ADVOCATE AND GUIDE. 9 



Now, see here, Reuben ; the farmers never were organ- 

 ized on the right basis, nor for the proper object, nor in the 

 proper way, and of course they failed to accomplish much 

 good. Were wheat producers assured of one hundred dol- 

 lars each within a year if they would put up one dollar apiece 

 to finance the deal, wouldn't they all do it? 



"Sure they would, if they could be convinced the plan 

 would work out that way." 



Well, please keep quiet now while I try to convince 

 them by overwhelming proof that it will. Then you may 

 give me your opinion on it. But first I shall point out a 

 few of the reasons why the farmers have so far failed to get 

 adequate results from their efforts at organization. 



Why Farmers' Organizations Fail. 



Farmers' organizations have so far failed to do much 

 general and permanent good in advancing the prices of their 

 products because : 



(a) Some were only local social or neighborhood affairs 

 of no general interest, and meetings were discontinued when 

 the busy season came on. 



(6) National organizations accepted producers of all 

 farm products as members, thereby incorporating those of 

 conflicting interest. The cotton grower and the wheat 

 grower, and producers of any other special product exclu- 

 sively had no interest in boosting the prices of other farmers' 

 products of which they are only consumers. This was a 

 fatal error. Labor does not unionize that way. As labor is 

 very successful at unionizing, farmers should follow their 

 plans .and tactics by unionizing the producers of each prod- 

 uct separately, and then forming a federation of farmers' 

 unions as labor is federated, and for the same purposes. 

 Each of two score products is big enough to justify unionizing. 



(c) Local farmers' unions, or jobbing associations, are 

 simply merchandising for their stockholders. While they 

 occasionally save a few pennies on their purchases, they are 



