The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-03-06

in America which have little outside
competitions, which lend themselves
naturally to monopoly and are monop-
Olies to very large degree. | think
they need honest cooperative COM
petition in many cases. Referring to
the grain business, however, there
isn't dry county anywhere on the
map; there isn't a place where the
crops have been lost lin Texas; there
sin't an island of the sea, there isn't
a foreign country on the planet, but
what the wires from the great eX
changes of Chicago, Minneapolis and
other markets record it. Any place
on the map that wants to buy grain is
in touch every hour with the central
markets of this country. and your
manager has an equal opportunity to
know the situation. There is cash
market and the most competitive bids
in the world come there and are laid
on his desk. And you as farmer,
can grow your grain, send it to town
and know that every dollar it is worth
comes back. to you. and you know
that your manager, if he is competent
and efficient, can put that grain into
10 bet market in the wC'4,. and you
get the benefit of it. And so ! say,
never since Adam came out of the
Garden of Eden have any farmers had
the opportunity we have in the grain
belt.
Terminal Elevators
Furthermore, regarding the build
ing OF terminal elevators, packing
houses, manufacturing plants and SINH
lar industries which are intended to
benefit the farmer hold closely to the
theory that this is not likely to be
done successfully where the invest
ment is made by individual farmers.
There are many reasons for this.
1.-THE individual farmer who invests
from $1O0 to $500 cannot afford to
take the time and pay the expenses
necessary to attend the annual meet
ing of stockholders. Personally he
cannot do a very large volume Of bus
mess with the institution. The result
is that he must send proxy to some
one on the inside. Usually these en-
terprises fail because Of poor man
agement, or if they succeed the man.
ayers are capable of getting the con-
troll of the companies. In the first
case the farmer loses his money and
in the second case he loses the CO.
operation.
NJ fn yn1
good, strong cooperative societies at
home which are financially and CO.
operatively successful they are not
ready to embark on national under
takings. 1t may be that when they
have built their strong local compa-
MES these companies could invest
enough money to build packing houses
mills and other institutions which
would furnish national competition for
big business. For example. live
stock shipping association which could
invest $4,000 and guarantee 100000
worth of business annually could af
ford to send delegate to the annual
meeting and guarantee the integrity,
the cooperation and the safe business
management of the packing plant. The
principle would work out the same as
applied to a mill or other large indus
try, but the unit for building up these
larger industries should be the local
cooperative company rather than the
individual farmer.
Experiences Abroad.
THE soundness Of this theory is
based upon the experiences abroad.
The principle is this year being ap-
piled to the cooperative grain move
ment in Canada. It was not applied in
the case of the Independent Harves-
ter Company at Plano, Illinois, and
now that company is going through a
reorganization which will cost many a
shareholder practically every penny
he has invested in it. II the Plano
company is eventually successful the
cooperative principle will more than
likely have disappeared and the men
who have put up the money today will
enjoy the results of its future prosper.
ity. This is striking illustration OF an
effort to build needed institution on
the wrong basis. The farmer stock
holders alone Of the Independent Har
vester Company buy enough machin
cry to support the plant in a thriving
manner but organized rs they are
| they do not buy their own machinery
The spirit Of cooperation advise
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