tltion — is always present, and at all mar- 

 kets? They may so assume, but at their 

 own peril. 



Competition is not natural nor does It 

 maintain itself. It exlatn bbiI eontlnuea 

 nmlT "> loBB ■■ the Tl«rilaac« and natrh- 

 falnraa of aellers protect and conaerve It. 

 Professor Fetter, Princeton University, has 

 recently published a thought-provoking^ 

 treatlsel that bears directly on this ques- 

 tion. It Is possible to include only the 

 briefest excerpts here, viz.: 



^^ESronomie competition bCKan wllli mar- 

 ketn. and Krew aa markcta frrew .... 

 Therefore <not atranarelT) the exlatence 

 and vitality of competition in trade la ra- 

 Mentfally Itound up -with the exiNtenee and 

 reality of marketa.** Further on he mnymt 

 '■Competition ne And. far from belnie a 

 natural thins (nn In often aaMumed) auto- 

 matically brouKht aliont nrhenever private 

 citlaena nre left to do an they pieaNe Neemo 

 rather to have been eonatantly dentroyed 

 by the aeif-lntercKt and elforta «t Indivld- 

 tialM and to have been naalntalned aa an 

 artiflelal condition only by the effortn of 

 public authoritlcM Uf. Indeed, they were 

 not themaeiveK haaaperlaic anch competi- 

 tion action na there vvan). 



**.... In the marketM or fairn the 

 icreat merchant huyera . . . had to buy 

 openly In the preaence of the whole croup 

 of HellerM aaaembled from far and wide 

 and were anbject to the competlnK bida 

 of other buyina: merehanta, iuNtead 4if be- 

 Inic able to take each amail neltcr Into a 

 «.orner and deal with him aeparately." 



Later, Dr Fetter aayst 



•*.... The *iaw of auppiy and deniand* 

 «*.tn operate fnily. If at all. only In the 

 preaence of effective competlti<in."2 



Rxperfenced atoekmen Nhonld aobject 

 thia Pollyanna doctrine — that bnyera vol- 

 untarily pay full market price, thai ''nat- 

 ural competition** aaaurea full value, and 

 that all marketa are equally xatiafactory 

 nnd are alwaya *Mn line** — to the moat 

 critleat examination before they volun- 

 tarily dtMContlnne public marketa. turn 

 their liveatoek over to the neareat hnyera. 

 nnd tell them to mark the tieketa. 



Bishth, because of itrnorance and of in- 

 'iifterence on the part of the consuming 

 t>ublic. and the exploitation of consumers. 



This Involves the operation of an exces- 

 .«ive number of retail meat distributingr 

 igencies — perhaps the exact number is not 

 known. Recently published datal indicate 

 that the number of meat cutters expanded 

 from 15,405 in 1910. to 22,884 in 1920, to 

 45,108 in 1930 — an increase of some 97 per- 

 cent from 1920 to 1930: that salesmen and 

 saleswomen increased from 877,238 in 1910 

 to 1,125.782 in 1920. to 1,988,332 In 1930— 

 :in increase of some 77 percent from 1920 

 to 1930. This situation necessarily In- 

 treases the cost of distribution, raises re- 

 tail prices and thus tends to restrict con- 

 sumption of meats. 



Improve Retail SeliinK ': 



It involves the selling: of low grade meat 

 It prices which would permit the selling 

 of better grades, the net effect again be- 

 ng in the direction of a restricted con- 

 sumption. 



There are definite indications that ap- 

 nreclable numbers of consumers are be- 

 crlnnlng to seek Improvements in the pres- 

 ent system. But until consumers are at 

 l*^ast interested in Improvement there is 

 little that livestock producers can do. di- 

 rectly, to assist them. 



Naturally you have thought of many 

 obstacles other than the eight Just men- 

 tioned. Indeed you may not consider these 

 eight as the most Important ones. If so, 

 that much the better. The Important point 

 Is that, as stockmen, we recognize the 

 problems and think them through for our- 

 selves. 



