From The New Republic. 73:944 (January 4, 1933). 211.

Confronted by the economically absurd but none the less indubitable fact that our depression-ridden country, and in particular the West, swarms with consumers who cannot buy and producers who cannot sell, the jobless of four Rocky Mountain states are at present attempting to solve the problem of living by instituting a moneyless system of direct exchange. Cooperative groups, bound together by this common purpose, have sprung up during the past year in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona. The immediate impetus behind the movement in these four states was not only the ravages the depression had made upon consumer buying power, but the virtual collapse of the four basic industries in this section. Mine owners, sheepmen, cattlemen, and farmers, crushed under the weight of their surplus products, which they could not sell even at the cost of production, were constantly faced by the specter of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, thousands of jobless workers, of bankrupt professionals, of small business men and shop keepers, in dire need of the goods which lay about them in such great abundance, stood idly by, incapable of purchasing the products of the farm, mine, smelter or ranch. . . .

Their efforts were instantly crowned with success. Both the farmers and the unemployed, understanding that only by methods of barter and exchange could they circumvent the constant obstacle of a lack of cash, took up the idea enthusiastically. The idea first took form during the harvest season of 1931, when the farmers were in desperate need of hands to help them with their crops and, having no cash, leaped at the chance of being able to pay wages in the form of produce. . . .

The men worked all day in the fields and at nightfall were paid in potatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips, apples, peaches, butter, eggs or pork, according to their wants. The truck then came for them and their produce payments and returned them to their homes.

From this point the movement spread with surprising rapidity. In the city the idea was extended to include all the trades and professions. Barbers, painters, doctors, dentists, all of whom had been hit most severely by the depression, were organized through the group and placed in contact with the unemployed workers who wished to barter their labor for food. Workers who had labored on the farms exchanged their potatoes or their wheat for haircuts or even for dental services. A dry cleaner offered his service in exchange for parsnips, carrots, squash or for help in his shop. A carpenter-mechanic willing to offer his services was found and the exchange put him to work collecting and repairing toys, which were traded between families. Jobless painters, paper-hangers, carpenters, were sent to semi-bankrupt small business houses to do work in exchange for such practical articles as furniture, food or clothing.