The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-04-17
The Farmer and Cooperation.

Archer Wall Douglass, discussing in the
PHILADELPHIA Public Ledger the enactment of
the agricultural credits bill states that from
now on the permanent solution OF the funda-
mental problems OF agriculture lies in the
! farmers own efforts and in the free working
OF the law of supply and demand. Referring
to cooperation by which farmers may meas
Iurably hope to control the marketing and
price of their products Mr. Douglass says:
Theoretically, cooperation is remedy
for many ills, but as a matter OF expert
ence it requires an unceaslng degree OF
intelligent management and untaillng
teamwork to insure success. 1t register
ed a success in California fruits and veg
etables because it had all the requisites
cited. 1t has likewise done well so far
this wear in tobacco and in other COM
rnodties in the south. On the other
hand, it had a sad record of failure in
many agricultural products during the
last year
When cooperation fails it is due to one
if not a variety of causes among them being
improper methods, unskilled and unintelli-
gent management and wrong purpose. The
real problem, Mr.. Douglass points out, is to
sell crops and not to hold them, and when
ever cooperation is employed merely to hold
crops failure is inevitable. Concerning this
Mr.. Douglass says:
1t is not marketing, but specializing,
to endeavor to create and maintain artl-
fetal prices by equally artificial ways
and means. 1t has been tried in the past
in all manner of commodities-corn,
wheat, lead, copper and cotton-by men
with money, brains and resources. In
the end the last state of those commodi-
ties was worse than the first.
There is now great interest throughout
this section in the cooperative marketing OF
both cotton and peanuts. 1t is important,
then, as the farmers set out to perfect their
marketing machinery by cooperation that
they shall keep before them the necessity of
erecting selling organization. Mr.. Peteet,
cooperative expert for the American Farm
Bureau federation has emphasized the dit
ference between a cooperative organization
for selling and a cooperative organization Tor
buying. The best example the world affords
OF a successful cooperative selling organize
ton is that existing in Denmark. 1t should be
the purpose of a selling organization to dis
pose of one seasons crops before or by the
time the succeeding seasons crop are ready
for marketing To hold one seasons crop
over into the succeeding season would i'm
pose a financial burden that could not be
borne.
If farmers cooperative enterprises are to
succeed it will be necessary for them to have
intelligent as we'll as skilled management.
Probably more farmers cooperative under
takings have failed through lack of proper
management than have failed because Of be-
ing incorrect in theory or for any other rea-
son. If farmers shall not be able to COM
mand this proper management all the credit
laws and other favorable legislation that can
be enacted will not save them from disaster
Congress has done its part; it has given
the farmers all, or nearly all, they have been
asking for. From now on, to quote Mr.. Doug
lass again, the solution of their problems is
in their own hands.