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Show J METHODS OF FARM BUREAU J QUESTIONED BY H. M. M0N80N, q WHO DEALS WITH MILK PRICES Editor Standard WT11U the reduc F log 'h aitrhiion of the Rovr rnmcnt, it . in discouraging that the producers, at v( as If;.' -I' .il- I I ' V- r hiub times durinp the la.-t twr J P dr thf" year? wo have noted the nw. 1 a PPpr arcoun,a ' advanced prices, de I tp rtded up"" l the f.irni hur an of W. ber couni. ud, without any ejplna I tlOD given hp to the necessities of Buch L dm many J i ,;.-. ' r.'ir-i arbitrary. w-i The intrs' case li the recent an V nouncf-nu nt i In thfl J 3 pri'- I'crhap I r, fiabl'. but. in th- .tiM. nci oj my ex-Klinn'ion. ex-Klinn'ion. we wonder if it would not Pjjjve been better. Just at this time, to f hive tried l adopt some economies ! f th,i' u in id h i m in . i hi neci - I-fll I-fll I tie.- unul the rnment had deter- "' io in t'd whither lh tide of up-" up-" if ware! prio'v rould have hern turned to p ihr advanl - ol th milk producer, aa . W( a io -.tin r con of the no- FHoaflsities of life. Five cents per gallon for milk in a t unaall matter, but befbra the milk f reaches the ultimate consumer, tlx- ad- vance will amount lo at teaal two and I one-half e-nts p. r mnirt Een this r I would not be so bad, if t werf the s oni 1 ' ' oi producers profiteering. Recalls Past Increases. ,im ,i!' "i yi vrhen the farm . bureau announced us demand of $12 a I ton for tomatoes as against $9 pre-I pre-I vlously received, the writer took occa-r occa-r sion to suggest lo the bureau president J that, il hi it mid o-op- I crate with the consumers with a view f of finding a way to more direct distrl- I but hoi . it would win for Iteell almost I universal support and approal of its I efforts to obtain prices for form prod-I. prod-I. ucts that would justify the labor and II B risks taken In producing Ihera. The a president replied that the consumer's 1 I position was no concern of his or of his M I organization, but that he had his -ax I out In the exclusive Interesti of I le 1 producers, and no doubt thl la tin 1 position taken in the nn m-i i .. . ,,t ZB the advance m the price of milk Such a policy as this seems cxtrenie- I If ly narrovv anu one-Htlcd. and its n-li n-li pression in one way or another pas I been the cause of every world calam- f if y. W i .'in Lo in. .i : al i ri. at the f present time, and. if selfishness per-ft per-ft 'ii seeking il own regardless of all other considerations, and !.. o do j ing thwarts the effort ol the govern-I govern-I ; ment to hring reliei to In people in ,J tbe mattei of the high co I ol living, jj it will b impot - ible foi a- in i i I sUfh a ( rash as vi hae never fell In C or,r j Uo nut i he nieiiihers of the farm bu F reau know that, whi n they increase r.the cost of lood products, the price of other thinc-i that the farmer hat to buy rnu-1 also bi advanced in order I tha' iln it i : 1 1 1 r rn.ij live and pa the advanced prices of farm prodUl ' Why not wait and see what relief the I government can giv tllUB adding to 1 that co-operative element on which (lie t safety ot community life depends. Live and Let Live. . r I do not believe that t be fa rmers J hae bad fair prices tor theii produt ts :; the past. I believe-that the ma- ! jonty oi t',1 .eopi have recognlced 'his tact, and led thi ten- iienc of i.i . i,! ears toward prop i i rewarding the labors and risks of faiui-I faiui-I ing. but present conditions in Kussin Pare not justill.d by the fact that peo-I peo-I pie have lived in serfdom for hundreds LI 1 of years Ncithi r It Ihdusti I il bol 5 ! i frhf i :m ji ; 1 1 ' i i . . 1 1,, unslaked and i: bbust iii ill. p.ust. TloTe is a proper u tani ne-- ;,t w Inch the farm bureau . ml I every other protective organization I should be willing to stop on the basis L of the "live, and let live'' theory, n It will, no doubt, be argued in this ik case that tin price of hay is the rea-J St -on lor tin itnr.ased cost of milk, i n! Then wh not raise more hay! Of I Oi cour.-i ihai would mak. jiay cheaper, I but it would at lea '. be patriotic in I helpim; to establish and keep a safe !i balanci of living conditions The farm! I bureau should iry. especially under; present . omlitions, to sul-ct- st some' tort oi i i .inomii thai w ill have a t( n H I dency to reach out and meet the ef. I forts of the government toward satis-I satis-I I factory living nnditlons. lth all due respect to our homel f economics and recognizing the recent j Mep.- for their improvement, ti baa .1 been said that if a business man han-I han-I died his business affairs with Lhi 1 I.-' looseness thai the home business is I handled, failure would be the Inevitable Inevit-able and speedy resulL I Farm economics are not far, if any, : I lnadvanir of home economics, li there Is any one who doubts this, he should pay a visi' to the farming district and he will be r oovlnr ed. We ,tber has de- I predated and destroyed the life of i farm machinery and implements more ' tban their actual usage. Let us look at business for a little i while and see If we can find som .suggestion that will help to mak mv point clear After visiting some of the tarms and noting the waste of de caylng produce and weather-worn ma-chlnery. ma-chlnery. take -a trip to one of the hl jcago packing houses and trv to dis- 1 cover any waste there. It l said Is nothing wasted of the hoe ex- jcept the squeal, and it is suggested