262 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



laws of competition do not apply to their operation. Because 

 the laws of competition do not apply they became the mothers 

 of monopolies, and the great nerves and arteries of our indus- 

 trial and commercial life were turned over to private greed 

 instead of being run for public benefit. 



Competition is put forth as the law of the universe. It is 

 time to nail that as a lie, said Frederick Maurice, one of man- 

 kind's greatest lovers. Competition has its part to play, but it 

 is only one-half the process of economic life. Co-operation is 

 the law of society; it is the law of brotherhood. Competition 

 never begets brotherhood; it may benefit the individual and 

 give strength to individuality, but we need to emphasize the 

 social nature quite as much as the personal, and thus the need 

 of more of the spirit of co-operation. The great corporations 

 have discovered the utility of co-operation; every corporation is 

 a co-operative enterprise. The principle is good, but the cor- 

 poration tends to co-operate for the good of the incorporators, 

 and all too often to the prejudice of the interests of all not in 

 the corporation. What we need is a co-operation that will 

 take in all who deal in the commodity, the buyer as well as the 

 maker and seller. At least, if the maker and seller will co- 

 operate to prevent competition between themselves and thus 

 increase profits, the consumer — and the farmer is the greatest of 

 all consumers — needs to co-operate to buy and to sell his raw 

 product that he may derive the same sort of mutual advantage 

 as well as deal on even terms with the powerful agencies to which 

 he sells and from which he buys. 



The farmer has been called a "rampant individualist," and 

 there is too much truth in the charge. He needs to learn what 

 the city man has learned, and that is that there is more profit in 

 co-operation than in individualistic management of his affairs. 

 In England alone there are 7,000,000 people who make their 

 purchases at co-operative stores. The profits are saved to the 

 purchaser. The greatest of our high cost of living factors, our 

 Agricultural Department at Washington tells us, is the middle- 

 man system. It is built on the competitive plan and is cum- 

 brous and wasteful. Up in Wisconsin and the Dakotas the 

 Scandinavian Americans are practicing co-operation with signal 

 success. In Denmark the rural sections have been made over 

 from poverty to prosperity through co-operation and scientific 

 farming. They have co-operative agricultural societies, cream- 

 eries, packing plants, stores and shipping arrangements. The 



