The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1914-01-16
FARMERS
URGED TO
ORGANIZE.
sHEAD OF SANTA FE OUT
LINES NECESSARY MOVE
MENT IN LETTER

NJ n. Cochrell, agent of the Atchi-
son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway
company in Guthrie, has an interest
ing letter from President +. P. Rip
ley in which the head of the santa
Fe system urges that farmers organ
ize for the safe of their products.
Mr.. Cochrell lately communicated to
President Ripley the complaint of an
Oklahoma peach grower whose fancy
Elbertas netted him less than tne
cost Of production.
"As nearly as am able to figure
the subject out said Mr. Ripey in
reply, the immediate remedy lies n
ar organization of producers under
which as a body they can deal with
some one man in each town, and can
ship either carloads or part of car
loads to him regularly, trusting him
to dispose of them to the best pos
sible advantage. The orange growers
Of California had these difficulties to
contend with before they organized,
and their success dates from the time
Of their organization. | think the
same can be said Of most of the
dealers who have tried combination
1t is q Zig problem and not easy Of
solution. and all We can do is to
lend our best efforts to it. The rail
road company has certain limitations
which it can not very well trans
gress,"
Traffic officials OF the Santa Fe
have been considering for some time
how 1t is possible to narrow the diff
ference in price between what the
farmer receives for his product and
what the consumer in the city pays
for it. ITO this end" Mr. Ripley said
in his letter to Mr. Cochrell, I'VE
nave been discussing the running OF
a pickup refrigerator car on certain
divisions OF the line so that smal.
lots Of produce could be shipped, but
il is by no means certain that il can
successfully be done, or that the al
legged large profit made by the mid
dleman can be eliminated After all, |
this profit IS not so very large in
he case of the individual, but arises |
mainly from the fact that there are
50 many middlemen. and that bust
less is done upon different lines from
hat which it formerly took When,
or instance the housewife buys a
package OF oatmeal for twenty five
.ents, she is getting about three
'ents worth Of oatmeal, the rest be-
ng fancy package, advertising, the
liddlemans profit, and cost OF de-
livery at the door. In the old days
he used to 20 to the store with
asket and the groceryman would
AXE her oatmeal out of a barrel: but
he now wants it put up in a sanitary
'ackage with somebody's brand on It.
Also, in the old days the peas and
cans and potatoes that were used in !
ur smaller towns-and there were ,
ot many large ones--were raised IN {
he Immediate suburbs and brought
0 the city in the morning by the !
irmer in his own wagon and deliv !
red TO your groceryman or market {
ian: conditions are now such that |
hat can not longer be done in our 7
irge cities, anG the result is that c
armers are located at a long dis {
ance away and must have an agency {
some kind in the city through |
-hich they ship Moreover, we are :
enlarging our wants, and /.
ne fanny living in Boston is now z
ccustomed to eat melons raised in II
olorado, oranges raised in Cali G
)rna and bananas raised in Central ?
merica, to say nothing of the thou Il
lnd other things eacn OF which con o
itGtes a large business in itself and G
ich of which must be handled by d
,ecialized industries. Therefore il h
scomes something more than a sim ii
G problem to provide for the ship =.
ent of the farmers produce with the Ii
asst manipulation en- route TO the O,
Die Of the consumer" es
---------ui nj
)LDS TO PE TAKEN eERt0tIeI