Page Sixteen 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



December, 1930 



Local Co-Ops. Fail in 



Co-Operation — Jewett 



Chicago Banker Discusses Two- 

 Price System Similar to Base and 

 Surplus Milk Plan, at Bloom- 

 ■ngton Forum. 



WE have thousands of small co- 

 operative marketing units scat- 

 tered over the country, the majority of 

 which have been successful in the com- 

 munities they serve. Tliey have done 

 1 good local job. They have improved 

 the local situation and have made their 

 members some money. But as yet the' 

 majority of these co-operative units 

 have not fully learned the principle of 

 co-operation. At least their manage- 

 ment lias not applied that principle. 

 They have failed in one prime essential. 

 They have failed to co-operate with 

 each other, George C. Jewett, Chicago 

 banker, said recently in an address be- 

 fore the Illinois open forum at Bloom- 

 ington. 



"The same principle of co-operation 

 which they taught 

 rl the individual farm- 

 1 in organizing lo- 

 ^,ii units should now 

 be offered in organ- 

 izing district and 

 national units," he 

 said. "We fall short 

 of the goal; when we 

 stop with local or- 

 ganizations .ind turn 

 them loose to broad- 

 cast our farm com- 

 modities in competi- 

 tion with each other. 



An Insidious Practice 



''Local units possess but little in the 

 way of bargaining power. Many of 

 them have become more or less finan- 

 cially involved and the insidious prac- 

 tice of borrowing from those who buy 

 their products is quite generally in use. 

 It docs not take an economist nor a 

 marketing specialist to readily appre- 

 ciate that such a practice weakens the 

 ability of the local co-operative to 

 make a good deal for its products. 



"Then again there are too many co- 

 .ipcrative men talking in terms of com- 

 missions and in terms of quarter or half 

 cents per bushel. They are dickering 

 m penny units instead of more sub- 

 stantial units. They fuss around among 

 commission men to see which one will 

 pay one-quarter or one-half cent more 

 on a dollar in value. They think they 

 ire accomplishing big things if they 

 handle grain at a fraction less than some 

 dealer has handled it. They think they 

 ire gaining material things if they have 

 i few dollars left at the end of the 

 vear to pay a patronage dividend. 



♦;eo. C. Jpnott 



"I do not say that all of these things 

 arc unimportant. They are important 

 and should be accomplished for the 

 benefits they bring to farmers. But 

 nevertheless the co-operative leader w'ho 

 has his eyes cast on such gains and fails 

 to look higher is not living up to the 

 possibilities of his leadership. The thing 

 the co-operatives must do is to bind 

 themselves together in commodity 

 groups for the purpose of eliminating 

 competition among themselves and for 

 the purpose of stabilizing the price of 

 their commodity at a proper iev:l. To 

 do this, in my judgment, is wholly 

 possible." 



Need Bargaining Power 



Using wheat as an illustration, Jew- 

 ett outlined a plan whereby the crop 

 would move to the local elevator, to 

 the district regional, and to the na- 

 tional co-operative under the contract 

 plan. "I consider it tommyrot for 

 farmers' elevators to talk about their 

 independent way. If their thought in 

 this respect is sound then it is just as 

 logical for the farmers to throw aside 

 all co-operatives and depend on their 

 own independent ability to deal with 

 private concerns. It is contrary to the 

 co-operative principle and it is contrary 

 to sound co-operative procedure; it 

 eliminates orderh' distribution; it elitn- 

 inates and takes away the bargaining 

 power which must be maintained. It 

 makes the market a bu\ers' market in- 

 stead of a Ncllers' market; it makes the 

 farmer and his commodity subject to 

 all kinds of speculation; it creates gam- 

 blers in the commodity, and gambling 

 pools for the purpose of manipulating 

 the price of the commodity. It works 

 in the ultimate end to the disadvantage 

 of the producer and without any cor- 

 responding advantage to the consumer. 



Should Be Federated 



''The elevators of Illinois and of all 

 other states should be federated to- 

 gether as co-operative units operating 

 in a co-operative way as outlined above. 

 It is up to the farmers to see that this 

 is done. Many who have talked inde- 

 pendence do not possess it. It is re- 

 grettable that many elevator managers 

 have never cast their eyes above their 

 local situation. Most of these men are 

 honest in their convictions, but they 

 have been schooled under tb.e wrong 

 teachers. Others are selfish in their 

 attitude because they think any change 

 to their system would work to their 

 personal detriment. The men now en- 

 gaged as managers of co-operatives are 

 essential to any program but they must 

 be converted to higher co-operation, to 

 look beyond their local territory for the 

 greater success so sadly needed." 



Commenting upon the surplus situa- 



tion, the speaker said in his opinion it 

 would never be entirely eliminated. 

 He favors creating a two-price situa- 

 tion: one price for the grain sold at 

 home, another price for that surplus 

 portion sent abroad. He advocated the 

 formation of a surplus pool and deliv- 

 ering that surplus to the Farmers' Na- 

 tional Grain Corporation through the 

 local and regional channels. The sur- 

 plus can be set aside, he said, to be 

 stored, ground into feed, or exported. 

 It would not be difficult to secure the 

 ivorld price plus our tariff for at least 

 80 per cent of our present wheat pro- 

 duction. 



Jewett admitted that this would be 

 a gigantic task involving the co-opera- 

 tion of the majority of the producers 

 of the commodity, but that leaders in 

 the movement should approach the plan 

 with the determination to bring about 

 the necessary accomplishments. 



10 



'Master Farmers" 



Farm Bureau Members- 



Of the ten "Master Farmers" of 

 Illinois honored by Prairie Farm- 

 er on the night of December 1 all are 

 Farm Bureau members, most of them 

 prominently identified with the activi- 

 ties of their county organizations. 



The 1 men to receive the gold medal 

 this yi^ir follow: 



A. G. Beckman, Adams County. 



Vr. F. Black, Bureau County. 



E. G. Britton, Pulaski County. 



Talmadge Defrees. Bond County. 



John B. Hunt, Greene County. 



Fred J. Johnson, Whiteside County. 



L. L. Lehman, Sangamon County. 



Herbert Malsbury, Macoupin County. 



Herman Moews. Putnam County. 



C. C. Stier, Menard County. 



The 1930 class was the sixth since 

 the -Master Farmer plan was initiated. 

 During the six years this recognition 

 has been bestowed upon 91 representa- 

 tive farmers of Illinois, all of whom, 

 with two or three exceptions, are or 

 were Farm Bureau members. Several 

 have died since receiving the award. 



As in past years the men receiving 

 the medal from Publisher Burridge D. 

 Butler, gave their wives and families 

 credit for much of their success, re- 

 vealing that farming is an enterprise 

 that I'lumotes family solidarity. 



Editor C. V. Gregory presided as 

 toastmaster, Mr. Butler presented the ' 

 medals, and Albert Hayes, an officer in 

 the Peoria County Farm Bureau and 

 president of 'the State Master Farmer 

 Club, welcomed the new class. S. H. 

 Thompson, president of the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation; and Dr. W. L. 

 Burlison of the University of Illinois 

 served as judges. 



