The Mankato free press., 1917-02-16

comic pictures in the papers. They
were not recognized as business men.
Il believe that condition was brought
about largely through our own fault.
We did not assert ourselves. Wherev-
er there is organized farming there
is more success, and the farmers are
being recognized as business men.
The idea that equity is antagonistic
to town is wrong. If the@ cities
meet the farmers on a. business basis
the business men will find that equity
societies are not antagonistic to them
They are striving for a cooperative
community spirit and want murual
recognition. In marketing produce
we find this general condition to
exist. The farmer receives 46 per cent
of what his product is sold for to the
consumer. ~
An Appalling Fact. Z.
"The appalling fact faces us that
it costs more to get the product to
the consumer than it costs to raise
the crop and bring it to the market.
In the mind of the farmer this ques-
ton arises. is it necessary that this
enormous cost of distribution should
continue?' and he begins to look
around aid apply certain tests to see
if there is fair division between the
farmer and the consumer The busi-
ness of the farmers is one element in
the entire business structure, and
other lines of work are all elements
Each one should have fair recon-
pense for the labor and capital. In
the struggle of today the farming end
of the business structure is en-
deavoring to obtain their fair pro-
portion, and equity is leading them
in that fight"
What Records Show.
Government records show that
the average profit on an American
farm today is about three and hall
per cent. This seems small. If the
rate was the same in other lines o.
business we could not complain, but
other lines make from Is to 16 per
cent on the capital invested" He then
told of the large dividends realized
by the large packing concerns, such
as Armours, and Swifts', SO to 50
per cent being realized on what the
farmer had only received three and
a half per cent for. "The wheat you
raise goes in the low average cost
class, but as soon as it is taken up
by the system, which is a monopoly
bigger than the Standard Oil Trust,
and by that / mean the bakers, the
value leaps. There hasn't been a
time when a barrel of -four has cost
over $40, and the average price has
been about 50 this year. A barrel O
flour will make 260 1oaves of bread,
which retailed by the bakers brings
in $23 and some cents. Thus a profit
of about fifteen dollars is made on
one barrel of flour.
How to Rectify Things.
How can we rectify these things
We must meet organizatin with or
ganization. Cooperation is becoming
la word to conjure by in Minnesota.
The farmers of this state got little
recognition until about thirteen years
ago when James Hill publicly de-
clared that the population was in
creasing rapidly in proportion to
the rate of production and unless
something was done there would
be food famine. The farmer
must use more advanced methods and
raise larger and better crops per acre.
This awoke the people and we poor
benighted farmers were Jared out
of our ruts. We began to organize
and talked community Cooperation,
But the farmer must be financially
successful. We must have financial
prosperity as basis for society,
farming business or any other sue
cessful business in the world" He
told of the policy of mail order
houses, which by selling direct to
the consumer were enabled to sell
their goods much cheaper, and ad-
vised the farmers to avoid all un-
necessary expenses by cooperating.
Talk BY D. D. Mayne.
Dexter D. Mayne, principal of the
school of agriculture, university of
Minnesota gave short address on
the value of farm work.
81 can shorten my remarks con-
siderably by the foundation which
Colonel Wilkinson has laid" said Mr..
Mayne, "as I intended to speak
along much the same lines. The fact
that the audience has been so at
tentive while listening to these fun
damental truths is a sure sign of the
progress. A few years ago speaker
could not have held the interest of
an audience with these fundamentals
on marketing and production, but al
the present time the people hear
gladly what they were not ready tC
accept few years ago." He spoke Of
the remarkable inventions of science,
which are eagerly accepted by the
world and touched briefly on the
war in Europe, saying that instead Of
killing millions and then saying "Let
us have peace" the warning nations
should say "Iet US have peace" be-
fore the millions were killed. He
spoke of the great prosperity and
wealth of America, and described a
trip to New York, where money is
spent so freely but where statistics
show that every twelfth man is
buried in the potters' field.
Something Radically Wrong.
"There is something fundamentally
and radically wrong with our system,
when such is the case," he said. "Twc
| per cent of the people in the United
States own sixty per cent of its
wealth. There is something wrong,
and urge you to study the question
until you find the fundamental wrong,
and when you find it, right the
| wrong" Justice will in time give
/ the farmer his dues, and as yet he