The Caldwell tribune., 1920-08-24
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Ar NECESSARY
I.F0R PRODUCERS

SA4AAANAAAAIy AOOkSC1AIy
Depends Upon Coop
Grafton Between Home
Farmers and Business
Concerns.
Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper
p Union.)
The first essential in the develop
uient of any business 10 the possession
Of . market. The manufacturer must
have a market for his products or he
cannot succeed. no matter how valu-
able those products may be or how
efficiently his plant may be operated.
The wholesale merchant and the re-
tail merchant may have the choicest
stocks of goods, but they may as we'll
90 out of business if they have not .
market where they can dispose Of
their stocks. The farmer may produce
bumper crops, but they will rot upon
the ground if he cannot find market
for them. The wage earners skill and
muscle bring him no returns unless
there is a market for his labor.
The question of markets is the big
one in every line of business and ir
every community the question 10 .
vital one. In each community which
must be taken to include not only all
the people who live IN the town but
the farmers who live in the surround
ing country as well, there are two
sides to the market question. The
business men of the town must have q
market for the things which they have
to sell. Otherwise they cannot con-
tinue in business. At the same time
the farmers must have a market for
the things which they raise or they
may as we'll 60 out of business.
When Either Fails Both Suffer.
The merchants of the. town can pfo-
vide . market for the products of the
market for the goods which the mer-
farmers and the farmers can provide
chants have to SELL Az long as each
class; of citizens provides a market for
the other class all is well and the
goose hangs high, but when either
class. fails to provide a market for
the other the goose is cooked, not
only for the class which is deprived
of the market but for the other as
well.
The farmer has a right to expect
the town which is his natural trading
point to provide market for his pro-
ducts, and the town is not performing
its proper function as the trading CEN
ter OF its community If it does not see
that such market is provided. The
responsibility of looking after the full
fillrnent of this obligation rests large
ly upon the merchants of the town.
The farmer is a producer and he must
dispose of his products before he can
become consumer. 1t is, therefore,
not only right but necessary from a
business standpoint that the mer-
chants should aid the farmer in turn
ing his products into money. Other
wise the farmer naturally will have
no money to spend in the stores of
the town. E5
Obligation on Farmers.
On the other hand, the merchants OF
the town have right to expect the
farmers to provide market for the
merchandise which they have to sell,
and the farmers are not doing their
duty to their community if they do not
provide such market. In this case,
also, it is not only right but it is nee
essary to the prosperity of the farmers
NHes uSy SHOu1u olU TIC uCICu0utS III
turning their merchandise into cash.
Otherwise it is obvious that the mer-
chants will have no money with which
to buy the products of the farmers.
This is a double-barreled PROPOSE
ton and the obligation rests equally
upon both the merchants and the
farmers to maintain the markets
which are essential to both classes of
citizens. Any town which would i'm
port from points hundreds of miles
distant the farm products which it
coul buy at home would be pursuing
very short-signed policy, for it
would be making it impossible for the
farmers in its territory to buy the
goods of its merchants. As a matter
OF fact no town does this unless It is
forced by unusual conditions to do so.
A town may be located in a commun-
ity which is not productive enough to
meet the local demands, and in that
case it is forced to import farm pro-
ducts but the town which is> COM
PEELED to do this is at a disadvantage
from = commercial standpoint unless
il 10 esentially manufacturing town,
in which case its products are sold
to other communities and bring in
enough cash to offset that which Is
cent away to purchase farm products.
Must Have Outside Business.
In the average community, however,
the town is dependent for its pros
perity upon the money received from
the farmers in the ordinary channels
of trade. rather than upon that OBJ
tanned from the sale of It's own prod
ucts. In the average town the mer-
chants cannot make money and ron-
tinue in business If they are depend
ent solely upon the people OF the
town for their business.
No business can last long with ''ev-
erything going out and nothing COM
ing ,in." and it is equally true that no
bu:ines: can be operated on the prin-
eiple of everything coming in and
nothing going out" To maintain the
balance which is necessary to the
maintenance of prosperity in a COM
munity there must be an even trade