The RURAL NEW-YORKER ,395 
The Dairymen’s League Meeting 
Last week the Dairymen’s League held in rhe city 
of Utica, New York, the best meeting since its 
organization. The attendance was close to 2,000 
delegates from local branches and individual mem¬ 
bers. representing six States that contribute milk to 
New York City supply. No man with love of the 
farm in his heart could fail to be proud of that 
assembly. We have attended meetings of bankers, 
of professional men, of manufacturers, of editors 
and publishers and of various commercial interests. 
We have attended farm meetings before, and good 
ones; but we have not in any of these places before 
met as high a class of men as a whole as faced the 
rostrum at this Utica meeting. And this includes not 
only the physical appearance, but the moral fiber, 
and the confidence of knowing what they wanted to 
do. and the ability to express it in plain and forcible 
English. 
The Nestld’s-McCann propaganda was perhaps the 
most stimulating influence that came to the League 
since the first declaration of war in 1910. The con¬ 
ception of it, the motive of it. and the execution of 
it is as well understood by dairymen as if they were 
in the inner circles of the milk trust conferences for 
the past. HO years. It together with the present milk 
situation has simply made them mad and deter¬ 
mined. They want to fight and spend their money 
and go ahead. There is not a single eye looking 
backwards. All are looking ahead and anxious for 
a chance to go over the top. They do not just now 
care a continental about accredited principles of 
co-operative organization. They do not care whether 
they are organized from the top down or the bottojn 
up. They do not care about established form or per¬ 
fection of detail. They don't count the cost. They 
at last see the goal, and they propose to reach it, 
let the cost be what it may. In this, as in all farm 
bodies, there is, of course, a large majority of con¬ 
servative men, who are more deliberate in their 
actions, and form the governor to the engine to 
gradually equalize the speed, but for the time being 
these active, aggressive young men have “stepped 
on” the accelerator, and the brake level is clear over 
in the “off” angle. The co-operative car is under 
some speed. For nearly 50 years we have talked 
and worked for co-operative principles and a co¬ 
operative system, particularly suited to the New 
York dairy situation. For years we have been sat¬ 
urated with the logic and the principles of co-opera¬ 
tive organization as a means to solve the farm dis¬ 
tribution problem. We like to feel that the long 
years of steady persistence may have contributed in 
some small measure to the present general develop¬ 
ment, though it is too general throughout the whole 
country to justify any institution or any community 
in claiming credit for any material part in it. We 
could hope that the young men now afire with the 
movement may have unconsciously gathered some 
inspiration from our pages, but it does not matter. 
What eight, years ago seemed to be impossible 
is today far in advance of the fondest hope of the 
friends of co-operation then. And it is well. 
Standing out in importance, in our judgment, over 
all the other proceedings and declarations of the 
meeting was the statement by Vice-president John 
D. Miller that the open conflict is on between mid¬ 
dlemen in this country and the farmers of the 
country, and we take it that the declaration, general 
in expression, has, coming from him. special signifi¬ 
cance as between the milk trust and the Dairy¬ 
men’s League. Four years and some months back 
the writer had the privilege of writing the first 
declaration of principles and policies for the League. 
It was unanimously adopted by dairymen at the 
time, and contained this paragraph: 
“We are Hilling to work with them (the milk 
dealers) hand in hand , and ire will he glad to see 
them fully rewarded for the time and capital neces¬ 
sary to distribute milk, hut they must not longer 
tyrannize over us. They must not exact unreason¬ 
able prices from the consumer and thereby cut off 
our outlet for our product. There must be no more 
two-cent milk for the producer and at the same time 
12-cent milk to the consumer. They must not drive 
independent dealers out of the distributing of milk 
and they must not keep new men out of tin busi¬ 
ness” 
We said that we would put a milk depot in the 
city and sell milk to independent small dealers to 
reduce cost to the consumer and increase the outlet. 
That was the policy adopted then, and we are 
glad to see it revived by Mr. Miller and more graph¬ 
ically stated. If we have semed over-insistent on 
this policy it has been only because we believe it 
the keystone to the whole structure, and we cannot 
help but express this word of joy in the prospect 
that it is now to be our permanent policy. 
Mr. Miller's speech was on the subject, of co¬ 
operative markets fqr farm products, and while it 
necessarily covered the ground that has been pretty 
thoroughly discussed of recent years, the facts were 
well and logically marshaled and expressed with 
strong effect. The burden of it was that we are pro¬ 
ducing large quantities of Avealth and making invest- 
ment in equipment and labor for production and 
neglecting the important fact of necessary invest¬ 
ment and facilities for distribution. 
