Imperial Valley press., 1919-12-02
ERA ION
URGED, HELP IN
DAIRY INDUSTRY

Closer cooperation between the
!, producers and the manufacturers in
the dairy industry in the state was
urged at the recent convention of the
California Creamery Operators Asso-
citation, at Davis, in a paper read by
w. p. Hopkins of Petaluma.
Hopkins, who is the executive of =
cooperative creamery, argued that
the contentious that have arisen be-
!, tween the producers and the manufac-
| turers with the activities of the Milk
! Producers Associations are unfortun-
ate for the progress Of the industry,
and that the dairymen will foot the
bills, whatever the outcome OF the
| tight may be.
! Creates Impression
| Coming from a cooperative cream
cry Manager Hopkins temperate and
| judicial treatment of this veXed sub
ject created strong impression, and
was the subject of much favorable
comment at the convention. He said
in part:
"In asking whether the cooperative
principle is to dominate the dairy in
dustry, mcan-Arc the dairymen
themselves to own and operate the
concerns that manufacture and dis
tribute their product!
"No doubt some of US believe we
could answer this question right off
the bat But the answers would be
exactly opposite. No doubt we are
al watching with interest the efforts
of the Milk Producers Association to
put the manufacture and distribution
Of dairy products in the hands Of the
dairymen. No doubt many ore hope
full it will succeed; while others, and
theq are not confined to the managers
of the big corporations, hope it will
not fail. and are sticking a few monk
ey wrenches in the machinery to help
the failure come to pass. Others are
looking on at the fight and trying to
be as neutral as it is in the nature
of man to be.
Makes No Predictions
II am not making any prediction,
one way or the other. To be frank,
don't know whether the effort viii.
succeed or not. Ny sympathies are
naturally with the association; but in
view of the many difficulties that
confront the organization my criticism
is that the attempt was on too large
4 scale.
"To analvze the situation, and get
it clearly before US, we will take the
three main factors of the dairy in
dustry-the producer, the manufac-
turer and the distributor.
"Now these are separate and dis
tinct professions, calling for entirely
different talent. The dairyman has
! devoted his time to producing milk.
He has not the inclination, and in
many cases he has not the ability to
learn the manufacturing and distrib-
uting end of the business. The man.
ufacturer has plenty to do without
botherro' his head about production.
Il The distributor has specialized in his
line, and knows very little about the
dairymen or the manufacturers bus
mess.
Rocky Path
at is also charged, and l believe it
is true, that the dairvmen are not as
efficient in their own line, as the
manufacturer and the distributor are
in theirs
"This being true it is easy to see
why the dairymen, when they take
over the manufa cturing and distribut-
inr concerns, seldom make success
THE line Of least resistance is for
the producer. manufacturer and dis
Ttributor to get together and cooperate.
"The path Of the dairvmen's or
CARNATIONS is already strewn with
considerable wrcckage.
J II read somewhere of man who
said he could never hate anyone he
knew. He could work up considerable
| hatred for q man ho did not know
but as soon as he got acquainted he
could hate no longer.
81 believe we are all more or less
that way. and that some effort should
be made by these three factors in the
dairy industry to get acquainted
They are all dependent upon each
other.
Expensive Undertaking
"Each branch of the industry should
be taught to resnect and admire the
other, instead of being taught suspic-
ion and hatred.
"For the dairynen to toke over and
operate all the means of distribution
and manufacturing means the COM
plete tearing down Of the present
system. and the creation of another
in is place.
at is lone. expensive and heart
breaking undertaking. | do not say
it can't be done. But in the end the
dairymen will have TO foot the bills.
The question is-Is it necessary? Isl
there no other wav out?
"a lot of dairvmen are convinced
they are not getting fair deal from
the manufacturer and distributor.
/ On the other hand the manufacturer