TWENTIETH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART V 481 



chance as in that of farming. You know there are a lot of folks who 

 don't know anything about farming who think it is a dead mortal cinch. 

 Why, there is a lot of chance mixed up in the farming game. The farmer 

 must contend with the elements, which are always uncertain, in a greater 

 degree than any other line of industry. I may safely say there is more 

 gamble in farming than any other occupation. Hail storms, frost, hot 

 winds, too much rain or lack of rain, and all that hard work goes glim- 

 mering. 



It is not necessary, before this body, to review what is being done 

 through agricultural colleges and other agencies to increase the fertility 

 of the soil, improve machinery, and increase production. I hold that the 

 farmer is entitled to sell what he produces on an honest market. 

 At the present time this privilege is not granted. As a general proposi- 

 tion he takes the products of his farm to the nearest market place and 

 sells it for the price that is offered him on the day he presents it, with- 

 out any knowledge or information of an adequate nature as to whether or 

 not he receives what the article is actually worth at the time. Every in- 

 dividual in the state, whether or not he is engaged in farming, is inter- 

 ested in the market problem. The laborer who buys and consumes the 

 product of the farm is as vitally interested as is the farmer. 



There are two general nation-wide obstacles in the way of an honest 

 market at the present time that I desire to call your attention to. First 

 is the food produce gambler, the man who buys and sells that which does 

 not exist. I know when I mention this subject that I am treading on 

 dangerous ground, not among farmers but other classes. There was a 

 bill introduced last winter in the legislature that didn't get anywhere, but 

 in it they were trying to regulate the bucket shop — any shop that has that 

 kind of a name ought to be regulated. 



You know last summer we had two or three southwest winds that were 

 a little hot, and the price of corn went up. Then one morning we had a 

 dew and the price went down. There wasn't a bushel more or less of corn 

 in the United States, but millions of dollars were made, not by the men 

 who produced it, but by the men who befuddled it. 



I want it distinctly understood that in my judgment there never can 

 be an honest market for the produce of the farm so long as the gambler 

 is permitted to run loose and create false markets and false impressions 

 about supply and demand, and he ought to be eliminated. And I want to 

 say to you that the intelligence of a body of men like you have assembled 

 through this organization in the state of Iowa, pooling their intelligent 

 thought on the subject, is bound to solve the problem and solve it nearly 

 right, at least. 



Most of the problems that are bothering us are bothering us because 

 of one or two things: Either you don't understand my viewpoint or I don't 

 understand yours. We need organization, study and discussion, and then 

 the courage to say the thing that is right and go through with it. If 

 the farmers of this country were organized purely and selfishly for the 

 farmer, without taking into consideration the other people of the coun- 

 try, the organization would be a menace to the country. But if the farm- 

 ers organize with patriotism and love of neighbor as the keynote, and for 