Director F. M. Webb, of Cortland County, gave a 
good and comprehensive talk on the Crange-League- 
Farm Bureau Feed Exchange. He told of the in¬ 
vestments in storage houses and drying plants in 
Buffalo to handle the business which has already 
handled 500 cars of feed. The conduct of the busi¬ 
ness has been placed in the hands of experts and 
trained business men. and includes not only feed but 
the storing and grading and sale of wool and a sup¬ 
ply of seed for farmers. Chas. Aldrich gave a brief 
talk on the State Farm Bureau Federation and the 
work it is doing in co-operation with the other or¬ 
ganizations of the State for the farm problem. 
The guest of the day was W. J. Kittle, superin¬ 
tendent of the Milk Producers’ Co-operative Market¬ 
ing Company of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Kittle made a 
taking address. Many of our readers will remem¬ 
ber the personal account prepared exclusively for 
The R. N.-Y. by Mr. Kittle himself in the Summer of 
1915. of his first milk fight in Chicago. His fight 
was in April of that year. He won out against the 
dealers, and his fight was the beginning of the battle 
with the milk dealers throughout the whole coun¬ 
try. Tt did much to stimulate the movement in New 
York State. lie said he found in his Chicago experi¬ 
ence what New York learned and proved later, that 
only one strike could be successful in one territory. 
He estimated the investment in dairy property in this 
section at $750,000,000. and said we had been work¬ 
ing 40 years for the dealers and thought it was 
time now to begin to work for ourselves. His esti¬ 
mate of property is undoubtedly low. In Chicago 
they have organized on the stock plan, originally 
with $500,000 capital, and they are increasing it 
now to $2,000,000. His plan is to control the milk 
for the territory, and he spoke of a vision that he 
had of white delivery wagons in the city of Chicago 
owned by the farmers and bearing the signs. "Direct 
from Cow to Consumer.” 
The morning session was taken up by reports from 
the president and secretary and treasurer. The 
treasurer reported an income of approximately $590.- 
000 for the year, and expenditures of approximately 
$11,000 in excess of the income, but the excess would 
be equalized by some assets yet to be liquidated. 
Six new directors were chosen. F. II. Thompson, 
of Oneida County, declined a renomination and re¬ 
tired from the board. Bradley Fuller takes his place. 
The writer personally regrets the retirement of Mr. 
Thompson. He i> one of the pioneers in the milk 
affairs of the state. For long years back we asso¬ 
ciated with him in private and public sales of milk. 
He was one of rhe committee in the 1916 original 
fight, and we were associated with him daily and 
nightly through the thick of it. and on a show-down 
always knew just where to find him. His judgment 
and counsel were good, and his heart was always in 
the right place. It seems to us now that his absence 
will always be to us like a vacant chair in the coun¬ 
cils of the organization. 
The resolutions favored a tariff on dairy products; 
recommended local organization to handle the ex¬ 
change feed; advertising of milk; law to restrict the 
sale of oleomargarine; a State law to make the sani¬ 
tary regulations in the distribution of milk uniform 
throughout the State under the State Board of 
Health, and a law in New York State following the 
New Jersey law to compel all buyers of milk to give 
bond to guarantee the payment of milk: a repeal of 
the State daylight saving law. and opposition to any 
proposed new daylight saving law in Congress. 
The most important resolution was a positive, 
clear-cut. definitely expressed approval of the pool¬ 
ing of milk and the contract just as it is written, 
without change, reservation or limitation of any 
kind. There were members and directors in the 
meeting who did not approve the contract as it 
stood, though one and all approved the pooling part 
of it. They were invited to oppose the resolution on 
the floor and given ample time and opportunity to 
do so. There was, however. no opposition expressed, 
and the resolution went through with a whoop. 
This then is the law of the organization. These 
delegates were at the meeting to represent the dairy¬ 
men who sent them. They were fully accredited rep¬ 
resentatives and as intelligent and able representa¬ 
tives as would he found in any legislative body in 
this or ether States. They spoke with the authority 
of the dairymen at home. It must be taken as an 
expression of the majority. As far as the records go 
it is unanimous, rhe demand for pooling is now 
general. Just three years ago we proposed it at the 
annual meeting in Utica. It has lain on the table 
since, and now goes with a rush. It is, in our judg¬ 
ment. right and proper fully and freely to discuss 
and analyze changes when they are being proposed. 
This should be invited and not discouraged, but 
when the majority speaks the law is made, and all 
members will obey. The sooner the contracts are 
signed and the plan is in operation now the better 
f ° r a11 - J. J. D. 
