216 The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed as a digital facsimile at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation Five periodicals not affiliated with the con sumers' cooperative movement have established regular cooperative sections which will carry news of developments in the cooperative movement every week or month. THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGÏNEMEN AND FIRE MEN'S MAGAZINE pioneered with the creation of a two page feature section, "Consumers' Co operation"; the MINNESOTA LEADER each week devotes a regular section to "Progress Among the Cooperatives"; the AMERICAN GUARDIAN has for several months conducted a column of "Cooperative Notes"; the SOCIALIST CALL features a column by Benjamin \Volf on "Con sumers' Cooperation"; and the AMERICAN LEADER, national edition of the WISCONSIN LEADER, has inaugurated a special section, "News About the Cooperatives." Material from the Cooperative League News Service and news of local cooperative develop ments in this way will reach several hundred thou sand readers in addition to the half million mem bers of cooperatives who receive publications of the cooperative wholesales affiliated with The Coonerative League. You can speed the growth of the cooperative movement by suggesting that the editor of your favorite newspaper or magazine establish a similar cooperative section. READERS DIGEST, November, "Where Con sumers' Produce," Henry Goddard Leach, re printed from THE FORUM, September, 1934. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, November, "What are the Facts about Consumers' Cooperation?" Editorial ar ticle. WHARTON REVIEW, December, entire issue devoted to Consumers' Cooperation, with ar ticles by James Rorty, Colston Warne, E. J. Lever, Joseph Kelly, Robert Smith, John A. Jessup and \Vallace J. Campbell. ARCHITECTURAL FORUM, September, "Swed^ ish Cooperative Wholesale Societies' Architects' Office," a review. RAILWAY CARMEN'S JOURNAL, November, "Labor and Consumers' Cooperation," John F. McNamee (14th labor journal in which this ar ticle has appeared.) JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS AND OPERATORS, October, "Real Issue Between Utilities and Cooperatives," an editorial article on Rural Electrification. PAINTER AND DECORATOR, October, "A New Technique for American Labor," Wallace J. Campbell. LABOR INFORMATION BULLETIN, October, "The Consumers' Cooperative Movement," Florence C. Parker. AMERICAN LEADER (national edition of THE WISCONSIN LEADER), September, "Swedish Cooperatives Rise Phenomenal," E. R. Bowen, reprinted from CONSUMERS' COOPERA TION. CONSUMERS GUIDE, September 16, "When Farmers Work Together as Consumers." COLORADO UNION FARMER, October "n. Co-op Approach is Fundamentally <;' e Editorial article'. J Î50unnsumer Distribution Corporation ........................ ..................... 46 ^onsumers Union ....... 126 Cooley, Oscar ..... ' ' 17 Cooperation in the Making" ............................. ..................... 73, 88 ^ooperative Builder, The . . 94 ^operative College of Créa' Britain ................................. .......... 67 INDEX PAPP "Cooperative Democracy," book review ....................................... >~"j,' Cooperative Distributors ...................................................... 54 < ,5 Cooperative League Congress, Tenth Biennial ................................. ijg' j,;; Cooperative League, Directors' Meetings ................................... 26, 7(j' p^ Cooperative Life Insurance Co. ................................................. ' i »^ Cooperative Oil Association of Minneapolis ..................................... 7^ Cooperative Oil Association, Appleton, Wis. .................................... 7, Cooperative Publising Association, Superior, \Vis. ............................... gx Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, Hi. ................................ 125t J4j Cooperators Life Association, Minneapolis .................................. ' 70 Credit Unions ..................................... 7, 13, 14, 45, 126, 158, 175, 188, 205 Czechoslovakia, Cooperative Movement in .........................................' 524 D Davis, Henry .................................................................. 55 Declaration of Cooperation ...................................................... 35 Declaration of Economic Interdependence ......................................... 529 Decline and Rise of the Consumer ............................................. 131, 160 Denmark, Cooperation in ................................................... 4, 84, 108 Democracy, \Vhat do we mean by ............................................... J5Q Design Service, Cooperative ...................................................... 42 Dickason, Gladys .............................................................. 160 Discussion Circles ................................................... 66, 183, 7, 48, 61 Douglas, Paul H. ............................................................... 95 E Eakin, Frank .................................................................. 137 Eastern Cooperative League and Wholesale ....... . . 12, 44, 48, 64, 94, 125, 142, 155, 156 Eastern States Farmers Exchange ..................................... 63, 94, 125, 143 Education in Cooperation .......................................... 28, 59, 118, 133, 182 Eidin, H. ...................................................................... 107 Elsworth, Merle ................................................................ 146 Employees, Cooperative .................................................. 60, 107, 142 Emporta Cooperative Association, Kansas .......................................... 94 Endorsements of Cooperation .................................................... 80 England, Cooperative Movement in ........................ 11, 17, 50, 112, 114, 143, 147 Evanston Consumers Cooperative ................................................. Ill Failure, Causes of .............................................................. 177 Farm Cooperatives ................................................... 45, 72, 157, 194 Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ....................... 94, 109, 176 Farm Bureau Oil Company ...................................................... 156 Farmers Union ................................................................. 31 Farmers Union Central Exchange, St. Paul, Minn. ........................... 52, 63, 109 Federal Council of Churches, Seminar on Cooperation of ............................ 23 Fiiene, Edward A. ........................................................ 46, 49, 201 Finance, Cooperative Insurance and ............................................... 174 Finland, Cooperation in ............................................ 3, 11, 84, 154, 187 "Finland, The New Nation," book review .......................................... 96 Flint Cooperative Association, Michigan ........................................ 7, 21 Flynn, John T. ................................................................. # Folk Schools ...................................................... 4, 59, 97, 98, 133 Fourteen Recent Major Achievements of the Consumers Cooperative Movement In the United States .................................... 29 Fowler, Bertram B. ..................................................... 18, 20, 65, 96 France, Cooperative Movement in ............................................. 115, 19° Freundlich, Emmy .............................................................. " Gale, Zona ...................... Germany, Cooperative Movement in Green, Perry L. .................. 17 198 163 INDEX PAGE Green William ................................................................ 193 Gide, Charles .................................................................. 4 Gilbert, Joseph ................................................................. 149 Gilman, Charlotte Perkins ....................................................... 2 Grange, National, and Cooperation ............................................... 146 Grange Cooperative Wholesale, Seattle, Washington ...................... 14, 63, 79, 141 Grimes, J. Frank ................................................................ 68 Greenleaf, Esther ............................................................... 42 Grundtvig, Bishop .......................................................... 59, 134 H Hayes, A^ J. ................................................................... 45 Hall, Fred ..................................................................... 67 Halonen, George ............................................................... 128 Hayward, Sir Fred .......................................................... 143, 156 Health Protection ........................................................... 101, 119 Holt, Arthur E. ................................................................ 59 Hood, Robin ................................................................... 194 Hospitalization ................................................................. 180 Housing, Cooperative ........................................................ 45, 140 "Housewives Build A New World," book review ................................... 144 Hutchinson, Carl ............................................................... 48 Hull, I- H. ........................................................... ......... 172 I Incentives in a Cooperative Order ................................................ 85 Independent Consumers Cooperative Society, Brooklyn, N. Y. ........................ 13 Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association ................................... 64, 89 Institutes ...................................... 45, 110, 124, 125, 155, 157, 158, 170, 183 International Cooperative Alliance .................................... 36, 112, 197, 205 International Cooperative Day ................................................ 94, 126 International Wholesaling ........................................................ 142 Insurance ................................................ 12, 64, 78, 110, 125, 131, 141 Insurance and Finance, Cooperative .............................................. 174 Issue Is Raised, The ............................................................ 105 Italy, Cooperative Movement in ............................................... 12, 112 J Jefferson, Thomas .............................................................. 150 Johnson, Josephine ............................................................. 33; Jones. E. Stanley ............................................................... 84 K Kagawa, Toyohiko ............................. 1,7, 17, 23, 38, 43, 67, 82, 114, 141, 147 Kallen. Horace M. ............................................. 131, 149, 160, 171, 199 King, E. E. .................................................................... 15 Knickerbocker Village Cooperative, New York City ................................. 110 Labor Unions and Cooperatives .................. 4, 44, 82, 83, 98. 110, 114, 193, 194, 205 LaFollette, Robert M. and Philip ............................................... 31, 65 Laidler, Harry W. ............................................................ 82, 85 Landis, Benson Y. ............................................................ 23, 80 Lanto, Ivan .............................................................. 93, 98, 156 Laski, Harold J. ................................................................ 3 Legislation Affecting Cooperation ......................................... 66, 99, J58 Library, A Model Cooperative ................................................ 6, J82 Lincoln, Murray D. .................................................. 97, 109, 158, 174 Liukku, Jacob .................................................................. 93 Lloyd, William ................................................................ 117 Lower Michigan Federation ....................................................... 93 INDEX M PAGE INDEX R PAGE McNamee, John F. .............................................................. jcy McPhail, Agnes ................................................................ 55 Madison Oil Cooperative ........................................................ 7j Maine, Cooperative Movement in ................................................. 95 Management, Cooperative ....................................................... igj Martinek, Joseph ..............................................................' 124 Massachusetts League of Cooperative Clubs ....................................... J2g Matteson, Lynn ................................................................ 7Q May, Henry J. ............................................................. 162, 197 Medicine, Cooperative ............................... 16, 73, 78, 89, 92, 94, 101, 119, 179 Mesabe Range Cooperative Federation ........................................ 78, 157 Metzger, T. Warren ............................................................ 2 Michigan Farm Bureau Services ................................................. 44, 64 Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Minneapolis ................. 9, 14, 63, 70, 123, 124 156 Miller, Merlin G. .......................................................... 124,' 144 Milk Marketing ................................................................ 147 Milwaukee Consumers Cooperative Association ..................................... 126 Moore, William H. ............................................................. 32 Moore, James R. ............................................................. 6, 18? Morgan, Joy Elmer ............................................................. 6y Morrison, C. C. ................................................................ 147 Morrison, Hefbert M. ........................................................... 83 Myers, James .................................................................. 96 N National Cooperative Council .................................................... 51 National Cooperatives, Inc. ...................................................... 156 Nebraska Farmers Union State Exchange ....................................... 63, 79 Negro Cooperatives ...................................................... 20, 79, 141 New Cooperative Co., Dillonvale, Ohio ........................................... 90 New Jersey Consumers Cooperative, Chatham, N. J. ........................... 95, 137 Noble County, Indiana, Cooperation in ........................................... 2 Norris, Senator .....................................\ ........................... 174 Nurmi, H. V. .................................................................. 185 Nystrom, Paul H. ............................................................... 66 o Officers and Directors of The Cooperative League .................................. 206 Ohio Farm Bureau Federation .................. 14, 44, 46, 64, 91, 109, 141, 142, 158, 176 Oil Cooperatives ................................... 16, 21, 30, 52, 70, 79, 109, 123, 126 Olsen, C. A. ................................................................. 45, 60 Olsen, Floyd ................................................................... 145 Organizing a Consumers Cooperative, Ten Steps in ................................ 43 Pacific Supply Cooperative, Walla Walla, Wash. ......................... 63, 109, Park Cooperative Oil Association, St. Paul, Minn. ................................. Peace ..................................................................... 147, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association .................. 13, 45, 91, 124, Peoples Cooperative Society, Superior, Wisconsin ................................. Philadelphia Cooperative Center .................................................. Philosophy of Cooperation ....................................................... Presidents' Commission of Inquiry on Cooperative Enterprise in Europe .............. Private Dealers, What will happen under Cooperation ......................... 5, 65 Producer—Consumer Cooperatives ................................... 34, 130, 171, Publicity, Cooperative Education and ........................................... 27, Public Ownership and Cooperatives .............................................. Publishing, Cooperative ......................................................... Q Quotations .:,................................................... 2, 17, 18, 35, 49, 1« 159 70 205 156 141 94 199 124 ;, 71 205 182 191 45 Racine Consumers Cooperative, Wis. . . . . ... ............................ 71, 117 Rainbow Flag .................................................................. 145 Rauschenbush, Walter ........................................................ 1, 171 Recreation in Cooperatives ......................................... 28, 118, 125, 183 Reddix, J. L. ................................................................... 93 Resolutions on Cooperation .......................... 51, 99, 109, 110, 115, 125, 193, 205 Reynolds, Quentin .............................................................. 186 Ricker, A. W. ................................................................. 52 Riddle, George ................................................................. 114 Roosevelt, Franklin D. ............................................,............. 153 Rothery, Agnes ................................................................ 96 Russell, George W. ........................................................... 2, 168 St. Francis Xavier Un:v»r<::'-' .................................................... 154 Salaries Cooperative an-1 otherwise ............................................... 82 Scandinavia, Cooperation in ...................................................... 84 Schools and Institutes on Cooperatives .................................... 30, 60, 61, 63 Scotland, Cooperative Movement in ............................................... 12 Shadid, Michael Dr. ............................................................ 179 Spain, Cooperators in ........................................................... 198 Statistics .......................................................... 3, 51, 63, 79, 166 Student Cooperatives ................................................. 13, 32, 78, 95 Study Outlines on Cooperation ................................................... 45 Supreme Court Ruling ........................................................ 35, 99 Sweden, Cooperation in ........................................... 12, 72, 84, 107, 112 "Sweden, Land of Economic Democracy," pamphlet review .......................... 144 "Sweden, the Middle Way," book review .......................................... 48 Switzerland, Cooperation in ...................................................... 112 Taxes ......................................................................... 50 Thompson, Carl D. ............................................................. 191 Tompkins, Dr. J. J. .............................................................. 155 Tours to Cooperative Europe .................................. *6, 79, 95, 115, 123, 153 Town Hall Meeting of the Air on Cooperation ..................................... 31 Treasurer's Report .............................................................. 204 Trico Cooperative Oil Association ............................................... 79 Turner, Paul ................................................................ 92, 143 U Ultimate Democracy ............................................................ 69 United Cooperative Society, Maynard, Mass. ...................................... 79 Vargard—Sweden .............................................................. 108 Vasarla, Hugo ................................................................. 187 W Walker, John L. ................................................................ 93 Wallace, Henry A. .............................................. 2, 124, 130, 168, 173 War Hypocrisies ............................................................. 50, 98 Warbasse, Dr. J. P. .............................. 50, 62, 73, 88, 101, 119, 128, 165, 197 Warinner, A. W. ........................................................... 93, 177 Washington, D. C., Consumers Club .......................................... 13, 157 Webb, Sidney ................................................................. 168 Weidler, A. G. ................................................................ 129 Which Way America, Cooperatives or Communism ................................. 84 Wholesaling, Cooperative ............................................. 12, 13, 31, 62 Wpmens Guild, Northern States Cooperative ............................... ....... 142 Workers Education Association of Great Britain .................................... 129 Workmens Mutual Fire Insurance Society ................... >................. 13, 110 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION ORGANOFTHE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE PURCHASING MOVEMENT IN THEU.5. ETERNAL AS THE UNENDING CIRCLE- HARDY AS THE EVERGREEN PINE Volume XXII. No. 1 JANUARY, 1936 Ten Cents WELCOME, KAGAWA! Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa: We, as representatives of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the United States, welcome you most heartily upon this occasion of your visit to America. We have looked forward to your coming with the keenest anticipation. You have written us that "central in my purpose in coming to America is to meet your coop erative leaders." We have assembled to meet you and greet you in the spirit of the international fellowship of cooperators. We anticipate as a result of your visit a wide spread and rapidly expanding fervor of interest in the application of the principles of brotherhood through the Cooperative Movement. To us it is most fitting that you -should have been chosen to deliver the Rauschen busch lectures. Walter Rauschenbusch was one of our greatest social prophets. He advocated, as the means of implementing brotherhood in our economic affairs, or ganization of consumers' cooperatives as well as producer and political organiza tion. You, whom we honor as a modern social prophet, likewise advocate these three techniques of democracy. You of all men, are most worthy to carry on the tradition of his social teachings in America, to which, unfortunately, we have as a na tion paid too little heed. We sincerely believe that your coming will arouse America to a far greater realization of the necessity of aggressive organization along lines which both he and you have strongly urged. We most sincerely hope that with your coming the threads of mutual regard be tween cooperators of Japan and America will be strengthened to the end that to gether we may press forward with greater determination to build a Cooperative In ternational Association of all races and nations which will forever banish poverty and war and bring permanent peace and plenty everywhere upon the earth. With the deepest respect and gratitude for your coming and with high antici pation of the results of your visit to America, we are Yours most sincerely, AMERICAN COOPERATORS vnîrg^n *° spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in vomntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need, ubhshed monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. Jm Bo^en- Editor. Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative .J^raalsjind Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. »tered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Jan, CONSUMERS' COOPERATION EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS For this New Year Help me to grow! Help me to fill the days With deeds of loving praise For the splendid truths I know. —Charlotte Perkins Gilman • What are you going to do this New Year about being poor? • A poet who writes us puts it this way, "the crust of the world is breaking rapid ly. Death smacks his lips again." • We need more consumer-economics taught in every shool and college. Are you going to see to it that your state fol lows Wisconsin's example? c Among the things to be thankful for, the Editor of The Producer-Consumer lists "The Cooperative Plan, which is developing a social and economic order in which we can practice the Sermon on the Mount in our daily work and busi ness, in our producing and using the goods of life." • We are "all fellow travelers on the road to the more abundant life." What everyone needs to know is which is the best road. We, who have chanced to be among the first to learn of the democratic way to prosperity, have a great obliga tion to spread the good news of con sumers' cooperation to all the rest with far greater speed. • Noble County, Indiana, has "edu cated" 86 younger people drawn from every township in the county through the three summer institutes they have held. Of these, 32 were teachers in the public schools. This example is well worth fol lowing. • A good New Year's resolution could be formed out of these words of Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace: "Only those really close to science can know the abundance that could be ours if there were but even-handed distribu tion and justice between groups. The grinding efforts to subsist would drop out of sight if we could achieve justice and balance. Oh! how the world has been der the weight of that need to subsist keep body and soul together, in the .p *! few years! We can throw off that miser able burden. We can stand like free m in the sun. And human minds and hearts and human wills, are saying, it shall V> done!" C • George Russell (AE) said to us that there was "no important movement in mv time in Ireland that did not have one or more poets as its inspiration." We have been looking for poets in the Cooperative Movement in America and now we've found one in Mr. T. Warren Metzqer, Editor of the Pennsylvania Farm Re! view. He set our blood tingling and in spired us to learn these lines which ap peared in the November issue: THANKSGIVING "For the beauty of life we strangely see when the eyes are wet with humility— For the clasp of hands in the common good, when jealousy bows to brotherhood— For the joy of fashioning life anew in the vine yard of wonderful-things-to-do— For the glory of hope as the way leads home to the sunswept hills of "Kingdom Come"— We Thank Thee." • Mr. W. P. Watkins, co-author of the new British text book, "Cooperation," says that Sweden and Nova Scotia have discovered the best solution of the prob lem of educating prospective and present members of cooperatives in their small study-circle programs. Some cooperative wholesales in the United States are now adopting the same program. Others might well consider the evidence of the practical results which Sweden and Nova Scotia are demonstrating that this educa tional technique produces rapid and sound growth of cooperatives. • The New York Post is running a series of articles under the general title, "The Men Who Run America." It de- cribes the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company as having "after Fords, the closest knit ownership of a great corpora tion of any family in America." 6,000,OOU customers and 90,000 employees _are sub ject to the will of two brothers "who are fpes for a family of about 30 indi- tr!fuals" How long will 6,000,000 con- ers and 90,000 producers continue to SU mit 30 owners to dominate them? " • Stuart Chase is now definitely on rec- d as supporting the cooperative move- ° ent In a letter published in the Novem- , issue of Forum he writes, "I have ad the article, 'The Democratic Way to Prosperity' October Forum, on the coop erative movement by Bertram B. Fowler, t affl convinced that consumers' coopera tion has a great future in this country, and my scouts tell me that the western farmer, ruggedest of individuals, is being rapidly converted to cooperative action. VVe seem to be faced with collectivism in some form. Indeed we are already highly collectivized. It seems to me that the co operative form is the ideal one of han dling the problems of distribution." o The greatest word in the economic world is the three letter word "own." We should "own" as individuals all "use" property, such as homes and farms and personal property, and own all other property together as consumers, such as utilities, finance and industry with whole sale and retail distribution systems. "Control" without ownership is not enough—putting pressure on a few own ers through political, producer or con sumers organizations is like swatting a giant on the wrist with a feather. c Dr. Harold J. Laski of the London School of Economics, who perhaps more than anyone else is recognized as the best overseas interpreter of the American scene, makes these suggestive observa tions on what he sees: "The two and one- half years of Mr. Roosevelt's administra tion have shown conclusively that plan ning under capitalism is not a feasible ad venture. Particularly, it is not feasible in a society, which, like that of America, is so deeply rooted in a tradition of lawless mdividualism ... If I read the American situation correctly, the present is a com paratively liberal era compared to what « state of affairs will be when Wall again has its own President in the e House ... I know of no country en u ^°rld where that (Hitler's) success ou'ci be so easily repeated as in the United States ... The recent Congress of the Third International has emphasized the need to defend political democracy where it still exists, while there is time. While there is time. It is necessary to emphasize these words. With world war on the near horizon, with capitalism more anti-democratic as it declines, that time is short." • Finland pays another installment on its war loan. One reason they can do so is because the people do not pay so much- profits into the pockets of a few people in Finland. The "progressive cooperatives operate on a gross margin of 12.9% while the conservative cooperatives who handle large quantities of farm supplies average only 8.9%. The cooperatives control the price level and by narrowing the- spread between producer and consumer prices, prevent the piling up of private profits. It's more important to herald the reason why Finland can pay its debts than the fact that they do. The last of a series of the four reports of Brookings Institution on the study of wealth and income distribution in rela tion to economic progress declares that constant reduction in commodity prices is. the way to effect broad distribution of in come. Indirectly they were only trying to tell America to follow Finland's ex ample. Finland is building her way up to- widespread prosperity on a narrowing spread and a declining price level. • "The cooperative movement will re ceive special attention" was the advance comment in The Commonweal, relative to the National Catholic Rural Life Con ference held at Rochester, New York, October 27 to 31st. "Special attention" was surely a most true statement. Such nationally known Catholic Cooperative advocates as Father James J. Tompkins, Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia, spoke on the famous St. Francis Xavier Adult Educa tion Program and the cooperatives which have been organized as a result of "edu cation issuing in action"; Father Joseph Campbell of Ames, Iowa, spoke on Credit Unions, and Mr. Frederick P. Kenkel, Editor of the Central Blatt and Social Justice of St. Louis, spoke on Christian thinking and the Cooperative Movement. It was a great day indeed when three such inspiring leaders advocated the practical application of the principles of CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION brotherhood through education and the .-organization of cooperatives. • This letter from the Secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers speaks for itself: "The Electrical Workers Journal has been pressing the idea of consumers' cooperation for a num ber of years. We are convinced that this form of economic activity is absolutely essential to healthful economic life in America and that it must come through 'trade union participation." "We expect to continue to press this matter in one form or another in the ^Electrical Workers Journal." Very truly yours, G. M. Bugniazet • Two great events happened in 1844. America is beginning to learn about the first—'the organization of the Consumers' Cooperative Association by the Rochdale Pioneers. We know less about the fact that in the same year the first Folk School was organized in Denmark. When Amer ica really gets hold of both of these great ideas, which together have transformed the economic and the cultural lives of the people of whole countries, then we shall "likewise become great spiritual beings rather than materialistic dwarfs. • When one is in any way inclined to lose his true perspective of the importance of his place in the great progress of events, it is not unwise to read a couple of verses in the Good Book, such as these: "Who maketh thee to differ from an- • other? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" "When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have >done that which was our duty to do" • A prominent banker declared at the American Bankers Association Conven tion that, "Since (the government) can not spend without using the bankable funds of the nation, it is up to us to de- •clare an embargo." A prominent business man goes on record that business should ""gang up" against the government. We wonder if we are not again witnessing a recurrence of previous illustrations which produced that old adage, "whom rt, Gods would destroy they first £e mad." Sabotage and ganging_Up__onak.e almost tempted to suggest, "Just try st» We, who believe in evolutionary me[i. j are trying to save our present econom• masters from the violent resentment of ^ outraged people as well as to help ^ people who are dispossessed to reco C ownership in an orderly way. Too Q * opposition to orderly change may ™e quick revolution. Fortunately more and more business men and bankers are show ing signs of thinking their way through emotionally and intellectually if we are to judge by the correspondence The Co operative League is now receiving. OF WHAT REAL IMPORTANfP ARE YOU—MR. AND MRS AMERICAN CONSUMER? ' Do you really recognize that you are today nothing? Dr. Hutchins, President of Chicago University, says, "I have been that deplorable figure, that negli- gible quantity, that cipher in the compila tions of business men—the consumer." Are you willing to accept the place as signed to you by Producers and Distrib utors of milk, who say that retail milk prices are fixed by "compromise agree ment between organized producers and distributors" with the consumer "too un important to even be consulted." Will you forever remain "unorgan ized" and therefore impotent, as was in dicated in the report of the negotiations between organized milk producers, labor and distributors in Chicago, with the "consumer not even represented." Or, is it at all possible that, as Roger Babson indicates, you might organize yourself with others as consumers and "become wise to your latent power" and go into real action? That then, as Dr. Coady suggests, you might "take hold of the throttle of your own economic life and guide your own destiny." It is truly possible that eventually you may be what Professor Charles Gide says you could be compared with what you are. "What is the consumer? f Nothing' What must he be? Everything!" What about it, Mr. and Mrs. American Consumer? Are you going to make any New Year's resolutions to be more than a cipher—to actually contraband the" act upon them? What Will Happen to Private Dealers Under Cooperation? if we were to answer in common everyday language, which no one could jsunderstand, the question constantly ""iced us, "What will happen to private merchants under cooperation?" we would say that they will be released from the apitalistic chains that now control them. Capitalism Chains Dealers A flaming political advertising poster was circulated by a candidate in Chicago with the headline, "Mr. Merchant, You Are Doomed!" It then went on to say that the Department of Labor printed a bul letin, in response to the requests of Amer ican citizens, telling them how to organize cooperatives if they wished to do so. Roger Babson says that "merchants may be sitting on dynamite—'if consumers ever become wise to their latent power." If it is true that private-profit dealers may be sitting on dynamite and largely doomed it isn't the cooperatives that are dooming them to destruction. It's the capitalistic finance-octopus that is reaching out and sucking them up and forcing them out of business to become hired servants and to work excessive hours at bare subsistence wages in "modern chain gangs." It is the result of the fact, as General Johnson in dicated in his pungent suggestion, that those who sit at the seat of custom at the point of the (Manhattan) Island seem to think of everyone further west as speci mens of a silver fox farm growing up to be skinned. Cooperatives Release Private Dealers from Bondage Cooperators propose to save private dealers from their doom and turn them into self-respecting managers of coopera tives where they will receive fair wages, work reasonable hours, have secure posi tions and experience the great joy of truly serving their customer-owners in every way. Turning private dealers into coop erative managers and customers into con sumer-owners might well be likened to ^easing masters as well as slaves from the system which controlled them both. A minister recently told us of a con versation he had with his Sunday School Superintendent who is a private dealer. A chain store was in the process of open ing nex't door. The dealer told the minis ter that he had only been making a bare living and now would likely be put out of business. The minister wanted to know how to advise his parishioner. We .told him to suggest that the dealer convert his store into a cooperative owned by his customers and he could then practice the principles of brotherhood which he taught in the Sunday School of which he was Superintendent and save himself and the; community as well from being swallowed up. Merchants Becoming Cooperatively Minded Some merchants are beginning to see things through. One dealer writes us that he realizes the independent merchant is doomed but that, as for him, he welcomes the better way. A letter just received on a First National Bank letterhead has the name of the signer at the top as Cashier of the bank and at the bottom as Superin tendent of the Sunday School. The writer not only orders literature but says, "I am starting a course of teaching in these principles." A socially minded minister tells us that he has personally canvassed every dealer'in his town and all but one expressed their willingness to turn their businesses into cooperatives. Dealers are organizing cooperative wholesales to pro tect themselves—the next and final step is to convert their stores into consumer- owned cooperatives. Private Dealers Unconscious Agents of Financial Octopus Dealers surely can see that not only are they tomorrow likely to be forced to' become servants of the finance-chain- octopus, but that today they are already indirectly agents for the same monopo listic power. Who really fixes the prices for the private dealer of today? It's the jobber and manufacturer from whom he buys or the packer or miller to whom he sells. The private dealer generally is only barely existing under present cut-throat competition in retailing and monopoly CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION control in production. A grain and lum ber dealer with whom we once rode pointed out farm after farm around his community which had been taken over by insurance companies. He complained that he had lost them as customers be cause the insurance companies now pur chase their supplies at wholesale. He did not see that he, as a dealer-agent of monopoly had unwittingly and uncon sciously been the indirect means of caus ing his former customers to lose their farms because the profits of the com munity had been sucked up and central ized into the hands of the finance-octo pus. Of course some dealers will likely persist indefinitely in declaring that "to the dealer belongs the retail trade at a profit." But many dealers will awaken themselves or be forced by financial losses to see that the retail trade of a ter ritory should be controlled by the com munity as a whole and that there is also a tetter way out, personally, than becom ing the manager of a chain—that of be coming a manager of a cooperative. One chain store manager who was ap proached by a cooperative manager to "hire one of his clerks answered, "Why not me?" Today the former chain man ager is working for the cooperative. In Great Britain it is reported by an Ameri can investigator that private dealers are watching the struggle between profit- chains and cooperative stores, hoping that they can eventually become man agers of cooperatives. Dealers Should Help Build Cooperative Communities All cooperatives want is a fair field. If they cannot serve better, then the dealer should remain. But the dealer cannot help but be part of an e nomic system that is slowly stranqlC° himself and his customers, no matter h ^ efficient he may be. For his own salT financially, for the greater personal ^ wards of genuine satisfactions in life> antj for the sake of his customers, he should use his talents to help lead out in reor ganizing his community. He must heln create a self-controlled economic organi zation which will make it possible for the wealth of the community to remain at home to enrich everyone, rather than be centralized in the hands of a few absentee owners. As a result, the cultural powers of all the people in the community will be released to develop into their highest pos sible expression. As Secretary of Agricul ture Wallace pictures so magnificently, "We think of cooperative communities not only in their competent commercial sense, but as a means of helping to unfold each other's lives." We expect to see the day, and hope to participate in it, when everyone in the community will meet together and, after a thorough discussion through public meetings and study-circles, will convert every business in the community into co operatives in a short space of time. It can be done and will be done when we develop enough community spirit to real ly want to do it. In the meanwhile, small groups in neighborhoods everywhere can free themselves at once by organizing coop eratives and thus one by one can grad ually reconstruct their whole community into a Cooperative Community Beautiful. A Model Cooperative Library James R. Moore, Editor, Ohio Farm Bureau News "*" I 'HE creation of a "cooperative" li'bra- J- ry at the state offices of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation at Columbus, Ohio, was the fulfillment of a desire on the part of the Farm Bureau officials to give to the 350 employees at the state headquarters, to Farm Bureau members and to others in the state of Ohio, access to an unbiased source of reading material on cooperative, social and economic sub jects. The library came into being in ry, 1935, with the appropriation of from the educational funds of the Ohm Farm Bureau. At that time a full-tim6 librarian was also employed. From an empty room and many stacks of unclassified papers, books, pamohlets i bulletins, that had collected during T last decade at the offices of the Ohio oerative, the librarian has evolved a C°di organized, well-lighted library and portable reading room Nearly six hundred volumes are now the shelves of the library. Two hun ted and seventy of these books have re- ntlv been purchased. Many of the hooks are from foreiqn lands—Canada, England and other European countries. A continual effort has been made to keep the substance of these books closely con nected with the cooperative, economic and social problems that are pertinent to- dav. It is the aim of the library to fulfill a demand that is not adequately satisfied by public and university libraries—to provide a critical and thorough analysis of current social problems by writers whose ability and foresight are highly esteemed. In addition to reading and reference books, the library contains several thou sand bulletins, 175 current magazines and periodical newspapers, 50 up-to-date pamphlets and several daily newspapers. Eight magazines dealing with coopera tion in England are received from Lon don. Use of the library has grown contin ually since its inception, approximately 25% of the reading books being in con stant circulation. For many books, a wait ing list of more 'than 30 persons is not uncommon. Reference books are constant ly in use. Magazines are circulated through the Farm Bureau offices with a definite time limit, in order that the in formation be timely for the many readers. Although the library is now partially fulfilling a very distinct need, its growth during the first year of existence indicates that appreciation of its value among co operative workers is only in its infancy. Learning Consumers' Cooperation by Cooperating Edmund E. Alubowicz, President, Flint Cooperative Association (Editor's note: Consumers' Cooperation "goes to town." In the last two years American born, English speaking groups in a dozen cities in the United States have followed the leadership of foreign language groups in organizing cooperative stores and oil stations. This article describes in detail the technique of organization which has proved particularly successful in creating city co operatives.) IGHT men met monthly as an eco- nomic study group in the winter of 1933-1934 with the avowed purpose of learning something about the economic order in which we live and which ap parently had broken down. For a time this study group functioned in the man ner that is usual for such groups. Then, attracted by brief quotations from a book entitled "Other People's Money," which appeared in the National Education Journal, it was decided to study this book of modern economic revelations written °y Louis D. Brandeis previous to Novem ber 1913. And what a book it turned out to be! The last chapter suggested that the on- y nope for the average American to save n'mself from the tentacles of the ever growing octopus of monopoly was the Consumers' Cooperative Movement. Cooperative Discussion-Circle Not one of us had previously heard of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement. But it appeared so inviting and seemed so reasonable that we decided to study it at our next meeting (April, 1934). We sent for available literature on the Movement and instituted correspondence with sev eral outstanding cooperators. The literature we devoured most avid ly. The advice from established cooper ators was confusing. .Some informed us that cooperation was fine and all that we had to do was to raise four or five thou sand dollars capital and open a store. Others advised us to organize as a bar gaining agency and others cautioned us about being hasty. One letter urged us to organize a Cooperative Study-^Buying Club and then evolve into a store. Credit Union Organized Some of us had very recently been initiated into Credit Union activity. In the Credit Union literature there was an CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION insistence that it was desirable to begin in a small way.—with little risk and much opportunity to grasp the principles and technique involved — in other words, learn by doing. This method we chose to follow. We further decided that inasmuch as our wives allegedly spent 85% or more of our meagre earnings, they should be invited to participate in the setting up and operation of our new enterprise. Cooperative Buy ing-Bar gaining Club Organized So when the day arrived for us to dis cuss the Consumer Cooperative Move ment we met to organize the Flint Co operative Club instead. We began with eight families and $22 capital. Upon submitting our "by-laws" to the Central States Cooperative League with our application for admission to member ship, we were informed that our "by laws" were "the last word in simplicity." The truth was, we had no by-laws, but only a compilation of eight motions passed at our organizational meeting. The most important of these motions was the one that stated that we would operate on the Rochdale Principles. From April to September, we function ed as a buying club. On Tuesday of each week we pooled our orders for groceries which we would need the following week. The buying or business committee would buy our requirements wholesale, which were delivered to the home of one of the members. A reasonable margin was added to the cost and on Friday each member would call for his order. Part-Time Basement Store Started Late in August several of our members drove to Grand Rapids to visit the local cooperative society. This society oper ated a part-time store just as the original Rochdale Pioneers did in 1844. We re turned to Flint thrilled and inspired and immediately ordered sufficient lumber to build twelve feet of shelves in the base ment of the home of our manager. Hav ing the shelves built cooperatively, we invested the remaining funds in a stock of staple groceries. Emulating the GranH Rapids Society, we opened our store Tuesday and Friday evenings. We fur ther launched a membership campaign. And then things began to happen. Our membership grew, our inventory £d TAi1 wfEd'ï Outline Story of Midland Cooperative Wholesale end of the winter, we found ourselv • the situation that in order to further8 ' pand it would necessitate the remoy l^t the furnace. This we felt would not h been fair to our kind and hospitable h^t and manager. °st Regular Cooperative Store Organized Instead we incorporated on a non profit basis as the Flint Cooperative As" sociation and in June, 1935, opened centrally located full time store. Our inventory in the basement store reached $650. The monthly volume of business grew to about the same fiqure and our membership numbered sixty families. Last month (November) in our new location, our inventory was $1750, our sales $3,000, and member and patron izing non-member families totaled 260 We now employ a full time manager and assistant. Evolutionary Development There is no doubt that in a community such as ours, it would have been almost an impossible task to start right off with a set-up such as we have today. Consumers' Cooperation was unknown. But develop ing our store gradually we learned about Consumers' Cooperation and how to operate a consumer owned and con trolled business. We realize that we are still mere beginners in this whole business of Consumers' Cooperation and have much to learn. We are also aware that we yet have to succeed. Nevertheless we are, in the words of Mr. Bowen, doing What we can to clear up our own little corner of creation. Ideal of Cooperative Community Beautiful Ahead The most inspiring feature about our cooperative activities is the fact that more and more of us are discovering that Con sumers' Cooperation is not merely saving a few pennies on groceries, coal and gasoline, but rather a way of life—1" truth a very noble way of life and that the vision and promise the Movement holds before us transcends all of its m1' mediate advantages. From The Midland Cooperator • Note This is the fourth of the series of (Editors ^ the cooperative wholesale as- ar:iclcs des"the United Slates. Midland has the stations tjnction 0| being the first cooperative oil „nique dis ^.s country. It has built, entirely wholesale ^ immense \>/holesale association *' 6itt own compounding plant and serving ott-ning j c eratives. This factual statement 132 tfin outline form the story of the evolution ^„outstanding American Cooperative.) What It Is Midland is a cooperative wholesale dealing in petroleum products, automo bile accessories and paints tor about 132 local cooperative associations mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Nearly all of these are fully paid-up members. New members added constantly. Like the associations which it serves, Midland is operated on the Rochdale co operative principles, and it is incorpo rated as a capital stock cooperative asso ciation of the federated type under the Minnesota Cooperative Law of 1923. The main plant and office are located at Johnson and Broadway N. E., Min neapolis, Minnesota. History—Early Period A loose organization of oil cooperatives in southern Minnesota formed an educa tional and protective association at Man- -————"~ —= kato, November 13, 1925, known as the Minnesota Cooper ative Oil Federation. It held two meet ings, one at Man- kato and another at Owatonna, for the discussion of legis lative and business matters. It did not undertake wholesale buying. Executive board of Federation, meet ing at St. Paul, Sep tember 8, 1926 adopted articles in corporating the Min nesota Co-op Oil Company, to deal in petroleum products wholesale for the local cooperatives. Membership was $20 per association, plus $10.00 for each ad ditional bulk plant. Money paid into the Federation and held by secretary at Al bert Lea lost when bank closed. The wholesale started without capital, each association paying cash in advance for merchandise ordered. Renville County Cooperative Oil Com pany, Sacred Heart, Minnesota, ordered the first car of gasoline, paying $1,000 in advance. Freeborn County Cooperative Oil Company at Albert Lea advanced $3,000.00. Offices opened at 33rd Street and East Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, January, 1927, with E. G. Cort, who had been County Agent in Freeborn County, in charge. Trade mark adopted: The word "Co op" with clasped hands forming the hyphen. Disposition of net gain: First year's earnings returned in cash by vote of sec ond annual meeting. Earnings of other years, above the amount applied to mem bership, paid to locals in form of certifi cates of indebtedness bearing six per cent interest. Total savings in eight years. L—r 10 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 11 1927 to 1934, were $148,333.97. Savings for 1935 to October 31 were $60,286.11. Endorsed credit union movement in 1933, and has encouraged organization of credit unions among oil association mem bers. Endorsed by Wisconsin Society of Equity in 1932. Joined Wisconsin Coun cil of Agriculture in 1932. Assisted in organization of Wisconsin Cooperative League, educational agency, in 1934. Changed in 1934 from a membership to a capital stock cooperative. Government Membership: Every member associa tion must have five shares of $100.00 each, plus one share for each 50 members over 250. Incorporated under the Minnesota Co operative Law of 1923. Annual meeting second Tuesday in June of each year. Each association has one vote. Board of directors of ten representing districts in Wisconsin and Minnesota, meets quarterly. Small managing board, consisting of the three directors closest to Minneapolis, meets monthly. Rochdale cooperative principles in cluded in the articles and by-laws of the association. Merchandising—Source of Supply Light oils: Bought by contract on speci fications from reliable independent re fineries. Lubricants: Compounded at the Mid land plant; grease packed at plant. Tires and accessories: Chiefly from National Cooperatives, Inc.; some from the Miller Tire Co. Batteries and paint from National Co operatives, Inc. Brand: The word "Co-op" enclosed in a circle with clasped hands forming the hyphen. Letters of green with orange background. Policies Business with cooperatives only. Net gain pro-rated on the basis of patronage. Pro-ration determined on the basis of the gross profit of each individual sale. Semi-annual audit by Cooperative au ditors. Advertising carried on through globes, station signs, circular letters ers, annual and district meetings' cooperative press. ' and Organization, Education Propounds Rochdale principles of operation. Ca Promotes and sponsors coopérât' education through the cooperative nr'Ve field force, personal contacts, annual a^' special meetings of stockholders and H rectors, correspondence, material benefit pamphlets, lectures, cooperative schools training courses. Encourages everyone to deal with co operatives as exclusively as needs permit Advertises cooperative products sold under cooperative brands. Serves every real cooperative with supplies of petroleum products of highest quality. Sponsors the organization of coopera tive insurance associations, farmers' co_- operative trucking associations, coopéra tive credit unions, cooperative stores, etc Edits and publishes the Midland Co- operator, which speaks out on social and economic problems of the day as well as furnishes news of interest'to oil associa tions. Change of Name At the third annual meeting in 1930 the name was changed to the Midland Cooperative Oil Association. By this time the wholesale had extended its activities into Wisconsin, In 1934 another change of name was made, this time to Midland Cooperative Wholesale, a name which accords better with the varied nature of the commodities handled. Business Expansion Blending plant purchased in 1931. New offices occupied in January, 1932. First oil shipped from new plant, February. 1932. Blending of oils started, March. 1932. Tire and auto accessory business started in 1931. Paints added in 1934. Provided gas and fuel storage for Twin City oil cooperatives, 1933. Sponsored organization of Cooperative Insurance Association, 1933; American Farmers Mutual Auto Insurance Company, 1934: Twin City Oil Co-ops Credit Union. 1934; Cooperative Coal Association, 1934. Office and field force increased to keep it increasing business; force as of pacei 1935 as follows: eight fieldmen, Af ffire workers, two special staff mem- 15 Piaht plant employees, General bers, e'a growth in business volume, the following amounts in 1934: r , 'r handled, 3209; total sales, 'Ä100675; total assets, $239,085.40; $1; si'vings, $44,798.98. (Sales to Oct. ,f 1935 were $2,005,433.89; tank cars handled 3426.) Other Important Events Joined The Cooperative League of the United States in 1930. Staff members and directors have taken active part in the work of The League Helped organize National Coopera tives, Inc., in 1933, and through it has be come part of the International Whole sale, a federation of national wholesales in 26 countries. Started Co-op Oil News in 1930, which was combined with Cooperative Builder in 1932. Midland Cooperator started in August, 1933. Trains employees of associations by conducting an annual oil school, man agers' meetings, and a training school for prospective employees. Actively sponsors legislation pertaining to cooperative activities. Furnishes local cooperatives with speakers, literature, plays, movie films, etc. Develops sales material and adver tising material for its members. Encourages research in cooperative and merchandising problems and makes the results available to the members. Purchases equipment for its member associations at low cost. Takes active part in the national Con sumers' Cooperative Movement and uses every available means to advance it. Achievements of Midland First cooperative oil wholesale in ex istence. Built an immense wholesale organiza tion entirely out of earnings. Developed some outstanding coopera tive leaders in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Spread the message of Rochdale con sumers' cooperation to a host of people in the Northwest. Systematized business practices by strengthened finances and spread the co operative oil movement throughout the Northwest. Established the cooperative credit un ion movement in Minnesota and Wis consin. Started its own publication, The Mid land Cooperator, to keep the local asso ciations informed about developments in the cooperative movement. This now reaches nearly 40,000 individuals. Conducted a training school for em ployees and prospective employees of local associations, attended by 30 young men from three states. Conducted educational meetings in local associations following definite courses of study, bringing knowledge of cooperative history and principles to lo cal association members. What Midland Hopes to Do Become the basis for a strong con sumer cooperative in the rural Northwest. Spread the cooperative message to every farmer and worker in this area. Promote the union of all cooperatives in this area. Put a cooperative oil association and a credit union into every county of these states. Help foster all forms of genuine coop eration and thus establish a Cooperative Democracy in America. International News London—Nine members of the Coop- constituencies Cooperative Party mem- eratiye Party were elected to the House bers were urged to vote for Labor candi- L°mmons in the recent British Gen- dates, «al Election. With only twenty candi- flates in the field the Cooperative Party Helsingfors, Finland—A tribute from Polled 348,000 votes, exceeding by 100,- an unusual source came in a statement lts largest previous vote. In other from Risto Ryti, President of the Bank of 12 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 13 Finland, that the cooperative movement is one of the principal sources of the pros perity which Finland, in contrast to other countries, is enjoying. The President of the Bank of Finland made the following statement: "The low cost of distribution is an important factor in our national re covery, and for this our Consumers' Co operative movement is responsible. Ow ing to this movement, the middleman preys less upon the economic substance of the country than almost anywhere else in the world . . . Consumers' societies which sell in free competition with private undertaking also dictate the general price level. About one third of the retail trade of Finland is in the hands of the con sumers' societies." Rome, Italy—The Italian Government, faced with difficult economic conditions on account of the Abyssinian adventure, has had to turn to consumers' coopera tives as a defense against profiteering. With general prices zooming the cooper atives have proved the only test of what is a just and reasonable price. It is im portant to point out at this juncture that the Italian cooperatives are not members of the International Cooperative Alliance which has repeatedly scored Fascist con trol of Italian societies. Stockholm, Sweden — Legal action brought by the international electric lamp trust against the cooperative "Luma" Lamp Factory has ended in a victory for the cooperative. The Stockholm courts rejected the cartels claims, and ordered it to pay 47,000 kroner to Luma in com pensation for legal costs. Nearly three years have passed since the action began. The international cartel, through its Ger man subsidiary, claimed the cooperative had infringed on patent rights T instigation of legal proceedings 'on r ground o'f patent infringement has b favorite weapon of the Inte^3 Electric Lamp Trust against i policé in force in ninety-one of two counties of the state. factories according to The Link lished by the CWS in Manchester I Sweden alone the advent of the i factory has lightened the pockets of^ trust by over a million dollars a year Edinburgh, Scotland— The Board I Directors of the Scottish C. W. S h decided to set up an electric lamp fac.^5 in Scotland at a cost of approximate]! $300,000. It is planned that its canar / will be 3,000,000 bulbs a year, thouqh at first only half that amount will be pro duced. There will be the closest collabo ration with the Scandinavian Coopera tive Luma Lamp factory, especially on the technique of manufacture. Investiqa- tion by the International Cooperative Wholesale Society has shown that arti ficial trade barriers maintained at the re quest of capitalist corporations make it impossible for a cooperative plant in one country, like Luma, to serve other co operative wholesales satisfactorily. The plan, therefore, is to use the system of the Philips electric bulb trust of plants in each country designed to fill the local need, but all collaborating in engineering technique, purchases of raw materials and other working arrangements. The Philips monopoly, connected with General Elec tric of Britain, maintains a high price throughout Europe; Luma has cut the price in Sweden almost in half. The Scottish step is a distinct advance in the methods of International Cooperation in its fight against irresponsible private combinations. Cooperatives in Action New York City—The Eastern Coop erative Wholesale has proudly an nounced the opening of three full-fledged cooperative stores at Elizabeth and Sum- mitt, New Jersey, and Hewlett, Long Island, which grew out o'f cooperative study clubs and buying clubs organized last year. The Wholesale has also opened a new warehouse in New York City, for storing and packaging co-op label goods for delivery to cooperative stores and buying clubs in the Greater New York Area. Indianapolis, Ind.—On February 26, 1935, the Department of Insurance of the State of Indiana granted the Farm uu- reau Mutual Insurance Company of 1"' diana a license to write casualty tasur' ance. Ten months later there are ov* Washington, D. C.—The quarterly re- f the Farm Credit Administration P°,rtS °e that the membership of Federal 'it Unions is growing at the rate of ' than 10,000 a month. „ Illinois-—Consumers' Coop- V"rServices boasts a 100% increase era : of sales for October, 1935, over n sales for October, 1934. The South fhicaqo store has doubled its floor space, dded hundreds of new items, started delivery service, launched the Coopera- News, and maintained a constant education program that includes testing arties, in which members of the cooper ative meet to taste and pass on goods to be stocked in the store. In many cases high ly advertised brands failed to meet stringent tests of consumer needs and the cooperative was able to stock higher quality goods at lower prices than com peting private profit stores. Los Angeles, Calif.—The Cooperative Wholesale Association of Southern Cali fornia Los Angeles, has boosted its sales from '$1500 in May to $8,000 for the month of October. Nearly 100 coopera tive stores and buying clubs are purchas ing through the wholesale. Washington, D. C.—Consumers' Co operation as an economic foundation for world peace was again affirmed when the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom announced the preparation of a special discussion outline on Coop eratives and Peace. Chicago, Illinois-—Chicago Theological Seminary students in the Kimbark Co operative Dining Club are feeding them selves for 13c a meal. Membership in the cooperative has jumped from twenty-five to fifty-eight in the three months of its operation. Seattle, Wash.—Following closely on the heels of the organization of the Co operative Education Association of Colo rado, comes the announcement of the formation of the Consumers' Cooperative League of Washington. The new organi zation was organized primarily to coor- fuf th-e educational work in the State Washington. A speakers bureau, study courses and a publication "Cooperative Progress" have been launched. Robert B. Shaw, 5727 30th Street, N. E., Seattle, is editor of the new publication. The new educational organization is working with the cooperative wholesales, Pacific Sup ply Cooperative and Grange Coopera tive Wholesale, which are growing rapid ly in volume and number of new coopera tives in the Pacific Northwest. New York City—The Workmen's Mutual Fire Insurance Society has ap plied for licenses to extend its service to New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Minnesota. Harrisburg, Pa.— The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association reported a first year volume of business of $171,000, celebrated the second anni versary of the Farm Review by pushing its circulation to 37,000 (three times that of two years ago) and moved into the new Farm Bureau-owned building in Harrisburg. North Kansas City, Mo.—Arthur Kat- ka, former member of the staff of the Central Cooperative Wholesale, Super ior, Wisconsin, has been employed as manager of the new Grocery Department of the Consumers' Cooperative Associa tion. Brooklyn, N. Y.—The Independent Consumers' Cooperative Society, organ ized by labor and socialist groups early in 1935, opened a cooperative laundry in May. In the face of a price war in the racket-infested laundry business in Brooklyn, the co-op increased its volume o'f business from less than $10 the first week to $400 a week in November. Plans are being made to purchase complete laundry equipment and push into the field of other cooperative services as soon as the membership warrants. Chapel Hill, North Carolina— Two thousand of the twenty-five hundred members of the student body of the Uni versity of North Carolina are members of a cleaning and pressing cooperative which did a business of $15,000 in 1934 and far exceeded that in 1935. The co-op owns its own truck, employs a manager, two clerks and six cleaning and pressing experts. In spite of the fact that it paid higher than code wages, the co-op clean ed and pressed suits of clothes for forty cents compared to seventy-five cents 14 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 15 charged by private cleaners. The success in cleaning and pressing led the students to add clothing to their cooperative serv ice. A private clothing merchant in Chapel Hill is reported to have advertised that he would run the co-op out of busi ness if it cost him $100,000. Today, the merchant is in bankruptcy. The coopera tive was started on a capital of $760 raised by $1 membership fees from the charter members. North Kansas City, Mo.—'Eighty-three students from seven states and the Dis trict of Columbia attended the ten-day school in cooperative principles and meth ods conducted by the Consumers' Coop erative Association, November 3 to 13th. Minneapolis, Minn.^In line with the policy of ever-expanding cooperative service, the Midland Cooperative Whole sale announced the formation of twenty- six credit unions in the month of October, created a wholesale coal department to serve cooperative members and launched a one month training school for co-op employees. Seattle, Wash.—'During the first ten months of 1935 eighteen new farm supply cooperatives in Oregon, Washington and Idaho affiliated with the Grange Coop erative Wholesale, bringing the total number served by the wholesale to sixty. New York City—- Nine new consumers clubs have been organized in the states of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York, bringing the number of consumers clubs affiliated with Cooperative Distributors to a total of sixty-one. Indianapolis, Ind.—Twenty-five coun ties in the state have formed Farm Bu reau Credit Unions which have accumu lated savings of $125,000. More than $70,000 has been reloaned to members at low rate interest without the loss of a single dollar in three years of operation. Columbus, Ohio—-Realizing the com mon bond of consumer interest, farm and city cooperation became a greater reality with the passage of the following resolu tion by the Ohio Farm Bureau State Con vention in Columbus, November 22. The Board of Directors of the Farm Bureau earlier in the year recommended that members of the educational staff V, rected to assist in the organization f cooperatives. c'ty "There has been a marked growth H ing the last few years of urban coon tive associations, and this develo will, without doubt, be a continunu "' steady one. and "BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVPn that since the relationships existing kT tween the farmers and urban consum groups have so much of common purpo^ in their cooperative developments and * caring for the consumptive needs of the? ' members, that we authorize, as a pol' ' of the Farm Bureau, that the Board'^ Trustees and the officials of the Fa° Bureau, develop and promote proper plans for agreeable and consistent work ing relationships between these coopera tive associations. All such plans, shall jn the interest of both, work toward a uni fied program of action, which shall be jn accord with the promotion of the cooper ative movement." North Kansas City, Mo.—As an ad ditional step into cooperative production the Consumers' Cooperative Association has just completed and shipped to mem bers the first cooperatively-made grease. New York—Rural Electrification, the newest of cooperative activity, has al ready had a dramatic career. Cooperative associations for the distribution of power have already been organized in Ohio, In diana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Washington. Projects are pouring into the Rural Electrification Administra tion for approval and allotment of loans. Five cooperative projects were already underway early in December. Private profit utility companies, fear ful that the cooperatives would actually serve territory they had refused to serve because it had been considered unprofit able, came to life with unusual vigor. On the day poles were set for the first co operative project in Ohio a private company began stretching a line to serve the same territory. A race reminiscent d the old railroad days followed. The co operative, with consumers already sign£ for the service, won. The private conij pany, however, resorted to severa questionable tactics in an attempt to sk off the cream of the territory. SiB"'a has been reported from other sec- act'°n , tjie country. The race to provide ti°ns ? farms with electricity is on. Ame battle will be to determine whether Thef ffler will serve himself or pay ex-. thf. L prices for the privilege of get- °jn service from a private profit dis tributor. Sacramento, Cal.— Consumers' Coop- tion was advocated by the National r nqe Convention in session in Sacra- to November 30, as a defense against fflenopoly and as a method of substituting ïe service motive for the private profit 'tive now dominating industry. "Farm- can and must help themselves through self-help cooperatives if they are to fully enjoy tne rruits °f ^eii: toil," said E E. King, Master of the Washington State Grange, in presenting the resolu tion for the adoption of the convention representing 1,000,000 organized farmers in 35 states. The statement accompanying the recommendation of consumers' coop erative action, said: "The growth of business and finance has placed "unorganized agriculture at a great disadvantage," and this circumstance will increase as time goes on, unless corrected by the farmers themselves through cooperative action. "Under our present monopolistic system one of the greatest difficulties is that industrial workers are unable to buy back goods which they them selves produced. We even get involved in dis putes internationally because of some of our com bines wanting selling advantages. Consumer co operation is a solution to this evil and should be encouraged. The private profit motive should be replaced by the cooperative motive of service." Babson Park, Mass.— -Babson Reports, watchman on the wall for profit business, declared in its November 25 issue that 10.000 consumers cooperative societies now operating in the U. S. are symptoms of a consumer uprising and that "mer chants who laugh off these consumers' crusades are sitting on dynamite." ., ^ears aßo we did not think such a thing pos sible. If anybody then had forecast a consumers' "Pnsing in this country, we instantly would have «enounced the idea as a false alarm. Today, how- ««. we are not sure. If such a thing as Town- senoism which is fundamentally unsound, can Sfteep the United States from coast to coast, there L a" «ceïïent chance that another prairie fire may „ f.ndled by the consumers' rebellions already snm .i"9' r consumers' movement — unlike the »metning-for-nothing-clubs— has certain elements ot rr * ual sound. It has something 1 Cmsading 9uality almost like a spirit- Potentially it (the consumers' movement) has enough votes, enough money, and enough eco nomic soundness to split things wide open. As the leaders of such crusades well know, if consumers ever get organized and go into real action, our present retailing, wholesaling and producing sys tems might be blown to bits. "At present there are four kegs of dynamite: Consumers are already entrenched in Washing ton . . . Another attempt will be made in January to tighten up the food and drug laws . . . con sumers' advisory services undertake to inform their subscribers on the merits of various makes of goods. Finally—and this may become the biggest keg of all—there is dogged growth of consumers' cooperative societies of the Rochdale type. In other countries there are sections where about half of the retail volume is handled by such societies. They are expanding into wholesaling and pro ducing activities. In the U. S. about 10,000 of these societies are getting a foothold. Some are large, some are small—all are symptoms. "We all must watch our step if consumers ever become wise to their latent power and decide to become dictators in fact as they already are in theory. We say, and say earnestly, that merchants who laugh off these consumers' crusades are sitting on dynamite." New Haven, Conn.-^Forty-five min isters jointly answered President Roose velt's letter to them asking for sugges tions as to ways out. The names signed to the letter include many of America's outstanding ministers, such as Dr. Albert W. Beaven, former President of the Fed eral Council of Churches and President of Colgate-Rochester Divinity School (which is bringing Kagawa to America to deliver the course of lectures on the Rauschenbusch Foundation); Professor Jerome Davis, Yale Divinity School; Rev. John Haynes Holmes, New York Com munity Church; Rabbi Sidney Goldstein, Chairman Social Justice Commission o£ Central Conference of American Rabbis; Professor Reinhold Niebuhr, Union Theological Seminary; Eleanor Copen- haver, Industrial Secretary National Y.. W.C.A. Board; Dr. Ernest Guthrie, Gen eral Director, Chicago Congregational Union; Bishop Paul Jones, Antioch Col lege; Dr. Robert Searle, Executive Secre tary, Greater New York Federation of. Churches, and others. They not only de nounce the present capitalistic order but: specifically and definitely suggest the three principal ways out in two nuggets; of wisdom, "We hold that there can be no> permanent recovery as long as the nation depends on palliative legislation inside the capitalistic system," say these min isters. They then urge "three drastic steps, involving first, transferring the distribution of the necessities of life, as 16 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Jo: well as other consumption goods, to co operatives; second, nationalization of the basic industries and third, the building of an inclusive trade union movement which will insure social justice to the workers." Consumers' Cooperatives, Public Utilities and Trade Unions—verily these forty- five ministers are beginning to see clear ly the economic roads to the Promised Land, Superior, Wisconsin—Citizens of Ake- ley, Minnesota, unable to afford medical service from physicians in neighboring towns, have organized as consumers to secure jointly the service they could not individually afford. The village council took the initiative in calling a town meeting to discuss the problem of medical service. Taking their cue from Saskatchewan, Canada, com munities which had met the same prob lem, farm and village residents formed a medical cooperative. A membership fee of ten dollars en titles the member and his family to med ical service for a year. Two hundred members in the town of 1,800 are able to hire a competent, reliable physician can devote his time to keeping the m bers of the cooperative well rather t\^~ merely to treating those who become i? As the membership increases it -win Ï possible to extend the service to in 1 j6 a full time nurse and hospital faciliti? A similar medical cooperative, OrQS' ized in Elk City, Oklahoma, late in igin" now owns a modern $25,000 hosnif i and 1800 families are "helping the? selves to health" at a cost of $2 per fam" ily per month for complete medical and hospital service. Meridian, Idaho—"We have a co-on oil company here in the Boise Valley Started operations the 7th day of April 1933. with about 400 members and two stations and one truck. Today, two and a half years later, we have 3,000 members, four trucks, two transports hauling gas from Portland, Oregon, and fourteen sta tions selling over 100,000 gallons of gas per day. We are still growing. We have paid four dividends back to the members of better than $50,000, which we think is doing real well." (Signed) M. S. Houten. The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation SURVEY, November Midmonthly, "Own Your Own Hospital," Elk City Co-op Hospital. SURVEY GRAPHIC, January, "Meet the Co ops," Bertram B. Fowler. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, a special series of articles on the Consumers' Cooperative movement, Bertram B. Fowler, successive \Vednesdays, December 11 to January 15. FORUM, January, "The New Crusade—Kagawa Preaches Economic Salvation," Bertram B. Fowler, CHRISTIAN CENTURY, December 4, "Kagawa in America," an editorial. November 13, "Instead of Relief," Soren K. Ostergaard. SOCIAL ACTION, Congregational Department of Social Action, November 15, "The Churches in Social Action, Why and How," Consumers' Cooperatives, James Myers. THE NATION'S BUSINESS, November, "Right eous Cooperatives," an editorial attack by Merle Thorpe. PROGRESSIVE GROCER, December, "Con sumers Share in the Profits of This Store," the story of the United Cooperative Society of Maynard. SOCIAL QUESTIONS BULLETIN, Methodist Federation of Social Service, December, "Steps to a Planning Social Economy—The Coopera tives." NATIONAL STUDENT MIRROR, January, "Consumers' Cooperative Technique," William C. Loring, Jr. COMMON SENSE, January, "Without Pass words or Parades," Wallace J. Campbell. EPWORTH HERALD, December 7, "Another Student Cooperative," a report of the University of Oregon Students Cooperative Living Asso ciation. EPWORTH HIGHROAD, January, Bibliography on Consumers' Cooperation. CANADIAN STUDENT, November, "An Extra Mural University—The Cooperative Movement in Eastern Nova Scotia," Eirene Walker. INFORMATION SERVICE, Federal Council ol Churches, November 23, "One-Eighth Farm Supplies Bought Cooperatively." YEA HUDSON, November, "Christian Youth Building a New World—Cooperation," Howard M. Thomson. ,. A. F. of L. NEWS SERVICE, November 30. "Cooperative System Aids Swedish Masses. AMERICA, November 16, "Religion at the Grass roots," John LaFarge, S. J. Religion, the farmer and cooperation. ... AMERICAN LEADER, November 22, "Oil W ments Expand World Co-op Trading. HOME MISSIONS REPORT, Board of and Church Extension, Methodist Church, cial section on Consumers' Cooperation. A NEW WORLD, December, "Bargain, Build," Wallace J. Campbell. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION ORGAN OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE PURCHASING MOVEMENT IN THEU.5. ETERNAL AS THE UNENDING CIRCLE- HARDY AS THE. EVERGREEN PINE Volume XXII. No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS Throughout this land I go to preach, "The Kingdom is at hand." —Kagawa in "Songs from the Slums" • "Human growth is the current of awareness of brotherhood resulting in conduct," Zona Gale. • Every cooperative purchase is casting an economic vote as a consumer and is more important today than casting a po litical vote as a citizen. • "Cooperatives are the love principle applied to industry," says Kagawa. • Profits, like fertilizer, only rot when they are piled up. To increase production, both must be widely distributed. • The London Cooperative Society had 117,266 members in 1924—ten years later in 1934 it had 530,610 members. Cities are the hardest fields to conquer on ac count of the lack of neighborhood rela tionships but when once cooperatives do get started more generally in cities, they will grow in America with great speed. The challenging headline, "Look Out, the Co-ops are Coming," originated by Oscar Cooley, Editor of "The Coopera tive Builder," ought to be used over two items of news; the first being Roger Bab- son's warning -to dealers that they may be sitting on dynamite if consumers ever wake up to their potential power; and the second, the report of the Farm Credit Ad ministration that the cooperative pur chasing of farm supplies has doubled dur ing the five years of the depression, from 125 to 250 million dollars, or one-eighth of the total purchasing of farm supplies in the United States. • The Consumers' Cooperative Move ment might well address an open letter of high appreciation to the immigration authorities of San Francisco wlio held1 Kagawa temporarily, just long enough for him to declare to America through the Associated and United Press services, that he would like to make the speaking tour arranged for him in order to tell America about Consumers' Cooperatives. He said in his simple, modest manner, "I hope I shall be permitted to enter this country to lecture. I am concerned with ontar=e knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in Pubf h association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. E R R m0"thly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. Tr;,fSJ,or- Wallace J- Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative anq Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. ed as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act _^ of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. 