Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-11-17

HUGHES 0FFERS ] /,
SOLUTION! / ] OF Of !. !.
FARM / Al PROBLEMS ! ! \ | ! |
State Sup vision !, Il ii Of Farm
Marketing Necessary,
..:.:' He Declares. q n;'
s.f3 r----s lSF>5Es
Cooperative Ownership Of
Retail Agencies is Also
\. Urged.

st, Paul Minn., Nov. l7.--State su-
pervision OF machinery for marketing
and cooperative ownership OF retail
agencies BY farmers are recommended.
in report BY HughJ. Hughes, difrrise;ct:-e difrie;t:e
tor of the Minnesota departm ent OF.
agriculture, made public today. The
report deals with the results Of an in
vestigation by the. department into
conditions affecting the marketing OF
farm products, which was ordered
by the 1919 legislature. !.
cooperative Ownership by =, the
farmers machiReryhof marketing at
least as far as O point where the
farm product loses its Identity or
where it reaches retail distribution.
Is offered as the best. available solu-
ton OF the farmers marketing prob
lem, says the report.
Urges Co-operative Activities.
Cooperative ownership Of retail
agencies such as grocery stores, meat
markets, milk depots and similar
a practical solution of the unneces-
sary expenses Of living borne by the
consumer" -, ;,
State supervision for the establish
ing fair barter and exchange is held
essential. 49,. y -
Mr.. Hughes recommends that grain
cooperative elevators create q central
selling agency: such agencies should
mold membership In any grain cx-
change to which it can find a, market
Ing outlet, continues the report, and
the board Of directors Of the central
organization should he empowered to
constitute itself corporation to deal
IN grain, to comply with rules &C var
aous boards Of trade in order to OBJ
tain membership in them. AS an al
ternattve plan. the I, report suggests
independently, Of existing grain ex-
changes and In connection with like
sales agencies in. other, states,
"A problem before such an organ.
ization Is that Of commanding a suffl-
cient volume to create an active buy
erS market-in other words to insure
profitable sale for the crop consigned
to It, upon a market at least as wide
a. that provided by existing agencies, .
the report adds. fs
Farmer is Middlcman.
Discussing the, proposition as to the
farmer hecoming middieman, Mr.
'"rhe, suhs1itn LOT; federated CO.
DperattoR tfof sthe services rendered b,
ths. t2hhef ri tse a Ne y holesaler is asInat:
kt mU6t u IA dkkArrtained In sSeAcf
ii1s 81, fa1m- -pfo ntattSR strictly ON. tht
buSaness merits of the propoa tioi,.33
The normal sales PERIOD tof Wiieal
was. onlNSa eeneration ago, but It'll
more thAA asmonth. Conditions to
day. including car shortage, and
greater ability Of the farmeh4,to fin.
ance his crop, have spread this periot
of wheat sale to practically the en-
tire year. It has been the function
Of the middleman to handle the crop
This is q highly speculative undertak
ing, involving risk that necessitate,
a somewhat wide margin Of profit il
order TOT protect the buyer agains
losses due to price fluctuations =,
! II the farmer takes over this phas,
Of distribution, he automatically as
sumes the risks inherent to the mid
dleman. The risk can best be alb
sorbed and insured against by adopt
ing the cooperative principle Of mar
keting. n
"a comparison Of private bushes
and cooperative business helps t.
make clear why cooperative organiza
ton not 1nfrequently find dificultie.
in securing needed banking assistance
In private business the basis OF cred