The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 31, 1916, Page 10

e e e Farmlng _‘ Producers Should Learn Cost*of Therr Products and Stand Together for in a game of chance, but that "'is the view of M. F. Sharp, student of farm problems for _many years. .Mr. Sharp was formerly president of the American Society” of Equity, has been an Equity enthusiast for many years, and Dakota for that association. He was in Fargo August 15 to attend the meeting of graingrowers who decided this year to urge their fellow farmers to hold their wheat for $1.60 per bushel. In an inter- view with the Nonparfisan Leader, Mr. Sharp laid bare some of the shortcomings of the farmer and emphasized some of the injustices, which he now endures. One of his most striking declarations was this: N “The inability- of the farmer to calcu- late the percentage of his losses from year to year due to rust, drought, fire, flood, hail, frost, insects and diseases, the death of his animals, wear and tear on machinery and some other things, coupled with the present market methods with their resulting uncertainty of prices, make farming the greatest game of chance in the world. 2 He continued: “The farmer must know how much it costs him to grow his crops before he can arrive at a definite conclusion as to how much per bushel, crate, gallon, or barrel he can afford to sell them. NEW view of farming for most A. farmers is that they are engaged WHY SHOULDN’T FARMERS KNOW THEIR COSTS? “Very few farmers have any realiza- atlon of what it costs them -to do busi- ness.” For instance, by what agency, in what way, do the farmers expect to'make back the enormous losses they have suf- fered during the last 30 days in North and South Dakota, and Minneapolis? All' business firms provide in the price of their goods for a certain proportion of bad debts, so that the business that is’ "done at a profit will take care of this constant source of loss. They also pro- vide for other losses, but how many farm- ers in this state are providing a fund to care for these inevitable and regular farm losses, how many are setting aside a fund to pay for animals that die? “The need of keeping accounts on the farm is as imperative as it is in ‘any other line of business, and it is only by doing so that farmers can properly market their crops. The farmers should fix the prices of their grain crops. All other lines of business fix prices that will cover cost and yield a legitimate profit besides. When the farmer buys any- thing he pays the price fixed by the seller, and when he becomes the seller he should in-like manner fix the price at which he will sell.” WHY NOT BEGIN TO STUDY DISTRIBUTION? Mr. Sharp 'said that the famous country life commission of a decade ago declared that there are “too many toll gates ‘between the farmer and the market,” and that there is a tendency to make the pnces to the farmers too low and the prices to consumers too high. He continued: “The commission recommended that: | these toll gates be eliminated, that grow- ers and consumers get together, and the farmers are gradually awakening to the fact that this is what they 'should do. ‘The = agricultural colleges and schools, farmers’ institutes, and the regulation so-called ‘farmers’ papers’ for 25 years have been . devoting their activities to increased production. They have almost entirely neglected the greater problem, of scientific distribution and marketing. From a study of farm development dur- ing many years one is forced to the con- ¢lusion that to make farming a financial success, not only scientific production is _mecessary, but there must also be scien- tific distribution and- marketmg so ‘that retain reasonable -profits above the cost of ‘production.” ‘producers -can. In support of this statement that lack of “scientific 'distribution is ‘one of the is now organizing South ' greatest evils which the farmers have to i combat, Mr. Sharp pointed: to a number of instances that have come to his own attention. A APPLES IN-IOWA AND IN NORTH DAKOTA “In 1915 ” he said, “I was orgamzmg in the vicinity of Dickinson, North: Dakota, and there met an Iowa farmer who had a farm near Dickinson, but who also had a fine apple orchard near Water- Fair Prlces, Says Sharp ubecause they couldn't get 30 cents a bushel. DEALERS “NOT ALLO.WED’_’. TO BUY FROM PRODUCERS " “Another friend of mine who was spending some time in Michigan found an oversupply of fine quality apples there, and knew that apples were not available ‘at Riceville, Towg, at prices that created any demand. He arranged to get several Did you ever hear a storekeeper ask. a farmer: “How much are you pay- ing for dried apples and ten-penny nails todayp” ‘No, it’s the other way around, isn’t it? Then why shouldn’t the farmers put theémselves into po- sition where buyers will have to ask THEM: - “How much are you asking for wheat and hogs today?” loo. He noticed that apples were selling at four pounds for 25 cents at Dickinson, and he thought that he could give con- sumers the benefit of much better apples at far lower prices, and provide a market -for his-own and neighbor’s product. He went among the dealers-there and tried: to place orders for a few carloads of apples, offering to. put them on board the . cars at Waterloo, Iowa, for 30 cents a bushel, but he could not sell an apple. “He found that the reason was the dealers dared not contract with him because they would be blacklisted by the big jobbers, and so the people of Dickin- son went on paying 25 cents for four pounds while he and his neighbors were feeding better apples to their hogs, 5 car]oads.,antlw‘-we:;t to Riceville t6 place orders. - Ta ' his’ utter ~astonishment he could ‘not get ‘an order.