18 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 'vary enlisting the aid of Americans and par ticularly the American churches in the development of Consumers' Coopera tives." Further publicity was given to his coming to America by the personal re quest of President Roosevelt at a Cabinet meeting to the Secretaries of Labor, State and Treasury, that they speed action. For this "million dollars worth of free national publicity" which the Consumers' Coop erative Movement received through the Associated and United Press as a result of this combination of events, we are deeply grateful. e "Mr. Bertram B. Fowler addressed the Executive Club of the Boston Chamber of Commerce last evening. Mr. Fowler's talk was one of the most interesting and stimulating that we have heard in a long time." (Signed) James H. Walsh, Secre tary. While we recognize fully the possibility of some banking and business leaders pushing America towards fascism, there are also many indications that other leaders of finance and industry are con cerned about building an economic de mocracy in America as well as are farm ers and workers. e Among the many powerful expressions about Cooperation made since Kagawa came to America are these: "What does America need most? Co operation instead of competition." "The Cooperative Movement is the only way to international peace." "There is no way to help poor people except by Cooperatives." "Machines are very good when we have Cooperatives, but machines plus greed are terrible things." e Isn't it, after all, quite strange (com paring the size of the two at present) how disturbed the private-profit monopolistic elephant can become over the cooperative mouse? When Printers Ink "recognizes" the Cooperative Movement with an edi torial questioning the interest of religious leaders in our Movement; when Tide misinforms its readers in stating that we propose to eliminate advertising and does not differentiate between the ballyhoo and the informative kinds; when Roger Babson warns merchants that they "may be sitting on dynamite ... if ever wake up to their potential ow when even Nations Business pretend *' protect individual dealers from the ^ eratives, when in reality it is the oc finance-chains which are rapidly nating them; when all this evidenc piling up, as one correspondent Write "big business is sitting up and takino notice," it is an indication that the C Burners' Cooperative Movement is devel oping a real punch. We greatly appre~ ciate the wider advertising which th" organs of private-profit business ar<> giving us. Every attack is a boost as the increasing friendliness of business men towards the cooperative democratic solu tion of America's economic difficulties in dicates. e The Social Frontier, which is an out standing journal of educational criticism and reconstruction, edited by George S Counts, in a first column editorial in the December issue discusses the Wisconsin Law providing for the teaching of Co operative Marketing and Consumers' Cooperation. "The Social Frontier can not but welcome the support which the Wisconsin Legislature has thus given to the most needed improvement of the school program . . . We regard this Wis consin Act as too good to be true," the editorial concludes. • Henry Clay Frick, the steel magnate, is described as "a man who fused steel and art." It can be done in the new unselfish cooperative order but not in the present greedy capitalistic one. It takes more than a fat pocketbook to fuse art and steel. No man can do it who declares, as did Frick, that "I will never recognize the union, never, never." Only the chem istry of brotherhood will ever mix the two. It cannot be done by anyone who refuses to recognize the right of labor to organize but only by those who encour age that inalienable right. « There are two great motivating forces in society, Necessity and Desire. If one does not follow desire, eventually neces sity is likely to force action, as indicated in the following extract from a letter: "In the year 1910 I became intensely in terested in the Cooperative Movement tf 1936 p aland and for years I dreamed of the • e when such a movement might gain "• jlar importance in America. The eco- S1Ifflic system under which I worked for bade my 9ivin9 ful1 expression to my mnion, but I am now thoroughly emanci- ated from that situation by being com- CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 19 pletely broke.' "It js announced that Fascist Italy will roceed with inflexible determination to ward the necessary attainment of the goal that has been set by Premier Mussolini for the destinies of the nation," is one of the clearest statements of the difference hetween dictatorship and democracy. In a democracy the people and not the leader set the goal. The leader is a servant who carries out the orders of the people who are his superiors, in an effort to reach the goal which the people them selves set, by the methods which the peo ple themselves determine. e President Harper Sibley of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, protests against the President of the United States callina business and banking leaders by such names as representatives of "entrenched greed," the "money changers," those who "steal the livery of great national consti tutional ideals to serve discredited special interests;" those who would "gang up against the people's liberties." So do at least some cooperators. We very much hope that the argument about future po litical as well as economic steps will 'be discussed as relating to "systems" rather than to "personalities." e Cooperators can move mountains whenever they put their pens together. They can induce national radio hookups to put Consumers' Cooperation on the air. They can induce even "liberal" magazines like the Nation and the New Republic to begin to tell America about the evolutionary way out of the mess we are in instead of spending all their time analyzing the mess and discussing the revolutionary ways which America does not want to take. You, as a cooperator, have both a real responsibility and a £eat opportunity. Write! Write! Write! "P !t "P- Bombard the radio circuits nd the national and local magazines and newspapers about the Consumers' Coop erative Movement. It works, as witness the NEC "Town Meeting of the Air" program on January 9th and the an nouncements of the Nation and New Re public to feature Consumers' Coouera- tion. Wear out your pen (or even pencil) if you do not have a typewriter in this great cause. Never stop. e The general expressions which we have heard have fceen to the effect that Kagawa has "made good" on his advance publicity. Surely he has proven to be the "saint who can laugh," the "master of hearts," the "holy man of the power age," as he has been described. He knows Co operation. He doesn't generalize about a "Cooperative Commonwealth," but talks specifically about the various types of co operatives and describes them in a way that could only be possible from practical first hand knowledge and not alone from second-hand theoretical reading. He speaks English more plainly than had been anticipated. "Violence" sounded like "values" for a little while until you caught his inflection, but eventually you do. His spirit radiates and his gestures il luminate. When we admit that we cannot yet quite relate his description of the "seven values" to seven types of religions and, in turn, to "seven types of coopera tives" we are willing to admit that there may be some connection between each kind of value of life and each type of co operative, as he presents them, even if we do not yet clearly understand his inter pretation. He is surely well worth hearing. We have always admired the spirit of Caleb who, when he had returned from spying out the Land of Canaan, said to the people, "Let us go up at once and possess it!" No hesitation there, no fear complex. "At once" and "possess it" are the (key words expressing the ideas that America needs to get hold of. Why wait? The Promised Land is right before us. We have built the automatic power ma chinery to pile up plenty for all. Why not possess it? And why not at once? We must create cooperatives to distribute it. How fast we could go if we only would! Overnight, almost, we could enter in. It's either go forward rapidly or slip back in to another Dark Ages. 20 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Consumers' Cooperation "Goes to Town" CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 21 Bertram B. Fowler (Editor's Note. Bertram B. Fowler spent three months studying consumers' cooperatives in action in the Middle Western states last summer. The im portant trend toward city consumer organization he describes here will be discussed in more detail in his volume, "The Revolt of the Guinea Pigs" which will be published by Vanguard Press in March.) THE years 1934 and 1935 will proba bly go down on record as the years in which Consumers' Cooperation began to move into the larger cities. It was dur ing these years that American born, Eng lish speaking city workers definitely be gan to organize cooperatives. True, some of the older cooperatives had been started by workers in towns such as those in \Vaukegan, Illinois, and Maynard and Fitchburg, Massachusetts, but most of them were started by foreign born work ers who brought the idea of consumers' cooperation with them to America. The real developments of earlier years among American born workers had been in trie rural areas. Many observers were stating that the cooperative movement was a îarm movement. But last year the trend toward city cooperatives definitely set in. Today a number of urban cooperatives are showing just what can be done by city dwellers. Economic Pressure Forces Cooperation The same economic maladjustments which forced the growth of cooperatives in the rural areas are now forcing the growth in the cities. The problem of the consumer is the same regardless of where lie may live or how 'he makes his living. Excessive profit-taking and tlie grip of the monopolies have affected both farm and city workers. In Chicago is to be found one story of what consumers can do when they set out to help themselves. Consumers' Co operative Services, Inc., 5635 Harper Street, Chicago, was started in Decem ber, 1932, with nine members and no capital. The organization operated as a buying club, pooling orders and shopping for prices. Seven members were repre sented in the first order which includ H 21 items and amounted to $51.50. Rochdale Principles At first they operated ^on a cost-plus system and found it wasn't successful I 1934 they reorganized on true Rochdale lines and began to pile up gains. Sales in August, 1934, were $549. In October 1935, they had risen to $3,251 and were still climbing. Today Consumers' Cooperative Serv ices is a consumer oasis in a chain store desert. It has its roots firmly planted in real city soil. These city consumers have raised their standard in the face of all the competition that the city stores offer. They have to meet chain store prices. Last year while they were doing this, they paid themselves back 5% on their purchases. They did something else, too, when they began to carry a stock of high quality but non-advertised groceries, sav ing themselves as much as 50% of the price of the highly advertised brands. This group of city consumers has turned to the "Co-op" trade-marls as definitely as they liave turned to the cooperative tech nique. And it is paying them dividends. Over in neighboring Gary, Indiana, a group of Negroes are proving that the Chicago success wasn't just a happy chance. This Negro group also first turned to cooperation in 1932. Like the Chicago consumers their number was small and money scarce. Their coopera tive venture started w.hen thirty of them raised $24 and began to experiment with business by and for the people. This group had almost every handicap to overcome. One half the Negro popula tion of Gary was on relief. Most of them were discouraged and disheartened. But they saw in Consumers' Cooperation a possibility of future relief from the burden of business in the hands of the prom- makers. Economic Emancipation The story of accomplishment by the Gary Negroes is one of the most moving stories in American economic history- \Vith their $24 they started a buying Yb The buying club developed into cu ' in a tiny store. Even at this point observer would have seen nothing ^er which to enthuse in the Gary experi- ent. But in 1935 the Consumers' Coop- Dative Trading Company of Gary merged as something new and startling ? the way of a Negro-owned business, ïs total sales in 1935 were $35,000. It had a modern store on one of the main streets—the largest Negro-owned retail business in the United States. These Negroes had done something more than build their own business. They had blazed a trail that leads directly toward economic emancipation by consumer eco nomic action. The consumers in Flint, Michigan, were a little longer in finding out about Con sumers' Cooperation. It was late in 1933 when eight men began to meet monthly as an economic study group. They were looking for a way out. They got on the trail when they began to study "Other People's Money" by Louis D. Brandeis. The final chapter of that book turned the group definitely toward Consumers' Cooperation as the -philosophy for wihich they had been searching. The Flint Cooperative Association was started with eight families and $22 capi tal. From April, 1934, to September of that year they operated a buying club. In August they built shelves in the basement of the home of one of the members and put in their stock of staple groceries. By the end of the winter they found they would have to do one of two things—- move into a larger place or taike trie mem ber's furnace out of his basement. Like good cooperators they decided to move. June, 1935, saw the opening of a centrally located full-time store by the Flint cooperators. When they moved out of the member's basement, their member ship had grown to 60 families and they were doing a business of $650 a month. ln November of 1935 their membership had jumped to 260 families and the sales to $3,000. ihe Flint consumers had brought co operation to town. By education of them selves and a steady development of their business as consumers they had taken the lrst step toward the cooperative com munity. Steel Workers and Ph. D's It is a far cry from the Negro section of steel-making Gary to the lovely Uni versity city of Madison, Wisconsin. But the Negro steel worker and the Ph. D. of Madison had one thing in common. They were both consumers. The technique used to solve the problem of one would solve the problem of the other. For the consumer's dollar is the same no matter by whom it is spent. And a technique of consumer action is the only method by which the dollar can be made to buy more and more of the necessities of life. Con sumers' Cooperation went to town in Madison as it had in Gary. The Madison cooperators decided to make their start in gas and oil. In April, 1934, an organization drive was begun. Shares of stock in the cooperative were sold. In many ways the cooperative na ture of the venture appeared. After a suit able site had been leased, an architect drew the plans for the station in return for some cooperative stock. Members of various unions did construction work in exchange for stock. They even purchased some of their materials in exchange for stock. During the first month, September, 1934, the Co-op filling station pumped 10,400 gallons of gasoline, besides doing a good business in tires, batteries, lubri cating and grease jobs. At the end of the first month, an audit of its books showed net savings of $250. In the first eight months of its existence this cooperative did a business of $18,000. At the end of that time the cooperative association bought out the holdings of an old-line oil company which had on its hands two filling stations and a bulk petroleum plant which had been losing money for them steadily. The cooperators took over these holdings. In the first two months of business they put both stations on a paying basis. By November, 1935, they had besides the filling stations a bulk plant for fuel oil and their own coal yard and were doing a business of $3,000 a week. On the first $18,000 business they paid a patronage dividend of 8%. The Consumer Discovers Himself The Negro population of Pittsburgh is economically on a par with that of Gary, Indiana. They suffered the same wrongs 22 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 23 of exploitation. Like the Negroes of Gary they were for the most part unskilled workers in the steel industry. Like their fellows in Gary they were discouraged—• almost hopeless. At this point they made the same discovery, namely, that their economic wrongs could be righted through consumer economic action. So, two years ago the Citizens Grocery Com pany made its appearance. Here again, the start was lamentably small—the first meeting saw eight men pooling a total of $2. It took them a year from that time to save enough money and get sufficient membership to launch their cooperative. But launch it they did with the result that their fine little store in Pittsburgh did $12,000 worth of business in eight months and saved for its members over $600. It has now grown beyond the immediate neighborhood so that a second store has been opened. In Minneapolis and St. Paul Consumers' Cooperation likewise went to town. For years it had been spreading swiftly through the rural areas of central states. Its entry into the cities here was inevi table. In St. Paul a few men started in 1930 to put the idea of a cooperative gas and oil station across. It took them a long time to get started. But when they did they proved that cooperation works as well in the cities as it does in the country. Their sales for the year ending March 31, 1935, were $36,000 with earnings for the consumers of over $3,000. In neighboring Minneapolis the Allied Cooperative, Inc., a fuel oil cooperative organization, has written cooperative his tory. Started in September, 1933, with a capital of $75 this organization did a busi ness of $25,000 the first year and ran that up to $65,000 the second year. During this time it averaged a 5}/2% patronage dividend. Labor Organizes Its Purchasing Power In June, 1934, a group of trade union ists in Racine, Wisconsin, began to won der if there wasn't some way by which they could bring into the city some of the benefits which the country sections of Wisconsin were enjoying through con sumers' cooperatives. They opened a fill ing station and then went on into the distribution of coal. This society was in corporated for $6,000 with $3,000 Wo t, of stock subscribed by 270 individu 1 In nine months in 1935 this organizaf98' did a business of over $38,000 and e ed for these consumer members Consumers' Cooperation as a for the city consumers of Columbu Ohio, came in as a result of the great r operative development within the Oh'" Farm Bureau. In this city a group of con° sumers, headed by some of the facult" members of the Ohio University, rented a vacant lot and installed their own gaso line pumps that they might sell them selves gas and oil and share the savings that the rural communities were already making. Here we have a clear picture of what is happening all over the United States. The savings made by farmers are begin ning to draw the city dwellers toward the movement. In this town-ward movement the farm cooperatives see their chance to develop markets for their produce through these city cooperatives while they cut the margins on their own prod ucts through the greater sales and wider distribution that comes with city coop eratives. It was because of this that the Ohio Farm Bureau has officially gone on record as being in favor of the develop ment of consumers' cooperatives in the towns and cities. More than this, they have signified their determination to help in the development of such cooperatives. The Columbus Consumers' Cooperative has proved that the city consumers of Ohio can organize to serve themselves. They have proved this practically through their own business in gasoline, fuel and such service as dry cleaning and the purchase of clothing. A group of Negroes took the lead in Kansas City when they opened the first city consumers gas and oil station in that city. Like the Negroes of Gary, they ap proached the problem by the way of dis cussion and study groups and finally opened their own gasoline station in July, 1935. Membership has grown steadily- From the start business was good. Be cause of the example of these Negroes, backed by the presence of a powerful wholesale in the Consumers' Cooperative Association set-up, there is on foot a real development of consumers' coopération in Kansas City. Steps to the New Order In October, 1934, a professor of philos- phy and psychology in an Illinois college isited a Cooperative League Congress He came away with a new ' method -jea, the ideal of a cooperative philos- nhy for the building of an economic sys- t ffl that would support a humane and ivilized culture. He saw it as a serious nd practical business in which he could have a part. So he returned to Alton, Illinois, to start a cooperative organiza tion. The start was a study club. As in Flint, Michigan, so in Alton, Illinois. Co operation went through the usual proce dure. The members began to pool their orders with a member's basement as a distributing center. From the basement they went on to open their own store. Now, with a membership of 100, the Al ton Consumers' Cooperative is doing a business of $1400 a month. Not a breath taking volume, but something even more than this is its far-reaching implications. Cooperation in this case has come to town to build the foundations for a new eco nomic order in the community. Cooperation is going to town. From smoke-smudged Pittsburgh over the Al- leghanies and through the broad stretches of the West the movement is going into city after city to give discouraged con sumers new hope and courage. An eco nomic system has collapsed. And as usual, the consumers are at the bottom of the heap. In cities from Massachusetts to Oregon- and from Wisconsin to Texas, the consumers of America are starting to build anew. The structure which they are erecting is based on the rights and power of the consumer; the only base wide enough and sound enough to support the weight of an economic system. Federal Council of Churches Seminar on Consumers' Cooperation Benson Y. Landis (Editor's Note. Benson Y. Landis, Associate Secretary, Department of Research and Educa tion, of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, and James Myers, Industrial Secretary of the Federal Council were primarily responsible for the organization of the Indianapolis Seminar which faced squarely the problem of applying Christian principles to the economic and social order.) ON December 30, 1935, to January 1. 1936, more than 300 church officials, ministers, religious education workers and lay leaders from a majority of the Protestant bodies of the United States and from state and city councils of churches, met at Indianapolis, Indiana, in the First Baptist Church, to study the consumers' cooperative movement. This was the first time that a national seminar of Protestant church leaders was held on the subject. Most of those who attended were appointed as official delegates. More than forty officers of consumers' coopera tive associations attended. There were Present also, representatives of Farm Bu reaus' Granges. The Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union and the Amer ican Federation of Labor. Several gov ernment officials attended as observers. Jhe Seminar was organized for two reasons: First, Protestant church leaders wanted an opportunity to hear Dr. Toyo- hiko Kagawa, the noted Christian leader of Japan, lecture on the cooperative movement; second, there has been an in creasing interest among Protestant .reli gious leaders in consumers' cooperation in the United States. These two forces converged, as it were, to form the In dianapolis Seminar. For three days those I Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa 24 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Febru CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 25 in attendance heard descriptions of the cooperative movement. They engaged in considerable critical discussion. They raised probably all the important ques tions that could be raised about any movement. Yet they were in an adven turous mood. One person who attended said that the Indianapolis Seminar was the most "reckless" religious meeting he had ever attended. He meant there was evidence that Christianity was redis covering the element of danger. Dr. Arthur E. Holt of the Chicago Theological Seminary presided at all ses sions. The executive of the Seminar was James Myers, Industrial Secretary of the Federal Council of Churches. Thirty states were represented by the delegates. Special features were sight-seeing trips to cooperatives in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana. "The Love Principle Applied to Industry" Dr. Kagawa spoke twice and supplied the keynotes for the Seminar. The first few sentences he uttered were criticisms of capitalism as it had been developed in our time. He went on to say that within capitalism not much could be done by way of economic improvement, and that religious values had not greatly affected economic institutions during recent years. Christianity, says Dr. Kagawa, now needs a new method. How shall Chris tianity change the economic system? Through encouraging cooperatives, is his answer. Dr. Kagawa has studied numerous ex periments in economic reorganization. He has concluded that the cooperatives offer the most to individuals who want to meet their basic needs. He thinks the coopera tive movement also provides the neces sary moral discipline for economic recon struction. "The Rochdale principles have been tested for more than ninety years and have been found to be successful." Dr. Kagawa also made a fervent appeal for an extension of cooperative trade be tween the nations. Under the leadership of Anthony Leh ner of the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooper ative Association there was an informal seminar on the principles of consumers' cooperation. Murray Lincoln of the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association noted evidence that consumers' cooperation pears now to be a movement of tu masses in the United States. He rnacj plea for education of the people, and f f that the churches had an opportunity t bring people together for study and di° cussion. He described the developm S of gasoline and oil cooperatives and th* development of cooperative automobil6 liability insurance. He also said th ^ credit unions were needed as a very im portant part of the consumers' move ment. Look to Sweden I. H. Hull, President of National Co operatives and General Manager of the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Asso ciation, described other developments of the movement in the United States. He spoke particularly of the work of the In diana cooperators who, ten years ago, started with a debt of over $12,000 and have now paid patronage dividends of over $1,000,000. "But," said Mr. Hull, "the finest products of cooperatives are the cooperators." He pointed to co operative Sweden as an example that the people of the United States should follow if they wish to have stability and security in their economic system. Howard A. Cowden, Secretary-Treas urer of National Cooperatives, gave a vivid picture of travel to European co operative societies. He described an ex hibition of products manufactured by the consumers' cooperatives of England. He •told of the remarkable developments of the Scottish cooperatives and also spoke enthusiastically of what had been done in Sweden. For Labor—A New Technique John W. Edelman, Research Secretary of the American Federation of Hosiery Workers, said that things are happening in organized labor. More and more the progressive forces in the labor movement are asserting themselves to work for fun damental social change. More and more organized labor is regarding support for the cooperative movement as essential to the trade union movement. There is also much interest in public ownership. For the Negro—A New Hope One of the most moving addresses of all was that made by J. L. Reddix, - of the Consumers' Cooperative Trading Company of Gary, Ind. He said: .'i consumers' cooperation the Negro L s found a new hope." He told of the dern store and meat market developed j"° Negroes from a little buying club [ rted in January, 1932. The cooperative 5 w has over 400 members and seven ""ployees. It did a business of $35,000 in 1935 Adolph Krahl, of the Pure Milk Asso ciation of Chicago, formerly a minister f the Methodist Episcopal Church, oke on the producer-consumer relation ship He presented a critical treatment out of his experience in the Chicago dai ry district and throughout a trip to Eu rope. He said he saw little hope of social progress through the cooperative move- jnent unless cooperative leaders grew so cially as the business grows physically. E. R. Bowen, General Secretary of The Cooperative League in the U. S. A., presented a rounded program for con sumers, adequate for an age of automatic power production. Mr. Bowen made a plea that we should look to Scandinavia and Great Britain, where political de mocracy was being preserved and eco nomic democracy was also being slowly established largely through the coopera tives. Mr. Bowen asked that immediate emergencies be met but that financial institutions must be cooperatively owned by the people. Likewise, utilities should be taken over and reorganized as coop eratives. Consumers' cooperatives should be organized and through extension of wholesaling, manufacturing and mining, reorganize the industrial system. Col lective bargaining by vocational groups, said Mr. Bowen, is as necessary as con sumers' organization. The Clergy and Cooperatives The Seminar also heard what the American churches are doing about con sumers' cooperation. Rev. J. R. Thomas of Kansas City, told about the fruits of me work of a group in his city. In one denomination there were fifty-five groups. There was also an educational committee and research commission. Out of the work of one commission has al ready come a grocery store, built up around a self-help cooperative in an in- Justnal district. Mr. Thomas believes t manV ministers "are recapturing the spirit of the early church as they face real live situations." Rev. Ellis Cowling, of Thorntown, Ind., described his experience in two rural parishes. In one of these a self-help cooperative developed into a modern con sumers group. A Community Credit Un ion was also formed. "When a minister becomes interested in cooperatives," said Mr. Cowling, "he is no longer interested in simply building up the church as an institution. He becomes interested in changing the life pattern of men both in and out of the church." The Seminar Urges Action The delegates at the Seminar approved unanimously the following recommenda tions to the Federal Council of Churches and .the religious bodies taking part in the Seminar: "We are convinced that the coopera tive movement is one of the major tech niques in making possible the Kingdom of God on earth. We believe that the churches and religious organizations have an opportunity to supply dynamic moti vation for this most promising move ment. We are convinced that the churches must concern themselves with the qoal that the movement seeks. "Various church bodies have on past occasions in recent years made declara tions in favor of encouraging coopera tives. We believe the organizations al ready within the local churches should study the cooperative movement as ex emplified in the uniquely challenging life of Kagawa and also as the movement has developed in the United States and other countries. The churches should seek to cooperate with other community groups in this study. We believe that Kagawa's tour of the U. S. cannot fail to stimulate unprecedented interest in the cooperative movement in this country. The churches should endeavor to direct this growing interest into active participation in coop erative enterprises. "We recommend -that the various church bodies should hold other seminars throughout the country on the relation of the church to the cooperative movement and that interested agencies should more widely disseminate the literature on the movement." The Federal Councia of Churches, 105 East 22nd Street, New York City, has published a report of the seminar. Price &c each: $3.00 per hundred. 26 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Directors Plan Cooperative Expansion 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 27 PIONEERS in the American coopera tive movement united with younger members of The Cooperative League in describing thé meetings of directors and educational 'men in Indianapolis, Decem ber 27, 28 and 29, as marking a most significant step in the progress o'f Con sumers' Cooperation as an organized movement in the United States. The Ninth Biennial Congress of The League in Chicago in Oct., 1934, brought together those who had long carried the torch of cooperation and leaders of large farm purchasing cooperatives which have sprung into existence to meet the economic pressure of the agricultural depression. The meeting of the Board of Directors in February, 1935, brought together for the first time the general nation-wide repre sentation of wholesale and retail managers and educational directors who now con stitute the Board of The Cooperative League. In connection with this directors meeting, the first general meeting of edu cational directors, a number of whom were recent appointees, was held. The Insurance and Finance Committee also had what was probably its most repre sentative meeting. But in perspective, it could doubtless be truly said that these directors and committee meetings were primarily get-acquainted meetings. "Some horns were knocked off," as Franlk Os- borne, Secretary of Midland Cooperative Wholesale, said in describing the first year's meetings of National Coopera tives, Inc. Education—'Organization—Finance The directors and committee meetings at Indianapolis tackled immediately the problems of education, organization and finance springing from the rapid growth of the movement. There was little spar ring as to whether one was an old or a new cooperator. All were accepted into" the fold as having given evidence of their sincerity even if there were genuine dif ferences of opinions, as there should I>e. Personalities must always be submerged to the larger issue involved if any organi zation ever really accomplishes anything worth while and apparently this has now happened to quite a degree in the Con sumers' Cooperative Movement in the United States. Dr. James P. Warbasse, President Of The League, opened the Directors Meet ing with a call for greater harmony Of action. The Treasurer, Miss Mary £ Arnold, reported that the advance com putations of the Auditor indicated the probability of again ending the year with a balanced budget due to the one hundred per cent response of budget contributors and efficiency and economy in conductinq The Leage affairs. '"Cooperation Must Move Faster" The Secretary's report to the Di rectors suggested that 1934 might be con sidered as having formulated a program of more wide-spread publicity for the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, which had developed a rapidly rising curve in 1935, in the nuniber of ad dresses, articles and news items; that 1935 might likewise be considered as having outlined a program of more defi nite education methods, which it was ex pected would result in setting up educa tional and recreational committees and the organization of "discussion circles" among members, youth and employees much more generally among retail coop erative associations; that with this groundwork of publicity and educational programs the major objective for 1936 should be to "open-up" the ranks of or ganized labor to consumers' organiza tion. The report enumerated 14 recent major achievements of the Consumers Cooperative Movement in the United States, which are reproduced elsewhere in this issue, and concluded with a chal lenge to "move faster," while there is yet time to "absorb the dying economic or der" by the organization of cooperatives and thus prevent the coming of either Fascism or Communism. A final sugges tion was made that "three additional As sistant Secretaries — Educational, Labor and College—on the League staff should be able to return savings far in excess ° their expense." , Some of the highlight actions taKen , jjj£ Directors were: The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association of Harrisburg, Pa., and the Recreation Ge nerative, Inc., Delaware, Ohio, having become dues paying members of The league, were admitted to direct member ship; the report of the Legislative Com mittee was presented by Mr. Quentin Reynolds and action taken relative to a cooperative representative on the new Consumers' Advisory Board; the making of the services of the Farm Credit Ad ministration available to Consumers as well as Producers Cooperatives, and tax ation of cooperatives; the future organi zation of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the United States on the basis of a single system (such as the Swedish) or a dual system (such as the British) was discussed at length and re ferred to the Coordinating Committee for further study; the Directors approved the proposal of the Northern States Cooper ative League to publish a National Co operative Yearbook; a Biennial National Cooperative Congress in the fall of 1936 was approved; Cooperative Design Serv ice was duly made a division of The Co operative League as the Art and Archi tecture Department and CLUSA Service and the Cooperative Publishing Associa tion were jointly appointed to arrange for foreign and domestic Cooperative Tours in 1936. Increased Emphasis on Education The Publicity, Educational and Rec reational Committee of The League be gan its sessions a day in advance of the Directors meeting and continued con currently during the two following days. Various resolutions of this Committee, reported in the following article, were passed on to the Board of Directors and approved. The Directors meeting concluded with the approval of an enlarged budget for 1936 to meet the rapidly growing possi bilities for the organization of coopera tives generally, and a motion to hold the next Directors meeting in March in con nection with the annual meeting of Na tional Cooperatives, Inc. Other matters on the agenda which could not be reached for lack of time were postponed to the March meeting. Directors in attendance were: V. S. Alanne, Northern States Cooperative League; Mary E. Arnold, Consumers' Cooperative Services; Joseph Blaha, New Cooperative Society, Dillonvale, Ohio; Howard A. Cowden, Consumers' Coop erative Association; Gideon Edberg, Franklin Cooperative Creamery; George Halonen, Central Cooperative Whole sale; I. H. Hull, Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association; Ralph Ingerson, Farmers Union Central Exchange; George W. Jacobson, Midland Coopera tive Wholesale; Murray D. Lincoln, Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association; W. Niemela, Norris Cooperative Socie ty; H. V. Nurmi, Central Cooperative Wholesale; Quentin Reynolds, Eastern States Farmers Exchange; Dr. James P. Warbasse, The Cooperative League; A. W. Warinner, Central States Coopera tive League and L. E. Woodcock, East ern Cooperative Wholesale. Alternates Edward Carlson, Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, Illinois, and Paul Lambert, Farmers Union Central Ex change were seated in place of those Directors unable to attend. Publicity, Education and Recreation for the New Order THE methods of promotion of the co- operative movement have passed «rough an evolution as fundamental as me new social order they seek to create. committees on publicity, education and «creation have taken the place of "pro- Zn°n commi«ees" in local and regional ^operatives. Education and recreation lr£ctors of the district leagues and co operative wholesales who met in In dianapolis, December 27, 28 and 29, faced realistically the task of recasting individuals molded in the "dog eat dog" psychology of profit business to a coop erative pattern of economics. The pro gram of education forged out in the three- day session was not aimed primarily to convince people of the necessity of coop- 28 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 29 eration, but to train them for life and leadership in the new order. The program for the coming year, as it took shape as a result of the three-day session falls roughly into three major sections, general publicity, education and cultural recreation. Creating Consumer Consciousness To create a general consumer con sciousness as the first stage in the further extension of the cooperative movement the following items were discussed and approved: a National Consumers' Insti tute to be held during the summer months which will draw on outstanding national figures to discuss consumers' cooperation and other consumer problems; a con certed drive to present the program of consumer organization to national and state gatherings of libéral, education, labor and religious organizations; to make radio education more effective it was sug gested that The Cooperative League serve as a clearing house for talks and assist local and regional organizations in arranging for radio time and speakers; educational directors were asked to assist in the preparation of articles for publica tion in general periodicals and to suggest to editors that the cooperative movement is fertile field for editorial material. It was reported that more articles on con sumers' cooperation were published in general periodicals in November and De cember, 1935, than in any similar period before. A special resolution to the Board of Directors declared that "the general publicity gained through the Cooperative League News Service has been worth the entire League budget" and asked an additional appropriation to extend the service to a larger number of publications and to furnish pictures of co operatives to accompany news stories. •Cooperative Design Service was or ganized last year to provide poster and art service on a national scale which could not be furnished economically by local cooperatives. Esther Greenleaf, Di rector, presented designs for posters, store signs, packages, oil stations and stores and discussed a program of cooperative de sign which would serve to make the co operative movement an expression of beauty as well as economy. Gilbert Wil son, Terre Haute artist whose murals created a furore of discussion on the so cial implications of art throughout rt, Middle West this spring, described h work and discussed the possibility 'c artistic interpretation of the coopérât;, movement. ~;e Cooperators must be more than ju "divi-chasers" if the movement is to a sume its greatest possible social siqraf' cance. The committee constantly stressed the necessity of emphasizing the im portance of using cooperative savings fo education and recreation rather than dis tritmting an undue proportion in patron age dividends. Education for Economic Action To educate members and prospective members several major projects were ap proved in addition to programs already in action. Among these were: a -film de picting the developments of the coopera tive movement in the United States to be made under the supervision of Gideon Edberg and The Cooperative League; a Cooperative College to train employees of the cooperative movement—tentative plans call for the opening of such a col lege in North Kansas City this fall: co operative institutes at Grand View Col lege (folk school), Des Moines, Iowa, and additional institutes to be sponsored in each region by wholesales and district leagues; enlargement of the Trip to Co operative Europe and local cooperative tours in the United States under the di rection of Clusa Service and the Coop erative Publishing Association; extension of the present systems of employee train ing schools; publication of a Cooperative Yearbook by the Northern States Coop erative League; and a concerted drive to secure the passage of laws providing for the teaching of consumers' cooperation in public schools (modeled after the Wis consin law) in other states in which the cooperative movement is already strong. Recreation—Foundation for Cooperation A new and increasing emphasis on co operative recreation and culture per vaded the entire conference. The edu cational directors discussed cooperative recreation not as merely incidental to co operative education but as the basic psychological foundation on which Iivin9 and thinking and working together be comes possible. Carl Hutchinson, Presi dent of Recreation Cooperative, and U • directors recognized the necessity of more closely coordinated action of regional or ganizations through The Cooperative League if a sound foundation of educa tion and recreation is to be built to un derlie the rapid growth of the movement. A Olsen, President of Grand Vie\« r 'liege, outlined recreation programs foi I cal cooperative groups and discussed t length the relation of the cooperative a0vement to Folk Education. ff On all three phases of this program the Fourteen Recent Major Achievements of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the United States (From the Report of the General Secretary of The Cooperative League) RECENT developments in the Con sumers' Cooperative Movement in the United States have been most signifi cant. At least fourteen major steps have been taken in the rapid development of the movement. 1. Consumers' Cooperative Wholesale and Retail leaders have proven that they could get together and finance and direct National Educational and Business Co operative Associations. 2. The Consumers' Cooperative Move ment has proven that its time has now come in America and that it can gain the support of other great social organiza tions such as the church, school, political, farm, labor and professional groups in promoting its growth. 3. The Cooperative Movement has discovered the cooperative teachings of the world famous leader Toyohiko Ka- gawa of Japan, who is now touring Amer ica, and through him a greater apprecia tion of the significance of Consumers' Cooperation as the economic foundation of world peace. 4. A fact of most vital importance to America in dealing with monopolies has been brought to light and publicized rel ative to Sweden's policy of controlling monopolies by threat of substitution in the form of public ownership of utilities and cooperative ownership of industries rather than by anti-trust legislation. J. That Finland is the only nation that Pays its war debts to America, has been W'dely known. The "reason why" is the in9 of consequence. We are educating "menca to the fact that the reason is Und Primarily in the control of the price level by the Cooperative Movement in Finland which prevents profits piling up in the hands of the few. 6. For the first time the vital relation ship between the Folk School and the Cooperative Movements in Denmark has been widely advertised in America, with the result that the Cooperative Move ment is getting behind a program of People's School development for the training of leaders. 7. We have discovered St. Francis Xavier University of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and the marvelous scientific de velopment of its adult education program which results in the rapid organization of sound cooperatives. We are now pattern ing after this program in the United States in the organization of Discussion Circles. 8. The Consumers' Cooperative Move ment has shown that it could induce the legislature of one state (Wisconsin) to pass a law providing for the teaching of the facts about this 90-year old demo cratic movement in every public school in the State. We are now preparing to in troduce and push similar laws in other states as well. 9. It has now been amply demon strated that consumer action through Co operative Associations is "current news," that prominent magazines will gladly publish articles and that national and regional forums will feature addresses on the Consumers' Cooperative Movement. 10. We have definitely proven that Consumers' Cooperative Clubs, Stores, Oil Stations and other forms of coopera tive associations can be successfully or- 30 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION ganized in cities among American born English speaking groups, as well as among farm groups. 11. We have discovered and encour aged Edward A. Filene's deep interest in the Consumers' Cooperative Movement and his intention to back his faith in the possibility of developing a chain of co operative department stores to the ex tent of a million dollars. 12. We have begun to discover and develop the beauty side, as well as the brotherhood and bread sides of the Co operative Movement in America, in the form of art, architecture, folk singing, dancing, games, etc. ^ 13. We have widely publicized th soundness of the Cooperative Movem as it is now developing in America, in ttl way it has ridden the waves of the d pression, like a Noah's Ark and increas^ its investments, volume, savinas -, j i i . ö alln membership. 14. We have begun to impress Ame ica with the indisputable fact that there is an evolutionary way out without hav ing to turn to dictatorship, and that the Consumers' Cooperative Movement is one of the major means of bringing about economic democracy and preserving and extending political democracy as well. 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 31 Consumers' Cooperatives in Action Des Moines, Iowa.—'Forty-five coop erative workers from twenty-five com munities in Iowa completed a special ten- day school in cooperative education and organization methods, December 17. The training school, the fifth of its kind this year, was conducted at Grand View College under the auspices of the Con sumers' Cooperative Association, North Kansas City. Madison, Wisconsin .— Two thousand copies of a special Madison edition of the "Midland Cooperator" in December blazed with this motto, "Make Madison a Cooperative Town." Wisconsin's Capi tal city already boasts a cooperative milk association, -three cooperative oil stations, a coal yard and fuel oil business, a clean ing and pressing co-op, the national head quarters of the cooperative credit union movement and headquarters of the Dane County Farm Bureau Cooperative which handles feed, flour, fencing and general farm supplies for rural areas near Madi son. Knoxville, Tenn.—The American Fed eration of Government Employees, an af filiate of the A.F. of L., has endorsed the Knoxville Cooperative Association which although recently organized is already providing gasoline, oil and auto acces sories to its members at its new co-op service station. New York City—The Eastern States Cooperative League has started a special extension course one night each - which provides optional courses in crea tive writing, art or dramatics, the history and principles of consumers' cooperation, and recreation. The classes will be con ducted in a cooperative cafeteria. Profes sor James C. Drury of New Yorlk Uni versity and members of the faculty of the American People's School will act as in structors. Sidney Mines, Nova Scotia.—The Brit ish Canadian Cooperative Society, one of the oldest in Canada, has paid $3,075,- 000 back to its members in patronage dividends in its thirty years of operation. The extension program of St. Francis Xavier University has played an im portant part in extending the service ol the cooperative in the last few years. Superior, Wisconsin—Central Cooper ative Wholesale distributed $30,000 in patronage dividends to local cooperative associations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan in 1935. These refunds, re sulting from the operation of the coop erative wholesale are in addition to the savings made by local cooperatives in the retail distribution of goods. St. Paul, Minn.—The National Asso ciation of Cooperative Accountants, formed as the result of a special confer ence following the convention of the Farmers Union Central Exchange, De cember 14-15, will lay the groundwork for increased cooperative efficiency. LJn1' form auditing reports, standardized sys- Of accounting, interchange of re- methods, representation on tax i ds and closer professional associa- • of'co-op auditors will constitute part "{"the work of the new national organiza- "°Eiqht auditing organizations handling operative accounts in the Middle West C° e represented at the session. The of ficers elected were Walter Jacobson, Auditing Department, Northern States Cooperative League, chairman; Miss Ai- Maki, Central Cooperative Whole sale Auditing Department, secretary. Upland, Indiana — Taylor University has announced a new economics course on the history, principles and methods of organization and operation of consumers' cooperatives. Kansas City, Missouri—Two local co operative shools, meeting one night a week for six weeks, were completed at the end of the year. Three similar schools in other sections of the city have been organized since the first of the year. Minneapolis, Minn. — Leaders of the Farmers' Union Junior educational pro gram and representatives of the Northern States Cooperative Youth League laid plans late in December for a joint educa tion program which would increase the efficiency of the education program and yet maintain the identity of the organiza tions. Among the plans considered were a four or five week cooperative school to be held at Fargo, N. D., early in the spring months. Owosso, Michigan — The Michigan Farmers' Union in its second annual con vention voted to work for a cooperative education law in this state similar to that passed by the Wisconsin legislature. The Wisconsin law requires the teaching of the history and principles of consumers' cooperation in state-supported schools. Chicago, Illinois—The Central States Inoperative League started the new year a ?Penin9 a cooperative wholesale at toe headquarters of the League, 3954 West 27th Street, to serve cooperative "ores and buying clubs in the Central plates area. A. W. Warinner, Executive secretary of the League announced that cooperative stores and clubs are now operating in lower Michigan where only one existed 18 months ago. Madison, Wisconsin .—• Wisconsin's Progressive Senator, Robert M. LaFol- lette, Jr., opened Madison's Institute of Cooperative Economics with a descrip tion of the rapid growth of the consumers' cooperative movement and an appeal for increased support of the movement. "Everywhere, when established, coop eration continues to live, usually growing by leaps and bounds," he stated. "By now we have learned, I hope, that only through organization can people achieve a wider distribution of the na tional income. Cooperation can be an im portant factor in securing a better balance between production and consumption" .. "Farmers and wage earners have a com mon cause, one of the best ways for them to work toward it is provided by the co operative movement." New York City.—'The response to the cooperative program, "Which Way Capitalism — Competition or Coopera tive?" has broken all records for the series of broadcasts of "America's Town Meeting of the Air" according to the statement of an official in charge of the program. The offices of both the Town Hall and The Cooperative League have been flooded with mail. More than 1300 people sent in dimes for copies of the ad dresses in addition to hundreds of highly enthusiastic letters. The speakers on the program were Dr. E. G. Nourse of Brookings Institution, E. R. Bowen, Gen eral Secretary, The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. and Dr. James S. Thomas, President of Clarkson College. Richard Joyce of LaMoure, North Dakota, and Fred Perkins of Yorlk, Pennsylvania, represented the radio audience in the symposium. An interesting sidelight on the debate is provided by Dr. Carl Thompson, Secretary of the Public Ownership. League of America in his volume, "Con fessions of the Power Trust": "A very interesting and significant re lation between the utilities' information bureaus of the corporations and the state universities is brought out in the testi mony of J. S. Thomas (defender of capi talism on the Town Meeting program) who was director of the Alabama bureau 32 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION and was at the same time on the payroll of the University of Alabama. He had been the state high school inspector and Professor of Secondary Education in the University o'f Alabama, and for four months he received a salary of $300 a month and for the next two months $666.66 per month, and during this period he was also on the payroll of the Uni versity." Dr. Thomas is now President of Clark- son College, an undergraduate engineer ing school at Potsdam, New York. Indianapolis—Representatives of col lege cooperatives in eleven states meeting here December 31 organized the National Committee on Student Cooperatives to speed the development of cooperative eating clubs, book stores, dormitory, gas stations and cleaning and pressing shops on college campuses. Encouraged by the success of coon tive ventures on 49 campuses, the ^ dents formed the nucleus of a nat association which is expected to exnj into a permanent college organizer during the coming year. Student cooper°U tives have made possible drastic cut ^" living costs at colleges and have demo^ strated that students can run their o businesses democratically on a non-nr (" basis. Wm. H. Moore, 5757 Universit Ave., Chicago, representing the Kimbark Cooperative at Chicago Theological Seminary, was elected National Chair man. Chas. Paddock, University of Ore Pfon, Cal Southerlin, Yale, and Paui Streik, Mt. Eden Theological Seminary St. Louis, were named Regional represen tatives. The meeting of college co-ops was held in connection with meetings of The Cooperative League and the Federal Council Seminar. The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation COLLIERS, February 29, "Merchants By The Million," Bertram B. Fowler. CHRISTIAN CENTURY, December 25, "Coop erative Denmark," Soren K. Ostergaard. "Fate ful Days at Indianapolis," Editorial. January 1, "Credit Comes to the Masses," Bertram B. Fowler. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY, January, 1936, "Dol lar Becomes Democracy," the story of coopera tive credit, Bertram B. Fowler. TIME. December 30, "Quarantined Christian: "Japanese expert on cooperatives to speak to church seminar." PRINTERS' INK, December 26, "Watch the Co ops," C. B. Larrabee. NEWS WEEK, December 28, "Kagawa: Japanese Here to Put Business on a Christian Basis." CONSUMERS' GUIDE, December 16, "Do You Buy Cooperatively?" a summary of cooperative purchase of farm supplies. FEDERAL COUNCIL BULLETIN, January, "Dr. Kagawa Addresses Seminar on Coopera tives." SOCIAL FRONTIER, December, "Teaching Co operation," editorial. January, "Nova Scotia on the Battle Line." MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, December, "Co operation—Sales by Consumers' Cooperative Societies in 1934"—a partial study of oil asso ciations and cooperative stores. CENTRAL BLATT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, January, "A Nation of Inert Consumers," Editorial. THE COMMONWEALTH, December, "When Virginia Farmers Cooperate," Gordon H. Ward. EPWORTH HERALD, January 18, "Youth's Stake in the Cooperatives," T. Otto Nail. "Bargain, Ballot, Build," Wallace J. Campbell. TIDE, December, "Co-ops and Advertising" repercussions from an earlier article on "Kaga wa and U. S. Co-ops" which contended "Co operatives don't just snipe at advertising, they dispense with it." CHRISTIAN UNION HERALD, December H, "Christian Youth Building a New World," youth and cooperatives. SOLIDARITY, December, "Cooperation: 1936 Model," George R. Spoerer. NEWSPAPERS NEW YORK TIMES, January 12, "Cooperative Plan Stirs Nova Scotia," Will Lissner. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, January 15, "Cooperatives See Need of Skilled Leadership," the last of a series of six articles by Bertram B. Fowler. BOSTON TRANSCRIPT, January 11, (and syn dicated to other papers) "Consumers Crusade Ahead?" Roger Babson. THE MICHIGAN RURALIST has followed the leadership of six other farm and labor papers in setting aside a special page for news of coop eratives. It will feature Cooperative League News Service releases and items from the Co operatives In Action section of CONSUMERS COOPERATION. THE BOONE COUNTY COURIER has led txii in a campaign for a consumers' cooperative milk organization to increase farm returns and cut the cost of milk to Chicago Consumers. BIBLIOGRAPHY The Russell Sage Foundation has published a special bibliography on Consumers' Cooperation as bulletin No. 134 of its Library Series. Special reference is made to books and pamphlets on cooperative movement in foreign countries. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXII. No. 3 MARCH, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS Now in this hour we plant the slow Seed of a truth which bears No brilliant blossom or contorted leaf, But grows Cell on gray cell, To green and unchanging height. —Josephine Johnson • It's either "competition for profit" or "cooperation for service." America must choose! • It's the American Dream of Charles Beard, not the American System of the National Manufacturers Association or the American Way of Senator Borah, to which we should return — the dream of Jefferson and Adams of political freedom based on economic equality. • The Editor of the Kansas Union Farm er of Salina, Kansas, observes in con nection with the Supreme Court Decision rendering the AAA invalid: "The only thing the farmer can build that apparent ly cannot be taken from him either by governmental action or at the whim of the powerful vested interests, is his coopera tive." "Nothing is more worthy of close at tention in the United Sates today than the way in which, week by week, the Cooperative Movement is growing," says an editorial in the Christian Cen tury. It's not year by year or even month by month any longer. And yet it is still not growing fast enough. Leaders must develop still greater ability to choose as sistants and delegate authority in order to spend their own time thinking the ways out into new lines of action — members must also develop greater knowledge and loyalty. • While the Cooperative Movement is politically neutral, it's our obligation to point out economic fallacies in any and all political platforms. Although Senator Borah is right in saying that "markets can never be found in the United States until we restore purchasing power to the people" and that "you can never restore purchasing power while private interests through combinations and agreements fix prices," he is only reverting to what Donald Richberg calls self-deception in harking back to Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Stick — Bust the Trust" Slogan. Again " °rg!*n to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in loiuntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. ^Wished monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. ' jra'iBo7Ven' Editor. Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative _^"urnals and Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. __ __ ntered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. 34 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 35 we declare "the people cannot regulate what they do not own." Senator Bora'h can well afford to "take a walk in Swed en," as Lewis Gannett recommended to Al Smith in reviewing "Sweden, the Mid dle Way," and learn how Consumers' Cooperatives and Public Ownership real ly act as "yard-sticks" and control mo nopolies. • Dr. John L. Rice, New York Commis sioner of Health, has discovered the rea son for the decline of certified milk sales as being the success of birth control. The Milk Research Council's chart shows a decline of from some 140 to 120 million quarts from 1929 to 1934. It's starving babies, not unborn babies. Dr. Rice, that are responsible for this drop in milk corn- sumption oî lower grades of milk, even though certified milk sales to rich babies may have dropped because of decreased birth rate. The trail leads very clearly in milk to middleman-monopoly forcing pro ducers prices down and consumers prices up. • Will industry adopt the remedy pro posed by Brookings Institute as the solu tion of ten billion piled-up savings which the 2.3% of the families in America who received them in 1929 were unable to consume or invest profitably? It is to laugh! The mountain has surely labored and brought forth another mouse. Henry Ford declares that the solution is in lower prices and higher wages. Yes, in part, but the whole tendency of industry is to develop into monopolies for the purpose of pushing prices up and wages down and thereby increasing profits. The key is primarily in dividing profits among producers and consumers —• and industry will never be willing or wise enough to do that voluntarily. Monopolistic indus try will only lower prices and raise wages, if at all, for the purpose of in creasing profits. • Perhaps the economists of Brookings Institute will eventually learn, as some journalists are doing, where the answer lies. It seems to be too simple for theo rists in general. Herbert Agar, a Pulitzer Prize Winner, whose recent book, "Land of the Free" concluded that "decentral ized industry and self-contained agrari- anism" were the answers and recommend ed higher taxation as the means of ar • ing at these goals, has now in his editc"^ column in the Louisville Courier-M discovered the real means to these in Consumers' Cooperatives, as in £ en. Likewise, Harry Elmer Bar who in December declared that "the alternatives left" are Fascism and L0m munism, now discovers through readin" "Sweden, the Middle Way" that "Amer icans have three choices"—not just two ~ and that "many thoughtful people will prefer . . . some middle course like that of Sweden." Neither voluntary lower prices or higher wages by industry J taxation by the government are the final solutions — although all three are pallia tives for the pains of poverty. Only elim inating the profit motive by distributinq profits to all will distribute plenty to all • "Wall Street is the whole country," says Charles R. Gay, President of the New York Stock Exchange. Maybe we'll eventually be compelled to accept Gen eral Johnson's suggestion that those at the "seat of custom" at the point of Man hattan Island think of everyone west of Rahway, N. J., as specimens of a silver fox farm growing up to be skinned. Cooperatives in America do not need Wall Street any more than the CWS of Great Britain needs the London Stock Exchange. • Could not the whole of a future Co operative Economy be summed up in the name Consumer-Producer Coopera tives? Would it not be correct to say that Credit Unions are Consumers' * Cooperatives in Finance; that Public Ownership will eventually be Consumers Cooperatives in Utilities; equally as much as Consumers' Cooperatives in Industry? Would it not also be correct to say. as William Leiserson, Chairman of the Na tional Mediation Board does, that ' Col-. lective bargaining is Cooperative Mar keting of Labor," or, in other words that Labor Unions are also Producers Co operatives? Likewise 'that even Profes sional Associations might, as they de velop, be correctly called Producers Co operatives in the field of Services, similar to what we now call Producers Coopera tives in the field of Farming? Some general phrase such as Con- „Producer Cooperatives" is needed "describe all types of Consumers and p ducers Associations of the future Cooperative Economic Democracy. Peo- 1 are constantly confused now because P,e . variation of names and fail to un- °A rstand that there are only two basic es of economic associations possible ^consumers and producers ~ all eco- "~ functions are included in these two words. • The necessity of profits to stimulate initiative, invention and discovery was hit a hard blow by the action of Dr. Le- Roy L. Hartman who presented to the world as "my humble contribution to humanity" the formula for a new dental "Desensitizer" for which he had been offered $250,000. He's a real Profes sional — he's out to prevent pain and to eliminate sickness. His personal mon etary reward is secondary. Some day business men, too, can be professionals and work to eliminate poverty as they should, instead of lining their own pockets even at the expense of increased poverty. The sad thing is, however, that after Dr. Hartman gave away the formula free of any royalty, business should immediately sieze upon it to make profits. It is un fortunate that it could not be distributed without private profit as well as without private royalties. • "The Corporate League" might well be used as the true name of The Liberty League. It represents in its personnel, Money, Metals, Motors, and Munitions — the great triumverate of Finance, In dustry and Utilities. It stands for liberty for money rather than liberty for men. It is the antithesis of the ideal expressed in Edwin Markham's poem, "Make way for brotherhood, make way for man." Its only real virtue is that it sharpens issues and may lead to a more definite division of political parties, rather than the ca mouflage df one economic interest under two political names which we now have. Either^ way, it's always "win," never ••p '" today. As we have said before, Fascism again rears its ugly head in America" ~ Dictatorship in Disguise. Bruce Bliven, Editor of The New Re public comes home from a trans-con- tinental journey to conclude, "you are astonished that Americans do not stand upon their feet and build on this continent a civilization worthy of these bridges tossing their steely lace into the sky.'" One simple reason is because those who are presumed to lead America in liberal matters have not taught America the democratic economics of distribution. Where were the economic intellectuals of America when Sweden was buildings its democratic development? Why do not such liberal magazines as the New Re public and the Nation feature Consumers' Cooperation as other magazines which make no particular pretense to liberality are doing? How would it be for every Cooperator to write them and ask why? It might do some good. Apparently Mr. Bliven completely disregarded the coop eratives on his transcontinental trip, if one is to judge by his reports thus far. The AAA decision brings up for long discussion in America, the question of the right of -the Supreme Court to nul lify laws passed by the legislative and approved by the executive branch of the government. The debate over the right of agriculture to similar protection to in dustry is largely won — the only debate now is as to the best form of agricultural protection to adopt. But the old question of the authority of the Supreme Court is again renewed with vigor. We offer our readers for their thinking the conclusions of that detached, independent and su perior observer of the American scene. Harold Laski. In The Manchester Guard ian Weekly of January 17th he ob serves, "The success of the doctrine of judicial review depends wholly upon: first, the willingness of the judges not to insist upon the substitution of their pri vate view of what is wise social legisla tion for the view taken by the Federal or States Legislatures; second, the willing ness of the judges to form the spirit of the Constitution as to adapt its working to the needs of new times." He then con cludes, "the decisions of the Court upon the Roosevelt experiment show, decisive ly, that it is willing to do neither of these things. There will be grave and dramatic developments in the United Sates in the next decade." 36 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Declaration of Cooperation Declaration of the International Cooperative Alliance on the Significance of Cooperative Economy CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 37 THE International Cooperative Alli ance, in the midst of an era of world wide economic depression and abundant evidences of political and constitutional ferment, the outcome of which cannot yet be foreseen, deems it necessary and de sirable that the Principles and Practices upon which the Cooperative Movement is founded and is built up should be re stated and reaffirmed in a declaration addressed to the People, no less than to the Government of every land. The International Cooperative Alliance is a Union of the National Cooperative Movements of 40 States, comprising the Unions or Federations of Consumers' Societies, Agricultural and Industrial Producers' Societies, Agricultural Credit Societies, and Cooperative Banks. So large is its representation of the popula tion that it is the greatest Organization of •Consumers in the world, and the only one which stands between the interests of the community as Consumers and the exploi tation of capitalist profit-making enter prise. Over 100,000,000 individuals, mainly heads of families, are enrolled in its ranks. A World Economy On the continents of Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia, considera ble progress has been made in the crea tion of similar Movements to those that form the membership of the International Cooperative Alliance. There exists in these embryonic Movements in other continents a huge potential membership which — with the return of the world to something like stable economic condi tions, and the establishment of collective security — should be easily recruited to our International Cooperative Family. It is with its mind centered upon the great possibilities of benefit to the human race which the mobilization of this vast Peace Army can produce, when organ ized upon the basic Principle of "Each for All and All for Each," that the Interna tional Cooperative Alliance proclaims to the world, and especially to those who are at present outside its ranks, the prin ciples upon which the cooperative move ment is founded; the possibilities of its peculiar economic basis; and the right which the cooperative movement has to at least, an equal place with any other form of economic enterprise within the polity of any and every state. The essential principles of the Coop erative Movement are:<— 1. OPEN AND VOLUNTARY MEMBERSHIP, which provides that the membership of a Society shall be open to all without "limitations of color, race, or creed," and that the right of every citizen shall be freedom to remain outside or to enter the ranks of its adherents according to the dictates of their own free will. • 2. DEMOCRATIC CONTROL, which provides for the complete auton omy of the Societies in relation to the national economic life and freedom of development, which is only limited by State or legislative provisions which are common to, and in the interest of, the whole community. The basic element of democratic government — "One Man One Vote" <— is the foundation of the Cooperative Constitution and is exercised without discrimination of sex. 3. DIVIDEND ON PURCHASE, which is the method by which the profit- making motive in commerce and industry, and indeed, profit itself, is eliminated, and when generalized into "Distribution of the Surplus resulting from the transac tions of the Society with its members," it becomes not merely the Basis of Coop erative Economy but the practice which distinguishes it from the existing com petitive system of capitalist economy. In these three principles lies the whole philosophy of the Cooperative Move ment Which has grown out of the Pioneer efforts of working men and women in half a dozen countries crystallizing around the plans of the Rochdale Weav ers of 1844 into a new system of economy- The further Principle of a strictly limited interest on capital is a corollary to the -nation of individual profit-making Vi"ough the method of dividing the sur- 1s in proportion to the contribution of fhe members of its production, and at met to establish a "just price" for the 1 of the necessaries of life, and the Citation of the profits of capital. The initial aim of the pioneers to estab- ,. i their economic freedom and their so- 151 independence compelled their further provision that the Cooperative Society should observe political and religious neutrality towards all applicants for membership, and in the discussion and transactions of the Society — a provision which, so far from eliminating thought and action in these vital matters, pre serves the independence of the individual and of the collectivity, while broadening its appeal whenever it is used in the legi timate interests of the economic organ ism. A League of Peoples It is on this basis that the National Cooperative Movements affiliated to the International Cooperative Alliance, sup ported in principle by huge organizations of cooperative enterprise not yet affili ated and embryonic Movements in a number of countries, have built up "States within the States" and a League of the Peoples which demonstrates in its practice the efficacy of a new economic order, capable of replacing the existing capitalist or individual profit-making sys tem; of restoring the world to an equilib rium in economic matters which can be maintained by its principles of associa tion; and when applied universally, of furnishing the surest guarantee for world peace. An examination of the Cooperative principles already stated, but especially of their practical application, manifests that cooperative economy differs from capitalist economy in that:— 1. It substitutes the service of the com munity for the profit of the individual; establishes a genuine interdependence between its members throughout the world and a means, through international association, of achieving equilibrium in the economic sphere between the needs of the people and world resources. 2- It dethrones capital from the dicta torship of economic life and puts in its Place the Association of Mankind on the basis of mutual and active participation in the enterprise. 3. It provides in its economic device of "Dividend on Purchase" and immedi ate financial benefit, and an access of in dependence to the Wage-Earning Con sumer. 4. It secures to the Agricultural Pro ducer, among other benefits, relief from exploitation in the purchase of the ma chinery and materials of his industry, and also markets for his produce which yield him a reasonable return without exploit ing the consumer. 5. It confers direct benefits upon a very large section of the community ir respective of their social condition. 6. It provides a solution of the prob lems of employment, wages, and general conditions of labour on the highest plane of advantage to the employees which economic conditions permit. New forms of government and new orientations of economy are the subjects of experiment in many lands to such an extent that the social order generally may be said to be in a state of ferment. This fermentation has varying manifestations, all of which, however, tend to regard the development of our cooperative economic system with disfavour, and, moreover, at the bidding of organized capitalist enter prise, to put stumbling blocks in the way of its advance—in some cases, definitely to plan the suppression of free, voluntary and independent cooperation. Freedom to Grow In resisting these tendencies the Inter national Cooperative Alliance desires to draw the attention of the community and of governments, and all lovers of fair play, to the manifest unfairness and in justice of the attitude of organized private capitalist enterprise towards the Cooper ative Movement. These capitalist forces obviously take their stand on the mon strous conception of economic life that accords to private trade a "vested inter est" in the exploitation of the needs of the whole population. Cooperators seek, by association and mutuality, to equalize the burdens, responsibilities and rewards of economic enterprise over the whole 'body of citizens, and to establish the free democracy of non-profit-making asso ciates, which is the only genuine form of the New Society. 38 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 39 The International Cooperative Alli ance claims for the world cooperative movement the recognition of the place which its forty constituent states have achieved for themselves in the realm of cooperation in the creation of a league of the peoples as broadly based as humanity itself. It demands for the National Coopera tive Movement — ( 1 ) Complete freedom to develop on equal terms with every other economic enterprise which is per mitted by the laws of the respective States. (2) Legal protection by all the forces of the State in the exercise of their inalienable rights as citizens. (3) A spe cial place appropriate to their distinctive economic characteristics, and where they will have reasonable opportunity of self- determination, within the framework of any system of State or Planned Economy that may be set up. The International Cooperative Alli ance, in launching this declaration before the world, is convinced that the general body of the people who are not yet Coop- erators will recognize the Idealism and the Economic Justice which are inher in its Principles, and also the reasonabl^ ness of its demands for the free and ind^ pendent development of the Coopérât'^ System throughout the world, not on^ for the immediate benefits that it confe^ upon such a large majority of the Human Race but also in order that its efficar as a New and better System of WorM Economy may be given full opportunity to prove itself, y The International Cooperative Allj ance calls upon all its affiliated member« and the national cooperative organiza tions in every land to pursue with enerqy the extension and strengthening of their respective movements; to concentrate upon the great task of building up their societies on the genuine principles of cooperation; and to use all their powers to secure from the State and all public au thorities the full recognition of the claims set out in this declaration of the signif icance of Cooperative Economy. London, January, 1936. (Copies of tlie "Declaration of Cooperation" are available from The Cooperative League, two cents eadh in quantities of five or more.) New Light From the East indeed it is that America ^ feels so friendly to our visiting Am bassador of peace and goodwill from Japan that we fall naturally into calling him by his last name. To say Dr. seems almost a misnomer. Yet he has a first name and a title as well — Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa. America is honored by his presence and we are plainly attempting to show that we feel so. From San Francisco to New York, in the South and the North, he has already gone telling the good news that Coopera tives are the answer to America's and the world's difficulties. Thousands hear him gladly wherever he goes. He draws peo ple whom the Cooperative Movement would have been long in reaching. Why He Came to America T. T. Brumbaugh, correspondent of The Christian Century in Japan, tells in a letter that Kagawa came to America primarily in answer to three invitations—• first, from the Rauschenbusch Founda tion to deliver the Rauschenbusch series of lectures at Rochester; second, from the Federal Council of Churches to meet with religious leaders; and third, from The Cooperative League to meet with cooperative leaders. Since his letter of February 14, 1935, accepting the coop erative invitation and saying that "such a meeting would be central in my purpose in coming to the United Sates" we have anticipated and prepared for his coming. Kagawa feels, says Mr, Brumbaugh, that together the cooperatives and the churches may transform the world. In a letter to John R, Mott, Kagawa per sonally wrote "somehow these two groups must be brought together to the end that the cooperatives become Chris tian and the Churches become^ Coopera tive." "In that one sentence," says an editorial in The Christian Century, "there is the charter for a new era in the history of American religion." *f~^ cnrtunately Detained by Immigration porn» Authorities as a result of his being temporarily de- A bv the immigration authorities, the fSated and the United Press blazoned the nation the fact that Kagawa had 10 ved. This enabled him to broadcast to ^"nation through the press his intense ' f. f jn the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the simple direct statement, f/j jjQ-e I shall be permitted to enter this ountry to lecture. I am concerned with ^listing the aid of Americans and par ticularly the American churches in the development of Consumers' Coopera tives." His entrance was facilitated and his coming further widely publicized by the "personal interest" of President Roosevelt in the case and his request for prompt action on the part of Secretaries of State, Labor and Treasury. H:s First Messaqe — Peace and Plenty Through Cooperatives Amarillo, Texas, was honored by hav ing his first public appearance on account of the necessary cancelling of earlier en gagements. "Japan-American War Fic tion, Kagawa Says Here," was the -head line across the first page in the Amarillo Daily News, with both left and right hand column news stories. In the state ment, "We need cooperation among na tions to end war," he immediately reiter ated his previous declaration that "Coop eratives are the economic foundation of world peace." Memphis, Tennessee, welcomed him as "the prophet of the power age" in an is sue of the Memphis Press-Scimitar fea turing four special photos across the front pape, three headlines and an interview and stories covering nearly half of the first and second pages. To the question, What does America need most," he answered "Cooperation instead of com petition." Three Hundred Church and Cooperative Leaders Welcome Kagawa at Special Seminar at Indianapolis Called together by the Federal Council ™ Churches at Indianapolis were some wee hundred national Church and ^operative leaders to welcome him in a ^pecial Slight-Seeing Seminar on the consumers' Cooperative Movement. In his first address opening the seminar he stressed seven great values of life — life, power, exchange, growth, selection, law and purpose. These, he said, were repre sented by seven corresponding types of Cooperatives: insurance, producers, marketing, credit, mutual aid, public util ity and consumers. He declared that "Consumers' Cooperatives represent all the seven values." His second address opened with a discussion of violence and closed with the subject of war; between he discussed in further detail three types of Cooperatives: health, credit and utility. Violence he rejected because "the Four Horsemen — Sword, Famine, Disease and Death — come after violence." "Cooperative health associations develop moral discipline which State health insur ance does not. You can fool the govern ment but you cannot fool your neigh bors," he stated. "Credit Unions should socialize profits," he argued, "as in Japan where the profits gained through the credit cooperative associations are in vested in health insurance, building hos pitals, creating better living conditions, getting more sanitation and more visiting nurses. When you have a hundred per cent Christian conscience you vote the entire savings back to the good of the whole community." As to utility Coop eratives, he declared that "I am not par ticularly interested in nationalization of great industries without a big Coopera tive Movement." Under the headline "Cooperatives Urged by Jap as World Cure-alls," the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers featured his reply to the question as to the connection between the Churches and Cooperatives, which he answered by saying, "Cooperatives are the love principle applied to indus try." Southeast Hears Message "It was a triumphant march," were the words used by Alva W. Taylor to de scribe Kagawa's tour through the South eastern states. "Courage of a prophet, persuasiveness and tolerance of an apos tle of love, his pitiless honesty and his great breadth of knowledge give his an swers a rapier-like incisiveness," were phrases used to describe his answer to forum questions. His unusual soul-mind- bady combination was described as "His mental grasp is as remarkable as is his CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION spiritual insight, and his physical endur ance is equally great." His practical idealism was emphasized in the state ment, "His evangelism issues in economic cooperatives." His Washington appearance at a ban quet enabled him to indict our socially sinful civilization. Looking around the great hall he said, "I don't like this place. I don't belong here. I come from the slums. That's where I belong." To Philadelphia he came with a mes sage of liberation for the oppressed and disinherited that is to be achieved through practical application of the prin ciple of cooperation, sustained and en riched by a spiritual basis in religion. The special cooperative day in Philadel phia brought together on the same plat form representatives o-f Farm and Labor groups who joined in declaring that Con sumers' Cooperation was the medium for the alliance of working farmers and in dustrial workers. Great Welcome in New York City At the welcoming luncheon in New York City, national church and coopera tive leaders sat at the speakers' table. Three notable Church leaders endeav ored to express the same great thought which sums up Kagawa's whole life -— that he combines in one person, as do few others in the world, the nearest perfec tion in a combination of the individual and social. "He combines practical saint hood and personal salvation" was the tribute of Dr. S. Parkes Cadman; "We can see in Kagawa the Christian gospel whole and complete," declared Samuel McCrea Cavert, Secretary of the Federal Council of Churches; "Kagawa symbol izes the full meaning of the gospel," said Dr. Robert W. Searle, Secretary of the Greater New York Federation oî Churches. Very modestly and beautiful ly Kagawa replied deprecating himself. Briefly he appealed for peace between Japan and America, saying that America does not understand Japan because we cannot read Japanese while 10 million Japanese read English; that 99 per cent of the people of Japan do not want war, only the one per cent militarists who are like mosquitoes; that "we must abolish the economic causes of wai before we can have disarmament"; concluding his brief response he stated that this was his fourth trip to America and that "this ti I come to America to help build a World Cooperative Movement." d Kagawa's challenge to the Church w more definitely expressed in New York City than at any other point in his news paper interview: "America could get out of the depression by cooperation. ßut the Church here is too cowardly to adont political and economic ethics." Cooperative Day Cooperators had one day of his time in New York City. It was arranged that he was to speak before an invited group of ministers in the morning at Russell Sage Foundation Auditorium and in the afternoon before cooperators, but the de mand for tickets forced the transfer of the afternoon meeting to the large auditorium at Cooper Union. Kagawa's incisive an swers to questions were demonstrated to the full in these two meetings — very evidently he was stimulated by the en thusiastic responses of the audiences. Again indicting the Capitalistic system he said, "The more we develop the Capi talistic system, the more we become de pendents." Over and over he has re peated the challenging statement, "Whether you like it or not, there's no other way but the Cooperatives." An swering the question as to what would happen to private dealers he answered, "This is a motor car movement. When motor cars came, horses and buggies went out." "Cooperatives," he said, "give Capitalism a chance to retreat gracefully." When asked if the Coop erative Movement was not simply another form of competition, he an swered, "There's competition between evil and goodness." As to how holders of stock in Capitalistic enterprises would be affected, he suggested, "They might give their stock to us, like Filene, to be used for building Cooperatives." Facing an audience of over two thousand in the famous Hotel Astor Ball Room he de clared that "The Church has engines, but they need fire;" that "without Coopera tive Associations, Christianity doesn amount to much today;" that "We must actualize Christ in industry." Pathe News photographers heard him say- "Japan greets you. We love you. ^a we not have international cooperate trade between Japan and America li , tvveen Denmark and England? There nly °ne wav t° solve the question of is° and that is through Cooperative Associations. We need Christianity in action. In a special sermon on Kagawa, Ur. lohn Haynes Holmes rose to great heiqhts in describing him and his work. Declaring Kagawa to be one of the three oreat world religious leaders, Gandhi, Schweitzer and Kagawa, he stated, "Ka- awa is the first and noblest Christian in the world since the passing of Tolstoi." Others of his striking declarations were: "Kagawa came face to face with the monstrous sin and evil in the world — the grinding poverty of the poor -— from then on he «identified himself completely with the poor." ..... "He summed up his conclusion in his Brooklyn address — the trouble of it all is Capitalism. In his talk there he laid on the lash and I saw some of the ministers wince." "Kacjawa has given himself to destroy Capitalism." Three-Fold Reform "For the past fifteen years he has been developing a three-fold reform move ment: the first was the organization of labor and farm unions. Here in America we are a million miles from a union of farmers and labor. Here farmers and labor expose themselves to piecemeal ex ploitation. He then organized Coopera tive Societies of seven types. Finally he organized a pacifist Japanese anti-war movement. We haven't any Kagawa's we don't produce any saints in America." "Between Capitalism and the Kingdom of God there can be no compromise -— either one or the other must go." The Cooperative League was honored by being able to present to Kagawa a number of books to be used in the Uni versity of Tokio where Kagawa is a Pro fessor of Cooperatives. The inscription J" each book read, "Presented to Dr. joyohiko Kagawa and the Cooperative Movement of Japan, with the heartiest good wishes and high appreciation, on ^ occasion of his personal visit to America as an honored member and lead- "• of the International Cooperative Movement of Economic Brotherhood woich will bring peace and plenty to all the world by democratic, evolutionary methods." Farm, Labor, Church and General Press Laud Kagawa The press response to Kagawa's coming has been as significantly favor able as have been his platform meetings. Under the title, "A Little Jap Shall Lead Them," appeared one of the most striking stories in the Union Labor Record of Philadelphia. The Producer-Consumer of Amarillo used the headline, "Kagawa says Christian Way is Cooperative Way" and calls him "One of the fore most Christian and Cooperative leaders in the world today." The American Friend, published at Richmond, Indiana, had a splendid question and answer pre sentation of the Indianapolis Federal Council Seminar. Three articles appeared in successive numbers of the Christian Union Herald, a youth publication, fol lowing the Seminar and telling in detail of the impression of the Sight-Seeing trip upon the delegates who saw in action what was described in words at the Sem inar. Adults, Youth and Children, all hail him as a great world leader. His "eco nomic theology" is accepted as good medicine for "the healing of the nations." He embodies, as do few, the ideal and the practical. He is positive in his stand for Cooperatives -— not merely negatively against Capitalism, Corporatism and Communism. He is specific in describing the various types of Cooperatives'—not dealing in glittering generalities about a Cooperative Commonwealth. That he lives what he says, is no doubt the basic reason for the great appeal and effect of his message. The old Indian chief who said in listening to John Wolman pray, "I always like to see where the words come from," would not be disappointed in Toyohiko Kagawa. He answers in his own personal life all arguments —- he lives and does what he recommends to others. The Consumers' Cooperative Move ment has and will continue to receive through his coming to America the great est publicity we have ever had for our cause — it is now for Cooperators to use his evangelizing of our movement to fol low with education and organization of the tens of thousands he is reaching. 