El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-02

I controlled their own system of credit,
marketing and buying" These fig
ures are furnished by Prof. John Lee
Coulter. expert special agent for agr1-
culture in the census bureau.
4 Bankers View.
With respect to easement in money
matters to the farmer, a prominent
banker said recently in a northwestern
daily paper 1T does no harm TO as
sert again that successful agriculture
is the absolute rock bottom basis and
foundation upon which is reared the
superstructure Of all other business
enterprises Wander as far afield as
YOU wish. YOU must ultimately return
70 the land as the fountain from
which gushes the stream Of business
prosperity. Every other business en-
terprise of any magnitude in the coun-
try has well defined and well regu-
lated sources for a supply of credit.
Farming is the largest business in the
world which has an i'll regulated, ut
full, unscientific hand-to-mouth method
OF obtaining the money necessary to
its best development Let US put our
minds on the proposition. 1t is worth
while The cotton planter Thea live
stock farmer, the dairyman, the truck
gardener. the cereal grower, the ORCH
ardist, and all agricultural producers
are entitled IN proportion 10 Inelr net
worth Just as much money and at just
as low rate of interest as the multlmlI-
liOnaire with his government bonds as
collateral If agriculture were 70
cease, there would be no m1ll1ona1reS,
and government bonds would not De
worth the paper on which engraved"
The Farmer Under Pressure.
The great saving by concentration
in manufacturing are well known.
There is even greater saving by con-
centrated distribution Of the produces
of the farm at a given CENTER out
10 make this distribution successful it
must be participated in upon some mu-
tual benefit plan by the producer ana
the consumer. The farmer must act
soon to help himself out OF hole.
One of the harshest conditions that
stands against large number OF
farmers in this country IS his short
time bank loans, store accounts, etc
And on account of this plight the
farmer is obliged to sell as soon as
his product is matured, regardless or
whether the market IS high or low,
and almost in every instance 1t is low
Cooperation, to give the farmer
sreadier and more even returns on his
products. would soon cut out this bur-
den. revive courage and amblJlon, ana
leave him some money to make mush
needed improvements and increase MS
yearly income.
Failures and Misfortune
Governor McGovern of wisconsin,
said in a special message last March:
cone reason why farmers have 1allen
behind merchants and manufacturers
in economic progress is that there has
been little coordination of effort or
concert of action among them. on
the other hand, city people are apt TO
think only of their own ills in rela-
ton to the high cost of living. with
ont thinking of the causes of those
ills. The problem of living cheaply
in cities depends absolutely on better
farming, better roads, and better mar
keting.
If I dared take more space would
like TO offer you all Of an address by
DR.. Sidney F Mezes. president Texas
University. But read this very Hum
mating part: while some progress
has been made in teaching the farmer
Hiorr
been done to aid him IN securing Ialr
prices for his produce. 40 Illustrate
the gross injustice of our present mar
keting system, may point out me
fact that at Laredo, Texas, IN our
onion growing district, one day a snort
time ago, onions were sold for Two
cents a pound: the next morning La
redo onions were sold in the open mar
ket at Austin at Is cents a pound IN
this transaction. as you viii see, the
commission man, the PUBIC carrier
and the retail dealer divided among
themselves $50 percent of the price
paid to the grower. Again tomatoes
were sold one day at Two lnIr rs c ..-9
each in Palestine, Texas, and the next
morning were sold in the markets OF
Austin at cents eacn. IN each OF the
instances cited the producer received
price while 81 percent of the selling
price was divided among the railroads
and the sellers of the produce.
Cooperation Necessity.
Thus far the reader has seen and
must realize that much earnest
thought is being given all over the
country towards solving the proDien11s
of the farmer. Secretary OF agrlcul-
ture Houston is preparing to install
market bureau TO assist the farmers
organizations that are already WORK
ing out their own salvation. Previous
experience has noted the fact that II
has always been difficult 10 enl!St
members Of a prosperous comnuhIty
in a cOOperatiVe enterprise, Just as II
Ii MT
fertile land in the details OF SOIL con-
servatiOn. So that it is now common
to say that all cooperative enterprises
have been born Of dire necessity. anu
if YOU will keep in mind the difficult
ties that have accumulated fast rlgnl
here in our own section OF country you
will I am sure, quickly come 70 tne
conviction that we have. all the olre
necessity needed to start up and sus-
tain a big help-one-another associa-
ton.
Let US call it the Farmers Central
Market Exchange!
The Headquarters of the exchange
should be in Ell Paso, based upon
pIan that will interest the business
men Of FL PasO. employ the most eN-
pert business knowledge, and so con-
duct a system of marketing that 1t viii
be as vitality useful to the banker, the
merchant. the laborer, the preacher, the
doctor, the skilled tradesman-eVerX
consuming mouth in FL PasO-as 1t VIII
be to the farmer VINO Will IuTnlSh In6
products to be sold
FL Paso Must Help
The cooperation Of the FL Paso bust
ness men with the farmers Of the val
leys will promote and advance every
kind of industry in the city, increase
the deposits in the banks, give the mer-
chants larger sources of credits, pay
the doctor, the preacher, give the wage
worker more comforts and a better l1v-
ing at a lower cOst-in fact, working
out together. city and country, the eco
monte principle Of producer-consumer
cooperation.
No SSFrusto in This.
Some one of q nervous disposition
may here contend that farmers CO.
operation conflicts with our antitrust
laws, but such is not the case as farm
ers are excepted in the antitrust act
of Texas. The evils of cooperation or
combining are not to the farmers lik-
ing The most fragrant of these abuses
as now known are Espionage of the
business of a competitor; locally sell
ing at a price far below cost Of pro-
duction to kill competition: making
false representations intimidation,
etc" and the farmer wants nothing to |
do with any of these They are all I'M !
manly schemes, surreptitiously intro !
dUced in competition to the detriment |
of the people, and what the farmer |
wants is a reasonable cooperation by /
fair methods, which will be a fair /
profit to himself and the consumer. ]