- The price at which he was -offering them was so far below what-dealers.had.to pay that he- finally became exasperated and demanded. an explanation. -He got-it frankly' from'. one of the dealers—the commission men . of Waterloo would not’ let them handle, products du'ectly producers. - from - the - “Anther similar instance but concern- ing raisins occurred in California. A man who had spent many years in attain- ing the utmost production of fine" raisin grapes, and who had developed the pro- cessing so that he had an excellent pro- duct, finally discovered that he faced one of three alternatives. First he must go OUR NEXT GOVERNOR (Editorial in the Bowman Cltlzen) One of the results of the farmers’ plcmc here on Saturday, and of the address made by Lynn J. Frazier, is that many voters will support Mr. Frazier in Novembe1 who supported Burdlck at the primaries. . ‘Some of the men in Bowman who voted for Burdick in June did so, according to their own confession, because they thought that Mr. Frazier, being a farmer, lacked the ability to fill the important position of chief executive of this state. Having heard him speak all doubts as to his ability have vanished. They heard a man who, by education and experience, is well fitted for the important task for which the majority of voters in this state have nominated him; a _ strong man who will be subject to the dictation of no one, but who will capably serve the people of this great commonwealth without fear or favor. After listening to Mzr. Frazier speak one cannot help but feel that, in choosing him to head the ticket, the farmers of this state ; must have been inspired, for it 'would have been rmp0351ble to have * found another man, farmer or otherwise, with a* combination of " qualities that would have better fittedhlm for the lea.dershxp of a . great agricultural state. Mr. Frazier'is a strong man, with a strong program and has' the courage and ability to put it through. By the Smell of the Crltter (Edltonal in ‘the York Citizen) ‘“The Grand Forks Herald took a fallout with the. Nonpartxsan League candidates in a’ recent issue and likened them'to I. W. W.'in principle and methods ‘in’ poli- tics. lIot who were indorsed by the League received the mominations mstead of the old gang cand.ldates. i because the class What hurts the Herald is the fact that the Republicans on-the primary bal- - “And all because the League dared to indorse one set of ‘Republicans on the *twine this season, and will hold the pnce primary ballot in preference. to a few candidates the old gang had put up for the farmers to vote for. They had voted but this time they changed yoters of North Dakotavl;now the dlfler- for them several successive campmgns, i pet candidates were lett at ‘home this - time. About eighty per ‘cent of ‘the out of busmess, or second he would become - bankrupt; - or third he might market his raisins. direct to the consum- ers. If he continued selling through the “commission houses he saw he could not possibly :survive in a business sense. DIRECT: DISTRIBUTION MEETS WITH OBSTACLES “He chose to try marketing his own product, and he sent a test carload of raisins to Iowa and went with them to superintend - -marketing. = After some difficulties 'were surmounted: he got to:the ‘consumers with his product, and he sold tons where local dealers had only sold in small amounts by the pound. The reason was that ‘he supplied consumers a - superior article at a price ‘they could afford to” pay. On the ether hand he made a fair profit. The commission mer- _“chants who handled the raisins were one of the ‘toll gates’ which the country life commission. declared should be removed, : _one of-the barriers between the people and the producers. “This same man extended his business to the Twin Cities, and at first he got a good deal of favorable advertising and was doing a big business; dealing dirctly with consumers: from his cars.. But presently he began to find it difficult to get advertising, and one of the big Twin City dailies—I will not mention which one—returned money to him which he had -paid for advertising and refused to accept his“copy. ; “This paper had been threatened by other big advertisers that it must at once stop handling this . raisin producer’s advertising. In St Paul the enraged ‘commission men and. their allied interests sought:on some pretext to arrest ‘the agent of this grower while sellmg a car- load of raisins, and they were having him taken to jail by thepolice, when the man’s protestations attracted such . a large crowd that the police stepped into a cigar store to avoid the crowd. .. “After hearing his statements, and finding he was -violating no. ordmarfce, and was selling for the man who pro- duced the goods, the police told the busi- ness men who occasioned his arrest that they could do mnothing, and he was released. The agent took the crowd that had gathered right -back to-his:car and sold. them a large quantity -of raisins. COOPERATIVE BUYING SAVING MONEY FOR FARMERS “Through our cooperative buying asso- ciations ‘the Equity is correcting many of these abuses and the farmers are com- ing more and more to a realization that they can save a great deal more by deal- ing with each other-than ‘through out- siders who charge a Havy toll for domg the ‘business. Thus Equity. unions in Minnesota are buying their sorghum' syrup from Equity producers in ‘Ken- tucky. ‘Many eastern unions are buying all their dried, canned; and preserved fruits from Equity prducers in Oregon and these are shipped- at through rates to the Twin Cities and stored until needed by the consumers in the temtory tnbutary. “““The Equity tlns year sold sxsal twine at 9 to 10 cents a pound and compelled a reduction to 12.cents a pound by other _‘dealers, within"a_few weeks after these ‘dealers through “the ‘newspapers . which they filled full of their propaganda, had _announced twiné could not be had for 88, ‘than 16 cents a pound.’ “The qull an' option on 8,000,000 pounds o down. It purchased 1000 barrels of salt low ¢ mpared. to. what i ‘at “prices that are almost unbehevably % ‘paid’ gh -