THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN 1 9 



registered companies which have grown out of the combination of several 

 groups of farmers each of which groups owned a small telephone system 

 constructed as a rule by the farmers themselves. When the territory of 

 one group began to overlap the territory of the others, a registered company 

 was formed to solve the question of fixing rates to cover the cost of main- 

 tainance and repairs. The reports show, however, that there is need for a 

 better system of audit and for a more satisfactory organization providing 

 for the charging of a rent to all subscribers, sufficient to pay working ex- 

 penses and taxes, and provide for depreciation. At present expenses are 

 usually met by the unsatisfactory device of assessing the members for each 

 new expenditure, as the necessity arises. 



§ 3. A SUGGESTED PLAN FOR CO-OPERATIVE COI.ONIZATIOK. 



Wisconsin has vast tracts of cleared timber land, amounting in area to 

 over 10 million acres, which the Government is desirous of converting into 

 farm land. The problem of attracting settlers, however, is a difficult one 

 in view of the fact that much more attractive land is being ofEered to pros- 

 pective settlers, both in other parts of the United States and in Canada. 



A scheme has been presented to the State Board of Public Affairs 

 which proposes to solve the problem by the formation of co-operative colon- 

 ization associations. These associations, it is contemplated, would acquire 

 land at the minimum uninproved price and sell it in suitable farm lots to 

 settlers, devoting the whole of the profits to a common fund for the impro- 

 vement of the land in question and the promotion of schemes for the econ- 

 omic and social betterment of the communities settled upon it. 



An association would be co-operative only with respect to the funds 

 created out of the profits arising from the sale of the land. Each settler 

 would own his holding; rent, mortgage or sell it as he saw fit ; and would 

 be under no compulsion to subscribe to the constitution of the association, 

 though by so doing he would have the right to participate in all the benefits 

 of the common fund. 



Before any association could be formed, its promoters woiUd be required 

 to prove that the land was suitable for agriculture, that they had acquired 

 it at a fair price and that they possess a clear unquestionable title. They 

 would further be required to convey the title to a trustee, or trustees, nomi- 

 nated by the State Board of Public Affairs, and to guarantee that all the 

 facts relating to the purchase and sale of the land will be made public. The 

 scheme further provides that both the treasurer and the manager of an 

 approved association would be nominated by the State Board of Public 

 .\ffairs. An association would be empowered to invest its capital in income 

 producing property for the use of the community, and to devote the profits 

 arising out of such investment, to carr\dng out schemes of general social 

 welfare. 



