436 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



July 12 1900. 



answer was correct. Dr. Howard is by far the best author- 

 ity in the world on foul brood, and I will leave it to him to 

 say if my answer was not perfectly correct. 



Woodburn, Ont., Canada. 



Bee-Keepers' Exchanges— Why? Why Not? 



( Written for the <\iUfoniia iStale Bee-Keepers^ Convention.) 

 BY C. H. CLAYTON. 



I WAS pained lately to read in a prominent bee-paper an 

 article purporting to give the reasons " why bee-keepers' 

 exchang-es fail." The article in question was from the 

 pen of a former member of this Association, and was wholly 

 unsatisfactory, in that the writer not only failed utterly to 

 grasp the logic of the situation, but also failed to point out 

 any adequate remedy for the evils complained of. 



In daily speech modern men and women pay tribute to 

 the old order — the order which seems to decree that the bee- 

 keeper's existence depended upon brawn and not upon 

 brain. This thoughtless slighting of the bee-keeper's voca- 

 tion seems curious when one pauses to observe how deeply 

 the bee-keeper of today is involved in the meshes of com- 

 merce. The successful bee-keeper of this generation must 

 be a business man first, and a keeper of bees afterward. In 

 him must be combined many talents. He must be a capi- 

 talist, cautious and crafty ; he must be an operator of in- 

 dustrial affairs, daring and resourceful, and he must play 

 labor's part, with patience and humility. He is in business 

 as certainly as the merchant or manufacturer. And until 

 the order changes the bee-keeper's success in business will 

 be governed by the kind and quantity of brains he uses. 



From the flower to the ripened nectar — from the first 

 operation in bee-keeping to the last — one is forced to rea- 

 lize how the spirit of the age has made itself felt here. The 

 most desirable bee-keeper is not the fellow who can hit the 

 punching-bag most lustily. He is the man with the cunning 

 brain who can get the most work out of the bees without 

 injuring them for future use. He is in the ranks of skilled 

 labor. 



In the bee- farm the investor has the use of labor-saving 

 machinery to increase the output of his establishment ; his 

 profits are large or small according to the caprices of his 

 market. He can not estimate with much accuracy what his 

 cost of production is going to be at any season. The rains, 

 the winds, the drouth, may cut his product short 50 percent, 

 or wipe it out altogether. 



During the period of time extending back for the last 

 10 years, the business community in the entire country has 

 suffered from what seemed to have been over-production. 

 The result of this was to bring about excessive competition 

 in all lines of business. Anxious to find purchasers, prices 

 have been cut below the limits of reasonable remuneration. 

 This evil of excessive competition seemed to prevail every- 

 where. In the effort to obtain relief the wages of labor 

 were reduced. This only led to additional complications. 

 The working-men strove by the only means at their com- 

 mand to save themselves, and strikes and lock-outs were in- 

 stituted, and these were followed by the usual distressful 

 accompaniments. 



The only effective means of overcoming this condition 

 seemed to be in the obvious one of an undertaking among 

 the producers of various lines, as to the prices to be askt for 

 their various commodities. Regulation in this respect was 

 only possible thru a union of interests upon the part of 

 those engaged in the same line of business. Ordinary trade 

 agreements were hard to enforce, and were readily disre- 

 garded in the effort to obtain business. 



Only a small fraction of humanity can be stirred by 

 considerations of moral or mental advantages. In our 

 greedy modern life the material side is chiefly regarded. By 

 far the greater number challenge all things with the ques- 

 tion, " What is there in it for me ?" It is but the statement 

 of a simple fact, to say that the present tendency toward 

 combination and co-operation is but the reaction from the 

 keen and excessive competition of the past few years. 



Whether this movement for co-operation is justifiable 

 or not depends upon the facts in the case. Whether for 

 good or evil must be determined by the results. An im- 

 pulse so general, and so wide-spread in the business world, 

 must have cause for its existence. 



The rights of the public are not to be ignored in any 

 event ; but so long as those rights are respected the indi- 

 vidual is certainly at liberty to concentrate his capital and 

 combine his resources with that of his fellows in the same 

 line of business for their mutual benefit. 



