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Show PAGE EIGHT tx MARCH do not become one in temporal things as If the people in one are things, they will not redeem and build spiritual they up the Zion of God upon the Earth. This cooperative movement is a stepping stone. Brigham Young. OJIjp limn? of 01jarmt If we will work unitedly we can work ourselves into wealth, health, prosperity and power, and this is required of us. Brigham Young. 1936 S3 s TREND TOWARD COOPERATION Cooperation Which Distributes the Benefits as Well as the Burdens of the Common Effort is the Need of the Hour Producers and Consumers Cooperatives Babson Quoted for our AINBOW chasing in an effort to find a cure-al- l an efbe to to' economic ills seems giving way present d means of a way out! We fort to find some were told recently by high authority that private industry will have to carry the burden of putting idle millions to work, which, of course, is harking back to the years when industry gave every man a job who v ts willing to work. The kind of cooperation that Brigham Young taught and practiced was the kind that carried through, that didnt go wrong when it came time to give the cooperators the rewards for their efforts. With him and the early pioneers it was one for all, and all for one. And that is the kind of cooperation that is so sorely needed now, and the kind people have in mind when they say, as a prominent church-ma- n said recently, Our future lies in the field of cooperation. Its our way out. time-teste- As this is being written a conference of delegates from eight western states is in session at Salt Lake City to consider ways and means of more and better cooperation. COOPERATION APPLIED TO FARMERS application of the pioneer type of cooperation, if it may be so designated, presents the real problem whether applied to the farm prob PROBLEM of lem or to the problems any other group in our social life. cooperThe keynote speaker at this convention of atives is reported to have declared that the early wealth of Utah was built up through cooperation, and had Utah continued with this cooperative system which made her first wealth possible, she would today have been the richest state in the union." self-hel- p EFFORT FOR Q!7t F HFI P KEAOoUKHNL There is little doubt among those who have given the matfer serious thought that the farmers income, and through him the income of practically all other groups, can be greatly increased if some way can be found to make a practical working application of the principles of the true type of cooperation. That such a conference is being Skant events of s one the more recent phase of the depres- held 3ion. Qne may not agree with the And it follows that if his income can be materially increased he will be in a position to take his rightful place in society and once more become the predominant force in our national prosperity. If seems that there are methods tried in the past, which require no new laws or constitutional changes, that have given very favorable results where given a fair chance to succeed. cooperatives in its entirety, yet program of these self-hel- p would be favorably impressed with the fact that a way is being sought for men and women to help themselves rather than lean p on the government. To have a movement dedicated to is as refreshing as it is unique in this era which has a fair chance of being classified in future histories as the Gimme self-hel- Two of these methods are known as producers cooperatives and consumers cooperatives. The producers cooperative attempts to increase the farmers income by bringing higher prices for products. The consumers cooperative moves to the same result indirectly that is to increase his income by making the purchasing power of his present income greater. period. Recent magazine and newspaper articles also recount the stories of early day cooperation and moralize on the accomplishments of the pioneers. The trend is significantly in the direction of finding a way through cooperation. And why shouldn't it be? and have had The producers coopeiaiivea are successful application in this state. The Utah Poultry Producers Cooperative has been an outstanding success. It really brought a new industry to the state and nurtured it during its youth and brought it to full maturity as one of the leading industries of this state. A whole article could be written on the success of this one cooperative and then not tell all the story. well-know- Not only past greatness was brought about by cooperation, but our modem world would go to pieces over night if people didnt cooperate. A few examples might illustrate : Highways, dangerous as they COOPERATION he rendered use- are NECESSARY TO ess now would drivers vast majority MODERN did not cooperate to observe regu lations meant for their safety. Every man in ten would have to be a policeman if people didnt cooperate in this matter. FARMERS COOPERATIVES their discoveries for The other method which has been used to a large extent in England and other parts of Europe, the consumers cooperative, is not so well known in this country. - a vast amount of cooperation to operate our Before undertaking a detailed discussion of these two methods of helping the farmer solve his problems, it may be well to recall some of the things that have been said recently about the consumers cooperative. There seems to be a great deal of interest in this subject at the present time. For the information of our readers who have not had this material available, we quote an article written recently by the noted economist and statistician, Roger W. Babson: utili- ties for our heat, light, transportation and communications. Beginning with the men and women who pool their savings to furnish the capital required, to the millions who plan, manage and operate these modem day facilities,, cooperation is the foundation in the structure. But why go on? Thousands of cases might be given to show that modem life would be impossible without cooperation. A few days ago a prominent Japanese social leader, Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa, landed at San Frincisco to lecture in America. For six months, under the auspices of the Federal Council of Churches, he will tell us about the Christian Cooperative movement which he founded and which is sweeping Japan. This type of cooperation is taken for granted and is so common place that we scarcely give it a thought any more than we do the sunshine or the air