The Little River news., 1921-11-26
DIR. BRADFORD KNAPP
 OPENS SPEAKING TOUR
Tells f'a,ners of Cotton ASsOciati0n's Advantages in Address at LOn-
 0ke. Much Interest ShOwn.

Lonoke, Nov. 21.-With an appeal to farmers to take a step that would mean better homes for them, more of the comforts of life and better educa- tion for the ir children. Dr. Bradford Knapp, dean of the University Of Ar kansas College of Agriculture, opened his speaking tour in behalf of the Ar kansas Farm Bureau Gotten Growers Cooperative Association with an ad- dress in the courthouse here this after noon.
 "It is no pleasure to me to go about the state making speeches. said Dr. Knapp. q am doing it because l am interested in better schools, in seeing the sons and daughters of the cotton farmer have chance for an educa- tion, in seeing the farmer have some of the comforts of life that are denied to him under present conditions"
 Dr. Knapp is an interesting and forceful speaker. He held his audiences closest attention fer more than an hour this afternoon as he drove home one after another the reasons why the man who raises cct- ton should join the association.
 At the conclusion of his address, short talks were made by ex-Sen. w.. K Oldham. who presided over the l
 meeting and by c. N. Alexander, Pu- laski county planter, who has donated 1 half his time for several months to aiding the organization of the as sociation
 Mr. Alexander made fervent ap- peal to the farmers to get together in the association which he declared is the biggest thing ever attempted in the South.
 The courtroom was comfortable fill- ed and at the conclusion of the talks several of the farmers present signed the association contract while others took copies of the contract to study.
 Present System Too Costly.
 Opening his address with a discus sion of the history of marketing, Dr, Knapp said that the present system has grown up in haphaZard manner. He said that as many as 15 men some times handle the product from time it leaves the producer until it reaches the consumer.
 And every one of them takes his toll from it." he said.
 He said that the farmer, as a rule is compelled to sell his cotton in the fall and presented statistics to show that 70 per cent of the South's cot ton is marketed during the last four months of the year, while the mill must have cotton during the entire 12 months.
 "GO back over the market year after year and you will find that a rale prices are lower in the fell than they are after January IT, said Dr. Knapp. "This proves, I think that buyers offer lower prices in the fall because they know that the ma jority of the farmers will have to sell their cotton as soon as it is girne:.
 "I am aware that the plan I am urging is revolutionary said Dr. Knapp. 'It means the Cverturning of the present order of things. But we have got to the point where the cost of distribution is so great that the consumer thinks the farmer is getting too much. If we can close up the gap between the producer and the consumer we will have solved one of the greatest problems that is confronting the world
 And we never can solve it under the present system"
 Dr. Knapp said that in one county in Arkansas there are 14 cotton buy CTS who in 1919 paid income taxes on a total of $5O0,O0O.
 "I believe that We farmers could have done the business ourselves more cheaply than that" he said.