Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1915-06-24
BUILDING A MACHINE.
(The Idaho Farmer)

practical step he takes Us toward the
building of machine" to forward
his personal ends. Without an or
ganization he thinks he can get no
where, and, very likely, he is right
In that.
A good many men have built for
midable political machines and made
them serve their ends for time; by
means of them they have mounted
high and doomed large on the hori-
zon They have worked through
secret societies, fraternal organNa-
lions, race friendships, business inter
ests and even gone to church regu-
larly for the sake of getting the sup
port Of those who practice church
going.
To thousands of budding politicians
the farmer has looked like good ma
terial for machinery of this sort.
There are so many farmers, and
they are such steady, solid, depend
able men, with so much influence
when you take them all together,
that it is fairly tempting for the as
piring statesman to think about it.
A history of the various attempts
to organize farmers for such hidden
purposes would make very interest
ing reading. There have been great
many of them. Some of them started
out with great promise; the farmers
were enthusiastic; they saw the pos
sibilities of organization just as read
lily as anybody; they knew that pro
per organization would be weapon
with which they might fight their
battles successfully. Alas, before
long the cloven hoof peeped out
and the farmers discovered that
somebody was seeking to use them
fol- his own aggrandizement-to max
them stepping stones. And then there
was rapid collapse.
Every one of these organizations
was outwardly fair. More than that,
every one of them had great posi-
bilities for good in them if they
had not been twisted out OF their
proper course for selfish, Individual
ends.
One of our correspondents ex-
pressed it we'll when he said that
: we must do things ourselves If we
: expect them to benefit us very much
Tie gabby man who assures us that
his one aim in life is to devote mis-
entire energies for the good OF
fan mers may be speaking the truth
but it is worth remembering tha'
none of the really great men VINO
have lived lives of sacrifice TOT
cthers ever talked about it; they
never elbowed their way forward ane
insisted on shouting about how noble
and disinterested they were.
1t isn't safe to Judge a man by
wha; he says he is or what he says
h., is going to do for us. If his heart
is really in his work, he Will 90
something.
Nobody is going to CONFESS chat he
lever dIl6lllpUSu W Vi eooh1NO
for his own personal benefit. Rather,
The pictures himself as pure-m1nded
patriot who gives UP his own wish
es for the sake of others. He hides
his real motives.
No single man can fight the bat
tiles of great class alone success
fully. George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln and other true patriots could
have done nothing alone; behind
them were thousands and hundreds
of thousands Of stalwart, earnest
men who fought with them, bore
with them the brunt of battle and
suffered with them. True farm organ
ization must be done by farmers.
We believe it has begun already in
countless corners of our country,
in organizations formed by the
men of field and ranch who have
united for their own good. Cow test
ing associations, bull associations, co
operative dairy or fruit associations, |
and the like, where built up On true |
cooperative principles, and not fos-
tered by outsiders with axes of their
own to grind, are bringing the farm
ers to their own.
The moment an organization finds
itself drifting toward the support of
some one individual, and discovers
that he is climbing nimbly up on its
shoulders promising everything tol,
the members, and doing everything ,
for himself, it is time to look to the
purpose Of the organization itself an
If need be, reinforce it with the con-
crete of true co-operation-not all
for one, but all for all.