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Vol. 5. No. 51.
GASTONIA, N. C., DECEMBER 21, 1911
One Dollar a Year
National Secretary, A. C. Davis, Gives Some
Diews on Co~operation^ and Says the Time
Ripe to Begin Applying Co-operation to
Business.
'^0 the Membership:—
Co-operation has become almost a house
hold word in the homes of America. In it the
producer sees a panacea for the ills that beset
hhu, and to it the consumer looks for relief
^rom the exorbitant tribute he is constantly
Paying to the “middleman.” So much has
been said and written upon this subject that it
"'ould appear the general public should be
thoroughly familiar with its teachings. But
^^ter carefully observing the workings of
i^urnerous institutions presumably based upon
^o-operation or co-operative principles, I am
^®rced to say that the theory has been but
^*^^otely approached, and the practical appli
cation almost nil, as a factor in the business.
Tl ■ •
Is not said to discount the value of num-
^^ous enterprises controlled by our member
ship, that have made a success financially, and
h^ve saved thousands of dollars to those inter-
^^^cd, either by forcing competition to lower
^he price of' supplies, or by saving the cost of
^h^ '‘middleman” in selling products to the
^^^sunier. None appreciate more than I the
^^^Ue of these institutions, and it is not to re-
cct upon the business acumen of the men in
charge that the above statement is made, but
father that we may work out a system that
'S'h make then more efficient by incorporating
c co-operative idea.
.^'Operation, aside from any generic sig-
^jhcance it may have, has a specific and tcch-
sense. It occupies a middle position be-
the doctrines of the communists and
f'^cialists on the one hand, ad the private
^^ciperty and freedom of individual labor and
^^^l^crprisc on the other. It departs from com-
at a very definite point. While com
^^nism would extinguish the motive of in-
'^idual gain and possession in a heign of
^versal happiness or good and remodel all
'fisting rights, laws and arrangements of so-
upon such a basis as would promote this
end , .
» co-operation seeks, by working consist-
y with the institutions of society, as thus
Ha,...!-.. , . . .. . ,
^ b ^^'^cloped, to remedy the social condition
concurrence of ever increasing numbers
of individuals in a common interest.
Co-operation societies springing from this
idea have greatly increased in number and in
amount of business transacted in recent years.
Most of these have taken one of three prin
cipal forms that may be classified thus:
Pirs^: Societies of consumption, the ob
ject of which is to buy for the membership the
necessities of life, or the raw material of their
industry.
Second: Societies of production, the ob
ject of which is to sell the product of the mem
bership.
Third: Societies of credit or banking, the
object of which is to open accounts with their
members and advance them loans for indus
trial purposes.
These three kinds of associations have at
tained marked success in three different
countries of Europe. England stands at the
head in societies of consumption; France in
societies of production; Germany in societies
of credit. The masses of laborers in the
factgries and other great works of England
have attained their greatest co-operative suc
cess in societies for the purchase, and in some
degree, the production, of the necessaries of
life. The passion for independence in their
handicraft has given France a greater number
of artisans who work in their own homes than
any other country, and their greatest co-opera
tive success has been in collectively selling the
product of their labor. The less abundant
capital, and the lack of banks and other insti
tutions of credit in the remote parts of Germ
any may explain in some degree the develop
ment of societies of credit in that country.
It will serve no very great purpose to give
an elaborate review of the history of co-opera
tion in the United States. There have been
many attempts to install the English system of
co-operative stores, but with few exceptions,
these have met with failure. There may be
any number of reasons assigned for this, such
as higher wage scales making the necessity for
co-operation in buying necessaries less appar
ent in America than in England, but the rea
son that suggests itself to me as having more
direct bearing on the matter than any other
that may be advanced is the unwillingness of
the average American to engage in an ent'^r-
prise that does not offer to exploit bis capival.
j The idea, though having met with many re-
bnff.s, will not down. The trend of prices .-ky-
ward during the past few years, making the
cost of living a very serious question, has
forced this idea to the front, and another wave
is sweeping the country. Especially has this
been marked since farmers organized the
Farmers’ Union with education and co-opera
tion as the slogan. Attempts at forming so
cieties in this country have not been confined
strictly to either of the forms outlined above.
Most of them combine the principles of the or
ganizations of consumption and production.
This is very marked in those institutions
operated by members of the Farmers’ Union.
Authority for this is given by the preamble of
our Constitution, which says that one of the
objects is to assist the members in buying and
selling. The German idea of co-operation has
been given but little attention in this country
outside of some of the cities and towns which
have associations based upon this idea to en
courage and assist their members in owning
their own homes. Producers, and especially
farmers, have given but little thought to this
matter which, to my mind, deserves some con-
sideralion.
Combination among farmers for the pur
chase of supplies has never appealed to me
quite so much as has the idea of combination
for the sale of farm products. Notwithstand
ing our Constitution states specifically that its
object is to assist its members in buying and
selling, the great mission of the Farmers’
Union is, in my judgment, to assist its mem
bers in securing remunerative prices for the
products of their labor. Beside this great
central thought all others sink into insignifi
cance. This object should be constantly in the
minds of every leader, and frequently be pres
ented in a forceful manner to every lay mem
ber. Unless we do keep this thought fore
most, our organization is apt to be buffeted
about by every local problem that offers it
self, and ^e shall present the ludicrous spec
tacle of a great Union being handicapped in
its work by the members of one locality run
ning after one thing of but local importance,
and those of another engrossed in an affair
that has but little bearing upon the great
question at issue.
{Continued in Next issue.)
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