Licking Valley courier., 1922-02-09


tegiated business. The fArmers aew
seek the bensAts Of such r1eness. .us-
lon and integratien. ~, &,
the AmencsR fa1msr is q Wsdern 4
he moderns In the us4 d laksss sayiaf
machinery, ana he has made vaSt
strides In recent yeaFs In sseieAtile
tiilage and cNicisAt farm management,
but as busihsss In contact WITH othsx
businesses agriculture IL . -6ns horsS
shay" In competition with high power
automobiles. Ths American farmer u
the greatest and most intr9ctabis of
ndlviduallsts. While Industrial IRE
luction and all phases Of the Auge CEN.
mercial mechanism and its Hiyriad &C
cessotes have articuiAted and ce-srdi!
mated themselves ali the way frsiA nat.
ural raw materiais to retail shlei. the
business Of agriculture has gone - In
much the eAs mar, fashion II The back
woods Of the hrat pan sf the Ains-
teenth century. wAea tAe farmer was
self sufficient and did not depend upon,
or care very much. what the great,
world was doing. The result 10 that
the agricultural group IL Utmost a.
much at a disadvantage IN dealing with
other economic groups ~ the jay farm
er of the funny pages In the hands Of
sleek urban confidence men, who sell
him acreage In Central Park OF the
Chicago city hall. The leaders Of the
farmers thoroughly understand, this.
and they are intelligently striving to
integrate their Industry osthatt n will
be on an equal footing with cthsrrhusi-i
nesses. - p.
As an example Of intesratien.t take
the steel industry, In which the uodsl-
is the United States Steel CnrpVspttcn
with It's iron mines, Its coal mines, It's
lake and rail transportation, Its ocean
vessels, its by-product coke ovens it1
blast furnaces, its open hearth and
Bessener furnaces. its rolling mills. it,
tube mills and other manufacturing
processes that are carried to the, high.
est degree Of finished production COM
patlble with the large trade; II has
built up. All this Is generally lconeed-
ed to bo TO the advantage Of the con-
sumer. Nor does the steel corporation
inconslderately dump lts products on
the market. On the contrary, II 80
acts that It IL frequently q stabilizing
influence, as Is often the case with 9TH
er large organizations. II Is master Of
its=distribaf1ons az we'll sa',of In pro,
duction. II priceEsre not,kntisfactory
the products are heldsBsck orsprodue-
tion Isreduced or suspended. II is not
compelled to send years work to the
| marset atfone time and, take whateyes
IL can get under such circumstances.
ft has Que selling policy and its awR
export department. = Neither arso-tbs
grades and qualities Of steel deterDin-
ed at the caprice Of the buyer, nor does
The latter hold the scales. In this sin-
gle Indignation Of the stset corporation
is represented about ~ per, csRt of The
steel production Of America, Ths rest
10 mostly In the hands Of q fsw large
companies. In ordinary Tines the
steel corporation. By example, stabiiise1
all steel prices. II this 10 permissible
III is even desirable, because stable
and fair prices are essential to sOlid
and continued prosperity Why would
II be wrong for the farmers 10 utilise
central agencies that wsuld have slHsi
lar effects on agricultural products,
Something IKE that u what they arr
aiming At 81
Some farmers favored By resional
compactness and contlgulty. such ss III,
citrus-fruit-ralsers Of California. al
ready have found q way leEsiiy d
merge and sell their productF Int
orally apd 10 accordance With ssssOna
and local demand, thus improvla,
their position and rendering ths cen
sumsr q reliable service Of srslyet
quality, certain supp,y, ard real tShabl,
and relatively steady prices. tt The,
have net found Il necessary to reeor
10 any special privilege, or to sciain
any exemptioa under the anti-trus
legislation Of the state or natisn.e With
out removing local control, thex have
built up 4 very eficient mafkeun,
agency. The graia, cotton, and to
bacco farmers, and the producers o
hides and wool, because Of their nun
bers and the vastness Of their regions
and for other reasohsy have foun'
lntegration more difficult task
though there are now some thousand
of farmers cooperative elevators
warehouses, creameries. and other en-
terprlses OF one sort and another witt
a turnover OF q billion dollers q year
They are giving the farmers bdsines
experience and training, and, 20 IA
as they 20, they meet the need o
honest weighing and fair gradlpgi bu
they do not meet the requirements o
nationally adjusted marketing In an
large and fundamental way,
The next step. which will be a pa,
tern for other groups, Is now bein
prepared by the graln-raisers throug
the establishment of sales media whic
shall handle grain separately or co
,ectively, as the individual farmer ma
elect II Is this step-the plan Of tn
Committee OF Seventeen--whlcb ha
created 50 much opposition ahd
thought by some to be In conflict wit
the antitrust laws. Though there
now before congress = measure d.
signed TO clear w dosst - tAs palm
the graln.n pducers are not relying o
any immupIty from antitrust legislI
ton. They desire. and they are OF
titled. to coordinate their efforts jui
rs effectively ss the large business Il
terests Of the country have done.
connection with the selling organiEl
tions the United States Grain Grove
Incorporated Is drafting . scheme
financing instrumentalities and auxll
airy agencies which are indlspensab
to the successful utilization OF modeI