Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1930-02-06
COCOANUT OIL IS
DUTY FREE FROM
THE PHILIPPINES
Plays Havoc With Dairy Industry OF
Northwest; Philippine indie.
pendence Is Urged.
BY H. G. TEIGAN

The fight to put oleo out of business
as competitor to butter has several
rather interesting sidelights. Mime
sofa dairy farmers have achieved sue
cess in the production of butter and
are now leading all other butter pro-
ducers in the nation in the amount
of butter produced. In like manner
Minnesota farmers have perfected
their marketing machinery to a point
beyond that attained in other states
Notwithstanding his efficiency in
both production and marketing of but
ter, the Minnesota dairyman is being
hit hard. The price of butter is the
lowest in several years and this is
attributed largely to the fact that cleo
has increased materially as a COM
petitor.
Recently the Unites States tariff
commission made a. survey of the sit
uation and learned that the cost of
producing butter in nine states in the
Mississippi valley, including Mime
sofa, is 6272 cents per pound. Thus
the cost of producing butter is today
considerably above the price paid the
farmer for his product This of
course means that the dairy farmer
is right now actually losing money
on the butter he produces.
1t is a curious fact that the farm
ers themselves buy cleo instead of
butter. To be sure the vast majority
of them are not guilty of any such
BETRAYAL of their own interest, but
there are plenty of them who do this
very thing. Only about month ago
William F.. Schilling, member of the
federal farm board and former presi-
dent Of the Twin City Milk Producers
made the statement that
one of the principal reasons for the
decline in the consumption of butter
and consequent decline in price, is
that the farmers themselves are eat
ing cleo.
F. U. Herald Speaks Out.
OF course, no farmer who is inter-
ested in seeing the price of butter
oI q POlhC tHdl DlthcS lISI
production profitable has any business
)uying any kind of butter substitute
Certain it is that the farmer who
produces butterfat for the market and
hen buys oleomargarine for his own
able needs his head examined" says
he Farmers Union Herald THAT
IS plain idiocy. If you may not stop
'ther people from using butter SUBJ
stitutes, you can stop yourself. Eat
'our own butter. That is just COM
non horse sense.
1t is undoubtedly true that the farm
,r can do much to stabilize the price |
If butter. In fact it seems that this |
s the main thing necessary. While
'leomargarine consumption has in
creased somewhat during the past few
ears, the increase is not very large. |
The fact is, there was more oleo-
consumed in the United
states in 1919 than in 1923.
Lobbyists for dairymens organiza-
ions have been doing their best to
PERSUADE congress to impose a duty
pom cocOanut oil and such other i'm
orts as are used in the manufacture
t oleomargarine. The great diff
ulty with the propositions is that the
philippine Islands, a possession of the
United States, is one of the big pro-
ucers of these products And it is
bvious that this country cannot just
impose a duty on imports from one
t our possessions. These imports
rom the Philippine Islands, it is con-
ended. are costing the American
armers at least S15O.OOO,OO a year.
'ocoanut oil production in the philip