42 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 43 Let the Package Tell the Story Esther Greenleaî, Director, Cooperative Design Service WHAT does the cooperative mer chandise carton say? Does it rep resent the quality of the new economic order which the extension of cooperative enterprise will bring about? Does the purchaser of a cooperative product, be he member or stranger, have to read the wording on your cartons to know that they contain cooperative products? Would a casual glance along a row of private brands on the shelf be arrested by the appearance of a cooperative car ton in the lot? If not, the carton does not do all that a cooperative carton can and should do. The carton design for the average commercial product is a pretty bad thing. It is overdone as to color, the design is complex and confusing, and the descrip tive matter is misleading and is needless ly long. This style of commercial design has come about not because of any intent to make cartons unsightly nor because the designers were incapable of doing better. Rather our established commercial pack age designs are the product of the com petitive system which produces and sells them. The spirit of the design of the things we make and use reflects more than we are aware the quality of the so ciety in which we live. Expressing a New Ideal Now the advent of a cooperative store and a cooperative brand of merchandise in a community is significant of consid erably more than the addition of just another ordinary retail outlet and another meaningless brand. It is the tak ing shape of the will of the consumer that he will be rid of competitive waste, adul terated products and misleading advertis ing; and that he proooses to substitute for the profit seeking enterprise which serves him now an enterprise which he and his neighbors own cooperatively. Obvious ly, the price and quality of the goods, the courtesy, intelligence and dispatch of the service, the simple, forceful and colorful design of the store, and the rows of coo erative labels on the shelves must all KP~ speak in unison the fact that a new own " with a new ideal has taken charge. * The design of the carton is important because it is the chief decorative element in the cooperative store. It is a messaqe to the home of the member and the non member alike, and it rests on the kitchen shelf as a daily reminder of the coopera tive society and the principles for which it stands. The carton has three main functions to perform: (1) The spirit of the carton design must reflect the integrity and the ideals of the cooperative movement. (2) The carton must be forceful and positive in character, thus aiding in the pursuance of an aggressive commercial policy. (3) Every aspect of cooperation must bear the stamp of the new culture which will follow in the wake of cooperative economic enterprise. There must be beauty in all of the things we live and work with. How shall these objectives be achieved? It is difficult to convey in words the criterion by which a coffee carton or a grease can design may be judged. Suffice it to say that in the eyes of a discerning critic it must be a distinc tive carton. It must have dignity through restraint and simplicity in form and color. It must be modern in style with no mean ingless ornament and with generous use of open undecorated space. A brand name should be chosen which is euphoni ous and which composes well in the package design. Printed matter should be kept at a minimum, especially on the face of the carton. Let us then have cartons which are recognizable everywhere as the products of cooperative societies. Let them achieve a distinction in design which is worthy of the movement they represent. 10 Steps in Organizing a Consumers' Cooperative Association g believe the following ten steps are the best proven technique of successful cooperatives. Any «estions you may have which might ^crease their effectiveness will be ap preciated. _( 1 Some individual who is struck as 'th a light out of heaven" with a clear realization of the vital significance of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, fol lowed by thorough study and a final de termination to "clear his or her own little corner of creation." Such a light, as George W. Russell (AE) says, is not vouchsafed to groups but only to indi viduals. 2. A small group drawn together by the first individual, who in turn also be come inspired to lead out in organizing their neighborhood into a "Cooperative Community Beautiful" and who then thoroughly inform themselves about the Cooperative Movement. 3. Mass meetings to give publicity and create general interest, concluded by a call for voluntary leaders and the setting up of small Discussion-circles. 1 Discussion-circles small enough to encourage participation by every mem ber and meeting often enough to main tain interest. Individual study is said to be largely an effort to reinforce one's own prejudices; mass meetings are like setting off a continuous alarm clock and letting it run; thinking develops better by small group discussion where one's ideas are sharpened by mutual comparison with others. 5. Voluntary leaders selected by the group. They need not be far in advance of the group in education, but must study ahead and should be trained by special conferences. 6- Discussion material in the form of outlines, reference pamphlets and a stim ulating magazine — all written out of Practical experimental experience. le ri eral rallies of members and . ers °f all discussion-circles in each ne'gnborhood for reinforcing confidence, answering unsolved questions and group recreation in the form of folk singing, dancing and games. 8. Practical organization of coopera tives after thorough understanding of principles and practice, regularly checked by careful auditing. 9. Educational and recreational com mittee within each Cooperative Associa tion which persistently carries on an edu cational and recreational program among employees, youth and adults. 10. Thorough organization of cooper ative association to rapidly develop to the utmost the possibilities of group ac tion in all fields of supplies, services, in surance, finance, education and recrea tion among the members and to constant ly extend the benefits of such organiza tion to everyone in the community. Discussion outlines and other study material have been prepared especially for such a program of action. District Leagues and Cooperative Wholesales in almost every section of the country are ready to help you help yourself. WANTED: A KAGAWA FOR AMERICA We need to develop great religious leaders in America who will not talk "glittering generalities" about a King dom Come, but who will be specific and declare that the Community Beautiful on this earth means the organizing of Con sumers and 'Producers Cooperatives. Toyohiko Kagawa, the great religious leader in Japan has helped to build a cooperative movement there with 5,000,- 000 members. We need emotion behind our Move ment •— inspiration as well as informa tion. We need in America great religious leaders who will do what Kagawa says he is doing, "personally I am pouring out my prayers and the reddest blood of my life into the work of carrying forward this quiet, undramatic, economic reforma tion." Has anyone the answer to how an American Kagawa can be developed? 44 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 45 Consumers' Cooperatives in Action Columbus, Ohio—The Ohio Farm Bureau and the Extension Department of Ohio State University are conducting a series of nine broadcasts from station WOSU on "Producer and Consumer Cooperation." As a unique feature of the series the education division of the Farm Bureau prepared a series of discus sion outlines for groups throughout the state which gathered to listen to the pro grams and to continue the discussions at the conclusion of each program. Lansing, Michigan — Farm Bureau Services, Inc., doubled its cooperative business in the last two years boosting its total sales of supplies from $938,807 for the year ending June 31, 1933 to $1,968,967 for the year ending June 31, 1935. The number of member associa tions of the co-op jumped from 30 in 1933 to 113 in 1935. Approximately 66,000 persons were served by the cooperative last year. Los Angeles—The Education Depart ment of the Cooperative Wholesale As sociation of Southern California con ducted its first Cooperative Institute de signed specifically for business and edu cational heads of its affiliated coopera tives at San Dimas, January 26. Presi dents of Boards, Managers of co-ops, Educational Directors and Presidents of Women's Guilds attended. North Kansas City, Mo.—In spite of sub-zero weather, 613 delegates from 131 cooperatives in eight states attended the seventh annual meeting of the Consumers Cooperative Association, February 4 and 5. The North Kansas City High School auditorium in which the sessions were held was crowded by enthusiastic coop- erators who thronged to hear Dr. Toy- ohiko Kagawa, leader of the Japanese cooperative movement and Dr. James P. Warbasse, president of The Cooperative League of the USA. Howard Cowden, president of C.C.A., announced that every goal set for the first year of the cooperative's five year plan had been surpassed and that total business volume had increased 48 per cent with cooperative purchases reacVr a new high of $2,999,415. Fifty-tWo J9 cal organizations joined last year brino», the total to 313 affiliated cooperatives"9 St. Louis, Mo.—The St. Louis Con sumers Club has launched an eight pan newspaper size publication "Konsum1' Fifty thousand copies of the first issue were distributed to acquaint St. Louis residents with the work of the club which has opened a permanent headquarters and handles some 200 commodities. Josephine Johnson, winner of last year's Pulitzer Prize for her novel "Now in No vember," is a member of the editorial staff of the new publication. New York City—The Eastern Coop erative Wholesale and Eastern States Cooperative League have moved to new headquarters, which provide double the former floor space. The packaging de partment of the wholesale has been moved from the 44th St. cooperative cafeteria to the new headquarters to in crease efficiency and the staff of the League has been increased to take care of mounting demands for cooperative education and business organization. Superior, Wisconsin — Following the traditional cooperative policy of support ing the labor movement whenever pos sible, the Central Cooperative Wholesale helped bring about a settlement, favorable to the workers, of the lockout in the Du- luth, Minnesota, plant of the Western Paint and Varnish Company. The plant was closed by the management December 18 after the union had protested the dis charge of workers who had been active in union organization. Ivan Lanto, buyer for the Cooperative which purchases a large and growing volume of products from the manu facturer, notified the management that the cooperative wholesale, being friendly to organized labor, would regret any labor discrimination at the Duluth plant and "would be glad" to have the organizing efforts of the employees succeed. I"6 Western Paint and Varnish Compan? Industrial Union was granted recogm- reinstatement of all workers withr t'°n> jjscrimination, time-and-a-half for °ut rïjne, and seniority rights. The union °veressed its appreciation to the coopera ge for helping it win the strike. Columbus, Ohio—Two cooperative fflipS( one for managers, employees and Rectors of cooperatives, and one for nerative youth conducted last summer h° the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperatives t with such enthusiastic response that ""series of similar institutes are now being ?ejd Camp Manatoc, Camp Lazarus and Defiance College are the scenes of the two managers' and four youth insti tutes. Bryan, Texas—A cooperative housing project at the Agricultural and Mechan ical College was organized in 1932 with 12 members of the cooperative house. The co-op was so successful that 12 houses with 130 members were operated on a cooperative basis in 1933. The pro gram doubled in 1934 and at the close of last year 533 students were members of 42 cooperative houses. The average cost per student is reported to be $8.00 a month. Minneapolis, Minn.—An address by Dr. C. A. Olsen, President of Grand View College featured the Fifth Annual Midland Conference February 17 to 20. The conference of managers, directors and employees of cooperatives affiliated with Midland Cooperative Wholesale discussed problems of cooperative policy,, education, electrification, insurance, credit unions, recreation and finance. Washington, D. C. — The one- thousandth Federal credit union organ ized under the supervision of the Farm Credit Administration received its char ter January 31. These credit coopera tives are in addition to more than 3,000 organized under state supervision. Superior, Wisconsin.—The passage of he Wisconsin law providing for the eachmg of cooperative marketing and consumers' cooperation in state supported schools and colleges has resulted in very concrete results. A. J. Hayes, assistant educational director of the Central Co operative Wholesale has just completed Jb lesson study outline which will be used in Douglas county schools and will undoubtedly be used in other sections of the state. Ten special teachers' confer ences were held in Douglas county during January to study the cooperative move ment. North Kansas City, Mo. ~ Two new departments—a department of farm ma chinery and a department of rural electri fication, were established in January by the Consumers' Cooperative Association. Plans are being made for a paint manu facturing department to make house and barn paint as a next step in C. C. A's program of cooperative production for use. The first Co-op label groceries han dled by the new grocery department .of the cooperative wholesale were shipped to local cooperatives late in January. Patterson, N. J.—The Peoples' Voice Cooperative Association initiated a drive for 6,000 additional shareholders which are needed to put the Patterson Press on a daily basis. The Cooperative publica tion has an announced circulation of 25,000. New York City—The People's School experiment combining cultural courses, Consumers' Cooperation and Coopera tive Recreation launched early in Febru ary by the Eastern States Cooperative League has exceeded advance expecta tions with more than sixty enrolled and additional students registering each week. Harrisburg, Pa.—A small cooperative club organized in the offices of the State Farm Bureau eight months ago has blos somed out as a full fledged cooperative. With almost a hundred members, the co operative is now handling gasoline and oil, auto insurance, canned goods, cereals and other commodities. At the end of the first six months the club declared savings dividends of twelve per cent. Superior, Wisconsin — Reversing the usual process, consumers' cooperatives in Northern Wisconsin have taken the leadership in organizing marketing co operatives. The marketing projects ten tatively outlined include a packing plant, wood working plant, marketing center for poultry, facilities for storing, freezing and marketing fish and several other services. The projects are sponsored by 46 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 47 the Northern Cooperative Federations. Arrangements are being made for the marketing cooperatives to distribute their goods through consumers' cooperatives. Columbus, Ohio—The employees of the Farm Bureau Cooperative Associa tion have demonstrated the practicality of a cooperative within a cooperative. Two hundred members of the staff of the Farm Bureau and affiliated associa tions organized their own cooperative less than a year ago. The total volume for the five months ending December 31, 1935, was $12,383.64. The "practice- what-you-preach" cooperators made a net savings of 12.8 per cent. The coop erative declared a patronage dividend of 5 per cent, allocated 2 per cent to educa tion and voted to use the remaining 5.8 per cent for expansion and reserves. Boston, Mass. — Edward A. Filene, famous American merchant, who for the last decade has been active in the organi zation of cooperative credit unions throughout the country has announced the organization of the Consumer Dis tribution Corporation with capital of $1,000,000 to actively promote the organ ization of cooperative department stores. "Distribution is now our basic eco nomic problem," Mr. Filene said in an nouncing the giant venture. "Because we have not been selling according to our capacity to produce, we have had to cur tail production and bring on unemploy-1 ment, which of course so limited the pub lic's buying power that all business be came depressed. Increasing the buying power of the masses is the only possible remedy for such a situation . . . By eli minating the tremendous wastes of tradi tional merchandising, we could sell goods at such low prices that the buying power of every customer would be tremendous ly increased." "The depression has convinced me that a system of retailing, to be effective now, must be a system in which the customers are not only securing every possible as sistance from the distributors but in which they know that all the profits are to be theirs . . . Each cooperative enterprise will be owned and operated locally and funds will be deposited locally, not han dled by any central organization. The Consumer Distribution Corporation is not a holding company but -will act a service rather for all stores. It will hand]3 the centralized buying, conduct resear \, and provide expert assistance in mariao ment, public relations and other function Provisions have been made for the takiS over of this corporation by the cooper^ tive stores it serves within ten years " The directors of Consumer Disttib tion Corporation are as follows: Roy F. Bergengren, Manager-Director Credit Union National Association Percy S. Brown, Consultant in Manaqe- ment and Associate of Mr. Filene. Howard A. Cowden, President, Con sumers Cooperative Association. James C. Drury, Department of Market ing, New York University. Edward A. Filene Murray D. Lincoln, Secretary, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. James P. Warbasse, President, The Co operative League of the U. S. A TOUR TO COOPERATIVE EUROPE The 1936 Cooperative Tour will leave New York on July 10 and return Septem ber 1. It will visit the principal coopera tive centers in Northern Europe includ ing Russia at an over-all cost of $465. There will be four days in Manchester and four in Glasgow, the chief centers of English and Scottish Cooperation. Side trips to local cooperatives in the heather clad Scottish hills will be made from Glasgow. From Manchester the group will make an excursion to the old weavers' shop on Toad Lane in Roch dale. In Denmark beside the principal co operative associations the party will see the International People's College at El- sinore and the college maintained by the Danish Cooperatives for the training of cooperative employees. The longest stay in the trip, five days, will be at Stock holm, center of Swedish Cooperation. There will be time for visits to the head quarters of the Kooperativa Forbundet and to some of its principal factories, in cluding its cooperative flour mills whicn are the largest in Sweden and the Luntf Factory which is the first cooperative challenge to the international electn lamp cartel. Saltsjobaden, the Swed'S» cooperative educational center located o island in beautiful Stockholm c y demands a visit. From Stockholm jf party goes to Helsinki for an intro- J. E tjon to Finnish cooperation. Time will ÎT sufficient to make the acquaintance of the Elanto Society in Helsinki and of both • Finnish Cooperative Wholesales. If r™» oermits there will be a side excur- tini*- r . . i i .. "on to some typical rural cooperatives. Three days in Leningrad and three in MOSCOW to study cooperation in the So cialist State will follow, after which the party will return directly by boat to Lon don where there will be time to visit the headquarters of the International Coop erative Alliance and units of the London Cooperative Society, .the largest city co operative in His Majesty's domain. Passage will be tourist Eastbound and third class Westbound. The price has been set at $465, which will include all the services usually given in a conducted tour. The right is reserved to adjust this figure if exchange fluctuations or other emergencies demand. Reservations are now being accepted subject to a deposit of $25.00, which is returnable if the reservation is cancelled up to two weeks before sailing. Inquiries and reservations should be addressed to The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12th St., New York City. The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation A major boost to the Consumers' Cooperative Movement came as a result of the publication by the Yale University Press of Marquis W. Childs' volume, "Sweden, the Middle Way." Re views in the metropolitan press, liberal and critical journals throughout the country hailed the book as a major contribution to economic thought and described in great detail the part the consumers' cooperative movement has played in Sweden's remarkable economic recovery. Magazines SATURDAY EVENING POST, February 22, "The Swedish Recovery," Isaac F. Marcosson. The author attributes Sweden's economic stabili ty to "cooperation, national discipline and com mon sense." COLLIERS, February 29, "Buying for Profits," a description of the recent growth of the con sumers cooperative movement in the United States, Bertram B. Fowler. READERS' DIGEST, February, "A Christian Leader Stirs Japan," Kagawa and cooperatives remaking Japan, Bertram B. Fowler. February, "New Paths of Civic Progress," Elk City, Oklahoma, demonstrates the success of cooperative medicine. MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, January, "Re view of the Cooperative Movement Throughout the World," Florence Parker. ADVERTISING AND SELLING, February 13, What about Consumer Cooperatives." NEWS-WEEK, February 1, "Retailing Tomor row, a reappraisal of the American cooperative movement in the light of the Filene Plan. "Dc, January, "Filene Plans Huge Coopera tives." NATION, January 15, "Facts for Consumers" — cooperative growth has business worried, Ruth Knndze. PE ,BRJPGE. January, official organ of the prédit Union National Association, "New Jobs Unions," Bertram B. Fowler. . NEWS, February 1, "Labor De- °n Consumer Cooperation." T~ . lCAN OBSERVER, February 17, "Sweden Solves Her Economic Problems." CHRISTIAN CENTURY, January 15, "Churches and Cooperatives Drawing Closer Together," Editorial. PILGRIM HIGHROAD, February, "The Story of Toad Lane," Stuart Chase. WORLD CALL, December, "Why Kagawa is Coming to America," Joseph Myers, Coopera tives in America and Japan. REFORMED CHURCH MESSENGER, January 16, "Studying Cooperatives with Kagawa." THE CHURCHMAN, January 15, "Cooperative Seminar is Significant," Gardiner M. Day. CENTRAL BLATT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, February, "Credit Unions the Self Help Way,'" L. S. Herron. FELLOWSHIP, February, "Co-ops Invade De partment Store Field." SOCIAL ACTION, February 1, "Negroes Turn to Cooperatives." AMERICAN FRIEND, January 23, "What About these Cooperatives," Stanley Hamilton. CHRISTIAN UNION HERALD, January 18, 25, and February 1, "Kagawa and Cooperatives," "The Cooperative Movement," "Seeing the Co operatives at Work," Moses M. Shaw. A NEW WORLD, January 17, "The Coopera tive Bandwagon," a new department reporting current developments in the cooperative move ment. Newspapers N.B.A. (Newspaper Enterprise Association) syn dicated to leading newspapers in principal towns and cities in the United States a series of six articles on the Consumers Cooperative Movement by Bertram B. Fowler. A.N.P. (Associated Negro Press) carried a story on L. J. Reddix address at the Federal Council of Churches Seminar on Consumers' Coopera tion which was published in leading Negro papers throughout the country. BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT, February 1, "Religion Today—Kagawa Comes to Con vert the West," a special article on Kagawa and cooperatives, Albert C. Diefenbach. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION New Cooperative Literature Sweden—-The M'ddle Way Marquis W. Childs, Yale University Press. $2.50 Order from The Cooperative League, exclusive distributors to the Cooperative Movement. Few, if any, books discussing the economic or ganization of a nation have produced such super lative reviews as "Sweden—The Middle V/ay." It is most timely when the United States is despe rately attempting to steer its course in the middle of the economic rapids without being forced too far towards either of the opposite banks of Corporatism or. Communism. Lews Gannett, book editor of the New York Herald Tribune, suggests that "when Al Smith goes for his walk next summer he might well take it in Sweden." John Chamberlain of the New York Times, adds that "Franklin D. Roose velt also ought to take a walk in Sweden." Co- operators who have been there the last two years, who come home stuttering with attempts to de scribe the security and beauty they saw, would second these suggestions. The first four chapters are devoted to a compre hensive discussion of the results of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in Sweden. Cooperators will be particularly interested in studying the many and important ways in which Sweden has profited by "Britain's cooperative mistakes." Contrary to Britain, Sweden abandoned the dual type of or ganization and has a single central association combining both business and education; Swedish cooperatives accept taxation; fix their prices on a safe, low margin basis, an active rather than a passive price policy; advertise aggressively; have developed the world's best member education pro gram in their Study-Circles. The Consumers' Co operative Movement is given credit along with State ownership of utilities and partial ownership of certain industries in having acted as yardsticks in successfully controlling capitalism. Four chapters are given over to a discussion of State action of various types, as the Swedes have adapted successful techniques of ownership to forests and mines; electricity, liquor, tobacco and munitions. Among the four remaining chapters which conclude with the titles, "Recovery" and "Direction for the Future," is one with a title to which a believer in the "American System" would represent an impossible combination, "Socialists, King and Capitalism." And yet this is the country which the New York Trust Company described in its Bulletin, the Index, as "a nation of marked economic stability." It is, as Mr. Childs' phraseol ogy graphically describes, as the extraordinarily beautiful illustrations prove, a nation where the people are mastering the meaning of life, which Edwin Markham says is to combine brotherhood, bread and beauty. They accept economic brother hood to a steadily increasing degree in Coopera tive and State Collective Ownership, through which means they have provided bread for every one and are now constantly freer to seek beauty. They interpret life as "cultural personality" rather than "rugged individualism" and are proving that scientific collective thinking can successfully be substituted for individual hard headedness, hard drinking and hard work, and that increasinn action tends toward more rapid human p? By combining voter, consumer and produ ^655' ganization and by following of the ideal of1"01" same possibilities for living securely with fatherland for all those who inhabit it," wir"li the slogan of the Social-Democratic 'Partv i!* Swedes are on the way to develop "more bea wf things for everyday life," which is the slons t the Swedish Arts and Crafts Society. 9 of No one can really be intelligent and be abl do his utmost in helping direct the course of A* '° ica along democratic evolutionary lines with^" reading this book. A Guide Book for Discussion Circles All the available sources and authorities in America and Europe that were known have been drawn on by Mr. Carl Hutchinson of the Educa tional Department of the Ohio Farm Bureau Fed eration in preparing the pamphlet just issued un der the title, "Cooperative Discussion Circles," a Guide Book on the Organization and Leadership of Discussion Groups. In particular the advice of W. P. Watkins, co author of the British Cooperative Union text book, "Cooperation," was followed. Mr. Watkins stated in an address at the International Coopera tive Alliance Annual Summer School that the chief problem was the education of members, that Sweden had discovered the best technique in their small Study-Circles, and that the principal outcrop ping of the same idea in North America was the program adopted by St. Francis Xavier University i of Nova Scotia. A visit to Nova Scotia gave the author first hand information, which was later sup plemented by personal contacts with nationally recognized Discussion-Circles authorities such as E. C. Lindeman, Edmund deBrunner, Benson Y. Landis, LeRoy Bowman, Eleanor Coit and others, who have recently organized a National Educa tional Advisory Committee for the Cooperative Movement, as well as by a personal contact with Oscar Olsen, known as the "Father of the Swedish adult education movement." Drawing on these sources and authorities, Mr. Hutchinson has pro duced a masterpiece of a pamphlet covering the need, leadership, organization, methods and bibliog raphy of Discussion-Circles. This Guide Book is available for the Consumers' Cooperative Mêve- ment everywhere. It is applicable to bo^h rural and urban groups, and can be secured from The Co operative League, at a price of ten cents each. Discussion Outlines The Eastern States Cooperative League has just completed a six weeks'discussion outline which will be used to present the consumer approach tci eco nomic problems and principles and methods o^ Consumers' Cooperation to newly formed W ' sumers Clubs. The discussion outlines are spw- ically designed as the second step in coopératif organization. The outlines will be used by grOT. which have first been introduced to C"""" Cooperation by a speaker provided League. Price 10 cents. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY- DEMOCRACY Volume XXII. No. 4 APRIL, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS "We are standing on the prow of prog ress, and it is good to feel the spray of the future against our faces."—Dr. J. P. Warbasse. • "In this age of plenty," says Edward A. Filene, "We must devote ourselves, not to the art of getting ahead of others, but to the greater art of getting ahead with others." • The country has advanced from "eco nomic confusion and paralysis ... to eco nomic prosperity," says Postmaster Gen eral Parley. Would the ten million un employed agree? • Dr. Arthur E. Holt, says that he is for cooperatives "because we cannot have cooperatives without character and eduj cation—that cooperatives 'keep society in the hands of the workers rather than the talkers." • Dr. George S. Counts of Teachers College suggests that members of The Liberty League "apparently think the Revolution was fought to make Long Island safe for polo players." The average prices of industrial com mon stocks are today at the 1926 level; but today there are ten million unem ployed, while in 1926 employment was "normal"; today foreign trade is demor alized while in 1926 it was flourishing; today the national debt is increasing at the rate of three to four billions a year, while in 1926 the national budget was balanced. • The Whaley-Eaton Service in its letter No. 912 of February 22, 1936, says, "The Cooperative Movement will bear watch ing. The Kagawa (Japanese Christian co operative leader) thesis is gathering ad herents. Cooperatives may easily become the big political issue, supplanting Town- send Plans and other schemes for finan cial panaceas." • Tupelo, Mississippi, was the first city to distribute electric power produced by the TVA. Customers pay an average of 1.81e a 'kilowatt hour, wihich Mayor Nan- ney says "is considerably less than one- half the national average charged by pri vate power companies." A further 10% reduction in the electricity rates is now An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, In voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. ,R. Bowen' Editor. Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative j^Purnals and Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues._____________ Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19,1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. 50 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 51 announced on account of the fact that the city sales of electricity were "more than adequate to take care of all taxes, operating 'expenses and reserves." It would appear that we are building a real electric yardstick now in America as Sweden has long since done. • Assuming that we accept the argument that it is necessary to restore profits, isn't the shoe now on the foot of profit-making business, to restore jobs and foreign trade and pay sufficient taxes to balance the budget? • Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins says that "the picture is not at all serious" in connection with the fact that 650,000 lost their jobs in January; that the drop was only "seasonal." Whether seasonal or not, we wonder if the matter is not "serious" to the 650,000. • A hobo riding a freight train which was derailed by a snow slide, leaped from a box car, smashed the locomotive win dow and liberated the crew of three, and as a result was given a job on the section gang. This is one way to get a job today. • Seminars on three major subjects viewed from the standpoint of the reli gious world, under the titles "Religion and Fascism," "Religion and Commu nism," "Religion and Cooperation," form ed the basis of a two-day Institute which brought together national religious lead ers at Detroit on February 26-28. Such outstanding men as Dr. John Haynes Holmes, Rabbi Sidney Goldstein, Dr. Al bert C. Dieffenbach, Bishop Edgar Blake,- Dr. Sherwood Eddy, Dr. Arthur E. Holt, Father George A. McDonald, Canon Hodgson of England, Dr. Frederick B. Fisher, and others of equal calibre par ticipated. Other similar courses, institutes and seminars on these three possible al ternatives for America ought to be con ducted, as Secretary Wallace suggests, "at every crossroad." • "We have always had difficulties of a special character such as do not have to be faced by the ordinary trading con cern," says R. A. Palmer, General Secre tary of the Cooperative Union of Great Britain. Mr. Palmer then goes on to that the threat of boycott resulted in t\ formation of the Cooperative Whole 1 Society seventy years ago, which ^G^A not have resulted "if we had not had tl! weapon of boycott used against u •• Furthermore, that the vicious attack b the press within the past couple of resulted in the greatest increase in in 1934 in many years, and the enrr, of 285,000 new members. The Coopéra9 tive Movement thus cashes in on difif culties. • A poor little rich boy has just been born, with "the twin assets'" of a Euro pean title and the prospect of in'heritinq a Woolworth five and ten fortune. Either one or the other "asset" would be enouqh of a handicap. We wonder if, however he will really be able to inherit either by the time he is twenty-one years of age and -the world is much further along to wards a Cooperative Society. • The hypocrisy of war is again revealed in the White Paper on British Re-arma ment, submitted to the House of Com mons on March 3. A condensed summary might be made under four major points: (1) "Establishment of peace on a perma nent footing is the principal aim of British Foreign Policy." (2) There has been a "continued increase in armaments of many foreign countries." (3) "We have really no alternative in the present state of the world but to review our defenses and provide the necessary means both for safeguarding ourselves against aggres sion and playing a part in the enforce ment by common action of international obligations." "We are not possessed of the necessary means of defending our selves against an aggressor." (4) "Con trol to prevent excessive profits will be effectively exercised by the inspection of books, adequate technical audits of costs on behalf of the State and arbitration in case of dispute." These four points read logically, to actuality, however, they should be re versed, and re-interpreted as follows: (1) Imperial-monopoly capitalism desires to make more profits. (2) The desire for profits leads to pressure by industry on the political government to increase armaments. (3) Through effective propa- gai i an increase in armaments in one * try is usec* to stimulate increased laments in other countries. (4) In- 31 seel armaments lead to international !!ar rather than preserving peace. It's high time for the American people take the mask off of the war industry, hich pretends to be endeavoring to pre serve peace by inevitably leading to war. In the report of Mr. H. V. Nurmi, Gen- I Manager of Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior, Wis., to the Boards of Directors of the wholesale's tnember associations, these significant statistics appear: Total sales, $2,185,244.91, an increase of 22.25% over the year 1934. Net income from operations, $37,026.- 54 in 1935 as against $31,696.25 in 1934. Probably even more significant than increased volume and increased savings is the fact that operating expense was lowered to 5.89% in comparison with the previous record of 6.33%; notes and ac counts receivable have been reduced from $102,268.27 in 1934 to $79,523.15 in 1935, even with an increased volume. For the last part of the year 1935, the Central Cooperative Wholesale also refused to accept any new loans offered by their affiliated cooperatives or their individual members. • Among the resolutions adopted by the National Cooperative Council for 1936 is the following relative to the Con sumers' Cooperative Movement: "We believe that farmer cooperatives, both marketing and purchasing, should, as a gen eral practice, leave the field of consumer co operation to other consumer cooperatives. We believe that at the present state of develop ment of the cooperative movement, the farm cooperatives and the consumer cooperatives have in some degree different objectives." We appreciate the friendly spirit of this resolution, and would only comment that cooperative leaders apparently still have a job to do in helping evolve the thinking of farm marketing cooperative groups to the place where they recognize that cooperative purchasing by farmers is one and the same thing as consumer co operation, rather than something separate and apart. We recognize fully the necessity of an evolutionary process in co-ordinating the membership of farm purchasing coopera tives to include urban residents as well. In time, we believe, however, that the country-city class line can only be wiped out by both country and city workers be coming members of joint consumer co operatives for the purpose of supplying themselves with such commodities as both country and city residents need. We accept of course that there may be certain commodities which country residents may desire to purchase, such as feed, fertilizer, farm machinery, etc., which might best be handled as separate consumer coopera tive organizations. We cannot now think of any supplies or services which city workers would want to purchase cooper atively which country workers would not. In the end we are all consumers under the skin, whether we live in the city or in the country. • A survey conducted relative to tenancy in York Township, Noble County, In diana, under the direction of Carlos Palmer, President of the Noble County Farm Bureau Federation, shows the fol lowing changes in the 45 years from 1890' to 1935: 1890 1935 Number of farms 200 200 Occupied by Owners 193 107 Occupied by Tenants 7 93 Percentage of Tenancy 3.5% 46.5%. At a discussion group which concluded the sightseeing trip of the delegates to the Federal Council of Churches Seminar on Cooperatives, the following conclusions were reached: that in 50 years, by a slow painless process, the people of York Township had allowed ownership of the land to pass from their hands into the hands of the rich through land bank bonds and insurance companies; that they had been "mentally asleep" for 50 years and had just awakened; that the opiates which had been administered were: ( 1 ) religion—because they had been taught religion was an individual matter; (2) the educational system; (3) politics and pol iticians; (4) daily newspaper and maga zines; (5) competitive sports. Thus have farmers of America bartered their heri tage of universal ownership for a mess ot competitive profit seeking. 52 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Farmers Union Central Exchange April CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 53 On the Road to "Production for Use" A. W. Ricker (Editor's Note: This is the fifth of a series of .articles describing the outstanding Consumers' 'Cooperative wholesale associations in the United 'States. The Farmers Union Central Exchange last year completed construction of a modern oil compounding plant in St. Paul which stands as a testament to the combined beauty and efficiency of the cooperative movement.) THE history, origin and development of the Farmers Union Central Ex change from a small subsidiary of the Farmers Union Terminal Association to one of the outstanding consumers' whole sale cooperatives in the United States is as interesting and spectacular as a ro mance. The Farmers Union Exchange was or ganized in 1927 by the board of directors of the Farmers Union Terminal Associa tion for the purpose of marketing binder twine in North Dakota. The Terminal Association allotted to the Exchange the sum of $1,000 for working capital, and in addition, gave the Exchange the backing of the Terminal Association's credit. Distribution of Twine That year the Exchange entered the 'field of distribution of binder twine, with a smashing reduction in the price of sev eral million pounds of twine. The Ex change saved the farmers a great many thousands of dollars in their twine pur chases, and also earned several thousand dollars in brokerage. During its second year, the Exchange began in a small way to distribute lubri cating oil in drums, and coal, salt, flour, feed in car lots, locally distributed, on all of which the farmers found they could make savings, while at the same time the Exchange, acting as wholesalers, earned brokerage. Oil Program Started Success in handling lubricating oil by -direct shipments finally led to a demand on the part of the farmers for a definite oil program. In the fall of 1928, the Cen tral Exchange sponsored the formation of Farmers Union Oil Companies and the first of them started to conduct business in the spring of 1929 with the result ft by the end of 1929 there were twe? affiliated oil companies in operation Ti/ earnings of the Exchange from twin* were drawn upon to finance the ft u work necessary in connection with th organization of these cooperatives. The margin of profit between the wholesale and retail price of gasoline and lubricating oil was large. Retailers in petroleum products were making larqe profits and often selling the farmers cheap and inferior products where inspec tion laws were lax or absent. Particular ly was this true in lubricating oils be cause there are no state inspection laws for lubricating oils. Local Bulk Oil Associations The local bulk associations were there fore almost immediately successful and able to show large earnings or savings. These bulk oil associations have spread rapidly through Minnesota, North Da kota, Montana and Wisconsin so that one may start with an automobile at Madison, Wisconsin, and drive to the western borders of Montana and never have his car empty of Farmers Union Cooperative gasoline or his motor using other than Penn Union lubricating oil. A total of two hundred twenty-seven Farmers Union bulk oil associations dot the landscape in Wisconsin, Minnesota. North Dakota and Montana with, of course, many times that many filling sta tion pumps served from the bulk stations. A total of nearly one thousand trucks all of the same tank model are delivering gasoline and oil to farmers from these two hundred twenty-seven oil associa tions. Farmers Union Central Exchange Organized In 1931 the board of directors of the Farmers Union Exchange decided that the time had come for a separation of the Exchange from the Terminal Associa tion. Accordingly, a constitution and se of by-laws were prepared, and tn fflers Union Central Exchange, Inc., chartered by the State of Minnesota, *'a,s the cooperative laws of that state. ""îhe board of directors of the Terminal dation also turned over to the Ex- hnqe $75'000 to be used as additional ital in order that the constantly grow- • demand by Farmers Union members for bulk oil stations might be met. In making the by-laws of the Ex- hange. the principles of Rochdale coop eration' were adopted, whereby cash re- crves were required to be set up each vear from earnings, also a five per cent educational fund, and a check-off system whereby those eligible for membership in the Farmers Union must have their dues paid up or checked off before patronage dividends are paid. The Central Ex change of course functions as a whole sale cooperative and is owned by the lo cal cooperative associations which it serves. Representatives from the local cooperative associations attend annual stockholders' meetings of the Farmers Union Central Exchange and elect direc tors who conduct the business of the wholesale organization. These rules and regulations required by the by-laws are also put into operation at all places where new local associations are organized. Rochdale Cooperation The Rochdale cooperatives founded about ninety years ago at Rochdale, Eng land, adopted a set of principles which have been adhered to through all these years. The provisions for educational funds in connection with the development and spread of the co operative movement have not been specif ically mentioned among the seven orig- >nal Rochdale prin ciples. Perhaps these Pioneers took educa tion for granted. We nave made it an im portant part of our Program, however, aiw education is now regarded as fundamental by all modern; cooperative associations. Adherence to cooperative principles, not the least important of which is the setting up of capital reserves and the educational fund, has developed the Rochdale cooperatives from a small store at Rochdale, England, ninety years ago, to immense factories, ownership of ships, flour mills, plantations, and a multitude of retail stores, the cash turnover of which runs to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and in volume reaches 13% of all the business of Great Britain. No Place To Stop Having made a start in cooperative purchasing or consumer cooperation, there is no place at present, at which we may stop and say our job is finished. The Rochdale cooperators are now building their own homes, furnishing those homes, with furniture made in cooperative fac tories, wearing clothes made in coopera tive plants, and eating food cooperatively processed and in some cases cooperative ly produced. Had the Rochdale pioneers not adopted and rigidly adhered to their principles, they would have stopped at Rochdale. The vast cooperatives of Great Britain are there because of stick ing to rules and principles. Had the Farmers Union Central Exchange not Cooperative Oil Compounding Plant, St. Paul CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 55 adopted identical rules and principles with those of the Rochdale cooperatives, we would not today have two hundred twenty-seven local bulk oil associations, a hundred thousand dollar compounding plant, and a business turnover now in the millions. The Dawn of a New Day Finnish, Swedish, Danish and other European cooperatives are doing the same thing. These cooperatives are pay ing their employees better wages than private institutions. They have raised the standard of living and the hopes of millions of people. The Farmers Union Central Ex change, Inc., now federated with other cooperative organizations in the National Cooperatives, Inc., an organization of Farmers Union, Farm Bureau and inde pendent cooperatives, all traveling the same road and working together, affords a channel for the development of con sumer cooperation among farmers. We welcome the cooperation of or ganized labor and will meet the city con sumers at all times half way. Our op pressors are the same. Our problems are mutual. Our way, though it may be a parallel road at present, sights the same goal. The interests and needs of con sumers never conflict. We are all alike as consumers. Cooperation affords the means of satisfying our needs on the basis of abundance and service, as op posed to scarcity and private profit. Our New Compounding Plant In the Fall of 1934 the need for a lubri cating oil blending plant of our own be came apparent to the Board of Directors and management of the Exchange. A careful analysis showed that this plant could be conservatively financed, the management was then instructed to plan and build a plant under the Board's su pervision. A very careful study was made of all the best lubricating plants in the Middle AVest and with the assistance of archi tects, plans were prepared for the new building and equipment. A suitable site was purchased on Concord Street be tween the St. Paul business district and the South St. Paul stockyards. Ample railroad facilities were available, as the property adjoins the main line of the Chicago Great Western Railroad. In November, 1934, work on the building started. Under the car M supervision of the architects and the F change management, work on the n *~ building and equipment went forvy ^ with all possible speed. On March K 1935, the first carload of oil was shipn À from the Exchange's lubricating oil pig ? A month later the Exchange, the Term' nal Association and the Farmers Uni '" Herald moved their offices to the ne\v building and another milestone Was passed in the building of the Cooperative Movement in the great Northwest. In the spring of 1932 the Central Ex change opened six distribution ware houses located at Minot and Williston North Dakota, and Chinook, Conrad Billings and Moore, Montana, for thé convenience of the affiliated companies located in these territories. On October 31st, 1934, the total distribution through the warehouses amounted to 695,716 gal lons of oil and 550,811 pounds of grease. The total net sales of the Farmers Union Central Exchange for the year ending October 31, 1935 were $4,028,086 as against $2,615,519 for the previous fiscal year, an increase of 54%. The assets of the Exchange were $489,854 as of Octo ber 31, 1935 as compared with $240,061 the year before. The above figures on the growth and development of the Farmers Union Cen tral Exchange, Inc., stand for more than just a growing volume of business. Im pressive as these figures are as an ex ample of business growth, they are more impressive in proving the tremendous strides the cooperative system has made. The merits of a system of production and distribution for use, not for profit, have become apparent to increasing numbers, as their economic insecurity under the old system became more evident. Educational Organization Fundamental This is the message the Farmers Edu cational and Cooperative Union has long been spreading in Montana, North Da kota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as elsewhere throughout the nation. Sim ply and eloquently through these years the Farmers Union has been preaching the fundamentals of Organization, Edu cation and Cooperation. If this founda- had not been laid, the Central Ex- ti°n e's solid, though mushroom-like C!?owth, would not have occurred. Two Kinds of Dividends The hundreds of thousands of dollars d in cash to the patrons of the Central Pal e and the affiliated cooperative oanies are a kind of dividends that C°ed no explanation. They represented Ihe earnings made by charging no more d often less than the consumer would have paid competitors. In the future, however, it is very probable that these cash dividends will be smaller. When the Farmers Union Oil program reached an impressive size, there came a large re duction in the margin between the whole sale tank car price and the retail selling price of gasoline. UD to that time the margin had been steadily increasing, and even now in the parts of the country where cooperatives have not developed on any large scale, these margins are greater than in cooperative territory. Therefore, every time a consumer in the Northwest buys a gallon of gasoline he is receiving a dividend from the cooperative, even though he buys the aasoline from a private concern. The Farmers Union Cooperative still pays the dividend, although some of it is paid at the time of sale as a lower price. This fact alone will make every wise con sumer more loyal to the cooperative, that stands between him and exploitation. Merchandising Program of Exchange In addition to petroleum products, the Central Exchange has developed several other lines of merchandise important to the consumers in this territory. Among the most important of these are feed, salt, binder twine, paints, tires, acces sories and batteries. While these products are secondary in volume to petroleum products, nevertheless their volume is great enough to enable the Central Ex change to offer, in them, the assurance of quality and saving to consumers. With the narrower margins on petro leum products, it becomes of increasing importance to the local cooperative oil companies to increase their sales on the other types of commodities. Every con sumer should contact his local company °n all purchases of products handled by his cooperative, as regularly as on petro leum products. Only by "buying coop eratively" can the consumer be assured of quality commensurate with price, and the further assurance of the return of any profit in the form of patronage dividends. Farmers Union Pioneers Co-op Tractor The benefits of the Central Exchange and the local affiliated companies, and the service they can and do render the consumer, are plainly shown in the latest products being pioneered by the Central Exchange. At the present time the first two Farmers Union Co-op trac tors have been shown and demonstrated to large crowds of farmers throughout the territory covered by the Central Ex change. These tractors were developed out of the knowledge of the Central Exchange, that farm tractors, and for that matter all farm machinery, has lagged far behind other types of automotive equipment in design, economy of operation and low cost. In- spite of great advances in the past few years in the efficiency and econ omy of automobiles, no marked im provement in farm tractors has come about. The Central Exchange, therefore, set itself the task of pioneering the field and bringing the construction of farm tractors up to date. The result is the Farmers Union Co-op Tractor. Designed by one of the foremost au tomotive engineers, built in one of Amer ica's finest factories for the manufacture of precision machinery, this tractor will undoubtedly set the standard for all other farm tractors. While the old, private manufacturers stood still with equipment a generation old in design, the Central Exchange led the way. No finer ex ample could be found of the cooperative ideal of production and distribution for use, not for profit, than this. What of the Future? This great business enterprise, the Central Exchange, has been built in these few years by the organized consumer. As its capital grows, it stands ready to ex pand. Expand with the new affiliated companies so it can reach new consum ers, expand also into new lines and prod ucts on which consumers are still at the mercy of the profit seeker. 56 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION How Success Followed Failure A Story of Mistakes and Success in Building a City Consumers' Cooperative Henry Davis later weekly and finally daily. j\ s- room for assembling and distributinq 0 ders was rented at $4 for three days. Th~ procedure was for the member to tele phone or bring his order to the CCS "of fice" located in a private home. The or ders were made from mimeographed price lists (a mimeograph machine proved to be a profitable investment) the first of which contained some 40 different items Deliveries were made from the distribu ting station for 10 cents. Bulletins were mailed to the members each month to an nounce price changes and other events and to explain briefly the principles of cooperation. "Collective Bargaining" and "Cost-Plus" By using the united purchasing power of the membership as a lever, the club was able to obtain discount arrangements from a dozen other retail stores on such articles and services as laundry, furni ture, bakery goods, hardware, meat, electrical appliances and men's suits and overcoats. The society adopted the "cost-plus" system of prices, i.e., the groceries were sold to the members at a small margin above the wholesale price—just a little more than enough to cover the expense of handling. It was figured that CCS would break even on sales of slightly more than $2,000 a month on this basis and that it would tuclc away a neat surplus on a sales volume of $4,000 a month. Seven of the members took part in the first order. It amounted to $51.50 and in cluded 21 items. Seventeen took part in the second order, 23 in the third and so on. Sales increased steadily until in June, with 105 items listed, they touched $956. and by February, 1934, they were at $1,370. Membership, meantime, had spurted correspondingly. From the original 9, i' jumped to 47 in February, 167 in April 311 in July and so on until in April, 1931 there were 430 members. Besides gradually expanding the nuffl- 57 Of grocery items, the club had been done about it, especially since sales fell new discount arrangements. In in- from the peak of $1,370 in February to (Editor's note: This story of the development of a city consumers' cooperative grocery is told in detail in order that others may profit by this experience in knowing what not to do as well as what to do. It is proof that a cooperative based on Rochdale principles of democratic control and selling at current retail prices can succeed among city residents in America when backed by member education and competent business management.) A CONSUMERS' oasis in a chain store desert, Consumers' Cooperative Services, Inc., Hyde Park, Chicago, is one of the first co-ops to establish a foot hold in a "native," middle class communi ty of an American metropolis. As such it reflects the current spread of the coop erative movement in the United States from country to city and from "foreign" to "native" neighborhoods. Two Lessons CCS is now in its fourth year. Its his tory both points the way and points a warning; shows how to organize a suc cessful cooperative, shows how to or ganize a failing cooperative. That the so ciety survived its somewhat awkward be ginnings and was reborn demonstrates excellently the intrinsic toughness and sturdiness of the movement itself. First, the chronological story of this cooperative upstart, paying no attention for the moment to the wisdom or lack of wisdom of the procedure that was fol lowed. CCS began in December, 1932, as a grocery buying club with nine members and no capital. The organizers decided upon an annual membership fee of $1 for charter members and $2 for subsequent members. Of the $2 fee, 50 cents was to go to the secretary of the club in lieu of a salary and 50c to the solicitor as com mission. In the early stages two persons devoted from 8 to 10 hours a day on membership and organizational work; three persons spent 10 hours a day on three days every two weeks buying, checking, receiving and sending out gro cery orders. Orders were placed bi-weekly at first, ber grated in July, 1933, under the non- $856 in March. C°ofit laws of Illinois. Officers were ap? ^1-- n——J Pr. tej to serve for one year, at the end ''["which period an election by the gen- ° *\ membership was planned. A new erai _ — , , coc I re room was rented for $25 a month !nd daily orders for delivery within 24 hours were taken. At that time the so- •ety's capital amounted to about $350, 'aised through membership fees—which ^ere boosted from $2 to $3 in May, 1933 .-and loans from members. In addition three members formed a partnership or ganization known as "Associated Pur chasers" to buy mer- _«.™™_ chandise in large | units and sell to CCS in small units at a 1 % mark-up. This was the situa tion, when, in March, 1934, CCS appeared to be speeding right along. Sales were up, membership was up, loan capital was corning in, new dis count arrangements were being estab lished, and every thing looked rosy. „ ,,, A, „ „ ° J One Way the Co-op Saves Reaping the Whirlwind Unfortunately, everything was not rosy. Something was wrong. Suspicions were first aroused in the summer of 1933. It was discovered that of the 300 mem bers, only about half were using CCS at all; that most of the members did not know anything about consumers' coop eration and, if they did know, were not «cited about it. So, efforts to get new members were redoubled. The commis sion on new memberships was raised from The Board of Directors accordingly went into a budget-balancing huddle in April and voted to stop the payment of commissions of membership renewals. Then the storm broke. A member who had been .soliciting memberships protested in writing to all the members. He also attacked the man agement of the store—^shared by three— as undemocratic, attributed the deficit to "poor management" and criticized the set-up of "Associated Purchasers" as a private profit-making scheme. .He de.? __ manded the mem- ï ' -. '• bers boycott CCS : until the wrongs he ~ mentioned were righted. Many of the members, frightened, did so, and the con tinued existence of CCS became doubt ful. Return to Rochdale At this crisis, the members decided to take matters into their own hands. They held the first membership business meeting in May, 1934. And it was then they took the step which saved the life of CCS. Applying democratic prerogatives for the first time, they voted to turn over a new leaf and become a genuine Roch dale consumers' cooperative. They adopted a constitution providing for democratic control by the member ship instead of dictatorial control by the management. They prescribed at least two membership business meetings a year; also at least two audits a year. 50 cents to $1. Apparently beneficial re- They discarded the cost-plus price sys- sults were obtained, for membership hgures soared that fall and winter. out still something was wrong. The organization seemed to make no head- tern in favor of selling at the prevailing retail market price. They made plans to return surplus savings or net profits to themselves every six months in proper- Way. On July 1, 1933, the society had a tion to the amount of their purchases, surplus of $57; on Oct. 31, 57 cents. By They abolished the annual membership SSn11^ the year there was a deficit °£ fee and substituted a $10 life membership. 1934 i, WSS CUt to $143 ky April 1, They liquidated "Associated Purchasers." "i. but obviously something had to be They enrolled in the Central States Co- 58 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 59 operative League. They opened the store to the public as a regular self-service grocery without provisions for charge accounts. And finally they elected a new board of directors which in turn hired a new manager who knew what consumers' cooperation is all about. Despite a shaky summer, the transition was accomplished successfully. After dip ping to $549 in August, 1934, sales climbed to $924 in September; $1,321 in January, 1935; $1,622 in March; $2,251 in October; $2,578 last November and $2.960 in February. In the past year, with the aid of mem bers loans—-$300 was asked for, $625 poured in—-CCS has doubled its floor space, installed complete grocery equip ment, including a giant "butcher box" and display refrigerator, added many new shelves and hundreds of new items, including fresh fruits and vegetables and cold meats, launched a free delivery service for orders over $3, added one full time and one part time -employee, making three in all, stocked U. S. graded eggs, stocked non-advertised items on which the consumer in some cases saves as much as 50 per cent over the price of the advertised brands, and has paid back to members 5 per cent and 4% per cent of their grocery .purchases alone for the two semi-annual periods since the advent of Rochdale principles. Education'—Entertainment—Enthusiasm On the educational side, "The Co-op News" was launched as a monthly in formational bulletin; information meetings on soap, milk, cheese, etc., have been started as well as "tasting parties" at which various brands of the same canned food are tasted "blindfolded" to deter mine which is the best; a series of educa tional meetings have been held at which nationally known speakers on coopera tion have been heard; a cooperative dis cussion group has been formed; an edu cation committee has been elected and is functioning in developing new and per petuating old ideas in cooperative educa tion; a booklet explaining the aims and purposes and achievements of CCS has been published; open house entertain ments have been held at the store. The membership figures tell a story in themselves. In April, 1934, 430 were listed as members. In November there were only 276. Yet sales in A~"', totaled $780; in November, $2,578 TU explanation is, of course, that in the 4^ were quantities of "dead wood," p who had been lured in on the old fee basis by "bargain" appeal, thought of CCS as one grand contin l bargain counter and who knew little f cooperation. By the time these "me bers" were liquidated in the summer f 1935, the membership had shrunk to 225 At present, however, the climb back un has been resumed. P Now for some second guessing. \ye suggest that the early growth of CCS \vas attended by the following grave errors- First—Insufficient knowledge of con sumers' cooperation by the founders Members were obtained almost wholly on the basis of savings to be made. Little attempt was made to inform them on co operation or to aid them to become "smart buyers" of food. Payment of com missions for new memberships encour aged "high pressure" tactics. It is highly probable that the society added members so fast it could not assimilate them. Second—Lack of democratic control. The membership was never given a chance to have its "sav" in the early policies of the society. The management looked upon the members as too busy to share in the control, kept them entirely aoart from the business end of CCS. There was consequently no sense of that mutual ownership so essential to the suc cess of a growing co-op. The control was centered in one small group which wield ed its power autocratically, though doubtless with honorable intentions. Third—Lack of an adequate plan for obtaining capital. Fourth'—Amateurish accounting meth ods. Prooer depreciation was never al lowed. The books were rarely in order, and members were unable to find at any given time the status of their accounts. Half the management thought the society was making rapid headway at the time it was piling up the $300 deficit. Fifth—Failure to sell at the market price. The cost-plus system arouses the other grocers. It prevents selling to the public because it would be absurd to con fer on strangers the same benefits as on members. It prevents the building up °- that. makes ruin of the store prob- n the event that unexpected han- expenses arise—and they will do Facing the Future As to why CCS at present appears to succeeding—the members are even „ow planning a new store and consider- olans for a meat market, an oil station da milk plant—that is more difficult to answer. Efficient, conscientious manage ment is a large part of it. But probably even more important is the fact that with in CCS there has been a genuine spirit of cooperation, a genuine pooling of brain, brawn and purchasing power. Many members, not just a few, have worked together and thrilled with pride as they saw CCS become, from the stand point of the consumer, the best store in the city. Cooperative Education are three primary steps which must be taken if society is to pro- qress—they are commonly described by the names Evangelism, Education and Organization. Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa and Kirby Page, in particular, are empha sizing these simple facts to America. In the Cooperative Movement there has been too great an effort to pass directly from mass meeting evangelism to the or ganization of cooperatives without going through a thorough intermediate stage of education. This is no doubt one of the real reasons for many cooperative fail ures in the .past, and will probably also determine the permanence of the present rapid organization of cooperatives. The basic philosophy of the Coopera tive Movement, however, as pointed out by Dr. Arthur E. Holt, is to progress on ly as rapidly as the people become self- educated. Cooperation assumes voluntary growth from the bottom up, rather than superimposition of any program in a com pulsory way from the top down. The first is democratic development; the second is dictatorial forced action. Cooperatives are not only the expression of democracy in the economic organization of society, but they also follow out democratic evolu tionary methods in their growth toward economic democracy. The Four Types of Cooperative Education inere are four principal types of co operative education. The first is that of eoples (Folk) Schools, which provide ™ historical-cultural development on ch the other three types can be most successfully developed. The other three relate to the general divisions of those who make up the Cooperative Move ment; namely, Employees, Youth and, Members. The three latter types of edu cation are commonly called by names which are self-explanatory, — Employee Training Schools or Colleges; Youth Recreational and Educational Institutes; Members Discussion Circles. Each of these four types of cooperative education will be discussed briefly in this article, which will be followed by a more exten sive discussion in future articles during the following months. People's (Folk) Schools People's Schools might well be called a third type of school system as com pared with our public tax supported and our private philanthropically supported school systems. They are differentiated from the latter two types in a number of ways. Whereas our public and private schools emphasize factual .knowledge and technical training through printed litera ture, people's schools emphasize "educa tion for life" through "the living word," as expressed by the pioneer prophet Bishop Grundtvig of Denmark. In Peo ple's Schools, the teachers and pupils live together. Examinations, grades and de grees are eliminated or made secondary to the release and expression of the spirit. Cultural history and group singing are emphasized. The pioneer People's School Principal, Kristen Kold, who was the first to be influenced by Grundtvig, would not permit students to take notes. To one 60 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 61 student who stated that he feared he could not remember all he heard, Kold said, "Don't worry, I'll wind you up so you'll never run down." Grundtvig's philosophy of education for life has been summed up in three ex pressions: first, spirit is power; second, spirit expresses itself through the living word; third, spirit can only express itself in freedom. Whether it may be that reli gious leaders are masters of the spirit, it is true that the four most successful prin cipals of People's (Folk) Schools in Den mark have been ministers. In the beginning of the People's Schools of Denmark the study of the "historical-poetical" occupied three- fourths of the time. To us, in America, who are more largely materialistic rather than spiritually inclined, the phrase "his torical-poetical" does not convey a clear meaning. Dr. Arild Olsen of Grand View College, a People's School in Des Moines, Iowa, suggests that the meaning of this type of teaching might better be conveyed to Americans by the expression "historical-creative" or "historical-cul tural." The sense of this expression is in the realization on the part of all of us that we are each elements in the great cultural stream of the human race^-that of neces sity we are a part of the stream during our life span^-that the primary contribu tion we can make to this onmoving cul tural stream is to so live that we may be able to advance the stream faster than it would otherwise move in our lifetimes, rather than merely floating with the stream or retarding its normal flow. Later on, in the course of the development of the People's Schools in Denmark, when physical sciences began to develop, these were gradually added to a limited degree. It is significant, however, that Ludvig Schroeder, principal of the most famous school at Askov, who first included scien tific subjects, did not do so until he had found a teacher who could teach mathe matics from the historical point of view. In Denmark, 80% of the leaders of -the Cooperatives have attended People's Schools, which indicates the importance of the underlying training for life they received. The principal writers of Swed en today have had their training in Peo ple's Schools rather than in the Universi ties. In America the Cooperative Mo is now getting behind the few P (Folk) Schools already in operation a j planning for the development of othe Employee Training Schools The training of employees in the C operative Movement is naturally 50^°" what of an obligatory as well as a volmT tary process. Employees are a known group. They have certain definite duties to perform. Training of a technical natur is required in the interest of the Coopéra, tive Association as well as for the per sonal advantage of the employee. Three principal methods of traininq are followed. First, that of preliminary correspondence courses which may be required of those who are later to attend residence schools and others which are advanced courses available for further study; short courses of varying duration such as week-end, single week, or several weeks; third, more lengthy college courses. It has been found that the best type of training follows the plan of learning by doing. Projects are assigned to small groups to discuss and develop and pre sent in finished form before the whole class. The best methods of serving cus tomers in a store are learned by actual practice before the class followed by critical comments. The problems in book keeping are those of an actual coopera tive association. The study of purchasing is done 'by actual experience as well as the reading of the best books. The most extended Employees Train-, ing Schools in America have been con ducted by the Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior, Wisconsin. Other shorter courses have been conducted by the Midland Cooperative Wholesale of Minneapolis, Minn., Farmers Union Cen tral Exchange of St. Paul, Minn., and other wholesales. Preliminary plans are being formulated for a Cooperative Col lege to be started in the fall of 1936 by Consumers* Cooperative Association, North Kansas City, Mo. Youth Recreational and Educational Institutes , It has been found that the training °t youth is best accomplished by education through recreation. The significance ot cooperative play, not only as a means ot sure but also as a better method of Oration, is only now beginning to be \ lv realized. Youth by nature, without r inhibitions of adult growth, senses the 1 values of life found in play. That t£tural sense of the deeper realities and 03 c of life should be more definitely en- C°Cooperative recreation should be sub- t'tuted for competitive recreation. Folk sinqing. dancing, games both of the play- arty and traditional types, drama and other forms of group recreational activi ties should be developed to a greater ex tent as a means of training for participa tion in the activities of cooperative eco nomic associations and as a part of the expression of the highest cultural life which the constantly greater earned lei sure of the present automatic power pro duction age will make possible. Recreation and Education Institutes are being organized in increasing numbers for Juniors as well as older youth, as well as special short courses for leaders. The Cooperative Union of Great Britain has absorbed a youth organization known as Woodcraft Folk and 'has made its further development a part of the official program of the Cooperative Movement. In Amer ica, Junior Recreation and Education Institutes have been sponsored to the most extensive degree by the Northern States Women's Guild of Superior, Wis consin. Older Youth Institutes have been carried on for several years by the Dis trict Cooperative Leagues. The most ex tensive youth program has been devel oped by the Indiana Farm Bureau Co operative Association of Indianapolis, Ind., during the past three years. This is now being followed by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Cooperatives of Co lumbus, Ohio. Among the outstanding resolutions presented to the International Coopera tive Alliance for discussion at the 1934 Congress was one on Cooperative Lei sure Activities, which was sponsored by the French delegates. Member Discussion Circles The greatest educational problem in ne Cooperative Movement has been the training Of "the undigested mass of mem- °ers, as W. P. Watkins of the Cooper ative College, Manchester, England, de scribes them. He also declared at the 1935 International Cooperative Alliance Summer School that Sweden has dis-1 covered and developed the best technique of member education in the Study Circle Program, and that the most significant outcropping of the same idea on the North American continent is in Nova Scotia where Study Circles have been or ganized in large numbers by St. Francis Xavier University. The "father of Study Circles in Sweden," as he is called, is Dr. Oscar Olsson, now member of Parliament and President of the International Order of Good Templars, who has recently made a speaking tour of America. He organized the first Study Circle in Sweden in 1902 in connection with the Temperance Movement. Now there are some 10,000 Study Circles in all, among Temperance, Church, Farm, Labor and Cooperative Groups. They are in part financed by government funds, although with no con trol by the government over the study- programs which are followed. More than 100,000 adults are members of these Study Circles. In Nova Scotia, St. Francis Xavier University has organized an Extension Department which sponsors the organi zation of Study Circles. 