Milk Producers May Strike 
At dairymen’s meeting, called at Walton, N. Y., De¬ 
cember 4, vote was taken by League members that if 
Breakstone Bros, and Nestle’s at Walton plants did not 
■sign up by December 15 the dairymen delivering milk 
to those plants should hold milk at home (strike) until 
they do. For past two months both Nestle’s and Break¬ 
stone Bros, have been making up milk for dairymen at 
Walton. Under this arrangement the dairymen have 
only received $2.07 to $2.47 per 100 for their milk, and 
the arrangement has been very unsatisfactory in view 
"1 the fact others around have secured League price for 
their milk; and at Boyd creamery at Cannonsville 
(local stock company) patrons received 3e per 100 
above League price. o. F. S. 
Co-operative Wool Marketing 
Whether the wool growers will succeed in their almost 
united and nation-wide agreement to warehouse, grade 
and market their own wools co-operatively is a question 
that cannot be answerpd now, but 10 years from this 
time we will look back and recall that year when first 
the wool growers found the courage to attempt, at least, 
to do this thing that the old-line wool dealers and job- 
say is wrong.. _A11 new ideas and new movements 
have had their origin and beginning somewhere, some 
time. According to some, the time to begin is never 
npe Such as these are the men with little courage. 
Enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of judgment, but 
with an abundance of enthusiasm, vision and confidence 
in ourselves, we can offset, in a great measure, de¬ 
ficiency in judgment. Judgment comes from experience, 
and the only way to get experience is to jump in. 
So. the wool growers in New York. Michigan. Ohio 
and the other States are ripening their judgment by get- 
ting experience in the gathering of their wools into com¬ 
mon warehouses—millions of pounds of wool—hiring 
their own experienced wool graders and salesmen and 
getting their product put up in shape for the market, 
which will be the manufacturers of woolen goods Why 
-end rhe wools to jobbers? Why, indeed? There is a 
more direct path to the markets, and the growers are 
learning the way. 
As for New York State, there are those among the 
wool growers who said “It can't be done.” These were 
the wool growers who have been scared by the dogs. It 
is being done. On November 1. in the Grange-League- 
Federation warehouse at Syracuse the wools from 11 
comity wool growers’ associations had either been re¬ 
ceived or were in transit—252.836 lbs. of wool, or over 
half of the 500.000 lbs. that the marketing committee 
figured on as the minimum. Wool bags and shipping 
supplies have been sent to 25 county avooI growers’ asso¬ 
ciations. and the wools are arriving at the warehouse so 
rapidly that the graders cannot keep on top of the job. 
It is no simple task to keep a record of each individual 
grower’s wool, grade it. book the records, and send the 
member a statement showing just how manv pounds of 
'gtedo of wool he has credited to him. but it is being 
done. Not only is each member going to receive such a 
statement, but lie will also receive an additional re¬ 
minder as to the condition of his wool. If a man sends 
in tag-locks or other refuse bound up in a fleece he is 
informed of the fact when settlement is made. The wool 
growers who agree to ship their wools into a co-opera¬ 
tive marketing warehouse must appreciate that nothing 
but fair dealing will go. 
In its national aspects the co-operative marketing of 
wools is assuming vast proportions, not alone in the 
mechanics of gathering the wools into common ware¬ 
houses. and preparing them for market, but also in the 
activities of these organizations in the economic and 
legislative fields in the interest of the industry. The 
American Federation of Farm Bureaus is lending its 
prestige and machinery to organize the national aspects 
of this all-important industry. A national committee, 
made up of representative wool growers from every part 
of the United States, has been organized and has 
brought forth some important recommendations The 
machinery to carry out these recommendations will be 
set up and the work will lie pushed aggressively. Some 
of these things that will be looked into in a largo wav 
are: (11 the designation of convenient centers wherein 
the wools of the nation will be annually warehoused and 
marketed by the farmers’ organizations: (2) the Fed¬ 
eral incorporation of these warehouses; (3) uniform 
grading, financing and exchange of market price infor¬ 
mation ; (4) developing relationships with mills for the 
manufacturing of woMen blankets, robes and woolen 
cloths with the particular view of securing a fair price 
for the raw wool and selling the product direct to con¬ 
sumers ; (5) securing adequate tariff protection on wool 
and mutton. 
Surely the gentle -11 atured wool growers are enteuug 
into a program for handling their own products that 
would do credit to a group of steel manufacturers. 
How fortunate at this time we have a few "bell weth¬ 
ers’ who have the courage of their convictions! The 
pastures of co-operative activities—if the metaphor is 
apt- -are rich Avith opportunities for the wool growers. 
True, tLere may be some dogs there, but the habit of 
running away from dogs has always been bad for either 
sheep or sheep growers. f. e. Robertson. 
