STATE AND NATIONAL FEDERATIONS 239 



The federation may assume responsibility either actually 

 through making the cooperative a department in its organi- 

 zation, as in Michigan, or morally by naming some of its 

 directors or its advisory committee, as in Ohio. At pres- 

 ent this is perhaps the most common relationship, but it is 

 likely to prove dangerous and unsatisfactory; dangerous 

 because it makes the federation responsible for what it 

 does not and cannot fully control; unsatisfactory because 

 it will not develop a strong self-sustaining cooperative and 

 because the federation is likely to get the blame for failures 

 and mistakes without the credit for successes. 



The other safer and in the end more effective relationship 

 is simply that of service, a helpful support without any 

 control cooperation as between two self-contained and 

 independent organizations. The federation may in the 

 beginning take the initiative at the request of a group of 

 its members or other farmers, call meetings, secure speak- 

 ers and experts, and get the cooperative set up and ready 

 to function. After that, the federation's assistance to 

 cooperatives, like that of parents to their children, should 

 be with the view of their acquiring such strength that they 

 may stand alone. But there should always be mutual 

 services and relationships between the federation and the 

 cooperatives as two organizations working in the same gen- 

 eral field of agricultural improvement though from differ- 

 ent angles. 



On the part of the federation certain services may be of 

 great value to the cooperative. Among these the active 

 moral support of the cooperative principle and right with 

 the public and particularly with legislators, will be indis- 

 pensable. The cooperative will often need legislative as- 

 sistance and protection of its interests, which the federa- 

 tion may well give. Educational work in connection with 

 the sale of commodities, particularly with reference to 



