The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1941-10-29

: Kl0QS OIL QeIeuS6 ldCiOIlcS anu IeD
e them at a very low rental to larg
: corporations, why isn't it right for tn
+ federal government to build at no cos
|, to farmers additional cooperative but
4 ter factories, cheese factories an,
t other defense food processing fac
tories and lease them to farmers &C
operatives with the option to purchas,
J when the emergency is over? VIII,
shouldn't agriculture insist that it hal
, a mechanism through its co-operativel
J which can assist in the defense effor
J in processing its products and il
manufacturing those things which car
be used in the defense effort in s
factory which can later be converted
to processing farm products for peace
time consumption, and supplies which
|, farmers need in their productive eff.
forts?
What We Do About Our Needs
1t is undoubtedly true that too often
we set up detectives and make state.
ments about needs without setting up
plans on which to take specific action
The first need we in the Farmers
Union have is to build a much larger
Farmers Union / do not mean by
this that it is sufficient merely to
build a larger Farmers Union in
places where we already have a we'll
Established organization. This is nee
essary, but more important in the i'm
mediate future is the building of
Farmers Union organizations where
none now exist. In the Farmers I'm
ion fight for specific legislation, the
determination of whether or not we
succeed revolves largely around the
attitude of the congressional delega-
ton from the south. Those men, sew
eral of them very fine workers in be-
half of the lower two-thirds of agri-
culture, and such service agencies as
Farm Security Administration, have
little pressure or support from organ
izations which believe in our kind of
detectives and philosophy. Some of
these men, of course, believe in a
commercial type of agriculture them
selves. In that case it is necessary
for us to have enough members in
that state to make our point of view
felt with congressman. In the case
of those statesmen in the congress of
the United States who believe in
family-type farming and our philos-
ophy we need very badly to have
state organizations which will
strengthen their position and assure
them that there are farmers in their
states who are members of a militant
organization which will give them
support and help them take longer
steps in the right direction. There
are millions of low-income farm peo-
pie in the south who cannot go on
unless they completely give up the
fight against peonage and serfdom-
without finding a way of organized
expression. They need our co-opera-
tives and our organized strength and
we certainly need their patronage
and their membership.
We can set our plans forward sub
stantially by co-ordinating our coop
erative activities in National Farm
ers Union program wherein we can
pool our resources and our present
new cooperative services in the areas
where we are already well established,
and the establishment of new coop
eratives along with our organizations
program in states where we do not
have at the present time an effective |
II ion, In, 70 Df IN, 1fry1f Of IOl
present situation it is not a question |
of whether or not we want co-opera- |
ton among our Farmers Union coop |
eratives and the coordination of their |
efforts and pooling of their resources |
1t is simply question of whether or |
not we are willing to act now to make
certain we can continue our co-opera- |
tive services. We must use every re-
source at our command to fight for |
an improvement of the standard of |
living of the family-type farmer and |
to give him security on the land. II |
out" fight for such security and the
of activities on the part of
the federal government which endan-
ger our cooperative business enter
prises, and that we have a policy I'M
der which our cooperative enterprises
shall not be put out of business
throughh priorities, price fixing and
1t is imperative that those state
and cooperative units
which have trained personnel and can
give leadership shall lend or share
such leadership with the national I'M
on to develop new areas New lead
ership will arise and develop within ;
such new areas and must in turn aid
n still newer fields. Here in Mon
ana it will be necessary for the Ma
ional Farmers Union to draft such {
people as Herb Rolph, Harold Brown,
Mildred Stoltz and others for part
If their time. The work of these men [
will be like seed corn in the waiting {
Ioil of new states = developing into |
lew membership and new leadership s
n other areas and helping us build '
stronger organization.
1t is a pretty difficult job for only q
me or two persons on a full time t
,asis to get anything decisive ac- 1
when we consider the I
otal need. This past year l have '
worked diligently and Travelled a great
cal, and although | feel some lasting @
hings have been done. it isn't d
nough. For the past several years v
4. w. Thatcher has sacrificed his t
ime and health to do splendid job d
or the National Farmers Union In its I