UPRAL COOPE2ATIOi1.


x x x .Primitive man had very little need for co-

operation. As a matter of fact it was ,everybody for


himself and the devil catch the hindmost". Everybody


had to soo that he got enough to eat for that particu-


lar day. There was no particular incentive for them


to get more than he actually needed to consume. aos


Sm+ntS i ,~i Ffet it an advantage not to have more


than he actually needed as he thereby avoided W.ta-iPrX


from his neighbors. It was not a question of intelli-


gent and well-organized effort. Success depended

upon getting there first anD getting a hold of anything


in sight and then retaining all that one had gotten.


Brute strength and cunning was what counted.


To a large extent these qualities were the ones

that were needed in the primitive development of the


citrus industry. In the beginning .:ein., d n 1


it did not matter n ie how much any particular one








raised and whether it was of first-class qualityowe-.-1

One merely needed to produce a considerably quantity and


get it into the market somehow.

This same,'spirit of primitive man is well


emphasized in the orange grower and grapefruit grower


who goes up and down the land shouting and hollering


against shippers of green fruit and at the sametime


is racking his brain and tiring his already weary muscles


to get off another aae of gQ fruit a-head of his


neighbors. This fellow is an atavism living among us.

le is by no means representative of that large number of


intelligent and well organized growers who make it


their point to ship nothing but the very best regardless

aA,
of whether their own crop isAfirst-class or not.

In the early days of citrus shipping, it mattered


very little to ones neighbors how badly his stuff was


packed his own grove.. The distance between the groves


was so great and the distance between the various buyers





-3-




was so great that every shipment stood. practically upon


its oVm merits.








This has all changed with in the last ten years. It


makes a very great difference now as to how our stuff


arrives in the market, ITot only is this difference


felt by the man who ships the goods but even more so


by those who are his competitors in the same market. The


man who is not square in his dealings with the trade not


only injures himself but he injures everybody in the

&Jofn 17 business.




The Florida Citrus Exchange is the greatest Rural Co-


operative Association we have in Florida and for that


matter in the entire south. Its principles are correct


and its management sound. It is a true democracy in


principle. Its control over the locals is just suffi-


cient to make them do what seems best for the common


good. I will leave this whole matter of the Exchange


with these few words of appreciation.


The Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union







better known as the Farmers Union is doing a great and

valuable work in the State of Florida. The Florida


Citrus Exchange lays greatest stress on the of


SThe Farmers Union has given its greatest


attention to the selling side of the cotton crop. In


addition to the market question the Farmers Union takes


up the question of education as one of the principles


for which it stands, Jumerically the Farmers Union

is stronger than the Citrus Exchange. These two


agencies are creating quite a rirela~4e in Florida


Rural life. They are not the only rural organizations


that we have but they, by their superior management,


have already had a profound effect on the State.


Good and valuable as these are, they are not suffi-


cient for our present needs. We need much more ex-


tensive rural cooperation. This work should permeate


all of the selling activities at least. The profits


accruing to the rural population could be doubled or

trebled, in many cases we are now selling at cost




b.
of production and not infrequently below cost of pro-

duction. --

To make the larger cooperative selling

effective it is not necessary that our rural condition

should be greatly changed but we need to work a

real change in ourselves. We are each so dishonest

that we suspect everybody else and until we each

become sufficiently honest to believe that the other

fellow will do right under normal conditions we are

not likely to get along very rapidly with cooperation.

-Ve have been telling everybody else that our russets

are brights for so long that we actually believe it

ourselves. Dait.hhe manager of every local t a

serious time of it, until he has re-educated nearly

everyone in his association to the fact that all

fruit looks a like to him/ Every local community in

Florida should support one or more selling agency. The

machinery for running such an establishment need not

be complicated or ponderous, but the cooperators







must have confidence in each other and in their


agent. Let me make my meaning clear by using a concrete


illustration. There is a considerable rural community


around Micanopy, about one hundred and fifty miles


north of Tampa. In this region eggs at present are


bringing about fifteen cents a dozen. This region is well


supplied with telephones and good roads. Everybody goes


to town two or three times a week. How it would be per-


fectly feasable for 15 or 25 of the farmers there to


designate some one of the storekeepers in canopyy to


be their receiving agent for eggs; pool their eggs and


send them to Tampa or jacksonville and receive 25 or 35


cents a dozen for them. By means of the telephone the


receiving agent would be notified daily as to the number


of eggs he might expect. This would enable him to re-


ceive and transmit his supply regularly and to the great-


est advantage.


The same kind of pooling would work for







vegetables and other crops. There is nothing hypotheti-


cal or visionary about such a procedure. The only


hypothetical thing about this matter is that I believe


that in a no far distant day we shall have a sufficient


number of men in many communities who are honest enough


with themselves to keep them from suspecting their


neighbors of dishonesty. The vegetable growers around


Duluth, Minnesota, last year as in previous years found


the local market too small to take all of their product .


The crate rate to Chicago, and the handling of small


consignments ate up all the product sold for. Last year


they organized into a cooperative shipping organization.


A receiving agent was selected in Duluth who was noti-


fied every morninA ofhe uota of vegetables that every


man would furnish that day. With this simple and loose


organization a loosing game was turned into a winning


one,


Let me cite you another case. Several years






ago the wheat growers of Nebraska were "up against"

the elevator combine. One winter the wheat growers

awakened to the fact that a huge monopoly had control

of all the elevators. The former must sell his wheat

at what ever price the combine dictated and pay such a

price for cleaning and grading as the trust dictated or

keep his wheat on the farm. Iow these l'ebraskans did

a good deal of grumbling and incidentally some thinking.

By the time the next winter arrived these wheat growers

by taxing themselves five cents a bushel on every

bushel of wheat grown had erected a whole series of ele-

vators of their own. Then the elevator trust reduced

the 3Ear charges below cost to kill off the new

competitor. The wheat growers put their wheat through

the trust elevators, where it could be done cheaper

than in their own. but kept on paying the five cents

a bushel for every bushel of wheat raised to keep their

own x elevators in good running order. /6f-

.^^;r$e. nn^L^r- uw Q ^~^t ^ -L
./^-'-c-<<~-r ^y\-~ /t^J^Lt ey-^Ae^'






In conclusion let me ask BE by our inaction


practically admitting that we lack the organizing skill


and the breadth of tolerance necessary to make rural


cooperation possible? The great difficulty heretofore


has been the extreme isolation of the individual. This


is being overcome rapidly. Telephones and good roads


occur almost everywhere. Good honest men occur everywhere.


The one great need ust non is the "oses to lead us out


of the wilderness, we need the personification of that

Inmann
great spirit of Dr. npEEKs in every rural community.


We need his spirit enlivened and quickened in every one


of us. 'Then Dr. Inmann had started the Exchange off


he did not withdraw to a distance to watch the thing run,


but he staid right by it with his help, council and


last but not least with his money. This Exchange was not


necessary to his continued prosperity but it was vitally%


necessary to the prosperity of the industry and to the


hundreds of families dependent upon it for a livelihood.







We have passed the old mile post of"every man


for himself and the devil take the hind most", We are


now entering upon a period in which organization and


cooperation is to be dominant. We will have to discard


the old idea that we must climb higher only upon the wrecks


of other man but the man who would be greatest among


us must be servant of all.