The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-10-06
GRAIN SELLING PLAN
TO RECEIVE SUPPORT
AT LIBERTY MEETING

Our farm friends down in Union
county are planning for a big meet
ing on Monday evening. Oct. 10, in the
interest of the grain marketing plan
of the grain growers. James X. Ma
son, of Milton, the regional director
for Indiana, will be the principal
speaker Music will also lend attrac-
ton to the occasion.
In letter from the office of County
Agent, Foster Campbell, we find lib
eral quotation from an address by
Secretary Wallace, of the department
of agriculture, delivered at the ma
tional conference in Chicago, several
months ago. Secretary Wallace has
been very helpful to the farmers and
of much benefit to the cooperative
cause. Essentially farmer in his ex-
periences and sympathies, and farm
journal editor, as was his father for
so many years, he is in touch with
their problems.
Doctrine of Grain Growers.
The Grain Growers speak of their
plan" as: Designed to stabilize
market prices; eliminate speculation
and manipulation and insure adequate
| financial credit to farmers
In continuation of this outline they
! say: 1T is purely cooperative plan,
| offered in competition with existing
unsatisfactory methods of marketing.
| The plan differs from existing mar
keting methods, chiefly in that it rec
ognizes capital only as a servant, and
only renumerates it for its service
value, and returns to the producer the
proceeds of his toll in proportion to
! the patronage"
| The Secretary's Views
There are some good people who
! seem to think that the farmer should
not concern himself with matters OF
| marketing. There is no more reason
why the farmer should be expected
to confine his efforts solely to the pro
duction of his crops than why the
manufacturer should be expected to
confine his attention solely to the
mechanical process of manufacturing
his goods.
"As to the plan which you have
come here to consider, there are sew
/! eral features which appeal to me
| strongly. First, you seem to have
avoided the weaknesses which have
broken down many previous organiza-
tions. Second, you do not attempt to
wipe out our great marketing ma
chinery which has been built up
you are neither attempting to create a,
monopoly nor to fix prices.
This nation cannot hope to main
tain its agriculture on a sound econ
omic basis unless our farmers give
attention to the business end OF their
! business AS large producers they
, have been the best in the world. As
statesmen they have been very, very
, poor. We have come to time in our
! national life when our agriculture
must be put on a sound economic
| basis. This is imperative if produc-
ton is to be maintained and our peo-
pie are to be fed at reasonable costs.
Financing the Farmer
The action of the war finance cor
poration in setting aside S15,000.o00
for loans TO northwest farmers, has
given Grain Growers fresh courage.
1t makes a large fund available to
their members who may desire not
alone to pool, but also to hold in the
{ hope of higher market. We have
. done whole lot of exporting, at much
: higher than present ruling figures, and
some of our best informed grain oper
] ators are of the opinion that all grain
| will rule considerably higher. before
the next crops of wheat, oats and corn
= become available.
AS a matter of face, we have mar
keted wheat and oats too freely. We
: have flooded the tracks with cars and
u the elevators with grain. Someone
: has paid for all this grain and still
u owns much of it in store. Much wheat
: has been consigned abroad, to be sold
! on arrival, and has been disposed of at
l heavy losses on falling market, prin-
i cipally induced by our own heavy re-
!. ceipts and declining prices. In more
} stable market, with a supply more in
> keeping with monthly consumptive
/ and export demand, such violent price
changes and consequent losses, could
I not occur. This. we take it, is the
{ mark the U. S. Grain Growers are
= shooting at. 1t is condition that the
/ millers, bakers, and consumers of -four
and grain also seem most to favor