FARMERS TO THE FRONT 125 



Of course this meant that the farmers will have to 

 pay the dividends on this quadrupled stock in the 

 price of agricultural implements made by this firm. 

 And this brings to the front another one of the ob- 

 jects of the .American Society of Equity, which is to 

 enable the farmer to buy advantageously. It is a 

 fact that the farmers frequently pay much more for 

 their farm supplies than is necessary to insure a fair 

 profit to the manufacturer and the merchant. As I 

 write a letter comes from a member in Oklahoma. 

 He says : "I am paying 2 per cent, per month for 

 money to meet current expenses so I can hold my 

 wheat for $1." Must such sacrifice and determina- 

 tion go unrewarded? Would any banker dare 

 charge a farmer 24 per cent, a year if they were thor- 

 oughly organized? Besides, the margin of profit 

 placed on goods sold to the farmers is often much 

 greater than that added to goods sold to the people 

 of the towns and cities. The reason is clear. In 

 trading, the farmer is not an independent person. 

 He does business as the merchant or' manufacturer 

 dictates. He is usually a debtor to the implement 

 dealer and the storekeeper, whereas if he had cash 

 to pay for his supplies he could buy more cheaply in 

 any market in the country. Wherever the farmer 

 turns to make his purchases he finds himself face to 

 face with a trust or union. lie is worsted in the 

 encounter and loses some of the legitimate results of 

 his work when he puts his unorganized skill and la- 

 bor against the organized efforts of the union la- 



