Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1913-04-18
To Have Farmers
Finance Selves
Among the Speakers at the Ma
tional Conference of Marketing
and Farm Credits Were Finan-
ciers Educators and Editors.

One of these was a paper pre-
pared by Herbert Myrick of
Springfield, Mass. president of
several weekly papers especially
interesting to farmers
This paper on Comparative
Finance, which was read for him
declared that organized co-opera-
ton enables the farmers to fin
ance themselves and improve dis
tribution. reform marketing and
promote the general welfare.
He declared American farmers
unitedly demand that whatever
currency reform congress enacts.
it shall provide facilities for fin
ancing farms equal to those pro-
vided for the large business in
terests. He hopes that such re-
form shall encourage the co-opera-
ton Of savings credits, loans by
people of limited wealth as we'll
as farmers and small tradesmen.
That this shall not be done by
special privilege, but by the rela-
tive equality of opportunity in
banking and exchange for per-
sonal mortgage savings and loans
whereby the farmers and common
people may cooperate success
fully to finance themselves under
either the federal or state laws
or both, is his desire.
Among those who enlivened
the proceedings with impromptu
discussions were II. S. Moberly,
president of the farmers union of
Arkansas, and George Mckerrow.
superintendent of farmers insti-
tutes of Wisconsin. President
Moberly remarked that in general
farmers were not business men.
Wisconsin farmers make very
successful business men," inter-
iected McKerrow.
The Arkansasan averred that,
compared with the business men
of the cities. the farmer cannot
organize, finance and manage a
cooperative scheme. Generally,
he said, they have not the capital,
business ability and information
required. He mentioned num-
Der of farmers organizations
which had failed. The Wisconsin
man again arose.
The farmersaof my state" he
declared, not only can. but have
organized many permanently sue
cessful companies. They do bus
mess like any city firm" He cit
ed the organizations of dairy and
fruit men as examples.
Moberly said there was a vast
difference between handling cot
ton and handling dairy products
owing to the immense difficulty
OF grading cotton. The time of
production and the fact that half
the cotton crop is marketed with
in period of three months were
other difficulties, he said, while
dairy products reach the market
in we'll regulated quantities
throughout the year. In addition
the cotton growers have no facil-
tiles. Cooperative warehouses
have failed. Moberly said the
university of Arkansas was doing
valuable work in bringing about
cooperation among farmers in
his home state. In some cases, he
saidb farmers working together
had increased their income by 200
per cent.
Summers, who is a member of
congress, said that as the necessit-
les of the people change, the scope
OF government must change, and
that the matter of farm credits
was a legitimate concern of the
national government. The speak
er said that with the rush from the
farms to the cities which follow
ed the introduction of rapid tram
sit the margin between farm pro-
duction and general consump-
ion had become dangerously mar
row. The high prices of today
are the sinister shadow of coming
hunger cast upon the land, he
asserted. There is no system Of
bountiful years to care for the lean
years.
Back to the farm" is the cry,
said the speaker. The men rais-
ed in the city will not return to
the country under existing condi-
tons. | know there are individ-
ual exceptions, but these excep-
tiope are very much prone to write
articles for the magazines as soon
as they get back to the soil and
Tor the most part they return to
the city in few years.
The speaker pointed out that
a 100000 bale cotton crop
in 1911 brought less than a H.
100000 bale crop in the previous
year. The corn crop Of 1912.
was much larger than that rs 1911