No. 4.] RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER. 99 



itable, if any change is to be effected. As this condition 

 we deplore has become possible through confidence, man with 

 man, so must the remedy be reached. Combination must 

 meet combination, and that this may be possible, confidence 

 must first be established throughout rural sections. The con- 

 servatism of rural life and habits of isolation have inevitably 

 strengthened the spirit of self-reliance and weakened that of 

 dependence upon others. A sarcastic old farmer declared 

 that '" the average man on a farm woidd rather lose $1 than 

 see his neighbor make $2." This spirit is the first to be 

 removed before co-operative work, the only apparent solu- 

 tion of the problem, can be attempted. I am not here as a 

 socialist to discuss this problem, but as a worker in the field, 

 noting something of the drift, and conscious in part at least 

 of the power of organization reached through corporations. 

 There is, to my mind, no other solution. 



Those standing between the producer and the consumer 

 must be eliminated. If the individual can work out his prob- 

 lem, well and good. A few have done this by making their 

 products so attractive that consumers break from the regular 

 channels of trade and touch elbows direct with the producer. 

 Xot every man can do this. It cannot be forced but must 

 come as a result of keen appreciation of the consumer's 

 fancy and of how to satisfy the same. The gi'eat majority 

 must, of necessity, turn their surplus into regular channels 

 unless some other is provided at their doors. The most direct 

 and effective pathway lies through some co-operative move- 

 ment, but this is possible oidy when, as in the case of the 

 so-called trusts, individual identity is merged in the cor- 

 porate body. 



In California, when the burden became too oppressive, the 

 fruit growers came together and formed their association, 

 turning their products into the hands of one man, under 

 whose direction sorting, packing and marketing were com- 

 pleted, the grower being known only by number. The result 

 has been prosperity and enthusiasm for increased produc- 

 tion. In my own city of 15,000, there are 40 or more 

 teams delivering milk every day. On the street where I 

 reside, within a distance of less than Vi mile, 15 teams drive 



