Show EXTRACTS ix of a letter written to pres ja B young august 6 1873 prest pres Brig brigham jiam liam young dear brother I 1 deem it a duty as well as a pleasure to present you with a statement of my stewardship and general management of amm aff mairs affairs in this stake of zion alon I 1 will finst first connine confine my explanations more particularly to our operative cooperative co institution Rit ution and give you s some ome details respecting 0 its organization progress present condition and lna ina magnitude rii ril sonie some ten years ago and upwards a number of small mercantile establishments were wore located in our city owned principally by speculators who possessed no interests in common with the people I 1 proposed to such as were inclined to do so to unite on some co opera tive tiva system for the general welfare and interests of the he community some consented whereupon we organized brigham city operative cooperative co association giving all an opportunity of taking stock and oil cri enjoying joyin equal rights and privileges at first we limited our operations to mercantile business and as it progressed it gained the confidence of the people and gradually increased in number of stockholders till about the fifth year from its commencement it consisted of some two hu hundred 11 shareholders with a capital stock of twenty thousand dollars our dividends were paid in mer chandeze chan dize at tho the selling belling rates tates and averaged about twenty nive nite ate five per cent per annum at this stage of progress t we concluded to commence some manufactures we erected a large and extensive tannery with various conveniences and modern m improvement sat a cost of ten thousand dollars all were proffered an opportunity ting in labor as capital stock and the merchandise department assisted in carrying on the work and completing eting the establishment broa hillam allam a first class tanner super intended the erection of this building and has since had charge of the tanning business and has given general satisfaction vve vvo ve soon after connected a butcher shop and boot and shoo shoe shop X with th this department part ment and have kept nearly a dozen shoemakers constantly employed year and year before wo we disposed of considerable leather to zions operative cooperative co at salt lake lako city this year we manufacture but little more than we require for our pur own consumption owing in part pari to the extravagant prices pain for hides by exporters and in part to the difficulties we experience in commanding sufficient cash to tb carryon carlyon carry earry on our different branche branches of home manufactures several of them now in their then infancy fully developed for the reason as above stated our tannery at present is working scarcely half its capacity benco our profits lui iri if this department are small and we continue it for the accommodation of the people I 1 ather lather than for its profits limiting 3 its operations till times and C circumstances become more moro favorable we produce annually over englif elgh thousand do dollars liars worth of boots and shoes which ar are e used by the people of this city bite and vicinity after these departments were in working order wo we established our woollen factory the building and machinery costing a trifle less than forty thousand dollars the people again had the privilege of putting in labor as capital stock and those departments already in working order aided in carrying on and completing this establishment and putting it in operation owing iu III part perhaps to a lack of knowledge and experience the first year we made but small profits in tho the woollen factory the second year we made better progress and this last year the factory has been in constant operation and done an excellent and profitable bli business siness and given general satisfaction at present we have but two hundred spindles four broad and three narrow tooms looms the building and wa wc ter power however admi admit A of double this amount of machinery this past year value of cloth manufactured per week has been seven hundred dollars our prices are the same I 1 believe as those in other otiler factories we purchase our wool by exchanging cloth and have no difficulty difficult i this season in obtaining an abundant supply brother james pett has charge of this department our next move was the establishing of e a sheep herd which consists at pi present sant of two thousand five live hundred sheep which were werm put in i on capital stock or rather the or original flock wo havo have a faim on bear river and one in the little valley the products of which are designed to sustain our sheep in the winter season when required we are endeavoring to improve oui ouk our wool and retain the increase of our sheep till wo we have sufficient to supply our factory this branch consisting of the farm and sheep lierd herd is under the direction of brother imis neils H nell neli son a thorough business man roan some two years ago we established a dairy on an all excellent and extensive range near bear river about three miles sou son southeast south allm till east at of bell ben hamptons Ham ferry we imported the necess necessary ary machinery and aud fixtures for manufacturing cheese on tho the best improved plan but for lack of preparation in time the first season though we made all an excellent article of cheese we realized but little profit this year wo we have two hundred and sixty cows and alo aio doing a fine and profitable business making eight cheeses per day of forty five pounds each we keep a fine lot of hogs which together with the mutton from our sheep herd in the summer season supply our butcher shop in III the fall ana and winter the dairy buildings fixtures I 1 corrals pigpens pig pens stack yards etc c cost ost about four thousand thousand d dollars 01 we intend adding some small improvements and next yean year increase our dairy to four hundred cows the operative cooperative co take these cows on Fil shares lares layes through the dairying season this department is under the immediate charge of ofero bro christian alisen allsen hansen arisen who remains on the premises throughout tho the year our mercantile department is under the supervision of browm BroW miu mIj L watkins the secretary of our ati institution and at present is the on only y store in the city several parties have setup set bet up stores at various times since the organization of our co operative and entered into com competition etl but could not obtain sufficient patron agoto make it a success and while they received the sad experience of disappointment the city treasury received the benefit of their licenses all the business men and the majority of the people have moro more or less interest in this operative cooperative co