950 have been organized in the seven Eastern counties, with a membership of over 8,000. These Study Circles have proven to be the pri mary foundation of a most rapid and suc cessful development of Cooperative As sociations. The philosophy of the Study Circle method of education is well expressed by the founder Dr. Olsson. In answer to a question as to why the Study Circle was superior to mass meetings as a means of education, he declared that the mass meeting was like setting off a continuous alarm clock and letting it run; comparing the Study Circle method with individual study he declared that when one studies alone he largely endeavors to reinforce 'his own advance prejudices; in contrast in the small Study Circle the direct con flict of opinions expressed freely by the members challenges each one's previous opinions and results in the growth of higher thinking of all. The Study Circles organized by St. Francis Xavier Uni versity are described as "the chief ful- 62 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 63 crum of their educational lever." The methods followed by Study Cir cles are simple. They consist generally of weeWy meetings, led by voluntary leaders chosen democratically by the group, with discussion outlines provided by some central organization. The mem bers make use of their Study Circle to study and play together, and also in many cases to buy together cooperative ly. They thus become a means of learning by doing and have proven to be a suc cessful method of taking the first steps to ward the organization of permanent co operative associations. Discussion Circles for members are being promoted by the Ohio and Penn sylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Asso ciations, and by the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, as well as by others in the United States. Education for Action The primary failure of present public and private educational institutions is in their lack of a definite objective stimulates voluntary study, and accordingly results in the substitution compulsory examinations and grades t attempt to provide a motive. Likewise th° present competitive spirit of society Wi6 to false attempts to develop single ' S dividuals rather than the development ' all. There is also a failure to provide f°' learning by practical living together °lt is to provide more advanced types Of education for the organization of and living in a cooperative society, that thes newer types of peoples educational methods are being rapidly developed bv Cooperative Associations in other coun tries and in America. They are success ful, proven means of education through self-help and mutual-aid. They should be carefully studied further by every coop- erative leader and member for possible adoption by already organized coopera tive associations, and as the means of organizing new cooperatives. Consumers' Cooperatives in Action North Kansas City, Mo.—The French Cooperative Wholesale Society, Paris, France, has placed its third order for co-op blended oil with the Consumers' Cooperative Association. The order, to taling 165 barrels, was received late in February and is evidence of continued international cooperative trade. At the annual meeting of CCA the membership voted unanimously to sell no lubricating oil or other commodities to nations fighting an aggressive war in violation of the Kellogg Pact. Madison, Wisconsin—The University of Wisconsin's first one-week school in Cooperative Management was held here March 16 to 21. Managers, directors, em ployees and active members of coopera tives in Wisconsin and other states at tended. Special courses included Cooper ative Philosophy, Cooperative Business Records and their uses, Cooperative Financing and Human Relationships in Cooperatives. General symposiums were held each afternoon in which students discussed immediate cooperative business problems. The school was under the di rection of Dean Cris L. Christensen and was given the official approval of the Board of Regents of the University. New York City.—Dr. James P. War- basse, Près., The Cooperative League of the U .S. A., has just completed a two months' speaking tour of the Middle West addressing cooperative, farm, labor, church and college groups in Pennsylva nia, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Il linois. Indianapolis» Ind.—Following the rec ommendation of the National Seminar on Consumers' Cooperation held here in De cember under the auspices of the Federal Council of Churches, the first state-wide follow-up seminar was conducted January 17. Sixty ministers and cooperative lead ers took part in the discussions held at the headquarters of the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association. Superior, Wisconsin—Representatives of three regional cooperative wholesales. Farmers Union Central Exchange, inland -Cooperative Wholesale, and C tral Cooperative Wholesale met here Pbruary 6th to discuss ways by which tf three groups can prevent competition ' !ween cooperatives and work out con- tructive plans for more close coordina tion of cooperative activities. Chicago, Illinois—The Chicago Coop- ative Federation composed of fifteen consumers cooperatives in Chicago and its suburbs was organized at a meeting in the cooperative Cafe Idrott, March 1. publication of a monthly paper, a medical cooperative and a project for joint buy- jnq were discussed at the first meeting. The Federation is affiliated with the Cen tral States Cooperative League. Jamestown, N. D.—Twenty-seven stu dents from North Dakota, Montana and Wisconsin, completed a four week coop erative school here, March 10. The courses for future co-op leaders were un der the joint auspices of the Farmers Union Education Service, Northern States Cooperative League, Women's Cooperative Guild and the Cooperative Youth League. Full time instructors were Cecil Crews, Assistant Secretary, North ern States Cooperative League, Morris Erickson, Acting Secretary, North Dako ta Farmers Union and Mrs. Frances Butts, State Recreational Director, North Dakota Farmers Union. New York City—Early reports of business and membership increases in cooperatives throughout the country indi cate gains far in excess of the usual ten per cent-a-year growth of the movement. Central Cooperative Wholesale. Su perior, Wisconsin, furnishing Co-op la bel groceries and general merchandise to 130 cooperative stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, boosted its sales volume 22.25%, to a to tal of $2,185,000 in 1935. Fifty-four re tail co-ops affiliated with the wholesale did a total business of $5,223,801, during' the year, representing an increase of ^8.000-19.4% over the previous year. Consumers' Cooperative Association, Q°/r Kansas City, Mo., surpassed its '*» quota set by its Five Year Plan of ^operative Expansion in all fields, with e greatest boom in the distribution of petroleum products which increased 45%. Nearly five thousand tank cars of gaso line, kerosene and distillate (36,000,000 gallons) were shipped by the Wholesale in N. Kansas City to 313 local coopera tives in eight western states. Total sales for the year were $2,999,415—$585 short of three million.—with net savings of $94,411. C. C. A. moved into the field of cooperative distribution of groceries late in 1935. The Farmers Union Central Exchange, which moved into its modern $100,000 headquarters and oil compounding plant in South St. Paul, in August, boosted its net savings from $55,000 in 1934 to $101,000 in 1935 with total sales volume jumping from $2,600,000 in 1934 to $4,- 028,088 in 1935. The Eastern States Farmers' Ex change, with headquarters in Springfield, Mass., added 500 individual farmer mem bers a month to the cooperative during 1935, bringing its total membership to 62,000 with the beginning of 1936. The sales of the cooperative to individual members increased from $12,000,000 in 1934 to $14,067,533 in 1935. Midland Cooperative wholesale boost-* ed its sales volume 38 per cent to a gross total of $2,423,106. Grange Supply units and cooperative stores affiliated with the Grange Coop erative Wholesale did a non-profit busi ness of more than $3,000,000 in 1935, saving members of co-ops in Oregon, Washington and Idaho more than a quarter of a million dollars. This repre sented an increase of 40% over the cooperative business of the previous year. Twenty-one new cooperatives organ ized in the three Northwestern states during the year affiliated with the Grange Cooperative Wholesale, bringing the to tal number of organizations to sixty-four. Pacific Supply Cooperative furnished petroleum products to sixty co-ops in the North West. It distributed seven million gallons of gasoline last year with a sales total of cooperative products reaching $1.370,560 in 1935. The Farmers Union State Exchange in Nebraska reports total sales of $2,604,- 532, a gain of about 22% over 1934. Net savings amounted to $71,000. During the year ending December 31, 1935, farm supplies valued at $4,216,176- 64 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION were distributed by cooperatives affili ated with the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooper ative Association. During the year the Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Cooperative registered a net gain of 49,- ~ 000 coverages on automobiles protected in eight states. The Farm Bureau Mutual Fire Insurance Cooperative, organized a year and a half ago, has written fire in surance totaling $30,000,000. Encouraged by the success of these ventures the Life Insurance Company of America was purchased and transformed into a coop erative late in the year. Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative As sociation increased its member associa tions to 85 and raised its wholesale vol ume 39 per cent to $4,383,569. Farm Bureau Services in Mich1 doubled its volume in the last two reporting sales of $1,968,967 in the ending June 31, 1935, in contrast f total of $938,807 in 1932-33. a Eastern Cooperative Wholesale its volume from $187,385 in $208,515 in 1935. Workmen's Mutu , Fire Insurance Society, New Yo I added 2,000 members in 1935 brinqin the total membership to 67,554 with m ^ than $65,000,000 worth of insurance i effect. The Cooperative Wholesale Society Of Southern California, youngest of the cooperative wholesales, reported a total volume of $40,000 in its first eight months. The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation SCRIBNERS, April, "The Masses Go in For Big Business," Bertram B. Fowler. JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCA TIONAL ASSOCIATION, March, "Sources of Material on Consumers' Cooperatives." MICHIGAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, March, "The Consumers' Cooperative Move ment," Edmund E. Alubowicz. AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST, March, "Con sumers' Cooperation," editorial. COMMONWEAL, March 20, "What is Cooper ation?" Philip Burnham. CHRISTIAN CENTURY, March 11, "The Con sumers' Cooperative Movement," an editorial, "The Churches and the Cooperatives," James S. Myers. NATION, March 18, "The Middle Way,"f Nor man Thomas, a review of Marquis Quids' vol ume, "Sweden: the Middle Way." SOCIAL ACTION, March 1, "Let's Support Cooperatives," Harold O. Hatcher. NEWS-WEEK, March 17, "Seeking a Line Be tween Christianity and Capitalism." BUSINESS WEEK, February 29, "Rise in Wrath," a report of protests of electric appli ance distributors against cooperative distribu tion. AMERICAN OBSERVER, March 16, "The Cooperative Movement in the United States." JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS AND OPERATORS, February, "Growth of Cooperatives Amazes Industry" and "Madame, Here Is Your Purchasing Agent." OPPORTUNITY, February, "Not Yet a Profes sor," a discussion of cooperatives as a way out for the Negro, James E. Stamps. EPWORTH HERALD, March 7, "Religion in Action on the Campus—What Students Can Do About Cooperatives," H. D. Bollinger. ADVANCE, March, "Consumers Cooperation In America," James Rorty. MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, February "Cooperative Purchasing by Farmers in the United States," a review of "Cooperative Pur chasing of Farm Supplies" by Joseph G. Knapp and John H. Lister. SOCIALIST CALL, February 29, "Japanese Pac ifist," an appraisal of the work of Kagawa, James Rorty. SURVEY, February mid-monthly, a special Con sumers Section, devoted to developments in cooperatives. PILGRIM HIGHROAD, March, "A Grain of Wheat," Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa, first chapter in a serial publication of Dr. Kagawa's coopera tive novel. CHRISTIAN LEADER, March 14. "Sweden- Miniature Social Laboratory," Dale DeWitt Newspapers NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATION. six articles syndicated to 700 newspapers throughout the country> March 9-14, Bertram B. Fowler. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, March 11. "Prosperity Visits Hardy Nova Scotians" coop erative developments in Eastern Canada. NEW YORK POST, February 24, The "Con servative" Swedes, an Editorial. NEW YORK TIMES, March 8, "Filene Ouflh« Plans for Cooperative Department Stores. NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE, March 8. "Plans Announced for Giant Cooperatives. UNITED STATES NEWS, ( March 5, "Consum ers' Cooperatives Growing." BOSTON AMERICAN, February 15, " Co-op Society Growing." CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXII. No. 5 MAY, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS A farmer cannot well help being a con sumer, whether he is willing to admit it as yet, or not. c Brickbats are fuel for the Cooperative Movement. A correspondent writes, "My own introduction came from adverse criticism of the movement in the daily press, Tide magazine and Printers Ink. a The "recent" depression has passed with 24 million persons on relief as com pared with 23 million in 1935 and 21 million in 1934, according to a report is sued from Washington. c Will cooperative business leaders fol low up successfully the present wide spread advertising of the Consumers' Co operative Movement by aggressive or ganization through field men? c Real Farm, Labor and Interracial Co operation was exhibited by the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, which, according to a story in The Christ- 'an Century of April 1, relative to the Gary Cooperative, "sent their expert C. L. Laselle to set up the credit union." A letter from a Professor of Agricul tural Economics at the University of Maine says relative to Mr. Bertram B. Fowler's visit there recently, "His mes sage left a profound impression upon the campus, an impress that seems to be con tinuing to grow and become more deeply felt." Even rock-ribbed Maine has be come interested in economic democracy. e Roger Babson goes dictatorial in de claring that "It may be necessary to dis enfranchise people who live in cities in order to save democracy." The reverse would be more correct, what is necessary is for city people to economically en franchise themselves by organizing Con sumers' Cooperatives. c When Governor Phillip LaFollette of Wisconsin was asked at a forum in Washington, D. C., about the develop ment of cooperatives, lie suggested that the questioner get Marquis W. Child's book, "Sweden: the Middle Way" and read it from cover to cover, as the best answer that he had ever seen or expected to see on the development of consumers' cooperation. -STp?" to sPread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in uiuntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New Tork City. TrLB°fen' Edit°r. Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative j^urnalsjind Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. Were<1 "« Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. 66 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 67 Dr. Henry P. MacPherson, President of St. Francis Xavier University, Antig- onish, Nova Scotia, writes, "You did a tremendous work for us when you got out the pamphlet, "How St. F. X. University Educates for Action." It is appreciated everywhere it is read. Miss Agnes Mc- Phail made a very pretty speech on the subject in the House of Commons." (Miss McPhail ordered three copies of the pamphlet directly from The Cooperative League.) • Pennsylvania is "catching" the Discus sion Circle idea. As a result of a stirring talk by Mrs. Verna Hatch, Educational Director of the Pennsylvania Farm Bu reau Cooperative Association on the need of cooperative education through Discus sion Circles, fifteen persons in York County volunteered to pioneer in Discus sion Circle work in tiheir neighborhoods. It was through Discussion Circles that St. Francis Xavier University developed the Cooperative Movement in Nova Scotia until it has reached the place where a re cent letter says, "Everything's leaping." • Dr. Paul H. Nystrom says in connec tion with the Patman Chain Store Bill, "If this bill becomes law, and if it works as those who favor it hope it will work, it is likely to become the springboard from which consumers' cooperatives, covering not only retailing but also wholesaling and even production, will arise." The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, however, does not want taxa tion of consumption as a springboard of cooperative action. • The combination speaking and vaca tion trip through America which is now being made by Dr. M. M. Coady, Di rector of Extension of St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, is developing significant interest among Catholic and other groups. One of Dr. Coady's engagements was at St. Bene dict's College, Atchison, Kansas. His coming was prepared for by an address by Rev. Charles Aziere, Professor of Economics, who presented the Con sumers' Cooperative and Credit Union Movements as "more democratic than present democracy and more Christian than present Christianity." He quoted the phrase of Pope Pius XI to the effect they "combine economic advantage spiritual culture." Declaring that "we may lament the passing of the sm n independent business man, but passina H is, just as surely as did the harn * maker," he said, "It is useless to tell $ man to buy his goods at a home 0\vnej store rather than from the chain or mal order house unless he himself has a vit'l interest in that home owned store. Con sumers' Cooperatives will give him that interest." His address concluded with a quotation from the announcement of Dr Coady's coming to St. Benedict's College by Rev. Edgar Schmiedeier, Director Rural Life Bureau of the National Cath olic Welfare Conference, "May an American Antigonish result!" So say we' • The Secretary of the Iowa Association of Lumber and Building Material Dealers has sent a letter to all members of the as sociation enclosing copy of a speech de livered by E. W. Dobson of the ]. F. An- derson Lumber Co., of Minneapolis, and asking them to interview delegates to the General Conference of the Methodist Church meeting in May at Columbus, Ohio, relative to the Consumers' Coop erative Movement with the request, "please report to us the views and atti tude of this delegate towards this move ment." The results will be worth watch ing. • When we reach the place where as a whole the religious world begins to in spire and the educational world to inform the people about the possibilities and ac complishments of Consumers' Coopera tives, then there will be a growth of co operatives in America on a scale almost impossible now to imagine. Under such conditions we might accomplish in Amer ica in ten years what the Scandinavian countries have done in thirty years and what it took Great Britain ninety years to accomplish and have at least half the people members of cooperatives. Why should we not cut the time of the Scandi navian countries in third, just as they cu in third the time of Great Britain? A lew outstanding letters which The Coopera tive League has received and interviews which we have had have inspired us wit the hope that this might be possible. Un , jetter was that from Kagawa when suc te a year before he came to Amer- that "central in my purpose in coming '^America is to meet cooperative lead- 10 " The effect of his coming in gaining le support of the religious world cannot ' jjjeasured. Now we have anc-îher let- which we believe will prove of equal ificance in the educational world. It voluntary letter from Joy Elmer Mor- an Editor of the Journal of the National Education Association and reads: "You have done so much for me that I would like to do something for you. If the at tached statement would be useful to you as a feature for Consumers' Cooperation, it js yours." Turn to page 69 and read the statement which was attached to the above letter. When an editor of such a significant educational journal and promi nent progressive educators in increasing numbers are becoming converted to the cause of cooperation and outspoken ad vocates of it, there are mighty possibili ties on the horizon of democratic Amer- ica. Fred Hall, Principal of the Cooperative College of Great Britain at Manchester, writes that they have had several appli cations from persons in the United States, relative to admission to the Cooperative College, who have also inquired about the possibility of earning their living while attending the College. Prof. Hall states that the government is not favor able to persons from other countries tak ing up paid employment there; however, students recommended by The Coop erative League will be admitted to the College without charge for tuition, but will necessarily have to provide thek own support while there. • Rev. George A. McDonald, S. J., As sociate Editor, The Queen's Work, St. Louis, in an article in the March issue under the title "It Can Be Done" has this (o say to youth: "Youth, whether of parish or school, have no better economic "ope for the future than is offered by the Principles of consumers' cooperatives. Urtainly profit business has little place or youth. But the cooperative movement fls not only need for but place for youth *"h strength, courage and idealism. a*e it one of the most important proj ects of your Sodality to study this move ment, and when convinced, join its ranks and spread the hope to the rest of the world that there is a way to distribute the abundance of good things God has pro vided us with." • If we were running a Want Ad col umn, we would now have occasion to run an advertisement headed, "Cooperative Professors Wanted." Two universities have written us relative to introducing courses in Consumers' Cooperation and wanting recommendations as to educators capable of teaching the courses. Likewise we have a similar letter from an out standing Adult Education organization in a large city. The difficulty today is, first of all, to find educators who are fully familiar with the literature of the Coop erative Movement who can teaoh it from the theoretical standpoint, but even more particularly to find educators who have had practical contact with cooperatives" and first hand experience in organization, which is even more necessary in present ing the subject thoroughly than the theo retical knowledge of the history, prin ciples and practice of the movement. • The opening sentence, "When Kaga wa began his tour in behalf of the Co operative Movement" in the lead edito rial of the April 8th issue of The Christian Century means far more to the Coopera tive Movement perhaps than we yet real ize. Almost all of the publicity relative to Kagawa's addresses and interviews has been friendly. It has caused the words Consumers' Cooperation to appear in literally 'millions of copies of newspapers,, magazines and journals of all types. Even where attacks have been made upon him for advocating consumers' cooperatives as the economic embodiment of the prin ciples of brotherhood, such attacks have resulted in an immediate defense by re ligious leaders, which have given his ad dresses increased publicity. At Rochester the trustees of the Masonic Temple As sociation, after granting the use of the Temple to the City Federation of Churches, attempted to lay down condi tions, according to the newspaper story, that Dr. Kagawa should avoid anything controversial including the Cooperative 68 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Movement. After a letter of protest on the part of the Federation of Churches, the use of the auditorium was permitted, on condition that "the responsibility for the remarks of the speaker shall be that of the Federation." Following the pub lication of the first news of the contro versy, a second column story appeared under the heading, "Storm of Protest Stirs in Churches over Dr. Kagawa." One minister declared "to forbid a speaker to refer to the cooperative movement is to show the densest ignorance of the con structive character and demonstrated value of that movement." Another min ister said that antagonism to Kagawa "is from a group that represents special privilege and monopoly in business and an Americanism armed to the teeth." As William Lloyd Garrison said, in the Lib erator, prior to the Civil War, no great social cihange is ever made in society ''v;ithout excitement, a most tremendous excitement." • WARNING! WARNING! TO PRI VATE DEALERS As we have suggested before, it is in teresting to note the way in which the Capitalistic elephant has become dis turbed over the Cooperative mouse, which would thus far be a fairly accurate comparison between the sizes of the two movements in America. Spokesmen for the present economic order, in particular wholesalers, statistical services and ad vertising publications are warning pri vate-profit retail merchants. Previously we have quoted Roger Bab- son's warning to merchants that they '"may be sitting on dynamite ... if con sumers ever wake up to their potential power." However the comparison is in correct. Cooperation rises like yeast, it doesn't explode like dynamite. More lately E. W. Dobson, Vice- Président of the J. F. Anderson Lumber Co., of Minneapolis, is reported to have declared at the convention of the Wis consin Retail Lumber Association, "The essence of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement is the abolition of the capital istic system and the elimination of the established retail dealer." Such warnings are only smoke screens behind which monopoly continues to build its chain stores and itself eliminate private dealers. ta" Before the convention of the Natio American Wholesale Grocers' Asso tion, J. Frank Grimes, President of ^U Independent Grocers Alliance, is nUOf *j as having said, "The Consumer Cooper tive idea will depend almost entirely f " its success upon the type of leadership^ is to have. I am convinced that the a0v * ment has now made such headway that '* is at the point where the right sponsorshj1 and capable inspiring leadership will ,ra;Sc it to a commanding position in our entire distributive system. In making my studies of this movement I have been impressed with its tremendous possibilities ... It now appears that it is not only going to have efficient leadership but smart, clever truly brilliant leadership." The private profit retail dealer is today faced with the alternatives of eventually becoming the employee of the corporate chain controlled by concentrated finance behind him, or the employee of his cus tomers as member-owners of a coopera tive association in front of him. "The trend of modern business," says Dr. M. M. Coady of St. Francis Xavier Univer sity, "is that no one will own the business he manages. The only alternatives in the future will be whether one is to be man ager of a capitalistic chain or a coopera tive association." Future development is primarily a case of efficiency in distribution. The cooper ative method will eventually win over the corporate method, we believe, because of its ability to distribute to consumers food, goods and services of a compara tively higher quality at a lower price. The second reason it will win is because of its greater justice in distribution of wealth widely among the people rather than concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. Rather than any fear on the part of the present private-profit dealers over the coming of Consumers' Cooperatives, they should, as one dealer writes, "welcome the better way," for only through Con sumers' Cooperative Associations can they effectively build up the communities where they live, rather than continuing as today to be largely the unconscious agents of monopoly sucking out the lie blood of the community and centralizing it in the hands of the finance-octopus. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 69 5. 6. 7. 9. 10. • 12- The Ultimate Democracy By Joy Elmer Morgan, Editor The Journal of the National Educational Association Next to the free public schools, the consumers' cooperative movement is the greatest social invention of modern times; it is of the people, by the people, and for the people. The cooperative movement serves every type of human need, both economic and cultural. The cooperative movement thrives in every country where freedom is not en tirely destroyed. The cooperative movement removes the causes of war and of internal strife between classes. To a world disheartened by unemployment and torn by war, the cooperative movement offers a peaceful pathway toward a better civilization. As United States Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis points out in "Other People's Money," the cooperative movement overcomes corporation privi lege, domination, monopoly, and excessive concentration of wealth by estab lishing a motive higher than greed and by performing a superior service. The cooperative movement asks no special favors; it has faith in enlighten ment, free discussion, good will, and the power of growth. For the development of the cooperative movement, conditions in the United States are especially favorable—abundant resources, a democratic tradition, a high level of general education, and a great area free from tariff barriers. When studied and practiced in the school, the cooperative movement gives young people a new life and a sense of responsibility for their own destinies. The cooperative movement is the most powerful form of education for both children and adults; people learn by doing; they develop faith in themselves and in each other. When fostered by the church—as Kagawa has pointed out—the cooperative movement is an instrument of self-help to the impoverished and the desperate. Tti *ne cooperative movement is the practical application of the golden rule; it is Ae ultimate democracy. 70 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 71 Consumers' Cooperative Oil Stations Enter Minnesota and Wisconsin Cities By Lynn Matteson, Field Representative Midland Cooperative Wholesale T N most European countries the devel opment of Consumers' Cooperatives has taken place largely in the cities and industrial centers. In America almost the reverse has been true. Here it has been chiefly the farmers who have responded to this movement. The reason for this appears to be two fold. First, the depression hit the Amer ican farmer in 1920, nine years prior to the general crash, thus making him con scious of the need for this movement earlier than his city brother. Second, the farmer had acquired through his market- ting cooperatives and general farm or ganizations a knowledge of cooperation that made it easier for him to organize and manage a Consumers' Cooperative. Perhaps an additional reason is that the farmer is a heavy purchaser; he buys for his farm as well as his home, thus making cooperative savings more apparent. However, during the past two years city people have become greatly in terested in Consumers' Cooperation. In the territory served by the Midland Co operative Wholesale, which includes the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, there have recently been organized, entirely by city people, cooperative oil associations in Minnesota at Minneapolis and St. Paul, and in Wisconsin at Appleton. Madison and Racine. 'Cooperative Oil Association, Minneapolis Pioneer Labor Union Oil Cooperative The first of these in point of time was the Cooperative Oil Association of Min neapolis, which started business April 17, 1933, organized primarily by a labor union group. Although sales to December 31, 1933, were only $13,928.78, a 7% patronage dividend was paid. During 1934 a price war forced sale at cost for several weeks, and near cost for a longer period, thus reducing net earnings to a very small figure, although total sales increased to $44,377.54. Narrow margins prevailed through most of 1935, but sales increased to $64 736.30, producing a net gain of $1 935 7q" A goal of $100,000 has been set for 1936 and there is every reason to believe ï will be reached. There are now over 9m members and the list is increasing every week. ^ It is especially significant that the mem bers attending the annual meeting Tan. uary 15 last, approved a resolution that one-half of one per cent of gross sales in come be set aside for educational pur poses. Important also is the fact that labor relations are eminently satisfactory Three stations are now operating, a fourth having been closed at the begin ning of the winter season. Park Cooperative Oil Association, St. Paul, Promoted by University Professors The Park Cooperative Oil Association in St. Paul began operations only a month later than the Minneapolis Co-op. The Park Co-op is in St. Anthony Park, and its one station is located near the College of Agriculture of the University of Min nesota. Many of its 500 patrons and members are on the University staff. The business of this association was satisfactory from the very beginning, over 10,000 gallons of gasoline being sold the first month. The first year, ending March 31, 1934, showed sales of $22.- 818.50 and net earnings over $2,000. from which an 8 per cent patronage divi dend was paid. Gallonage increased 62 per cent the second year, 1935, sales ex ceeding $36,000 and net earnings $3.000. Indications for the current year are that sales will be increased at least 25 per cent Sound and conservative business methods have put this association in a secure fi nancial position. Allied Cooperatives, Inc., Minneapolis Fuel Oil Cooperative Covering Twin Cities The two cooperative oil associations m the Twin Cities, together with the Con sumers' Cooperative Oil Association con- of professional men in- """sted only in purchasing fuel oil, „A a ioint cooperative in the autumn |0rfll*-U '. 1-1 . 1 ; r l Tl 1 _ ;„ _ _~ This T1933 to handle their fuel oil business. is called the Allied Cooperatives, ±n the first season ending June 14, this organization sold 406,610 gal- B of fuel oil worth $26,532.87 to 268 consumers, making a net gain of $2,447.- 75 In the second year ending June 30-, [034 sales were boosted to 976,098 gal- i „c ' worth over $67,000, but with a Ser net gain, $1,924.44, due to de crease of gross earnings from 23 per cent 15 per cent, which was caused by a re tail price war on one hand and increased refinery prices on the other. For the current year prospects indicate sales of at least 1,250,000 gallons, over 748,000 gallons having been handled by the end of January, 1936. Three trucks are kept busy delivering fuel oil to the 600 active accounts in the two citites, as much as 16,900 gallons having been de livered in one day. The January business was more than half that of the entire first season two years ago. Cooperative Oil Association, Appleton, Converted from Private to Cooperative The Appleton Cooperative Oil Asso ciation was organized in January, 1934, with 300 members, being converted by Herman Ritter from a corporation in which he had controlling interest into a cooperative association of which he is now manager. This organization has shown a rapid and continuous growth until at present the membership exceeds 600. Gasoline sales by the super-service station now average more than 500 gal lons per day. For 1934 a patronage dividend of 10 per cent was paid. Net earnings in tihe first nine months of 1.935 reached 13 per cent, thus permitting an other 10 per cent dividend. In addi tion, this cooperative has engaged in the coal business, hav- ln9 sold 17 carloads in the first part of this winter season. Stock is now being sold to raise addi tional capital for a Co-op grocery store. Madison Oil Cooperative Grows from 300 to 1300 Members in One Year The Madison Oil Cooperative started business with 300 members and one serv ice station in September, 1934. The mem bership was composed largely of State and University employees. In one year's time this organization has grown to a membership of 1300 with three modern super-service stations, a large bulk plant handling fuel oil as well as gasoline, a coal yard, five delivery trucks and a pay roll of 22 employees. During September, 1935, 23 carloads of material—gasoline, fuel oil and coal—amounting in value to over $13,000.00 were handled by this or ganization. The net saving paid back to the consumers at the close of the fiscal year in May, 1935, after interest on stock and all operating expenses has been de ducted, was 8 per cent on all purchases. Due to reduced margins the per cent of refund on purchases for the current year undoubtedly will be lower. Racine Consumers' Cooperative Out growth of Labor Union Leadership The Racine Consumers' Cooperative opened for business at Racine on Februa ry 1, 1935, with 250 members, one service station, and two employees. At the end of the first four months an 8 per cent divi dend on purchases was declared and paid. Since then, the growth has been Cooperative Oil Association, Minneapolis 72 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 036 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 73 extremely rapid. For September, 1935, this organization handled 29,000 gallons of gasoline through two service stations and a retail truck, with nine employees in all. This association now has over 900 paid up stockholders. Beginning late last fall, a coal yard was leased, and a coal truck and coal equipment purchased. During January of this year 15 carloads of coal were handled. In December a Co op restaurant was opened and plans are underway for a Co-op grocery store. Cities Offer Great Cooperative Opportunities The large cities offer great possibilities for the development of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement. Of first con sideration is the potential volume. Almost as much gasoline is sold in Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, as in the entire state of North Dakota. With proper manage ment and an effective educational pro gram a cooperative oil association in Mil waukee county should develop a volume far in excess of the total volume of a dozen or more of our most successful ru ral cooperatives. Of greater importance even than vol ume is the fact that the city cooperative oil associations must of necessity diversi fy. To the farmer an automobile is essen-• tial to the business of getting to and from his trading center; trucks and tractors are widely used; thus the purchase of petro leum products is a large and vital ex penditure for him. Quite a different situa tion prevails in the city. There are no tractors and few privately owned trucks, while the automobile is used largely for pleasure and may be laid up or its use curtailed if economy demands. Thus the purchase of petroleum products is not a large or a particularly vital item in the city man's budget. It has been necessary for city cooperatives to add other lines such as fuel oil and coal in order to chal lenge interest. This forced diversification is important as it is going to require that city cooperatives enter the cooperative store movement and the handling of food and clothing. Necessary Complement to Farm Mar keting Cooperatives The development of City Consumers' Cooperatives is of immense importance to the farmer. With^the continuing s^{ emphasis from an "economics of scarcit" to an "economics of plenty" our Fa Marketing Cooperatives, which are er" gaged in marketing, are finding it j" creasingly difficult to secure markets fo their products. Several of our large and well established Farm Marketing Coon eratives are today meeting increasing djf ficulty in securing consumer outlets. Dur" ing the past two years there has been in many sections an actual decline in the emphasis placed on Farm Marketing Cooperatives and a decided slowing up in their organization because of lack of def inite markets. When the City Consum ers' Cooperatives develop to the point where they can handle food stuffs, this difficult problem of markets will be on the way toward solution. When we get to the point where City Consumers' Cooperatives can deal directly with Farm Marketing Cooperatives, we will have placed the whole cooperative movement in a more secure position. Until this is accomplished the Farm Marketing Coop eratives may find themselves in an in creasingly insecure position. It therefore appears important that all farmer organizations and especially the Farm Marketing Cooperatives should be vitally interested in and give whole hearted assistance to the organization and development of City Consumers' Cooperatives. For only as the men of the city and the men of the country learn to work together cooperatively for the good of all concerned can we hope to re place our present wasteful profit-taking system with a commonwealth of abun dance made possible by our power age. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University, is reported as saying that only the English speaking peoples yet retain the framework or civilization built upon liberty. He, too, should "take a walk in Sweden" and the other Scandinavian countries and learn where liberty prevails to the greatest de gree today because it is based on eco nomic as well as political suffrage. Wj» someone who knows him personally please recommend Marquis W. Child book, "Sweden—the Middle Way' to president Butler. Cooperation in the Making THE MIDDLE WEST IN WINTER By J. P. Warbasse COOPERATION can be seen in the making wherever a group of people are occupied in its study or in carrying on cooperati(ve business for their own serv- . -phis has been going on in this coun try now for a century and a half. It ex hibits ups and downs; but in the end, the former always lift it higher than the latter carrv it downward. Progress is the result. The best way to know about this progress is to see it. It is my practice to go out to look at Cooperation in action in some part of the country at least once a year. This is largely for the improvement of my own understanding, and incidentally to inter pret Cooperation to others who also are pursuing the study of the subject. Such a tour was made during January and February. The plans and the itinerary had been arranged by the cooperative educators in each district. The tour averaged four meetings a day for fifty days in succession—just two hundred meetings. More than half of the lectures were followed by a question period. Commonly the lecture lasted fifty minutes and the questions an hour. I shall at tempt a brief report of what I learned. Increasing Enlightenment Beginning with the Lancaster County Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, in Pennsylvania, one sees a group of farm ers devoted to the study as well as to the practice of Cooperation under the guid ance of able executives and teachers. Their annual meeting, which I addressed, was attended by a number of Mennonite and Dunkard clergymen, who are highly influential among the membership and whose approval of Cooperation is re garded as a sanction which goes far in Promoting its acceptance. The next evening, at St. Louis, a large meeting at the Solden High School Audi torium, brought out the people of all 9toups who were interested in the sub- 'ect- A session with classes in economics at Washington University the next morn ing, presided over by the Dean, revealed the usual college students getting some thing new. The pity is that Cooperation is so strange to the minds of students of economics in so many American colleges. The picture, however, is changing. An afternoon lecture at Eden Seminary was addressed to students of a liberal reli gious bent. Conferences during the day brought together groups for the discus sion of practical problems. The evening meeting was at Washington University School of Medicine. The audience con sisted of faculty members, students, and the public. The Dean presided. The sub ject was "Modern Aspects of Medical Economics." Even the conservative President of the County Medical Society took no umbridge at a social interpreta tion of 'Medical Service. Conference meetings during the following morning included the Newspaper Guild, with two hundred members, who wanted to organ ize themselves cooperatively for health protection—and are proceeding to do so. At noon another session at the Medical School—an auditorium packed with stu dents and teachers to listen to a discus sion of "The Doctor and the Public." The doctors are beginning to see the point. A delightful evening with the faculty re vealed the capacity of teachers to ask questions, and disclosed their searching interest in cooperation. Cooperation Takes Root The German Catholic Central Verein gavi attention to our meetings. It is a noteworthy fact that this organization has the best cooperative library in St. Louis. The priest who took me on Sun day morning to St. Louis University had received during the day three letters, quoting from the "Red Network," and protesting against permitting me to speak at a Catholic school. The Department of Philosophy, which I addressed, showed interest and came back with questions for 74 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 75 an hour which indicated a highly intel ligent approach to the subject. And the Dean, expressing himself as inspired by the meeting, testified to the earnestness with which Catholic teachers view Coop eration. A Sunday afternoon meeting at Alton, in the Unitarian Church, elicited the interest of townspeople searching for .a way to better economic security. The following day was the first of four in the Chicago district, beginning with a dinner meeting at the Idrott Cafe. Then six lectures the next day—George Wil liams College, Chicago Normal, North western University, ending with a dinner meeting of the Waukegan Society. The Oak Park Junior College students were interested. Several lectures at the Uni versity of Chicago showed a growing •sentiment for Cooperation among the student body. A morning of lectures at Aurora College closed with a luncheon with the faculty. The Negro Coopera tive Association at Gary had a well pre pared dinner banquet and a well attended meeting which displayed organizing abil ity. The joy in leaving Chicago is always dampened by commiseration for those who have to stay. Despite its ugliness, it has fine people—caught in the web of unrelenting circumstance. This is true of every unlovely spot where Cooperation takes root. Fine characters are there. And that is the reason Cooperation takes root. Farmers Are Consumers At Lansing the local forum had asked for a lecture on "The Philosophy of Cooperation." A lecture at the Michigan State College and a faculty luncheon were wholly delightful. Two meetings for the Michigan State Farm Bureau in terrupted the marketing thinking of farmers and reminded them that they are consumers. The young minds get the idea. The Annual Meeting of the Michi gan Credit Union Leaque in Detroit ended with a banquet. The interest dis played by the members portended much for the closer union between this move ment and consumers' cooperation in gen eral. Twelve days in Wisconsin and Minne sota yielded much information of the growing movement in these two common wealths. Wisconsin is regarded as one of the most progressive states. pels the teaching of Coop public schools. But I do not believe rlfS a law compelling the teaching of Coo ation is wholly progressive. The DP T of Wisconsin are capable of study Cooperation voluntarily and witli compulsion. There are groups of .pe^' in Wisconsin doing just that und superb cooperative educational lead ^ ship. If there were more like them, ty*' consin would need no such compulser8" law. This law, however, possesses di tinct value in promoting cooperative edu" cation and in giving the subject standing among educators. At Madison, my first job was broad casting for fifteen minutes over the Uni versity radio,—without being required to submit a manuscript or anything else That is progressive. Then a series of meetings and conferences with coopera tive executives and managers. A lunch eon club address to business and profes sional men was interesting because such an audience asks interesting questions. "Business" and Cooperation In the evening we drove to White- water. The meeting was of teachers and students at the rather somber State Teachers College. This is an institution for the training of teachers in commerce The atmosphere was charged with busi ness. But the unfolding of the interpre tation of Cooperation from the consum er's standpoint has the power to take the zeal for profits out of the most business like heart. It is good for the soul of the teacher to recompose himself, and to pass from profit-business thinking to thinking in larger terms. And this is precisely what is transpiring at this institution. At noon the next day a luncheon meet ing of students and faculty at the Wis consin Union of the University was held under the auspices of the Department of Theology. A general public meeting was well attended at the Unitarian Church in the evening. The next day at Minneapolis began with two lectures at Macalester College. The following day was spent with the Midland Cooperative Wholesale—and a profitable day it was. The Midland stresses education. Its leaders have no —-^ s Of learning and teaching Coopera- They are forthright and they side- St A !Su"e9at the Medical School of the IT jversity of Minnesota on "Coopera- Medicine from the Patient's Stand- tivff" attracted an auditorium full of pC1chers and students. The Dean, who fe^sided, proved to be an old friend; and 'u president of the American Medical Association, who accompanied us on the latform, was a fellow student of the olden days at the University of Vienna. Doc tors can learn. The next meeting fol lowed immediately. It was down town— the Saturday Lunch Club—and the two distinguished doctors went along and listened patiently to a lecture on Cooper ation for an hour and then to an hour of questions. Three hours of cooperative education was more than two doctors in high places could withstand: they are now counted among the saved. For the afternoon's diversion, we had the Frank lin Creamery's annual meeting. Franklin has been having sessions with me for a matter of twenty years. We know one another pretty well. They are always considerate and listen with patience. Franklin has possibilities of being a great cooperative consumer-controlled institu tion. There are high-minded men of un derstanding and vision in this organiza tion who know that some of the $25,000 spent on advertising and salesmanship, if invested in cooperative education, has the power to produce great results. Ethics and Beauty Sunday brought a conference on med ical cooperative organization. In the evening at the Unitarian Church, the subject^was "Cooperation as an Ethical Force." The next afternoon was spent with the Farmers Union Central Ex change. This organization has a beauti ful new plant with every modern facility for oil blending and shipping. It has able executives and its business is expanding steadily. The evening meeting was a dinner meeting combining the Educa- "ona Club and the Fellowship of Re conciliation—a confluence of fine minds. Among the college meetings was that TT University Forum at the Minne- °ta Union. This is the forum which has the reputation of asking the hard ques tions. The communists are always much in evidence. The hall was crowded, but to our disappointment, none of the regu lation communist questions appeared. It is surprising how a few preliminary words on autocracy in government and on the individual in the socialized state dampen communistic enthusiasm. In the afternoon another meeting, and in the evening a banquet attended by repre sentatives of fifteen organizations'—from both consumers' and producers' groups and the several interests in each. It was a pleasure, as well as an opportunity, to discuss the harmonizing of cooperative interests. The desire for harmony and good will is present and should ultimately prevail. Then to Superior. A Fitting Tribute A session with the Board of Directors of the Central Cooperative Wholesale was the first thing on the program. Another session in the afternoon. This board goes at things methodically and with the ultimate consumer in mind. When we think of Cooperation in the United States, we must yield our defer ence to the superiority of the Superior Finns. The evening meeting in the audi torium of the Teachers College was a large meeting. All kinds of people were present. The orchestra of the Central Cooperative was led by its educational director; the chairman was a physician of standing and independence, and the whole organization of the meeting testi fied to the good taste, the excellent judg ment, and the high efficiency of the coop- erators who were inconspicuously behind the program. Broadcasting the following day without manuscript or notes seemed to give the radio station a new form of entertainment. Several other meetings, including a group desiring to form a cooperative health association, added to the satisfaction and instructiveness of contact with these northern cooperators. An evening at Virginia, Minnesota, in a hall filled with representatives of the Range District Federation revealed how far Cooperation penetrates the remote places. The Finns and Scandinavians have introduced civilization in a region which the native Americans raped and left desolate and despoiled. (To be continued) 76 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 77 Cooperative Leaders Face Realities A cheerful and optimistic but serious- minded group of cooperative leaders met for three days in Chicago on March 16,17 and 18. They faced a straight-f rom- the-shoulder challenge made by Howard A. Cowden, Secretary-Treasurer of Na tional Cooperatives, Inc., who declared that he did not consider that we yet had in the United States a Cooperative Move ment in the European sense of the word. Were we fully organized in the United States we would have the third largest Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the world—in number of members and volume of business and savings (in per centages we of course are yet far behind). This challenge was faced squarely and action taken looking toward greater co ordination. After a full day and evening of ses sions, the Coordinating Committee ap pointed by The Cooperative League in February, 1935, voted to recommend that it be discharged and a new joint commit tee be appointed consisting of three mem bers from each of the Boards of Directors of The Cooperative League and National Cooperatives, Inc., to consider the future relationships between the two organiza tions and more uniform financing of The League. Those appointed to the new committee were Messrs. Cowden, Os- borne, Vance, Warbasse, Halonen and Bowen. Competition Between Cooperatives The Directors of National Coopera tives, Inc., did not dodge the problem of the increasing competition between coop erative wholesales operating in the same territory and authorized the appointment of a committee to investigate and arbi trate when specific cases of conflicts arose. Thus far in its history National Coop eratives, Inc., has operated without a cen tral office and buyer. After a lengthy discussion, the directors were authorized to open an office and employ a manager as soon as they deemed advisable. Formal motions do not in themselves generally indicate the full significance t the action likely to result from th passage. It is more a matter of the sJW and determination behind the resolut when they are passed which determ^5 the aggressiveness with which they ^ carried out. If, in the case of these th ** highly important resolutions, the disc ^ sion indicates the probable trend of acf the results should be highly significant for the future of the Cooperative Move ment in America. Mr. I. H. Hull, President, opened the Annual Meeting of National Coopéra- tives by suggesting that certain types of products lent themselves to regional and others to national organization. He de clared in conclusion that the relationships which had been developed between the members were even more important than the savings which had been made and in vited a full and free expression from rep resentatives of each group. Immediate Objectives The statements of each representative in highly condensed form covered the fol lowing suggestions: representing Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior, Ivan Lanto, sales manager, recommended the use of uniform trade marks and enter ing into fields where consumers were most exploited, such as electrical prod ucts. Ralph Ingerson, manager of Farm ers Union Central Exchange of St. Paul, suggested pushing farm machinery more rapidly. Declaring tlhat the present unjust distribution of wealth which produced poverty and billionaires violated the laws of both God and man, Troy Womble. Vice-president of Consumers Coopera tives Associated of Amarillo, predicted the future of Cooperation as limited only by the North and South poles and where the East met the West. George G. Bar- rett, president of Pacific Supply Coopera tive, Walla Walla, Washington, urged National Cooperatives to move faster or it might be run over by the Cooperative Movement. Midland Coopératif Wholesale's general manager, E. "• Cort, emphasized that if National Coop- • '3 is to progress it must have an f and buyer and stated that nearly krupt farmers are in some cases sup- b,aIL capital to help set up city coopera- 1 More reliable research work was tivesj by Silas Vance representing the r Bureau Oil Company of Indianapo- The element of time as being very ortant in America today was stressed IT'3 Clifford Miller, Secretary-Treasurer f Consumers' Cooperative Association °f North Kansas City, who urged that chances be taken if necessary in order to faster. Four points were made in «including the discussions by Howard A. Cowden, Secretary-Treasurer of Nation al Cooperatives, Inc., who urged the need of building up a stronger capital structure underneath National Cooperatives, Inc., the need of a central headquarters, a con tinued effort toward coordination of the movement in America and better gearing into the world Cooperative Movement. During the business session which fol lowed the membership application of Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, New York City, was accepted. The discussions of the Directors of The Cooperative League were principally concerned with publicity and educational matters. The invitation of the Midland Cooperative Wholesale to the Directors of The Cooperative League and National Cooperatives, Inc., to hold their next meetings at some lake near Cottonwood, Minnesota, during the first days of July and while there to attend .the Fifteenth Anniversary of the founding of the first retail cooperative oil association in Amer ica was accepted. The officers were in structed to send out a referendum to the Directors to determine the exact date and place for the Congress of The Coop erative League in October. Cooperatives Electrify the Farm construction of pow- VJ er lines to provide light and power at cost, moving rapidly under the impetus of the Rural Electrification Administra tion, received an additional boost with the passage of the Norris rural electrifi cation bill by the Senate March 4th and final approval by the House April 9th. The bill provides for the appropriation of $410,000,000 to undertake a -ten-year program to electrify rural America and authorizes a loan of $50,000,000 for the year ending June 30, 1937 and $40,000,- 000 annually for the nine years there after. Of the original appropriation of $100,- 000,000 for rural electric projects more than $8,000,000 had been disbursed or earmarked for specific projects March 1st. 27,000 farms and 7,500 miles of line are provided for in these appropriations Wlth additional applications in from twenty states. Farmers, deprived for years of the use of electric light and Power because it was not "profitable" for Pt'vate utilities to serve rural areas, have ken the initiative in forming their own cooperatives to meet this need and a lion's share of the funds now earmarked will go to cooperatives. Twenty-two district meetings spon sored by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federa tion have rallied 50,000 Ohio farmers be hind projects for cooperative electrifica tion. The complete program of electrifica tion mapped out by the Rural Electrifica tion Division of the Ohio Farm Bureau cooperatives will involve the building of 5,387 miles of line. Miami and Shelby. county co-ops have already started con struction of their own lines. 1700 farm homes in the counties will "turn on the switch" for the first time when construc tion is completed in May. The first poles were set in Boone County for Indiana's first electric coop erative January 9. An appropriation of $567,926 was made to serve twenty-two hundred members of the Boone County project which is the first line to rise under the direction of Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperatives. Midland Cooperative Wholesale in Minneapolis is providing engineering service and technical assistance to many 78 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 79 electric cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with the Federated Electric Cooperative acting as central agency for rural electric cooperatives in the central and northwest. The Michigan Rural Electrification Association, formed by farm organization leaders, has held mass meetings in 43 counties for the organization of coopera tives, and projects have been submitted to Washington for farmer-owned power lines. Cooperative power associations in the State of Washington, in spite of power trust interference, have found that their own distribution lines, supplied with power from municipal plants, can furnish themselves with electric service at $4.50 per month that would formerly have cost them as much as $19.50 under private ownership. Mississippi has spurred cooperative organization by passing a law exempting non-profit rural electrification systems using TVA or other public power sources from state or local ad valorem taxes for a period of five years. Consumers' Cooperative Associatio North Kansas City, has set up a Spp' cial department of rural electrification t~ assist local cooperatives with their pro:° ects. '" Cooperative rural electrification, tak ing the lead in pioneering this field, has already met active opposition from prj. vate profit utilities which fear the loss of the cream of the territory which they had intended to exploit at their convenience In Ohio a private profit company erected parallel lines with the cooperative with out permission from the proper authori ties in an attempt to beat out the coopera tive. Propaganda aimed at the coopera tives has been spread promiscuously jn an attempt to frighten farmers from creating their own utilities. Co-ops and private interests in Wisconsin locked horns before the Public Service Commis sion when contradicting orders confused the rights of expansion. In twenty states cooperatives are leading the drive to electrify the 85% of American farms now without light or power. Consumers' Cooperatives in Action Columbus, Ohio—'The Columbus Con sumers' Cooperative, organized in Jan uary, 1935, with twenty-nine members, now has a membership of 437. The co-op did a total business in gas and oil, coal, dry cleaning and clothing of $15,823 and paid patronage dividends of eight per cent. Minneapolis, Minn.—'The Coopera- tors' Life Association will seek to in crease its insurance in force during the next year to a million dollar coverage, according to a decision of the second congress of the association held here Vlaroh 3. The total insurance in force ïfter the first two years of operation is ^612,000. Madison, Wisconsin—'Medical service 3n a group payment plan as a supplement *O the service of credit unions throughout the country was discussed by the direc tors of the Credit Union National Asso ciation here, February 9—12. The medi cal plan would furnish complete medical and dental care upon the payment of a regular monthly fee. Virginia, Minnesota. —• The Mesabc Range Cooperative Federation has asked that the educational budget of the Cen tral Co-op. Wholesale be boosted to $10,000 a year to take care of educa tional work "essential to the advance ment of the cooperative movement." Berkeley, California — Three of the largest apartment houses in Berkeley are occupied by 400 student members of Uni versity of California Student Cooperative Society. The average cost of room and board in the cooperatives is $17.50 per month. Champaign, Illinois—In an effort to solve the question of discrimination against Negro students at the University of Illinois on the part of local restau rateurs, druggists and lunchroom oper ators, a group of Negro and White stu- ts have opened a cooperative restau- t Despite the attitude of University 'fficials, Negro students have been dis- ° -fflinated against in all save one of the T'ai lunch rooms. When that restaurant °ls closed several weeks ago the co-op launched to assure Negro students a place to eat. Maynard, Mass.—The United Coop- ative Society dedicated its new branch "ore with a Grand Opening and "Dedi cation Exercises" in the Maynard High School Auditorium April 15. Dr. James p \Varbasse, President, represented The Cooperative League of the U.S.A., and commended the Maynard Society on its continuous cooperative expansion. New York City—-The Manager of the Cooperative Tour to Europe reports that transatlantic bookings are heavier than they have been for years. Cooperators who plan to join the tour should send their reservations to The Cooperative League at once to be sure of desirable space. Duluth, Minn.—The Trico Coopera tive Oil Association has assisted the or ganization of a city oil cooperative in Du luth. The newly formed Duluth Con sumers' Cooperative Society will operate the service station. Greely, Colorado—-The Consumer Oil Company which last year distributed 1.800,000 gallons of gasoline claims the title of the world's largest retail gas and oil cooperative. The Greely cooperative, organized in 1921, has returned to its 1700 members almost three-quarters of a million dollars in patronage dividends. Savings totaled $93,000 in 1935. Hermiston, Oregon—This little town of 600 people is rapidly becoming Ore gon s "Cooperative Town." Consumers cooperative business here totaled almost a quarter of a million dollars in 1935 with an additional $250,000 business trans acted through marketing cooperatives, 'he Farm Bureau Cooperative, dealing tL, S and seeds- had 9ross sales of »H/.000 in 1935. The Grange Coopera tive handled $36,000 worth of lumber, nardware, fuel and implements. Sales of J«-co-op gas station totaled $21,000, .utl a 10 per cent patronage dividend. co°perative cannery and laundry add- ed $5,000 more and the Cooperative Grocery, operating in competition with a major chain, reported sales of $26,000. A community credit union has been established. Turkey and creamery coop eratives were the major marketing co-ops and talk of a cooperative bakery, meat curing plant and tannery are now in the air. New York—Statistics compiled for the April issue of Consumers' Cooperation indicated volume and membership in creases in every cooperative wholesale and regional organization. Statistics are now available for the remaining organi zations affiliated with The Cooperative League. Consumers Cooperatives Asso ciated, Amarillo, Texas, estimated retail sales of $4,000,000 for 60/ affiliated cooperatives in the Panhandle area. Con sumers Cooperative Services, operating a chain of cooperative cafeterias on Man hattan Island increased its volume from $395,109 in 1934 to $434,396 in 1935. Franklin Cooperative Creamery, Min neapolis, boosted sales of dairy products to $2,517,261. Cooperative Distributors, New York, pushed its gross cooperative business over $100,000 for the first time in 1935. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Co operative Association reported that eight county cooperative associations were in- full swing with additional buying clubs and embryo organizations already under way. Recreation Cooperative completed a series of twelve recreation institutes in 1935 with a growing business in coopera tive games, craft material, and folk songs. NEBRASKA FARMERS UNION FOL LOWS LEAD OF OHIO FARM BUREAU FEDERATION In the spring of 1935 the Board of Di rectors of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federa tion passed resolutions providing that the officers and staff lend assistance and en couragement to the organization of city consumers' cooperatives; recommended to their affiliated insurance cooperatives that they make their service available to city consumers' cooperative groups; and that the officers and members of the staff be authorized to serve in such capacities with city consumers' cooperatives as might be requested of them. These résolu- 80 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION tions adopted by the Board of Directors \vere followed by resolutions adopted by the Delegate Body at the annual meeting of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation in November, 1935, authorizing the Board, the Trustees and officials of the Farm Bu reau to develop and promote proper plans for agreeable and consistent working re lationships between farmer and urban consumers' cooperative groups. This historical action on the part of a farm group reaching out its hand to grasp that of urban groups in the organ ization of consumers' cooperative asso ciations has now been followed by the adoption of resolutions by the Nebraska State Farmers Union convention in Feb ruary, \vhich we quote in full as follows: "Whereas, There has been a marked and steady increase in the past few years in the growth of both rural and urban cooperative organization and "Whereas, The cooperative tnove ment, in order that it may attain it" greatest growth and reach its most worthy ends, must vision and assi in the development of each type Of cooperative, be it "Resolved, That the harmonious relationship existing between th consumer groups and the marketing and producer cooperatives be culti vated and increased, and that we re quest our officers and directors to formulate plans and authorize them to promote such plans for a con sistent working relationship between such cooperative associations, all such to be in the interests of both rural and urban associations, and in accord with the promotion of the •cooperative movement as a whole." The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation Magazines NATION'S BUSINESS, April, "Watch Con sumers' Cooperatives," Charles H. Janssen. BUSINESS WEEK, March 28, "Growth of Con sumers' Cooperatives." PRINTERS' INK, March 26, "Filene's Co-op," Richard Giles. April 2, "Books on Co-ops" a selected list of books and pamphlets on Consumers' Coopera tion. ADVERTISING AND SELLING, April 9, "Co- oneratives Continue to Gain." CHRISTIAN CENTURY, March 18, "Student Cooperatives Owe Something to Religion," edi torial. April 1, "Up By the Bootstraps," the story of the Gary Cooperative, Marguerite Harmon Bro. April 8, "No Cooperatives for Us," A. V. Montier, a satire. CHARACTER, March-April, "Consumers' Coop eration," Editorial. "Pointers For Group Discussion—Cooperatives." COMMONWEAL, March 27, "Cooperation in Nova Scotia," the second of a series by Philip Burnham. SOCIAL ACTION, March 15, "Christianity and the Cooperatives," Benson Y. Landis. ECONOMIC JUSTICE, March, "Kagawa Is Ac claimed" an editorial analyzing the social values of cooperatives. CLASSMATE, January 25, "Youth and Coopera tion," Wade Crawford Barclay, AMERICAN COTTON GROWER, April, "Ka gawa and Cooperatives." INDEPENDENT WOMAN, February, "Wanted: Ready Money," cooperatives and credit unions, John Jessup. CHRISTIAN REGISTER, April 2, "Consumers' Cooperation," correspondence, Emerson P. Har ris. Newspapers NEW YORK WORLD TELEGRAM, March 28, "6.000 U. S. Cooperatives Now Doing Business of $365,000,000 yearly." March 31, "Cooperative Trade Growing," "At t^e Caoital" column, Raymond Claoper. NEW YORK POST. April 3, "Cooperatives TTroed Bv Filene." NEW YORK SUN, April 2, "Cooperatives" an editorial. AMERICAN LEADER, a series of five articles on Cooperative Insurance, Cecil Crews. "CHRISTIANITY AND THE CO OPERATIVES" Council for Social Action of the Congregational and Christian Churches of America, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y., March issue of Social Action. Price lOc. Benson Y. Landis is the special editor of an issue of Social Action on the subject of "Christianity and the Cooperatives." Mr. Landis is becoming well known as an author on the subject of Co operatives. As long ago as 1922 he was prophesy ing, "It is hard to forecast the extent or the con sequences of this agrarian cooperative movement. There may be truth in the prediction that this peaceful agricultural revolution now going on u American agriculture will bring results as rar reaching as those of the industrial revolution which began in England in the latter part of the eighteenth century and inaugurated our presen economic life." , In 1925 he was the author of a pamphlet pub lished by the Federal Council of Churches on _!" Social Aspects of Cooperative Marketing ' which other forms of Cooperation were also cusj cussed. More recently he has been the author the special issue of "Information Service wra summed up the Federal Council's Special Consumers' Cooperation, and of the pamphlet a Primer for Consumers" published by the As- •'ation Press, both of which have proven to be "C this new ParnPh'et' Mr. Landis says that in avva's message "the cooperatives belong with • old, old story." He states that the purpose of pamphlet is to interpret the movement which an jn Rochdale in 1844 to those who are a part »he movement that began in Galilee nineteen •uries ago. Cooperative principles and develop- nts are interestingly discussed, concluding with vVhat religious leaders say," directions for or- nizing a cooperative and a condensed bibliog- jhy- No religious leader in America is better '-rmed and better able to write effectively upon , subject of the Cooperative Movement. This attractive poster (size 26x38") is now available at the following prices: 10 for $1.60 postpaid 50-100 (ffi 12c each, express collect 100 and over @ lOc each, express collect Gummed miniature (like the above) avail- ole in assorted red and green: $1.00 per 1000 $3.00 per 5000 $5.00 per 10,000 COOPERATIVE DESIGN SERVICE 167 West 12th St. New York City FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE •AFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 27 East 84th St., New York, N. Y. ober of The Cooperative League of the * A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. ORDER THESE NEW BOOKS • "COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY" James P. Warbasse President, The Cooperative League A third completely revised edition of an Amer ican classic in Consumers' Cooperation which has already been printed in six languages. Dis cusses the philosophy, methods, accomplish ments and possibilities of the movement. Spe cial Cooperative Edition. Price $1.50. • "CONSUMER COOPERA TION IN AMERICA" Bertram B. Fowler A vivid, up to date, report of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement written by an out standing journalist who has spent the past year studying the co-ops in action. Special Coopera tive Edition $1.00. • Marquis W. Childs' "SWEDEN—THE MIDDLE WAY" An intensely interesting analysis of the factors which have produced Sweden's remarkable re covery: consumers' cooperatives, labor organi zations, government operation of utilities. Beau tiful illustrations of Sweden's outstanding co operatives. Yale Press. $2.50. • "FRESH FURROW" Burris Jenkins A fascinating novel telling the story of the development of a middle western consumers' cooperative, written by Kansas City's famous pastor-novelist. Willett, Clark and Co. Special price to cooperatives, $1.00. Order from THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th St. New York City STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION "Education Is The Keystone Of Cooperation" re. 69. 84. 95. 96. 85. 341. 90. 99. 94. 104. 105. 97. 92. 103. 355. 98. 100. EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS Per Copy Per 100 What is Consumers' Cooperation J. P. Warbasse ________.___ .05 4.00 Story of Toad Lane, Stuart Chase ___________________ .05 4.00 The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietrich ________________ .05 4.00 A Trip to Cooperative Europe, H. A. Cowden ____________ .05 4.00 A Cooperative Economic De mocracy, E. R. Bowen _______ .05 4.00 Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. J. Hughes ______________ .10 8.00 America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation, E. R. Bowen_____ .10 8.00 Up Prom The Shadows, Michel Rpcker—Translated by Arthur Albrecht ________________ .10 8.00 Kagawa and Cooperatives ____ .10 8.00 The Discovery of the Consumer, Beatrice Potter Webb _______ .10 8.00 A Primer for Consumers, B. Y. Landis ___________ _ .10 s.oe Guide for Discussion Circles, C. R. Hutdhinson __________ .10 8.00 A Short Introduction to Con sumers' Cooperation, Ell is Cowling _________________ .15 12.00 Other People's Money, Louis D. Brandeis ______________— .15 The Negro Seeks Economic Free dom Through Cooperation, J. L. Reddix __________________ .15 12.00 Ho>w St. P. X. University Edu cates For Action __________ .20 16.00 Fundamentals of Consumers' Coopération, V. S. Alanne ____ .26 Seeking ai New World Through Cooperatives, Carl R. Hutdhinson .25 ORGANIZATIONAL PAMPHLETS 59£. Organization and management of consumers' cooperative as sociations and clubs, with model by-laws (postpaid) ———————— -l^ 606. Organization and management of co-op gasoline and oil aissocia- tions.with model by-laws (post paid) __——————————————— -15 eo8. Organization and management of cooperative housing associa tions, with model lease and by laws (postpaid) —————————— .15 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law ————— .10 30. "When the Whistle Blew" (Story by Bruce Calve-^t)———— .06 31 "The Spider Web", A 3 act play .25 57 How a- Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 .7B 62 Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter __————————— .05 2.00 63. Decalcomania of the League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter __________————— .26 15.00 74. The Burden of Credit ____— .02 1.00 75. What is a Cooperative Store —— .02 1.60 SI. Cooperative Youth Songs ———— .25 82. What Cooperation means to a depression-siok America ————— .03 2.00 Î3. The Sure Way is the Quick Way .02 1.00 »4-2 Learn All About Consumers' Cooperation ________————— -02 1.00 MONTHLY MAGAZINES Consumers' Cooperation — (In bundle int per hundred). Subsbription, per year rr ' ""•' ' r Ie<*ipt _ ' $1. 26) _________________ Review of International Cooperation fpm, the I. C. A.) ———————————— Per Year j^ COOPERATIVE BOOKS The following books are recommended a taining the best discussion of the modern n°n~ * sumers' Cooperative Movement. They m n" ordered through The League, postpaid on r be of price. Ie< Bergengren, R. F. : Credit Union Book _ Charles Gide and Cooperation. Edited Karl Walter _ ____________ ____ Childs. Marquis; Sweden — The Middle Way 25» Faber: Harold: Cooperatives in Danish Airri culture (1831) _______________ ~- 3(Ki Fowler. Bertram B. : Consumer Coopéra tion in America (Cooperative Edition)T_7" i M Hall and Watkins: Cooperation, Official British Textbook, 1835 __________ _ 3M Holyoake: Rocihdal« Pioneers 1892 ___ __ j,. Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932 375 JenMns. Bunris: Fresh Furrow, A Coopéra .live Novel (Special Edition) ____ _ __ 1M Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English gnildswomen. telling what the Cooperative Guild has done for them _ \ Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators. Paper ________________ JQJ Poisson. E.: The Cooperative Republic... ]_j£ Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1891 ___________________ IM Redfern, Percy: John T. W. Mitohell, (1924) i.oo Russell, George (A. E.) The National Being 1.75 Swedish Cooperative Architecture (beauti fully illustrated) ____________ „ ___ 2.6" Totomianz. V.: The Place of Cooperation among other movements _________ .25 Warbasse. J. P.: Cooperative Democracy (1936) (Special Cooperative Edition) __ 1 Warbasse. J. P.: The Doctor and The Public, 1835, cooperative health protection 6.00 Webb. B and S. : The Consumers' Co operative Movement. 1921 (Board cover) 2.M Webb, Beatrice: My Apprenticeship, (1326) 3.00 Webb. Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, ,1917 ______________ —— _ _____ _ L«d Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry __ —————————————— U* Cooperation, Bound Volumes, 1820 to 1935 inclusive, each year ————————————— 1-5* The People's Year Book, 1936, English, cloth^f.35, paper ——————————————— * GENERAL BOOKS Brookings Institution: America's Capacity _ to Consume _________ — _ ——————— "*• Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth _. 1* Education for Life: Noëlle Diavis ______ J" Henderson, Fred: Economic Consequences of Power Production ———————— - —— — Kagawa, Toyohiko: Christ atnd Japan Cloth 1.00, Paper _____ _____———— Kallen, H. M.: A Free Society, (unbound) • Loeb, Harold: The Chart of Plenty ———— - *• Webb: B. & S. Constitution for a Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain ———— a- Order from: THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City Raivaaja Print Fitchburg, Mass. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY- DEMOCRACY Volume XXII. No. 6 JUNE, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS Fathers who support the present com petitive system today do so at the future expense of their own children. • With tiresome uniformity the Federal Reserve System reports again: Industrial production 97, factory unemployment 84, factory payrolls 75. • Heber Blankenhorn, industrial econo mist of the Labor Board, has discovered another definition for pure Americanism. Before the LaFollette Committee he testi fied that "this system of espionage is 100% American," declaring that wher ever he made inquiries on the use of in dustrial spies he was informed that such things do not exist in Western Europe. • To be perfectly neutral we record the fact that Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., in accepting the presidency of the National Republican Club, offered a three point program, the third point of which was to recognize the principle of cooperation and profit sharing such as is practiced in oweden. England and other countries." We cannot but wonder how much he un derstands the final significance of such a program. Interest in Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa is not confined to the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in America. A letter has just been received from Axel Gjores, Secre tary of Kooperative Forbundet, Stock holm, Sweden, advising that the Direc tors of K. F. desire to extend to Dr. Ka gawa an invitation to visit them, and re questing the assistance of The Coopera tive League in persuading him to do so. Dr. Kagawa has accepted the invitation. Officers of corporations are being placed on the defensive because of their huge salaries. For years they have suc cessfully kept them hidden not only from the general public but even from their or dinary stockholders. Now that they are forced to report the figures, a defense is necessary. Myron C. Taylor, chairman of the U. S. Steel Corporation, argued at their annual meeting that "their compen sation is commensurate with their respon sibility," and in the interest of the stock holders. Wlhen we read this news item we could not help but recall an annual meet ing of a cooperative wholesale when a delegate asked what salaries were paid employees, whereupon the manager pub- ln vnhfl11 to sPreao the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, uiumary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need, polished monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. Joi'.™Teni Editor- Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing- Editors: Editors of Cooperative ____^naisana Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. «ered as Second Class Matter, December 19, -19Ï1, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. \ 82 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION licly read every salary, starting first with his own and adding that he considered himself overpaid. Yet he carried the "responsibility" of a million dollar whole sale business and was receiving $275 per month. And it might be added that co operative stockholders do control sala ries, wihile corporation stockholders do not. • "F. D. R. calls for Revised N. R. A,"' headlined one newspaper report of the President's Baltimore Address. Labor should be on its guard this time after its previous experience. What the NRA really did was to attempt to foist on America the cartel system of price and production control behind a smoke screen of publicity about the need of protecting labor from the "chiselers." Dr. Harry W. Laidler, who is one of America's keenest social 'economists, says that "labor paid too big a price" for the little it got in the way of minimum wages, and maximum hours and reduction of child labor. What labor should do this time is to drive for a National Minimum Law such as was pro moted by a committee headed by Beatrice Webb in Great Britain and finally adopt ed under the Lloyd George administra tion, which provided for minimum wages, leisure, housing, health and education. Such a law should have no relationship to any form of .price and production control but should simply establish a minimum base underneath which no individual or family need fall on account of economic pressure, as a part of a transition program to the new cooperative order of plenty for all. • Conservative business has awakened and launched an attack on Kagawa. Con servative church leaders have begun to follow. It is passing strange the similarity of language they use. Articles in the "Black Diamond" and in the "Christian Evangelist" both suggest that the church should keep in "its own field." Both de fend capitalism as having produced the highest standard of living in this country of any nation in the world. If the argu ment that the field of the church does not include economics rests on no stronger foundation than the argument for capi talism, it will be great fun to watch the liberal church leaders demolish it. As for _______ capitalism's higher standard of livinq y enough to suggest "take a walk in Sea $ dinavia." • V New Jersey should be awarded the n tional prize for "playing politics Wjft misery." It surely has been an illuminat ing illustration of our present political in" competence to read of the "siege" of th unemployed upon the State House at Trenton. In answer to the Governor's declaration that lie had no power to act except in the case of an insurrection, the jobless formally declared that such an in- surrection existed. A former Assembly, man, now candidate for U. S. Senator who was pictured with two protecting policeman, walked onto the floor and after stating that he was ashamed of them, gave them this free advice, "You beggars and paupers, you can find work! Go out and search for it!" How different are these times from those of Marie An- toinnette w-hen she made herself famous by a similar remark, "Let them eat cake"? And will the final results be any differ ent? It is for America to determine. The conditions are not so different, but per haps the people have learned from his tory that violence is not the best solution. Cooperators should make haste "while there is yet time" to tell the people the real solution lest we have blood upon our hands because of our inaction. • Dan B. Brummitt, editor of the central and northwestern editions of The Chris tian Advocate, did not take the attack of the Iowa Association of Lumber and Building Dealers Association lying down. He has a pointed pen which it is not too wise to arouse to action. Under the heading "A Bit of Foolish Fascism From Iowa," he writes, "This years General Conference has 'had more than its share of unsolicited advice from out side our church borders, some of it aston ishingly cheeky. But for cold, chilled-steel nerve we nominate to receive the General Conference award for undiluted im pudence the work of the Iowa Associa tion of Lumber and Building Matena Dealers." Mr. Brummitt suggests that "this unashamed effort to investigate, in fluence and even intimidate the delegates from Iowa, lay and ministerial, is the work of men who do not know l°wa June CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 83. Methodists." By the time this issue of r nsurners' Cooperation reaches you the wspapers should have reported how 11 orthy successors present day Methodists of the two famous Methodist minis- frrs the Loveless brothers, who organ- . ec| the first trade union in England, for ' hich they were sentenced to seven years' penal servitude. Will present day Methodist ministers answer today's at tacks with George Loveless' words, "We raise the watchword Liberty: We will, we will, we will be free!"