| Show N cooperative co operative leivo farm F arm products marketing ma 7 ting Ank how I 1 it Is done in europe and may be done in n america A Merca to the profit of both farmer and consumer I 1 fay MATTHEW 8 dudgeon DUDO eON C 1114 n news OPERATIVE cooperative CO MESSAGE copenhagen denmark Co bodem Dem live tive enterprise st have agricultural europe and now dominate tho rural life of the entire continent without operation cooperation co the belgian would not bo be the efficient agriculture let which he la Is germany would not have developed its agricultural to tho the point where ita its home grown gro wn food supply la in so nearly self BuM sufficient clont denmark would not ho be exporting sixty ra million illion dollars worth of tho the best in the world ireland would biot be facing the future with a hopefulness to which she has been a stranger ever evor since her lands were as a result of the early wars belgium hao has 2300 rural organizations representing a membership of at luvaine we saw a single federation of operative cooperative co farmers league which represented a membership of over and did a business mounting into the millions in garmany it Is estimated that there are thirty oddA odd thousand housand co cooperative societies of various kinds and every society biety with true german thoroughness of organization federated affiliated and associated until together they form an industrial unit with a membership of over five live million in denmark ono one out of every four inhabitants belongs to a society engaged in some operative cooperative co activity one roan man will belong to eight or ten different operative cooperative co socie tys tW each society performing some necessary function in the econom economic ig life of the individual permeate permeates danish life 16 to illustrate how operation cooperation co permeates r danish rural life at freder icks ick sund while visiting the co opera tive bacon factory we came in contact with a little group of farmers and their wives ives who were inspecting the factory tho the factory of which they were part owners owneta upon getting them in conversation we discovered discover rd that in that little group of 12 persons 12 different operative cooperative co organizations were represented these were a co opera tive bacon factory n u operative cooperative co egg export organization a operative cooperative co store an organization for the cooper co oper active purchase of fertilizers fertilisers a co cooperative oj fire insurance society a cooperative life In incurance Ino urance aurance society a society for the insurance of animals another society for the insurance of members against sickness a co opera tive credit society tv a farmers water works company and an electrical supply company ail all of these those men nad und women were the farm and were of the ordinary type of farmers neith er rich nor poor but a thoroughly representative group it is to probable judging from our inquiries that in any group of a similar number would have been found representatives of a similar number of co operative enterprises in ireland ws found that cooperation I 1 under the leadership of ot sir horace plunkett ably seconded by rev thomas A finlay george W russell and R A anderson has revolutionized rural ireland in fact cooper co oper aaion and tho the opportunities which have come from the new land tenure laws have well nigh re the irish race itself it is evident that in many sections hia his economic welfare has been so well served that the irishman ie is even losing his Rugna pugnacity city he is to no longer incessantly agin the government but is becoming a well contented citizen more intent upon bis his economic situation than upon bis his political surroundings he is losing his interest in politics and we talked to many who seemed loath even to d discuss eo so important a question as the home rule bill which was wag then pending and over which the politicians were becoming excited the land tenure law baa has made it possible for him to secure a home co operation coope mUon has made it possible for him to a hort cooperation has made it possible for him to feed and clothe bis his family no ose one can make such a trip of investigation vesti gation ax we have mado made without I 1 becoming convinced that into armor acuri tan an rural life must come some form of ot cooperative enterprise it if it coots as much rauch to the farm produce i from the tarro farm to the city consumer at a it does to tj produce it and this is to an admitted tact fact it necessarily follows that our distributive system Is 18 wonderfully wasteful how long will the intelli In intelligent american farmer tolerate a system which neta nets him 26 to 60 per cent of 0 the retail price of bis his farm product literio liter ho knows that the danish farmer get gets A little over ninety per cent of what tx t consumer pay it for or his b product A an wo wit investigate to what to 1 dono abroad and w what hat could bo be dono done in america in the way of efficient die din trib ution th abo 0 wonder monder grows grown that the american fanner farmer with bin intelligence and independence and initiative haa has consented to be a victim of a dis tribu tive cyst system am which has put him hita ablio absolutely in the bands hands of tho the commercial forces that intervene between himself ano an the consumer it la lit no leee less as bonishing tool toni suing shing that the inobe businesslike and more commercialized city consumer should have so long to pay a price to the distributor of 0 farm product products which la Is over per cent above the producer price I 1 cooperation co operation Is coming to america whether it will come in the exact form in which it evidences itself in foreign landa lands or in some other different form 1 Is immaterial it may not como come immediately but eventually and inevitably the idea of operation cooperation co will prevail in the future agricultural and commercial organization organizations of the unit ed states operative cooperative co lessons jt ie Is cafe to assume that ireland belgium germany and denmark have learned some lessons from their many years oi 0 operative cooperative co endeavor it 1 Is eafe safe to yermo that it certain principles have been found to apply throughout all these countries ahen these prin caples are at least worthy of careful consideration for future use in america there are some points as to which all operative cooperative co societies abroad are the same there are some somo as to which they differ as la to but natural when wo wn fons ron lder sider the varying conditions u d r which the various societies op rffie in the different countries we are of course primarily interested in those fundamental characteristics which are common to all whenever a number of american farmers gather together to consider an organization wah h has to do with ith