Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1922-09-06
FARMERS AND PRICES
Nordman Says They Will
Have Say Relative to
Prices of Their Products.

man, Commissioner of Markets he
declares that the successful devel-
opment of agricultural cO-opera-
ton indicates that farmers are re-
termined TO have something to say
regarding the prices of their pro-
ducts and not to leave it entirely
to the decision of the buyers as
has been the case in the past. The
rapid frowth of the cooperative
idea heralds, according TO MIR.
Nordman, the coming Of the time
when marketing will be conduct
ed i'm an orderly manner without
waste and unnecessary expense.
Cooperation by bringing the farm
ers together, enables them TO mar
ket their products on a large
scale, thus proportionally reduc-
ing operating expenses. 1t devel-
ops acumen, initiative and spirit
of solidarity, whereby farmers get
accustomed TO work tremendously
towards the Improvement of their
condition.
Cooperation, however" states
MIR. Nordman, must be undertake
en- with care and caution. Farm
ers who contemplate starting a co
operative organization must be
careful of avoiding pitfalls which
may look attractive but which con-
ceal dangers that are liable to dis
rupt it and TO destroy its benefits
and advantages. Among some of
these dangers the most threaten
ing ones are bad management, inn
proper financing and unsound
business methods. Strict and care
full attention should be paid to
the various prerequisites of sue
cess of cooperative undertakings
but above all farmers should avoid
thinking of cooperation as a cure
for all evils.
I'm this connection Mr.. Nord-
man points out that while coop
Grafton is an invaluable factor so
far as the Improvement of the
economic and social conditions of
farmers is concerned there are
many forces at work i'm modern
society that are liable to thwart
the good work of cooperative or
CARNATIONS. Among these forces
the fundamental ones are those
which deal with the evil effects of
various kinds of monopolies and
speculation. These monopolies, by
allowing a certain group of in
dividuals to extract more than
their share of the wealth created
by society decrease the share of
the great mass of producers in the
form of wages, salaries and in
comes. This state of affairs which
is characteristic of modern society
constitutes a tremendous blow at
cooperation because agricultural
cooperative organizations rely for
their success upon good markets
which, as every one knows, depend
principally upon a high purchas-
ing power of the consumer. 1t is
Mr.. Nordmen's opinion that farm
leaders, while abating nothing in
the fostering of the cooperative
movements, should nevertheless
put more of their energies towards
the working out of a plan to elm
mate the evil effects of privilege
and monopoly.
There are many people who,
understanding the effect of the
pernicious activities of monopolies
upon the successful development
of cooperation, are inclined to
think that there monopolies
should be counteracted by farm
ers' monopolies, and that farmers
can get even with those who have
exploited them by means of spec
ulation and monopolistic prices by
establishing monopolies of their
own. This consideration was the
cause of a number of attempts at
monopolies of farm products on
the part of the farmers in the past
and has led TO consequences which
have proved disastrous and which
constitute a deterrent to the pro
gress Of agriculture in America.
Farmers attempts at forming
monopolies are bound to prove as
ruinous in the future as they have
been in the past. Monopoly de-
ponds entirely upon the possibility
of exclusive control. In farming
such control is utterly impossible.