that even that be preserved on phono graph records. We do not approve of , 'he packers' cold storage profiteering, as It Ir being brought to our attention these days, but tbe packers certalnlv are entitled to credit for the economies that have contributed to their buslneai success. Street Car System If Chicago Is too far awav, let us look at something closer at home. Our street car system has been struggling for an existence for many years. During Dur-ing the last five years wage Increases have been granted to its employes of from 40 to 50 per cent above the wages paid five years ago, and yet the car ; re has remained at five cents, the same as it was at that time. How has this been done? It Is a well known ' fact that the street car company has never paid a cent of dividend. There was no money made five years ago under the lower wage schedule, and. 'if conditions are In any degree more promising now, it certainly has not , been because of cheaper labor. The fact is that this business has had to meet the conditions as they came, and, realizing that five cents Is the natural street car fare, has had to find other ways of making the revc-nues meet (he expenses than by an increase on car fare. What then has been the solution? so-lution? Careful watching and analysis analy-sis of all operations, from the general manager down to the errand boy; discovering dis-covering leaks that could be stopped, and then stopping them; studying out ' better and more eflii lent ways of do ' ing things, in short, stopping the ' waste wherever it was discoverable. 1 Why can't the farm bureau figure out from other sources a way to meet their need of an additional five cents per gallon for milk, pending the gov- rnment'fl effort to establish a better balance of living conditions. Its mem-bers, mem-bers, as a rule, have no use or sympathy sym-pathy for the business man, but it is ' the business man who has led the world in working out the economies thai have made our present sdcial and financial independence possible. Demand of Coal Miner What applies to organizations also applies to individuals The late David Da-vid Eccles. through strict personal l economies, careful attention to details and wise investment of his savings, built his fortune on a beginning of j l$l a day. Not long ago a miner in j i one of the coal mines in Wyoming, Which was developed through Mr Ec -cles' thrift and industry, who. on ac-count ac-count of the demands of labor was j able to earn $20 per day, stood up to j the bar of a saloon and cussed the! capitalist who would not pay higher wages. The capitalist had become a, millionaire on a dollar a day beginning ; The saloon visitor felt abused that he should have to work for $20 a day I Is there any lesson in these Incidents Inci-dents for the farm bureau? Is it the; ' price we get for what we produce that ; 'counts, or it Is something else? And should not that something eNe be tak- t 1 en into consideration when the increasing in-creasing cost of living threatens the very foundations of our institutions? Hay is Destroyed Following out the economies that have contributed to success in business, busi-ness, Is it not possible that similar economies can be inaugurated in the farming business? For instance, the writer has known of cases where 25 -per cent of u hay crop was wasted be-1 cause of not being properly stacked 1 or shelter" (1 from weather conditions.' and in one case several hundred tons' ot hay stood in slacks from year to J year because the owner said that, unless un-less he could get the price he wanted for the hay, he would let it stand until un-til it rotted. A little more attention is being paid in recent years to providing proper : heller for this valuable product, pro-duct, but there is still room lor improvement. im-provement. Then there Is the weevil condition that has destroyed thousands of tons of hay during this year while recommendations recom-mendations have been freely given by the Agricultural college for the con- trol of this pest On a trip through Cache valley in the early part of i June, (he writer discovered that prac-i tlcally the whole first crop of lucerne - .j-.-. -.n-.--.--. -.ri,, . . was a failure from this cause. If such wastes as these were cheeked, cheek-ed, there is every reason to believe I that there would have been no no- : cssity for the advanced price of milk, or the advanced price of hay on which the cost of producing milk depends. The president of the Farm Bureau Will yet have to consider the consuming consum-ing public, unless he prefers to pull his house down over his own head. Selfish class Interest will never succeed. suc-ceed. The man or class of men who can see nothing beyond their own im- ! mediate interests are short sighted' and fall to see that their living de- J pends upon the possibility of others; living. They mistake class spirit for public spirit, and fool themselves into' believing that if their direct needs J are met, the world will move along smoothly regardless of their indirect needs, which they seem inclined to lg-nore. lg-nore. It should he the desire of every I patriotic man and woman to co-operate ; in deed and spirit with the government! in its efforts to adjust conditions In the interest of all An attempt at grabbing while the government is making mak-ing its present effort cannot be under-Stood under-Stood to be anything but unpatriotic and selfish (Signed) H. M MOXSON. oo |
