Co-operatives Doing 'Big Business 



Institute of Co-operation Brings Leaders Together 

 From All Sections of Country 



THE story of the recent Institute of 

 Cooperation meeting at Urbana is 

 not in the parade of speakers which 

 continued from Monday until Friday eve- 

 ning. Nor is it in what they said, al- 

 though much interesting information was 

 handed out during the week. The real 

 story lies in the fact that several thou- 

 sand earnest men and women came to- 

 gether to show their faith and enthusi- 

 asm for cooperation as a means of im- 

 proving the economic condition and wel- 

 fare of American farmers. 



Through co-operative action farmers 

 have put their marketing and buying 

 enterprises in the big business class. Co- 

 operative enterprises have grown in 

 strength, service and savings for their 

 members straight through the depres- 

 sion. While other businesses were fold- 

 ing up, new cooperatives were being or- 

 ganized and old ones patronized to a 

 greater extent than ever. 



Such organizations as the California 

 Fruit Growers' Exchange, the American 

 Cotton Cooperative Association, Land 

 O'Lakes Creameries and similar groups 

 in the milk, grain, livestock and fruit 

 and vegetable field are soundly estab- 

 lished, going concerns. They have 

 brought the farmer's voice into the termi- 

 nal markets. They have worked success- 

 fully for better prices, for wider markets. 



for improved quality, for short cuts in 

 getting the crop to the consumer, for 

 reasonable freight rates, for better dis- 

 tribution of commodities, for available 

 markets, for lower commissions and for 

 the return of profits and savings to their 

 patrons in the form of dividends. All 

 this was disclosed by speakers represent- 

 ing the many commodity groups and 

 farm organizations taking part. 



One of the most popular features at 

 the Institute was the daily morning lec- 

 ture of J. R. Barton, an American who 

 is co-director of the Cooperative College 

 at Neerum, Denmark. 



"Cooperation leads to democracy — re- 

 spect for others and their rights is at 

 the heart of it," he said. "Those who 

 fear for safety of democratic institutions, 

 and those without a rational economic 

 philosophy as a result of the depression, 

 may well turn to the cooperative move- 

 ment and its philosophy and take hope," 

 Barton said. 



Barton termed cooperatives as adult 

 schools where people learn by doing, and 

 where they develop self-reliance, social 

 consciousness and increased ability. His 

 reports of the tremendous strides made 

 by the co-operative movement in England 

 and Scotland, Denmark and Sweden dur- 

 ing the past 50 to 75 years were of great- 

 est interest. 



The Inquiring Reporter at Urbana 



The American farmer, he said, has 

 been living in a sort of crazy house — 

 buying retail and selling wholesale. In 

 Denmark cooperative action between 

 farmers and the government has raised 

 the economic level of the Danish farmer 

 so that more than 90 per cent own their 

 own farms. Cooperatives market and 

 process the farmer's livestock, his milk 

 and butterfat and grain. Cooperatives 

 buy practically all of their supplies with 

 the result that the Danish farmer gets 

 approximately two-thirds of the consum- 

 er's dollar compared with 35 to 40 per 

 cent in the United States. 



One of the highlights of the week's 

 session was the discussion of foreign 

 trade. Chester C. Davis, appointed by 

 President Roosevelt to the Board of 

 Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys- 

 tem led off with this subject Monday 

 night. Recently returned from a visit 

 through 11 countries of Europe. Davis 

 vigorously supported reciprocal trade 

 agreements and the efforts of the State 

 Department to break down trade barriers 

 between countries. Most of his address 

 was devoted to a description of the trade 

 barriecs and crop control plans in effect 

 in Europe. 



France spent 160 to 170 million dol- 

 lars to subsidize wheat production, he 

 said. This country finally produced 



GENTLEMEN - WHAT, IN YOUR. 

 OPINION. WILL BE THE GREATEST 

 SINGLE FACTOR- IN THE FIGHT TOWARD 

 SECURING AMD MAINTAINING c\ 



A PROSPEROUS ASRICUITURE ^ 



JULY, 1936 



