SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN FARMERS 753 



Organization, moreover, is a powerful educational force. It 

 arouses discussion of fundamental questions, diffuses knowledge, 

 gives practice in public affairs, trains individuals in executive 

 work, and, in fine, stimulates, as nothing else can, a class which is 

 in special need of social incentive. 



Organization is, however, difficult of accomplishment. While 

 it would take us too far afield to discuss the history of farmers' 

 organizations in America, we may briefly suggest some of the diffi- 

 culties involved. For forty years the question has been a prominent 

 one among the farmers, and these years have seen the rise and 

 decline of several large associations. There have been apparently 

 two great factors contributing to the downfall of these organizations. 

 The first was a misapprehension, on the part of the farmers, of the 

 feasibility of organizing themselves as a political phalanx; the 

 second, a sentimental belief in the possibilities of business coopera- 

 tion among farmers, more especially in lines outside their vocation. 

 There ig no place for class politics in America. There are some things 

 legislation cannot cure. There are serious limitations to cooperative 

 endeavor. It took many hard experiences for our farmers to learn 

 these truths. But back of all lie some inherent difficulties, as, for 

 instance, the number of people involved, their isolation, sectional 

 interests, ingrained habits of independent action, of individual 

 initiative, of suspicion of others' motives. There is often lack of 

 perspective and unwillingness to invest in a procedure that does not 

 promise immediate returns. The mere fact of failure has discredited 

 the organization idea. There is lack of leadership; for the farm 

 industry, while it often produces men of strong mind, keen percep- 

 tion, resolute will, does not, as a rule, develop executive capacity for 

 large enterprises. 



It is frequently asserted that farmers are the only class that 

 has not organized. This is not strictly true. The difficulties 

 enumerated are real difficulties and have seriously retarded farm 

 organization. But if the progress made is not satisfactory, it is at 

 least encouraging. On the purely business side, over five thousand 

 cooperative societies among American farmers have been reported. 

 In cooperative buying of supplies, cooperative selling of products, 

 and cooperative insurance the volume of transactions reaches large 

 figures. A host of societies of a purely educational nature exists 

 among stock-breeders, fruit-growers, dairymen. It is true that no 

 one general organization of farmers, embracing a large proportion of 

 the class, has as yet been perfected. The nearest approach to it is 

 the Grange, which, contrary to a popular notion, is in a prosperous 

 condition, with a really large influence upon the social, financial, 

 educational, and legislative interests of the farming class. It has 

 had a steady growth during the past ten years, and is a quiet but 



