The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1926-03-18
PUBLIC FORUM

This department of the Herald is
for the use of the public to discuss
matters of public interest. The ed
itor reserves the right to eliminate
any portion of any article that may
be libelous: The publication of any
article under this heading does not
necessarily mean that it is Endorsed
by the Herald editor:
| Il
An eastern farm paper asks it's
readers if it is the smartest farmers
that quit their farms and go to town,
or whether the smartest are the
ones that stay on the farm.
Why not ask the big business
firms that make millions out of the
farmers produce?
| They know that the dumb ones
stay on the farm and fight each other
and the cooperative idea for them,
while the ones that leave the farm
Join the labor union and make the
employers jump to keep ahead of
them.
Fifteen years ago the concerns that
bought the farmers produce, used to
come out in the open to fight the
cooperative movement, but now they
find it wiser to let part of the farm
ers fight for them, while they pile up
the profit.
But here their patrons do not seem
to know how to do that.
Perhaps they are more dumb than
their bosses thought even. They are
waiting for some one to tell them
what to say. One patron thought they
would get just as much If there were
no cooperative creameries.
Perhaps-the same as they do in
Plymouth County, Iowa, or in the ter
ritory of two cooperative centralizers
in Nebraska.
Those that do not believe in CO. op-
Grafton had better find out about the
failure of the Dark Tobacco Coop
erative Association.
! In five months after that the price
fell off 40 per cent, in spite of the
shortest crop in several years.
I once heard member of school
board at school meeting make 6
very strong plea for cooperation
He said, that without it you coulG
never have a real good school. He
was right. But he did no got to the
farmers creamery.
Another believes in cooperation
but when a. neighbours barn blew
down, he was to busy to help with
the others.
What is cooperation? You say
can't help every Tom, Dick and Har
ry and then when want help get
nothing. That is not cooperation
it's charity. In cooperation you DE-
not help any one unless they are will
| ing to help you. You can't have &
good town without some cooperation
between merchant and farmer, nor {
good neighborhood or threshing rig
without cooperation. One canno
have even a good home unless mar
and wife and children work together
l have never found good man tt
work for that did not believe in coop
GRAFTON. He would want one to dt
all the dirty work and more worl
than he was paying for.
Now, as | can't get any farmers tt
bawl me out, at least not on paper
I will try some of the business men
/ A farmer bought corn binder las
fall paid cash and got a discount
| Another bought one, paid cash, ant
! got no discount. Why discriminate
One man gets a lot of stuff on time
and don't pay for it, another pay
cash, and has to pay enough for both
To me that is about as near right al
the idea expressed by a friend tina
when you borrowed from the banl
they wanted to tie you all up so the.
could get every thing you had
And / had always been foolish enough