THE FARM BUREAU 73 



ious types and from a multiplicity of viewpoints. Valuable ideas 

 have thus been developed. The chances of failure have also been re- 

 duced. "In a multitude of counselors there is safety." Then, too 

 division of responsibility among many members seems to be the very 

 best way to develop strong local leaders, men who will become the 

 logical ones to shoulder the cares of the county, state, and national 

 federations. 



The local units are sure to be very important factors in the 

 future life of the Farm Bureau. It is through them that membership 

 enrolment, the collection of dues, and the maintenance of morale can 

 be handled most surely and economically. The local leaders and 

 committees maintain an intimate and almost daily contact with in- 

 dividual members, which it is impossible to secure in any other way. 

 The local committeemen are absolutely necessary in conducting mem- 

 bership campaigns. In fact if they should handle the details of this 

 work with little outside assistance, it would probably be the ideal con- 

 dition. 



Through the local organizations the special needs of the com- 

 munity, such as chinch bug control or any other local project, can 

 best be ascertained and met. The burning of chinch bugs, for ex- 

 ample, is necessarily a local project, requiring the cooperation of every 

 farmer in the territory. It cannot succeed in any other way. Any 

 such efforts which enlist the attention of a large share of the local 

 residents serve to develop and strengthen the spirit of cooperation. 

 Fortunately this spirit is already a factor in community life, as dis- 

 played in exchange of labor in threshing and shelling. It is only 

 necessary to extend this fellowship into the range of more compre- 

 hensive enterprises. 



Local units also serve to keep the weak members in line. There 

 is much opposition to Farm Bureau work by those business men who 

 fear that eventually it may cut into their profits in one way or another. 

 By organized propaganda and individual knocking, they have at- 

 tempted to discredit cooperative work and discourage members of 

 farmers' organizations. It is difficult to conceive the state of mind of 

 anyone who would be prejudiced by such disparaging talk from an out- 

 sider, but the actual fact is that Farm Bureau members here and 

 there have become dissatisfied as a result of the so-called friendly tips 

 of their business enemies. Continual boosting by well-informed and 

 broad-minded local leaders is necessary in order effectually to counter- 

 act the poison which is thus steadily injected into the veins of farmers' 

 organizations. Little progress can be made when half of us are push- 