? • America has been honored, all too briefly, with a visit from another famous foreign visitor, Herbert M. Morrison, President of the London County Council and prominently suggested as the next Prime Minister of England if and when the Labor Party again achieves control. It's good to listen to such straight-from- the-shoulder-hitting English leaders as George Lansbury and Herbert Morrison. They don't mince words. They're out and out advocates of all three types of work ers organizations of which they are mem bers—Labor Parties, Labor Unions and Consumers' Cooperatives. When the editor of Consumers' Cooperation inter viewed Mr. Morrison and asked him for a statement to use in helping to arouse American Labor to the significance of or ganizing as consumers into cooperatives as well as producers into unions, he said somewhat sadly it seemed, "I've been talking about the Cooperative Movement to labor everywhere, but they acted as though they didn't know what I was talking about." But immediately he added, "Listen to my address tonight and it will give you something to quote as to what I think about Consumers' Cooperatives." Concluding a powerful address he said, Another thing I find absent in America is the Consumers' Cooperative Movement m the labor field. In Great Britain there are millions of cooperators. It is the big gest retail business. It is vital that the Co operative Movement should grow in ^merica. The ideal of the Cooperative Movement is that millions of capital are Put together by consumers for retailing, *noesaling and production." Then «Peaking personally, he said, "Everything o which I stand was purchased in a co- Perative store and not in a capitalistic store. Everything I wear was made under trade union conditions. I pay retail prices, and at the end of a period I get back in a patronage dividend whatever the price, proves to be over the actual cost. The unions in the Cooperative Movement do not have to fight for their minimum rights as under capitalism. There is a field in Consumers' Cooperation for American Labor to explore!" • The Episcopal address of the Board of Bishops delivered at the general con ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church speaks of "iniquitous profits," in connection with the liquor question, and uses the phrase "corporate greed" in dis cussing munitions. But the address "speaks softly" in connection with profits, in other lines of business, saying that in many individual cases the profit motive has been joined by the benevolence mo tive. _____ The Bislhops need to learn that "profits are profits"—that the primary question is, not the source of profits or their sharing. Some profits cannot be blessed and other- profits damned by classification as to their source. Nor can profits be white washed by being partially given away. Profits need to be definitely defined as overcharges. As overcharges they should be paid back to those who pay them in. The cooperative patronage dividend method provides the technique for doing so. Like others, the Bishops also confuse "property" with "profits," in saying that "property, whether among ministers or merchants, is not proof of iniquity." Cer tainly it is not. What the Cooperative Movement is out to do is to recover own ership of property for the people which private-profits have taken away. Let cooperators who have the acquain tance of Bishops help to teach them that profits cannot be classified, that profits cannot be blessed by benevolence, and that profits do not mean the same thing as property. Bishops can and need to be "socially saved" as well as others. Mar quis Childs' "Sweden—'the Middle Way" tells how private-profits are being elimi nated there, in munitions, liquor, industry and utilities. Private-profits are the core of the cancer that is eating at the heart of society today. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Which Way America—Cooperation or Communism June CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 85 Incentives in a Cooperative Order By Harry W. Laidlcr, Ph. D. MOST noteworthy conclusion was • reached by E. Stanley Jones in his book "Christ's Alternative to Com munism" when he rejected Capitalism without detailed discussion as a dying economic order, and declared that the issue of the future was between a spiritual or a material collectivism —• in other -words between Cooperation and Com munism. Cooperation is a method of retaining and extending democratic liberty and achieving economic justice; Communism destroys democratic liberty in its at tempts to produce economic justice. The primary elements of economic justice might be defined as each one having ownership, employment and equality of income. There is practically no farm tenancy in Denmark. Cooperation has resulted in the recovery of farm ownership in Den mark, which demonstrates that Com munism is not necessary to eliminate tenancy. Furthermore, Cooperation has produced widespread individual owner ship of farms rather than collective own ership. Individual ownership of farms is the foundation of greater cultural devel opment than collective ownership. (See Denmark Agriculture, 1935, published by The Agricultural Council, Copenhagen, Denmark, for the facts.) There is almost no unemployment in Sweden. Cooperation has resulted in the widespread distribution of jobs to every one, which demonstrates that Commu nism is not necessary to eliminate unem ployment. Furthermore, Cooperation has given everyone employment without com pulsion as under Communism. (See "Sweden; The Middle Way" 1936, by Marquis W. Childs, for the facts.) There is no widespread difference be tween standards of living in Finland. Cooperation has resulted in less differ ence between the standard of living of the well-to-do and the poorer classes in Finland than in Russia. The well-to H live no higher than the Soviet officials and the poor live better on the average. Co munism is not necessary to produce ec " nomic equality. (See series of four ar" tides in Christian Science Monitor A,," gust 19-22, 1935, for these facts.) ' Political, educational and religious liberty have been preserved and extended in Scandinavia. Cooperation has retained all the values of democratic liberty jn Scandinavia while producing economic justice, which proves that it is not neces sary to destroy liberty in order to achieve justice as Communism has attempted to do. America is far more like Scandinavia than Russia. America has a background of 150 years of democratic liberty in political, educational and religious fields. Scandinavia has likewise had long years of democratic development. Russia never knew what democratic liberty was. By the use of their democratic powers as consumers, citizens and producers, the Scandinavians have achieved economic justice and preserved democratic liberty. Scandinavia is the example for America to follow .—• the way of democracy and Cooperation. Under dictatorship, says Gustav Cassel of Sweden, "what stands to be lost is nothing less than the whole of that civilization that we have inherited from generations which once fought hard to lay its foundation and even gave their lives for it. What they have accomplished and handed down to us is a precious in heritance, placing upon the present gen- eration the commanding responsibility of maintaininq such treasures intact for the benefit of future generations." Scandinavia is rapidly developing con sumers' cooperatives, public utilities and producers organizations. These are the three types of economic organizations for America to develop. Will you help re organize your own little corner of crea tion in these three ways? SOME years ago, I was sitting in the research laboratory of Dr. Charles p Steinmetz, the great electrical wizard and consulting engineer of the General Flectric. There he was hunched over the table on which he had made so many brilliant calculations in the field of electricity. We began to talk about the need for a socialized order under which the masses of men and women would be able to enjoy security and plenty and leisure. T , .. , . "Yes/ I said, many people today aqree that a cooperative social order would bring about a juster distribution of wealth and income. It would abolish un employment, poverty and waste. But, they say, people—' especially inventors and managers—would have no incentive to work under a cooperative order. "You are an inventor, Dr. Steinmetz. Do you think that you would have as great an urge as you now have to invent and conduct your researches, if employed by a socialized industry?" Steinmetz took a puff of his long, black cigar and quietly replied: "I feel that I would have greater incentive to invent under a new social order. For under so cial ownership I would know that the in vention would be immediately used by the entire industry and that all of its benefits would be felt directly by the masses in higher income or in shorter hours." Why Men Work Steinmetz obtained from the General Electric all that he needed to keep him going and an opportunity to continue in his experiments. If he invented anything, 'he patent to that invention, however, went to the company, not to him. He represented the new type of inventor in the United States. In the old days, most inventors did free lance work. They became possessed oi an idea and experimented by them selves in their garret apartments. If they invented anything, they might make a 'ortune out of it. or they might die in Poverty. Most inventors died poor. Among American inventors who did great things for society and ended their days prac tically penniless, we might mention Johri Fitch, inventor of the steamboat; Charles. Goodyear, discoverer of the vulcanizing process; Christopher Sholes, originator of the typewriter and Tom Davenport^ builder of electrical motors. Many of these had little thought of profit. When they began their experi ments, they could not be induced to stop- until they had achieved their ends. And after the inventor had given birth to his: brain child, we frequently found him im patiently turning to other ideas, leaving it to others to make a profit. Sholes, inventor of the typewriter, for instance, seldom thought about money, because as he said, it was "too much bother." Most of the money went to the Remingtons, who bought the patent. Sholes merely received a small sum of money and the joy of creating. But that proved to be sufficient. Edison strove for fame more than for money. A New Role for the Inventor Today, the free lance inventor is being displaced by the salaried employee in the large research laboratories. Representa tives of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, scour the country for the bright minds in the universities, put these boys into the laboratories, give them a salary and start them at work. If these employees invent anything, they will get a larger salary, perhaps, but the profit goes to the cor poration. Under a Cooperative order,, these salaried inventors could be de pended upon to work for a salary in a socialized laboratory as they are now working for a salary for a private cor poration. So much for the inventor. What about the administrator, the business man? Does he require the profit incentive, the chance to make a fortune to keep him efficiently at work? At the present time, I must admit that many business men are working hard with an eye to big profits. They want 86 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 87 riches partly because of the comforts and the power that wealth will give to them. 'They want wealth for another reason: The gaining of a fortune is regarded by most people as an indication of success in business. "That man is a great success," you will hear people saying. "Why, he entered business a poor boy. And now, look at Tiim, he is a millionaire! That's success for you." And a man wants to be re garded as successful in whatever line of •effort he enters. Teaching Without Profit If there were other measures of suc cess, however, you would find that same man working just as hard for those other goals. Take, for instance, the teaching profession. There are probably not more than a handful of the million odd teachers in this country who hope, as a result of teaching, to become millionaires. But does that keep them from doing good work? No. Thousands of our teachers are among our hardest working people. AVhat gets them to work? Well, they re ceive a fair salary. They are more secure in their jobs than are most workers for private corporations. They have the satisfaction of seeing their pupils develop under them, of being well regarded by the community; of increasing their knowledge in cultural and scientific studies. And these and other non-profit incentives are sufficiently powerful to Iceep them hard at work. Or we can go to the great consumers' cooperative movement of the world. I was speaking a while ago with the very efficient manager of the Sweetish coop erative. He was showing me around the imposing headquarters of the wholesale in Stockholm. He was the head of a con cern that was doing a business of mil lions of dollars a year, and yet neither he nor any other administrator was getting a profit from managing this cooperative enterprise. I asked him what induced him to do Tiis best work, and he was doing magnifi cent work. He smiled at the question. There was such a thing, he said, as a feeling of loyalty to a great movement. He was spurred on by the knowledge that he had been selected by his fellows as the head of this big enterprise. He re ceived a moderate salary. He was co paratively secure in his job. He had th~ satisfaction of doing a good administra6 tive piece of work. He was anxious t" excel among the administrators of th cooperative movement in the country H wanted the movement to grow in ^ battle with private industry. He didn't need the profit incentive to induce him to do efficient work. And he was but one of thousands of administrators in such non profit businesses in the world today. I have likewise talked with many ex ecutives of public enterprises who have done excellent work. I have realized from observing them in action how potent non profit incentives in industry can become Many of us disagree with a number of things that are happening in Russia. But one cannot visit Russia as I have twice done and see tens of thousands of men and women from the highest to the lowest rung of industry energetically working without any thought of acquir ing fortunes, without coming to the con clusion that industry can be run for use, for service, rather than for profit. Or go into private industry in the Unit ed States. In the days of the small busi ness, the average promoter or manager was also the owner of the firm in which he worked. If the business made profits, he got those profits. Profit Without Work Today the situation is a far different one. Most of our business is done by the great private corporations owned by inactive stockholders scattered in dif ferent parts of the world. I may own a thousand shares of stock—which I dont —in the United States Steel, or the Standard Oil or the Electric Bond and Share Corporation. I may have inherited those shares or have obtained them by mere accident. I may be a baby in arms or an imbecile. I may live in California or Timbuctoo or Cairo. I may have never seen any of the plants of the corporation. I might know nothing about the concern except that it usually declares a certain dividend every quarter. Because of my ownership, and not because of my ability- I will obtain my check whenever a divi dend is declared. If I sell my stocks today and buy stocks in a competing corpora- \ tomorrow, it will make absolutely tionjjjference with the way the corpora- n.° js run. I, with other absentee own- ti011 aet the profit. I have nothing to do ers'. the running of the corporation out- *je Of signing a proxy and' allowing an Sfficer of the corporation to vote for me. ° The operation of the concern is in the hands of the executives, the engineering ? ,ce and the ordinary workers, with ° ' financial advice from the Board of Directors. The administrators work, for the most part, for a salary. They may, or they may not, own shares of stock in the corporation. Any profit that may be earned, doesn't go to them but goes to inactive stockholders. In other words, as ownership is becoming separated more and more from management, executives depend less and less upon the direct profit motive for their incentive. They are depending increasingly on the salary incentive, plus such other incentives as pride in their work, the fun of seeing the administrative wheels run round and of witnessing the business growth; the de sire to keep their jobs, to get the approval of others and to obtain power. Of course that is not true of those at the very top. of the administrative ladder. Many of them obtain huge salaries and bonuses out of proportion to the service they ren der, rewards that may be regarded as sheer profits, not service income. But an increasing number of executives on the middle and lower rungs of the ladder ob tain, for the most part, a service income only, the profits going to the passive stockholder. Many an executive who is now "work ing for a salary for a private concern would willingly work just as hard for a salary in a public or voluntary coopera tive industry. In fact, under social owner ship of the right type, they would have «r greater security than at present and would not be continually interfered with by financiers intent on speculative profits. Service Not Profit 1 his is shown by the achievements of such public servants as Colonel George W. Goethals, the able builder of the ^nama Canal; of William Maxwell, President for 27 years of the great Scot- •!f ^operative Wholesale and J. T. W. «Mchell, chairman for years of the Board of Directors of the English Cooperative Wholesale. The last two served for years on salaries of a couple of thousand dol lars or less, at a time that the gross busi ness done by their respective organiza tions amounted to from forty million to more than a hundred million dollars. So much for the inventor and adminis trator. Under social ownership, the average worker would, of course, have far more incentive to do his best than at present. He would not be compelled to give great tribute to a small owning class. Under a cooperative system, he would be part owner of the socialized industries. He would be represented in the manage ment. He would know that every inven tion, every economy in the industry, would redound to the interests of the worker—would mean higher pay or more leisure. Now the more he produces, the sooner he often finds himself out of a job. The worker under a cooperative or der would be far more secure in his job than now, and his compensation would be based on his worth to industry, not on the accidental fact of ownership. Rewards Under Cooperation A socialized order would, therefore, I believe, furnish a far finer incentive to administrator, inventor, and ordinary worker than does the present system. It would provide the incentive of a com fortable salary, a secure living, a chance to have one's say in the conduct of the corporation, an opportunity for advance ment in position and pay, a chance to ex press one's self, to do a good job, to do in many instances creative work and to serve one's fellow men. Finally, we must not lose sight of the fact that, while the profit incentive at present drives men on to energetic work, much of this activity is injurious to socie ty. The profit motive is a driving force to adulteration, child labor, low wages, long hours, the suppression of labor's rightful activities, racketeering, insecurity and war itself. It is time that we should strive to put industry on a non-profit, on a serv ice basis, and to go forward to a coop~ erative civilization where not the al mighty dollar, but the development of human personality, is the chief goal of Our industrial life. 88 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 89 Cooperation in the Making THE MIDDLE WEST IN WINTER By J. P. Warbasse (Continued) THE Central States Cooperative League and the Northern States Cooperative League coordinate the co operative movement of their respective districts. Contact with these organizations impresses one with the importance of dis trict federation of cooperative societies in so large a country as this. They organize meetings in their districts most effective- ly. The Consumers Cooperative Associa tion performs the functions of a district league. It was holding its annual conven tion in North Kansas City on the week of February 3-9. Monday morning I had the pleasure of meeting the Board of Di rectors in session. Then a talk to the graduates of the CCA schools and mem bers of the local educational committees. This assembly of young people was truly inspiring. They were approaching coop eration from the consumers' standpoint. There was a preponderance of young minds that could think in new terms. They had succeeded in getting away from the old conceptions of agrarian eco nomics and were revelling in a new world. They were thinking things through and realizing that the farmers' problem was something more than getting good prices for good crops. These young people have gone a long way beyond their fathers. This is largely due to the educational work carried on by the CCA out in the district locals where things are done, -where people live, and where eco nomic problems must be solved. Member Participation In the afternoon it was a pleasure to address the opening session of the seventh annual meeting of the CCA and to participate in the dedication cere monies of the new CCA building where the flag of the International Cooperative Alliance was unfurled. On the following day the CCA held its annual business meeting. The dele gates in attendance participated in practical way. They knew what Was going on and indicated that the Asso ciation was theirs and that they con trolled it. The questions and discussions were searching, and the cards were on the table. I wish I might attend more meet ings like this, where the membership dis plays so keen an interest and evidences so intelligent a grasp of its own affairs. Addressing this meeting in the afternoon was easy because I was speaking to a multitude of people who understood the language of cooperation without the need of much explanation. Interest in Cooperative Medicine My address to the student body in the chapel of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, the next day, gave youthful minds an idea of some of the things that are going on in the extra-curricular world of thought and action, which the classrooms fail to disclose. The President presided. Some other meetings enlivened the day. At six a dinner meeting of the Library Club, to speak to "a group of leading physicians, surgeons, and business lead ers," on the "Cooperative Protection of Health." Lo and behold, as the scriptures say, who should be chairman of the meet ing but the President of the American Medical Association! The doctors are coming along. This happy party was too soon ended because of the eight o'clock mass meeting at Grand View College. .Some of the doctors attended. Grand View is on its way to become a center of cooperative education for the Middle West. Already the plans are in process of development. The following day at Topeka, a luncheon meeting, arranged by the local Coopera tive League, brought together teachers, clergymen, doctors, town people, an farmers. At Lawrence the same after noon a lecture on "Socialized Medicine at the Medical College of Kansas Um- sity showed the pervading interest in v,e. SU'bject. It is everywhere. A meeting the evening with the Kansas Uni- 'ersity Student Forum brought the com- Vunists into vigorous action. With all their muddled thinking, misinformation, -nd wishful opinion, I would sooner see voung people be communists, these days, than stand-patters with no ideas but re action and laissez faire. College Executives Awaken The next morning found me speaking to the student body and faculty, at chapel at William Jewell College, Liberty, Mis souri. They had asked for a discussion of "Socialized Medicine." The President presided. When the period was up and it was time for the students to dispers-e to their various classrooms the President announced that there would be no classes during the next period, and requested that the discussion continue. Things such as this indicate the really intense interest in the cooperative approach to the problems of the day. In my rather long experience among the colleges I am struck with the attention shown the subject of coopera tion by presidents, deans and heads of departments when but a few years ago they gave it no consideration—or even' less than that—and left it to the young assistant teachers. The big wigs are now taking a hand. In the afternoon I met with a combination of economics classes at the University of Kansas City. It was pleas ant to find that the professor in charge nf this meeting had had me lecture for his classes in the University of New Mexico many years ago: thus the interest in co operation travels. And another professor informed me that his /parents are mem bers of the Maynard Cooperative Society in Massachusetts: thus parents still show youth the way. Then to Columbia for the banquet of the Boone County Oil Com- Pany, the Consumers' Club, etc., at six 0 clock. This meeting was largely of fac- ul(y of the University of Missouri. It was followed by a lecture at the Uni versity—the Student Lecture Series. Here agam "Socialized Medicine" had been «quested. The doctors were there with th(jir hard questions. Although there were in u lectures on this day, they were foil Afferent cities, and each was owed by a question period averaging more than an hour. Such days as this are charged with electricity; and one can not escape the impression that the coopera- jtive philosophy is penetrating deeply in to the American consciousness. The next day, Saturday, was profitably spent in conference and personal contact with the leadership of the Consumers' Cooperative Association. On Sunday morning I was privileged to speak from the pulpit of the church of Burris Jenkins, at the formal morning service. The music was excellent, and the congregation in terested. My text was, "We Human Beings Need One Another." This is the ethical basis of cooperation. Monday brought the first meeting in Indiana, it was with the field men and executives of the Farm Bureau. The next day was spent at Butler College, Indian apolis. The following day at the State Teachers College at Muncie. Here we had four sessions with various classes, a convocation meeting in the Auditorium, and a luncheon meeting down town with the Kiwanis Club at which the President of the College presided. Increasing Cooperative Education At DePauw University there was first an early class in Social Philosophy. Then came an assembly meeting of the student body and faculty. Town people also were invited. The President presided, and in his introductory remarks displayed a familiarity with cooperation which ten years ago was possessed by no college president and by few teachers. Then I spoke to a class in marketing. The lunch eon with the faculty was instructive. Next came a class in the Philosophy of Education, followed by a group of three classes in Sociology. Then we had an open forum—question and answer period. By request an extra lecture was given on "The Doctor and the Public" in the Science Building. This made eight meet ings in a day. And to indicate that De Pauw wants more cooperation, arrange ments have been made for a course of lectures to be provided by the Farm Bu reau Cooperative Association. This Indiana Association has within its membership a nucleus around which co operative understanding is developing. The fact that the old conceptions of farm 90 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 91 economics are so dominant need not dis courage the progressive cooperative leaders. Education is radiating from them, and this education is making its impres sion on the whole of Indiana. Farmers are learning how to supply themselves with capital goods for use in their busi ness, and when they have made a proved success of this form of cooperation, nothing can prevent them from taking the next step to supply themselves with con sumer goods for consumption by their families. Historically this is what has al ways taken place. Indiana is being guided in that direction by sincere and informed educational leadership which is pioneer ing in the field of cooperative education and which some day will be acclaimed for what it has done. Firm Foundations in Ohio Arriving at Columbus, Ohio, Monday morning, the first opportunity offered was the privilege of addressing a meeting of field men employed by the insurance business of the Ohio Farm Bureau. Then a broadcast for fifteen minutes over Sta tion WAIU. This was followed by a luncheon meeting of employees of the Farm Bureau. In the afternoon we had a meeting of the Farm Bureau Employees Cooperative Discussion Circle. An eve ning meeting had been planned with the Columbus Academy of Medicine, but had been cancelled when the doctors learned that there was danger of subjecting their minds to progressive ideas. In its stead a nice dinner meeting was arranged for that Monday evening by a group of doctors willing to know the worst. This was followed immediately by a meeting in a nearby church where the subject was "Cooperative Health Protection." Some of the doctors came. Thus six cooperative events characterized the first day in Ohio, and revealed the earnest interest in cooperative economics. The following morning the Ohio State University was visited. A faculty lunch eon and an address to a group of classes in sociology were interesting. Then a radio broadcast. A dinner under the aus pices of the Columbus Consumers' Co operative Association lasted till nearly eight. Then a general meeting called by the same association was held in a church auditorium. This meeting occupied nea 1 three hours, and indicated the desire t the people to engage themselves in actu ] cooperative supply business of some kinH And here arises the pressing questi where and how is the efficient manan^ ment to be found? Ten thousand coone ative societies are ready to start in tV~ country today if this question could find the right answer. The next day we went to Akron, to th Cooperative Managers' Camp. This was a school of live young men studying co_ operation as a part of the educational program of the Farm Bureau. Then din ner with the Akron Consumers' Club was followed by an evening meeting attended by a large number of school teachers who as a class are rapidly increasing their in terest. At Columbus the next day there was the Farm Bureau Employee luncheon— about two hundred people—the occasion honored by the presence of the President of the Farm Bureau. Then to Yellow Springs and a dinner meeting and eve ning session with Antioch College stu dents and teachers. Entertainment over night at the house of the President, leav ing with him the arguments in favor of a chair of cooperation at Antioch. It will come in time. Old and New Cooperators Back to Columbus the next morning to broadcast over WAIU and to speak at the Columbus Advertising Club lunch eon. Business men need not be repulsed by cooperation. Both their interest and sympathy can be won. Next to Dillonvale for an all-the-eve ning meeting of the old New Cooperative Company. It is edifying to see a con sumers' society like Dillcrnvale started by poor miners—expand to eight stores sup plying not only foods but clothing, house furnishings, hardware, and practically everything the members use — come through depression after depression with flying colors—excepting red—and now building its own modern slaughter house and meat packing plant. Here is con sumers' cooperation in one of the oldest, members of the Central States League- and one of which The Cooperative League may well be proud. , a the next day was a din- meeting with the Cooperative Youth !Ler ri\ The meeting in the evening was C°Uhe Y- ML C. A. building. Walking to '" .Pi-ma with a field man, I asked him ahmo would be there. He replied, "Mostly W"mers; but there will be some pro ducers." Replying to the question as to hat he meant by "consumers" he said he meant "city people." It took the rest f the way to the meeting to get from him °he acknowledgment that the farmers also consumers. I have found many men out in the field divorcing producers from consumers — literally putting asun der those whom cooperation would unite. ,-but the Educational Department of the Farm Bureau is doing a good job strengthening the bans. Then came the Cooperative Youth Camp at Defiance, a meeting at Dela ware, and then Cincinnati. Here there was a luncheon meeting at the Women's City Club, a lecture on "Cooperative Medicine" at the University, and an eve ning meeting at the Y. M. C. A. The next day at Cleveland there was a luncheon meeting at the Women's City Club, a din ner meeting with the Cleveland Coopera tive League, and a mass meeting in the evening—and the midnight train to New York. This completed ten days in Ohio, and a total period of fifty days in the entrancing spell of cooperation. Seething with Cooperation Ohio is seething with cooperative sen timent. The work of the Farm Bureau has penetrated every part of the state. The highly efficient leadership of this organi zation and the ability of its educators are making a profound impression upon the, economic thinking of the people. As membership in cooperative societies be comes unrestricted by membership in other organizations, as the societies move on into the supply of ultimate consumer needs, and as education in consumers' «opération is made the main purpose ac cessory to successful business adminis tration, the Farm Bureau of Ohio is on ne way to become the agency for the remaking of the economic system of this «flUy enlightened state. n this voyage, where cooperation seemed the ship and everything else seemed the sea, I could not help being impressed with the potentialities of this movement. It is a little thing, compara tively, on a ocean of uncertainty. But it seems to be going somewhere. It flies at its mast head the flag of international brotherhood and good will, and it weathers the storms. If I were asked what I saw that gave me the most encouragement, I should say, the young people from the farms who are discovering the consumers' cooperative philosophy. There are youth in the col leges who have a more scholarly approach to the subject, but I have the fear that they may be diverted into other paths. Cooperation will get some of them and they in time will become leaders in thought and action. But the intelligent farm youth are ready and anxious now to lay their hands to the task of putting the economic system of the world on a sound basis, and they want to begin at home. Farmers know how to work. They have already learned how to do thinqs and to get results in concrete terms. Their tal ents and aptitudes are now the great asset of the Cooperative Movement of the United States. The agricultural movement is in a posi tion to finance the education these young people need. The money now devoted to advertising and salesmanship if spent on education—the money spent on inducing people to buy what is already theirs if spent on teaching them to take advantage of their own opportunities—would go a long way toward changing the economic complexion of this country. Time and ex perience will perhaps drive these lessons home to others as they have to me. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—'The Penn sylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Asso ciation has underway an educational pro gram which has already organized more than 40 discussion groups. These discus sion circles will serve as the basis for the evolution of cooperative buying clubs, co operative stores and filling stations in every section of the state. R. N. Ben jamin, president of the association, esti mates that more than 60,000 people in the Keystone State are now active members of the consumers' cooperative movement. 92 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Tenth Annual Congress, Central States Cooperative League CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 93 Central States Cooperative - 'League smashed all attendance and interest records April 25th, and 26th, at its Tenth Annual Congress in Viking Temple, Chicago. Seventy-one voting and forty fraternal delegates from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Lower Michigan and St. Louis mirrored the nearly 100 per cent growth in the number of societies that are League members. The total leaped from 22 to 38, representing some 10,000 fam ilies organized as consumers. (These are in addition to large farm organizations represented through their own Coopera tives.) A warning against pseudo consumer's cooperatives and quack opportunist-pro moters who have been attracted to the cooperative movement by its recent burst of popularity was sounded by the Con gress. It was pointed out that the Central States League is the only officially rec ognized central educational federation of consumers' cooperatives in the district and is so recognized by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., and by the Inter national Cooperative Alliance. V. S. Alanne, Secretary of the North ern States Cooperative League, observed that much harm may be done the coop erative movement by organizations which he labeled "American Rochdale." These organizations differ from genuine Roch dale cooperatives in three major respects: ( 1 ) too much hurry and haste and the desire to build big over night, (2) too much leadership by one individual, thus thwarting democratic control, to say nothing of the fact that these individuals are usually without practical experience in the cooperative movement, and (3). building from the top down instead of from the bottom up (organizing a whole sale first and then trying to organize stores to support it) leading, as past co operative experience has shown, to in evitable failure. The problem of making medical care available to all the people was one of the outstanding discussions of the Congress. C. Rufus Rorem, Ph. D., of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, now engaged in an • tensive study of this question, told th~ delegates that if the people ever are f get the adequate medical care and health service to which every human beinq • entitled, it will have to be through sonT form of cooperation. The story of the plan now being f0i lowed at Economy, Indiana, was told b Paul Turner, its originator. Under this plan, Turner explained, an association of some 75 families employs a physician for $1.30 per family per month (65c for a single person). Each family gets monthly attention and medical treatment, if neces sary. Steps are being taken to increase the membership to 200 families which will make it possible to employ the doctor full time. How to organize large urban centers such as Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, To ledo and Cleveland was another problem tackled by the Congress. One school of thought favored setting up small autonomous neighborhood groups and, after these were developed and they were all ready for it, merged in to one large city wide organization. It was argued that this method of organ izing was more conducive to the demo cratic, building-from-the-ground-up prin ciple. The other favored the plan of starting from the beginning with a city- wide organization which would set up stores in various neighborhoods as suf ficient members were secured in each neighborhood to support a store. Those who favored this method contended that it would prove to be more practical, more efficient and faster. However, from the evidence presented it seems that the for mer plan has produced the best results so far in that stores are coming into ex istence quite rapidly where this method is used while in cities where the latter method is being tried, few if any stores have resulted a's yet. Robert Overstreet. Manager, Consumers' Cooperative Serv ices, Chicago; George Carhart, Educa tional Director, Lower Michigan C°°P' erative Federation, Detroit; Mary bom- ville Grossman, of the Cooperative of St. Louis, St. Louis; and Fdward Carlson, of the Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, led a el discussion on the subject. ^ The Congress spoke rather sternly to tte swarms of small buying clubs which , v£ been formed. Unless these clubs are formed as stepping stones to cooperative tores, said J. Liukku, General Manager Sf the Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, they have no place in the cooperative movement. Unless they did develop into stores within a period of two or three years they should no longer be recognized as^a part of the cooperative movement. "Many buying clubs," said Ivan Lanto, Sales Manager of the Central Cooperative Wholesale, "are merely groups of bar- Gain hunters and are foredoomed to fail ure as cooperatives." Other reasons for failure in buying clubs, he remarked, are unwillingness to sacrifice for the future store, and the tendency to delay too long planning for the store. Mr. Lanto ad vocated a three-point program by which buying clubs should be guided. First, charge a $5 membership fee so that capital may be accumulated, but do not charge $25. It is better to get 5 mem bers at $5 than one member at $25, he said. Second, charge market prices to guard against unforeseen losses and build additional capital. Third, apply rebates toward the purchase of shares to finance the store instead of paying them out to the members in cash. The American labor movement's in terest in consumers' cooperation cropped up on two different occasions. Mr. Carl- son, in his president's address, reminded the cooperators that they should also be definitely concerned with other signifi cant social issues. He mentioned the necessity for supporting labor's right to organize, the need for child labor legisla tion, for non-political schools, for proper housing and for liquor control. Later, John H. Walker, veteran Fed eration of Labor leader speaking as a traternal delegate, declared: u ^3^ my h'fe to liye over again I *ould devote it to the Cooperative Movement ... I don't think it is at all Possible to have an effective trade union ovement in this country without at the same time having a strong consumers* co operative movement." Formation of The Cooperative Whole sale, Inc., was announced and its set-up explained by J. Liukku, its president and A. W. Warinner, the manager. Located in Chicago, it commenced business March 1, this year and plans to supply coopera tive stores throughout the League district with Co-op labeled goods. Two regional federations, subsidiary to the League, have been formed—the Chicago Cooperative Federation and the Lower Michigan Federation of Coopera tives. Nathan Usiskin, Director of the newly formed League Accounting Bureau, and J. L. Reddix, president, Consumers' Co operative Trading Ass'n., Gary, Ind., stressed the importance and absolute necessity of strict accounting and book keeping practices, even by cooperative buying clubs. They also pointed out the importance and value of a cooperative auditing service as compared with prir vate auditing service. Mr. Reddix urged taking monthly inventories by the new societies for a while at least. The bureau is preparing a pamphlet for the layman explaining how to read and interpret balance sheets and other sets of figures usually contained in a cooperative financial report to members. A standard ized bookkeeping system for cooperatives is also being prepared. The Educational Committee of the League plans to promote a number of co operative schools and institutes during the year, numerous week-end confer ences, publication of new and additional educational material and in general to pursue a very active program of coop erative education. Edward Carlson, of the Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, John Konecny, of the Workmen's Cooperative Mercantile Association, Chicago; Joseph Blaha, of The New Cooperative Com pany, Dillonvale. and Edmund E. Alu- bowicz, of the Flint Cooperative Asso ciation, Flint, Mich., were elected to the. Board of Directors of the League, the first three being elected to succeed them selves. Mr. Carlson was renamed presi dent. David E. Sonquist, vice-president and Mr. Konecny, treasurer. 94 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Consumers' Cooperatives in Action 95 Columbus, Ohio — Jumping two rungs in the ladder, Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Cooperative moved from tenth to eighth place among mutual casualty companies in the United States according to the listings of The National Under writer. The cooperative showed an in crease in assets from $3,779,979 in 1934 to $4,460,155 at the close of 1935. Pro duction for the year gained 34 per cent with the final report showing 160,000 policies in force. Emporia, Kansas — "A store on wheels" is the first business venture of the recently organized Emporia Cooper ative Association. Until the membership has been increased to the number needed to establish a cooperative store the co-op will distribute groceries, drygoods, drugs and other commodities as it goes. The new association has been developed with the assistance of the Lyon County Co operative Oil Company. New York City—Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, youngest member of National Cooperatives, Inc., announced in May that twelve new cooperatives and cooper ative buying clubs have been added to its membership in the Metropolitan area since February. Purchases of buying clubs through the cooperative wholesale zoom ed from a few hundred dollars a month early in 1935 to $3,000 a month in April 1936. This is in addition to the regular cooperative business of the wholesale. Economy, Indiana—'Following the trail blazed by health service cooperatives in Elk City, Oklahoma and Akeley, Minne sota, a medical cooperative has been or ganized here. With sixty-three families already signed up, the cooperative is aim ing for 200 members. Each family will pay a fee of $1.30 a month whidh will pay the services of a regular practitioner in cluding ordinary medicines, with a small fee to cover basic costs for operations, child birth, etc. The town was without medical service for sometime because the community could not support a physician on an individual basis. Minneapolis, Minn.— International C operative Day, the first Saturday in TUJ°" this year falls on the Fourth of July. . orate plans are now being laid for a joi t celebration of these two major holiday on the fifteenth anniversary of the o ganization of the first consumers' cooper" ative oil association in the United States" Midland Cooperative Wholesale, pioneer cooperative oil wholesale, is in charge of arrangements for the Cottonwood Cele bration. Directors of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. and Directors of National Cooperatives, Inc., will meet the first three days of July at Glenwood Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Minne- waska. The National Celebration of In dependence Day and International Co operative Day will be held at Granite Falls Park the following day. Superior, Wisconsin — The board of directors of the Cooperative Publishing Association voted at its recent annual meeting to make the Cooperative Builder a weekly instead of a bi-weekly paper. The change of publication date will be made at the convenience of the editorial and business staffs. Springfield, Mass. — Eastern States Farmers Exchange reached its highest peak in the distribution of feed and grain with a volume of 29,000 tons in April. The newest commodity handled by the cooperative is motor oil. Introduced in June, 1935, the volume of oil handled climbed to 22,000 gallons in April. Philadelphia, Pa.— A new Cooperative Center, has become the scene of greatly increased cooperative activity here. Forty-nine study and buying clubs are now in operation, a cooperative filling station has been opened at the Karl Mackley Apartment (Philadelphia Ho siery Workers Union) and is securing its gasoline from the Farm Bureau Coopera tives. The Farm Bureau Mutual Auto In surance Cooperative has extended i& service to Philadelphia. Co-op insurance has become an important service of the Cooperative Center. c attle, Washington — The Student oerative Association, one of the most oressive college co-ops in the country, !f invested $13,000 in equipment for a ntral kitchen, furniture for cooperative fuses and other equipment necessary to ve the four hundred members of the s£ eratjve. At the first of the year a bi- w°eekly paper, the SCA News was l unched to stimulate further interest in the cooperative. flew York City — E. R. Bowen, General Secretary of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., addressed a na tion-wide radio audience May 25 over the facilities of the Columbia Broadcast ing System. His subject was "Consumers' Cooperation and Future of Retailing." Columbus, Ohio — Eighteen coopera tives for the distribution of power to farm homes have been granted corporation charters to date. A total of approximate ly 20.ÜÜO members in 40 counties will be served by these cooperatives. Organiza tion work is progressing rapidly in 30 otiher counties. Chicago, Illinois— An address by Prof. Paul H. Douglas, University of Chicago economist, was the highlight of the an nual meeting of Consumers' Cooperative Services. Professor Douglas has just re turned from a tour of cooperatives in Eu rope and is working on a text book on Consumers' Cooperation for use in high schools and colleges which will be pub lished this fall. Chatham, New Jersey— Co-op News, published by the New Jersey Consumers' Cooperative, reports that forty separate cities and towns are now represented in its membership. The cooperative handles muts, vegetables and meat with a special delivery service and has contract ar rangements for laundry, cleaning and pressing men's clothing, coal and several °«ier commodities. r' Maine-Spurred on by the ex- ot Nova Scotia fishermen who are th m t Selves by thdr bootstraps anH ,co°Perative purchasing, credit are b etlnq associations, first efforts ?? made to organize cooperatives the fishermen on the Maine coast. New York — On 'May 20, seven weeks before sailing date, more reservations had been made for the Tour to Cooperative Europe than the total number which went on either of the two previous tours. Ad« ditional reservations will be accepted. Chicago — The Chicago Cooperative Federation, organized two months ago, has launched a new and larger Co-op News to serve the 23 local cooperatives in Chicago and its suburbs. The Press Boosts Consum ers Cooperation ATLANTIC, May, 1936, "Kagawa: Proletarian Saint," Paul Hutchinson. THE NEW REPUBLIC, May 6, 1936, "Con sumers' Cooperation Today," Dayton D. Mo Kean. PRINTERS INK, April 30, 1936, "Co-ops in America," Richard Giles. COMMON SENSE, May, 1936, "The Church and the Cooperative Movement," Ruth Brindze. SCHOLASTIC, May 2, 1936, "Cooperative Pro duction and Consumption—Is This the Demo cratic Way Out?" Dr. Harold Rugg. "Sweden Points the Middle Way—Low Cost Housing and Cooperation," Marquis W. Childs. HIGHSCHOOL, May 2, 1936, "Sweden Points, the Way" and "Cooperatives." TEACHER NEWS AND VIEWS, April 16, 1936, "Consumer Cooperative Planned As West Side Project," M. C. Crew. BUSINESS INFORMATION SERVICE, Depart ment of Commerce, Review of article "How Success Followed Failure." THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, April 29, 1936, "Peace by World Cooperatives," Toyohiko Kagawa. THE NEW HUMANIST, April-May, 1936,. "Sweden Shows What the Common Man Can Do," Llewellyn Jones. FELLOWSHIP, April, 1936, "Toward a Cooper ative Society," Dwight Stevenson. SOCIAL ACTION, April 1, 1936, "Church and Cooperatives—Friends," Galen Russell. CONSUMERS GUIDE, April 6, 1936, "Coopera tion." News Briefs. RURAL AMERICA, March, 1936, "Cooperative- Endeavors—Essential for Effective Rural Liv^ infl," Mrs. Wiley Williams. CHICAGO DAILY NEWS, April 15, 1936, "Con sumer Co-op Overrated as Trade Menace,'" Herman Gastrell Seely. PROGRESSIVE GROCER, April, 1936, "Busi ness Highlights. " CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, April 30, "Foolish Fascism from Iowa," an answer to an attack on- Consumers' Cooperation, Dan Brummit. BLACK DIAMOND, five consecutive issues be ginning February 29, a series of attacks on the consumers cooperative movement.. 96 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Book Reviews "Consumer Cooperation in America—Democ racy's Way Out," by Bertram B. Fowler, Van guard Press, Cooperative Edition, $1.00. After Mr. Fowler's series of interesting articles on consumers' cooperation in the United States, published in many periodicals during recent months, his book will be eagerly welcomed as a popular account of the amazing growth of con sumers' cooperation in America, especially in the last fifteen years, and more particularly during the depression itself. It will be news to many Americans (though not to readers of this maga zine) that close to two million Americans are mem bers of consumers' cooperatives, that the total business done by the cooperatives amounts to about a million dollars a day, and that a wide and ever-developing business is being done in goods and services, including gas and oil, farm machin ery, feed, seed, fertilizer, groceries, coal, paint, lumber; life, fire and automobile insurance; cloth ing, auto-tires, credit unions, housing, restaurants, bakeries, rural electrification, milk distribution, cooperative hospital, mail order house, etc. Mr. Fowler, in his opening chapters, touches upon the historic beginnings of the movement in Rochdale, and upon some highlights of its present development in Great Britain and the Scandina vian countries, refers briefly to some early at tempts in America. He then traces in detail the enormous growth of the movement among Ameri can farmers, including the Eastern states, Middle West and Pacific Coast. Perhaps the most dra matic story lies in the Middle West and par ticularly in the recent rapid growth of coop erative oil and gas which he describes in detail. Highly significant also are his descriptions of the beginnings of 'the typical "reaching back" from cooperative distribution to manufacturing, as illustrated in oil blending plants, fertilizer, feed and seed plants, flour mills, auto tires, and some farm machinery. \Vhen one considers the impor tance of this latter development in Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries and elsewhere in the ownership and operation by consumers cooper atives of factories, making hundreds of articles, of tea plantations in Ceylon, and other sources of supply for consumer needs, even the beginnings of such a development in this country takes on added importance. This book makes a real contribution by giving us a popularly written account especially of the recent achievements of consumers* cooperation in America. Many practical lessons on causes of suc cess or failure, strategies, techniques, and methods can be gathered from these pages where they present descriptions of actual experiences of coop eratives. In the field of more ambitious generalizations the book makes a less realistic contribution. Rather over-simplified is the author's hope of a sort of automatic guarantee of world peace by the spread of cooperatives, although no doubt the elimination of the profit system would remove a major cause of war. It would seem also that insufficient account is taken of such relative conflicts of interest as would remain to be resolved between producers' cooperatives and consumers' cooperatives, between employers and employes, as snch, (even when the employers are cooperatives). This has been h pily worked out in Great Britain where all ~ *"1' r , .. - ----- ----——. „1Jcle ai] „ - , D üenOUKI. ^UIL^,«.. iv»t.aiui ixc^uiu, ployes of cooperatives are members of fr j M: u^aton D. C. unions and entitled to bargain collectively •t VVc?f rial Research Reports, a research organi- their employers with machinery for npar-„„u< 'o Eoi'0 _j_„ tv,0 rtiipf npw<;nanpr<; rtimiinhniit and timely commentary on the basic pertinen , democracy, both political and eco- S0undness u —Bertram B. Fowler. nom'c- mers* Cooperation in the United States, ^°nS Rendiner, Editorial Research Reports, M. ^„"„ D. C. oectvely • their employers with machinery for peaceabl ^ tlement of points at issue. e se'- While the author states that public own of electric power and other utilities will be n H P (along with cooperative control of distribution i these services) he does not allude to the need °i political action to bring about such public own ship as he suggests. He does not refer to the siaivf" icant fact that in countries where the coopérât movement is most extensive and successful a 'T lustrated in Great Britain, Denmark, Finland B I gium and Sweden, it has had the sympathy a j support of a farmer or labor party and has been supplemented by other measures of public owner? ship through the influence of such parties. Yet if some of the author's interpretations and conclusions at various points seem rather sweep ing and uncritical; if too easy assumptions about general trends and probabilities seem to be madt from somewhat limited data, one can easily under stand the enthusiasm of the author who has trav elled about the country and seen with his own eyes the amazing progress which he describes, and has felt the sense of vitality, of growth, of life it- self which so thrillingly pervades many areas of the consumers' cooperative movement in America today. Lest there shall be any misunderstanding the present reviewer wishes to go on record as being as enthusiastically in favor of consumers' cooperation as the author of this volume, but be lieves the movement will achieve its greatest pos sible growth and usefulness only by a realistic facing of all relationships and problems involved in the achievement of a cooperative common wealth. — James Myers, Industrial Secretary, Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America. Finland, The New Nation, Agnes Rothery, Viking Press, $3.00. Like "Sweden— The Middle Way," this latest book on Finland shows what is happening in stifl another of the democracies of the north where the people have chosen the middle way between ruth less exploitation and dictatorial regimentation. In this book on Finland, Agnes Rothery points out that this little nation has rebuilt its national economy in the last thirty years. She traces this rebuilding through its various phases, paying particular attention to the widespread cooperative movement that in these years has wiped out ten ancy and raised the economic, cultural and social level of the people as they built their economic democracy. The book is one which should be read by every American. It belongs on the bookshelves « America along with "Sweden— The Middle Way. For, by reading such books Americans can learn the cooperative way that is already changing the outlook of millions of the citizens of the nation- Put out primarily as a guide book for travellers in Finland, the author has gone much further inK summary of Finnish culture and economics tnai do the general run of such books. It is in brier serving the chief newspapers throughout "3 untry, published as its special study April 1C survey of the Consumers' Cooperative 'l1' 3 ent This service has made available to ï°VCica's foremost editors a careful, impartial re- Am j clirrent developments in consumer organi- ^**-' ° The survey should insure a more intelligent ^"interested editorial treatment of the cooper* Hves in the press of the nation. This attractive poster (size 26x38") is now available at the following prices: 10 for $1.60 postpaid 50-100 @ 12c each, express collect 100 and over @ lOc each, express collect Gummed miniature (like the above) avail able in assorted red and green: $1.00 per 1000 $3.00 per 5000 $5.00 per 10,000 COOPERATIVE DESIGN SERVICE 167 West 12th St. New York City FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St, New York, N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. ORDER THESE NEW BOOKS • "COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY" James P. Warbasse President, The Cooperative League A third completely revised edition of an Amer ican classic in Consumers' Cooperation which has already been printed in six languages. Dis cusses the philosophy, methods, accomplish ments and possibilities of the movement. Spe cial Cooperative Edition. Price $1.50. • "CONSUMER COOPERA TION IN AMERICA" Bertram B. Fowler A vivid, up to date report of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, written by an out standing journalist who has spent the past year studying the co-ops in action. Special Coopera tive Edition $1.00. • "SWEDEN—THE MIDDLE WAY" Marquis W. Childs An intensely interesting analysis of the factors which have produced Sweden's remarkable re covery: consumers' cooperatives, labor organi zations, government operation of utilities. Beau tiful illustrations of Sweden's outstanding co operatives, $2.50. • "FRESH FURROW" Burris Jenkins A fascinating novel telling the story of the development of a middle western consumers' cooperative, written by Kansas City's famous pastor novelist. Special price to cooperatives, $1.00. Order from THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th St. New York City STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION "Education Is The Keystone Of Cooperation" EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS Per Copy Per 100 T6. What is Consumers' Cooperation J. P. Warbasse ___________ .05 4.00 69. Story of Toad Lane, Stuart Chase 84. The Coop. Movement, 95. 96. 85. 90. 99. 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.0« 8.00 12.00 ___ .05 J. H. Dietrich l________________ .05 A Trip to Cooperative Europe, H. A. Cowden ____________ .05 A Cooperative Economic De mocracy, E. R. Bowen _______ .05 Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. J. Hughes ______________ .10 341. America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation, E. R. Bowen_____ .10 Up From The Shadows, Michel Rpcker—Translated by Arthur Albrecht ________________ .10 Kagawa and Cooperatives ____ .10 94. The Discovery of the Consumer, Beatrice Potter Webb _______ .10 104. A Primer for Consumers, B. Y. Landis _____________ .10 106. Guide for Discussion Circles, C. R. Hutohinson __________ .10 97. A Short Introduction to Con sumers' Cooperation, Ellis Cowling _________________ .15 92. Other People's Money, Louiis D. Brandeis __ _ ___ __—_———— .15 103. The Negro Seeks Economic Free dom Through Cooperation, J. L. Reddlx __________________ .15 12.00 355. How St. F. X. University Edu cates For Action __________ .20 16.00 98. Fundamentals of Consumers' Cooperation, V. S. Alanne ____ .25 100. Seeking a New World Through Cooperatives, Carl R. Hutdhinson .25 ORGANIZATIONAL PAMPHLETS 59£. Organization and management of consumers' cooperative as sociations and clubs, with model by-laws (postpaid) ———————— .16 606. Organization and management of co-op gasoline and oil associa tions, with model by-lawis (post paid) ____——————————————- -15 €08. Organization and management of cooperative housing associa, tions, with model lease and by laws (postpaid) —————————— -15 MISCELLANEOUS Model Co-op State Law _____— "When the Whistle Blew" (Story by Bruce Calve-'t)_____— "The Spider Web", A 3 act play 57 How a Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business 62. Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter _____—_———— Decalcomania of the League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter ____________——————— The Burden of Credit _______ What is a Cooperative Store _— Cooperative Youth Songs ______ What Cooperation means to a depression-sick America _______ .„ The Sure Way is the Quick Way »4-2 Learn All About Consumers' Cooperation —————————————— 16 30 31. 63. 74. 75. 81. 82. »3 .10 .06 .25 .01 .05 .76 2.00 .25 15.00 .02 1.00 .02 1.60 .25 .03 .02 2.00 1.00 MONTHLY MAGAZINES Consumers' Cooperation—(In bundle lots per hundred). Subscription, per year it' 5" $1.25) ______________________ uor^en, Review of International Cooperation fPuh ' the I. C. A.) ———————————— Per Year ji 75 COOPERATIVE BOOKS The following books are recommended as of price. on receipt Bergengren, R. F.: Credit Union Book _ jr. Charles Gide and Cooperation. Edited bv Karl Walter -______________ _ 2_0 Childs, Marquis; Sweden—The Middle Way 250 Faber: Harold: Cooperatives in Danish Agri culture (1831) ————-——- 3.00 Fowler. Bertram B. : Consumer Coopera tion in America (Cooperative Edition)_ " Hall and Watkins: Cooperation, Official British Textbook. 1935 3.00 Holyoake: Roclhdale Pioneers 1892 ____ j]0 Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932 5.75 Jenkins. Burri«: Fresh Furrow, A Coopera tive Novel (Special Edition) ______ i0(| Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guild-women, telling what the Cooperative Guild has done for them _ 1.2; Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators, Paper —————————______ 105 Poisson. E.: The Cooperative Eepublic_ 1.85 Potter. B. : Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1891 ————————————______ 1.10 Redfern, Percy: John T. W. Mitchell, (1924) 1.00 Russell, George (A. E.) The National Being 1.75 Swedish Cooperative Architecture (beauti fully illustrated) _——————_——______ 2.60 Totomianz. V.: The Place of Cooperation among other movements ————_____ .25 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy (1936) (Special Cooperative Edition) __ 1.50 Warbasse. J. P.: The Doctor and The Public, 1935, cooperative health protection 5.00 Webb. B and S.: The Consumers' Co operative Movement, 1921 (Board cover) 2.00 Webb, Beatrice: My Apprenticeship, (1926) 3.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917 ________———————————————— WO Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry ——————————————— u» Cooperation, Bound Volumes, 1920 to 1935 inclusive, each year ————————————— 1" The People's Year Book, 1936, English, cloth 1.35, paper _____—————————— •'* GENERAL BOOKS Brookings Institution: America's Capacity to Consume ________——————————— Chase and Sohlink: Your Money's Worth __ LM Education for Life: Noëlle Da vis ————— 2-M Henderson, Fred: Economic Consequences of Power Production __———————— .75 .02 1.00 Kagawa, Toyohiko: Christ and Japan Cloth 1.00, Paper ___———————— Kallen, H. M.: A Free Society, (unbound) •»' Loeb, Harold: The Chart of Plenty __.——— '•"" Webb: B. & S. Constitution for a Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain ——-—- "' Order from: THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City CONSUMERS' COOPERATION NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXII. No. 7 JULY, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIAL EPIGRAMS Consumers' Cooperation proves the practicability of the brotherhood of man. • "The Folk Schools of Denmark have made a national fellowship aimed at creating a country that should become rich in the true sense of the word,-— with few rich people and still fewer poor."— Dr. Peter Manniche, Principal, Interna tional Peoples College, Elsinore, Den mark. • "There is no recovery," John Flynn says. Keep this incisive sentence in mind when you listen to the business and polit ical spellbinders. As he says, what we really have is an unhealthy stimulation due to "increased government deficits" which, if continued, must certainly lead to ar^ even more serious and deplorable crash." We, of the generation on the stage today, should remember that we nave tried the anesthetics of credit twice before, only to be followed by a great relapse—once during the war when we stimulated business by government war '»ans to foreign countries, and after the *jar when we tried private peace loans. Now we are trying the "shot in the arm" ot huge government domestic loans. Eventually we've got to pay as we go and there will never be any real recovery until we do. . When the Rural Electrification Ad ministrator, Morris L. Cooke, was first appointed he stated, on the basis of pre vious figures, that likely about 95% of the funds would be distributed to private utilities and 5% to municipalities and co operatives. No more significant sign of the times has appeared than the fact that the applications for funds have been practically the reverse in percentages, and the further fact that in the hearings on the new authorization of '$410,000,000 it was discussed whether any of the funds would be allocated to private utilities at all. The popularity of the cooperative rural electrification program in the state of Ohio is indicated by a statement made by Murray D. Lincoln, Secretary of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, who said at a recent meeting of the Directors of National Cooperatives, Inc., at Colum bus, "In Champaign County, Ohio, 1925 farmers out of a total of 2135, not served with electricity, have signed petitions de claring their intention to use cooperative voimifü to ^1"6^"1 the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in «unary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. 1S monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. Bute Ralvaaja Print Fitchburg, Mass. •. Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative and Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. • tions, it was said, were taken by different groups of Methodists: the first, "a plann d social economy," second, a "readjust ment" of the present economic order and third, Consumers' and Producers Coo eration." Thus concluded the "famou battle of Columbus." But apparently ;! was not the «nd of the battle but only a temporary truce. For at the close of the Conference, the Bishops sprang a "coup" according to an editorial "A Church in Peril of its Soul" in the Christian Cen tury of June 3 and an article "The Meth odists Retreat" by Paul Hutchinson, man aging editor of the Christian Century, ;n the Nation of June 10. After a resolution had been passed that nominations could not be made from the floor, the an nouncement was made of the members of the new Board of Education and it was revealed the liberal Bishop Blake had been dropped from the presidency and the so-called "arch-reactionary" Bishop Leonard put in his place. A few days later two of the Secretaries of the Board were asked to resign "quietly." We predict that the result will not be quiet if we know at all the temper of the young peo ple of the Methodist church and the lib eral adults. The two Secretaries involved are known nationally for their outstand ingly inspiring and efficient leadership. They are both outspoken advocates of Cooperatives as one of the ways out for the preservation and extension of democ racy in America and the implementing of the principles of brotherhood to which cause they have given their lives. If they are finally "kicked out" it will only be to be "kicked up" somewhere else, we pre dict. If we might comment upon the gen eral organization of the Methodist Church we would suggest that the primary dif ficulty may lie in the same place as we believe it does in the case of the Supreme Court of the United States, the election of the Bishops for life and, as a result, their failure to be responsive to the cur rent thinking of the delegates to the Gen eral Conference. We very much doubt « the delegates would have asked for the resignations of the two Secretaries had they had the final determination. Coop- erators everywhere will be vitally in terested in watching the eventual out- Cooperative Medicine By James Peter Warbasse, M. D. come. UNDER prevalent economic methods, medical service is subject to the same economic conditions as those which af fect any other economic service or needed commodity. The supply of medical skill, medicine, hospital care, and nursing, is a part of the prevalent profit economy—• an economy which requires scarcity for its success. Under this method, doctors also have to be kept scarce or their busi ness fails and they are unable to make a living. Economics of Health Protection In the United States, thirty-eight per cent of the population get no medical treatment when they are incapacitated by disease. Still the medical colleges are be ing urged to produce fewer doctors in conformity to the economy of scarcity. The real purpose of industry should be to supply consumers with thincjs they need rather than workers with wages. And medicine, to attain its full social value, cannot have as its object the making of incomes. Medicine will not be on a social or scientific basis until its purpose is to prevent sickness and to heal disease in I the interest of patients. Medicine is for the consumers. The profit and scarcity economy makes it a business; and as a business it is failing for the same reason that all business based on scarcity is fail ing. The world now shows signs of mov ing toward another economic purpose which is based upon the supremacy of the consuming interest and the economy of abundance. Let us turn from the question, "How can doctors get more income?" to the question, "How can patients get more doctors?" The inquiry leads to the serv ice motive in medicine instead of the prof it motive. And it is an interesting fact wat this service method of doing things is taking the place of the profit method in Precisely those countries which have the «finest standards of civilization, which sutler the least from "depressions", and winch are the least threatened by such disturbing factors as communism and fas cism. The principle of the dominance of the consumer has quite as much to offer to medicine as to any other field. It is only natural that the people who need the services, who pay the bills, who suffer the pains, and who do the dying should control the business. The service motive in medicine means consumers' control. That this control is natural is evidenced by the fact that in the United States most of the hospitals, medical colleges, and laboratories of medical research are owned and controlled, not by the work ers in these institutions, but by laymen. It is also an important fact that the ele ment in society which is most concerned that doctors be well educated and efficient are the patients and prospective patients. And that efficiency is promoted by ade quate rewards for medical service. Various Social Methods in Medicine In the practice of medicine, the preva lent profit system has produced certain advantages; but it no longer functions ef fectively. The doctor competing with his fellow physicians for medical business is passing from the scene. Medical knowl edge has become so great that no indi vidual can possess it all, and the special ist has become necessary. The family doctor is disappearing. The competitive system is destroying him. As is the case in other failing businesses, the govern ment is taking over medicine. Banking, shipping, the railroads, and sooner or later other lines of business fail to function, to supply needs, and to make profits at the same time. The government regulates, and advises them, then controls and fi nances them, and finally takes them over. This general trend toward state social ism is due to the deficiencies of the prev alent methods. The same is taking place in medicine as in other businesses. The private competitive doctor represents the individual craftsman plying his trade. He has lasted longer in medicine than in most: other crafts. 102 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 103 The method which exemplifies profit business in its purely modern form is seen in the commercial "health societies" com mon in the United States. This is the tru ly American method of business. In this, the business man or company employs doctors at the lowest possible price and sells medical service at the highest pos sible price. The difference constitutes the profit—'and the success of the busi ness. It presents the same disadvantages as are inherent in other phases of the profit system. Labor is underpaid and the customers who need things do not get what they need—'the service falls short of what it might be or is of poor quality. Some organizations, in which a physi cian or physicians are the middle-men owners, render excellent service and pay the employed doctors good salaries. They charge "subscribers" $2.50 a month. So lonq as the owners are idealistic, all is well; but there is no way to guarantee the continuation of the idealism in the future owners of these enterprises. They are destined to go the way of all private prof it business. Another profit-system form of medical service is that in which business corpo rations employ physicians and maintain clinics and hospitals for their employees. "The costs are usually met by voluntary contributions from the workers, by com pulsory subtractions from wages, or by adding the cost to the price of the com modities produced by the business. Another method might be called the syndicalistic method. Physicians unite to form companies for the sale of medical services. There are over two hundred of these organizations in the United States. This represents the control of industry by the workers. Some of these organizations enter into contractual re lations with consumers and charge $25 a year for medical service. This introduces the insurance principle. With staffs rep resenting all of the specialties, patients get improved service. Even the smaller of these organizations make possible bet ter medical service than is to be had, in general, from the old method of individu alistic, competitive practice. But this method of ownership and control by med ical workers lacks the capacity to go on to solve a social problem. Workers' con trol has never tended to expand nor to prove permanent. It is not service trolled by the served. c°n- Medicine in the interest of the sumers, taken out of the field of corC° tive business, exists in two forms- pulsory state medicine and the he should be employed for the spe- )0yj purpose of preventing sickness. ° e, the medical non-political organization of consum ^ to supply themselves with medical ^ The first comes naturally as a résulti the inefficiency and failure of the co petitive business method. It is stead'! expanding. In some countries, such Great Britain, Germany and Russia 1! has become the prevalent method. Dor tors are employed by the government citizens receive their services free, and the costs are met by taxation. Ex-Deri ence shows that this service tends to be mechanical. It would seem that the pro tection of the health of the individual and the treatment of his diseases are too inti mate to be entrusted to the impersonal and compulsory mechanism of the state particularly if some more human means can be employed. The voluntary organization of patients is seen in groups of consumers with hos pitals and other forms of medical serv ice. The religious denominational hos pitals and many of the most important hospitals in the United States are of this nature. They are consumers' institutions. Cooperative Health Protection The cooperative method in medicine is based upon the interest of the patients and prospective patients and is organized according to the approved methods of Rochdale cooperation. This is the prac tical attempt to make democracy work able. In it the consumers discover ex perts who are employed in their interest, to supply their need for services and com modities. A century of experience has witnessed its expanding success. The cooperative medical method can begin with a few people uniting, pooling their resources of funds and ideas, each making an annual payment to employ a physician to protect their health. When a small number do this, let us say ten peo ple, each paying $25 a year, the physi cian whom they select cannot give them all of his time. He must carry on his other practice. These ten people repre sent patients who have paid him in ad vance. But they should stipulate a serv ice which his other patients do not en- \fJitli all its knowledge, te meical fession as a whole does comparatively frtle in ^ way of Preventing disease. deed, as it is now organized, its pros- -tv depends upon the abundance of pekness. The 161.000 doctors in the United States are earning their living from the less than 2 per cent of the popu lation who are sick. The 98 per cent more important and should be en- ? ;ng benefits of medical science which they scarcely see. The preventive meas ures, quarantine, control of contagions, vaccination, etc., are largely promoted by the State. The doctors' economic ad vantage depends upon people becoming sick. Under the cooperative method, the physician should call at the homes of members at regular periods, once a month, to discuss their health problems. He should make examinations, be on the look out for the premonitory signs of disease, and prescribe such preventive measures as are indicated. In the ordinary dis eases he should stand by to do the neces sary things to help the patient recover. He should not only be the physician but also the friend of the patient. When ad vice or treatment would be useful, which can be given bîtter by some specialist, he should see that the patient gets this benefit. These little groups are like the cooperative buying club — a temporary method practiced as a beginning. The cooperative method really begins when a group of 1 50 to 500 families unite to employ a physician full time. The number of people necessary and the costs depend upon their ability to pay. In the country, or in a small town, 200 families, representing 800 people, may put in an average of $20 per family. That is at 'he rate of $5 per person. This gives 51000 a year. Physicians are entering mto this arrangement for salaries vary- >ng from $3,000 to $7,000. It is best that 'he annual costs per member be graded according to family income. If a group 's divided into three classes of families, °ne group would pay $40 a year, one $20,, «id one $10—making an average of $20. P Plan which should be equitable would . e to make the average cost $10 for one »dividual, $15 for man and wife, and $2 «* each child or dependent. Thus, in a group of 200 married couples, of 380 children, and of 24 single adults, the in come would be $4,000. The group may be divided into three classes according to incomes: class A with a family income of less than $2,000, class B with $2,000 to $5,000, and class C with more than $5,000. Class B would pay at the rate of 100 per cent, class A at 50 per cent, and class C at 200 per cent. These are tentative estimates and should vary with the situation to be considered. If the incomes are low, a large number of families will have to unite to raise the necessary money. The doctor should not know in what group the members belong. This group system is not to be considered where incomes are much the same. In a group of 200 families—800 people- the family physician will have about 14 sick to care for. If he makes seven visits a day and sees seven people in his office each day, he will be fairly busy. But some of the 14 who are sick will be under the care of specialists because the family doctor will treat only the simple ills. Some will not need to be seen daily. He should have time to visit each of his 224 homes or see their members at his office once every two months. That would be at the rate of four visits a day paid to people who are not sick. Many of these would report to him by telephone that all is well. The seven visits a day and the seven office visits would also reduce the number of preventive calls necessary .among the well. Some members, when they regard themselves as well, will pre fer to be visited at longer intervals. The charge per member should be suf ficient to develop a contingent fund. This should serve to carry for a time those members who cannot pay. It should serve also to pay for medicines and to employ an extra physician when the family doctor takes his vacation or in the event of an epidemic. Enough should ba collected also to cover administration costs. Arrangements should be made, with other doctors to supplement the health society's physician in emergencies or when he is overworked. There are also periods when there is little sickness. These should give the fami ly doctor time for special study, research, and writing. Whether he is provided with house, office, and automobile, at -the society's expense or his own, depends 104 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 105 upon the amount of money raised. The family physician should arrange with specialists to give their services to mem bers of his society at reduced rates. This can be done because the specialists are thus guaranteed a definite clientele. One such cooperative group considers the family as the unit of membership, meaning a man and wife and any num ber of children under 21 living at home. Payments are made quarterly, with penal ties for delinquency. Each family pays at the rate of $1.30 a month, five cents of which are for administrative expenses. Individual members pay sixty-eight cents, a month. The society provides ordinary medicines prescribed by the doctor; of fice visits to the doctor; a physical exami nation yearly; home visits by the doctor; advice before and after confinement, but a charge of $10 for the delivery; vacci nations against diphtheria, and smallpox; for ordinary minor surgery and fractures. Extra costs are added for other services. The service covers a seven mile radius. Above this distance a charge of twenty- five cents per mile one way is added. The doctor is required to keep case records. This society provides that the doctor shall make adequate provision for a sub stitute when he is ill or on vacation. Some societies add vaccination for typhoid, and include treatment of the eyes. Most societies exclude from their benefits the treatment of venereal dis eases, although there is much to be said against such discrimination. Hospitalization is the new name given to an arrangement which hospitals now make with groups of prospective patients. The better hospitals offer to groups of ten or more people hospital service for a maximum of three weeks for a regular payment of $9 to $12 a year. This in cludes semi-private room, board, nursing, and the ordinary interne service. The patient must pay the physician's fee, and for operations, x-rays, and special treat ments. Many thousands of people are entering into this arrangement with hos pitals and finding it satisfactory. It is also providing incomes for hospitals which are in financial need. The co operative health society may make, when possible, such hospital arrangement. This adds to the costs but is well worth the expense. Some physicians in the United Staf are taking the initiative in such coon tive groups. The doctor lays the d*' before his .patients and helps them otn^ ize themselves into a cooperative health society which appoints him as its phv • cian. In one case the doctor showedV patients his account books and they e 'S ployed him with a fixed salary baseli upon his average yearly income fOr th last three-year period. This costs the sick people less because the well provide most of the doctor's income. Both patient and doctors are pleased with this method A physician can often afford to accept as a guaranteed salary a half or three- fourths of his former yearly income. No health cooperative develops un less some individual takes the initiative A few socially minded people are spoken to and made interested in the project. It is advisable to have at least one physi cian in the group. Meetings are held and a plan of action adopted.