Imperial Valley press., 1933-04-17
Editorial Page
and
Features
THE FARM BUREAU

AMONG the old sayings that have come
II down to US from antiquity, and
which have withstood the test of time,
is, "In union there is strength
Men engaged in all lines of activity
have recognized the wisdom of this
maxim and have banded together for
their mutual benefit.
The farmer, laggard for years in
getting organized eventually recognized
the desirability of concerted action and
one of the organizations he has built up
TO protect his rights and enhance his well
fare, is the American Farm Bureau Fed
Grafton.
Imperial County Farm Bureau is a
branch of this organization and repre-
sents the one means the farmer in this
community has to express his thoughts
with the most effectiveness, on matters
that apply to the farming industry.
The farm bureau is now engaged in
an attempt to increase its membership.
1t should be no more difficult to con-
vince the farmer of the wisdom of af-
filiating himself with the farm bureau
than it would be to explain to him why
it is better to wear shoes than to go
barefoot or more desirable to store an
agricultural implement where it will be
protected than to leave it exposed to the
elements.
If the farm bureau restricted its ac-
tivity merely to improving crops and
marketing conditions, it would be ex-
tremeiy worth while. 1t goes further
and takes an active. part in public mat
tiers directly affecting the farmer, his
rights and his property.
In the first field it has cooperated
with the federal government and the
state in the work of the agricultural eX-
tension service, which has been of I'M
measurable aid to the farmer in his crop
problems. 1t has also, through its ma
tional headquarters, used its influence
on tariff rates to guard the best inter-
ests of the American farmer from cheap
foreign imports, thereby protecting the
American farmers markets.
1t has interested itself in tax matters,
maintains legal bureau for the benefit
of its members and, locally, has institut-
ed means for improving conditions in the
hay and dairy markets, the two funda-
mental agricultural industries of the
valley.
The things that can be written in COM
pliment to the farm bureau are many.
Nothing detrimental can be said about
it, unless we consider the charges of
some that it is active in politics. The
charge is probably true, and why
shouldn't it be interested in politics? The
farmer has too often been used as po-
litical football, locally and nationally,
and he is eminently right in seeking to
protect his political and public rights
through an organization devoted to his
interests and not to the interests OF the
professional politician.
The farmer needs the farm bureau as
his crops need water and sunshine. The
farm bureau needs the farmer. Also I'M
perial county needs the farm bureau and
its membership should by no means be
restricted to those actively engaged in
agriculture. The businessman should
join, for without agriculture he would
have no business, and anything that
helps the farmer and agriculture helps
him. Membership in the farm bureau,
for farmer or merchant, is not dona-
ton but an investment that returns ex-
cellent dividends.
The auto race at Los Angeles yester-
day was a success. A nationally proml-