Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-10-22

nuLllU ! ! ! ]! . DV y i.
Lars /. | 5. Los ! ]EAIRIY
Farmers Lose Vast Sums Annually
! n Wildcat live tment. Co:
s Operation Usually Safe. ..
& The : slick, strong armed CRATER:
sneeringly terms the Farmer an easy
mark, and the Farmer Is. a prey to ia
horde OF this class OF gentry, They
come in every guise-slick, smooth and
polished. Their voices are softly mod
ulated, and they cOncoct aEstory that.
is allur1ng in the extreme, bringing
to the Farmer visions OF easy wealth,
and opulence. Many are tempted
and fall; and thus have been lost to
the Farmers in years gone by humid
reds OF millions OF dollars, Of which
he never had the opportunity Or
chance to regain a single penny. It is
passing strange that our Farmers will
be bit repeatedly BY this class Of para
sites. but they are slowly learning
their lesson and it is becoming a
harder and harder game for the above
mention gentlemen to play upon the
unwary. r 3. =
If our Cooperative organizations
have mission. one of more import
ance than another, it is to protect our
membership against this evil, and our
papers and periodicals should take
Infinite. pains to expose these finely
concooted schemes, and place our
membership on guard.
There is another reason, too, aside
from protecting the Farmer against
loss, which is of great importance,
and that is: The time has come when,
II the Farmer is to be freed from bust
ness conditions which hamper and
tranmel his progress, and prevent
him from securing just profit on his
products, and just compensation for
his labor, he must own and control
his own Marketing Facilities as well
as the financial institutions necessary
to finances his business and his mark.
citing enterprises. 1t is fact that
our FarmPfs are investing annually
millions II dollars in enterprises
some OF which are absolutely worth.
less, and even those that have good
value are in the hands of business
interests naturally opposed to- the
Farmere engaging in business for
himself Thus the capital Of the
Farmer Invested in such ENTERPRISES
falls into the hands of those who seek
to control the marketing of his pro!
ducts and reap to themselves the pro:
1T not only of the Farmers invest
ment, but the profit which the Farmer
himself is entitled to from the pro-
ducts of his labor: Is: it any wonder
then, that the speculator and the pro
fteer live in luxury, while the Farmer
tolls on to supply him with still more
luxury? There certainly is remedy
for these evils and this remedy lies
with the Farmer himself If he will
refuse to accept these highly colored
schemes that are set as snares with
which to capture the reward of his
labor; if he will refuse to invest his
savings in enterprises foreign to his
own welfare, and conserve the money
to his own uses; and when desiring to
invest his savings, invest them in in.
dustrial and financial enterprises own
ed and controlled by Farmers them
selves, he will very quickly remedy
this evil and reap the full reward of
his toll and savings
A very strong illustration of the
above facts has recently been brought
out by some of the blue Sky State
Officials, Referring to the Annual Re-
port of the State Securities Commits
sion to the Governor of the State of
South Dakota, we find the following
quotations. In this report they say:
"A careful examination has been made
OF all annual statements filed with this
Commission pursuant to the provisions
of the Blue Sky law.-While making
the above mentioned examination, we
the figures and draw some conclusions
from the records of the Office. Such
figures and conclusions may be briefly
stated as follows:
list. There were one hundred six
companies which made and filed annual
statements covering the year 1917. They
reported a total outstanding capital Of
$49,9S9,435.O0. The total gain reported
for the one hundred six companies was
$905,512.O0 or an average of one and
eisht-tenths on the entire capital out
standing"
The above statement must indicate
not only to the investing Farmer, but
to the investing public as we'll, that
their opportunities for investment in the
average scheme have a very small
chance Of returns that would warrant
such investment, as we see by this
statement that only an average of one
and eight-tenths per cent of gain is re-
corded, and further, this sum total Of
gain may not mean cash dividends re-
turned.
The report further states:
"2nd. We found that there were
thirty-eight reporting domestic coop
eratlve companies engaged in the oper-
alton of stores, elevators, and cream
cries. These companies had a total out
standing capital Of 1921, $1,000 and the
total gain of all such companies was the
TH1RTY-NINE PER CENT on the out
standing capital
This statement is astounding, and
should be an eyeopener for the Farmer
as to where he can probably. invest his
savings, as we see from the first state
panies reporting to the Commission
made gain Of only one and eight-tenths:
per cent! Now it must be remembered
that these thirty-eight Cooperative
Companies. referred to in the second
statement were included in the above
one hundred and six companies, but
these Thirty-eight Cooperative firms
made the net gain of Thirty-nine Per
Cent. They were FARMER OWNED
AND FARMER CONTROLLED The
thought must arise at this point: If
these Thirty-eight Farmer-Owned Co.
operative Companies made Thirty-nine
Per Cent on their investment, while the
whole one hundred and six companies
made only One and eight-tenths apsr
cent, then certainly the remainder of
the One hundred and six companies
could have made scarcely any profit ct
all.
The report states still further of tho
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