* Only high class physicians should be brought into the enterprise. Groups should beware lest a physician, who is not well qualified for the position, take the initiative in organization for the purpose of making a job for himself. It is for this reason that the advice of other doctors is needed in the selection of a physician. No attempt should be made to get a bargain in a cheap doctor; there is no such thing. The doctor should be adequately compensated, and he should see prospects of improvement of his in come and leisure as the enterprise ad vances. Education should go along with the organization. Meetings should discuss cooperative problems. Good literature on cooperation should be placed in the hands of members. The group should always have in mind expansion of their own en terprise and the development of other cooperative projects. They should keep in touch with other cooperatives. Isola tion and stagnation are fatal to coopera tion. (To be continued.) "The Issue Is Raised *A model constitution for a Cooperative Health Society can be had from The Cooperative League. » West 12th Street, New York. Incorporation may W effected under the cooperative law in most states- Information on this subject should be obtained from the nearest District Cooperative League. PERHAPS the most significant left- handed compliment which the Con- mers' Cooperative Movement has got- jU„ js contained in an article entitled •'Watch Consumers' Cooperatives" in the April issue of Nation's Business, pub- ,. jjed by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. The expression "the important point is that the issue is raised" is a public recognition on the part of big business that the people are beginning to think through the issue of the recovery Of ownership of America by the organiza tion of Consumers' Cooperatives. Underneath an illustration showing the consumer, with Uncle Sam, a minister and an educator grouped behind him is the caption "The consumer movement has the promotional support of uni versity, church and government." That is frankly what the Cooperative Move ment has started out to endeavor to get. It is, however, only true as yet to a far too limited degree. But the interest is rapidly growing. And why not? In a democracy why should the earlier types of democratic developments such as reli gious, educational and political organiza tions, not be concerned about extending democratic principles into the economic field as well? It should not only be a matter of principle for them to promote the widest possible extension of the forms of democracy as a matter of protection to themselves, but religious, educational and political organizations today should sure ly realize that unless democracy is ex tended into economic organizations as well, that democracy will disappear from within their own organizations by the eventual domination of economic dicta torship. In order to save themselves as democratic organizations they must assist in developing the forms of democracy in economic organizations as well. The issue is raised" in religious or ganizations. And why not? Religious leaders face the fact that Communism at tempts to destroy the church and that Corporatism (Fascism) attempts to take away the democratic control of the church. As W. Howard Bishop, former President of the Catholic Rural Life Con ference, says, "The Communists have a program and are making headway with it. The Fascists have a program and are making headway. The Church must have a program if these forces are to be checked." Why then should not and must not the church promote a democratic economic plan such as Cooperation, under which freedom of worship, which means expres sion, will be fully preserved. Religious leaders are also facing the fact more and more that Capitalism at tempts to prevent freedom of expression. In Rochester, to which city Kagawa was invited to deliver the Rauschenbusch lectures, attempts were made by the Ma sonic Temple trustees to censor an address by requiring that no controver sial issue be discussed and that no men tion be made of the Cooperative Move ment. In Iowa the Secretary of the Iowa Association of Lumber and Building Ma terial Dealers sent out a letter to the members urging them to interview dele gates to the Methodist General Confer ence and "report to us" their stand on Cooperatives, so that they might attempt to prevent the discussion of the subject. Truly "the issue is raised" in the reli gious world. Many are finding as Kagawa says, "Without Cooperatives, Christiani ty doesn't amount to much today." Or as J. L. Reddix says, "If I hadn't found the Cooperative Movement, my religion wouldn't have been worth a dime." Christian Century sums up the signifi cance of the issue being raised in the reli gious world by sayinq, "In the Coopera tive Movement the Christian church has discovered what seems to be a way of moral release for its long pent up econom ic convictions . . . the Cooperative Move ment has now come into focus of the church's attention and is making a far, more potent appeal than any concrete program has ever made as a plan of Christian activity on the economic level." Religious leaders and laymen are discov ering that "Cooperatives are concrete ethics," as Kagawa says; that they are an economic expression of the second com mandment "Thou shalt love thy neighbor 106 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 107 as thyself;" that they are a form of busi ness and banking based on brotherhood. "The issue is raised" in educational or ganizations. Are educators to be permitted to teach only what Capitalism desires them to teach? Are "freedom of assem bly" and "freedom of speech" to be only expressions taught to students to repeat but not to practice? Are teachers and journalists to be only puppets of the pri vate-profit competitive system? Or, in a democracy, should teachers not be free to teach the facts about all forms of economic systems? It is now ninety years since the Consumers' Cooperative Movement started and the facts about its great development to the place where it is today the largest democratic economic movement in the world with over 100,- 000,000 family members in over 40 countries is as yet seldom fully discussed in the educational world. It is note worthy that although Senator Leland Stanford specifically provided in the founding grant, when he endowed Stan ford University, that the subject of Coop eratives was to be taught, it is not taught in the University at all fully today. If educators do not assert their right and duty to teach facts in economics, then the present control which is attempted will on ly be extended to a more complete dicta torial control. Democracy must be prac ticed if it is to be preserved and extended. To the credit of those engaged in the art of teaching, not only is resistance being made to attempts at dictatorship, but ag gressive support is now growing for the teaching of the facts about the Coopera tive Movement. Educational journals are discussing the subject, courses are be ing introduced, platforms are being opened, extension departments are assist ing in organization. The Editor of the Journal of the National Education Asso ciation calls Cooperatives "The ultimate democracy." While governmental sup port of the teaching of the facts about this ninety-year-old movement is not neces sary, in one State, Wisconsin, the Legis lature has facilitated the teaching by passing a law including Consumers" Cooperation officially as a part of the re quired curriculum of the public schools. "The issue is raised" in the political world. Consumers' Cooperation is now being recognized as challenging all forms of State paternalism, both as to ... nomic efficiency and its effects upoVtu" people. Cooperation not only has h proven to be successful in achie ^ economic justice, but also in develo ^ Strength in the people by the practice 9f self-help. Many political leaders ^1? believe in democracy, in all of the polit° ical parties, are becoming advocates ' f the extension of the principles of political democracy into the building of an economic democracy as well. The qov ernments in power are responding to the demands of the people to inform and assist them in cooperative organization as should be done in a political democ racy. "The issue is raised" in all the various divisions of the economic world. Farmers were first to be aroused in large numbers to the necessity of voluntary cooperative organization. Labor is now beginning to see that it is necessary to organize as consumers as well as producers, other wise they are "fighting with one hand be hind their backs." Labor journals are promoting the Cooperative Movement and labor leaders are organizing Cooper ative Committees to further its develop ment. Small merchants everywhere are fast becoming convinced that they face eventual extinction by the chains and are turning toward the alternative of be coming employees of Cooperatives owned by their former customers. And even some big business leaders are sym pathetically studying and directly and in directly advocating Cooperatives as the democratic way out. After all, no matter what position one may have in religious, educational, politi cal or economic organizations, we are all consumers as well and it is high time that "the issue is raised" as to what we are going to do in America to organize our selves as consumers into cooperatives and thus eventually prevent crime, war, pov erty, unemployment and dictatorship. Yes, "the issue is raised." America is becoming aroused over continuing on the democratic road and the danger of turn ing towards dictatorship. Economic de mocracy in America is on the march to victory. Cooperation has really become news. Whether bouquets or brickbats are thrown, Cooperation marches on. Cooperative Employee Education in Sweden By H. Elldin Department of Studies Kooperative Förbundet, Saltsjöbaden, Sweden THE central training of the employees in the cooperative societies in Sweden . „ ws two concurrent lines: the Corres- ondence School and the Training Courses at Vâr gârd. Shop Assistants Correspondence-Course All that can be learned by the corres pondence-courses must be learned in that way, that the more expensive oral educa tion'may be devoted to the most im portant subjects. Accordingly, the young shop assistant may already in the be ginning of his employment study the pre paratory correspondence-course for salesmen. This course deals with the fun damental cooperative principles and the technicalities of shopkeeping. Shop Assistants Training-Course At the age of seventeen the shop as sistant has a right to apply for a week's training course for young salesmen at Vâr gârd, provided that he or she has passed through the preparatory corres pondence-course and has permanent em ployment in a cooperative society. This course is a superstructure to that knowl edge of cooperation and shopkeeping, that the students have acquired by ex perience and correspondence-courses. During the course the College tries to awake the students' interest to continue their own education. Branch Managers Training-Course Then the students continue tKeir edu cation at home by practice and corres? pondence-courses. When they have at tained the age of twenty-three, they may try for a course for the training of branch managers. To gain an admission to this ^urse, that lasts for a month, they should have passed through the correspondence- courses in bookkeeping and arithmetic, ?r °therwise gained corresponding knowledge. Moreover, they should have studied some cooperative and economic literature. And it is reckoned as a merit having taken part in the work of Mem bers' Study Groups. Contrary to the course for shop assistants this course is free of charge, and in order to get a good selection, the candidates have to undergo certain tests to show their qualifications. Finally there is one more advanced course, that is intended as a superstruc ture to the course for branch managers. The minimum age for admission to this course is twenty-six years and the claims for admission are raised. The course lasts for a month. In addition to these general courses there are also some special courses for employees in drapery, boot and shoe, butchery and dairy departments. Small Self-Active Groups The principal subjects of the courses are: Cooperation, Economy, Shop Prac tice and Commodities. The College strives in its teaching to get the students into self-activity as much as possible. So the students learn window display by doing displays, and at Vâr gârd's train ing shop they learn in the same way shop- keeping, hygiene, how to serve customers etc., very often this practical work is per formed in small groups consisting of six or seven students, but the result of the work is always discussed by the whole class. The method of dividing the class into small groups is used even in teaching other subjects. A subject is first discussed by a small group, who give a report of their discussion, which is then duplicated and each one in the class gets a copy of it. Then the general discussion is based on this report. The groups are, of course, led by teachers of the College. Teaching in small groups has two great advan tages: first, it makes possible more indi vidual teaching, and second, it encour ages the student to give his opinion and to take part actively in the solution of the problems. Also in the lessons given to the CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 109 108 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION July whole class, the College strives to get the student into self-activity. Thus the teacher is not actually a lecturer but rather a leader of the discussion. Education Without Text Books No special educational material is used except duplicated papers, programs, etc. The students do not use any textbooks during their visit to the school. Permanent and Temporary Teachers The teaching staff at Vâr gârd consists partly of a few teachers in permanent positions and partly of eight or ten teach ers with temporary engagements f0r term of two years. The temporary teach* ers are, as a rule, young managers fro " the societies and half of them are changed every year. This arrangement has many advan tages. The College will always be in linj with the development of the societies and the pedagogical knowledge and knowl edge of men that the temporary teachers get at Vâr gârd will be very useful in their coming work as secretaries and leaders of the employees in the societies. Ethical and Economic Lessons from Cooperative Denmark There are now appearing in various magazines in America many excellent ar ticles covering various phases of the Cooperative Movement. One of the best was an article in the last December 25th issue of the CHRISTIAN CENTURY under the title "Cooperative Denmark" written by Soren K. Ostergaard. As we read this article it seemed to us it em phasized in a striking way both the ethi cal and economic results of the Coopera tive Movement in that country. Ethical Results Among the ethical results which have appeared are these: 1. Mutual responsibility for debts — liability is unlimited, each is individually responsible for any debts. 2. Mutual responsibility for quality —- they take care not only to deliver their own milk in good condition but they see to it that their neighbors do the same. 3. Mutual responsibility for honesty — the farmer who fills his hogs with swill just before they are weighed cheats no body but himself —• cooperative slaugh terhouses pay for the weight of the dressed hog. 4. Individual responsibility for quality —• each member has a number which must be marked on each egg — responsi bility for stale eggs can be placed where it belongs. The general results are that "the coop eratives have developed a new morality." Economic Results Among the economic results of Coop eration in Denmark are: 1. Reduced spread in prices — where the dollar spent by the consumer for ten foods in the United States in 1934 was divided 38.5 cents to the farmer and 61.5 cents to the distributors and processors, the latest figures available for Denmark (1933) show that the Danish consumer's dollar was divided 63.4 cents to the farmer and 36.6 cents to distributors and processors. "The position of farmers and distributors in the two countries is ex actly reversed." 2. Reduced prices — Cooperative dis tribution reduced handling charges so that in 1910. the year Mr. Ostergaard came to America, American corn was sold at considerably lower prices in the cooperative stores in Denmark than in the feed stores of New York. 3. Riches practically impossible — Be cause the bulk of the profits are returned to producers and consumers it is practi cally impossible for anyone to amass great riches. 4. Major economic forces of the n* tion, such as credit, transportation and marketing have been turned through cooperative societies and through tne government from agencies of profit into instruments of service. Consumers' Cooperatives in Action folumbus, Ohio — Perturbed because , C0fflbined surplus and reserves of the p m Bureau Mutual Insurance Company vd clifflbed above the million dollar mark j assets had grown to more than $4,- 460000, the secretary of the Ohio Asso- ation ' of Insurance Agents issued a "jtriolic attack against cooperatives. In article in the Ohio Agency Bulletin, March 17, John A. Lloyd declared "those who would promote cooperatives of their own benefit are masking behind the cloak of religion and ... are attempting to destroy private business and private ini tiative in the name of religion." Answering the profit makers attack, Murray Lincoln, secretary of the Ohio Farm Bureau declared: "Our concern is not so much with what private business is or isn't, as it is to bring to a disturbed and troubled humanity the proven benefits of a self-help program of economic action which will distribute the benefits of this present age of plenty to the masses whose labors have made the benefits possible . . . The cooperative movement does not need to hide behind the cloak of anything. All it needs to do is to remove the cloak that surrounds some of the business practices of this day. The people will do the rest, and are doing it." Walla Walla, Washington — Pacific Supply Cooperative has just come through the most drastic price war in its short history. Efforts of private profit companies to close up the co-ops by price competition were unsuccessful. Eleven new cooperatives in Idaho have recently affiliated with Pacific Supply which, through its sixty affiliated stations dis-) tributed 7,000,000 gallons of gasoline in St. Paul, Minnesota—All three political Parties in Minnesota have written into their platform planks endorsing the growth of cooperatives. In commenting on this situation the Farmers Union He rald declared "It Begins to look like the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce *'°uld have to start a party of its own to "tan house'." Gettysburg, Pa. — "Of the people, by the people, for the people .. ." At the site of Lincoln's immortal Get tysburg address a Farm Bureau Coopera tive is beginning to put into practice in business, cardinal democratic principles. The cooperative, made up of the people, owned by the people, run for the people, increased its business eighty per cent, its membership fifty per cent, built a new office and warehouse and returned $1400 in savings to its members during the last year. Adams County Farm Bureau is justly proud of its cooperative. Seattle, Wash.—The Yakima Pomona Grange's resolution asking that coopera tion be taught in the public schools of Washington has been seconded by the Pend Orielle Grange. The resolution de clares that "Whereas cooperation has proved the solution for agricultural ills in other countries such as Denmark and is proving a solution in our country, and whereas the evils of the capitalist system will naturally give way to proper organi zation for cooperation among rural groups, Therefore, be it resolved that we petition the State Grange at its next ses sion to work for legislation that will ac complish this objective through legislation enacted by our legislature." North Kansas City, Mo. — "Fly with Co-op". Last year Transcontinental and Western Airways (TWA) tested a large number of fly sprays and found coopera tively produced spray made in CCA's plant in North Kansas City the most satis factory. The spray is used in cabin planes on commercial air routes. Last year TWA was the largest fly spray customer of the cooperative and has already or dered ten gallons of the odorless fluid for pre season "flying." St. Paul, Minnesota — More than a quarter of a million gallons of lubricating oil were shipped from the compounding plant of the Farmers' Union Central Ex change to cooperatives in the North Cen tral States in April. Saturday April 18 was high day with shipments totaling 19,- 348 gallons of oil. 110 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 111 Philadelphia — The American Federa tion of Hosiery Workers has approved in principle the organization of workers as consumers and has authorized its gen eral office to take steps leading toward the organization of consumers' coopera tives. In a resolution endorsed unanimously by the Twenty-Fifth Annual Convention of the Federation early in May, the ho siery workers declared: WHEREAS: The Labor Movement throughout the Nation must in the future utilize every possible means at its command to preserve its economic position; and WHEREAS: Organized Labor has not in recent years realized the possibilities of consumer co operative organization; and WHEREAS: Among our membership there is al ready a manifest recognition of the benefits pos sible by consumer cooperative action; therefore BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Twenty-Fifth Annual Convention of the American Federation of Hosiery Workers, hereby recognize the fundamen tal soundness of the cooperative -principle as ex pressed in the Rochdale Principles; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the General Office of the Federation make available to our constituent organizations educational litera ture and organizational information on this vital subject; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That a por tion of available space in the Hosiery Worker be devoted to this subject. New York — Knickerbocker Village, Manhattan's model housing project, is the home of an enterprising cooperative •which has grown from 25 to 100 members in the six months since it was organized. Beginning with the distribution of milk, the co-op has extended its services to in clude eggs, oranges, butter, coffee and •tea. Working on a small overhead the cooperative did a business of $2,434 in its first five months and declared an 8 per cent dividend. New York — Eleven cooperative cafe terias operated by Consumers Coopera tive Services served more than a million meals last year. Total business of the co operatives jumped from $395,000 in 1934 to $434,000 in 1935 and is expected to top half a million this year. At its annual meeting in May the membership of the cooperative voted an expansion program which will make it possible for members to purchase shirts, socks, insurance and garage space through affiliated organiza tions. One half of the savings accumu lated last year will be devoted to the ex pansion program. New York — Forty-four German penters and cabinet makers organize^?1' furniture fire insurance cooperativ & New York City late in 1872. In 1936V" membership of Workmen's Mutual P- Insurance Cooperative reached an "n time high of 67,000 and the Exe .Secretary reported furniture fire ance in effect totaling $85,272,000. o thousand new members and $2,500000 in new insurance were added in 1935 With assets in excess of $1,000000 and fire losses of only $66,000 the Co-op re- ported a better financial position than ever before. A reorganization of the society as mutual association early in 1935 made it possible to obtain licenses for operation in New Jersey and Maryland in addition to New York. Applications for licenses have also been filed in several other states. Superior, Wis. — One of the most far reaching decisions of the recent annual meeting of the Central Cooperative Wholesale was a move toward the es tablishment of a National Cooperative College. Delegates from more than 100 cooperative stores affiliated with the wholesale voiced the opinion that the rapid growth of consumers' cooperatives in every section of the country has made it imperative to train competent managers and employees for cooperatives. To meet this need the board of directors of the co operative was instructed to take initial steps, along with the other cooperative •wholesales, toward the establishment of a national cooperative college. As a first step in this educational pro gram an eight weeks training school for present and prospective cooperative em ployees was authorized for this fall. The training school will probably be held in Superior under the direct supervision of Central Cooperative Wholesale and the Northern States Cooperative League. New York — Cooperative Distributors completed its third year of operation with a mail order business totaling $100,000. Serving individual members and consum ers clubs in all sections of the country, CD tested in its own laboratory and pur chased more than 200 types of commodi ties ranging from razor blades and cos- metics to office supplies and men s suits. The volume of business was more than double its total of $46,000 a year ago. \Tcvv York City — Appleton-Century •11 nublish Horace M. Kallen's volume *The Decline and Rise of the Consumer" u fall- Dr. Kallen's book is a complete • t rV of *^e consumers> cooperative y°efflent, an analysis of the basic eco- ßl°Vjcs of the movement and is hailed by nODeral educators who have read the sev script as one of the most important economic treatises ever written. Chicago, 111. — Hailed as the "cor- ctist" cooperative in Chicago, the Evanston Consumers' Cooperative credits rapid growth to member education. The money-membership history is briefly as follows: April, 1935—12 members~$50 sales— no capital—no store. October, 1935 — 75 members — $225 sales—$200 capital—one store. April, 1936 — 183 members — $1,568 sales—store, milk route, meat market, credit union. Member education included a three day co-op institute for members, a visit to neighboring cooperatives, four discussion circles, a mimeographed news sheet, and a planned program of volunteer work providing "a job for every one." Member purchase check up, a membership com mittee of 25 and several other features keep the co-op on its toes. Chicago, 111. — The Interracial Com mission of the Chicago Urban League has outlined as a major project for 1936 the development of cooperative study groups on consumers' cooperatives in every sec tion of the city. It is hoped each group will develop into a full fledged coopera tive by the end of the year. Chicago, 111. — The Cooperative Wholesale, officially opened March 2 in the headquarters of the Central States) Cooperative League, reported sales total ing $1,750 in the first month of operation. The Press Boosts Consum ers' Cooperation SOCIAL FRONTIERS, May 1, "A Fourth Alter native" Edmund de S. Brunner. TIDE, May, "Co-ops"—"This month and last are wg ones for co-op news." RAILROAD TRAINMAN, May, "What is the Consumers' Cooperative?" A. F. Whitney. ADVERTISING AND SELLING, May 21, "Con sumers' Cooperatives—Threat or Challenge," Bertram B. Fowler. INTERNATIONAL OBSERVER, May, "Kaga- wa—Focal Point of the New Internationalism" Bertram B. Fowler. CHRISTIAN CENTURY, May 20, "Cooperatives and Unemployment" David H. Scull. NATIONAL MARKETING REVIEW, Spring, "Economic Significance of British Consumers," R. A. Palmer. COMMON SENSE, June, "Consumers Coopera tion in America" A review, E. R. Bowen. INTERCOLLEGIAN, April, "Social Significance of the Cooperative Movement" Harry W. Laid- ler. NEW HUMANIST, April-May, "Sweden Shows What the Common Man Can Do," Llewellyn Jones. RETAIL COALMAN, February, "Consumers Organizing to Buy" editorial. April, "Consumers Urged to Organize," edito rial. VOICE OF YOUTH, May, "Revolution Without Heroics," Wallace J. Campbell. CENTRAL BLATT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, May, "Cooperation," Current Opinion. SOLIDARITY, May, "A Cooperative That Works," editorial. CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST, April 16, "Kagawa is Half Right," a criticism of the cooperatives, Harry L. Ice. GASOLINE RETAILER, April 4, "2000 Oil Co ops in U. S. have 500,000 Membership," News article. CONSUMERS' GUIDE, April 6, "Cooperation," a special section of developments in consumers cooperatives. SOCIAL PROGRESS, June, "The Cooperatives," J. A. Stevenson, "Cooperative Principles," edito rial, "Consumers Cooperation in America," a review. WORLD UNITY, July, "Darkness Before Dawn," Wallace J. Campbell. OZANAM (Phi Beta Sigma), April, issue de voted to "Better Business and the Cooperative Movement," including "Consumers' Coopera tion—a Way Out," J. L. Reddix, "Colored Mer chants Association and Consumers Coopera tives," Albon L. Holsey, and "The Peoples Con sumers' Cooperative of Chicago," Henry Tay- lor. NEWSPAPERS NEW YORK TIMES, May 17, "The Spreading of the Cooperative Movement in America," a review, R. L. Duffus. "Back to School Desks Adult Millions Go,.'" Adult education-New York and Nova Scatiä„ Eunice Fuller Barnard. MIDWEEK PICTORIAL, May 23, "Consumers Cooperation—Does it Stretch the Dollar?" a full page pictorial description. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, April 20,, "Fear vs. Freedom," Editorial. NEW YORK POST, "Consumer Cooperatives Make Rapid Growth in U. S. Under Pressure o£: Great Depression," a review, Herschel BrickelL 112 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION International News London —• Five million dollars a year have been spent by the Cooperative Wholesale Society during the last three years in extending its productive plant. Among the factories just completed are a cabinet factory which is the largest in the country, a toilet soap factory and mills and factories producing foodstuffs, knitted wear, shoes and hats. During the last year 2,000 additional workers were added to CWS payrolls bringing the total number employed in cooperative factories to 49,900 and in all cooperative activities to well over a quarter of a million. Twenty-seven thousand new members were added to the membership of the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society in the first week of its expansion campaign; 42,000 were added in the two weeks of the campaign, Basle, Switzerland —• A recent survey of the effect of cooperatives on price le vels showed that in towns in which no active cooperative was in operation prices averaged 6% higher than in cooperative towns. Particular care was taken in con ducting the survey to cover comparable towns. Stockholm, Sweden —• Membership in Swedish cooperatives reached a new high in 1935 with a total of 568,161—eighty per cent greater than in 1925. With four persons to a family, more than one-third the population is taking part in the co operative movement. London — The General Secretary of the International Cooperative Alliance reports that since the beginning of the year publications of the International Co operative Alliance have been prohibited circulation in Italy by the Fascist govern ment and all issues since January have been returned stamped with the official rejection of the censors. Cooperatives in Italy, deprived of democratic control and now under direct supervision of the gov ernment, were dropped from membership în the International Alliance shortly after the Fascist party assumed control. Stockholm—T(he Stockholm Consum ers' Society is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. Formed in 191 fi when there were 16 different consume societies of various sizes and tvnpc *S Stockholm, the society was the SSt « ^"^d crime. the amalgamation of three of the largest fih vear it has or these organizations. (Jther association joined as the economies of unified acti $ became apparent. The membership of th Stockholm society has grown from 4 000 to 77,000 representing over 40 per cerit f the population of Stockholm. Turnover has risen from 2,700,000 kroner in 19ifi to 60,000,000 kroner in 1935. Manchester — The recently completed Blackpool Cooperative Bakery is one of the largest and most modern baking es tablishments in England. The CWS ar chitects department made plans for the bakery and the co-op plumbing, joinery and electrical equipment feature the new plant. The bakery is set in the midst of a beautifully landscaped plot and will prob ably be known as the "bakery in a gar den." The bakery was erected at a cost of $225,000. THE FORTIETH YEAR OF THE I.C.A. The first "Congress" of what has now become the International Cooperative Al liance met in August, 1895. The "Friends of Cooperative Production," as it was then called, was born without great fan fare in the hall of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Two hundred delegates and friends from cooperatives in fourteen countries attended. In the fall of 1934 the great International Cooperative Al liance, having made a tour of Europe with its congress, returned to London for its 14th congress. More than 100,000,000 individual members in 40 countries have united in an actual "People's League of Nations." The world's largest economic move ment has supplemented individual mem bership with economic institutions. Thir ty-eight national wholesale societies, 18 . federations of workers productive so cieties, 30 cooperative banks, 40 insur ance societies, 10 credit and agricultural unions back the movement with the peo- • money, the people's factories, the P p]e's labor and the people's goods. The I.C.A. has weathered the storms f war and the greater storms of poverty ° A "competitive peace." It has followed a" olicy 'which not only demands but 3. rks for the creation of domestic and *ternational peace and the abolition of 1 .. J „„.•„,,> J\i f^e close of its f tieth year it nas become the beacon ,. [^ to which those who are seeking a h tier world can look with renewed re assurance that in the direction of cooper ation lies the road to peace. This attractive poster (size 26x38") is now available at the following prices: 10 for $1.60 postpaid 50-100 @ 12c each, express collect 100 and over @ lOc each, express collect Gummed miniature (like the above) avail able in assorted red and green: $1.00 per 1000 $3.00 per 5000 $5.00 per 10,000 COOPERATIVE DESIGN SERVICE 167 West 12th St. New York City FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St., New York. N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U- S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. ORDER THESE THREE NEW COOPERATIVE BOOKS • "CONSUMER COOPERA TION IN AMERICA" Bertram B. Fowler A vivid, up to date report of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, written by an out standing journalist who has spent the past year studying the co-ops in action. Special Coopera tive Edition $1.00. "COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY" James P. Warbasse President, The Cooperative League A third completely revised edition of an Amer ican classic in Consumers' Cooperation which has already been printed in six languages. Dis cusses the philosophy, methods, accomplish ments and possibilities of the movement. Spe cial Cooperative Edition. Price $1.50. "SWEDEN—THE MIDDLE WAY" Marquis W. Childs An intensely interesting analysis of the factors which have produced Sweden's remarkable re covery: consumers' cooperatives, labor organi zations, government operation of utilities. Beau tiful illustrations of Sweden's outstanding co operatives, $2.50. Order from THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th St. New York City STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION "Education Is The Keystone Of Cooperation" .10 8.09 _____ .10 8.00 EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS Per Copy Per 100 76. What is Consumers' Cooperation J. P. Warbasse _______..___ .05 4.00 69. Story of Toad Lane, Stuart Chase __________________ .05 4.00 84. The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietrich _________________ .05 4.00 95. A Trip to Cooperative Europe, H. A. Cowden ____________ .05 4.00 96. A Cooperative Economic De mocracy, E. E. Bowen _______ .05 4.00 85. Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. J. Hughes ______________ .10 8.00 341. America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation, E. E. Bowen_____ .10 8.00 90. Up From The Shadows, Michel B»cd of the young people who left the schools, "We wind them up so they never run down." While the People's Schools did not teach any political or so cial formula and made no concerted propaganda for any particular cause, they gave the great incentive from which many social movements sprang. Without any direct urging of a particular line of action the effect of the People's Schools was principally to awaken the young peo ple and to give them the techniques of leadership embodied in native language, history and the social sciences. No description of subject matter would con- vey the fact that there is life and and a will to better the lot of the inc man in these schools. What the schol did was to prepare the soil, in which th great people's movements could thrive* The Danish farmers, given the People1 School preparation, have made the;8 democracy effective by extensive organi zation for political action, for consumers' cooperation, and for farm marketing cooperation. People's Schools and Cooperatives Probably the most distinguished fruit of The People's Schools is the cooper ative movement. Until recently there was little cooperation taught except in some of the more specialized schools; yet with the inspiration of this kind of teachinq the students went out from the school and transformed the countrysides into cooperative communities. Now some 80 per cent of the cooperative leaders are former People's School students. Not only did the Danish Cooperative Movement provide the farmer with marketing and processing facilities for his produce and purchasing facilities for his material wants, but it provided him with guidance and instruction in farming and helped him to shift from products in which he could no longer compete in world mar kets to products for which markets could be found. A system of agriculture was developed which was adaptable to Dan ish conditions and which was profitable to pursue. In the generations which have followed this development, farm tenancy has been obliterated from Danish econ omy and a large percentage of the farms are small tracts. The development of a People's School Movement in America awaits only the courage and singleness of purpose of an educational leadership which is resolved to provide education for life out of which democratic action may grow. Is it too much to hope that now, after nearly seven years of depression and unemploy- ment and suffering, the same flowering of resolute leadership which brought vital education to the peasants of Denmark in their hour of despair may bring such schools to the people of this country, and that we may have a rebirth of a people s culture and of an effective democracy which a free people should enjoy. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 137 How An Eastern Cooperative Store Developed Frank Eakin In the summer of 1935 members of con- uiers' clubs which a year or two earlier had come into being in Madison and Summit, New Jersey, found themselves embarrassed by the possession of some thing more than a thousand dollars in cash ,_this accumulation of funds being due to advance payment made by members on the cooperative purchase of coal. There was room for doubt, apparently, as to whether such joint possession of money by an unincorporated group could be legally safeguarded. Then why not incorporate? The move proved to be easy, under New Jersey laws. It was made. And that is how the united group of cooperators came to possess not only a sum of money with which to buy coal but also the impressive cognomen New Jersey Consumers' Coop erative, Inc. Opposition—and the Result A further increase of property, as things turned out, was just around the corner. In Chatham, midway between Madison and Summit, an abandoned garage was available for storage pur poses at the modest rental of ten dollars a month. Such commodities as soap and citrus fruit, brought by truck from whole sale warehouses, could be stored there pending delivery to member families. Moreover there was a somewhat vague plan in the air for buying canned goods from South Jersey canneries, using the roomy old garage, again, as a depot. Would local authorities have any objec tion to such use of said garage? Probably not, it seemed. Actually yes, it developed. And remarks on the subject, pro and con, got into a local newspaper. Next day the President of New Jersey Consumers' Cooperative, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as NJCC ) received a telephone call from j> man who had, he said, something much better than the old garage to offer. He had a store building which could be had '<* almost any rental the group might otter- Investigation revealed that the building wasn't so bad. Off the main street, not in too good condition, but seen through sufficiently imaginative eyes a building of much promise. It was rented forthwith, with a provision that as the business grew a larger rent would be paid. Early Handicaps The possession of a sure-enough store building implied the starting of a store. Consulting the approved books on the subject, the cooperators learned that three thousand dollars was perhaps a safe sum with which to launch such a venture —not less than that. The sum they had available at this time was about four hundred dollars. They started the store. The 134 member-families were scat tered through a dozen or so North Jersey municipalities, making delivery service imperative. Hence about half of the total initial capital was spent on a Ford truck —vintage of 1930. Then to go with the store and the truck the board of directors of NJCC engaged a manager, a young college graduate who had had no store experience and was chosen largely for that reason. The board wanted a store manager whose idea would be to help members to purchase to their advantage, not one trained to assume that success meant to accumulate profits for others than customers, and they were willing to do the actual managing themselves while he learned. By all ordinary calculations the Cha tham store should have failed within six months. But somehow it didn't. Perhaps it was partly luck that saved it. Certain ly it was not altogether that. The store's books showed net earnings from the opening week. At the end of the first quarter's operations the total, sales volume—including groceries, coal and fuel oil—stood at $6,471, of which sum about thirty-four hundred dollars came from groceries and other direct store sales. During this first three- months period the stock of goods on the store's shelves had increased from $68.07 138 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 139 to $645.12; member-families from 134 to 185; paid in capital stock from four hundred dollars to $541.25. Net earnings for the quarter were $250.74, which sum was returned to members as a "patronage dividend," after small deductions had been made for legal reserve and interest on capital stock, all of which of course is owned by members. The Co-op Moves Ahead At the end of the second quarter— which brings the story down to March 31, 1936—paid-in capital had increased to $1,012.77. The price of a share is five dollars. Many members are such by virtue of having paid in one dollar toward the purchase of a share, the remainder to be made up by leaving patronage divi dends in the treasury instead of drawing them in cash. No member may own more than five per cent of the total outstanding stock. For this second quarter net earnings were $360.52. Meanwhile gro ceries had been sold at approximately the chain-store price level, the number of member families had more than doubled since the store opening, a second full- time paid staff member had been engaged, store equipment had increased to a value of $198.50, fresh fruits and vegetables had been added to the store's regular stock and special arrangements had been made for the supply of meat and of laundry and other services, and an im pressive amount of volunteer work had been given by officers and members to management, research and education. NJCC had not exactly become big busi ness, but it had done certain things and gave the appearance of being on the way to doing other things. Those who had been active in it had learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and acquired confidence in their collective ability to do something about the existing economic mess—some thing more than talk. Factors Making for Success How was it done? Here is the answer given by the educational committee in the first issue (Feb. 15, 1936) of their well- edited little "Co-op News": "1. Back of the organization of our cooperative lay almost two years educa tion of our members in the Madison and Summit consumers' clubs. "2. We were already doing a fair busi ness in coal, which provided some incom from the start. "3. We adhered faithfully to the time- tested, democratic, Rochdale principles " "4. At least a score of our members were willing to volunteer plenty of g0od hard work in a genuinely cooperative spirit. "5. Our directors, and particularly our president, burned gallons of midnight oil studying and analyzing problems of effi cient purchasing and management. "6. Our members were loyal enouqh to keep patronizing the store through the earliest period when by trial and error we were learning the grocery business. "7. We of NJCC believe in consumers' cooperation with profound conviction. We feel that in working for its success we are not only helping ourselves; we are also helping all consumers—that is to say every human being who has a stomach." The preliminary education referred to in the first point had come from listening to speakers who knew cooperation at first hand, from reading books and pamphlets and magazine articles about the move ment abroad and in the United States, from exchange of information and ideas in discussion groups, and above all from trial-and-error experiments. A Turn at Collective Bargaining Of these experiments most did not turn out very well'—group coal-purchasing being the one conspicuous exception. Be fore the store was opened the Summit group had negotiated a purchasing agree ment with a local grocer, who agreed to pay a ten per cent commission to the club in return for the united patronage of the members. This arrangement lasted about a month. The grocer's prices, it was learned, averaged about ten per cent above chain-store prices. There was thus no saving in the arrangement, and as it held out no promise of working toward any worthwhile future objective it was abandoned. The bright idea of buying canned goods directly from South Jersey canneries proved equally disillusioning to the inexperienced cooperators when pu* to the practical test. Prices paid for goods bought in this way, it developed, were substantially above those which the chain stores paid to the canneries. The importance of these purchasing experiments, then, lay in the education eceived from them. In the pre-incor- ooration period the New Jersey groups had not only read and heard about such ethods of cooperation but had tried them, and having tried them were ready, as they could not otherwise have been, to turn to a more thorough-going applica tion of Rochdale principles and pro cedures. Technical Experience The fourth and fifth points in the sum mary are also worthy of special emphasis. Long before the incorporation stage was reached the Summit group in particular had gained as recruits a number of men whose interest in cooperation at the start was practical rather than idealistic in what might be called the religious sense. They belonged to the engineer and tech nician class, most of them being employed by one large industry. Annoyed by their dependence, as consumers of goods, on advertising ballyhoo, they welcomed the incentive which membership in a coopera tive group gave them to work toward the overcoming of this consumer handicap. There can be no question but that the success of NJCC to date has been due in large measure to the unstinted time and technical ability which these men gave and are still giving to it. A technical committee of some ten members has devoted a great deal of time and skill and energy to the task of learn ing, and helping their fellow-cooperators to learn, how to buy goods on merit, re gardless of advertising claims. Studying results of scientific tests by federal and other research agencies, and making lab oratory tests of tEeir own as far as prac ticable, these zealous technicians have gained much enlightenment of a very practical sort. They discovered soap, for example, of a brand quite unknown to the country at large, which was in every way as good as the best of the nationally ad vertised brands and could be bought for considerably less. The same is true of various other products. Buying by spe cification rather than merely by brand has become an established principle of the cooperative store's policy, which is being Put into effect as rapidly as possible. Meeting Chain Competition Savings of the type just referred to tell Part of the story of the Chatham store's remarkable achievement in keeping prices at the general chain-store level while maintaining a delivery service and ending each quarter with net earnings to be ap plied as patronage dividends. The coop erative store avoids the expense of solici tation.—solicitation of customers through a prominent store location which involves heavy rent and through the expensive ad vertising which is back of most nationally brands and keeps their price at higher levels than would otherwise be necessary. That is one reason why it has been able to compete successfully with the chain stores, in spite of the very low margin of profit available for any dealer in grocery staples. At least it is a reason given by officers of NJCC. And there is another reason which they give: The cooperative store, as compared with the chain store, has the advantage of larger units of sale and a better known demand. The unit of sale at the Chatham store has averaged between two and three dollars, several times larger than the chain store average. Touchstones of Future Growth Where do we go from here? Into credit cooperatives, insurance cooperatives, medical service coopera tives? Possibly. But at present writing there are no plans for moving into any of these fields. As to geographical expansion, over forty separate cities and towns are al ready represented in the membership of NJCC and in some of these localities cooperatives stores will almost certainly be established in the near future. The ex perience gained by the Chatham store and the organization back of it is available for all. Delegations come from week to week to observe, ask questions, and take out membership as a means of learning about cooperative procedures. What the relationship will ultimately be between NJCC and the cooperative groups which are springing up at numerous points in the populous North Jersey area remains to be seen. A recent issue of the local "Co-op News" expresses the view that whatever plan is worked out, through study and conference of leaders from the different communities, should "(1) Pre serve the value of local initiative and democratic control in each coooerative unit, (2) Provide the benefit of large- scale purchasing and experienced man- 140 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 141 agement for the technical and business phases of cooperation, (3) Prevent un necessary duplication of effort in promo tion, education, research, and other non technical activities." Several Sobering Thoughts In conclusion, let no reader get the im pression that consumer cooperation is taking North Jersey by storm. Only a small fraction of the great population of this area has been touched by it at all. Many of those who have heard about it, including not a few who have been in study groups considering it, are critical and disposed to hold aloof. Some con sider that the local set-up is not meeting the real need at all because it has not as yet penetrated the really needy low-in come groups. (From the original movers— college graduates and at least semi-pros perous-^ the movement has spread mainly among families of similar status. There is no prejudice against including families on a lower income level, but no one has had time, or taken time, to do missionary work in such quarters). Other critics, especially such as have a smattering of familiarity with earlier American attempts at cooperation which came to nothing, think that the present movement will re peat that history—that it is riding on the crest of a wave of enthusiasm which \vn soon subside. Still others are sympathef with the idea but can't see their way c] 'C to join because of infrequent deliver' service and other inconveniences v/h1 v they would have to put up with at until the early stage of development • past. Some, accustomed to a grocer'8 charge account, view with misgiving tk requirement, based on dearly bought cooperative experience, that cash must be paid for purchases. And outside of these various groups there are many who hav never grasped more than the penny-sav ing aspect of the movement and lose in terest when they learn that immediate savings are not impressively large. It is the considered judgment of leaders of N'JCC that education of their membership in the long-range significance of the cooperative movement is imperative if the local enterprise is to achieve more than superficial success. Meanwhile the membership continues to grow, and so does the store's business. It is no makeshift but a real store, filling orders in businesslike fashion and provid ing goods of unusually high quality. A new and more commodious delivery truck has lately been bought— as the store en tered upon the ninth month of its history! Consumers' Cooperatives in Action Cooperative Housing Pulls Through Standing out prominently on the wall of the office of the manager of the Amal gamated Cooperative Apartments in Van Cortlandt Park, N. Y., is a letter from then governor Franklin D. Roosevelt dated Nov. 26, 1930, extending his best wishes at the dedication of America's largest cooperative apartments. Keying the tone of the letter is a quotation from the late Charles Steinmetz, "Cooperation is not a sentiment: it is an economic necessity". Two years after the completion of the cooperative project, the financial and real estate structure of New York col lapsed. Owners, second mortgage hold ers and certificate holders found their property thrown into bankruptcy. Be tween sixty and seventy per cent of the real estate in the Metropolitan area went through bankruptcy .or found itself in intense financial difficulty. Rent scales crashed and property was rented at prices bearing very slight relationship to cost. As the depression deepened, sixty, sixty-five, and as high as seventy per cent of the members of the Amalgamated co-op were unemployed. The severity of the situation intensified as the coopera tive found it necessary not only to house but to feed its members. But good man agement and the loyalty of the members brought the co-op through. In 1932 and 1933 the Van Cortlandt Park coopera tive allotted rebates of $37,500, which the membership then voted to put into a re serve fund. In 1934 and 1935 the Grand Street cooperative not only carried itsel , t made such savings that $16,000 in t rebates were paid to members. It is ^" ated that the present year will find eSuates doubled with the possibility of re three or four weeks rental saved on îhe operation for the y£ar- Two hundred and thirty families in the r rand Street project, lower East side, and . jjUndred families in the Van Cortlandt Park co-op have become miniature com munities in themselves. The cooperative orinciples, successful in housing, have Len extended to services. Milk, elec tricity, laundry, grocery stores, bus serv ice drama, recreation and entertainment have been placed on a cooperative basis. Cooperative services aggregated $250,- 000 in 1935. Savings ran from five per cent up on many of the items and services, otherwise out of reach, were brought to members of the cooperative. The Van Cortlandt Park cooperative \vas completed in 1927 at a total cost of $3,700.000. The Grand Street project, oasis in lower New York's tenement sec tion, was built two years later at a cost of $1,425,000. Members own stock in the cooperative and lease individual apartments. To prevent speculation no member is allowed to sell his stock on the open market. — the Cooperative will buy it back from the member at face value. Rentals, based on use value, consequently do not rise and fall with the vicissitudes of the real estate market. At no time have rentals increased since the erection of the cooperative. New York Edison furnished the coop erative with light and power on a joint contract for the entire Van Cortlandt project until a year ago. At the request of the Utility, the New York State Public Service Commission voided conjunctional lighting contracts. Amalgamated then negotiated for the erection of a diesel plant to furnish its own power. The plant will be completed in September and will, according to Manager A. E. Kazan, save members of the cooperative $15,000 a year more than the original contract "te. New York Edison has since offered m vain to return to the previous arrange ant. With lower power rates electric cooking, refrigeration and other services grow in popularity, increasing the , u Put and lowering prices still further. Waukegan, Illinois. — The Coopera tive Trading Company completed its first 25 years of operation in May. Late in August it started its second quarter cen tury by opening a new oil station and branch store in one of the most modern buildings in this section of Illinois. Thou sands of visitors stopped at the co-op its opening day. Gary, Indiana — Three years ago a group of 24 Negroes started a co-op study club which took almost a year to evolve into a full fledged cooperative store. In January 1936 the cooperative had become America's largest Negro- owned store. In August the cooperative opened its first branch store as part of a Five Year Plan which calls for the organ ization of three additional stores, a credit union, service station and milk route. Superior, Wisconsin — The People's Cooperative Society held a grand open ing for its modern service station across the street from Central Cooperative Wholesale July 23-24. The co-op gas and oil station is the second expansion of the 20-year-old cooperative within the last two years. A fully modern grocery store and meat market was opened late in 1934. Columbus, Ohio — Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperatives reported nearly a million dollar increase in gas and oil sales for the first six months of 1936 over January to June business in 1935. Volume jumped from $1,994,370 in the first half of 1935 to $2,941,656 for the same period in 1936, an increase of 47 per cent. Superior, Wisconsin — Central Coop erative Wholesale pushed its sales of groceries and general merchandise up 47 per cent over sales in June 1935. Total business for the month totaled $220,491, bringing the volume for the first half year to a new record of $1,204,343. Seattle, Washington — Grange Coop erative Wholesale reported an increase in business of 63 per cent for 1935. Great est increases were in gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil and farm supplies. The volume of the cooperative wholesale passed $1,400,000 with sales of its 60 retail coop eratives well over $3,000,000. Lake Elmo, Minnesota — The Ameri can Farmers Mutual Auto Insurance 142 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION September CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 143 Cooperative registered greater premium income in the first six months of 1936 than was received in the entire year of 1935. North Kansas City, Missouri — June shipments of refined petroleum products and lubricating oils set a new high for a single month's business for Consumers Cooperative Association: 711 cars of re fined petroleum products, 32 more than its "train load a day" in June 1935, and 143,000 gallons of lubricating oils were shipped from the cooperative wholesale to affiliated retail cooperatives. An average increase of 20 per cent is the general gain for the first six months of the year over the same period in 1935. Columbus, Ohio — Employees of the Ohio Farm Bureau established their own co-op a year ago. With a very limited membership, the co-op did a business of $20,400 the first six months of the year in ice cream, candy, hosiery, ties, shirts, canned goods, laundry, gas and oil. July 1st the employees distributed to them selves more than a thousand dollars in patronage dividends. Washington, D. C. — The Rural Elec trification Administration reported Aug. 5 that it had earmarked or loaned $21,- 400,000 for 116 rural electric projects. Cooperative projects in Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia have been the first completed with several thousand members of cooperatives already securing light and power. It is estimated that more than half the appropriations allotted have been to cooperative associations. North Kansas City, Missouri *— Be cause it realizes the importance of sound finance, Consumers Cooperative Associa tion has added a Department of Finance with Clifford Miller, former manager of the Farmers Cooperative Association, Brewster, Kansas, at its head. Mr. Mil ler will act as advisor on financial matters for local retail cooperatives affiliated with CCA. Superior, Wisconsin — The Northern States' Women's Cooperative Guild is making plans for extensive educational programs during October, traditionally known as "Cooperative Month." Pro gram numbers, suggestions to speakers, songs and Co-op Month socials are list j among suggested activities. ec* Columbus, Ohio — Ohio private prof-t utilities are attempting to cut off th ' nose to spite their face. Offered the o ^ portunity to supply power to rural electd" cooperatives, the utilities have stalled refused to sell power purely on fa grounds that the rural electric associa6 tions are cooperatives. To meet th'" emergency cooperatives organized to dis tribute power produced by private com panies are being forced to build plants to supply their own power. The Inter- County Rural Electric Cooperative, or ganized to serve 5,000 farm home's in Highland, Fayette, Ross, Clinton and Pike counties, will begin construction of a modern generating plant early in Sep tember. Commenting on the situation the Ohio Farm Bureau News declared: "Ohio farmers are learning that they can get electricity efficiently by distributing it to themselves. They are now concluding that if it is also necessary to produce their power, they will produce it." New York City — Because of the con stantly increasing volume of business, Eastern Cooperative Wholesale and Eastern Cooperative League moved their headquarters to 112 Charlton Street. The new location will provide the organ izations with four times the floor space of the previous office. North Kansas City, Missouri — Inter national cooperative trade in oil estab lished itself as a reality when the second shipment moved out of North Kansas City consigned to the Scottish Coopera tive Wholesale Society, Glasgow. A fifth shipment has been made to the coopera tive wholesale association in France. Columbus, Ohio — The Cooperative Life Insurance Company has written more than $1,000,000 worth of life insur ance on a cooperative basis in the five months since the Life Insurance Company of America was purchased and reorgan ized as a cooperative. The Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Coopera tive now has 175,000 policy holders and the Farm Bureau Mutual Fire Insurance Cooperative reports the value of prop erty protected at more than $35,000,OOU. Greencastle, Indiana — DePauw Uni- ity did honor to itself and to the Operative movement by transcending C° DUS traditions to award the Walker f^n for its outstanding student to Paul T ner of Economy, Indiana. The award L made on the basis of service rendered \en Paul Turner organized a medical * operative in his own home town and brought medical service to what had for several years been a doctorless town. New York City — "England's widely heralded economic recovery has been due to social security legislation and the in crease of purchasing power made possible by the expansion of consumers' coopera tives which have become Britain's biggest business," declared Hon. A. V. Alexan der, Member of Parliament, in an inter view here. "English cooperatives, which last year did a total business of $1,101,000,000, not only provided lower prices to their 7,500,- 000 member-owners but also paid back to their members more than $120,000,000 in savings. "In the city of Sheffield, which I repre sent in Parliament," said Mr. Alexander, "the National Government paid out $6,250,000 to the municipal government in one year for unemployment relief. In the same year the local cooperative so- cieties paid out to their members the same amount, $6,250,000. Had it not been for the cooperatives the amount borrowed by the municipality would have been dou bled." Sir Fred Hayward, President of the Cooperative Union of Great Britain, who with Mr. Alexander represented Great Britain at the Institute of Pacific Rela tions Conference at Yosemite Park, pointed out that "wages of cooperative employees are from ten shillings to two pounds a week higher than those paid employees in the private distributive trade. Hours of work in the cooperatives average from 46 to 47 a week as com pared to a 52 to 60 hour week in private profit industry. At least 95 per cent of the cooperative workers are members of trade unions, while less than 5 per cent of the employees of private profit distrib utors are members of unions." Referring to the threat of fascism in Europe, Mr. Alexander said, "the ex istence of great democratic organizations such as the Cooperative Movement is the greatest preventive of dictatorship and is effective because it acts as a bulwark against the rise of fascism rather than as a punitive instrument to be used after dictatorship has come into power." Springfield, Massachusetts — At the end of June the Eastern States Farmers' Exchange found itself with the greatest six-months record of distribution since its organization in 1918. Between January 1 and June 30, 1936, it manufactured for and distributed to its 62,000 members 174,366 tons of feed, 17 per cent more than the tonnage handled during the same period in 1935. On a tonnage basis, fertilizer was up 14.3 per cent, but based on plant nutrients —and that's what grows the crops*—the increase was 23.1 per cent. During the first six months of 1936 to tal cooperative business was $8,304,219, an increase of $424,000 over sales for the. same period in 1935. The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation MAGAZINES rUKUM, September, "Miracle in Gary," the story of America's largest Negro cooperative, Bertram B. Fowler. — "Christian Cooperation," Richard Deverall. BUSINESS, July, "And Unto God," M. Tippy, Executive Secretary, Social ou Department, Federal Council of ^lurches, a defense of the support of coopéra- .pes bV religious leaders attacked in an article «nder Unto Caesar," published in the Novem- ™r issue. FEDERATIONS, August, "Two Uv ., Pi9htina," E. R. Bowen. — "Coopéra- Ves and Labor Policies," editorial. THE BRIDGE, May, "Cooperative Medicine,'" Dr. James P. Warbasse. CHRISTIAN CENTURY, July 29, "Cooperative- State is Due, Says Secretary Wallace," Edito? rial. OPPORTUNITY, August, "Why Not 'Cooper ate'?" J. G. St. Clair Drake. CHRISTIAN FRONT, August, "Christian Coop eration," Richard Deverall, the first of a series of articles on the Cooperative Movement. DOMESTIC COMMERCE, July 10, "The Fu ture of Retailing by Cooperatives," reprint of a radio address, E. R. Bowen. — "The Meaning, and Methods of Cooperation," a review of "Cooperative Democracy," by J. P. Warbasse,. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION PITTSBURGH CATHOLIC, July 30, "More About Cooperatives," Rev. John J. McDonough. NEWS FOR FARM COOPERATIVES, July, "Cooperative Purchasing Comes of Age," Joseph G. Knapp. A NEW WORLD, June, "The Masses Go Into Big Business," a condensation of Bertram B. Fowler's article in Scribner's Magazine for April. "What Is the Consumers' Cooperative?" by A. F, Whitney, President, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, has been published in the following la bor papers: RAILROAD TRAINMAN, May. QUARRY WORKERS JOURNAL, June. WYOMING LABOR JOURNAL, June 19. NEW LEADER, June 20. MILWAUKEE LEADER, June 23. RAILWAY CARMEN'S JOURNAL, July. BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIRE MEN AND ENGINEMEN'S MAGAZINE, July. • NEWSPAPERS (It is, of course, impossible to list all newspaper stories and articles devoted to the consumers' coonerative movement. The following are a few of those which have come to our attention. In ad dition more than 450 newspapers and magazines throughout the country receive regularly the Cooo- erative League News Service carrying highlight news of the cooperative movement. A very high percentage of these publications use the material regularly while others use those news stories of particular interest to their readers. The metro politan press has been more reluctant than other publications to use the service. Within the last rnonth the New York Times, Herald-Tribune, World-Telegram and Post have used articles from the service. The average number of readers reached by a single storv in CLNS through coop erative and general publications averages about 2.500.000.1 NEW YORK TIMES, Sunday, August 9. "A Lesson in Cooperation," a story of the Amal gamated Cooperative Apartments, Rose C. Feld. —"Credit Union Idea Spreading," R. C. Dorsey. —"Cooperative Groups Booming, Say Britons," an interview with Sir Fred Havward and A. V. Alexander of the Coonerative Union. WALL STREET TOURNAL, August 1. "Coop eratives and Profit." an editorial. NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM, August 1, "Cooneration," an editorial. ASSOCIATED PRESS, a series of three articles on the Cooperative Movement, syndicated to all affiliated morning papers for publication August 13, 14 and 15. BOSTON GLOBE, July 5, "Dictators Don't Like the Cooperatives," an interview with James P. Warbasse bv James H. Powers. CHICAGO TRIBUNE, June 14, "Consumers' Cooperatives," an attack on the Cooperative Movement, William Harmon Norton. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, July 3, "President's Study of Cooperatives Begins in Sweden." NEW YORK POST, July 28, "Swedish Co-ops Displace Trusts," July 30, "Cooperative Store Sales Spurt to New Records," August 7 "p Co-ops Volume Doubled in Decade " ' U NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, Auqu "Briton Terms Cooperatives Bar to FasCj 1: an interview. Sm' BOSTON HERALD, June 27, "The Naf • Politics—Roosevelt Plan Based on Scandina?"8 System," Paul Mallon. ralnavian. WORLD TELEGRAM, August 10, "Consu Cooperatives Opposed by New Dealers" R"** mond Clapper. ' ZY~ • CONFIDKNTIAL NEWS BULLETINS UNITED BUSINESS SERVICE, Auaust 8, "C sumer Cooperatives Not a Serious Threat" °n BABSON'S REPORTS, July 27, "Consumer Co-ons in New Move. THE KIPLINGER WASHINGTON LETTER August 1, "All Kinds of 'Consumer' Coooerat;™ Flourish in U. S. Today." °n Book Reviews Sweden, Land of Economic Democracy, by E R. Bowen, The Cooperative League, 15 cents. This booklet of 24 pages, with four full pages of beautiful illustrations, is a sunnlement to, not a .substitute for Marquis ChiHs' "Sweden: The Mid dle Wav." Mr. Bowen tells the story of the pros perity of Sweden, with the account of the COOD- erative movement, as does Mr. Childs, but with c»rtain emnhasps. which are the more appreciated pfter reading Mr. Childs' t"ore lenathv account T"hese emnhases are: the differences between the Swedish K. F. and the cooperative movement in other countries; the significant development of adult education and particularly the study circle movement in Sweden; and the preservation of eco nomic and civil liberty through governmental com petition with (but not regulation oB private monopolies, through consumer cooperative "trust- busting" and through stronq labor union and pro ducer marketing cooperatives. Indeed, the preser vation of economic liberty is the primary theme cf the booklet. Far from criticizing the Swedish «»operators for failing to set themselves the goal of a comoletely cooperative commonwealth, Mr. Bowen holds to the thesis that the practical compromises for which the Swedes are notorious have made possible a life free alike from the tyranny of monopolies and the autocracy of bureaucratic government It is a cautious statement which will recommend itself strongly to those who see the necessity of some change in American economic life, but fear (not without reason) that a political solution may mean the loss of American liberties. —Merlin G. Miller, Professor of History, College of Emporta, Kansas. Housewives Build a New World, by Emmy Freundlich. C. W. S. Manchester, 1936. "<» The Cooperative League, $1.25. A survey of the efforts and effects of women* organization within the Cooperative Movement a welcome addition to libraries on Consume Cooperation. , Not the least of the prophetic touches term lated in the Rochdale Principles was that or n discrimination in its democracy on account ot CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXII. No. 10 OCTOBER, 1936 Ten Cents EDITORIALS The Rainbow Flag is the promise of a new day. • Cooperators should demand of them selves "the achievement of the impos sible." • We are fortunately near the end of the present eruption of political spellbinders orating that, in our economic system of free enterprise there is an automatic direc tion of industry and trade. In the main the rewards of each group are in propor tion to its contribution to the product . . . under this system America produces the greatest output of wealth, pays the high est rate of wages, gives the finest stand ards of living, in the history of the world. "How long, Oh Lord, how long?" might well be repeated until the audiences of America will boo such speakers off the platforms. • The editor wishes to pay his personal tribute to the late Governor Olsen of Minnesota whom we never met personal ly but who was one of the four prominent men outside the cooperative movement who, more than any others, thoroughly convinced us of its merits. We heard him summarize his philosophy at the Conven tion of the Northern States Cooperative League at Cloquet in the fall of 1933 in somewhat these words, "I stand for the Cooperative Commonwealth, and because I do not want anyone to misunderstand, I mean the cooperative ownership of in dustry and the public ownership of utili ties." He was a good persuader in the cause of the common good. • Some excellent expressions which we have recently noted include the follow ing:^ "A cooperative is a business democracy," C. C. Teague, President, California Fruit Growers Exchange. "The pursuit of profit is neither ethical nor efficient," Common Sense Editorial com ment. "Consumers' Cooperation is the economic pat tern of the 'American Dream'." Dr. Horace M. Kallen, New School for So cial Research. All of these are splendid for quotation by cooperative writers and speakers. • A review of a new book, "The Modern Economy in Action" by Gardiner C. Means and Caroline F. Ware says, "No road to action is definitely pointed out." This is primarily where American intel- vnhSiîn t0 spread th>e knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, In uiuntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. JnnBTeni Editor- Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative ^^^JsjinclEducational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. Wered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. 146 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION October 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 147 lectuals have failed us. It's easy to point out specific signs of breakdown in our present competitive-profit economy and likewise easy to generalize about a future cooperative-service organization of so ciety. But destructive attacks and gen eralized proposals do not indicate think ing-through on the part of authors and speakers. When American intellectual leaders propose specific remedies we will move faster. We hope to persuade them more and more to adopt and advocate the four point program for the building of a cooperative economic society: first, social security legislation to be paid for pri marily by inheritance, gift and income taxes; second, vocational organizations of every worker; third, consumer-citizen ownership of utilities; fourth, consumer- producer ownership of industries. • The railroads are in a quandary. They instituted a suit against the reduction in rates and now find that the reduction has increased their revenues. It's just too bad that they had to be shown up as incapa ble of acting voluntarily even in their own best interests and had to be forced to do so by the government. There may not be so much of that great virtue of ini tiative in private business after all. • In one issue of the New York Times appear two parallel stories in one of which a prominent Protestant speaker warns his audience "against Commu nism" and another in which it is said that the Notre Dame National Alumni Asso ciation will offer its assistance to Pope Pius XI "against Communism." Might we suggest that it is more important for the churches to be pro-Cooperation rather than anti-Communism. Negative opposition to Communism will be of little avail unless a positive program of Co operation is advocated as a substitute. • An interesting article by Miss Merle Elsworth, one of the members of the 1936 Cooperative Tour to Europe, appears in the August issue of The National Grange Monthly telling the story of the pioneer work in Cooperation of the Grange. Their Declaration of Purposes adopted in 1874 was simple and significant: "We propose meeting together, talking to gether, working together, buying to gether, selling together, and, in general" acting together for our mutual protect! ' and advancement . . . we must dispen°n with a surplus of middlemen, not that v^ are unfriendly to them, but we do n ^ need them." • New York City has again had the honor of entertaining a youthful visitor from the West, this time in the person of Miss Erma Young from Choteau, Mon tana, winner of a prize essay contest on the subject, "Why I Want to See New York." She has discovered that for every three young people in Montana who have an opportunity to go to college eight have the same opportunity in New York City So she expressed her hope for equal op. portunity by saying, "I can't help wishing that some of these New Yorkers and other wealthy Easterners, part or all of whose wealth has come from the mines and ranches and lumber and oil industries of Montana, would give some thought to the young people of our State." We respect such "wishful thinking" but would challenge Montana citizens to do more than beg New Yorkers to give back to them a fraction of the wealth they have given away. We would challenge Mon tana citizens, as well as those of every other State, to take upon themselves the responsibility of the ownership of their own resources. We challenge them to re organize all their industries and utilities into Cooperatives owned and controlled by themselves as consumers, producers and citizens. By organizing Consumers and Producers Cooperatives and by vot ing for Public Ownership of Utilities, •Montanans and the residents of every other state can keep the ownership of the wealth they produce at home in their own pockets, instead of cursing New York and other financial centers with excess riches and themselves with poverty. (Montana papers please copy). • Consumers and producers of milk in the New York City area, who are now in another of their periodical experiences of being driven farther apart by the pri vate distributors, might well read the sto ry in the Cooperative News of May 1°' quoting and commenting on the report o . Committee of Investigation for Eng- l d into the operation of the Milk Mar keting .Scheme. "There are a number of f tors," the Committee said in the state- 3 ts 'for the Cooperative Movement m j£ by Hon. A. V. Alexander, "which make these figures not strictly compa- able." As compared with private distri- kutjon these factors were reported to be that cooperative societies maintained sub stantial rates of depreciation so that de preciation charges now were small, that no payments were made for goodwill, that the salaries of the higher managerial oo'sts were on a different basis from those j,f "private distributors, that many coop eratives had a large turnover which en abled them to make economies which were not possible in the case of smaller firms, that two societies in particular had «such large memberships that block de liveries could be made. While admitting that the majority of the employees of the societies received wages in excess of the Trade Board rates, the Committee was still forced to conclude that "whatever the reasons may be, we cannot escape the conclusion on the evidence before us that the majority of private distributors can not distribute milk as cheaply as do the cooperative societies." The Committee also expressed the view that "cooperative societies are, on the evidence, able to dis tribute milk more cheaply than anyone else." One cannot but say, "Would that we had in the United States such im partial government investigations as those conducted by Parliamentary Com missions in Great Britain, and would that consumers in the United States were equally alive to the advantages of organ izing their consuming power." • The failure of the peace movements of the past is bringing more realism into the thinking of their leaders. Perhaps as much as any other American, Dr. C. C. Morrison, editor of Christian Century and the new quarterly Christendom, was responsible for laying the groundwork fading Up to the signing of the Kellogg «ace Pact of Paris. Now he reveals his disillusionment over government action in °5e of his usual powerful articles in S-nristendom under the title "The End of toe Peace Movement." "Why is it," he s- ^at our governments are unable to bring to consummation the peace hopes of their peoples?" Then answering his, own question, he declared, "It is because our political governments are not our real governments. Our governments are themselves governed. There is an in visible government behind our govern ments—it is our economic system. The: economic system is vastly more powerful than our political system. Our political government is but an instrument, a tool, of economic forces. And these economic forces inherently make for war. Govern ments may make pledges of peace, gov~ ernments may set up institutions of peace, but these may at any time be overthrown by the spirit of war which dwells in the body of our capitalistic economy. So long as the nations are in the control of an economic order which produces war by its own inherent operation, the feeling of helplessness will haunt the governments of the world as it now haunts the hearts of the peace workers . ... our governments- have proven unequal to the burden which the peace movement has laid upon them . . . they cannot keep the pledges which- they have made, because they are not their own masters but are themselves caught in the toils of a system controlled by forces more powerful than themselves. The economic system, we are beginning to see, -holds war as the clouds hold lightning . . . war is inherent in a laissez faire, profit-motivated economic system . . . the structure of peace cannot stand so long as its foundation rests in an eco nomic order which is itself inherently warlike." While such positive declara tions of national peace leaders are of great value in convincing America of the direct relationship between war and private-profits and the necessity of de stroying the economic roots of war by eliminating private-profits, we regret that Dr. Morrison did not take the positive step of describing and advocating specifi cally, as does Kagawa, a cooperative economic system which will eliminate private-profits and thus prevent not only war and crime but unemployment and poverty. He and other national peace leaders should be challenged to be specific in describing to their followers the type of an economic system necessary to re place our present private-profit com petitive system. l 148 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION October 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 149' As Others See Us Private-profit business seems to be having nightmares about the Consumers Cooperative Movement today and is striking out as blindly as is done in one's sleep. We feel like offering a suggestion' that spokesmen not only give up their fears but also that they stick closer to the truth. The present type of wild knocking •only exposes private-profit business to easy knock-out replies. A news item re porting an address before the Western Conference of Trade and Commercial Secretaries on the Stanford campus at Palo Alto, California, by Ned Harlan, manager of the Boise. Idaho, Chamber of 'Commerce, says: "Churches are just seething with the 'co-on idea', he de clared in appraising its future effects on private business. Quoting from Catholic, Protestant and Jewish publications he declared that many lay members are urging 'production for use programs and you here in California know what that means!' " The Sin of Enthusiasm In a house organ, "Bruce-Every Month," Mr. C. Arthur Bruce, Vice- Président says, under the title, "Speaking Frankly About Consumers Cooperatives" that "the insidious thing about this move ment lies in the religious enthusiasms with which the propaganda is carried on," as though it were a sin to be enthusiastic about a Movement that promises to assist in eliminating crime, war, unemployment and poverty, the four black horsemen of private-profit capitalism. Mr. Bruce should not infer that Consumers' Coop eration has anything to do with a "pro gram to put all business in the hands of the State," for some of his readers may be wise enough to know that Consumers 'Cooperation is a non-political movement. "Not as Efficient" The Progressive Grocer for August car ries an article by a former co-op manager who speaks of his experience with the "celebrated California Rochdale co-op network" from 1907 to 1914. Those who know say that there wasn't much "Roch dale" in that experiment. Mr. Blaine, the author, says that "Co-ops are certainly not as efficient as independent whose owners work any and all our heroically." He seems to think that in in dependent stores there is more goodwill and affection on the part of customers f0 the dealers. We fear that he fails to real ize the loyalty of consumers and employ, ees as well for a cooperative store of which they are part owners. Co-op stores have a magnet to draw and hold trade which private stores do not—one arm of the magnet is democratic control and the other is patronage dividend. "Contrary to the American System" A "National Conference of Christian Ministers and Laymen" assembled re cently at Asheville, N. C., which is re ported to have included such persons as Mrs. A. W. Dilling, author of "The Red Network," Rev. John Evans, Religious Editor of the Chicago Tribune, and oth ers, who came together, according to the call, "To uphold the Christian religion, stimulate Americanism, formulate plans to effectively combat communism, etc." Chicago Tribune's correspondent says that the final statement of principles which it adopted "presents the first positive de fense of capitalism and the present eco nomic order to come from any religious conclave in recent years. The promo tional literature stressed criticism of the Federal Council of Churches because it sponsored Kagawa's tour; of Kagawa be cause lie promotes cooperatives because they are bad for private business and contrary to the "American system," and of President Roosevelt because he has instituted a study of the cooperative movement. A Banker Looks at Cooperation Banking, the journal of the American Bankers Association, for September, 1936, carries an article on "The Cooperative Revival" by Edward H. Collins, who says, "The movement is at last attaining genuine momentum here. It is not only expanding at a substantial annual rate, but it is pushing into the cities as well as into new agricultural regions. f After referring to the President's Com- jssion and Mr. Filene's Cooperative De- rtrnent Store plan, the author further vs "If one is seeking a more important Vaw in the wind, it may be suggested that he look up the recent periodical liter- ture on cooperatives. He will find that more is being written today on the sub let for the advertising and business mag- izines than for those of any other field- clear cut evidence that business, while it fflay not be alarmed over the threat of the competition of the cooperatives, is at least keenly aware of their growth and deeply interested in the implications of the movement in terms of its own future." • Cooperative knocking, we might re peat, is boosting. As Joseph Gilbert,, editor of the Midland Cooperator, says,. "It is all good advertising for coopera tion." Why Should Anyone Want to be Rich?' Britain's Cooperative M. P. Asks a Searching Question It is reported that when J. P. Morgan i returned from Europe that he predicted that great fortunes would be gone in 30 years. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. who, upon his return was asked to comment on this prediction, is reported to 'have said that he thought it was optimistic. One of the great questions ahead in America is whether rich men will oppose the redis tribution of wealth in such a way as to bring on violent conflicts or whether they will accept the handwriting on the wall and by their attitude and actions help to save themselves as well as others. Dr. Horace M. Kallen appeals to them in his "Individualism, an American Way of Life" in these words: "Had only the captains of industry the courage! They would find precedent enough from Robert Owen's day to this. Each successful experiment would multiply endeavors geometrically, and not too long a time would pass before the character of each plant would be changed from a machine driving men into men driving a machine. Such a transformation is the whole meaning of democracy in industry. If the captains of industry were not afraid to extend the ways of science to the economy of life! « they chose to learn the wisdom which can turn possession into dynamic pursuit, private property t !" things into general joy in living, vested interests l "?to cooperative freedom! If they chose to give up we habits of the mollusk and the squirrel for the habits of the free man, ceasing to resist change, replacing accumulation by distribution! Then in the course of events, a social configuration could not ne'P establishing itself, wide as the world, where- m the institutions of society might enhance, not mutilate and destroy, the life, liberty and hap- Piness of the individuals who are society. Co . S at the top the courage which is wisdom ncerning dangers and vigilance which is the pnce of all good in life, habits will remain what they are, fear about possessions will overrule hunger for liberty and joy. But at the bottom, anxiety and despair will bring to birth what fear and greed above choked off. "Will the vision and the courage and the vigi lance come to birth and fruition among the privi leged? The choice is theirs and the danger is theirs." What Will America Do? Hon. A. V. Alexander, Parliamentary Secretary of the British Cooperative Un ion, raised this pertinent question which every rich man should face, "Why should anyone want to be rich any more?" Then as regards himself as an employee of a cooperative association, he answered his own question by saying, "What more would anyone want? I have a job, in surance, superannuation — what more does anyone need?" To some a class con flict is necessary between the rich and poor. They argue that the rich have never gotten off the backs of the poor without violent conflicts in the past. But why ac cept any dogmatic statement as infallible. What may be possible in America is un known. Our 150 years of training in forms of liberty should give everyone, both rich and poor, different attitudes than those in countries who never ex perienced democracy as we have. The policy of persuasion, if genuinely fol lowed may be able to help us achieve an economic democracy in America by peaceful means. In fact some poor may be as hard as some rich to persuade. The issue is not altogether one-sided. At least persuasion is worth trying with every one. 150 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION October What Do We Mean by Democracy? 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 151 Charles A. Beard (Editor's Note. In the following article written •specially for Consumers' Cooperation, Charles A. Beard, America's greatest living historian has set forth the relation of ownership of property to the continuation of democracy. Private ownership without private profit is a basic principle of con sumers' cooperation.) THE words "American democracy" now roll from tongues and pens in an impressive volume. Aided by William Randolph Hearst, the Liberty League, in multitudinous releases, announces its pur pose to defend and preserve this democ racy in the forum of opinion and before the courts of law. President Roosevelt tells us that he is enlisted in "a war for the survival of democracy. We are fight ing to save a great and precious form of government for ourselves and the world." In similar language Republicans take up the issue; they too are bent on saving American democracy. When there is so much smoke, there must be some fire. The people are indeed recurring to first principles, are once more looking at society as a whole, and are taking stock of human values and so cial practices. To all appearances we are entering a period of inquiry and specula tion no less profound than the age of the renaissance and closing years of the eighteenth century. It is therefore fitting that we stop, look, and listen, that we re- •examine the essentials of democracy, that we consider the conditions necessary to its survival. •How shall we proceed? Although there are many ways, one seems most prom ising; that is by surveying the thought and practice of the forerunners who 'founded American democracy. They had the courage to make a revolution and the wisdom to conserve its fruits. In their ex perience and their writings, we can find guidance amid the uncertainties of our time. And what was their conception of •democracy? It embraced three things: ideals, institutions, and economy—ideals to direct, institutions to preserve, and economy to sustain. Ideals The ideals set forth by the founders of American democracy are incorporated in the Declaration of Independence and in other primary writings. They include a view of human nature and human rights They rest upon the belief that human life has a value in itself and cannot be ex ploited for ends alien to moral worth. All the people have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The purpose of government is to maintain these rights. When this purpose is violated, the peo ple may reconstruct their government and adjust it to meet their needs. When these principles were proclaimed in 1776 they seemed revolutionary. In deed in contrast to the long practices of humanity, they were revolutionary. They represented a hope, rather than a fact, an aspiration, rather than experience. All around were glaring contradiction, even in the United States. Yet the founders of American democracy set out with this chart in hand to realize, as far as the cruel circumstances of life would permit, the principles they had so bravely de clared. The conflict and the hope are thus described by Thomas Jefferson: "The doctrines of Europe were that men in numerous associations cannot be re strained within the limits of order and justice but by forces physical and moral wielded over them by authorities inde pendent of their will. Hence their organi zation of kings, hereditary nobles, and priests. Still further to constrain the brute force of the people, they deem it neces sary to keep them down by hard labor, poverty, and ignorance, and to take from them, as from bees, so much of their earn ings, as that unremitting labor shall be necessary to obtain a sufficient surplus barely to sustain a scanty and miserable life. And these earnings they apply to aintain their privileged orders in splen- ? r and idleness, to fascinate the eyes of the people, and excite in them a humble ^oration and submission, as to an order Of superior beings . . . "We believed . . . that man was a ra tional animal, endowed by nature with iqhts, and with an innate sense of jus- fee- and that he could be restrained from Tvro'ng and protected in right by mod erate powers, confined to persons of his Own choice and held to their duties by dependence on his own will . . . We be lieved that men, enjoying in ease and security the full fruits of their own in dustry, enlisted by all their interests on the side of law and order, habituated to think for themselves, and to follow rea son as their guide, would be more easily and safely governed, than with minds nourished in error, and vitiated, as in Eu rope, by ignorance, indigence, and op pression." Political Institutions To realize such ideals certain political institutions were deemed necessary. To describe them fully is beyond the scope of this essay. With them the American people are more familiar than they are with requirements of a sustaining econ omy. Among other things, democratic institutions call for equal suffrage, im partial election machinery, purity of the ballot, acceptance of majority decisions, freedom of candidacy, liberty of press, speech, and discussion, and "the right of the people to alter their fundamental laws by established processes as changed con ditions call for alterations in the powers and forms of government." A Sustaining Economy But ideals and political institutions were not enough to assure the realities and future of democracy. The Founding fathers knew full well that the forms and distribution of property bore a vital, if not determining, relation to the forms and 'unctions of government. Thomas Jefferson believed, and more than once-declared, that the guarantee of Popular government was security for the masses of the people, and that security could only come from the assured owner- ™ip of property. Hence he insisted that tfte United States should remain an agri- CuUura] country, that the land should be parcelled out among independent farmers, each looking to the soil at his feet, the labor of his hands, and the sun in heaven for his livelihood. Manufactories Jeffer son wanted to keep in Europe, for they were always accompanied by crowds of property-less artisans likely to make pe riodical revolutions and continually dis turb the social order. He agreed with Governor Morris that the penniless masses of the great cities either made revolutions on their own account or served as the tools of the very rich in destroying popular government, in es tablishing aristocratic dictatorships, in short. Jefferson knew that nations are not im mortal, that governments are transient, that concentrated wealth and widespread poverty cannot forever endure side by side in a democracy. Madison was equally well acquainted with the long story of mankind. He also warned his countrymen of perils to come. In the constitutional convention, on August 7, 1787, he said: "In future times a great majority of these people will not only be without land, but any other sort of property. These will either combine under the influence of their common situation; in which case the rights of property and the public liberty will not be secure in their hands or which is more probable, they will be come the tools of opulence and ambition, in which case there will be equal danger on another side." Long afterward, but while Jefferson was still living, Daniel Webster summed up anew the conception that a wide dis tribution of property formed the founda tion of democracy. In an address deliv ered on the 200th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims he said, "They came to a new country. There were as yet no lands yielding rent, and no tenants rendering services. The whole soil was unreclaimed from barbarism. They were themselves, either from their original con dition, or from the necessity of their com mon interest, nearly on a general level in respect to property. Their situation de manded a parcelling out and division of the lands, and it may be said that this necessary act fixed the future frame and form of their government . . . The con- sequence of all these causes has been a great subdivision of the soil and a great 1 152 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 153 equality of condition; the true basis, most certainly, of popular government." Property and Democracy And if the American form of govern ment is to endure, Webster argued, then a wide distribution of property must also be maintained. "The practical character of government depends often," he said, "on a variety of considerations, besides the abstract frame of its constitutional or ganization. Among these are condition and tenure of property; the laws regu lating its alienation and descent; the pres ence of military power; an armed or unarmed peasantry; the spirit of the age, and the degree of general intelligence. In these respects it cannot be denied that the circumstances of this country (in 1820) are most favorable to the hope of maintaining the government of a great nation on principles entirely popular. In the absence of military power, the nature of government must essentially depend on the manner in which property is holden and distributed. There is a natural influence belonging to property, whether it exists in many hands or few; and it is on the rights of property that both des potism and unrestrained popular violence ordinarily commence their attacks. Our ancestors began their system of govern ment here under a condition of compara tive equality in regard to wealth, and their early laws were of a nature to favor and continue this equality." "... The freest of governments, if it could exist, would not long be acceptable, if the tendency of the laws were to create a rapid accumulation of property in few hands, and to render the great mass of the population dependent and penniless. In such a case, the popular power would be likely to break in upon the rights of property, or else the influence of property to limit and control the exercise of popu lar power. Universal suffrage, for ex ample could not long exist in a community where there was great inequality of prop erty. The holders of estates would be obliged, in such case, in some way to restrain the right of suffrage, or else such right of suffrage would, before long, di vide the property ... It would seem, then, to be the part of political wisdom to found government on property; and to establish such distribution of property, by laws which regulate its transmission and alienation, as to interest the majority of society in the support of q ^' ernment . . . There is reason, therefc/" to expect a long continuance of our sv*' tern. Party and passion may prevail » times, and much temporary mischief b done. Even modes and forms may h changed, and perhaps for the worse. But a great revolution in regard to property must take place, before our governments can be moved from their republican base unless they be violently struck off by rni\i'. tary power." In less precise language Jefferson gave a similar interpretation of America's des tined history. "Reliance (on popular government)," he wrote to Madison on December 20, 1787, "cannot deceive us as long as we remain virtuous; and j think we shall be so, as long as agricul ture is our principal object, which will be « the case, while there remain vacant lands in any part of America. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe, and go to eating one another as they do there." Evidently a shadow of fateful things to come fell athwart Jeffer son's mind as he wrote from Paris to Madison on the prospects of the new Constitution. Changes in the Forms, Ownership, and Control of Property In Webster's day the great majority of the American people were engaged in farming, and most of them, outside the planting regions, were the owners of farms. Industries were small also and most of them were owned by individuals or partners. Nearly every white man of energy, health, and industry could look forward to acquiring property in land or in the simple tools of craftsmanship, and to security against hunger, want, and the buffets of fortune. To record the changes since that day would be to tell a long story. 'Moreover, it is unnecessary. They are made pain fully manifest in the income tax returns. . in the publications of the Brookings Insti- I tution, and in such treatises as Bearle and Means, "The Modern Corporation and Private Property." In addition, since Webster spoke, piercing questions have been asked about property, ownership and use. What shal be objects of private property? To wha traints, taxes, and regulations shall rCSperty left in Private hands be sub- ^r°ted by government? When these ques- ed an<^ ten thousand volumes • o are f constitutions, charters, statutes, and °dicial decisions are read preparatory to 'U answer, then that which was as simple an a multiplication table becomes as com plicated as the thought, customs, legisla tion, and practices of centuries. should be objects of private property? Negroes as slaves to be bought and sold like cows and horses? Highways marked by toll houses? Schools charging tuition fees? All forests, minerals, and water power sites? The carriage of mails and parcels? Waterworks and electric light plants? Navigable rivers dotted with the castles of robber barons? The harbors and ports of commerce? The air above, penetrated by airplanes and radio flashes? The list could be indefinitely extended. And an elementary knowledge of history and practices shows that the laws and ideas bearing on this subject have changed, are changing, and are proper subjects for discussion by everyone who gives any thought to contemporary ways of life. Then take the regulations and servi tudes imposed on property that is left in private hands. Is the owner in every case entitled to do as he pleases with his prop erty and to enjoy all the fruits arising from it? A ton of statutes and judicial de cisions available in any good law library presents an emphatic negative. The own ers of billions of dollars worth of property in the United States, known as public util ities affected with public interest, are not permitted to "collect all the traffic will bear" but are limited to "a fair return on their investment," after taxes and charges are met. Property not so regulated is sub ject to taxation. All over the country the owners of farms are compelled to yield up a large proportion of their net cash re turns for the year to local and state gov ernments for the support of schools, insti tutions of beneficence, old age pensions, and other public purposes. The recipients °t incomes from property may have to surrender one-third, one-half or more of weir annual receipts to state and federal Sovernments. And as war debts and ar maments soar they may have to surrender more. The Old Issue Is Up Again For a long time the writings of the Fathers were neglected, although lip service was paid to them on the Fourth of July and other commemoration days. But the changes of a hundred years and the new menaces to democracy have raised again the fundamental problems with which they wrestled. In his acceptance speech of 1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred once more to the econ omy of democracy. He quoted from an old English judge as saying: "Necessi tous men are not free men." Then he added, "Liberty requires economic op portunity to make a living—a living de cent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live for. For too many of us the politi cal equality we once had won was mean ingless in the face of economic inequali ty." Hence, amid the gropings and search ing of our time, it is well to read again the writings of the Fathers and to recall their triple guardianship of democracy—ideals, institutions, and economy. Not one, nor two alone, but all three. These are the conceptions under which we must work out our destiny, unless as Webster said, we are content to fall under military power. To take the broad view requires wisdom. To attain great ends, knowledge and courage are necessary. COOPERATIVE TOUR New York — "The most successful Tour of Cooperative Europe to date," concluded with the joint banquet in honor of the Finnish cooperative executives and the American tour party September 2. Several members of the party were so enthusiastic about European cooperative developments that they decided to stay over from several weeks to two years completing their surveys. All three Agri cultural Extension Economists extended their trips and a former editor of a coop erative magazine decided to devote two years to general economic study. In cluded in the party were five cooperative officers or employees, three teachers, three agricultural extension economists, three students, a statistician and a public relations counsel. 154 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION October CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 155 Finnish Cooperative Executives Visit U. S. What is perhaps the largest and most significant group of European coopera tive leaders ever to visit the United States arrived in New York City, August 28, from Finland for several weeks investi gation of Consumers and Producers Co operatives. Five executives of Coopera tive Education, Wholesale and Credit Associations representing Agricultural Cooperation in Finland make up the par ty which consists of Dr. Eemil Hynninen, General Manager of the Pellervo Socie ty, the central educational cooperative organization; E. Alajoki, Chairman of the Board of Administrators, and Hugo Va- sarla, General Manager of the S.O.K. Wholesale; T. Arola, General Manager of the Hankkija Cooperative Agricultural Wholesale; and J. W. Rangell, General Manager of the Central Bank for Co operative Agricultural Credit Societies. American cooperators who welcomed them at a dinner given at the Consumers Cooperative Services cafeteria in New York learned that over half of the popu lation of Finland are members of con sumers' cooperatives; 40% of the entire trade in Finland is done cooperatively, increasing at about 1 % per year- t\, volume of the S.O.'K. Wholesale i's ^ far the largest of any wholesale, amount ing to about $25,000,000 compared Wi£ $10,000,000 for the largest voluntary private chain and less than $5,000,000 for the largest private wholesale. There were no cooperatives included in fa 2,482 bankruptcies during the three se verest depression years of 1930-1932 Only 206 workers are unemployed in Fini land, while farm tenancy has been re duced from 60% in 1901 to 9% in 1929" The group planned to visit the Farm Credit Administration and the Depart ment of Agriculture in Washington, D. C.; cooperative feed mills at Buffalo; co operative petroleum wholesales and oil compounding plants at Minneapolis, St. Paul, North Kansas City and Indianap olis; the Central Cooperative Whole sale, Superior, Wisconsin; and grain and livestock marketing cooperatives at Chi cago and fruit marketing cooperatives in California. Concluding the trip members of the party will attend the Tenth Bien nial Congress of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. at Columbus, Ohio, October 8-9-10. Antigonish Becomes International News A whole sheaf of clippings has arrived telling of the Fourteenth Annual Rural and Industrial Conference at Antigonish, Nova Scotia, organized by the Extension Department of St. Francis Xavier Uni versity. Last year three cooperative leaders and their families from the United States attended the Conference. This year the registration listed 30 Americans and included such significant names, as Dr. Charles A. Beard, President of the American Association of Adult Educa tion, Michael Williams, editor of The Commonweal, Rev. J. M. Campbell, credit union leader, Rev. James Byrnes, executive secretary of the National Cath olic Rural Life Conference, Elmer Scott, director of the Civic Federation of Dal las, and others who were speakers on the program. The news stories of the Conference most justly pay high tribute to "Dr. James J. Tompkins, the prophet of the move ment . . . Dr. M. M. Coady, dynamic leader . . . A. B. MacDonald, powerful organizer." Opening the Conference, Bishop James Morrison declared that St. Francis Xavier University is making a" honest effort to do something for the economic, social and moral welfare or humanity." The problem and the fallacy of today was stated by Dr. Coady, "The crux of our social problems is an economic one and the fundamental fallacy is the idea of profit in the capitalistic society- . >s right to a remuneration from his (• |i0w men must be founded on the idea t service. Anything over and above pay- 0 t for that service has no foundation J! ethics or philosophy." After a visit to "the university of Re- erve Mines," as he described the pro- S am now being developed at that point, nev. James A. Byrnes paid tribute to the work he saw in these words, "The build- 'nqs aren't much, but what a man is Father J. J. Tompkins, the chancellor, president and faculty! After that ex ence I threw the s ." El that "the study clubs of Nova Scotia perience rew e speech I had pre pared in the ocean." Elmer Scott declared " mark a distinct advance over the Danish movement which has hitherto been the standard of the world." Dr. Beard cited history to prove that "democracy is de pendent historically upon a wide distribu tion of property. When property is con centrated into a few hands then democra cy dies." Michael Williams aroused the delegates by declaring that "the world is in a state of crisis at least as great if not greater than any which history records" and that "the black beast" of the im mediate future in America is Big Business Fascism and not Communism." Father J. J. Tompkins writes, "It is impossible to describe the 1936 Conference at Anti gonish. It was a sort of earthquake. Many never expect to have such an -experience until the end of the world. Your Amer icans held up their end more than success fully." If our readers may think we give an unusual amount of space to news from Antigonish, we would answer that along with Sweden where study circles origi nated, Nova Scotia has developed this program to a far greater degree than any other place in North America. Study circles are admitted by the highest educa tional authorities of the International Co operative Alliance to be the best tech nique ever discovered for the education of the present and prospective members of cooperatives. The London Times has now given world-wide publicity to this greatest of all adult education-coopera tive action programs on the North Amer ican continent in a full first page story in the Educational supplement of August 1st. It is because we desire so greatly to see this study-circle program adopted everywhere in the United States that we are publicizing the Nova Scotia program so strongly and widely. New Urban Co-ops, at Eastern Institute Urban cooperative growth in the East was reflected in both the large enroll ment and the widely scattered communi ties represented at the Eastern Coopera tive League Summer Institute at Massa chusetts State College August 2-8. Nine teen new cooperative groups and an ad ditional twenty towns from which no stu dents had ever come in previous years were included in the record student body of 133. Twenty-eight students were sent on scholarship from the well established so- «eties. Significant for the future, how- ever- were the promising leaders from as Yet undeveloped territory and the enthu siastic representatives of the young Co operative Clubs. Geographical distribu- "°n ran from Pittsburgh, Pa., to New °edford( Mass., and Schenectady, N. Y. to Wilmingtorij Delaware. mong the innovations this year was a course on Discussion Methods and Ma terial and "Talking Cooperation." Dr. Hartley W. Cross of Springfield College and Dwight S. Davis, high school princi pal of Orange, Mass., taught the courses on Cooperative and Consumer Economics. Outstanding cooperators participated in the series of evening lectures. Among them were J. P. Warbasse, President of The Cooperative League, Quentin Rey nolds, Manager, Eastern States Farmers Exchange, Merlin G. Miller, Professor of Economics, and E. R. Bowen, General Secretary of The Cooperative League. .Round tables on cooperative purchasing, credit unions, cooperative legislation and other topics tied cooperative theory di rectly to the practical problems of the group. Folk games, sports, camp fires and pic nics contributed to the enjoyment of the week's study. A similar institute at Camp 156 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 157 Newton, Hamilton, Pa., co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau reached 85 students making a total of 218 as con trasted with 24 in 1933 and 75 in 1934. An unusual tribute to Robert .Smith, Educational Director of Eastern Cooper ative League and director of the Con ference was published in the final issue of the Institute Daily Press: "We have been prevailed upon by Bob Smith to 'lay off' of him in these columns. This we have religiously done, after the warning, but since nothing more than a verbal ob jection can result (this is the last issue) we open fire. Speaking with some author- ity on work of an organizational open tribute is paid with all the tives in the vocabulary for the most C" markable piece of work that has co"*" under our observation. The fact th t everything runs so smoothly makes eve ything look easy, but be'hind the seen" are long hours of preparation, an abil^ for quick decisions, an affability which i sorely tried but never lost, an endurance which can only be the result of inspired action. Hats off to you, Bob Smith. Mav the Eastern Cooperative League enjoy your personality and services for long years to come." Consumers' Cooperatives in Action Chicago—National Cooperatives, Inc., took definite action .to set up a national office in Chicago at the meeting of the board of directors of the cooperative busi ness federation here September 2. Ivan Lanto, for years head buyer for Central Cooperative Wholesale, Superior, was selected as manager of the national office and will take over the position October 1. Los Angeles—Sir Fred Hayward and A. V. Alexander of the British Coopera tive Union addressed an enthusiastic crowd of 400 assembled at the Clifton Cafeteria August 30. "We distributed a hundred million pounds worth of goods last year through our Cooperative Wholesale Society. We have never made a millionaire. We shall never make a pau per," declared Sir Fred Hayward, Presi dent of the Cooperative Union while describing the operation of the British cooperatives. Superior.—Central Cooperative Whole sale, described in "Consumer Coopera tion in America" as The Cornerstone in the North, continued breaking records in June and July boosting total sales to $1,489,496 for the seven months period. Savings made by wholesale activities were the highest in the history of the co operative. Minneapolis— Another record month in July brought Midland Cooperative Wholesale's total sales for the first seven months of 1936 to 2,599 carloads of light oils, an increase of 23,3% over the same period last year. Sales of all commodities reached $1,661,532 which represented z gain of 35% over the first seven months of 1935. Harrisburg, Penn,—On August 5 the first poles were set for the Northwestern Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Crawford County, the first rural electric co-op in the state. After a bitter struggle with private profit utilities, plans were completed for the construction of 124 miles of line at an estimated cost of $114,- 000. Four thousand members will be served by the cooperative. Indianapolis .— The Farm Bureau Oil Company Cooperative has added to its membership the Grange League Federa tion, operating in New York and New Jersey, the Maryland Farm Bureau Fed eration and the Farmers Cooperative Ex change doing business in North Carolina. The Farm Bureau Oil Company is now serving cooperative organizations in In diana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Michigan. The Farm Bureau Oil Com pany is a member of National Coopera tives, Inc., whic'h is in turn a member of The Cooperative League. New York—Four moves in two years. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale and Eastern Cooperative League have grown so rapidly they have been forced to rent increasingly larger headquarters. *-"f present office at 112 Charlton Street with 6,000 square feet of office space is more than six times the size of the original ol- purchases for cooperative buying Ibs in addition to the regular coopera- • e business grew from $1200 in January f'Vf;4300 in June. None of these clubs was erating two years ago. The most im- °P . nt feature of the new move is that R°pW. now located in New York's hoiesale district, has acquired sufficient *ace and volume to carry on regular SPholesale activities. Instead of acting as buying agent for local cooperatives, p C W- will now carry a full stock of "Co-op" label goods. The board of directors of the Whole sale has just completed a survey of the possibilities of opening a branch whole sale office in Boston to serve New Eng land cooperatives. Acting on the results of the survey E.C.W. decided to open a Boston Branch October 1. Superior—Realizing the importance of a basic education program, the Mesabe Range Cooperative Federation hired Ed Whitney, Co-op Training School grad uate and employee of Central Coopera tive Wholesale to be the first district edu cational director in the C.C.W. area. The Northern States Cooperative Youth League will also hire a full time educa tional director to take charge of youth work. Washington, D. C.—Not to be out done by Chicago, New York and Phila delphia city cooperatives, the Washing ton Consumers Club has opened a Co operative Educational Center, started publication of a bulletin, organized a speakers' bureau, writers' bureau and or ganized five buying units (neighborhood dubs). The members of the Washington dub are buying coal, tailor-made suits, books and milk on a contract basis and are planning to open their own coopera tive gas station within the next few weeks. Tillamook, Oregon—When the private °il companies launched a price war here recently, the Farmers' Cooperative re duced the price to wholesale cost. When jne price went still lower, a sign was huD9 on the co-op pump advising the "embers to buy gas from the price-cut- ;!n9 companies. ^Needless to say, the T^ar did not last long after that. The IJarnook co-op formed only a year ago, in its membership nearly half of the 900 producers of the County Cream ery Association, which operates 18 cheese factories in northwestern Oregon. The group started business with a debt of $3,000. In nine months half of the debt has been paid off. Commodities handled are gas, oil, tires, and farm equipment. Harrisburg, Penn.— The Pennsylvania Farm Review which in the last two years has boosted its circulation from 12,000 to 42,000 under the able editorship of T. Warren Metzger, has taken another for ward step. With the September issue the publication changed its name to the Penn sylvania Co-op Review. The change is in keeping with the breadth of view the publication has consistently maintained since its inauguration. Los Angeles—The Cooperative Insti tute under the direction of the Coopera tive Wholesale Association of Southern California completed its eight dav ses sions at the Vorhis School, San Dimas, August 23. Among the instructors \vere Charles Kinear and Bruce Johnson, edu cational staff of the Wholesale, O. J. Rincrle, executive secretary of the original California Cooperative Council, Jerry Vorhis, director of the school, Rev. V. V. Gustafson and Charles Bradden. Walla Walla, Washington—Ten new cooperative associations handling gas and oil and general farm supplies have been organized in Southern Idaho since March 1. The new co-ops were organized with the support of farm membership organi zations and the advice and assistance of representatives of Pacific Supply Coop erative, wholesale cooperative association with headquarters in Walla Walla. The local cooperative associations are in Weiser, Payette, Emmett, Mountain Home, American Falls, Rupert, Burley, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Menan, Rigby, and Preston. Eighteen additional coop erative associations affiliated with Pacific Supply Cooperative were already in operation in the state. Pacific Supply Cooperative was organ ized two years ago. From 12 original members it has grown to include 65 local member associations in Oregon, Wash ington and Idaho. More than 16,000 in dividuals are members of co-ops affiliated with the organization. In spite of a bitter price war that pre- 158 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 159 vailed for a substantial part of the spring, the cooperatives' volume of business in creased 40% in gasoline and 50% in lubricating oil with corresponding gains in other lines. The co-op reported a total wholesale business of $1,370,560 in 1935. Superior — Deluged with applications for admission to the Cooperative Train ing School, the course committee was forced to select 35 out of 110 applicants for Central Cooperative Wholesale's school which opened September 28. Washington, D. C. — Of the fifty credit unions granted federal charters in August, two were organized by estab lished consumers cooperative societies in Turlock, California, and Evanston, Illi nois. Walla Walla, Washington — Pacific Supply Cooperative launched its own newspaper, The Pacific Northwest Co- operator, July 1. The appearance of The Cooperator increases the number of jour nals published by cooperative associa tions affiliated with The Cooperative League to fifteen with a total circulation well over half a million. We welcome the Cooperator to this distinguished compa ny. Indianapolis, Indiana — Judge Herbert E. Wil'kins of the County Superior Court here, sustained the action of the Secretary of State in refusing to grant articles of in corporation as a non-profit organization to the .St. Joseph County Consumers' Coop erative Association of South Bend, Indi ana. The court ruled that the association could not qualify under the state laws re lieving non-profit organizations from tax ation. Judge Wilkins in a private statement to reporters said: "If a concern like this is going to compete with private capital and private enterprise it should pay the same taxes as other corporations engaged in similar lines of business. The sole purpose of this organization is to obtain goods cheaper than can be bought from priyate concerns. This constitutes profit." The Wall Street Journal broke its studiously maintained silence on the sub ject of Consumers' Cooperation to declare in an extended editorial August 1st, "In both cooperative and corporation, owner ship and patronage have nothing to do with each other. If it be argued that stockholders in a cooperative tend patronize that association, that is merel° another version of the 'consumer gOo/ will through broad stock ownership' pr- " ciple with which many corporations •" this country, especially utilities, ^ thoroughly familiar . . . Among the prob lems which the Supreme Court, in one de" cision or a series, may have to answer ji 'When—and what—is a cooperative?'" The Indiana decision will be appealed Columbus, Ohio—Climaxing 17 years of spectacular growth the Ohio Farm Bu reau, Monday, August 31, completed the transfer of its properties at 620 and 632 East Broad Street, Columbus, for the eight-story Pure Oil Building, located in downtown Columbus. "Rapidly expanding services of the farm bureau have necessitated larger quarters for some time, and the new headquarters will allow the convenient and effective housing of all of our facili ties under one roof," said Murray D. Lin coln, executive secretary of the farm or ganization in announcing the transaction. The new farm bureau home will provide 90,000 square feet of floor space, which will allow the organization to consolidate all of its offices, including those of the Co operative Life Insurance Company of America, and those occupying rented space at 611 East Broad Street. Organized in 1919 by a small group of Ohio farmers to better their conditions through cooperative marketing, the Ohio Farm Bureau has advanced in a decade and a half to a state federation of county farm bureaus and cooperative service or ganizations serving various needs of 125,- 000 rural and urban families. Beginning operations in a one-room office, and forced to move three times thereafter by the need for more space, the organiza tion's ten affiliated service cooperatives now involve the services of more than 2400 employees, including 476 in the state office. Cooperative marketing and purchasing, centralized in the Farm Bureau Coopera tive Association, now total in annual vol ume approximately $5,000,000. Farm bu reau insurance services include auto, fir6' and life insurance protection, and serve seven neighboring states in addition to Ohio, obile The Farm Bureau Mutual Auto- Insurance Company, with assets "paling four and one-half million dollars, •°now the eighth largest mutual casualty CO) 11V»' - 1 1 J „npany in the land. Under the leadership of the Farm Bu reau Rural Electrification Cooperative, 59 counties have rural power projects or ganized, and six counties have lines under construction. The Press Boosts Consumers' Cooperation Two years a9° we began a monthly feature ailing the attention of cooperators to articles in Cf aeneral press on "Consumers' Cooperation." I lay, 1934> Cooperation (forefather of Con- owners'' Cooperation) listed two important articles, ^Consumers Organize" by Horace M. Kallen in the June 27th issue of Christian Century and "A British Bulwark Against Fascism," by Sidney El- Tot in the Nation of the same date. Contrast this list with the articles appearing today. READERS DIGEST, October, "The Masses Go in to Big Business," Bertram B. Fowler, Re printed from Scribners. NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, September 13, "The 'Co-op' Idea Takes Root," M. L. Gunzburg. COUNTERVIEWS, September, "Capitalism vs. Cooperation" a symposium of selected articles: "The Profit System Defined," Paul H. Douglas. "Cooperatives and the Age of Plenty," E. R. Bowen. "The Peril of Cooperatives," E. W. Dobson. "Merits of the Cooperative System," Worth M. Tippy. "No Cooperatives for Us," A. V. Montier. BANKING, September, "The Cooperative Re vival," Edward H. Collins. CHRISTIAN CENTURY, September 2, "Cooper ation in Norway," Paul Hutchinson. PRINTERS' INK, August 6, "That Co-op Bo gey," Kenneth Hinshaw. HARDWARE AGE, September 10, "Consumers' Cooperative Movement," Leslie G. Moeller. NEW LEADER, September 5, "Sweden— Land of Economic Democracy," E. R, Bowen. FRIENDS INTELLIGENCER, August, "The Consumers' Cooperative Movement," E. R. Bowen. PROGRESSIVE GROCER, August, "Service Abuses are Curse to Co-ops," John D. Blaine. RAILWAY CLERK, September, "Sweden's Mid dle Way," H. M. Douty. BRUCE, August, "Speaking Frankly About Con sumer Cooperatives," C. Arthur Bruce. CHRISTIAN LEADER, August 29, "Ideal Values m Cooperation," Herbert Higginbottom. «LGRIM HIGHROAD, September, "Each for All and AI1 for Each(.. Wade Crawford Barclay_ AUTOMOTIVE MERCHANDISING, August, ^onsumers' Cooperative Buying," AI H. Eich- 1AN FRONT' September, "Cooperation an,><: the first efforts to establish con- C1UC3» »• f r i i sumers' cooperatives in many or the large European cities met with failure. Early City Cooperatives . There is scarcely an American city of any size where, at one time or another, an attempt has not been made to estab lish some kind of a cooperative enter prise. Some of these have been success ful but the vast majority of them have failed. Practically all of the unsuccessful at tempts were made prior to 10 years ago when the influence of The Cooperative League commenced to be felt throughout the country and when the district Leagues started to function. The few that did succeed were those which were started by foreign-born immigrants who brought a working knowledge and under standing of the movement with them from their native lands, notably the Scandina vian and Slavic peoples. Since the va rious Leagues have been organized and started to function failures among coop eratives of every type have grown fewer and fewer until today cooperative failures are almost a thing of the past. Causes of Failure In studying and analyzing the failures of big city cooperatives in the past, we find that one of the outstanding causes of failure has been organizing stores with a membership scattered over wide ge ographical areas. This has been true Wen in comparatively small cities in many instances. The retail distribution of food m our cities is organized on the basis of We corner grocery and people are con ditioned to buying from hand to mouth, from day to day. If our cooperative stores are to meet the competition of the neighborhood grocer and the neighbor hood chain store (and this they must do if they expect to survive) they must be neighborhood stores also. Meeting this competition does not leave a sufficiently large margin to enable the cooperative to give delivery service to members who live miles from the store and the house wife will not travel these same miles to buy food when she can get it at the corner grocery. Other types of coopera tives, such as restaurants, dairies, hous ing cooperatives and all those types which can distribute their products or services on a city-wide basis have not had this difficulty and many of these have succeeded from the start. The chief cause of failure in attempting to establish cooperative stores in large cities has been the failure to recognize the necessity of having a membership resid ing in a comparatively small area. Other contributing factors have been credit trading, starting with insufficient capital or too few members and customers and last but not least, little or no educational activity. City Cooperatives Today Interest in organizing cooperatives in the large cities has never been as great as at the present time. There are in the city of Chicago and its suburbs today no less than 24 groups that are organizing or have organized cooperative business en terprises of various kinds and 22 of these have been organized within the past two or three years. They are in all stages of development from small study circles to going cooperative stores, meat markets and restaurants. What is true of Chicago is true, to a somewhat lesser degree in all the large cities in the country and especially of those in the Central States District which includes more large cities than any of the other District Leagues. We are today in contact and working with new groups in Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, Cincinnati, Columbus, St. 178 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 179 Louis, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Pontiac, Dearborn, Saginaw, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Racine, Gary and a few other cities. In the majority of these several groups have been organized. Types of Urban Organization These new groups naturally fall into two distinct methods of organization. In one the development is taking place among neighborhood groups in various parts of the city from the beginning. These groups eventually set up a loose federation for the promotion of their com mon interests. In the other the movement starts as a single citywide group with the intention of establishing a chain of neighborhood stores in one organization and under one management. We find that in those cities which have adopted the small, independent, neighbor hood group type of organization, con sumers are establishing stores much faster than in the cities where the city- wide type of organization prevails. In Chicago, where the former method is being used, six of these groups starting as buying clubs within the past three years already have stores in operation and sev eral other groups will have their stores in operation by the end of the winter. In St. Louis, and Cleveland where the city- wide type of organization is being used, and where it has been the intention to establish the first store in the chain in the neighborhood that first gets a suffi cient number of members to support a store, they have not yet been able to get the first store started, although they have been carrying on their educational and organization work longer than some of the organizations in Chicago that now have their stores in operation. Advantage of Neighborhood Co-ops We are not yet ready to say that the city-wide type of organization is a fail ure or that it may not produce better re sults in the long run. There is no doubt but that this type of organization makes for greater economy in operation as it will eliminate duplication of general ad ministrative expense, as well as effecting other economies. All that we are pre pared to say positively is that the neigh borhood independent group type of or ganization is getting cooperative stores established much faster than is the cit wide type of organization. Undoubted! the time will come when these small neighborhood units will see the of merging into one large for more economical operation, but th evidence so far is distinctly in favor of the independent unit type of organiza tion. We are beginning to feel that the in. dependent neighborhood type of organi zation has another distinct advantage in that it brings the cooperative closer to the individual members and thus promotes a greater degree of loyalty than is inspired by the city-wide type of organization. It encourages the individual member to' assume more direct responsibility for the success of the enterprise and gives him also a great opportunity for experience in controlling and directing its affairs. Building on Past Experience There are, in the Central States dis trict, at the present time, 41 new con sumers' organizations in cities of 100,000 population and over, with which the League is in direct contact. We do not expect that all of these will develop into going cooperative business enterprises. Some of them are bound to fall by the wayside. This is true especially where the leaders insist on going their own way, trying out their own pet ideas and making all the mistakes that have been made before. For the present at least, the inde pendent neighborhood units are the surest and safest method of developing city cooperatives and gets results much sooner than the city-wide type of organ ization. This has become so obvious that in at least one large city where the move ment started with a. city-wide organiza tion, a reorganization is now taking place and the group is being broken up into in dependent neighborhood groups and as a result the first store will be in operation within a few weeks. We are safe in say ing that sufficient experience has now been gained and enough information compiled so that there is little excuse for any cooperative enterprise that may be organized in our larger cities in the fu ture, being anything but a success, if the members are willing to be guided by the experience of the past. Cooperative Medicine Dr. Michael Shadid, Director, Coopérative Hospital, Elk City, Oklahoma (Edita opening ir's Note: Dr. Warbasse's address at the of the session on Cooperative Medicine .as printed in part in previous issues of Con- s' Cooperation and is now available in Jet form for 15c.) As at present organized, medical care is a costly business and none but the well- to-do can avail themselves of its benefits. A large section of the population, perhaps 20 to 25%, especially in the cities, receive their medical care on a charity basis from various clinics and hospitals. About 25% fortunately situated receive the same serv ices from the same source at a great cost while the great body of the people who are too self-respecting to accept charity, and who cannot afford the cost, get as little medical care as they can possibly get along with and that of a very inade quate sort. On one hand, stand the doc tors and specialists skilled in the art of prevention and therapeutic medicine, with X-Ray, radium and other instru ments of precision, and on the other hand stand the people with their ailments, de fects and other needs, unable to avail themselves of their services, because they are prohibitive in cost. The two are un able to get together. The outcome is an indictment, not of individuals, but of the prevailing system of organizing and pay ing for medical services. Diagnosis by Experts In the midst of this impasse, on the 29th of November, 1932, was released the report of the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care. This committee was or ganized in 1927 to do research work for a period of five years, collecting all pos- s'ble data pertaining to the practice of roedicine. This committee was given one ""»ion dollars by several foundations "n which to prosecute its research work. The chairman of the committee, u H u lbur' SecretarY of the Interior, th A oover- and formerly president of e American Medical Association. ln the words of the majority report of this committee, "many persons do not re ceive service which is adequate either in quantity or quality, and the costs of serv ices are inequitably distributed. The re sult is a tremendous amount of prevent able physical pain and mental anguish, needless deaths, economic inefficiency and social waste." The report of this committee shows that 1,100,000 persons are engaged in some phase of medical service, at a total cost of $3,647,000,000 annually for medi cal, dental and hospital care; a capital in vestment of $3,000,000,000 in hospitals alone; deaths from any one of several preventable diseases annually exceed alt the death losses sustained by the Amer ican forces in the World War. The majority report of the Committee on the Cost of Medical Care offers two- chief recommendations, "group practice," and "group payment." It recommends that doctors, dentists, and specialists or ganize themselves into group clinics, thus saving duplication overhead expense on rents, equipment, bookkeeping, and other office hire, and that people organize themselves into associations of laymen, and distribute the cost of medical care, more equitably, making a group payment, and securing the same by insurance, tax ation or both. This plan is both practical and unique and is advantageous to both the people and the profession. Under this plan, the profession is guaranteed a more equitable distribution of its income among its own members, and the cost to the people is likewise more equitably distributed among its participants. A Cooperative Hospital is Launched In the lall of 1929 I called a representa tive number of men to a meeting, and ex plained to them the benefits that would accrue if 2,000 families could be gotten together and persuaded to pay $50.00' each family as capital with which to build and equip a hospital for themselves, and to pay $25.00 a year for which they could 180 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 181 receive medical, surgical and hospital care free of charge. These men approved the idea, and we formed a temporary organization com mittee to incorporate what was then called a "Community Health Associa tion," for a sum of $100,000 which capital stock was divided into 2,000 shares of $50.00 denomination. My first thought was to do it without injury to existing vested interests in hos pitals. Forthwith, I called on three doc tors in my town who were interested in the hospitals then existing in Elk City. I laid the plans for a cooperative hospital before them, and invited them to join me in the effort with the assurance that the proposed cooperative hospital association would purchase their hospitals and build no other. The doctors rejected the idea as being unsound for they were making more money than they could under any cooperative arrangement. I therefore proceeded to organize the hospital association single-handed with no other doctor helping me. I purchased the first ten shares of stock myself and sold the first three hundred shares to my •own patients as they came into my office to see me. From that meager beginning we have grown to a family of twenty- four hundred member families represent ing something like 14,000 men, women and children. Although we built an addition to the hospital two years ago we are now build ing our second addition in order to ac commodate our growing patients. Cooperative Hospitalization From my experience I have formulated a few primary principles which I con sider essential to the success of a medical cooperative. Most of these will apply to any section in the United States. The first and most important of these principles is that a medical cooperative must be supported by a dues paying sys tem and that dividends be paid in the form of low dues and improved services. Secondly, the dues must be low and yet consistent with the best service obtain able. If the dues are not low enough they may not be paid regularly; if they are not liigh enough to command the best service possible and to employ the best talent, success is by no means certain. At the Community hospital we a dues fee of $12.00 for one $18.00 for two persons, $22.00 fOr persons, and twenty-four dollars family of four or more. These dues T * title the subscriber and his family to f "" examination, treatment, surgical Do6 tions and nursing care. In addition to dues we charge an additional one do per day when the member or a member olf ' his family is ill in bed in the hospital and also charge a fee of $8.00 for anesthetic and operating room in minor surqical cases and $18.00 in major cases. Medi eines to take home are also paid for extra If we did not charge these extra fees or trimmings as some call them we would have to have a dues of fifty dollars. We know we cannot command such dues and succeed — we therefore lower the dues and charge these extras when the patient avails himself of these services. Third, the dues, to be low, must be based on sufficient volume. Two thou sand families is the minimum number re quired to support a medical cooperative and a hospital and I do not think it ad visable to establish a medical cooperative without a -hospital. Fourth, the dues must be compulsory, and default in their payment after a gen erous period of grace should result in cancellation of membership. Every co operative in the world can succeed if its members would patronize it. But the Rochdale principles of cooperation do not provide for compelling the members to patronize their cooperative. If a cooperative enterprise fail, because of want of patronage, then the non-pat ronizing members who are the cause of the failure should be required to pay their share of the fixed overhead expense of the enterprise, in the form of dues, so as to prevent said failure. In profit business, the business man or manufacturer, pays the fixed overhead expense, whether or not, he makes expenses. In the coopera tive movement, a member may cause the failure of his enterprise by lack of pat ronage through disloyalty, and still be immune from paying his share of the fixed overhead expense. . The initial membership fees for build ing and equipping a hospital must high, although they may be paid over a period of years if necessary. The menu) . £eel that he has an investment that ^cannot afford to lose by cancellation. I this manner, he is apt to be a loyal A a permanent member of the associa- a.n f he initial membership fee should n anywhere from 50 to 100 dollars. Competent Physicians The doctors employed must be very rnpetent, otherwise a failure is likely. The member must feel that he is going to eceive for himself and family as good jjedical and surgical care as he can ob tain elsewhere. To secure the services of competent „en in the profession the association oust be willing to pay adequate salaries that will attract the type of men desired. The interest of the doctor should be identical with that of the hospital associa tion. To this end, a bonus in addition to a basic salary and a vacation each year, should be a part of the compensation. The staff doctors should have no private practice separate and apart from that of the hospital; they should be full-time men if possible, and they should be dependent on the type of work they put out to hold their positions, as judged by the members of the board of trustees and the general membership of the association. Whenever possible it is far better to employ physicians who are sold on the cooperative idea. Although the average physician is soon sold, if the idea sup ports him adequately. The staff doctors should be organized democratically and given a voice in ad ministration after serving a period of probation. It would seem imperative that some agency like The Cooperative League" should act in an advisory capacity to dif ferent associations over the country de siring to build Cooperative Medical As sociations, and to make recommendations based on a comprehensive study of local conditions. In this manner, serious pit falls may easily be avoided. Advantages to the Profession Under our set-up the doctors complete- 'y control the professional end of the work free from interference of laymen, and have as much to say about their com pensation as they do in private practice. Our compensation, as doctors, during the drouth and the depression compares favorably with the income for similar work before the depression, for we do more work than we did before the de pression. We are free from economic matters including bookkeeping, collec tions, worry, overhead expense, etc. We take a month or so off each year on pay. The interests of the doctors are one, and they cooperate whole-heartedly with each other without any thought of jeal ousy or personal advantage. We enjoy our relations professionally and socially, as never before under individual competi tive practice. Our patients come to us early, when in need of operations or hos- pitalization. We enjoy their respect and confidence, for they know that our ad vice is not tinged with personal interest, but wholly for their own good. We do more good, which after all is the chief object of the profession. The profession and the public are benefitted, and no one else is hurt. This set-up is in conformity with the recommendations of the Com mittee on the Cost of Medical Care, "group practice and group payment," and we have a letter from the executive secretary of that committee saying so. Those in control of the policies of the American Medical Association do not agree with recommendations of that Committee; but is that any reason why we should label group practice and group payment, "Unethical, communistic and revolutionary," as the editor of the American Medical Association journal opines? Do we not need a new definition of ethics? Do we not need to modify the practice of medicine to conform to the times in which we live? Must we never advance the profession in organizational and business methods as we advance in medical and surgical treatment? Hospitalization lends itself readily to cooperative effort, and is indeed more vulnerable to cooperative attack than any activity with which I am familiar. The cooperative movement should lose no time in taking it up either as an inde pendent enterprise, or as a supplement to existing cooperative associations or institutions. I feel sure it will enhance the prestige of the cooperative movement, and greatly benefit its members as con sumers. 182 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 183 Cooperative Education and Publicity James R. Moore, Editor, Ohio Farm Bureau News ' I yHE democratic structure upon which •A- cooperatives are builded demands a comprehensive educational and publicity program for their successful operation and growth. Such a program is the only ef fective basis for efficiency in democratic control and operation. A cooperative should not begin until a well-developed nucleus of prospective members has studied and become well informed rela tive to the basic cooperative principles. If the membership is to be enlarged and the scope of activities broadened, con tinual education and publicity must be regarded as the main factor in the growth of the institution. The members of a co operative must know the demands of of fices to be filled in order to select com petent officers for them. They must know the workings of the organization in order to weigh opinions, supply suggestions and recommendations for progress. They must know the facts about operations in order to be able to propose policies for further progress; to understand and ap preciate the significance of cooperative principles; and to vote intelligently on all proposed actions. Education for Cooperative Growth A comprehensive educational program for the cooperative movement has been developed in several European countries for which credit is given for the wide spread activities among the consumers. Likewise educational programs of the cooperatives in America are leading the way and opening up new territory. There are local, state and regional cooperatives in this country which have very efficient educational departments and are doing good work. Although there is a similarity in their educational programs, there is little coordination among them, and it seems to me that a lack of combined ef forts along this line creates an unfortu nate situation. However, the educational committee of The League has been dis cussing ways and means for national co ordination and it seems very probable that some good results may be obtain A in the near future. Let me give a few observations in co nection with our activities here in Ohi" during the past year or two. We find {W we must not build cooperatives fast? than we create cooperators. All groups expecting to serve themselves through a machinery of distribution owned or con trolled by themselves should first thor oughly study the basic principles of the movement of which they are desirous of becoming a part. Books and Libraries There are available several textbooks for individual use and considerable qen- eral comprehensive reading material. The increasing demand for such books is evi dence of the widespread interest in the movement. Books on the history and prin ciples of cooperation are forming^ the basis of cooperative education in numer ous new fields of operation. Cooperative libraries are playing an important part in the educational pro gram. They should play a larger part. Books on true cooperation are not gen erally found in the average library. Libra ry trustees should be contacted and in terested in securing some good authorita tive books for their reading rooms. They should be encouraged to subscribe for co operative papers and magazines. Colleges and Public Schools Some few colleges of the country have established more or less adequate courses in consumer cooperation. Other colleges should be constantly encouraged to in clude such courses. They can have a very influential bearing on the further devd- opment of this new economic order. Pub lic schools are being urged to include courses. Wisconsin is the first state to make the study of consumer cooperatives mandatory. It is hoped that other state» will follow in her footsteps. It is up to our own people to promote the idea in their respective states. Discussion Circles Discussion groups provide a most ef fective technique for thorough study. They create informality and encourage all persons to participate, they lead to frankness, and final agreement because of complete purging of misinformation, misunderstanding, and false opinions. These discussion groups allow the great est amount of democracy in expression and contribute to final decision and ac tion. It is inspiring to note that many young people are re-thinking the social and eco nomic order in which they find them selves. Many of them upon graduation from high schools and colleges are with out gainful employment. Today youth is literally almost disinherited economically and therefore culturally. We must in clude them in every step of the way as we advance the torch of collective action. A true cooperative educational program must include a definite orogram for youth, a program which will in turn stir up adults to the need of cooperative en deavor. Cooperative Camps We find that five-day cooperative youth camps are destined to give youth a genuine baptism of the ideals and phi losophy of cooperation. Discussions in such camps are giving students a basis for understanding the history and devel opment - of cooperation, the economic reasons for cooperation, how to organize cooperatives, and how to enrich the cul tural and social aspects of community life through cooperative types of recreation. Leaders, in addition to youth, should have opportunity for special training in cooperative camps. General, historical, philosophical, and economic phases of co operation should be discussed during such occasions. The duties and responsibilities of each particular group should be con sidered equally significant when the pro gram is planned. Special cooperative groups having opportunity for camp fel lowship and experience should include presidents, and secretaries, managers, employees and publicity and educational directors. Cooperative Recreation A creative recreation program is a oasis for effective education. Cooperative play leads to an open mind and coopera tive thinking. It leads to an appreciation of mutual interests. It trains in technique for cooperative action. Recreation organizes people. On the recreation floor a crowd of strangers be comes a group of friends whose activities become coordinated in the game. More and more our educational directors and committees are finding that recreation unites individuals into groups which car ry over into their work the unity of spirit generated in play. Recreation democratizes a people. De mocracy can survive only where general participation is prevalent. Cooperative recreation affords opoortunity for active play on the part of all. Recreation educates a people. We should no longer look upon recreation as a means of keeping youth out of mischief, or merely a device for drawing crowds. Under proper leadership recreation may be a most potent educational and cultural force. We have had occasion to use various forms of recreation in cooperative camps and at various county meetings. We are convinced that we have scarcely touched the social energy which may be released through cooperative play. Mass Education through Publicity Publicity in its many forms is the prin cipal medium of mass education. It is the medium through which interest may be created among great numbers of people. It paves the way for expansion by at tracting attention to a new and better or der of life. Magazines, newspapers, and radio are great molders of opinion. At the oresent time, the amount of publicity being given the cooperative movement by the press is amazing and no doubt it is playing a very prominent part in the ex pansion of cooperative activities of the immediate future. The published facts of the present ex pansion of cooperative thought and ac tivities in the United States are creating new advocates in untold numbers. How ever, these advocates are not cooperators, just because they become enthused over stories of success. The most eager, of course, seek further enlightenment on the movement, and thousands are being sup plied with more intensive educational ma- 184 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION •December 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 185 terial. Thus, new converts are forming study groups or joining established coop eratives or making provisions to establish new ones. Publicity of the movement through newspapers, magazines, radio, motion pictures, and public meetings are early steps in the "selling process" for conver sion of people to the cooperative move ment. It attracts, creates interest, con vinces, converts, and gets action. Publicity and advertising make up one of this country's greatest industries. They are generally accepted as a neces sary function among an enlightened peo ple. Practically the entire population of the United States can be reached through them. Therefore, they provide one of our best mediums through which to reach the masses relative to cooperation. As economic cooperation is but little instinc tive and largely intellectual, it is evident that a large amount of publicity from an educational standpoint is a fundamental and basic part of our activities. Cooperation and Advertising Advertising should come in for a good part of our mass educational program. It is a strong factor in promoting ideas and in stimulating cooperative distribu tion. European cooperatives are soend- ing large sums for advertising purposes. I understand that the Scottish coopera tives are spending $90,000 for outside advertising this year. In our own coun try, the Maynard Cooperative Society, Maynard, Mass., is spending more for local advertising than any other business firm in that city. Advertising comprises two major fac tors — (1) ideas (or information) and (2) attractive (catchy) presentation. There is nothing wrong—morally, ethi cally, or any other way with the distinc tive display of words and pictures—if the contents are truthful. The objection to much advertising today is not—or should not be—that it is advertising, but that it is dishonest and false theory, misinforma tion, anti-social in its aims, and even malicious in some instances. Truth in advertising should be the motto of a cooperative rather than a scanty advertising budget. A comprehensive publicity program will include periodic news releases to all newspapers in the territory and to press associations and feature stories and ar ticles for intellectual and cooperative journals. Motion picture reels of coop erative facilities and activities—local, na tional and international, and an increas ing use of radio must be adopted as part of our technique. We must put our "show windows" where the people look for them. In addition to all this, every organization's own monthly, semi-month ly, or weekly publication will forever prove to be an effective and valuable boon to the continuous moulding of group morale, the supply of constant local pub licity, and inspiration and encouragement to cooperative action. Tenth Biennial Congress of Columbus, Obi". Education through a program of pub- tinually executed if the cooperative licity, cooperative literature, cooperative movement, based on the soundest and recreation, and cooperative study and most ethical of all principles—Democracy discussion, must be well planned and con- —is to .march onward and upward. Cooperative Management H. V. Nurmi, General Manager, Central Cooperative Wliolesale GENERALLY speaking any form of Cooperative Management involves team work. The requirements and duties of a Co operative Manager may be divided into three classifications: knowledge of co operation, business ability and character. Thorough knowledge of Cooperation is the basic requirement and must receive first consideration. The Cooperative manager should be familiar with the his tory, ^principles and aims of the Coopera tive Movement, as well as the general Labor Movement. A thorough knowledge of the present system of society is very essential in that respect. Important, also, is the necessity of raising the moral, cul tural and economic standards of labor. Personal Qualifications of a Manager The Cooperative manager should have as broad an education as possible. He should have an extensive knowledge of merchandise and should know how to buy and sell goods. In addition to mer chandising experience he must possess executive ability, initiative and skill in organization. A person who lacks these qualifications will not make a good man ager. A few other things which are ex pected of a manager are honesty, punc tuality, good judgment, carefulness, courage, decisiveness, thoroughness, sin cerity, tact, patience and self-confidence. A manager must be cautious in making decisions; prompt and efficient in his work. He must take orders from the Board of Directors, but the Board should not dictate or interfere outside of the reg ular meetings. He should not be of a dom ineering nature, although he must have backbone. Tactfulness at all times is re quired in everything he does. One thing which must be remembered is the fact that in the case of sickness or death someone must be trained and in a position to fill the vacancy. Failure to train a successor will jeopardize the en tire program. A very desirable qualification is the possession of an optimistic frame of mind for optimism is contagious. Another de sirable characteristic is a friendly attitude '.' il* :: ' -v^ -v.* ,-V* .:" *•-.:'? i ' • . ' -' '^ ..>; "-•A : '«v';.* |-, •i''-'-V%:^^ .