Of the eight obstacles mentioned, stock- 

 men may — through more effective coordi- 

 n.itlon and organization— deal directly 

 with the first three, by (1) informing 

 .stockmen regarding marketing problems 

 and practices: (2) developing a more com- 

 prehensive marketing program; and (3) 

 concentrating their livestock selling in 

 the hands of strong agencies and of strong 

 salesmen. Through the same means they 

 •■ould (4) appreciably influence packers' 

 liuying practices: (5) contribute to more 

 adequate standardization of products: and 

 (6) exert effective pressure for equitable 

 revision of freight rates and freight tar- 

 iffs. The seventh one can be answered, 

 with due regard to the interests of llve- 



* See '^he Maaqaerade of Monopoiy" — 

 Frank .4lhrrt Fettert Hareonrt. Brace and 

 Company, Kew York, 1931: pp, 24T-2S*. 



' Same reference, p. 272. 



stock producers, only by tlios.. to whom 

 producers' interests are a first considera- 

 tion. The eighth one requires no further 

 comment. 



Finally, the attitude of stockmen and of 

 farmers will be the deciding factor in de- 

 termining what action shall be taken in 

 dealing with the obstacles here discussed. 

 If they are persuaded that fair prices are 

 always automatically established, thai 

 markets — through perfectly functionini; 

 self-controls — are always In line, that re- 

 gardless of where or when the stockman 

 sells he is certain of the full market value: 

 then the millennium is here .and those who 

 have not recognised it do not know per- 

 fection when thev meet it. On that ba- 

 slsi — 



**.... all forma or methoda or facil- 

 Itieo of BBarketinK operated by the pro- 

 ducer In the aale of hia product repreaent 

 wante and are ■nnreraaary. 



"Thia point of view pictnrea the milk 

 diatributor or the packer na an anprejn- 

 dlced media thronsh vrhich automatically 

 there flowa back to the producer, withovt 

 the neceaaity for bargaining f»r cfflcient 

 mnrketlng, ttt all tlnaea and under all con- 

 ditiona a fair aharc of the cnnMumcr'a dol- 

 lar that conaumcr income deter- 



minea abaolntcly wrhat producera ahonld 

 recelvfyfor the producta they nell and that 

 they are paid that price without prejudice 

 or unfair deduction.** 



On the other hand. U stockmen because 

 of their own experience and observations, 

 —do not accept this blissful doctrine, then 

 they face the alternative of maintaining 

 open markets, of preserving eff«ctlve com- 

 petition, of developing a sound and com- 

 prehensive marketing program, and of 

 building the most effective sales agencies 



possible In my opinion, based on per- 

 sonal experience and observations the lat- 

 ter is the only sound course of actioti 

 Packers cannot be expected to give stock- 

 men anything that stockmen are not In 

 position to demand. ^Ve get only what ••»• 

 work for and, often, only isrhat we ar»- 

 prepared to fight for. I like the spirit re- 

 flected in the citation awarded our dis- 

 tinguished co-worker, Mr. Sam H. Thomp- 

 soru at the University of Wisconsin on 

 February 4, when Dean Christensen said 

 of him: 



"Because he has fatiBht fearlraaly. !■- 

 telllKcntly and *«»ctively for the cause of 

 organized farming . . . ." 



Problems we have? Yes, but also there 

 are the means for dealing with them. If 

 we are but awake to our opportunitieK. 

 and alert to available resources. So. profit- 

 ing from past experience, may we sa)r with 

 .EtJwin Markham: 



"I am done with tht years that were, 1 am 

 quits; 

 I am done irlth the dead and old. 

 They are mines worked out: 1 delv*d In 

 their pits; i . 



I hare saved their grain of gold. .,. • ' 



•'XO'W I turn to the future for wine and 

 bread; 

 I have bidden the past adieu. 

 I laugh, and lift my hands to the \ear9 

 ahead: 

 "Come on! 1 am ready for you!" 



I United Stntea Utk Stock !«ewa. Omaha, 

 Nehmaka. Frhraarx, 1*S5. p. «. 



i «America'a CaiMcity to Prodnce.** The 

 Broekinsa Inatltntion, Waahinrton. D. <:. 

 1034. p. 178. 



TnUe<^tx^ 



VACCINATE 



While They're Young 



SAVE monEY » AVOID RISK 



V ; . USE FRESH, 

 POTENT FARM 

 BUREAU SERUM 



YOUR COUNTY FARM BUREAU 



M.4Y. 1935 



I* 



