244 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



exchange and one on the hay exchange. It asserted that it did $4,000,000 

 worth of business in 1923 and that in 1924 it had consigned to it more 

 wheat than came to any other firm in Kansas City, Missouri. Its livestock 

 business, which amounted to about a million dollars annually, was like- 

 wise the largest enjoyed by any firm on the Kansas City market, and its 

 insurance business alone amounted at the time to about $40,ooo,ooo. 61 



A livestock commission firm was authorized by the Wichita convention 

 in January, 1918, and began its business operations in Kansas City, Mis- 

 souri, on October 14, 1918. It was chartered under the laws of Kansas in 

 July, 1919. The agency was also given representation on the market- 

 practices committee, which established trading rules and regulations in 

 that market. It was the custom to set aside 10 per cent of earnings for the 

 reserve fund and to pay 8 per cent dividends on stock before distributing 

 any patronage dividends. By the end of 1926, it had transacted a total 

 business of $63,811,013 for its customers. Over the period 1924-26 more 

 than 1,000,000 head of cattle, hogs, and sheep were sold, and more than 

 78,000 head of stockers and feeders were purchased. 



In 1923, the Kansas City firm opened a branch on the Wichita mar- 

 ket, beginning with a cash investment of $3,000 furnished by the Kansas 

 City office. During the first three years of operation, the total livestock 

 handled was between 60,000 and 65,000 head, valued at nearly $2,ooo,ooo. 62 



The Kansas Farmers' Union Auditing Association audited accounts for 

 different business activities over the state, as well as the records of the live- 

 stock firm, the jobbing association, the bank, and the state Union. 



A novel feature of the Kansas Farmers' Union was a cooperative bank. 

 This institution was not merely a credit union, but rather a "real bank 

 of its own, state-wide in character, organized explicitly to provide mem- 

 bers of the Farmers' Union with banking services to fit their own peculiar 

 needs." The establishment of such a bank had long been a topic for dis- 

 cussion before it materialized in 1924. A committee had surveyed the 

 activities of various labor-union banks in order to find out, if possible, 

 how well a similar financial cooperative would suit the needs of the 

 Kansas farmers. When the doors of the Farmers' Union Bank were thrown 

 open on July i, 1924, in Kansas City, it received $35,000 in deposits on the 



61. Oklahoma Union Farmer, November 15, 1924. 



62. Randall, Cooperative Marketing of Livestoc^, pp. 53-55. 



