The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-06-07
POOLING PLAN
IS COMPARED
TO ELEVATOR
Central Agency Goes Step
Farther Than Local
Warehouse
BY Mandus r. Bridston, Editor
THE WHEA. GROWER

Wheat, the staff of life, is being
d,amatized in America today, as was
the case during the world cataclysm,
when it was considered a patriotic
duty to raise more wheat, for wheat
would win the war" Now the motif
of the drama is somewhat different:
how to obtain fair prices for this
wheat that will keep the toilcrs on
the farms, that the rest of the ma
ton may be properly fed.
The plot is not new. For the past
fifty years American farmers have
been cndeavoring to get better prices
for their grain by diverse means,
principally by the erection OF farm
crowned and controlled local cle-
vators to buy ana sell the farmers
wheat.
Now comes new group of farm
repre- sc natives who tell US that the
so-called cooperative elevators can
NV ""Si"oleIy ooVe Vie ploDieIlS
of better prices. giving as their
ma or reason that marketing grain
is national project while the elc-
vator is essentially local. They
assert that organizing the commod-
ity, as a whole. is essential, and
that pooling the product through "a
central organization is the practical
way of solving the price problem.
A Standard of Comparison
Before discussing the relative
merits of the two schools of thought,
it is worth while to consider brief
ly the economic factors pertaining to
merchandising, and thereby estab-
lish a standard for comparison.
In the last analysis the detcrmin-
ing factor in merchandising is supply
and demand. Generally. speaking if
there are more sc,:ers than buyers
the prices will be low or vice versa.
However in actual practice, this
must be qualified. for the time Of
sale, the place of sale and
the equality or lack of in
formation as between buyer and SELL
cr, play important roles in making
the law of supply and demand either
operative or imperative.
For instance, if a merchant at
tempted to sell furs in July, he
would find the time inopportune, re-
CARELESS of the potential demand for
furs, and if he tried to sell furs in
hot Brazil, the place would be wrong.
In the same way if a manufacturer
attempted to dispose of years pro-
duction in few weeks, he would
find his markets glutted for lack Of
sufficient time for the public to con-
sumo the supply. further if giant
factory depended on the demand at
the point of production, the market
would be inadequate to consume the
supply. These factors are elemen-
tary, but have vital bearing on
profitable merchandising.
Then consider the matter of mutual
information of buyer and seller. if
the seller lacks the proper informa-
ton as to the best time and place
to sell his goods, he will be unable
to act in accordance with supply
and demand, and OH the other hand
if the buyer is possessed Of this val
liable market information. there can
not by any chance be fair trade
for one will have decided advan-
tage in striking a bargain.
Law Of Supply land Demand
We often hear i~at the law of sup
ply and demand fixes the price of
farm commodities, and therefor it is
useless for the farmer to attempt to
alter the inevitable by devious forms |
of endeavors.
The farmer has been slow to be-
lieve this, and in that he is right,
for the farmer has been selling at
the wrong time, in the wrong place,
and with very little information
either of his own product or Of
market conditions. Long ago he at
to correct this by building
grain elevators which constituted his
idea of a market place. At the pres
emit time there are about 1000 such
alleged cooperative elevators in the
Mississippi valley, where they were
first built, but they have brought
little real relief for the farmer is
still selling his wheat at less than
cost of production.
The American farmer had heard of
he famous Rochdale co-operatives
n England, and as matter of course
his first endeavor from this,
the fundamental fact
hat the Rochdale system, served con-
umers who bought, while he was
seller with different problems. A
group of farmers in community
pooled their money to provide CAPT
al stock; hired manager of the
corporation to buy grain from them
elves. to be sold elsewhere at pro-
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