14:0 Report of Faemers' Ixstitutes 



make concessions and to get together on a satisfactory basis. As 

 long as both stand off and eye each other askance, and think only 

 of the one selfish side of the proposition, there is no hope of satis- 

 factory adjustment between the two. At present the main diffi- 

 culty to be overcome is this lack of mutual understanding and 

 agreement. 



I shall not deal with theories, but with plain facts as I found 

 them. In the first place this group was made up of government 

 employees who needed to economize, but who were willing to pay 

 a reasonable price for quality. The company was organized on 

 a business basis, with shares of stock so low that anyone could 

 join. Each stockholder had one share of voting stock and one 

 vote only. We felt that in a true cooperative enterprise it was 

 the man that counted and not the dollar, and we could not see how 

 pieces of minted metal had any more brains or ability to control 

 affairs than pieces of furniture, or any other inanimate objects. 

 Anyone was privileged to put in all the money he wanted, and 

 money was paid its legitimate hire in the w^ay of interest ; it was 

 not permitted to do the hiring or to otherwise control the organi- 

 zation. I mention these details to give you to understand that 

 we did not have an organization which was cooperative in name 

 onlv, 



When I think of some alleged cooperative enterprises I am apt 

 to paraphrase a certain well-known quotation, and make it read 

 " O Cooperation, what crimes are committed in thy name ! " 



But we tried, through patient study and care as to details, to 

 work out a system which would bring the consumer and producer 

 together. We were the consumers, and were our own middleman. 



What were some of our successes and failures, difficulties, and 

 solutions ? In the first place, since we are now discussing the 

 consumer, let us see what we found. 



DIFFICULTIES OF CONSUMERS 



First, there were those who had no idea of what cooperation 

 meant, and who demanded special favors. Eventually they drop- 

 ped out ; and other troubles inherent to the frailties of human na- 

 ture had to be eliminated gradually through similar action. 



