The Washington times., 1917-10-02

4
sary TO say that in this, as in every
thing else, there is need OF common
sense?)
The Jewish Agricultural and Indus
trial Aid Society has actually tried
the experiment OF a land bank to
help men become farmers. In seven
teen years, at an outlay of $4,000, 900,
II has established $500 families on
farms; and the losses have been small.
The manager OF this cociety is now
head of the Federal Land Bank in
Springfield. Mass. He has proposed
an agarian land bank to do for the
United States as a whole what II has
already taken part in successfully
doing for some thousands OF people.
Such a land bank would aid tenants
to become landowners. agricultural
laborers to become small farmers,
and landless immigrants with a farm
ing past to go out on the land-where
we need them.
California, under the wise admins
tration OF Hiram Johnson. pointed
the path for advance in this as In so
many other directions. She has begun
the development Of 5000 acres. not by
merely throwing the land open for
schoolhouses, and even certain "1m-
provements" on farms OF suitable
size; the effort has been to help the
man who wishes to farm to go into
the country and there find livable con-
ditIons.
Whenever farmers themselves have
the intelligence and energy to work
through cooperative societies this Is
far better than having the State un-
dertake the work. Community self
help Is normally preferable to using
the machinery of government for
tasks to which It is unaccustomed.
This applies to the ownership OF gran
aries, slaughter houses and the like.
There are in Europe cooperative
farmers associations which own and
run at a profit many such institu
tions; and when this is shown to be
the case. the other owners OF such
agencies face the accomplished fact:
and II often becomes possible for the
farmers then to deal with them on a
satisfactory basis.
European Farmers Blaze Way.
In Europe these great farmer CO.
operative associations sometimes con-
troll the whole machinery by which
their products are marketed. Each
little district has its own cooperative
group. The groups Of all the dis
tricts in the state are united again
in a large cooperative unit. In this
way they, do collectively what is be-
yond the power Of any one farmer In
dlyidually to accomplish.
By sending their shipments to mar
ket they move them in great bulk
quantities at the lowest possible cost.
They contract for long periods ahead
and sell in the most advantageous
market. Middlemen are eliminated.
The labor OF moving farm products
is reduced to a minimum.
But these enterprises are not state
enterprises. The relationship Of the
state to them is confined to super
vision, Just as our bank examiners
supervise the association OF stock
holders who come together to do a
banking business: and certain gen
eral regulations that are in the In
terest OF public policy are imposed
upon them. A standard OF equity and
fair dealing is maintained by the fore.
ing OF the publication OF accounts
and by supplying disinterested exam
ners who see to it that equity is
preserved by honesty and fairness
among those associated in the enter
prise.
OF course, tho personal equation IL
all important: the best OF schemes
will work badly II we force 1t against
the fundamental Issues OF fairness |
and honesty.
A single farmer today is no match |
for the corporations, railroads, and |
business enterprises with which we /
must deal. Organized into co-opera-
tive associations. however. the farm |
I
creased. The principle upon which |
such cooperative groups are formed |
is very simple. The profits are d. |
vlded partly In the shape OF a rebate |
that is paid in proportion to the vol |
ume OF business done for each mem |
ber. The control, however. OF the as
ISOLATION does not depend upon the |
number Of shares that a member may |
own, but rests upon the democratic |
basis Of one man one vote.
Cooperation Better Than Socialism. |
In such associations they elect their |
own officers who are specifically quail |
ned to deal with the agricultural prob
lens OF the association. These OF |
hcers are subject to the direct control |
OF those whose business and interests |
they handle. In this way politics is |
Kept out OF lnt ldTUltT business. !
Through cooperative organization our /
farmers can build up their strength.
And normally they can do better in /
this way than by recourse to an ex-
trsme form of state socialism. The |
farmers Of Denmark, Holland land |
parts OF France. north Italy, and Ger
manyD have pointed the way.
In Denmark on a country road in
the afternoon one can see a man wear
ing a cap OF the cooperative associa-
tion push n light wagon through the
village. gathering from each house a
dozen or two dozen eggs and a roll
of butter and cheese. As he takes II
he stamps the eggs and records the
quantity delivered in the record book
OF the member. At tho end OF his
three or four-mile trip he meets a
half dozen other men at a small trans
fer station owned by the cooperative
association.
There wagons or trucks load the
products brought In and haul them
TO a nearby railroad station where
the trucks from five or six transfer
stations gather and fill a railroad
car. The railroad car starts, and
In its journey to the seaport meets
several dozen additional cars loaded
with the products OF the association.
At the seaport a shipload is waiting
and the entire trainloAd OF products
is loaded and started for England.
In England this snip is unloaded in