mercantile or other financial enterprise it is but natural to talk about profits and dividends their idea of organization is to a joint stock corporation in which each man invests such money as he can spare in which eath totes otes in proportion to the shares purchased and the main purpose of which isto earn money and declare dividends it ir ip difficult for him to conceive of a commercial organization whose whoso chief function is to not to squeeze beez e all the profit there is out of every a activity C true operation cooperation co is impossible go 0 o long as ai this idea of is retained the purpose ps 0 oll the co enterprise ter prise Is 19 to hausle tho the product with economy aud and efficiency so that there will be no waste and no profits diverted from the producers produce en pocket it if ouch a concern pays a large dividend to shareholders it Is tit not evidence of success but a clear indication that money noney which should nave have gone to the producer haa boa been taken from him and given ziven to thee investor this conception caption has not yet reached the consciousness ness 0 of the american Amert con farmed who still expects a co concern to pay dividends the irish way in ireland we found that nearly all of the effective operative cooperative co organizations were affiliated with the irish agricultural organization organisation society which from the first has been the power that baa has made operation cooperation co possible in tho the island it is a rigid rule of this organization society that zo a local society belonging to it can under any circumstances pay to e exceed five per cent per annum upon its shares of stock the moment the shareholders conceive the organization is one GUS which Is in to earn larse larze dividends ends that moment its usefulness end s more than one american cooperative enterprise has been wrecked upon chece rocks one man One Vote following some bitter experiences it has been found necessary to admore e rigidly to the principle that no matter what a roans mans investment may be he ma may have only one vote in the management of the concern experience has shown that hat this avoldt jealousies and suspicion and discord dlo cord and prevents mismanagement Lif We loyalty el of member one of the great stumbling blocks i in operative cooperative co success in america haa has been tho the ot ako members themselves As oon soon RS as a 10 0 par auvil marketic marke concern la is organized a va cately owned company Is I 1 likely to ot fer ter an advanced arico ono ably above that which the co cooperative concert concern is to offering and possibly one much hither than the condition of the market will justify ih america hu man nature like human nature in general la Is selfish and it la Is difficult for or the farmer to he should 1 lice live cent cents a buchel upon his hi grain out of a roero mero sentiment of loyalty to tho the co enterprise As a it be he almost inevitably takes uti his grain tu to ahti privately owned concern 7 tile neighbors do tho the gamo u and soo the co concern la Is on pa the rocks and to abandoned no of american commercial methods need to bo be told tho the next step the privately owned concern immediately lowers the price tho farmer la in whore where ho hoewaa waa before but by hia his own disloyal ty be he baa has mato it practically ble for nur other ce con corn ever to bo be organized la in the colu community Europ european oan cooperation haa has had bad the amo samo exper experience ienco it was originally hard for the farmer to real rota ize that ho he should sacrifice a limited amount of present profit in order to bli his loyalty to the con corn and to secure ultimate success the situation however no longer arises arisen where cooperation has become fairly established quality and control another characteristic common to all co organization which wo a visited in these four countries la in that where the society ie in a marketing mAr koting concern it instate insists upon the highest quality and in order to get it exercises absolute control over the acts of its members ao so tar far as an theao these ute to the quI quilty ity of tho the product such a successful dairying institution aa an the Tri follum dairy of denmark has moat most rigid rulea rules to which all members must subscribe there must be monthly inspection by the veterinarians cepro enting the society a cow found to bo unhealthy or defective must be with drawn tho slightest illness on the part of tai the a c cow 0 w must be reported barted and the milk kept separate detailed no tailed requirements quire ments as an to ventilation cleanliness handling of milk and milk cans must be observed the milk of cows which hare bave not been inspected must not be mingled with those which have milk must bo be cooled within one cue hour afar it Is milked in order that bacteriological growth grouth may cease cans must bo cleaned in a certain way in fact everything Is to done dong which can be dono done to improve tho the quality of the milk and the butter and other products bandied handled by tho the Tri follum dairy central needed experience la in these foreign countries ariee baa has also demonstrated tny no local cooperative concern Is in sufficient unto itself the manager ot of is co opera operative tive egg marketing institution in northwestern ireland may know all about poultry raising and eg ego production may in be skilled in tho art ot packing his eggs egv and know something in general about marketing it Is imps sible for him isolated as he Is to to know from day to day where there la to a demand demana for hip ble product aa As a result it la Is found necessary in ireland to have these cooperative concerns affiliated with the irish society with headquarters at dublin the same principle exists in germany but la Is worked out in another way the necessity of federation Is recognized ho however hoever ever in all countries although the way in which the local organizations aro are affiliated into a central cantral organization varies under the conditions of the various countries unanimous verdict cooperative message Is briefly to this effect 1 cooperative soc lettea cannot bo be dividend paying conc concerns all profits proff ls must go to the producers as additional price tor for goods delivered 2 each member must vote once and only once regardless of Us his financial investment 3 each member must make a con tract to deal exclusively with the cooperative concern and must refuse to tabb advantage of unfair competition on the part of the co cooperative tys competitor competitors 4 all members must unite to p pro ro duce a product of the highest 11 quality tra various local must for efficiency and self protection unite ia in one central federal nAso sedation 6 the man who manages mandes a cooperative concern must be a man of ot high ability and the directors murt ply him a big mans salary |
