RURAL COOPERATION 



A study of world progress reveals the fact that COOPERATION 

 is a COSMIC LAW, A DIVINE INJUNCTION. In the beginning there 

 were electrons ; these acting cooperatively produced atoms ; 

 these acting cooperatively produced molecules; these acting 

 cooperatively produced protoplasts; these acting cooperatively 

 produced, in the course of time, human beings. In human his- 

 tory the cooperative bodies have been the family, the tribe, 

 the clan and the nation. The next step will be a Federation 

 of Nations. This is inevitable it is the will of Omnipotence. 



Far back in the beginning, the individual toiled with his 

 primitive hand tools in a dark and dusty corner. Those were 

 the days of an almost infinite number of crude industrial units. 

 Finally Genius produced a Machine. What was the result? 

 A decrease in the number of industrial units and an increase 

 in the number of individuals representing each unit. The 

 beginning of the Age of Machinery marked the beginning of 

 Cooperation in the Industrial World. From time to time the 

 Machine was improved and with every improvement the 

 industrial units decreased and the number of individuals in 

 each unit increased. Finally, the larger units formed them- 

 selves into Trusts. The first Trusts, which represented sim- 

 ply a stage in Business Evolution, were selfish, and Humanity 

 suffered. Today, however, it is recognized that Trusts are 

 inevitable and that gradually they will prove to be infinitely 

 better from the standpoint of human service than an innumer- 

 able number of competing units. In due time there will be 

 cooperating World Trusts to serve the billion and a half 

 people of earth. 1 



Jesus Christ came among men to give to the world the 

 Ultimate Religion. From the time of Christ to the time of 

 Luther and other great leaders, the Christian Church served 

 the needs of the most civilized portion of humanity. But 

 Luther, a world prophet, and his contemporaries, after a time 

 realized that while humanity was advancing, the Christian 

 Church was simply marking time. The result was a Great 



1 Several thoughts in the two preceding paragraphs taken from The 

 Ohio Journal of Commerce, January i, 1916, p. 4. 



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