••« -*' '". v ' .'Wv- ,i ^ . '•-' i' r --tive League of the U.S.A. ^ ' and 10, 1936 186 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION December 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 187 which will demand the respect of those who work under him. The cooperative manager should listen to the suggestions and complaints of his fellow workers. He must remember that he is also an em ployee, but with added responsibility. When his fellow employees learn to analyze his motives and problems and to present their own innermost thoughts a valuable understanding will spring up. In this respect the study of human nature is of immense value to a cooperative man ager. The Manager's Job It is the manager's duty to coordinate the actions of the department heads and other employees. Should the manager fail, confusion will reduce the efficiency of the entire force of employees. In speaking of production managers, we feel that the most successful produc tion manager is the one who knows all the duties and requirements of his par ticular position. He does not necessarily need to supervise every detail in the sys tem of production but he must know the manufacturing methods to be applied. History teaches us that when a system of Government is created it develops, changes, expands and contracts. The functions of the manager will change with the economic developments and, there fore, the cooperative manager is required to follow economic and political events. His important position should compel him to be interested in those striving young men who need his attention and guidance for there will be great opportunities in the field of cooperative management. We are now establishing training schools and have courses which will bring startling progress in the near future. The Manager and the Board One question which will enter the realm of a manager with the advice and counsel of his board is the development of a satisfactory wage scale for coopera tive employees. We are demanding a great deal' more from our help than is necessary in private business. It will re quire a great deal of time and study on the part of the managers to make a final decision as to the proper wage scale. Un til that is accomplished we will be re tarded in our Cooperative expansion. These remarks have pertained more or less to the cooperative manager and the demands we may set upon him. In addi tion, we have a series of problems we as Boards of Directors and members must face. Probably the most important of these is the question of training employ, ees. This is so important I cannot refrain from mentioning it again. You should have a definite policy as to how to train employees whether it be through vaca tion training schools, cooperative training camps or local cooperative courses. All of these cooperative training schools will aid the on-coming cooperative manager to solve his problems. DISCUSSION Quentin Reynolds, General Manager, Eastern States Farmers Exchange SO brief a time can be devoted to a dis cussion of the subject so admirably introduced by Mr. Nurmi that as discus sion leader I suggest that we try to con fine ourselves to the discussion of prin ciples, a few of which I shall briefly state. Division of Responsibility Many pitfalls can be avoided and much progress can be made if the line is clean cut between the responsibilities of direc tors and of management. The directors are responsible to the members for the policies and for their effective administra tion. The management is responsible to the directors for the administration of policies. Management, of course, can and should suggest new policies and the revi sion of existing policies from its day to day experience in serving members, but these do not become policies until the directors accept them, and if the direc tors reject or modify them, that is their right. This important distinction is most easi ly maintained when the directors elected by the members to serve'as their trustees refrain from becoming part of the paid staff, part of the management. When a director sitting as a trustee on matters of policy will directly or indirectly affect his position as a salaried employee, he cannot give the membership the benefit of his best judgment. He should keep in the position of the members he reoresents, so that the decision he makes will affect him as they affect them. Had this position ot ust been properly maintained in our j erjcan banks and corporations, most f the evils which are threatening the elfare of the institutions, their employ- es their stockholders and those they serve would have been avoided. The Service Motive In this connection, it goes without say- •nq that in cooperation directors and management should guard against the introduction of the evils of nepotism. That means that in the larger associations where the members find it impossible to keep in close touch with the service, nepotism should not exist in any form. And no true cooperative employee will ever have to be told by his superior that buying through agencies which ' will ad vance his interests or the interests of those near him is not tolerated. Of course, it was to avoid such evils and fully pro tect the interest of consumers that we went into cooperation. To keep the serv ice motive uppermost, it is essential in co operative purchasing that responsible em ployees, at least, and if possible all em ployees, be paid straight salaries rather than a sum varying with volume. In a service agency, volume is never a full measure of efficient work, but remunera tion based on volume places emphasis on getting volume. Personnel The selection of personnel is most im portant, all important, for the success of the cooperative depends on the way the employees go at their job. You do not want "yes" men and women. You want men and women with ideas. You want only those who can give and take sug gestions. You must have those who, how ever earnestly they believe in their sug gestions, have the capacity to make the program finally adopted as the organiza tion program, their program. You want stars, but the stars that know how to play on. with and for the team. Finally, let's get rid of the absurd mo tion that any individual is responsible for any cooperative league or association. No one can believe in cooperation and hold such a notion. Yet many a cooperative is going temporarily under leadership it has built on that fallacy. The leader true to the cooperative ideal loses himself in helping cooperation to establish itself in the strength of the group of individuals who compose it. The supremacy sought is the supremacy of individuals through cooperative service. Consumers' Cooperation in Finland Hugo Vasarla, General Manager, S.O.K. Cooperative Wholesale Society, Finland (Editor's Note: Because Mr. Vasarla was forced to terminate his visit to the United States earlier than he expected his message was read by Mr. George E. Ervast, American representative of S.O.K.) TnE cooperative movement in Finland A is about 35 years old. During this time it has succeeded in attaining an im portant position in the economic life of the country. The agricultural cooperation comprises about 60% of the entire popu lation of Finland as members and sup- Porters, while the cooperative stores tak ing care of the distribution of commodi- I£s for consumption have a membership equal to about 50% of the population of tt]e country. It may be said without ex aggeration, that the Finnish people can "o longer get along without the coopera tive movement, whether in respect to dis tribution or consumption of goods. The cooperative consumption move ment in Finland is centralized in two large groups, the S.OJK. (Suomen Osuus- kauppojen Keskuskunta) to which belong the rural population and the urban middle class, and the O.T.K. (Osuustukkukaup- pa) whose members are chiefly drawn from the laboring class. Both these groups have been operating with remark able success and have been able to offer their members considerable advantages. In the course of the years they have suc ceeded in saving, out of their annual surpluses, such large funds of their own that they have become independent of outside creditors. Thanks to these funds of their own, they 'have also been able to erect fully modern office buildings for 188 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 189 themselves and to establish many large factories and thus to influence the in dustrial production. Finland's Biggest Business I wish, however, to illustrate here with a few figures, the importance of the co operative trading in Finland. The coun try's domestic wholesale trade is divided into three groups, whose sales represent the following percentages: Cooperative Wholesale Societies, 40% of the total sales of the domestic whole sale traders. Wholesale Federations of Village Traders, 20%. Private Whole sale Firms, 40%. At present, the Cooperative Whole sale Societies are the biggest wholesale units in Finland. The turnover of S.O.K. was last year 24 million dollars, and that of OTK slightly over 17 million dollars, thus averaging 21 million dollars. The biggest village traders federation had a turnover of about 10 million dollars, and the average in this group was a little more than 5 million dollars. The biggest private wholesale firm had a turnover of 4.l/2 million dollars, and the average for the group was only 555,000 dollars. Year by year, and by about 1 % per year, the cooperative wholesale trade has been gaining ground from the private trade. This is quite a natural develop ment in view of the fact that the operat ing costs of the cooperative wholesale so cieties have been only 3.9% as compared with those of the private firms which have amounted to 6.8%. The operating costs of the Wholesale Federations of Village Traders have been 4.1%, but it is to be remembered that this group is representing cooperation between prjv traders. e Efficiency Plus Ethics The gross margin, that is to say, tj. gross profit on retail sales in the Coôpe C ative Societies affiliated with S.O.K. aver~ aged last year only 8.3%. The corres" ponding figure for the O.T.K. Societies was 12.5%, which is also very low, \vhen regard is paid to the fact that these So cieties are, to a great extent, working in urban districts where expenses are hiqh- er. The low gross margin is partly due to rationalization, partly to the active price policy, which means that the Socie ties are selling, according to their lower expenses, below market prices in order to increase sales. The low margin is, how ever, in itself an incentive to rationaliza tion, and not only for the societies them selves but for the whole trade of the country. The work already done by Coopera tion for the rationalization of the eco nomic life in Finland is certainly very extensive. It has resulted in a complete structural change in the organization of trade, and a cutting down of cooperative costs. To this it may also be added that the Cooperative Movement, while ob serving the spirit and letter of the existing law, has formulated its own principles of working and trading, and has developed for its own wholesale and retail trade a suitable, sound and impartial trading code, while considering the interests of the buying public, and, simultaneously, has purposefully developed the trading code in this country and raised the stand ard of business morals. The Place of the Credit Union Roy F. Bergengren, Executive Secretary, Credit Union National Association THERE is no single circumstance in our economic life so completely, so radi cally un-American as the denial of legiti mate credit resources to the masses of the people, nothing so wrongly used, so unpa triotic as higher price differentials to Stretching the Consumer's Dollar If we do nothing else through credit union operation than to increase mass f • *• „ r^ViviOUS buyinq power by eliminating ODIOUS so ^ »g £ wagte ^ ^ worker's dollar we will have performed a service. But we shall do more, for while it ___ _ „,a~~ r—— ——— -- —— -- , those of the people who have the smallest been said that money is the root of evil, it is the abuse of money which is money resources. •i tViino. When we have our own oVll U " r i r. i t ney, what we earn in factory and field, "T last' under our own control and we ? ve learned its power to serve the asses of the people in America, then and m t until then, will we indeed be free. The House of Cooperation In the average dwelling are many corns and each room has its particular use, the rooms together constituting a use ful whole adapted to all the needs of the family- The house has a common roof. It •s built on a foundation which should be strong enough to carry the whole struc ture. If a modern house, it has a central heating plant which serves all the rooms: it doubtless gets the service of city water, of gas and electricity from outside the house, which services are general in char acter and are utilized by other houses as well. The cooperative movement has a com mon roof, the principle of cooperation which protects all parts of the movement --all of the rooms in the house •— from economic imperfections which would, if permitted within the cooperative move ment, make all the rooms untenantable. It is built on an extraordinary foundation, a new conception in our economic life, that the rank and file of the people can manage their own affairs efficiently if they are sufficiently instructed in cooper ative technique and are willing to make the effort necessary to put that technique into effective operation. The Role of Government Sheltered by the cooperative principle, with a solid foundation in cooperative technique and a new faith in the average man, the cooperative movement depends on central services. One of these is gov ernment; we want the government and government is—or should be— all of us working out public affairs in the common good (note that I say should be, too often it isn't) to give us the laws we need for our orderly development and then to Pretty much leave us alone so long as we gerate in faithful conformity with those laws. And there is nothing illogical or un- Patriotic in pointing out that it is not the junction of government to prefer in its aw making one economic philosophy as against another. It is true that we have been and are economically organized on, the basis of capitalism as against the prin ciple of cooperation'—but there is nothing in the Constitution which differentiates between the two systems. They should be honestly competing systems and in the long run the system which is best adapted to our American conceptions should (and doubtless will) prevail. But there is, meantime, no sense in the attitude of those who assume that capitalism is syn onymous with Americanism and there is no basic reason why our legislators should not extend to the cooperative house what should be this common serv ice of adequate laws for the proper gov ernment of cooperative economic associa tion. Democracy vs. Dictatorship Cooperation is opposed to dictatorship —whether it take the form of communism or fascism. We have everything to lose from any breaking away from our Amer ican basic conceptions. This common pur pose to resist both the dictatorship which might come from the mob and the dicta torship which might find its origin in highly organized wealth, seeking to main tain a system however outmoded which made great accumulations of wealth pos sible at whatever cost to our basic con ceptions of democracy. This common pur pose is the heating system in our cooper ative house. It must warm us through and through with a sense of our common interest against any form of dictatorship '—for, I repeat, dictatorship means the end of cooperative effort. That has been true in both Germany and Italy; in Russia the first effort of the Communistic dicta torship was to destroy cooperation. It is of first interest to cooperators in the United States that there be no form of dictatorship in our country. That may be a subject on which we must one day unite for political action. Cooperative Neighbors and Peace The house is in a neighborhood. All the world today is a neighborhood. That is something which is so hard to understand and which, if understood, would make so much difference in our thinking. We in the United States, for example, believe, most of us, that we can remain out of the 190 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 191 next World War which is scheduled to begin within two years. How very fool ish! The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a guarantor of our security or a warranty that we can mind our own business when the whole world is embroiled in war. Further we have not had the courage or the good sense to take the profit out of war munitions and so long as it is profit able for anyone to make war—there will be wars. Will cooperators find the open road to international security'—to this World of Good Neighbors about which the Presi dent speaks so intelligently? Have we as cooperators in the United States—no matter in what phase of the cooperative movement we may be interested — have we no common obligation to the cooper ators of the world that we should do some intelligent thing to protect what of civili zation the ages have produced by pre venting it from complete collapse? The Credit Union Room Returning from this grave considera tion (and we must bear in mind that co operation has everything to lose and nothing to gain from another World War) let us think of the rooms in the co operative house, for it is one of these rooms which is used by that part of the cooperative set up which has to do with banking, a room for the credit union. A credit union is nothing more or less than a cooperative bank. It is organized within a specific group of people, operates on the one-man one-vote rule, does busi ness exclusively with members of the group, brings to them the credit side of banking, dividing whatever it earns among the members as dividends on their savings in the credit union. There are nearly 5,300 credit unions in the United States. They operate under forty-one State and a Federal law. It is possible therefore to organize credit un ions anywhere the American flag flies. They are increasing (except in the summer months) at the rate of from 150 to 200 a month; the membership is well over a mil lion and increases better than 8,000 a week. They operate in great variety of situations^—in factories, mills, stores, in church parish groups, in small communi ties, within both urban and rural areas- there are credit unions of white men and of black men, of all men and all in open shops and labor unions. It js ti°' fact of the spread of credit unions whi ik makes it necessary for us to concentrât our effort on the room in the coopérât»6 house which has been assigned to us. £ Just as we would not the less classify a member of a consumer cooperative as cooperator because he neither belonqed to nor believed in the credit union I believe that in this world, as at present so, by the same token, we do not exclude from the great family of cooperators those of our number who are at present interested only in cooperative credit. Evolving Toward Economic Democracy We live in a world which is changing rapidly. I think it was Lincoln Steft'ens who said that "revolution is a disorderly interruption of the evolutionary process." Evolution given time enough will give us a better and a better world. As I have said many times we need to apply to our economic thinking the same process that we apply to our thinking about automo tive transportation or medicine or sur gery. Many a man who can hardly wait to swap in his 1936 car to get the 1937 model simply to have a few new gadgets wants all political thinking to stop with the Farewell Address which Hamilton and Jay prepared for Washington. If we could think about economics as we think about, let us say, the unremitting forward march against tuberculosis, infantile pa ralysis and all other forms of disease which bedevil the human race, we would know that the economic system is going to be perfected. So let us not be too hasty in our dif ferentiation between those who are co- operators and those who are not. Our million in the credit union'— every one of them'— are consciously or subconsciously cooperators. Nor do I agree with those who are fearful that the cooperative movement cannot progress in America without immediate amalgamation of all phases of the cooperative movement without pulling down all the partitions and making one great room of the house. Cooperation or Chaos I do not mean by all this that we are not interested in other phases of the co operative effort. We most certainly are. tituted, the contest is between forms ^"dictatorship in all human affairs on the hand, Communism, Fascism and the ,°£e On thé one side, and democracy on the ther I believe that the cooperators in the °, rid have the best present sense of how V 'world should be run; that the race ' y well be between cooperation on the one hand and chaos on the other and, in this race, the cooperative movement can depend on the strong right arm of coop erative credit of an increasing develop ment of men and women in their capacity to manage their own money, to do it co operatively and to prove day by day in the process the value of the cooperative principle. Cooperation and Public Ownership Carl D. Thompson, Director, Public Ownership League of America (Editor's Note: In the absence of Dr. Thomp- on Dr. Robert M. Hunter, Ohio State University, Resented the paper on Public Ownership, which he introduced with the following personal state- "In addition to being Secretary of the Law School at Ohio State University I am Secretary- Treasurer of the Public Ownership League of Ohio, and an officer of the Columbus Consumers' Cooperative. For ten years I have taught the sub- I ject of public utilities and my interest in both pub- lie ownership and cooperation has come from my teaching of that subject. I have come to realize more and more that the cooperative and public ownership movements have in common the theory of direct action, and the theory that it is impos sible to allow greed to become entrenched and then try to regulate the situation by political action. There are two things which cooperation and pub lic ownership have in common: Each stands for direct action and each recognizes that capital as such should not be the sole participant in the good things of life. The publicly-owned utilities, as well as the cooperative enterprises, make it possible for those who use the service to benefit, rather than those small groups who own the capital that caused the enterprise to come into existence." A S I see it, there are roughly speaking, •* * three types of ownership: private, cooperative and public. Private owner ship is, of course, the type with which we are all most immediately concerned and the real objective of all forms of owner ship and struggle. Private ownership is the type of property ownership that gives us what we need and use personally'—, food, clothing, shelter, homes—the neces sities and comforts of life — recreation, education, culture—music, art, travel- the things that make life worth living— the things that we can use and enjoy and thus make our own—these are what we have in mind when we think of private property. ,These we all want. And the more abundantly all can have them, the richer, °e«er and happier all life will be. Private Ownership And so, in the last analysis, private property is the most vital and, indeed, the objective of all economic struggle and of all other forms of ownership. For that reason, as I see it, what we want is the largest amount of private property, the, widest possible range of private owner ship. But it is quite obvious that there are limits to private property beyond which it cannot be allowed to go without en croaching upon and limiting the private property of others. From the beginning of human history, greed and selfishness have striven to extend their ownership and control over property until they have exploited, plundered and enslaved great masses of the people. It is perfectly ob vious that if there is to be any private property for the masses of mankind, there must be some limits beyond which humait greed and selfishness may not extend their private ownership and control. Hence have arisen thru the long struggles of the people two other forms of ownership and control—cooperative and public. The purpose of both is the same—to protect the common people from exploita tion thru excessive prices and to secure for all a fairer share in the wealth and privilege, the comforts and conveniences of modern life which are the products of the activities, the soil, the services, and. achievements of all. Cooperative Ownership As I see it, there is a very large field' in which cooperation can and does func tion as the best and most effective means of limiting excessive profits, and exploita- 192 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION De, CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 193 tion. It has many advantages that are dear to every one who prizes personal liberty and individual initiative. It is voluntary and thus avoids the compulsion of government. It is educational. It is an experience and training in business and executive management and in democracy. I shall not attempt to mention all the ad vantages. They are well known to all cooperators. Because of these peculiar advantages of cooperation and others, it is, in my judgment, extremely important that co operative ownership and operation should be developed as widely as possible. Just how far and to what extent such coopera tive ownership and operation may finally be developed may not be definitely de termined as yet; but it is evident that the field is very large and expanding. Some hold that no other form of owner ship and operation is needed. And we have seen that final picture of an eco nomic and social order presented as a Cooperative Commonwealth. This much, at least, is clear^-there is a very wide and expanding field in which cooperation and cooperative ownership and control function very efficiently to limit exploita tion and to establish a greater -degree of economic justice. Public Ownership And, finally, there is a -third type of ownership, long advocated and widely in use thruout the world^-and that is public ownership. It has a myriad of forms and has grown steadily, especially in the last few generations. Schools and roads, postal service and fire departments, waterworks and libraries, parks and electric light and power plants—-all these and many other utilities and services have come more and more to be publicly owned and operated. There are nearly ten thousand cities in the United States that own and operate publicly their waterworks systems; near ly two thousand their light and power plants. Sometimes it seems that only thru such general public and governmental ac tion can we break the grip of private monopoly and restrain its rampant greed. At any rate, public ownership is here. It is one of the characteristic and out standing features of the American eco nomic and industrial order. And it affords another avenue over which we can nro ceed to a greater degree of economic justice. Relation of Cooperative to Public Ownership Between these two forms of ownershi and control, it seems to me, there need b no conflict or friction. The coordination and cooperation of these two lines of at tack upon the injustices of a competitive and monopolistic system will greatly strengthen both movements and hasten the coming of the day of both a coopera tive commonwealth and a fraternal state of genuine democracy. In this connection, the wonderful prog ress of both cooperation and public ownership in such countries as Sweden and their coordination and practical sup port, the one of the other, in an in creasingly democratic state are most en couraging. And here in our own country, the fine leadership and broad vision of such men as Mr. Bowen, the Secretary of your national Cooperative League, to gether with the friendly attitude of the departments of the federal government and our American municipalities, offers us a magnificent opportunity for coopera tion and coordinated efforts that will greatly accelerate our rate of economic and social progress towards our common goal. It is our sincere desire, in which I be lieve the Public Ownership League of America will join, that we may work more closely in cooperation with you of The Cooperative League. And we shall be glad to know of any occasion or any line of effort in which we can be helpful to you. In turn, we shall greatly appre ciate your help and cooperation on the Public Ownership front wherever we are engaged. Our Common Goal We have a common goal^-a common purpose; and though our methods may be somewhat different, there is no reason for conflict or lack of cooperation. Your success or failure will be our success or failure; and our success or failure will l>e yours. Let us therefore strive to unite and co ordinate our efforts with all the good forces making for human betterment throughout the world. Labor's Interest in Consumers' Cooperation William Green, President, American Federation of Labor /Editor's Note: John F. McNamee, editor of the fherbood ol Locomotive Firemen and Engine- 's Magazi"16 read President Green's message to the Congress.) LABOR'S interest in consumers' coop eration dates from the early days of the cooperative movement. With our first understanding of this new way of or ganizing as consumers, to save the mid dleman's profit and assure honest value in the goods we bought with hard won union wages, we grasped the idea with enthusiam. In the miners' unions through out Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, scores of cooperative stores were opened and a strong movement built up under trade union leadership. In the South and else where union executives threw themselves whole-heartedly into this effort for co operative buying and spread the idea with a zeal which paralleled their union activi ties. Twin Remedies In 1917 this interest was reflected in the convention of the American Federa tion of Labor, which declared: "We believe that the American Federation of Labor should assist in establishing, build ing up and strengthening in every way pos sible a legitimate organization of bona fide workers in our country and Canada as part of the great world's cooperative movement; so that after the trade union movement 'has se cured for the workers the wages that they are entitled to for the labor they perform, they may be assured in spending those wages that they will get for them their full value. "We hold that it is just as essential that a workingman should get ten dollars' worth of actual value for his wages when he spends them as it is that -he should get the ten dollars that he is entitled to for the labor that he per forms. The cooperative movement is the organiza tion that is designed to protect the workers in their relations with the merchants and the business men in the same sense that the trade union movement protects them from the em ployers. The two movements are twin reme dies." ,. Most of our efforts, however, met with little permanent success. Cooperative s'ores were short lived and after a few years hundreds of them failed and went out of business. This has been true throughout the early history of the co operative movement in America. Today rapid growth in the last few years has brought the movement again to the fore. With 2,000,000 workers and farmers already members of cooperatives, it is assuming new significance. Labor is fully aware of the great benefit con sumers' cooperation can be to the work ing people of America, but as we look ahead to the future we would sound a note of caution. If the movement is to succeed, we need to study our ' failures and our successes and benefit by past ex- • perience. There have been many success es, such as the cooperative store started by the miners at Dillonvale, Ohio, which has made substantial savings and has served the community for more than 25 years. Records can be had for a number of such ventures which would be well worth careful study. Three Foundations of Success I would point out • three foundation stones on which I believe the cooperative movement must be built in this country if it is to succeed: Sound business man agement, education, and close alliance with the trade union movement. In a country where cooperatives will have to compete with chain stores under highly paid management, placing great emphasis on efficiency and shrewd busi ness dealing, capable and experienced business leadership is of the utmost im portance. The second foundation stone, educa tion of cooperative members, is also of the greatest importance. Before they even consider opening a store, cooperators should make careful study of the Roch dale principles and of the business prob lems they are likely to meet. Such study should teach the history of the cooperative movement, both here and in the countries where it already has long experience in wholesaling and manu facture as well as retail trade. It should 194 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 195 show the full significance of the move ment, so that -cooperators will realize their part in it and their interest will not end with the getting of dollars and cents in profits. Education should seek to build up community spirit through the cooperative so that it will become a true community movement. Labor and Cooperation Thirdly, close alliance with the trade union is essential for full-rounded eco nomic growth. There is real danger in the United States, where powerful interests are constantly seeking to keep wages at the lowest possible level, that coopera tives may become merely the means of helping low-paid workers to exist on a mere pittance. Wage standards must be buttressed by strong trade union organi zation if cooperators are to have income to spend in their stores. Our convention of 1917 made a basic point when it stated that the trade union and the cooperative are "twin remedies." They must go hand in hand. Living standards must be raised both by wage increases and by the say ings of consumer cooperation. In countries where consumers' coopéra tion has been most successful it has been closely allied with the trade union, and this alliance is equally essential in Amer- ica. In a cooperative economy, the farmer needs his producers' cooperatives to pro, tect his prices and handle his marketing problems; the worker needs his trade union to protect and raise wage stand ards; both need the consumers' coopera tive. The cooperative movement can do much to build up its alliance with Labor by insisting that the goods sold in coop eratives are manufactured under fair la bor standards, by demanding the union label, by encouraging employees of co operatives to organize in unions. The American Federation of Labor is ready to work with any constructive movement for consumers' cooperation. We realize what cooperation can mean to wage earners and are anxious to see a strong and lasting movement built up in this country. Farm Cooperatives Robin Hood, Secretary-Treasurer, National Cooperative Council THE cooperative business organiza tions erected by farmers in the United States are substantial enterprises which have been accorded wide-spread respect as accepted institutions in the na tional economy. Today at least 20% of all the products produced on American farms are sent to market by the coopera tive way. At least 12 per cent of all the production supplies used on American farms are purchased through coopera tives. These farmers' cooperative organiza tions are joined together in various feder ations for their common good, finally making up the National Cooperative Council. In it are associated more than four thousand separate cooperative asso ciations which last year handled more than a billion dollars worth of business for more than one and one-half million members. Before I go further may I emphasize that consumer cooperatives and farm co operatives should be able to maintain a very neighborly spirit. American agricul ture cannot thrive without consumers tc feed and clothe; and I dare say con sumers would find life somewhat difficult without farmers to produce certain neces sities. Our farm cooperatives adhere to the Rochdale principles of open membership, democratic control, patronage dividends, and limited interest on capital, with which consumer cooperatives have rea son to be well acquainted. The Farmer as a Manufacturer The farmer is a manufacturer in more than a mere figurative sense. He operates a farm factory. He purchases raw ma terials, equipment, and supplies in whole sale quantities. In his farm factory he compounds these raw materials with soil, sunshine, and water by means of his own labor, or labor which he employs, to turn out products which he sells in wholesa antities in the markets of the world. His labor income and his profit—or his loss-'depend on buying high quality raw aterials economically, upon manufac turing efficiently, and upon selling ef fectively. _ He has created supply cooperatives in rder to secure volume prices, trans portation savings, quality supervision • jjn£j bargaining power in the purchase of ppjies which he uses to produce farm products. He has erected marketing co operatives to pain a similar series of ad- vantaaes in selling the products which he manufactures. Incidentally, it seems strange to me that the various forms of cooperation should be as much confused with each other as they are. I recently read' a long survey of consumer cooperation which devoted its attention almost wholly to the buying of bulk farm supp'ies, quite obliv ious to the fact that feed, seed, fertilizer and other supplies of this character are producer goods, not consumer goods. The farmer has an enormous invest ment in his marketing and his supply co operatives. His land, his buildings, his fencing, his equipment, are all a part of his investment in the cooperative enter prise because without a successful and efficient structure to buv his supplies and sell his production, his farm can have no commercial value. Farm Cooperation Is Just Good Business It should be apparent that .to the farmer cooperation is business. True it also has a social significance because when the cooperative supply-buying and product- , gelling structure increases farm income, it raises the farmer's standard of living. The community cohesion which coopera tion fosters results in better rural life. Ihese. however, are collateral to the fact that if the cooperative is not a successful husmess undertaking it cannot hope to i have any resultant social effect. Agricultural cooperation is plain pood corporate business conducted by farm Producers who have found that they can Perform certain business tasks better by divicM together than by W0rkin9 in- The farmer did not formulate this bo k tV °f COODeration out °f the text ks of academicians, nor the sermons of preachers, nor the orations of re formers. He formulated it out of the hard knocks of the school of bitter experience. He has paid dearly for his lessons. I have selected four lessons which he has learned. Even if they have no signifi cance to your course of development they will at least enable you to understand us better. Government Assistance One lesson we learned is this: Govern ment subsidies are dangerous and usually futile. Agricultural cooperation is a self-help movement. It should rise out of the need and wishes of the members. Paternalism tends to build a top-heavy structure lack ing a solid foundation built by a member ship capable of understanding its diffi culties, and able to "take it" in the com petitive race for existence. A number of farm cooperatives have availed themselves of the facilities of the cooperative banks which are jointly owned bv the farm cooperatives and the Farm Credit Administration. But the credit available from these agencies is strictly of a commercial character. Nor do I wish to convey the impression that farm cooperatives must refuse all as sistance from the government. Assem bling and disseminating facts<—on coop eration as well as on other subjects:—is a proper function of a government which is based upon the schoolhouse and upon a free education for everyone. Coopera tives also are entitled to equality with private business in the eyes of the gov ernment. But the cooperative movement cannot in a thousand years reach fruition if sub jected either to government suzerainty or government paternalism. Monopoly Control A second important lesson for which agricultural cooperators have paid a hiqh tuition fee is this: Cooperatives cannot be made the vehicle for arbitrary monop olistic advantage. Through a period of several years some of the literature of agricultural co operation was replete with this idea of monopoly control, of price fixing, of sur plus control, and of guaranteeing cost of production. Producers cannot hope for any ex- 196 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 197 tended period of time to enforce their wills upon other classes of society by ar bitrary monopolistic devices. There is no more opportunity or likelihood of arbitra ry farmer-control over the economic or der than there is for arbitrary consumer control. Cooperation Must Be Built from Ground Up A third lesson our experience teaches is that farm cooperatives cannot be erected as sound business enterprises by high-pressure promoters, fanatics, theo rists, politicians, reformers, and conde scending people who like to work in the rural "slums." Farm cooperation must be built from the ground up by those who are the cooperators, and the development must come in response to genuine eco nomic need on the part of persons who are willing to contribute the necessary capital. Parties, Isms and Creeds A fourth lesson we have learned is that agricultural cooperation must stand upon its own principles and remain doggedly independent of all other causes and movements. Experience has taught us to object vigorously to all efforts to align farm cooperatives with any party, creed, or ism—regardless of how meritorious. At various times throughout the history of farm cooperation some friend or camp follower has proclaimed a blood relation ship between the movement and just about every "cause" imaginable. Politicians have sometimes tried to cap ture the cooperative structure. Individual farm cooperatives find it difficult at times to keep their organization free from the influence of political parties. There is no place for any political doctrine in a farm cooperative enterprise, but especially there is no cause to tolerate communistic activity within cooperative ranks. Coop eration has no quarrel with the principle of private enterprise or private ownership of property. The farmer is a capitalist- even though a small one—and as we all know, communism would spell the doom of the farm cooperative and the inde pendently owned farm home. Unreasoned Attacks Upon American Economy Farm cooperatives are business institu tions. They must compete in an economic world. They cannot exist unless they a efficient. They suffer when diverted r? friends or foes, politicians or theorists bent upon union or cooperation vvitli other causes. Death is certain to the co operative which allows itself to h dragged away from its economic job. I am frank to admit that many agricul tural cooperative leaders have expressed fear of being closely associated in the public mind with the consumers coopera tive movement. This attitude is not due to any prejudice against business-like co operation, but it is because some of the enthusiasts for consumer cooperation have associated the movement with ex traneous matters. For illustration, state ments which have done much to antago nize various farm leaders were the whol ly unnecessary attacks, in the name oi consumer cooperation, upon the capi talistic economy, and the talk of putting an end to capitalism. Capitalism does not mean the same thing to all people. Some use the term loosely to mean unfair ex ploitation but others use it to describe the American economic system which is be lieved to encourage thrift and initiative. Condemning the capitalistic economy an tagonizes the very elements in society upon which any American cooperative movement must lean—the substantial, straight-thinking, responsible element. Again, to agricultural cooperative leaders, the concept of a cooperative state or commonwealth is not essential to the fundamental principles of cooperation. Also, the painting of cooperation as a religious reform movement instead of a business way of performing certain busi ness services has attracted idealists, re formers and preachers of all types to an extent that the economic nature of coop eration is in danger of being forgotten in the shuffle. Do not misunderstand me. I would not discourage the support of the various well-wishers. I would not condemn the dreams and the causes and the move ments that dreamers and reformers choose to talk about. But I do submit my protest against permitting these extra neous concepts to play the dominant role in an economic movement. The experi ence in agriculture indicates that the eco nomic job cannot be done in a cooperative way unless it is done in a business way- International Cooperation Henry J. May, General Secretary International Cooperative Alliance MY purpose in coming to the U.S.A. at the present time is primarily of course, to bring the greetings of the In ternational Cooperative Alliance with which your movement has been associ- ated for many years past and to which vour leaders and representatives have brought the contributions, often fresh and original in their character, to the common stock of international relations and infor mation. We have valued highly, as I know you do, the enthusiasm and intel lectual integrity of Dr. Warbasse, Presi dent of The Cooperative League. The Cooperative League has stood firmly for purity and unequivocal rectitude of coop erative activities in their expression alike of the fundamental principles and the ideal aims of cooperation. The Seed Bears Fruit The seed that The League has sown is bringing forth good fruit and the harvest which awaits the harvesters of today is the outcome to a very great extent of the years of patient toil which have been given to their production. For a long time past I have waited the opportunity of seeing "on the spot" the various expressions of the cooperative idea that have been formed in your great country and the hour has come. In this sense I am here as a learner, coming with an open mind but a not too objective spir it, ready to find new ideas and methods and to see how they fit into the common stock of our social ideals. Let me first remind you that though the progress of International Cooperation has been retarded by the series of crises which have afflicted humanity since the War—prolonged economic depression, monetary chaos, civil wars and revolu tions - the I. C. A. has nevertheless the Proud distinction of having maintained "s communications unbroken throughout the World War. In that circumstance he Cooperative International was unique amongst the internationals of the world. stood erect as a beacon and symbol of brotherhood in that holocaust which brought tribulation and death to many millions and laid dynasties in the dust. Rooted in the Life of the Common People The social and economic structure ini tiated by 28 unemployed weavers com mencing slowly and laboriously had spread with increasing rapidity till it reached the ends of the earth and was able to withstand the world's greatest dismemberment of economic life. That was true of the whole as embodied in our Alliance because of the integrity and force of its national units and, in the final analysis, because it was rooted in the life, the sympathies and the understanding of the common people of the earth. Truly there is something more in the cooperative system than a new method of commerce and industry — something that cries to the depths of the human soul and is greater and nobler than commer cial results or the return of the surplus in the form of dividend on purchase. It is these facts that make us assured in the confidence that if cooperators are true to themselves they can now wield the greatest influence in helping humanity through its present troublous experiences and in restoring world economy to a plane on which it will serve the common weal in the highest sense of the word. England — Sweden — France Now I know you would like me to give you some indications of the position of the Cooperative movement in Europe to day and though I have not the time to cover all, I shall endeavor to give you some points of general interest. Of the Movement in Great Britain all I need to say is that its progress in recent years has exceeded the anticipations of its most sanguine supporters. The characteristics of the British move ment are well known to you and the story of Sweden with its cooperative enter prises has become a "best seller" in the U. S. A. 198 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION In France the movement plods steadily on from one advance to another and without any very novel features. Our French friends are satisfied that the Con sumers Movement is sound financially and flourishing economically in spite of certain unfortunate happenings in connec tion with their Cooperative Bank, which, from causes quite outside its cooperative constitution, has imposed a burden upon the Cooperative Movement which it has cheerfully shouldered and will redeem. The Congress of the Alliance will be held in the French capital next year and the organization for which the French movement, as the hosts of world coopera tion, have accepted is certain to exhibit a striking proof of cooperative solidarity. Nazis Mutilate Cooperation The German movement, so long and so honorably associated with the Alliance, has ceased to be included in our ranks following the control exercised by the Nazi Government since the early days of the Hitler regime in 1933—the first acts of the Nazi authorities deprived the movement of its freedom and independ ence by placing nominees of the govern ment in control, changing in many cases the form and administration so that today many are to all intents and purposes, pri vate trading organizations. A decree of May 1st last year pro vided for the dissolution or liquidation of 30% of the societies and over 40% of the importance of the whole movement on the pretext that they were financially un sound. They were called upon to com mit harikari in the interests of the health of the patients. In this and other ways the German cooperative movement is be ing mutilated beyond recognition and, as for a great part of it, beyond repair until the regime changes and freedom is re stored. Austrian Co-ops Pull Through The position in Austria has been deter mined by the action of the Government following the brief but tragic hostilities of February, 1934. Certain of the lead ers of the Socialist Party were also lead ers of the cooperative movement and though not directly involved in the fight ing, were nevertheless held culpable by the authorities and were put in prison. The premises of cooperative socief were in a number of instances used as t\? entrenchments of the fighters. e Drastic steps were immediately [^ to remove militant socialists from HI" Boards of Management and to get tr^ replaced by cooperators chosen by A" members but subject to the recognition b the Police Department that they were no! active politicians. A Board of Administration was an pointed by the government to the Coon erative Wholesale Society but the Coop, erative Union was left nominally [ree Certain of the old directors were left in function and until now have discharged their responsibilities with a large degree of freedom. As soon as these measures were carried out the Austrian leaders called me to Vienna for consultation with themselves and also with the State administrators. Chancellor Dollfus declared to me his intention not to do harm to the movement but to purge it of its political entangle ments and confine it to its cooperative ac tivities. When that is accomplished, he said, the complete autonomy and freedom will be restored to cooperation. The pledge he gave to me on behalf of his government in those early days of March, 1934, has been redeemed in full. In December last the State administra tors presented their final report and vacated their office. The new Board was immediately elected in the same manner as before the conflict. The Congress of the Austrian Union was held at Vienna in June when the final ratification was given to the freeing of the Movement from state control. Cooperatives Feed Bleeding Spain Since the outbreak of the Civil War in Spain which began on the 15th or 16th of July with the revolt of the Army of Occu pation in Spanish Morocco and quickly spread to the entire Spanish Army, oui attention has naturally been turned to- wards the Cooperative Institutions w Spain and the possible necessity of com- ing to the aid of our fellow cooperators «j their great emergency. The rapidity and ferocity with which the whole population has been involved in the most tragic o conflicts, that between people of the same race—members of the same community" CONSUMERS COOPERATION 199 , s hardly been paralleled in modern ffles. In a few days every Republican " d worker throughout the nation has been aroused in defense of the State, its nstitutional liberties, the freedom and C|ithority of its legitimately established Government and the democratic rights of the people—to say nothing of the protec t-on of their homes and families from de struction. The Spanish people are a proud and gracious race, which perhaps has some bearing upon the fierceness with which the terrible conflict has been waged. It also gives force to the man ner in which the cooperative leaders at Madrid and Barcelona have maintained the functions of cooperative organiza tions; recognized their true role of eco nomic importance and have thrown their weight into the support of legitimate au thority by assisting to organize the Na tion's supplies of food and other physical necessities. In communication with Madrid we have received from the National Cooper ative Union the assurance of the con tinued functioning of the Societies; of the plans for a National Commission of Food Supply which they have submitted to the Government, and of their firm conviction that should they need—as is more than probable — the aid of the Cooperative Movements of other countries, indeed of the whole International Cooperative Movement.—that support will not fail them! The Philosophy of Cooperation Dr. Horace M. Kallen Professor of Philosophy — New School for Social Research SOME weeks ago, Harvard University was celebrating its three hundredth birthday. Scholars from all the world came to offer congratulations, but with their congratulations came also expres sions of fear for the future of civilization. The most learned and wisest men of most of the countries in the world seemed to be warning us, as with one voice, that civili zation is undergoing a crisis which may destroy it. Asked how the danger to civilization might be averted, they gave, not one answer but many. The number and variety of their cures intensified the feeling they aroused of moral depression, intellectual confusion and spiritual anx iety. The effect of their deliberations was predominantly negative. The one thing unmistakably affirmed and reso lutely insisted upon was the ineluctable need for intellectual freedom, the inde feasible right of the spirit of man to doubt, to enquire, to believe, as con science bids. The faith in freedom redeemed the fes- tlval from utter sadness, and lifted it up to become a celebration of valor and hope. AS expressed it was more than faith: 'it wasi reasoned faith, and thus philosophy me. For philosophy, like religion, resfs on faith. Philosophy, like religion, speaks the deepest desires of the human heart. But religion only rationalizes these desires and holds their attainment for sure, regardless of whether it be really sure or not. Philosophy inquires into the causes and conditions of their attainment and reasons out its ground and direction •in the march of our experience. Capitalism — Communism — Fascism Today, three faiths have forced the older religions of our world into the back ground, and confront each other as bitter- rivals for the allegiance of the human spirit. Each offers itself as the surest guarantee that we shall attain our heart's, desire; each calls upon us to surrender ourselves body and mind entirely to its, salvation and live happily ever after. The- first of the three is Capitalism. The sec ond is Communism. The third is Fascism. To us who search out the meanings of their prophets and evangelists it is clear that whatever else they may be, they are not philosophies. Each is a rationaliza tion of some special desire. Capitalism rationalizes the greed oï a blind self- interest for profits. Communism ration alizes the hatred due to want and weak ness which the have-nots feel against the; 200 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 201 haves. Fascism rationalizes the lust for power and the fear to lose it which makes the haves the merciless exploiters of the have-nots. Consumers Cooperation-- The Democratic Alternative Against these three bitter and em battled faiths we cooperators set our fourth generous and peace-loving one. The faith in Consumer Cooperation is not rationalized and cannot be rational ized. It is a reasoned faith based upon long experience, summing this experience up. It is a philosophy of life which rests upon the same discoveries, the same prin ciples, and the same loyalty to the inward truths of human nature as the spirit of political democracy which is embodied in "the American Dream." The principles are the same as those of the Declaration of Independence: that human beings- whatever their race or faith or nationality or sex.—are all different people with equal rights'—particularly the rights to life, lib erty and the pursuit of happiness; that these rights are inalienable, that govern ments—and all other forms 'of human association—are formed to secure these rights and that they derive their just pow ers from the consent of the governed. In its essence, the Consumer Coopera tive Movement is a mode of association by which these fundamentals of Amer icanism may be made effective in the economic field. It is the movement which can and will Americanize our still un- Americanized national economic estab lishment. Its rules and methods, first de vised by the 28 weavers of Rochdale have become those through which scores of millions of people the world over are passing from economic bondage to economic freedom, from economic help lessness to economic power, from eco nomic scarcity to economic abundance and from moral and spiritual servility to moral and spiritual liberty. Discovering the Consumer Robert Owen, the father of coopera tion knew of the essential identity of the cooperative ideal and the cooperative method with the democratic ideal and the democratic method of America. It was never quite forgotten, but we are red1 covering it again, when we recoqn'S" that we are consumers by nature a^ producers only by necessity. V/e a born consumers, and all consumption ;s natural function involving values and ends. Production, on the other hand • an acquired function; we do not produr'8 to produce, we only produce to consunj All production is for the sake of consurnn tion, but all consumption is for its own sake. In consumption we live our lives- in production, we only work for our liv' ings. But the economic order which Capitalists defend and which Com munists and Fascists impose degrades consumption into the servant of produc tion, as the political order they go with degrades the individual into the mere tool of the corporation or the state. The Cooperative Movement, by insisting on the primacy of the consumer, builds the consumer-function into the structure of the social order as the principle of its control. Thus it preserves individuality where its rivals violate individuality; it enhances freedom, where its rivals de stroy freedom; it builds an economy of abundance not by impoverishing those who have, but by enriching those who have not, while its rivals can hold power only so long as they impose scarcity on the masses of the citizens. The Movement's associative pattern, which is a voluntary confederation of in dividuals into societies, of societies into regional groups, of regional groups into national federations, of national federa tions into an international alliance, rest upon the principle of the free contract of different individuals and groups so to do things together that each may live the ' more richly and fully in himself. It pre serves all the good of Capitalism without the burden of its evils; it makes impos sible the evils of Fascism and Com munism and lays bare the illusory and un substantial character of the good they claim. The Organization of Liberty If you believe in social planning, then consumer cooperation is a prospering so cial plan, tested by the trials and errors ot experience, clarified by adversity, an° vindicated by its consequences in the daily lives of those who employ it. Un" alternatives which can work only the" principle of All or None, any few in°" time, by associating together ac- Individuals can apply it, anywhere, at to the Rochdale rules. The Capi talist corporation, the Communist and the Fascist state regiment the individual and , stroy his initiative; the consumer coop erative society liberates the individual, and provides for his initiative a wider field than he ever had. The Cooperative Movement is thus the implement of an economic plan which uses, seeks, and en courages the free initiative of the indi vidual; it is the organization of liberty. Liberty without organization is anarchy; and anarchy is the heart disease of Capitalism; organization without liberty is tyranny and tyranny is the arterio- sclerotic paranoia of Communism and Fascism, particularly of Fascism. Com pared with them, Consumer Cooperation is the health of the social order as is testified by the state of the lands where it prevails, the state of Sweden, Denmark, Finland. Alone among its rivals it em ploys only means which are identical in nature and form with the end it seeks. Our Task Our task is to cause the Movement to prevail in the United States, of whose na tional philosophy and democratic spirit it is the economic expression. It will not, it cannot prevail of itself. No faith, how ever reasonable, however vindicated by the tests of time and the struggles of ex perience, can prevail by itself. Only the integrity, the labor, the devotion and the sacrifice of the believers can cause it to prevail. A plan and program of the peace ful association of free men to the end that all may contribute to the material and spiritual life more abundant for each, the Cooperative Movement has its work to do in an embattled world so dominated by gospels of hate and struggles for power that the world's wisest men declare that that civilization itself is threatened. The spirit in which we serve ourselves in our cooperative societies will govern what our work accomplishes toward the saving of civilization. If we have the courage and vision, that salvation is no dream but a fact. May the courage and the vision be given to us! May the dream be made a fact in our days! American Business and Consumer Cooperation Edward A. Filene, President, Consumer Distribution Corporation VfANY people still seem to think it ^ •*• strange that a business man like myself, who has no quarrel with the profit system, should be devoting his time and energies to the promotion of so-called non-profit, consumer cooperatives. But there is no mystery about it. Unfortunately for business progress, œuch business thinking is not real think ing but just a re-statement of some an- aent business creed—modified of neces sity from decade to decade but with no wear-cut comprehension that many sup posedly basic principles of business are Principles which, if put into practice now, would result in business ruin. The End of Individualism ake the principle, for instance, of so- rugged individualism. No modern business man can really believe in such a principle, for the simple reason that every modern business man does and must be lieve in organization. That means that he believes in some degree of coopera tion; for obviously there can be no or ganization if people do not work together to achieve some common end. The greatest business problem today is the problem of finding out how much co operation has now become necessary. Every business man wants, at least, the loyal cooperation of all his employees. Business .men want the cooperation of the buying public too; and most of them pay out a large part of their income every year in the hope of securing such coop eration. They pay it for advertising, and it pays them richly to do so. Hardly a business 202 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 1936 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 203 could get along today unless it does ad vertise; and I am convinced, contrary to the assumptions of those who lump all advertising as mere ballyhoo, that our consumer cooperatives must and will en gage in large-scale advertising; and that we shall find that truthful, courageous ad vertising, instead of adding to the cost of distribution, will so add to its volume as to bring the cost per item down. But what does a business man really want when he provides us a newspaper at a fraction of its cost, or a million dollar radio enter tainment to which anybody in the vicinity of a radio set is admitted free? What they want, of course, and what they must have, is consumer cooperation. Let us assume that the average business man is still in business only for the profits which he hopes to get; it still remains true that he can't make profits unless he can secure enough consumer cooperation. But is the cooperation secured by ad vertising and salesmanship enough to serve the needs of business today? Lack of Purchasing Power No. Positively not. The depression made this very clear. Business men were trying as hard as ever to sell their prod ucts, and they were doing more adver tising than they had ever done before. But their customers failed them. They wanted to buy things as much as business wanted to sell them—their only trouble being that they had lost their buying- power and advertising and salesmanship, by themselves, could not restore that. Thanks to measures which organized business has often opposed, some billions of dollars of buying-power were returned to millions of would-be consumers, and business eventually got started up again. But no basic problem has yet been solved; and until something happens in America which will certainly bring greater and greater buying-power to the masses of would-be consumers, American business can never achieve lasting prosperity. It is the aim and end of the consumer cooperative movement to bring more and more buying-power to the mass con sumer, at a time when the mass consumer must have more and more buying-ipower else business cannot have a profitable market. It isn't enough to restore the buying- power of any previous year. The buy;n power which maintained prosperity ^ those years could not maintain prosper1!" in 1937. Now the people generally ^J. have much more buying-power beca/ the people generally are able to produo so much more than they could ten yeaC ago. I wish that every member of the coon erative movement might think that over for America is face to face with an eco! nomic problem of which the Rochdale weavers never dreamed. Their problem was the problem of how to get by in an age of scarcity. Our problem is the prob lem of how to live in an age of plenty and if we think of it in terms of merely petting by, we cannot solve the problem The masses of our modern machine civil;! zation must be able, not only to increase their buying, but to keep on increasing it as production inevitably increases; or they will inevitably have to reduce their buying and keep on reducing it. If the products of our machines are not sold, the machines must be shut down, or run at a fraction of their capacity. And that means unemployment, and unemploy ment necessarily means less mass buying- power and general business depression. There is no such thing possible, therefore, in modern America as maintaining a cer tain standard of living. The masses must go on and on to better things, or, because of unemployment, they will find them selves slipping back. When we arrived at the era of mass production it became necessary to organ ize our work in the interest of the mass consumer, or accept the alternative of poverty in the midst of plenty. Science of Mass Distribution But mass distribution, like mass pro duction, is a science. The mere will to co operate isn't going to solve our problem for us. Enthusiasm, by itself, won't solve it. The only thing that can solve it is the development under scientific management of such an efficient system of mass dis tribution that it will furnish an adequate outlet for mass production. I am told, of course, by many excellent people, that if we are to have an effectiv system of cooperative distribution « must begin as the Rochdale weavers öio —in a small way. Fortunately, the grea operatives of England and the Scandi- C°vian countries know better; and they "re doing their best to discourage the rting Of any more isolated, small co operative stores. Tall oaks, to be sure, from little acorns oWi and much furniture is made of oak. If we need a chair in a hurry, however, it would be rather impractical to try to get one by planting an acorn. Business Muffed its Opportunity I am in the cooperative movement be cause I believe that consumer cooperation can help greatly in the solution of the problem of distribution. If organized busi ness had grasped this problem, and had seriously undertaken to solve it, it would probably never have occurred to me to join the cooperative movement. But busi ness muffed its opportunity. Because of traditional thinking, organized business failed to see that the time had come when its only chance for continued prosperity lay in distributing prosperity among the whole American people. But perhaps it is just as well in the long run that business has been blind. Perhaps it is better that the organized consumers of America should solve this problem for themselves. I would like to emphasize, however, that they cannot solve it by the mere following of a formula; for the con sumer cooperatives, to achieve their pur pose now, must be as business-like as the most efficient business, and must be gov erned at every turn by scientific, fact- finding, up-to-the-minute research. We can expect no miracles. No special Providence is going to look out for us, just because we have decided to cooperate in a non-profit adventure, instead of seek- "ig returns on our invested capital. Our job is to learn to distribute with less waste and less lost motion than in the best of the solely-profit-seeking organizations and, by our successful competition, com- rti to disc°ver and to inaugurate st'U more efficient methods. Cooperatives and the Profit System Tu "ere is no reason, then, why consumer »operation in modern America should °evelop the attitude toward the profit ystem which was natural and proper in e European cooperatives. The indus- 1£s which we cannot tolerate are the monopolistic industries — those which seek their profits by limiting their serv ices, and those which, because of greed or inefficiency, do not give adequate service and, often, cannot make profits. Many unprofitable businesses, businesses which are unprofitable because of wasteful methods — are as truly a menace to the mass consumer as are those whose profits seem unreasonably high. Our object, then, cannot be merely to take to ourselves as consumers the profits that would otherwise revert to capitalists. Our object must be to so improve and perfect the process of distribution that the people of these United States may be enabled to consume according to their capacity to produce. Our capacity to produce has been al most magically multiplied since the time when the cooperative movement started. All our wealth-making machinery be comes a mockery, however, unless the masses are enabled to buy the wealth produced; and it is the destiny of con sumer cooperation in America to so eliminate the wastes and injustices of present-day distribution that the people generally can have and enjoy this wealth. We shall miss our aim if we think too much of the wealth which now goes to capitalists. There isn't enough of that, all told, to cause any great increase in the general standard of living, if it were all taken from the capitalists and given to the people generally. The wealth which would count—'and the wealth which the American cooperative movement should be striving for-—is the wealth which is not now being created but which would be created if modern business were or ganized to serve the mass consumer. The Key to Increased Wealth It has been calculated by competent statisticians that unemployment, since the beginning of the depression, has al ready resulted in the non-production of more than three hundred billion dollars worth of wealth — wealth which might have been produced and distributed if the millions of unemployed had been em ployed in practical, scientific production and distribution. And the masses one day will be so em ployed if the consumer cooperative movement measures up to its opportuni- 204 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 205 We must so simplify the process of distribution that those who trade with us shall not have to pay for unintelli- gently selfish, wasteful, solely-for-profit production and distribution, and that those, therefore, who compete with us shall find it necessary to do as well as we. I do not wish to engage in any idle fancies, or any grandiloquent dreams. But poverty in modern America is ab surd. It couldn't happen except for our traditional thinking. We have suffice resources, sufficient machinery, sufflCjeJ power and sufficient skilled manageae,,t to provide every American family ^M economic security and such a standard ( living as no people have ever known be fore. All that is necessary is that all these resources, all this power and all this skill be placed at the service of the mass con sumer; and a sufficiently strong and su[ ficiently scientific consumer cooperative movement can bring that about. Treasurer's Report Mary Ellicott Arnold, Manager, Consumers Cooperative Services 1. What we as member societies have done to support The League financial- iy* Inasmuch as the report for the current year covers nine months only, compara tive figures for 1935 and 1934 are given for the corresponding periods. Receipts from dues and contributions: 1934 ............. $5,531 1935 ............. $7,417 1936 ............. $9,534 2. What The League Staff has done to stay within the budget in carrying out the largest possible activities. ( 1 ) In analyzing salaries, rent and other expenses of The League office, the growth in activities during the past nine months has been indicated particularly by the increase in supply and postage costs. (2) Your Treasurer calls special atten tion to the detailed report of the item of $639 for traveling expense. While this was all the Secretary could use for this purpose and stay within the budget, it is entirely inadequate. Building a Coopera tive Movement throughout the country is a job of coordination. It can be done only through close contact on the part of The League's Secretary with the member so cieties from coast to coast. In looking to our budget needs in the future, a marked increase in the traveling allowance is es sential. The following are total figures for the first nine months of 1936: Budget expense ....................... $11,722 Actual income ........................ $ll,5i|j Actual expense ...................... ] 1555 Difference between expense and income. $37 It should be noted that there are still three months of the year to go. The lack ' in actual income behind budget estimate indicates that receipts of dues during the remaining three months should run a little higher than they have. 3. Recent growth in League finances. Both "Consumers' Cooperation," the national magazine, and general literature i sales have shown marked growth in the past three years as indicated in the fol lowing summaries for the first nine months of each year: Total income from the magazine: 1934 ............. $ 673 1935 .............. 1,229 1936 .............. 2,121 Net earnings from the magazine: 1934 .............. $146 (loss) 1935 .............. 298 (loss) 1936 .............. 517 (gain) Total literature sales: 1934 ............. $1,196 1935 ............. 3,652 1936 ............. 13,169 Net earnings from literature sales: 1934 ............. $ 180 1935 ............. 735 1936 ............. 2,051 The net earnings of the magazine an literature sales represent savings made o ierative purchasing. To these savings added the reduction in retail • of $1.00 per copy to consumer-pur- Phasers of the recent books by Dr. War- L se and Mr. Fowler. These reductions ere made possible as the result of buy- special cooperative editions in large rnbers and amount to more than $4,000. [{"the amounts are added together the tal direct and indirect savings and price eductions which .have been made on magazine and literature have already amounted to one-half of this year's budg et of The League. The following figures show the total income from all sources (dues, contribu tions and savings) for the full calendar years of 1934 and 1935 and the actual in come for nine months of 1936: 1934 ............. $6,300 1935 ............. 8,647 1936 (9 mos.) ..... 11,518 Resolutions Adopted by the Tenth Biennial Congress of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A., Columbus, Ohio, October 8, 9 and 10, 1936. culture of America, and expresses a hope for con tinued cordial relations between the labor and agri cultural movements and the cooperative move ment, and Be It Further Resolved that cooperatives cooperate with organized labor and agriculture to the fullest extent possible. (2.) Be it further resolved that this Congress requests the Board of Directors of The League to arrange for the representation of The League by a fraternal delegate at the coming A. F. of L. Con vention. College Cooperatives Whereas, college cooperatives have grown to have 160 groups at over 100 schools, with over 73,000 members, including some of the country's ablest young people, who will enter enthusiastical ly into the general cooperative movement. Whereas, many of these groups have sprung up in complete ignorance of the established principles necessary for enduring successful cooperation, and urgently need help and guidance; and Whereas, the National Committee on Student Cooperatives has done effective work in spreading cooperative ideas and ideals among these college groups, Therefore, Be it resolved that this Congress heartily commends the work of the National Com mittee on Student Cooperatives, and urges that it continue its efforts. Peace Whereas, the cooperative movement believes that a more equitable trading relationship between nations is the only sound basis for peace and that this new basis is possible only when international trading is no longer controlled by the profit motive Therefore, Be it resolved that this Congress reaffirm its desire for peace between nations and the need for continuing the persistent effort of the movement to create a new economic relationship which we believe will bring permanent world peace. Credit Be it resolved that this Congress qoes on record as requesting the Conqress of the U.S. to create an agency similar to Farm Credit Administration for the purpose of assisting consumers' cooperative housing activities through the furnishing of low priced credits. International Cooperative Congress Because of our gigantic task to rapidly make cooperators from masses of Americans awakening to the presence of the Consumers Cooperative Movement, and because we vitally need the inspiration and help of our fellow cooperators across the seas, we invite the 1940 International Cooperative Congress to the United States, and so instruct our delegates to the 1937 Congress. Electrification Be it resolved that this Congress go on record as favoring cooperative action to further extend electrification to all classes of consumers at rea sonable rates. Organized Producers Whereas, a living income for laborers as well as krmers and other sections of the population will M an aid to the economic and sociaFwelfare of the People and to the future growth of the Consumers ^oerative Movement, and Whereas, bona fide and well-conducted labor ™ons and farm organizations are important cans of protecting and improving the money in- come oj[these groups, » « Theref°re be it resolved, that The Coop- «ative League of the U.S.A. hereby extends its ueet]ngs to organized labor and organized agri- Cooperatives and Labor Be it resolved that a commission be created to study the relation between the Cooperative Move ment and the Labor Movement in the United States. Spanish Cooperators Whereas, the International Cooperative Alliance has asked its constituent members to give as sistance and funds to the Spanish cooperators cauqht in the holocaust of civil war. Therefore, Be it resolved that the Board be in structed to send letters to its constituent members, requesting them to ask for contributions for the cooperators of Spain. Appreciation Be it resolved, that this Congress expresses its appreciation to the Ohio Farm Bureau for the cordial hospitality that has been extended to the 206 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION De, CONSUMERS' COOPERATION 207 703 individuals, including representatives of so- Cooperative League be held on the premises f non-profit institution whose policies do not coiîfl-3 with the policies and principles of cooperation that the date of the Congress be changed to't? summer time to make this possible. e cieties attending the gathering. Place and Date of Next Congress Be it resolved that the next Congress of The OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS ELECTED OFFICERS J. P. Warbasse, President Howard A. Cowden, Mary E. Arnold, E. R. Bowen, Vice-Président Treasurer General Secretary DIRECTORS Elected for Three Year Terms V. S. Alanne George Barrett John Hofmann Waldemar Niemela James P. Warbasse L. E. Woodcock Northern States Cooperative League Pacific Supply Cooperative Workmen's Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale The Cooperative League Eastern Cooperative League Elected for Two Year Terms Mary Ellicott Arnold R. N. Benjamin Edward Carlson Gideon Edberg George Halonen A. E. Kazan A. W. Warinner Consumers Cooperative Services Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n. Cooperative Trading Co. Franklin Cooperative Creamery Central Cooperative Wholesale Amalgamated Cooperative Houses Central States Cooperative League To Continue Office for Unexpired Terms New Cooperative Company Consumers Cooperative Association Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n. Farmers Union Central Exchange Midland Cooperative Wholesale Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n. Eastern States Farmers Exchange Joseph Blaha Howard A. Cowden I. H. Hull Ralph Ingerson George Jacobson •Murray D. Lincoln Quentin Reynolds Alternates H. Holt, Paul Lambert, Mrs. Helen Lanto, Cliff Miller, James Moore, Corliss Palmer, A. N. Rivers, John Vandermyde Minneapolis, Minn. Walla Walla, Wash. New York City Boston, Mass. New York City New York City New York City Harrisburg, Pa. Waukegan, Illinois Minneapolis, Minn. Superior, Wisconsin New York City Chicago, Illinois Dillonvale, Ohio No. Kansas City, Mo. Indianapolis, Ind. St. Paul, Minn. Minneapolis, Minn. Columbus, Ohio Springfield, Mass. THE PRESS BOOSTS CONSUMERS' COOPERATION SPECIAL CONGRESS PUBLICITY MAGAZINES ITERARY DIGEST, October 17, "Growth of Cooperatives in America." iPVVS WEEK, October 17, "Co-ops: Profits Undesirable, Prophets O. K. at Ohio Conference Of Rooters for Consumer Control." BUSINESS WEEK, October 17, "Conflict Over Co-ops." NATION, October 17, "Cooperative Congress." NEW REPUBLIC October 28, "The Cooperative Congress." TIDE, November 1, "Co-op Conclave." TIME, October 19, "Cooperative Grocers." COMMON SENSE, October, "The Cooperative Congress." November, "Like Coluiribus. CHRISTIAN CENTURY, October 21, "Coopera tive Congress Registers Gains," Harold Fey. RETAILING, October 19, "It's Happening Here," Earl W. Elhart. THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, October 21. "Cooperative Congress Plans Future Develop ment." BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIRE MEN AND ENGINEMEN'S MAGAZINE, November, "The Tenth Biennial Cooperative Congress." NEWSPAPERS NEW YORK TIMES, October 9, "Cooperatives Hail Spread of System." October 10, "Filene Puts Hope in Cooperatives." October 11, "Cooperatives Ask Federal Credit Aid." NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, October 9, "Cooperatives Called Route to Abundance." October 10, "Cooperatives Held Answer to Lln- employment." CHICAGO DAILY NEWS, October 15, 16, 17, Howard Vincent O'Brien devoted his column, All Things Considered" to the Cooperative Congress. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, October 8, Cooperatives Held Safe Way Around Fas cism." Da'ly dispatches by Special Correspondent. COLUMBUS CITIZEN COLUMBUS DISPATCH OWO STATE JOURNAL «ave complete coverage to the Cooperative Congress. NEWS SERVICES PRESS PRESS ÄNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE DIO PRESS RADIO COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, coast to coast network, address by Dr. J. P. War- basse. COLUMBUS RADIO STATIONS broadcast addresses by Henry J. May, George Keen, Dr. Michael Shadid, I. H. Hull, V. S. Alanne, E. R. Bowen, Wallace J. Campbell, Horace M. Kallen and Edward A. Filene. OTHER ARTICLES MAGAZINES SATURDAY EVENING POST, October 17, "Cooperation Can't Be Done With Mirrors," Frank Parker Stockbridge. HARPERS, November, "The Incredible Swedes," Hubert Herring. TODAY, October 31, "The Co-op—A New Bogeyman," O. S. Granducci. NATION'S BUSINESS, October, "Uncle Sam Flirts with the Co-ops," Robert L. Van Boskirk. November, "Consumers Co-ops on Main Street," Arthur B. Gunnarson. "The Retailer Takes the Rap," Editorial, Merle Thorpe. SOCIALIST MONTHLY, November, "Con sumers Cooperation: A Neglected Socialist Weapon," Benjamin Wolf. FORLIM, November, "When the Llltimate Con sumer Dies," Burial Co-ops. Bertram B. Fowler. MID-WEEK PICTORIAL, October 24, "Co ops," M. Lowell Gunzburg. AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST, August, "Two Handed Fighting," E. R. Bowen. Editorial— "Cooperatives and Labor Policies." September, "Cooperation and Unionization," Peggy Packard. Editorial—"Cooperatives." THE ANNALIST, September 4, "Total Sales Volume of Consumers' Cooperatives Small. Despite Recent Expansion," S. L. Miller. THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, November 4;. Editorial, "Preparing to Attack the Co-ops." FAR EASTERN SURVEY, September, "China's; Cooperative Movement Beset by Obstacles." AMERICAN SWEDISH MONTHLY, August;, September, October, series of three articles, "Consumers Cooperatives in Sweden," Johari- Liljencrants. MACLEAN'S, August 1, "Co-op Conquest," The. story of the remarkable success of the coopéra-, live movement in Eastern Nova Scotia, Will R. Bird. THE NATIONAL GRANGE MONTHLY, Au gust, "Buying Together," Merle Elsworth. THE STUDENT ADVOCATE, October-No vember, "College Cooperatives," William Moore. CALL OF YOUTH, October, "Cooperation in. the LI.S.A." Al Friedman. THE NEW LEADER, October 17, "Swedish Co operatives Act As Trust Busters,'' E...R. Bowen.-. 208 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION THE CHRISTIAN REGISTER, October 22, "Religion and Distribution," Edward A. Filene. "Schenectady Cooperative Studies Burial Costs." THE CHRISTIAN LEADER, October 10, "Con cerning Cooperatives and Private Business," Charles G. Girelius. September 26, "Building a Cooperative," James W. McKnight. October 24, "Religion and Distribution," Ed ward A. Filene. THE PRESBYTERIAN TRIBUNE, October 29, "Religion and Distribution," Edward A. Filene. THE SIGN, September, "Let's Cooperate," Law rence Lucey. THE QUEEN'S WORK, November, "Sodality Consumers Cooperatives Stop Bolting Budgets," George A. McDonald, S. J. CATHOLIC ACTION OF THE SOUTH, Octo ber 15, "Consumers' Cooperation, How It Starts," Joseph H. Fichter, S. J. THE FRONT RANK, November, "Ideals in Cans," Frances Dunlap Heron. EPWORTH HERALD, September 5, "Working for a Christian Economic Order," Dorothy Ny- land. KIPLINGER NEWS LETTER, September 26, "Talk of Consumers Cooperatives." TRADE PUBLICATIONS NATIONAL PETROLEUM NEWS, October 7, "Co-op Bulk Plants in Minnesota," E. L. Bar- ringer. SALES MANAGEMENT, October 20, "Behind that Co-op Label," Bertram B. Fowler. PRINTERS INK, October 15, "What is a Co operative?" Richard Giles. TIDE, October 1, "Co-op Coup." HARDWARE RETAILER, November, "Whole salers Condemn Government Subsidies to GO ODS," "Don't Worry Too Much About Co-ops," Editorial on Cooperative Congress. THE GASOLINE RETAILER, October 17, "Roosevplt's Endorsement of Co-ops Alarms Station Men." I.P.A. (Independent Pharmacists Ass'n) VOICE, October, "Cooperatives—Are They Our Com petitors?" David N. Ditcher. RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT, October, "Cafeteria Principles and Practices When Oper ated by Consumers," R. T. Huntington; "The Customers Speak," Editorial—"Who Profits?" DRUG TOPICS, August 17, "Stores in Cleveland Compete with 17 Co-ops." NEWSPAPERS NEW YORK TIMES, September 30, "American Co-ops Praised by Finns." October 6, "Cooperatives Gain in Europe Noted." HERALD TRIBUNE, October 6, "Head of Eng lish Cooperatives Here to Further U S terests." ' ta- October 19, News story under the column "TL Week in Finance," Edward H. Collins. ' e CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, Octobe "Consumers Cooperatives Target of CW/- • Mid-West Drive." ^fl-auzed "Cooperative Buying by Farmers Gains 0 Past Decade." Ver "Sunday Teaching, All-the-Week Need"-, port of Edward A. Filene's speech_"RPij re~ and Distribution." 18'011 UNITED STATES NEWS, August 24, "Q, sumer Co-ops: Can They Cure Economic 1110"1" MILWAUKEE LEADER, "Workers Awaken t Lack of Consumers Cooperatives," Irvin r° Aaron. NEW BOOKS Several important new books on the cooperative movement have been published since we last went to press. Since it is impossible to review them in this issue, we are listing below those which may be ordered now through The Cooperative League. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE YEAR BOOK- 1936, Edited by V. S. Alanne and Cecil R Crews. The latest available statistics on con sumers cooperative associations in the United States. 260 pages, paper cover, $1.00. DENMARK—THE COOPERATIVE WAY, by Frederic C. Howe. A description of the Danish cooperative movement as an alternative to Coii- munism and Fascism. Coward McCann, 111 pages, $2.50. CONSUMERS COOPERATIVE ADVEN TURES, Harland J. Randall and Clay J. Dag- gett. Case studies of consumers cooperative edu cation and business organizations in Great Britain and the United States. Prepared for use in Wisconsin schools and colleges. Whitewater Press, 642 pages, $2.00. BROTHERHOOD ECONOMICS, Toyohiko Kagawa, Dr. Kagawa's Rauschenbush Lectures on "Christian Brotherhood and Economic Re construction." presented for the first time in book form. Harper 6 Brothers, 200 pages, $1.50. CO-OP, Upton Sinclair. A novel of living together. Cast in the realistic setting of a producers, "self- help" cooperative in California. Farrar and Rinehart, 426 pages, $2.50. DEMOCRACY IN DENMARK, Josephine Gold- mark and A. H. Hollman, translated by Alice 0. Brandeis. A description of the cooperatives, s& cial insurances and folk high schock in Denmark. National Home Library, 342 pages, 25c. FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS OF DENMARK, Beg- trup, Lund and Manniche. Revised edition ot a popular volume on Danish Folk Schools. CWoro University Press, 176 pages, $1.00. INTERNATIONAL OBSERVER, a quarterly devoted to the Pécules School MO\ ' J ment, edited by Peter Manniche, h^î!! , r Peoples College, Elsinore, Denmark, -w two years. CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL ORGAN Of The Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the U. S. A. \ VOLUME XXIII January—December 1937 Published by The Cooperative League of U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City