Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-06-14
TO KENTUCK Y

the plan goes through. their ware
houses will be taken in.
You must keep the membership
campaign separate from your method
OF financing.
If you men as whole approve the
general idea, then the next question is
Can the idea be actually introduced
into Kentucky" You have two points
on that.
First, the human factor. Could you
actually get men to sign up that type
of agreement?
Second, could you take care of the
existing situation with warehouses and
get the so-called leader group who
are concerned with the warehouses tc
indorse the proposition and help get
| it through?
Then comes the next problem: "Ii
| you believe that can be done what are
the steps to be taken to get the groups
together so, first, the plan can be pre-
scented, and, second, where the plan
will be accepted.
That means the actual organization
programme; it is different from the
plan itself. That is the technique of
getting the plan through.
Must Be Local Project.
You are a typical group of the leader
crowd in Kentucky, men who have
the growers viewpoint and the ware
| houseman's and bankers interest as
well. Suppose you were willing to
sell and combine your interest with
the warehouse owners, with yourselves
as tobacco growers, and get the sys-
| tenn working. I believe you men can
produce the same reaction on the men
with whom you are acquainted in the
districts from which you come. l have
no doubt if this plan were worked out
right by yourselves-but not by out
siders-and presented by yourselves
to the men in your districts--I haven't
any doubt you will get the real men.
the real tobacco growers, the real
warehouse owners, to come with you.
That situation is absolutely easy.
A MEMBER-While the warehouse
owner may not object to this plan. is
it not possible that the warehouse
operator who is getting a salary may
object? He is the man we have to
get.
MR.. SAPIRO-Let me give you a
parallel to that. In the Northwest we
struck in some of these elevators, the
farmers elevator companies, that
had hired managers, men getting
small salaries from the farmers own
ing those places. These men took the
stump against the cooperative asso-
citation which their growers were
seeking to tie up with. One thing hap
pened. Those fellows got. in there and
threw them out-or instructed the
Board of Directors to throw the man.
ager out, on the ground that he was
opposing the interests of their own
stockholders. Some other places we
found we could convert the man.
ayers.
1 don't want to say that I antici-
pate that your operators will as a
whole take that stand. I think you
will find some of these men will put
themselves and their own interest
ahead of those of the growers, but l
don't think you will find that in a
majority of cases. The majority of
men are perfectly square shooters.
Some of them will think they will
work in other places under this plan.
If they can't, there is some other
place in Kentucky where they can
make a living.
A MEMBER-Will there be a sell
ing function for the warehouseman?
VI II. SAGlIlO--NOs lilGIS Will lOI Dc
a selling function for the warehouse
manager as such. You have right
row a great many more selling points
than you are justified in having. a
great many more. 1t is an uneco-
nomical system even from the stand
point of the tobacco buyers; they all
recognize it. You will minimize your
selling points. I don't know how
many of you have even talked over
this problem. You will have the least
number with which you can get along.
For the first year you must have
your buyers come wherever you can
get them. You will work out over a
term of years a minimum number of
selling points and a minimum amount
of buyers choice, but what particular
places you would select 1 cannot tell
you. The number of places you will
need | couldn't state.
A MEMBER-One point would be
all that is needed.
MIR. SAPIRO-That is correct. For
example. there used to be eighty diff
ferent points where they would sell
prunes. All The prunes today are sold
through one office at San Jose.
A MEMBER-What would be the
use of warehouses?
MIN. SSs IOu llCGu c
ceiving points; you need grading
have an actual use for every one of
your warehouses.
A MEMBER-The same amount of
tobacco would be received under the
new plan as under the old plan. You
would have to have receiving points
and instead of having the tobacco
come there all at once you could
make it come right along.
MIR. SAPIRO-You hit it right.
You must have receiving points.
a MEMBER-These warehouses
are ideal for that thing. Instead of
waiting until the first or middle of
January we could commence deliver
ing tobacco the first day of October
A MEMBER-How are you going
to finance and protect the small
farmer?
Financing the Small Farmer.
MIR. SAPIRO-Let us take beans
as u perfect illustration of that sit
uation. We have, of course, the
largest bean growers in the State and
the smallest bean growers in the
State all in the same association.
When we first organized that we
found that in districts like Santa
Barbara and Santa Maria the very
small grower was absolutely tied up
to the bankers and couldn't deliver
anything. So we signed up contracts
that if they had beans covered by
crop mortgages they coEld be exclud-
eG if the lien holder insisted on get
ting possession. We went to the
banks and made arrangements where
by we handled those crops covered by
crop mortgage and so on for the Joint
account of the individual grower and
the bank, paying the bank in full its
lien with interest and simply paying
the overplus into the association pool.
The banks were glad to make that
with the association, 1t
took from them the unpopular burden
of Purchasing on the mortgage and |