Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1920-02-27
WHY SIX YEARS?


prefer to delegate for six years the
power to sell your wheat to a mar
keting expert employed by you and
your neighboT5 to secure the fair
! price for your grain, or would you
prefer to continue for the rest of
your life to go on selling it yourself
for whatever the spectators say
they can afford to pay you?
The time has come when you must
answer that question. Next June the
government guaranteed price will
cease to be effective and then you
will be confronted with just two al
ternatives. Either you must go back
10 the old system of dumping your
wheat Elindly on market about
which you know little or nothing, or
you must join in establishing a new
! system which is fairer to the pro-
ducers. If any change is to he made,
now is the opportune time to make
it, for if the country once goes back
to the prewar system of grain mar
keting that system is likely to re-
main in force for another genera
| ton.
A sound and fair plan for the CO.
operative marketing of wheat has
been carefully worked out and will
be placed in operation if enough of
the wheat growers give it their sup
port and delegate the authority to
sell their wheat to the association
for period of six year.
Why six years? Why not one year
or three years? There are several
very excellent reasons. 1t would not
pay TO build up an organization for IL
business which might not last more
than one year. 1t would be impos-
sible to secure the services of men
of the requisite ability and expert
ence to handle the business for a
period of two or three years. Men
of the calibre needed to success
fully manage the affairs of an asso-
citation selling annually from s.
100000 to 50,OO0,000 bushels of
wheat, are not looking for temper
airy jobs. They do not care to be-
come identified with any organiza-
ton which does not give promise of
permanency and corresponding op-
portunities for growth and develop
ment.
The spectators, who are certain
to bitterly oppose the new system be-
cause it threatens to diminish and
eventually eliminate their profits,
could well afford to concentrate
their money and efforts in waging a
terrific campaign for two or three
years to discredit and destroy the
cooperative association. They can
not afford to maintain such a cam
paign for six years.
When millers, exporters or foreign
buyers form business connections
with the association, they will want
TO know that they can secure wheat
from it, not for one or two or three
years, but for long period of time.
Obviously it will require several
years to bring the new system to its
maximum of efficiency and to de-
velop it's full possibilities. If ample
time is not given for the plan to fully
demonstrate its worth before the
wheat growers are asked to renew
their contracts, the propaganda cam
paign would have to be made all
over again.
These are some of the reasons why
the wheat growers are asked to sign
up their wheat for six years. But
the reason which must appeal to any
sensible man as the strongest of all
is that it is better for the wheat
growers to cooperate for six years
in employing competent men to Sc
cure for them what their crop is
worth, rather than to go on for the
TEST OF their lives selling their wheat
to men employed to buy it for as
much less than it is worth as pos
sible. 1t is q case of working to-
gether for six years or being worked
for Il lifetime
WM. GOODYEAR.
MANTEn-A gents for p..l1.......