THE MORMON COMMONWEALTH 



credited to the exercise of church authority in secular 

 affairs. 



It would be quite impracticable to attempt to fol- 

 low the history of any considerable number of the many 

 co-operative enterprises of Utah. Neither are figures 

 available for a satisfactory generalization of results. 

 But the whole system is typified in the experience of one 

 monumental enterprise Zion's Co-operative Mercantile 

 Institution. This great house is in a sense the mother 

 and the model of all the Mormon stores in Utah and its 

 surrounding States. Mr. Thomas G. Webber, the suc- 

 cessful superintendent of " Z. C. M. I.," as it is famil- 

 iarly called, describes the history of the enterprise as 

 follows : 



"The Institution was organized October 16, 1868; 

 commenced business March 1, 1869 ; was incorporated 

 for twenty-five years from October 5, 1870, and the 

 capital was then $220,000. It was reincorporated for 

 fifty years September 30, 1895, with a capital stock of 

 $1,077,000. 



"During the life of our first incorporation period we 

 have sold 876,352,686 worth of merchandise, and paid to 

 the railroad and express companies for freight $6,908,630. 



"We have paid out in cash dividends $1,990,943.55, 

 and in stock dividends $414,944.77. During the panic 

 in 1873, for prudential reasons, we passed our dividend, 

 and continued to do so until 1877, but during the whole 

 of the period we have been in business, some twenty- 

 seven years, we have paid to our stockholders an average 

 dividend of nine and one-third per cent, for each and 

 every year, or two hundred and forty-three per cent, in 

 all ; $1,000 invested in our capital stock on the 1st of 

 E 65 



