizations are best adap
ted to certain regions, and not tt
others. If this is the case there should
still be no reason why they should
not all be working together whenever
great national issues are at stake
The fact that there Is strength onl!
in union is one which our fathers hat
quite a hard time settling and yet i
is a fact that no thinking person vii
now dispute.
TT has been suggested that II th'
officers and leaders in these organ1
cations were willing to make persona
and unselfsh sacrifices, that q coall
ton might be more quickly accom-
plished And that as matters nov
] stand each leader is somewhat sloy
! to risk his Office or influence. as b
would have to do, were he to cor
sent to this much-needed movement
Whether or not this is true 1t
$ to be hoped that they will soon com
together.
"An organization OF farmers whic
9 has been as successful as any tha
= have yet been formed, If we judg
success by dollars and cents, Is tn
!. one formed by farmers Of Illinois
v Iowa and Nebraska. These men hav
Q for several years successfully handle
q their Grain Dealers association &c
L farmers elevators, as they commonl
are called), in spite Of the fight mad
q upon them by the grain trust. The
IS organization has been purely a bus
g ness one, there being no social, fr
e ternal or secret features connecte
4 with 1t, and yet they have been s
successful that farmers elevator
IS owned and operated by farmers, al
10 to be seen at all the railroad statior
s, along the main lines in the northa1
p or heavy grain-growing sections
ID these respective states.
n Undoubtedly they, too, ha1
u learned some lessons in their fig
with the trusts, which would be
I'd value to other farmers organization
ss When all these successful farmer
o, organizations are willing to come I
!. gether for the common good, thu
to will be making real progress"
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