308 FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS 



tion) is now very common in the marketing of farm products; it 

 is not common in the field of production of farm products. 



Limitation of Output. There is no close parallel here between 

 farmers' unions and labor unions. Limitation of output has been 

 practiced in a few cases by a few unions; limitation of output by 

 farmers really means a shifting of output. Thus the southern 

 planters in the season of 1919 made a gigantic campaign to limit 

 the cotton acreage. This limitation of output of cotton was mis- 

 understood and even condemned by many. However, while it 

 meant less cotton, it meant more corn, more hogs, more hay all 

 of which products the South consumed in great quantities. " Limi- 

 tation of output" in this sense of the word is not only wise, but 

 necessary, if the farmers are ever, collectively, to remove some 

 of the " anarchy" now existing in the coordination of supply 

 to demand. 



Collective Bargaining. Collective bargaining is now a common 

 method of adjusting wages, hours, and conditions in several of 

 the larger labor unions of the country. The United Mine Workers 

 of America have repeatedly demonstrated the wisdom and value of 

 this orderly and democratic way of industrial functioning. The 

 farmer is just now beginning to use this method. But since he is 

 not selling his labor for "wages" but his crop for a " price," he 

 has already come into collision with the law against " price fixing." 

 Hence collective bargaining by farmers is not making much head 

 against the present legal status of this method of adjusting price. 

 However, if there is one place above all others where the farmer 

 feels he is the silent victim of a system of tyranny, it is exactly 

 here in the field of price making. It is inevitable, therefore, that 

 the courts and the legislators will adjust the law to fit economic 

 evolution. Collective bargaining is now in successful use by 

 farmers in many different places. A conspicuous example is that 

 of the Dairymen's League and the large milk distributors of New 

 York City. A few steps have been taken towards this goal by the 

 big meat packers and the farmers in the various live-stock asso- 

 ciations. However, the federal and State anti-trust laws are such 

 as to cause hindrance and delay in actually carrying on collective 

 bargaining by farmers. 



(3) How Secure Leadership? In one sense the farmers seem 

 to be victims of the vicious circle unable to produce real farmer 

 leadership without organizations and unable to produce farmers' 

 organizations without leadership. While the farmer is blest with 

 a large amount of able, unselfish leadership from the ranks of 



