The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-01-10

have against the secretary. or the
board, or the fixed charges, or the ma
jority at the last meeting. The Sec
| rotary is certainly not made more eff
ficient by having to argue with any
member as to whether he should or
should not pay his dues and subscrip-
ton. 1t does not hurt the man who
gets commission on new members aud
on collections to moIlify malcontenrs
and pacify the restless. To do this
requires more time than the secretary
can afford to devote to 1t, yet it is
often very necessary. And right here
1t me say that I am speaking not
alone of Pensacola. It is true else
where as well. It Is to the collectors
personal interest to assuage and paci-
~, and he becomes missionary AMI
an element Of strength, whereas 1t Is
sapper Of the very life of the organ
ization II the secretary has to do it at
the expense OF high priced time and
that eQuanimity of mind which is es-
sential to enthusiasm in. his efforts.
II 1t is not practicable to put out the
commissioned solicitor and collector,
then the directors should devise some
equally effective way of saving the
secretary for what one OF our mem
Board OF Ddrectors.-The board OF
directors, under our organization. is a
very important part OF 1t. No man
should accept election to the board
unless he will make 1t his business 70
attend meetings, whether convenient
or not. The director who Is negligent
N this respect certainly does not aid
the others in maintaining that con-
slant, even interest which is better
than any occasional ebuilition of en-
thusiasm. If he frequently misses
meetings, for whatsoever reason. he is
apt to be a hindrance rather than a
help. however valuable member he
may be when he does attend. / urge
every member and especially every
director, to remember that the secre-
tary is not the organization. He.
hasn't the authority to be, even If
other things permitted. He is vital
part, and the more constant his d.
| rectors are, the more vital he becomes.
The more regular and reliable they
are in attending meetings, both of the
board and the membership, discussing,
advising and directing, the more faith
| the secretary has in the town, the
more interest in his work and the
more enthusiasm in his efforts.
II
The Members.-The same logic ap
plies, in only slightly less degree, to
| the individual member, especially
committeeman. If there is something
you don't understand or don't approve
| of. go to the secretary and take him
| into your confidence. Serious com
| plants, made in the right, business
! like way, offer suggestions for better
ment. Complaints, whether serious or
| frivolous, made the wrong way, tend
| to undermine the whole structure. Be
q live member, keep posted on what
the association is doing, offer sugges
| tons, don't be afraid of committee
work-it's your town. not the secre-
| tary's-and help the other fellow to
pull together.
/ Agricultural Betterment-H / have
a hobby, 1t lies In this topic But
shall be done very shortly. Late in
| the season we were confronted with
the alternative OF handling the county
exhibit in the fall fair or having no
county exhibit. The cost to us was
| out OF proportion to the result, due 20
the lateness of the date when we took
hold of it and my ignorance of that
line of work. There is no reason,
| though taken hold of early in the
spring, why the county exhibit at the
1912 fair should not be OF vast public
value. In connection with the farm
ers' cooperative demonstration work
and the boys corn club work, this as
| ISOLATION has the opportunity. by de-
voting sufficient time and money %
constructive agricultural deVelopme I,
to build for the ages. I do not mean
the exploitation of land, but rather
4 a.. "a.
for land exploitation. / mean demon.
stration through and by this associa-
| ton that Escambia lands are a bar
gain at prices discredited by tho re-
f1ex Of the validating done elsewhere
To this end, have already advised
the establishment of a large demon
stration farm by this association, in
i charge of a man who would also be
our commissioner of agriculture, COM
petent at once to direct the farm, 10
inspire our own farmers with conf
dence in improved methods, and IL
represent us away from home whether
at convention, an exhibition or In a
hunt for homeseekers. Such a farm
could be made in effect an agricul-
tural school for the youth of the
county, and I believe it could com
mand, from the members Of this as
sociation alone. enough patronage =
make it self sustaining.
Cooperative Selling and Public
Market.-We have never gone very far
In the matter of a public market, but
have been able to reach enough OF
the farmers to know that II is tim.
to have them meet here for confer
ence on the question Of cooperative
marketing. I find good many oi
them In favor of a public market
Public market and cooperative sell
, ing are not synonymous, however
though each may aid the other. Prior
to resigning the secretaryship, I had
called a conference of farmers fol
|, December 18th, to discuss the organ
ization of a cooperative selling as
ISOLATION covering Escambia county
, On resigning, 1 postponed the confer
ence so that my successor would be II
complete touch with the movement, rs
1t viii probably be necessary for this
association to handle the fornativ,
stages Of the movement until the
farmers are ready to employ theIl
agent-manager and go into bushes.
independent of this organization
urge that this matter be ytgorouslN