PLAN OF ASSOCIATION. 71 



sensible way, although there is not the necessity for it as with farmers. 

 But farmers passively submit to their decision, submit to the inevitable. 

 And this must continue, there is no help for it, till farmers shall think 

 and act for themselves ; and this requires so radical a chauge in this 

 great body of society, that its accomplishment must be of slow growth. 



"It is because these milk-dairymen, who, producing the milk, may 

 regulate its sale on the principle of supply and demand, do not form 

 associations for that purpose, that these 'few milk-dealers' are kind 

 enough to fix the price for them. They merely perform a duty that the 

 milk-dairymen omit. This is just like the self-sacrificing spirit of 

 the middlemen everywhere. They are always spending their time in 

 fixing the prices for the farmers ; and yet the farmers do not seem to 

 appreciate it." 



A very recent effort "for giving people good milk, and 

 farmers a fair profit," reported in " The New-York World," 

 seems worthy of notice, as showing the tendency towards co- 

 operation. 



At a meeting of the Bedford Farmers' Club, at the resi- 

 dence of Mr. John Jay, near Katonah, Westchester County, 

 the following resolutions were adopted : — 



1. That a committee of three be appointed to consider the feasibility 

 of co-operation by the farmers of the vicinity, for the direct delivery, 

 under their own direction, of milk and other farm-products, to the con- 

 sumers in New York, and, as regards milk, to fix the price paid by 

 the consumer, and that received by the farmer. And the committee be 

 requested to report their opinion on the tendency of such direct delivery 

 to economize expense, to harmonize the interests of the producer and 

 consumer, to enlarge the share of profit coming to the farmer and the 

 certainty of its returns, and, as regards the consumer, on its tendency to 

 afford additional security against adulteration, short measure, and mis- 

 representation of any kind touching the character and value of the 

 article. 



2. That the said committee, if persuaded of the feasibility of such 

 an arrangement, be requested to report fully their views, and to submit a 

 plan for putting the scheme into operation, with provision for securing 

 in all cases a proper standard of excellence for maintaining alike the 

 reputation of the farmers and the confidence of the public. 



In offering the resolutions, Mr. Jay said that co-operation 

 had received great attention in Germany and England, and 

 has been considered in this country by all business men 

 excepting farmers. Other business men have tried to pro- 

 tect their rights, and enlarge their interests ; while the farm- 

 ers, who are the chief national strength, have -staid in a 



