Cooperation 185 



ginned to satisfy his credit demands, and there his relation 

 to it usually ends. 



The Dissatisfaction of the Cotton Farmer 



The cotton farmer has not been satisfied with his re- 

 lation to the cotton-distributing system. A few years 

 ago the price of cotton was more or less depressed, and this 

 condition was charged to the manipulations of the various 

 middlemen through whose hands the crop passes. It 

 was charged also to a relative overproduction. The 

 farmer who has had to sell his crop as soon as it is baled 

 has been in a helpless condition, and as long as he depended 

 on the local merchant or the cotton factor for credit he 

 could not disentangle himself. The farmers have there- 

 fore organized into associations, they have built ware- 

 houses in which to store the cotton until it can be 

 marketed favorably, and they have federated these ware- 

 houses into larger selling agencies. Because of the secu- 

 rity that the cotton in the warehouse furnishes, they have 

 been able to obtain money through regular banking chan- 

 nels, and they have attempted to influence the total pro- 

 duction of cotton by reducing the acreage grown by each 

 member. 



The Farmers' Union 



The most important efforts along the lines described 

 have been made by the Farmers' Educational and Co- 

 operative Union of America, usually known as the "Farm- 

 ers' Union," and the "Southern Cotton Association," 

 although the latter organization is no longer active. 



The Farmers' Union is a national body with 3,000,000 