we breathe. It isthe cooperation of necessity absolutely required by modern civilization, and indeed one of the most effective instruments in bringing about modem civilization. BENEFITS SHOULD GO TO COOPERATORS While the cooperative movement right now is receiving a of publicity, it is not new. For years it has sudden flare-u- p been a big factor in the economic life of Great Britain and the continent. Defined simply, cooperative societies are nonpolitical groups of consumers organized for the fundamental purpose of securing lower prices. They compete with private enterprise on equal terms in regard to taxation and in all other ways. TZ. Trouble and difficulty comes in the application. To illus- - The first of these societies was or- ganized by a group of poor weavers in WEAVERS Rochdale, England, back in 1844. This farsighted group adopted three basic principles on which the entire movement has been built: (1) One member, one vote; (2) minimum interest on capital; (3) refunds on purchases. mDMrn OnvI trate : Millions of people cooperate together to organize a cor- poration, and invest their savings in an enterprize requiring more capital than any one individual possesses. The enterprize succeeds, but before it docs, someone on tlie inside knows of the prospects of success, and by one method or another discourages his fellow cooperators, buys in their stock at a low price, and reaps the benefits of the cooperative effort. Cooperation has gone wrong in the application. It didnt carry through. er There are numerous smaller cooperative? in the state which have been more or less successful depending entirely upon the management I States, counties, cities and towns cooperate to enforce the It takes The Dairy Association is also another splendid example of successful producers RFPDRTFn thC .in Both in Great Britain and Scandinavia the (coops) have become strong enough to form (wholesales.) Furthermore, in cases where prices remained at unfair levels in relation to production, the societies have built their own factories to successfully break up monopolies and trusts. As my western readers know, consumer cooperatives are not new in the United States. Our own movement dates from 1845, but it has not gained the strength here that it has abroad. This is probably due to the fact that the possibilities for profit in this new country have been greater than in the Old World, and the necessity for close budget control has not been so pressing... Nevertheless, we now have probably 10,- 000 cooperative societies, both large and small. AREAS The most fertile field has been in the rural area where farmers have organized to buy feed, seed, fertilizer and - insurance advantageously. Recently the rumblings of consumer resentment in North America have been growing louder and louder. PI ID A I I firmly believe that there is dynamite in this consumer situation. We are witnessing today the prairie-fir- e spread ol g Townsendism from coast to coast. If a quack scheme of this type can gain such a following, imagine the power behind a consumer movement backet up by elements which are fundamentally sound. In Japan, Dr. Kagawa has based his movement on the high religious note of cooperation among mankind. He has accomplished miracles. something-for-nothin- cooperative. Nations cooperate to make travel safe on the high seas. Scientific bodies cooperate to "pool the benefit of the race. n Utah-Web- LIrE law. The method of making practical The latest annual report for one of important Enelish groups shows 10 to IS per cent gains in these items. Prices are as low, or lower, than in private retail stores, and yet a rebate of between S and 7 V per cent is paid on all purchases. Furthermore, shareholders of the English societies receive 33 to 4 per cent interest on the par value of their capital stock. Scandinavia also has been fruitful grounds for the growth of the movement because of the excellent educational background of the people. The cooperative societies there have become very influential, have been extremely progressive, and have been in a large part responsible for the high standa-- d of living in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. C A T1SJQ - From the humble beginning of this Rochdale store, the cooperatives have grown by leaps and bounds. Today there are 100,000,000 members in over 40 countries. In Great Britain alone, half the total families are members. Employes of the cooperatives receive good wages. Membership, sales and capital are growing rapidly. America, always ready for some- thing new, might likewise base this movement on a religious background and build it into a real crusade. It would be a potent influence upon our standards of living and it would become a tremendous factor in our retailing, wholesaling and producing systems. RFATW lUK NOVELTY w In many ways we would have been better off in this country if consumer pressure had been stronger since the turn of the century. In the last 50 years tremendous progress has been made in the development of technical machinery. Costs of producing goods have tumbled. One machine has taken the place of 50 workers. Ythe benefits of this mass not been passed have production PASSED ALONG along to consumers in terms of lower prices.. Purchasing power determines the volume of business and there is only a certain amount of buying power at all times. If prices remain static, purchasing power will likewise remain stationary. If prices are lower, buying power increases and business continues to grow. RFNFFIT NOT An official of a pharmaceutical company recently told me that the bottle in which his preparation was sold cost his company more than the product itself. The bottle costs less than 2 cents, and yet the product retails for 50 cents Personally, I feel that this sort of price policy was one of the major causes of the 1 depression. In forcing price reductions in situations such as this, sumer organizations perform a vital service for the nation. con- Other writers, including "Bertram B. Fowler, in Colliers Magazine of February 29, 1936, have told the story of the consumers cooperative and how it works in America. Space will not permit their publication here, but reference will be made to them in future discussion of this subject. They are mentioned now to show the widespread interest in the subject. A.V.W. (Editorial note: This is one of a series of articles which will pear from time yj time on the subject of cooperation.) ap- jits. j4U |