The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-04-09
GWIN TALKS ON
FRUIT MARKETING

held in the Commercial club, We
ratehee. WI, March q. l9li.l
One Of the most encouraging signs OF
the times, "a they concern the fruit IN I
dustrY Of the northwest, Is the great
impetus that has been given 10 the IN
portant matters Of cooperation amongst
the fruit growers and organization Of
the growers. 10 these important
works new cooperative agencies which
have come into existence within a
wear. have accomplished much and are
10 be commended. II Is with much re-
lief that the Northwestern Fruit EX
change viewed and continues 10 view
the creation and progress OF these new
agencies, for the field to be covered
and the burden OF education ard organ
ization to be borre.is so great that u
is doubtful If any one concern could
accomplish the task efficiently. tor
nearly three years the Exchange bore
the heat and burden Of the battle for
organization and order, alone. Enter /
ing the field in 1910. il found II M com
plete possession Of commission mer-
chants from eastern cities, and the
marketing Of the crop largely on the
old line consignment basis. The EX-
change was the very first 10 urge the
advantage and importance of diyoTcluR
the business from ths consignment
basis and placing il on a merchandising
basis Of +. o. b. sale. From the very
start it announced its policy, and has
not only stuck to il presistently, itself, |
but has been gratiied to see its policy, !
its principles and much Of its practice
and argument adopted by others, in
cluding the cooperative marketing
agency that came into existence last
season, and has become large and
important factor in the situation.
From the foregoing it will be seen
that most decidedly the Exchange is !
not only not an opponent Of coOpera
tion, bat is the first organization to
urge the advantages Of il, and its
whole record is one Of consistent effort |
and achievement in the direction Of |
practical cooperation. II has, at its
own expense, been instrumental IN or
ganizing new associations at many !
points throughout the northwest and
fostering and nursing them until they |
were strong enough to stand alone has |
talked cooperation and practiced CO.
operation to an extent, especially IN |
practice, that has never been equalled
in this part of the country. For illus
trati0n: instead Of cunhning the prac |
tce of cooperation to the growers Of
the northwest. which is as far as even |
the boldest cooperators, outside the |
Exchange have thought of going, the |
Northwestern Fruit Exchange, away |
back in 1910 figured out the truth, now |
evident to nearly everybody, that APP |
ple growers in the northwest must |
necessarily cooperate with fruit and
vegetable growers in other parts OF
the eountTy-in Florida, in Texas, IN |
New England, in Michigan, in CalifOr
MIA, to overcome the seasonal handicaps |
on the operation of permanent and efli- !
cent as we'll as economical sales SER |
vice. Have you ever figured out how
a sales ser vice could be efficiently and
economically maintained by fruit
growers Of the northwest, alone, when
the fruit is harvested within about 100
days, and marketed in period of
about six months, What will become
of the sales machinery the other six
months? Will it be allowed to lie idle
and rust, or must it be abandoned and
renewed annually? Doesn't either al
tentative offer service objections to the
mind of any rational business man?
What about it then? Well, the Ex-
change met that problem by pure
cooperative principle, without any
sounding of brass or tinkling of Gym
balls, but in straightgOing practical
manner The North American Fruit
Exchange was organized as service
clearing house, through which the
Northwestern and the associations and
shippers in other parts of the country
could cooperate IN supplying a tonnage
sufficiently great, and what is equally
important, sufficiently continuous, to
keep great sales force busy for IL
months in the year. Speakers on CO.
operative organization recently have
admitted their problem in this regard,
and have expressed the hope that
sooner or later, increasing. tonnage will
enable them to employ more statesmen.
But increasing tonnage of only north
western fruit will never enable the
work to be done with maximum etlici-
ency, for the reason stated The
Northwestern and its associates in the
North American, handled, during the
year ending December 81, 1913, over
II, 900 cars of fruit and vegetables,
maintain over 100 direct agencies in as
many different cities, and represent in
its operations, (estimated) over $4,000
growers, in all parts OF the country
all of whose tonnage combines to sup
port service of a kind not paraIeled
elsewhere, at cost per unit lower
than produced under any other condi.
tions. 1t will be seen then, that the
Exchange, has been practcing, since
1910, practical cooperation in posi-
tive effective way, Proven perform
ance is always more convincing than
theories and promises for the future.
The Exchange is not trying to mas
querade MS a mutual cooperative
concern in a technical sense. Ii does
not have to he, in order to be of ser
vice to the people In fact, it is a very
serious question before the American
people today, whether public service
corporations should be under public or
private ownership. Up to now, the
American people have, generally speak
ing, turned down the European idea of
public ownership and operation of rail
roads and other public utilities. "The
American political system is such,
says Mr.. Howard Elliot, the famous
railroad president, las scarcely to rem
der advisable the turning over of vast
industries to be publicly operated. "
The trouble is, as everybody knows,
that the administration of the pub
lie business is too often characterized
by inehciency and sometimes by graft.
How often do we see the public busi-
ness administered with the same de-
gree of economy efficiency and fidelity
that the same business would be if oper-
ated by some private corporation An
swer the question squareiy to yourself.
Only yesterday | was talking to one of
your citizens who told of the complaint
of road supervisor. here in the valley.
Speaking of spending the peoples
money, procured by taxation, on the
roads, this supervisor said that he was
doing well if he could administer the
money 50 as to get the benefit of 20
cents on the dollar that the other so
cents was wasted through the opera
uOn of politics, red tape, ineiiiciency
and extravaganza, and that he was
personally poweress to make the peo-
pies dollar more efficient. Is this con
e.. o., SO