Americus Times Recorder

TO CONTROL PRICES
OF FARM PRODUCTS
Discuss Plans.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., October 19.
-(Special)-With the object of controlling the prices of all the agricultural products of the country, delegates from thirty-eight states, representing a present membership of 300,000 farmers, will assemble in Indianapolis next Tuesday for the fifth annual convention of the American Society of Equity.
Already the society has succeeded in greatly raising the price of tobacco and other minor products, and plans will be completed at the present meeting to extend its influence over all commodities raised on the farm and in the orchard and garden.
Great gains have been made in the last year and the officers of the organization are now predicting that within a year one million active farmers in the central west will be banded together in an offensive and defensive warfare for higher prices.
Marketing System.
In his annual address, J. A. Everitt, president and founder of the society, will recommend the establishment of a marketing system for the society, whereby its members may dispose of their products direct to the consumers in the large cities, thus eliminating middlemen. Up to this the efforts of the society have been largely directed toward education and organization, and it is now said to be in a position to install a machine for marketing that will bring home to members the material benefits that such a plan promises.
"The present convention will be the most noteworthy gathering of the agricultural interests of the nation ever held," declared President Everitt. "We are now in a position to bring to the farmers of the country material benefits that will open the eyes of all of them."
Prices Not Advanced.
By securing better prices for the growers of farm products it does not mean that the consumer will have to pay advanced prices for his supplies. On the contrary, it is our intention to eliminate some of the toll-gates that now stand between the producer and the consumer. The middlemen are now getting more than they are entitled to. Our society intends to divide some of the middlemen's profit in an equitable manner between the producer and the consumer."
The plan of the society is to control the supply of agricultural products in the hands of the first owners and hold it until the price demanded is paid. Up to this time the most aggressive work has been done in sections of the country producing largely of a certain crop, as in the tobacco districts of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.
At present meeting minimum selling prices will be established on all farm products and the members will then pledge themselves to hold their stores until the market price reaches the coveted figure. Already the society has established commission houses in St. Louis and Kansas City, and the wheat growers of the Southwest are patronizing them liberally.