Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-11-22 | Page 4 | Prices Blamed on Middleman

Sfli Chicagoan Suggests Remedy Rem-edy Before Farm and Labor Congress. CHICAGO, Nov. 21. Kelease of the vast horde of middlemen from wartime obligation to maintain fair prices is responsible re-sponsible for the high cost of living, Dalton T. Clark, Chicago, president of i the National Cooperative association, told representatives of farmer and labor la-bor bodies of the country assembled here today. He denied that farmers and organized organ-ized labor were to blame for high prices. The conference is beiiig held today and tomorrow under the joint auspices of the National Farmers' national council and other leading farm and consumers' con-sumers' cooperative societies. Touching on the interest the railroad brotherhoods have in the meeting, Mr. Olarji said it is proposed to fight the high cost of living in urging retention of government control' of the railroads and decreased freight rates. C. H. Gustafson, president of the Nebraska Ne-braska Farmers' Union, is expected to present to the conference n proposal for adaption to tho cooperative program pro-gram being formulated some of the features fea-tures of the buying and selling opera tious of the association he represents, which, it is declared, transacts a $100,-000,000 $100,-000,000 business annually. Ono quarter quar-ter of that amount is said to come through the handling of livestock. Representatives of farmer and labor organizations with a membership of more than 3,000,000 met today for a two-day conference on nonpartisan cooperation co-operation and a ioint legislative program. pro-gram. Officers of the Farmers' National Na-tional council and the National Cooperative Cooper-ative association issued the call for the meeting. Carl 8. Vrooman, former assistant secretary of commerce and labor, with "The Spirit and Method of Genuine Gen-uine Cooperation" as his subject, was the principal speaker of the day. Warren S. Stone, grand chief of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Kngineers; Glenn K. Plumb, counsel for the railroad rail-road brotherhoods, and author of the railroad control bill tearing his name, and Frederick C. Howe, director of the committee for democratic contTol of the railroads, among others, were to take part in the effort to produce cooperation between agriculturists and organised labor. Among the more important organizations organiza-tions represented at the conference were: The National Nonpartisan league, National Gleaner Federation; Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Colorado State granges; North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota State Federations of Labor and the Public Ownership League of America.