Milford chronicle., 1933-02-03
COOPERATIVE GAMERS
WERE NOT PROFITABLE
[ConfiHHed from FiTSf Pagel
@ for. tha Gqma nariod.


tiVes for the same period:
The average paid by Independent
Gamers was $3l 40; by cooperative
$2O5O.
Mr.. Cassidy stated his belief that
If the cooperatives had financed
through commercial banking chan
nels, and if the government money
had not been available and used, the
large surpluses which ruined the in
dustry would not have been built up
Howard c. Morgan, president oi
the Michigan Gamers Association
gave the story of the cooperative
cherry movement in Michigan. He
stated that the ccOperatives, ex-
panding from Wisconsin, had pur-
chased a plant at Traverse City and
at Frankfort, Michigan, with five
subsidiary plants. This was done
with S350,000 borrowed from the
Federal Farm Board. 100000 more
was borrowed from the Farm Board
for improvements. This was in 1929.
The result of their operations was
an enormous increase in the plant
ing and canning of cherries to a
point where one-third of the entire
cherry crop in the United States
was canned by cOOperatives. The
price of cherries to the grower fell
from s cents a pound in 1880 to one
cent a pound in 1882. In 1892 the
cooperatives defaulted on their
loans and their plants are now OPP
Grating under control of the Farm
BOARD The United States is thus in
direct competition with the canning
industry in Michigan both in selling
canned cherries which have been
taken over in default of loans, and
i'm manufacturing through the plants
which have been taken over by the
government.
James Moore. of the Snider Pack
ing Corporation, Rochester, New
York. described to the committee
how the situation as to demoraliZa-
tion of the cherry industry in Mich
igan spread to New York. The can
nars in New York knowing that
there was a great surplus in Michi-
gan did not pack to any extent in
1892. and the price of cherries in
New York to the grower went DOWN
TO one cent per pound. Forty per
cent of the cherry crop in New York
was not packed in 1882. Mr.. Moore
was asked by the committee to what
extent he thought that the depres-
sion had caused the fall in price to
the grower. In reply to this Mt.
Moore pointed out that the drop IN
prices to farmers in products which
went into canned foods other than
cherries and cling peaches averaged
SO per cent from 1929 to 1882, but in
cherries and cling peaches, the two
products were there had been gov
ernment financing of cooperatives,
the drop to the growers in price
was SO per cent for the same per-
iOd.
"Through the various govern
ment agencies. prior to 1882 large
sums of money were loaned to at
least four canning concerns, begin
ming in the first instance in 1925.
Three OF the four recipients OF
these government loans did not OPP
crate in 1882, and we are informed
that they are iiquidating their busi-
nesses after heavy losses to their
grower members. AS late as Sep
tember 30, 1881, the intermediate
Credit Bank at Berkeley California,
had out S1,696,4O2 loaned to Califor-
mia Gamers, which covers, roughly,
a pack of a million cases.
1.-THE following tables indicate the
approximate cash price paid by can
ners to growers for cling peaches
and the cash return to growers
made by those concerns which re-
ceiyed government money and
whose primary operation was that
of canning rather than that of SELL
ing the raw product.
Privately-financed