RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 5 , 1921 
370 
THE MOST For Your Money 
BE SURE to get this Powerful Onepipe 
Furnace that is made by the makers of the “Old 
Reliable” STEWART Stoves and Ranges, which since 1832 
have been famous for good honest Quality and absolutely dependable service. 
ONEPIPE FURNACE 
—is the moderately-priced, easily installed 
new type of Warm-air Furnace that RIGHT NOW 
in thousands and thousands of farm homes is giving 
GREAT satisfaction—furnishing heat in abundance for every room, even 
in below-zero weather—and using LESS coal or wood than was used with 
stoves or other heaters. 
Just the same high-quality iron and steel 
and expert workmanship that have made STEWART 
cook-stoves so dependable and satisfactory for nearly ninety 
years are also now being put into the STEWART ONEPIPE. It really 
is the “unseen things” in a furnace that count—and those inner parts of 
the STEWART are EXTRA well made. Its heavy corrugated steel 
lining, heavy triangular grate bars, large watti pan, large space between 
inner and outer casing, are reasons for its tremendous success. 
Ordinary Sloping Firepot Stewart Straight Firepot 
Above at the left is pictured the firepot of the ordinary pipeless furnace. Note how the 
sloping sides collect ash, which deadens the fire and prevents proper radiation. Picture at 
the RIGHT shows the STEWART firepot,built EXTRA heavy and with STRAIGHT 
sides to increase grate area, coal capacity, heat radiation and assure perfect combustion. 
This is just one of the many features that make the S1EWAR 1 ONEPIPE so successful. 
WRITE TODAY FOR ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET-FREE 
FULLER aWARREN C0..TR0Y.N.Y. 
Since TOMakers if STEWART Stnyes-Rannes Furnuces 
A Primer of Economics 
By John J. Dillon 
Part XIV 
Having determined the form of man¬ 
agement and perfected the details of or¬ 
ganization, the co-operative association 
is ready for business. If has, if properly 
organized, a business manager selected 
by the board because of his experience 
and demonstrated ability. It would be a 
| misfortune if he were picked up iu the 
neighborhood because he had friends on 
the board and was a likeable fellow in the 
community, or because be happened to be 
clever in edging himself into position. 
The business manager of a co-operative 
enterprise needs to be a real man. He 
must know his business, have executive 
ability, know no favorites, be just to all 
and not afraid to stand against an unfair 
demand, even by a prominent member. It 
is pure waste to pay a ten-dollar man a 
hundred dollar salary ; but, when the right 
man is found it is a good policy to pay 
him enough so that he is satisfied with 
his job and not lured away by others who 
recognize his worth. 
Management of the local plant requires 
tact and skill and ability. Help is need¬ 
ed to do the work. No drones should be 
around the plant. Supplies must be pro¬ 
vided and anticipated in advance and 
bought at the right price. A full supply 
of containers is imperative. 
When tl»e produce is ready to come in 
from the farms, the manager must know 
the conditions on the farms of the differ¬ 
ent members. To work economically in 
some cases he needs to have a fairly regu¬ 
lar supply coming daily. He must an¬ 
ticipate the need for cars, lie must take 
probable weather conditions into account 
in the handling of perishables. He must 
know the member’s ability to secure help 
at the maturing time. The manager of 
the creamery must keep sanitary condi¬ 
tions. The milk must come in cool and 
clean, and as a rule on time. It must be 
accurately weighed and correctly sam¬ 
pled and tested. Every process from start 
to finish is a skilled job. No matter what 
tho product, success or failure depends on 
the skill and care of the manager, and 
most of it hinges on his capacity for 
work. 
System in accounting for our co-opera¬ 
tive work should be standardized. All 
should have the same forms for the same 
work. No manager would he successful 
without a correct system of accounting. 
The history of every transaction should 
lie plainly read in the day’s accounting 
record, and these records should he open 
f<» the inspection of the members con¬ 
cerned. Mystery and secrecy create sus¬ 
picion, and serve no good purpose in co¬ 
operative business. Monthly business and 
financial statements should be furnished 
j regularly and show the exact condition of 
j (he business. 
The business should be executed ex¬ 
clusively through the manager; but the 
board should meet frequently and regu¬ 
larly. keep familiar with the progress of 
the work, carefully analyze the man¬ 
ager’s monthly report, and direct him in 
the general policies of the business. 
Rigid economy must be maintained in 
every department and item of the work. 
