Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1922-01-19
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Now, what Is the farmer asking
Without trying to catalogue the re
medal measures that have been sug
gested in his behalf, the principal pro
posals that bear directly on the i'm
provement Of his distributing and mar
keting relations may be summarized as
fOllows:--
First: storage warehouses for cot
ton, wool, and tobacco, and elevators
for grain, of sufficient capacity to meet
the maximum demand on them at the
peak Of the marketing period. The
farmer thinks that either private CAPT.
tai must furnish these facilities, or the
state must erect end own the eleva.
tors and warehouses
Second: weighing and grading OF
agricultural products, and certificatlon
thereof, 10 be done by impartial and
disinterested public inspectors (this is
already accomplished to some extent
, by the federal licensing Of weighers
and graders), to eliminate underpay-
Ing, overcharging, and unfair grading,
and to facilitate the utilization Of the
stored products as the basis Of credit.
Third: a certainty of credit sufficient
to enable the marketing Of products
in an orderly manner.
Fourth: the Department of Agricul.
ture should collect, tabulate, summa.
rize, and regularly and frequently pub,
fish and distribute to the farmers, full
information from all the markets Of
the world, so that they shall be as well
Informed of their selling position as
buyers now are OF their buying posi-
ton.
Fifth: freedom to integrate the bust
ness Of agriculture by means of con
solidated selling agencies cO-ordinat
ing and cooperating in such way as to
put the farmer on an equal footing
with the large buyers Of his products
and with commercial relations in other
Industries.
When business requires specialized
talent, 1t has to buy IT, So will the
farmers; and perhaps the best way for
them to get it would be to utilize some
of the present machinery OF the larg.
est established agencies dealing In
farm products. or course, IL he wishes.
the farmer may go further and engage
In -four milling and other manufactures
of food products. In my opinion,
however, he would be wise to stop
short of that Public interest NAV be
opposed to all great lntegrations; but,
In justice, should they be forbidden to
the farmer and permitted to others?
The corporate form Of association can.
not now be wholly adapted to his OBJ
| jects and conditions. The loosen co
operative form seems more generally
suitable. Therefore. he wishes to be
| free, II he finds 1t desirable and feas-
| ible, to resort to cooperation with his
| fellows and neighbors, without run.
| ming afoul Of the law. To urge that
| the farmers should have the same lib
| erty to consolidate and coordinate
| their peculiar ecor, mic functions,
which other industries in their fields
! enjoy, is not however, to concede that
any business Indignation should have
| legislative sanction to exercise monOp-
| olistlc power. The American people
are as firmly opposed to Industrial as
to political autocracy, whether at
tempted by rural or by urban industry.
For lack Of united effort the farmers
as a whole are still marketing their
crops by antiquated methods. or by no
methods at ALL but they are surrounded
by a business world that has been
mOdernized to the last minute and Ia
tlrelessly striving for efficiency This
efficiency is due In large measure to
big business, to united business, to in
tegrated business. The farmers now
seek the benefits Of such largeness, I'm.
ion and Indignation
The American farmer Is a modern of
the modernS In the use of labor saving
machinery, and he has made vast
strides in recent years in scientific
tlllage and efficient farm management
but as business in contact with other
businesses agriculture Is zone horse
shay" in competition with high power
automobiles. The American farmer ia
the greatest and most intractahle of
individuallStS While Industrial pro-
duction and all phases of the huge COM
|
cessories have articulated and co-ordi-
mated themselves all the way from nat
ural raw materials to retail sales. the
business Of agriculture has gone on In
much the one man fashion Of the back
woods OF the first part Of the nine
zenith century. when the farmer was
self sulhclent and did NOT depend upon.
or care very much, what the great
world was doing. The result is that
the agricultural group is almost as
much at Il disadvantage in dealing with
other economic groups as the lay farm,
er of the funny pages in the hands of
sleek urban confidence men who sell
him acreage in Central Park or the
Chicago city hail The leaders Of the
farmers Thoroughly understand this.
and they are mtelligently striving to
integrate their industry so that 1t will
be on an equal footing with other bust
nesSes,
AS an example of indignation. take
the steel industry In which the model
is the United States Steel Corporation,
with its iron mines. its coal mines. its
lake and rail transportation, its ocean
vessels, its by-product coke ovens, its
blast furnaces, its open hearth and
BeSsemer furnaces, Its rolling mills, its
tube mills and other manufacturing
! processes that are carried 10 the high.
est degree. Of flushed production com