THE CASE TO-DAY 51 



help "save the babies" as anyone else, but he must 

 live. In many districts dairy farmers are in fact 

 going out of business. Yet the milk supply must not 

 only be kept up but be increased. The well-being of 

 the farmer is necessary to that of society, and the 

 maladjustment of the conditions under which he 

 operates must be corrected. 



The Farmers' Need of Organization 



The one conspicuous feature in the situation of the 

 farmer is his lack of organization. In his relations 

 with dealers and railroads he is at a great disadvantage 

 in his inability to bargain collectively. It is no wonder 

 that he is at the mercy of shrewd price-setting milk- 

 buyers. If he carries on his business as an individual 

 he is unable either to recognize the true nature of the 

 conditions which he shares with other dairymen or to 

 act effectively to secure his due. Organization among 

 farmers would alter the whole situation. Such or- 

 ganization would first of all protect and advance the 

 farmers' collective interests, and might then perhaps 

 proceed to such constructive work as the establish- 

 ment of co-operative creameries and, in co-operation 

 with agricultural authorities, the improvement of 

 dairying methods and of agriculture in general. 



Farmers' organizations now exist, to be sure, but 

 these have not, in general, been sufficiently close-knit 

 and active to produce much impression on the situa- 

 tion. Collective action has been spasmodic, short- 

 sighted, unsystematic, accompanied by no continuous 

 grip on affairs. Too many farmers have " stayed out." 

 The farmer is by nature a conservative and an in- 



