Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1921-11-24
WHEN THINGS WENT BLOoEY

The final curtain dropped yesterday afternoon on a movement
that gave promise at one time of really amounting to something.
Great Falls as the Equity News and later degenerated into the
Nonpartisan Leader. From capital secured from the farmers of
Montana the organs of this class movement flourished for a time,
ffekefed sBasHHedieaAy and shortly after last years election dIIu
g natural aad peaceful death W are just wondering what form
the next scheme to wrest a few hard-earned dollars from the farm
err will take. OF one thing we fell sure. we will not be kept In sus-
pense for any great period of time. Oil statesmen and stock takers
of various kinds are always with us and manage to do business
with the farmers fairly regularly, but in reality they are pikers at
the game, Just getting the nibbIngs and the occasional suckers. For
wholesale work it takes promoters of the Townley type harpnga
upon grievances real and imaginary and catering to class prejudice
Times are not particularly good for farmers right now, neither
are they particularly good for anyone else. Either a farmer is a
farmer or he "aint" If he is a farmer, we never could figure out
why SO many who had made a fair success in their own line are al
ways trying to break into the other fellows game. The Equity
program, for instance, was frankly intended to eliminate the mid
dleman of all lines. but of course was gradually modified until it
of the vital spark of personal ownership, soon langushed and died
The Rochedale system of cooperative merchandising was another
scheme that was going to make life a dream for the farmer where
they could be induced to put up the capital to start it off. If CO..
operative merchandising by the farmer has ever scored a success,
we are as yet uniformed of it.
There have been a few outstanding instances of successful CO.
operative work by farmers, along special lines, but they have been
distinguished by a strict sdestepping of all political questions and
a confinement to the one idea that brought forth the cooperation
Probably the most prominent thing of this nature is the fruit grow
eB' organizations of the Pacific coast. 1t is noticeable that their
great work has been in the nature of teaching their members how
to grade and pack their fruit. When that was done the market
and prices were usually found satisfactory.
There is a homely old saying in regard to the shoemaker
sticking to his last" which is probably as true today and as apph-I
cable as at any time in history. Men have for ages evolved schemes
to control markets, but the successes in that endeavor have been
few and far between and very short lived. In other words, it can't
be done. There are forces that rule the price of food stHffs which
are stronger than individual or collective human effort. But that
does not seem to prevent the effort being made, and probably never
will prevent it. Others than farmers have attempted it and failed,
in fact, the greatest socaled farmers movements have always
been started by men whose actual farm experience had been linn
tied or unfortunate. The real farmer has little time to give to
give to socialogc or broad economic problems.