Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1935-11-21
CO-OPS WORK
FOR ELECTRICITY
This Modern Necessity is Denied to
A Large Percentage Of Ma.
tiOn'S Farmers.

Over Sc per cent of the farmers
of America do not have electric pow
er according to a statement of Sena-
tor o. S. Loomis, chairman of the
Wisconsin Committee on Rural Elec-
trification recently appointed by Gov
ernor Phillip LaFollette. Yet in New
Zealand, rapidly growing competitor
of America in dairy products both
home and abroad, 80 per cent of the
rural areas are electrified and over
four-fifths of the people of that coun-
try have electric stoves. In this day
of sharp competition, electricity is
rapidly becoming an important neces-
sity on the American farm.
Mr.. Loomis spoke at an all day
meeting of representatives of rural
groups from more than
twenty-five countries in Minnesota
and Wisconsin. This meeting was
held at the Midland Cooperative
of Minneapolis on Novem-
Der IL, and was called for the pur-
pose of discussing the advisability of
the organization work
and the purchasing power of these
local groups which have taken steps
to organize or have already organized
power and light cooperatives to take
of the recent federal ap-
of $1O0,OOO,OOO for rural
purposes.
Midland Is Distributor.
Representatives were unanimously
in favor of centralizing their activ-
tiles by making the Midland Coop
erative Wholesale their commercial
and a means to prOmul-
gate rural electrification activities.
Each county elected one representa-
tive to general committee which
in turn elected an executive commit
tee headed by Mr.. Benham of Or
chard Lake, Dakota county.
Dean Holm, engineer in charge
of the Rural Electrification Mime
sofa Planning Board stated at this
that so far, only a few CO.
operative projects had been approved
in Washington, including two in Ohio,
Nebraska and Tennessee and one in
Indiana, South Carolina and Missis-
sippi. J. A. Hay, assistant commits
sioner of Agriculture and Markets.
pointed out the success of the 5000
cooperatives and urged
those groups attending to submit
their applications before the money
was used up by organized power util-
tiles. Said Mr.. Hay, This is of all
the government projects, a real con-
sumer movement on a tremendous
scale and in our dairy states of Min
nesota and Wisconsin, this is real
for our farmers to avail
themselves of electricity on a coop
erative basis" Mr. Wittee, chief of
the Division of Cooperative Market
ing in Wisconsin, went over the diff
ficulties that farmers have had in the
past in availing themselves of electric
power for their farms.
The local cooperative oil associa-
tions affiliated with the Midland Co
operative Wholesale are greatly in
terested in the possibilities of setting
UP cooperative organizations for the
of electrical power
the aid of the Rural Elec-
trification Administration. Under the
law establishing the r. e. A. one
hundred million dollars are available
for rural identification as a loan
to be amortized over a twenty year
period. Individual members of CO.
operative electrical unit would have
no personal liability for the money
from the r. E. A. to finance
the establishment of their units.
Electricity is without question the
power on the farm and CO.
operative experience teaches that CO.
operative distribution is the most ef-
ficient and fairest method of dfstri-
buting this common necessity.