The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-08-28
President White of
Farm Bureau Writes
Says Sugar Trust Enters Politics
Denies Charge That Mormon
Church, rs Such, Is Involved.

Being a beet grower last year and,
OF course, being very much interest
ed in the price of sugar beets and
realizing the unjust price as compared
with the dividends of the sugar com
pany / started out individually to get
the beet growers of Twin Falls coun-
ty together. We had several meet
ings but starting late as we did we
found it hard to accomplish much.
began communicating with the pow
ers that be, controlling the sugar beet
industry and SO long as we were
small party of insurgents we received
no answer to our communications.
About that time the Farm Bureau
was born. l was present at that
meeting and was very much interested
IN listening to Mr.. Hochbaum lay out
the beautiful plan of its organization
and what it could do for the farmer
in the way of education through its
county agent, and in the way that we
could bring about economic changes.
such as the buying of our commodities
collectively and selling in a like man
ner For some reason or other at
that first meeting | was elected presi-
dent. | did not want the position at
that time but since some of my neigh
bors wanted me to serve l was glad
10 do so. From that day to this |
have taken a vital interest in the
Farm Bureau. My wife and | have
travelled a great many hundred miles
in trying to perfect this organization.
Spent a little of our own money
glad to do it. We have wanted to
make this Farm Bureau the most per-
feet farm bureau in the United
States-a thing that other county
farm bureaus could take for an ex
ample 1t has been said that 1 am not
interested in the educational side of
the farm bureau work. l wish to
deny that. Nothing appeals to me
more than the learning how to raise
larger crops, better crops and to be
a model farmer. But there is an
economic side to this farming bust
ness. After being in the game about
five years / began to realize that it is
"A most difficult thing to make a farm
Investment pay even per cent inter-
est and as | study the situation l find
that we have to pay a very high price
for everything we buy on the farm.
When it comes to selling we are never
asked what we want for our produce
but rather we have to humbly ask
the buyer what he is willing to pay.
Realizing all these things and really
believing that at this time our gov
eminent wants us to prosper on the
farm we had at various times tried to
deal collectively in the way of buying
and selling. We organized through
the Farm Bureau a pool of wool At
ter bringing the wool together, some
four carlots, the buyers organized
against us. They would send a buyer
in here every week or ten days, offer
us a ridiculously low price and then
leave town. We waited for ninety
days and no buyer would take hold
of our wool so we came together and
decided to consign it to the Columbia
Basin Wool Warehouse company at
Portland. The warehouse advances us
40 cents on the purchase price AS
soon as this wool reaches Portland
il will be sorted and sold, the Farm
Bureau reserving the right to say
when it shall be sold and at what fig
,1re.
We also conceived the idea of col
lecting our orders for binder Irvine.
We secured a competitive price on
binder twine in carload lots. We col
lected orders for and delivered some
two carloads of binder Irvine, thereby
saving something like $1S00.00 by the
transaction.
Becoming somewhat alarmed about
the sack situation for spuds we col
lected an order in like manner and
disposed of some three carloads of
spud sacks. Realizing that there
might be jam on potatoes we recent
ly met and formed a potato pool, the
next night bean pool and the follow
ing night an alsyke and clover pool,
and now the onion men wish us to do
the same, but as we got into these
economic questions we seem to make a
lot of enemies. not among our farm
ers, because they have given us their
utmost support. In view of the fact
that it was stated that the laws would
not permit the use of funds for pure
ly economic activities and realizing
perhaps that they could not ask city
people and business people to furnish
tax money to build up a machine thai
might possibly clash with them, we
thought best to take out all the things
in the Farm Bureau proper that any
one might object to and form another
organization, so recently we met
called together the various chairmer
of the local farm bureaus and laid the
whole situation before them. and t
say the least they were somewhat no
under the collar We organized thu
Commercial Committee of the Farm
Bureau and we tied the organization
into the Farm Bureau proper as close
ly as we could. because we did not no
want to do anything that would in
jure or detract from the parent or
ganization. In our constitution w
state specifically that for man u
become a member of the Commercial
Committee he must be a member o
the Farm Bureau. We decided to fl
nance all the operations and work o
the Commercial Committee outside o
state and county funds. The wool me
having given US several hundred dol
lars for the service we have rendere
them in disposing of their wool CAV