Vol.  LXXXII. 
Published  Weekly  by  The  Rural  Publishing  Co., 
333  \V.  30th  St.,  New  York.  Price  One  Dollar  a  Year. 
NEW  YORK,  AUGUST  11,  1923 
Entered  as  Second-Class  Matter,  June  26,  1879.  at  the  Post 
Office  at  New  York,  N.  Yr.,  under  the  Act  of  March  3,  1879. 
NO.  4755 
Principles  of  Business  Co-operation 
ST  EXPERIENCE.— We  have  had  a  lot 
>f  good  experience  in  the  field  of  co-opera- 
ive  buying  and  .selling  during  the  past  10 
rears,  and  some  not  so  good,  but  the  great 
nass  of  evidence  should  leave  us  in  an  op- 
imistic  frame  of  mind  rather  than  the  op¬ 
posite.  One  may  say  therefore  that  it  as  nearly  time 
to  venture  into  this  forest  of  experience  and  draw 
out  some  conclusions.  Whether  these  will  be  of  any 
use  after  they  are  drawn  is  not  absolutely  neces¬ 
sary,  for  there  are  situations  wherein  past  experi¬ 
ences  seems  to  have  little  influence  in  guiding  those 
who  desire  to  initiate  some  new  undertaking. 
SOME  ELEMENTS  CONCERNED.— Since  co-op¬ 
erative  buying  and  selling  in  its  relation  to  the 
farmer  has  been  instituted  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  farmers  participating,  on  ?  n  Rurally  conclude 
that  the  movement  must  be  of  considerable  import¬ 
ance  to  these  men,  at  least  more  so  than  to  individ¬ 
uals  who  have  not  seen  fit  to  participate.  Since  these 
men  are  the  only  ones  vitally  concerned,  it  is  only 
fair  to  conclude  that  loyalty  to  each  other  and 
to  their  association  is  of  primary  importance, 
but  there  are  occasional  indications  of  dis¬ 
loyalty,  and  this  lack  of  confidence  consti¬ 
tutes  one  of  the  most  discouraging  elements 
in  the  co-operative  movement.  Since  the  intent  of 
the  movement  is  to  relieve  or  improve  unsatisfac¬ 
tory  marketing  conditions,  and  since  the  individual 
farmers  can  do  little  acting  independently,  it  should 
not  be  difficult  for  anyone  to  understand  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  a  united  agreement.  Men  who  are  other¬ 
wise  reasonably  intelligent  and,  admitting  that  their 
salvation  in  marketing  seems  to  be  through  the 
agency  of  co-operation,  have  been  known  suddenly 
to  disregard  all  sense  of  fairness  toward  their  fel¬ 
low’  members  and  sell  out,  refuse  to  play  the  game 
like  men,  leaving  the  burden  and  responsibilities  in¬ 
curred  on  the  shoulders  of  the  more  sincere  mem¬ 
bers.  The  inclusion  of  these  men,  or  men  of  simi¬ 
lar  frame  of  mind,  in  a  co-operative  movement  adds 
to  it  nothing  in  strength.  In  the  absence  of  loyalty 
among  those  who  participate  any  undertaking  be¬ 
comes  a  joke,  and  reflects  against  the  intelligence  of 
the  farmer.  In  order  to  safeguard  the  movement, 
and  as  a  protection  to  those  wrho  are  in  earnest 
there  seems  to  be  no  better  instrument  to  compel  re¬ 
spect  than  a  definite  contract  binding  and  enforce¬ 
able  which  need  not  be  entered  into  by  anyone  who 
has  not  sufficient  faith  in  himself,  Ms  fellow’  mem¬ 
bers  and  the  objective  which  he  desires  to  obtain. 
CAPITAL  AND  CREDIT.— Time  was  when  it 
seemed  as  though  all  that  was  needed  to  remedy  the 
situation  was  a  desire  to  co-operate  and  lo !  the 
thing  was  done;  it  should  succeed  anyhow.  Ex¬ 
perience  seems  to  show  that  in  co-operative  market¬ 
ing  or  purchasing,  capital  and  credit  are  just  as 
I  Buy  From 
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