The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1918-06-28
FARMERS ROBBED OF TWO-TnIRDS
OF PRODUCTS BY CLOSED MARKET

0s - - @S No. sHss ga s
gether, and "clean up the gang In all
he states and in Washington The
fight Of the farmers for independence
and for the right to sell directly TO i
the consumers is political fight be-
fore it is anything else.
The farmer has to play in a game
where the other fellow makes all the
rules. When he sells wheat 1t is the
other fellow who does all the weigh
ing, docking and grading and the other
fellows word is law. When he tries
to sell his produce direct to the con-
sumner or the retailer, he is up against
a license law or a fine. When the
other fellow names a price that price
is the law and has the protection of
the law
The system finds it necessary also
to control the press and the "educa,
ton" Of the people The principal
item Of this 'education" is to make
a good PRODUCER Of the farmer and
to sadly neglect his education as a
MARKETER or seller. The farm pa
pers. dailies and agriculture! colleges
are strong on teaching the farmer to
PRODUCE more. The entire wealth
and power of the system rests upon
the fact that the farmer is the bieEest
producer and the poorest markJter
in the world
System Based on Poverty.
The closed market system presIp-
poses that there O1ce existed an
open market where the producer could
ell direct to the consumer There
did. The little the farmer then had
to exchange was traded for an honest
equivalent Prices were then kept up
because everything was scarce; the
farmer was not then able to produce
much When we have an open market
supply and demand actually operates
and prices rest on scarcity.
When the farmer introduced mach
inery and began to produce abundant
~ this SCARCITY was threatened and
hence PRICES were thre atened. Now,
in steps a new factor to save prices.
Machinery has separated the finishing
and marketing facilities from the
| farmers and given them over to the
middlemen. These middlemen organ
| lied to control supply SO as 10 main
| tain SCARCITY so they could keep up
| the prices. They did this by buying
| the farmers products in the fall when
the market was glutted and the farmer
had to SELL and then storing this prod
uce until the consumers began to feel
| the pinch of scarcity and yield to it
in the shape of high prices.
| Hence the closed market system was
| organized for the express purposes of
| producing scarcity where abundance
was possible. 1t is based on the main
| tenance Of general poverty. Universal
| prosperity would destroy it If it could
not keep the farmer so poor that he
could not store and sell his Cwn prod
not keep the farmer SO poor that he
keep the consumer poor enough syste-
matically to starve him into an accept
ance of the high cost of living it would
pass away 1t is the Original Society
for the Prevention of Prosperity, 1t
exists solely by keeping the producer
and consumer apart and keeping them
both poor.
There is no remedy for this condi-
ton other than the public control of
finishing, marketing and price-fXing.
Under public control the producer and
consumer could cooperate together
through the government to fix prices
in the interest Of all. If we apply this
remedy we will yet be able to realize
the splendid possibilities Of farm ma
chine production and all will enjoy
abundance In order to do this, as a
first step, the farmer and consumer
must organize and restore the govern
ment to the people.