A practical instance of the good accomplisht by co- 

 operation is the decreast cost of production by doing away 

 with the wasteful method of competitive business. By con- 

 stant study of the conditions of business in all its phases 

 they are enabled to increase the demand for a product, and 

 thus enlarge the consumption. If abuses should arise these 

 organizations are at all times amenable to the law. No 

 combination will ever be able to maintain abnormal prices, 

 for the reason that such a course would call into play prac- 

 tical competition, and this will always operate as a check. 

 Any undue increase in price will lessen the demand. 



The co-operative movement is the outgrowth of natural 

 conditions, and opposition to it is based upon a misunder- 

 standing of the fact that it is the application of a great and 

 effectual remedy to the crushing and demoralizing condition 

 which has resulted from unlicenst and excessive competi- 

 tion. 



It is curious that we should have had growing up 

 around us for the la=t 300 years the very co-operative sys- 

 tem of which philanthropists dream, and that men should 

 have failed to recognize its features. If the day ever comes 

 when all men shall have obtained a secure competency it 

 will be when co-operation has become universal. There is 

 no other road leading to the abolition of poverty. 



Speaking generally, there will be no honesty in the 

 world until men have been taught that all intersocial rela- 

 tions should be reciprocal, due to an interchange of service 

 among equals. Any attempt to crush out or interfere with 

 the proper and reasonable workings of this remedy is 

 utterly hopeless. The movement is bound to continue until 

 all industrial activities are brought into a system of co- 

 operation. 



Now a word concerning the opposition to the movement 

 as experienced in the Bee-Keepers' Exchange. I will name 

 some of the reasons, as they occur to me, why the Exchange 

 has found it difficult to attain that measure of success it 

 deserves. I do not intend to be harsh, but I would be un- 

 true to you if I were not plain. 



The failure to perfect the organization, leaving out of 

 consideration the failure of two crops in succession just as 

 we were starting, is attributed to : 



1st. Selfishness on the part of many who desire to sell 

 at the better terms offered by the great buyers on account 

 of the agitation in favor of organizing. Such men say : 

 " You are all right, but we have a crop of honey to sell, 

 and are now negotiating to that end. When me have sold 

 we will be with you, heart and soul, and do all we can to 

 aid you in building up an exchange that will protect our 

 interests. In the meantime, however, do not for the world 

 abandon the effort to bring about a perfect and complete 

 organization of the bee-keepers." 



2d. Crop mortgages which prevent independent action 

 on the part of the producers. 



3d. Concessions made to the producers in the way of re- 

 bate on commission, so much on supplies, or in any way 

 that would be satisfactory to the parties interested. The 

 inevitable result of such an arrangement is the lowering of 

 prices to the producer by just that much, and it is a detri- 

 ment to the honest buyer when he comes to deal with those 

 who have not made this kind, of a deal. So the concession 

 made to one operates to the detriment of all. Men are not 

 i:i business for their health, and anything of this kind is 

 sure to be found out and taken advantage of. 



4th. Intimidation. Many have foolishly tied themselves 

 up, and are given to understand that siding with the move- 

 ment might impair their personal interests. 



Sth. Apathy on the part of some who do their thinking 

 by proxy. 



6th. Jealousy on the part of some who fear that their 

 neighbors may be as much, or possibly more, benefited 

 thru the Exchange than themselves. 



7th. Dissensions, caused by difference of opinion as to 

 how to proceed, and upon what plan the business shall be 

 conducted. We have had our share of these, but, thank the 

 Lord 1 I think they are a thing of the past. The School of 

 Adversity has taught us to look to results rather than mode 

 or manner. 



Our impressions of men and measures are too often 

 superficial, being founded upon imperfect knowledge as to 

 men, and meager experience as to measures. It seems to 

 me to be humanly impossible for any one to arrive at a true 

 solution of the problems involved in the workings of the 

 exchange principle in the short period of one year, which 

 length of time comprises the whole of our ex-president's 

 experience in California. Others who have large interests 

 here, and years of experience also, are not so ready to con- 

 demn the movement, even by implication, unless prepared 