No matter how large or how successful 
the business, if it is managed extrava¬ 
gantly, sooner or later it will collapse. 
There may be variations in time that dis¬ 
aster comes, but there arc no variations 
in final results. Every contract and every 
item of expense should be reviewed and 
checked by someone whose position does 
not depend on the pleasure or influence 
of the person who contracts the obliga¬ 
tion. An examination by public ac¬ 
countants is no protection against ex¬ 
travagance and waste. The accounting 
merely compares vouchers with book en¬ 
tries and verifies the correctness of fig¬ 
ures and entries. The items of expense 
should be verified and justified before the 
bills are paid. These precautions of 
check and verification promote accuracy 
and efficiency. They are now a regular 
feature of all well organized business 
* houses. 
The co-operative business requires per¬ 
manent capital for buildings and equip¬ 
ment. This should be provided by' the 
members as nearly as passable in propor¬ 
tion to their patronage. The member 
with a thousand barrels of apples would 
naturally contribute more than one with 
half his crop. The capital may be sup¬ 
plied in advance, or deferred payments 
may he arranged to meet the subscription 
on notes. Sometimes arrangements are 
made to pay the subscription for perma¬ 
nent capital out of percentage on the 
sales. Of course, where permanent capi¬ 
tal can be paid in advance it is better so. 
A' working capital is also needed to 
pay current expenses and sometimes to 
pay for deliveries by members before col¬ 
lections can be made by the association. 
The lack of working capital at the critical 
time often discourages the management, 
and causes losses and embarrassments 
that defeat the best possibilities of the 
undertaking. This should ho anticipated 
and the necessary capital provided. When 
the members do not furnish working capi¬ 
tal the management should have an in¬ 
terview with the local banker and fur¬ 
nish him a correct .statement of the con¬ 
dition and purposes of the fci: mess. He 
should also be furnished a list of the 
members and, when possible, an arrange¬ 
ment made with him to open an account 
for the association, and each, and every 
member should open an account with him 
also. With such an arrangement the 
ordinary credit requirements for working 
capital will generally he furnished by the 
bank. Tf more is needed, a joint note of 
the members or individual pledges for de¬ 
finite amounts, would secure all the capi¬ 
tal required without hardship to any, and 
with profit'to all. The constitution of the 
State of New York contains provisions 
that make it impossible to frame a per¬ 
fect co-operative banking law; but when 
Congress provides the Federal law sug¬ 
gested in a previous chapter, co-operative 
banking will go hand in hand with co¬ 
operative business, and then the business 
of the associations and of their members 
will provide funds and credits to finance 
the business, and the problem of capital 
will be no more of a burden to agricul¬ 
ture than it is today to commercial busi¬ 
ness. 
The speculator or middleman prospers 
on a short crop that can be easily monop¬ 
olized. He discourages production, and 
encourages waste. The co-operative pol¬ 
icy is the reverse of monopoly. It seeks 
cheaper distribution cost, an increased 
outlet and larger consumption. This pol¬ 
icy tends to increase production through 
larger demand and better returns to the 
producer. Co-operation seeks to build up 
and develop the industry that it is organ¬ 
ized to serve. Producers automatically 
suggest a limit of production to satisfy 
without waste the highest possible degree 
of consumption, but the function of co¬ 
operation is efficient and economic dis¬ 
tribution. It is not a business for profit, 
but a service for its members. In har¬ 
mony with this purpose, the local associa¬ 
tion must lie encouraged to develop local 
trade. The larger the home consumption 
the smaller will be the congestion and 
surplus in the large city markets, and the 
surer we are to stop Ihe practice of ship¬ 
ping everything to the city, where it is 
often repacked and reshipped to country 
towns at added expense and depreciation 
in quality. In the local up-State markets 
this stale product is sold at less than the 
cost of production in competition with 
the fresh products of the nearby farms, 
and demoralizes the local market. In this 
way products shipped to the city markets 
and sold at ,i slaughter price to speculat¬ 
ors and peddlers are returned and sold in 
country towns for less than it costs to 
grow them. The development of local con¬ 
sumption is a particular need of the dairy 
industry. The country consumption of 
oleo and other dairy substitutes far ex¬ 
ceeds any city surplus we over had of 
milk and its by-products. It is not neces¬ 
sary to go into further details here. The 
subject has been discussed in the agricul¬ 
tural press, but general propaganda will 
not accomplish results, though it may 
lead to the means of effecting a change. 
To get results the policy must be general. 
It would do little good for a family here 
(Continued on page 375) 
