The Raymer enterprise., 1913-03-27
JUST REWARD FOR FARMERS
Standing Shoulder to Shoulder With
His Neishbor He Has Opportunity
to Better Himself.

" 0StICF t1lW8SlI,
The individual farmer Is at the
mercy Of organized buyers, shippers
and transportation companies. Stand.
Ing alone. he cannot say what the
price of his goods shall be nor can he
modify the transportation charges, be
they ever SO exorbitant. Yet, as a
producer Of various foodstuffs and 9TH
er necessities Of life the farmer Is en-
titled to living wage and fair profit,
says the Country Gentleman. II under
the present system of marketing it be
regarded as a fair policy for organized
buyers to fix the prices of farm prod.
ucts SO that they pay little more than
the cost of production, and sometimes
not even that, then it is a fairer prop
osition for producers to aim to get to-
gether with a view OF maintaining
a price for their good that shall at
least pay the cost of production. In
terest on invested capital and just
prof1t. This is what cooperative mar
keting among formers has aimed to do.
One Of the latest champions OF the
farmers right to cooperate and Of the
advantages to be derived therefrom is
Prof. John L. Coulter OF the Univer-
sity of Minnesota, who is now acting
Us agricultural expert In the bureau
OF the census at Washington. His re-
cent book, Cooperation Among Farm
ers,' is styled the keystone OF rural
prosperity. He emphasizes that what
the farmer wants ought to have and
Will seek to obtain by every legitimate
means Is just reward for his labor
and invested capital. In the present
state Of organized society the lone
farmer stands helpless, but standing
shoulder to shoulder with his neigh
bors who are engaged In the produc.
tion Of similar goods the individual
farmer has the opportunity to help
himself to better financial condition.
In other words, the cooperative
movement among farmers has enabled
them to have something to say as to
the price Of their products. to market
them to better advantage, and to se-
cure better transportation facilities
and cheaper rates. These results are
confined to no one line OF agriculture;
they are shown to have been achieved
by farmers engaged In the co.opera-
tive marketing Of butter, cheese. meat
animals. grain. vegetables, poultry.
eggs. citrus and other fruits, and nuts
Moreover, the advantages and sue
cess of cooperative stores for farm
ers and rural communities as conduct
ed In Minnesota and several neighbor.
Ing states. where membership is
growing at the rate of 500 a month,
convince Professor Coulter that dur.
ing the next few years there will be
hundreds OF these stores organized,
and that these will be connected with
a cooperative wholesale society,""
In Europe cooperative buying or.
ganizations among farmers are quite
numerous and have been very success.
'ul. They bring various advantages to
farmers. such as cheaper prices. bet.
ter goods. lower shipping rates and
the saving Of time and labor on the
part of the members as result of
buying in bulk the feeds. fertilizers
and other materials used by farmers.
In buying, our American farmers
nave not been very active and we
have but few successful examples OF
such work.
The aim Of cooperation Is to make
farmers better business men and bet.
ter farmers. Without these We can.
not have better living, and we must
have this better living In the open
country. or the movement to the cities
Will not stop and farming will be
looked down upon and scorned." But
cooperation does more than this. II
removes the feeling of distrust and
suspicion all too common among farm.
er neighbors. Increases the opportuni.
ties for social intercourse through the
regular meetings Of the organization
raises the standard OF products, low.
ers the cost Of production, increases
the selling price OF goods and teaches
better methods Of marketing. Profes
sor Coulter goes even farther: he rec.
ommends the erection of local storage
plants and the cooperative control OF
factories for the canning. preservation
and manufacture Of the more perish.
able fruits. vegetables and dairy prod
ucts. While telling farmers that they
ought to organize and how to go abou,
1t. he cautions them not to think that
the cooperative society is cure.all
for every Ill Of the farming industry.