association and the profit arising from their patronage in room of going to t individual hands to bo be applied for private aggrandizement C or perhaps per haps spent outside of the interests of tho the community goes to support home institutions therefore the people generally fe feel el to sustain their own mercantile establishment Tho the store tannery butcher shop boot and shoe shop woolen factory sheep herd farm and ana dairy constitute the brigham city mercantile and manufacturing association 11 and is organized under tinder the laws la ws of th the territory the capital stock consists of shares of five dollars dolla rs each amounting in the aggregate to eig eighty aty thousand dollars it is managed by a board of seven beven directors president secretary and superintendent in elected annually by vote of the stockholders since we commenced to enlarge into home manufacture we have made annual dividends each shareholder drawing his profits in those articles produced by these departments at regular fixed prices but no caa cai cash or merchandize merchandise dize we ha have ve but one price for our products excepting in wholesaling for cash va wo aim to make good substantial articles that will prove satisfactory to the consumer as well as a credit to the producer the object of this operation cooperation co is not so much for the purpose of creating large dividends as it is that the people may obtain easily what their necessities demand and in this respect become self sustaining and rendered independent of foreign importations according a to your car nest teachings I 1 will relate a circumstance or two in illustration of the tho peculiar pecullar liar advantage to the people here of this system of operation cooperation co we produce annually from our boot and shoe shop over eight thousand dollars in boots and ahnes which are nearly a cas hartleb hartich it least no individual or comi 11 ii ti 11 could supply this demand without re requiring quirin 1 I ig a large portion of it in ca cah h payments pa ym ants but as m the case now stan stands is the people do not pay in cash nor exchange cash articles to the amount of four hundred dollars for this eight thousand dollar dollars sj supply again manufacture remanufacture we annuala annu annually all ali some sonic thirty thousand dollars worth of cloth from ton ten to fifteen thou sand dollars of this goes into the hands of the people here who do not pay in cash five hundred dollars nor one pound of wool our books show these statements to bo be facts we sell many of our manufactured goods at wholesale prices to zions operative cooperative co in salt laake lake city we also sell at other places laces lacos but no cash sales can be mare maxe made here there being so many other easier ways of I 1 procuring ro curing these cash id Is reserved for other purposes the these qc advantages arise from the natural working of our operative cooperative co arrangements arranger we employ about sixty hands in these departments who are generally satisfied in ill receiving one fourth of their wages in in merchandize merchandise dize the remainder in home homo products our entire productions from these departments average per year about sixty thousand dollars it requires some ten or twelve thousand dollars in cash annually to keep them in operation which is supplied in part by the profits of the store the balance by sale of it is only to make up this balance that we aro ara required to seek ia a market for our manufactured prod products acts all the remainder ia is provided for it goes to the workmen to pay dividends and various various expenses it mia mil might 1 ht be of some interest to know the wages we pay our em aloyes our secretary and bookkeeper wm vm aj L watkins twelve hundred dollars per annum our chief clerk bro R M jj els Fis fishbaum Fish liburn bum seventy five dollars per month the overseer of sheep herd berd and harm farm larm twelve hundred dollars per annum the overseer of the dairy one thousand dollars per annum superintendent of woolen factory three and a half dollars per day the carder spinner and weavers the same as are paid in other factories the overseer of the tannery is paid dald three dollars per d day and three dollars per day is 13 paid to the overseer of the boot and shoe shop the superintendent of all these departments works for nothing and finds himself since we commenced manufactures our dividends aver averaged ared ayed about seventeen per cent till i last year when they were only nine percent per cent owing as has been explained to the many expenses and difficulties attendant upon placing some of these departments in working order and doing but little the first season of their operation although Althou git gli this institution is yet in its infancy and will I require two or three years to properly develop its various departments so that the whole may yield its legitimate ad vantages yet it has required much pat patience lence labor and perseverance and close ninan finan ciering to advance it to its present condition and we feel that it has been through the blessing of the theli lord ord that so much of this work ha has been abeen accomplished we have been able to meet promptly our engagements and to inspire confidence in the people and preserve peace and harmony in our community I 1 have labored to inspire the overseers of the various departments with a proper hellse sense of their obligations to pieto pleto plo pio to bo be satish satisfied led with reasonable wages and be willing that their abilities les leg should be employed toa ton to a certain extent for the building il up p of zion I 1 endeavor to influence all our laboring hands not to be greedy for high wages and also those who vrho furnish the capital to be satisfied with reasonable dividends and thus work together in harmony on principles of equal justice that the lord may take cognizance of our works and bestow blessings of prosperity and salvation in the hour of necessity I 1 feel under the most sacred obligations to you ou for your counsel and advice which h I 1 have received during my presidency in this stake of ziona zion and as I 1 have now given you a general synopsis of our policy and proceedings I 1 hope this will meet your approval respectfully your brother in the gospel lorenzo Ii ORENZO SNOW michigan university has matriculated eighty eight girls for the next college year forty fotty two have entered the academic department thirty seven the medical and ana the res rest will twill take blackstone tho the ten hour bour associations of lav law renco rence and andover Ando ver vcr mass mam have resolved that til at gen butlers public acts during the ithe last ten tell years have destroyed avery every eveny vestige of the confidence that the working classes had in him tun and that they deem him untrustworthy |