216 City Homes on Country Lanes 



chant. The man who has been refused credit is very 

 likely to raise a rebellion, with the object of overthrow- 

 ing the management. Where the choice of manager, 

 in the first instance, is left to the town meeting, it very 

 often happens that the best vote-getter is not the best 

 business man. After a while the community learns 

 "Who's Who," but the choice is usually made before 

 there has been opportunity to take stock of the new 

 citizenship. 



For all these reasons, the cooperative store should be 

 thoughtfully considered by the founders before it is 

 included in the scheme of institutions. The truth is 

 that the plan can not be successful in the best and 

 highest sense, unless the people arc animated by the 

 true spirit of cooperation. Without this spirit, the 

 enterprise is bound to fail. Perhaps it ought to fail. 

 The game is not worth the candle, unless the spiritual 

 value of brotherhood is realized ; unless men and women 

 truly prefer to work for and with each other, rather 

 than against each other. 



Twenty years ago, I should have urged the coopera- 

 tive store as one of the foundation stones of the garden 

 city. I still believe it eminently desirable. To me, it 

 would seem pitiful that the community should be de- 

 prived of its benefits, both spiritual and material; but 

 we learn by experience, and my experience has taught 

 me this: Cooperation can only be established in a small 

 American community by means of the strong hand, re- 

 sorting to strong methods. It can not be left entirely 

 to voluntary action; nor can the management be safely 

 left wholly to popular choice at the beginning. Utah 

 made a success of cooperative institutions, because they 



