,ir:=. 





h 1 



a 



>servcatons 



The contribution being made by the 

 Teni>€ssee Valley Authority and the 

 Rural Electrification Administration to- 

 ward extending electric service into 

 farming communities can not be meas- 

 ured by ^he few hundred miles of co- 

 operatively-owned lines that have been 

 built. ,-.:■ 



The greatest service they are render- 

 ing is to aroiui« and stimulate private 

 companies into serving rural people at 

 reasonable rates. 



Public utility companies are doing 

 things today that they never dreamed 

 of doing a few years ago. The leader- 

 ship of the government in fostering the 

 belief that rural as well as city people 

 can be and should be served by "public 

 'service" corporations is working magic. 

 In Illinois, at least, a number of com- 

 panies have substantially lowered their 

 minimum charges. There is a new at- 

 titude toward farm business. Costs are 

 being cut. Plans are being developed to 

 build more rural lines. There is an ap- 

 parent feeling of responsibility to serve 

 the entire community. 



The threat of public and co-operative 

 ownership of utility services undoubt- 

 edly is a factor in promoting rural 

 electrification by private companies. 

 But there are other reasons. The 

 REA has given nation-wide publicity 

 to the widespread lack of modern con- 

 veniences and electric service in rural 

 homes. It has awakened the interest of 

 farmers in getting electricity. Utility 

 companies have been able to cut their 

 costs for erecting new lines. Materials 

 are cheaper then they were in the pre- 

 depression period. New inventions have 

 something to do with this. Funds for 

 financing new lines are available at 

 lower rates. Farm income is up. Many 

 influences have been working together to 

 bring electricity to the farm. 



How far should farmers go in organ- 

 izing co-operatives? This question is 

 receiving a good deal of thought. The 

 evangelists of co-operation represented 

 by Dr. Kagawa, the Co-operative League, 

 and others would go all the way. Make 

 everything co-operative, not only mar- 

 keting and buying but a'so processing 

 and manufacturing of things the farmer 

 needs. Maybe they are right. Certainly 

 co-operatives well managed are demon- 

 strating that they can render a service 

 at less expense to the patron. Our co- 

 operative insurance companies, oil com- 



US-i.:i.n 



(+%]fvii±r^ 





Home made egg cooler. Described In ar- 

 ticle on page 20. 



panics, creameries, and commodity mar- 

 keting associations are illustrations. 



But there is an inherent weakness in 

 continually taking on more lines. It's 

 easy to spread out so thin with many 

 diversified activities that efficiency de- 

 clines. The management problem, too, 

 grows with the size and number of enter- 

 prises. The capital requirements of new 

 ventures are a constant drain on the 

 co-operator's resources. And the possi- 

 bilities for making a showing in many 

 fields are not attractive because private 

 enterprise already has developed efficient, 

 low cost service. 



The obvious field for further co-opera- 

 tive effort is in marketing and processing 

 farm products. Not alone because of the 

 chance for savings in handling costs. 

 That may be a minor thing. The incen- 

 tive for improving quality as in cream, 

 eggs and fruits offered by co-operative 

 marketing has been stressed too little. 

 Too often the producer of quality prod- 

 ucts gets no better price than that paid 

 for inferior products. Co-operatives can 

 and are correcting this situation. Farm- 

 ers learn more about markets, the qual- 

 ity to produce and when to produce it, 

 through their co-operatives. The possi- 

 bilities in advertising farm products 



LETTERS 



The RECORD welcomes comments 

 from members and readers on any is- 

 sue, question, or article published herein. 

 Address your letters to Editor, Room 

 1200. 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Let's Be Construcfive 



"The writer of these lines was for ten 

 years the leader, organizer, editor, for a 

 farmers' organization. For thirteen years 

 he has been inactive by reason of age. 

 Recently this organization held its an- 

 nual national convention, and consider- 

 ing him the fossil remains of an extinct 

 species, determined to exhibit him at 

 their meeting as a relic of former ages. 

 He was surprised at how far he was out 

 of line with their present day ideas. Old 

 age? Relic? Conservatism? Well, he 

 feels, not altogther. 



"For 39 years he has been an inde- 

 pendent in politics; selecting his suf- 

 frage from every political party that 

 has offered a choice, — Republican, 

 Democratic, Prohibition, Progressive, 

 Independent, Peoples, Socialist, what not. 

 So that he thinks he is free from par- 

 tisan bias. At present he is a loyal sup- 

 porter of the present National Admin- 

 istration. He thinks that our President 

 has undertaken to untangle a tangled 

 skein that only God can unravel. 



"He has gone out, as it were, into an 

 abandoned wilderness, to clear away a 

 growth of years of neglect. He is un- 

 doubtedly letting in some light. He oc- 

 casionally fells a sugar tree (by mis- 

 take) but only God and angels do not err. 



"My long time old friend, the 'key- 

 noter' of this farmers' organization, 

 criticises everything that has been done. 

 The administration is highly accused of 

 breaking campaign pledges. Especially 

 in the tariff policy. This writer has 

 long believed that our outrageous pro- 

 tective system is one of the major causes 

 of our present distress, in destroying our 

 agricultural export trade. But the em- 

 ployer and the employee both seem to 

 want it, and they are numerous. Our 

 arrangement with the Phillipines in re- 

 gard to their vegetable oils has caused 

 the Islanders grave distress. Our recent 

 reciprocity with Canada is looked upon 

 doubtedly by the g^rain growers, and met 

 with protest by the lumber men. We are 

 (Continued on page 27) 



to promote greater use also can be most 

 fully developed through co-operative 

 effort. Volume and price influence are 

 goals all commodity groups are inter- 

 ested in. Progress has been made in 

 this direction but in most commodities 

 the realization of such aims is left for 

 the years ahead. E. G. T. 



24 



I. A. A. RECORD 



