68 THE THIRD POWER 



Own hurt, and insist that the price at which he sells 

 shall be such as to earn him a fair profit, year in and 

 year out, over and above the cost of production. He 

 can not do this by himself. So here, again, organ- 

 ization is absolutely necessary. 



To illustrate more forcibly the need of regulating 

 prices, we will say that, always, the larger the crops 

 the lower the prices. Frequently the largest crops 

 sell for the least bulk money, and vice versa, the 

 smallest crops bring the farmers the most money. 

 This is proven in the corn crop of 1901. It was the 

 smallest this country raised for many years, yet it 

 brought to the farmers more money than any other 

 corn crop except the one of 1902. This latter crop 

 was the largest ever raised ; it had the advantage of 

 high price established by the preceding shortest crop, 

 yet sold for comparatively little more than the short 

 one. This condition is also illustrated by potatoes. 

 In 1895 this country raised the largest crop in its 

 history, and they sold for only about half the money 

 as did the crop of 1901, which was the smallest for 

 many years. The same is true of wheat, oats, cotton, 

 fruit and other crops. An enterprise which is sub- 

 ject to such wide, violent irregularities can not be 

 healthy, and a system which makes them possible is 

 bad and vicious. Any person who will take the 

 trouble to study the crop statistics will be convinced 

 that something is wrong. It is clear from this show- 

 ing that it is the large crops and low prices that are 

 a menace to the farmers — consequently the nation's 



