v The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed as a digital facsimile at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ New Co-op. Literature Cooperation! A Middle Way for America?, by Dr. Paul H. Douglas, published by The Cooperative League, 16 pages, lOc. An address delivered before the American Institute of Cooperation, Ames, Iowa, in June, 1937. The pamphlet sets forth the Role of Cooper ation in American Life, The Limitations on Coop eration, \What Cooperation Can Do, and the Need for Unity in the Cooperative Movement. The pamphlet will be reviewed in an early issue. Rebuilding Rural America, by Mark A. Dawber. Friendship Press, New York. 50c in paper, $1.00 cloth. (This book has been adopted by the Missions Boards of the major Protestant Churches in the country and is being used for missions study to gether with a special study leaflet "The Church and American Rural Life," written by Benson Y. Landis—25c.) The future of our country depends on two groups—the Farmer and the Laborer. They have strength as never before. This was shown in the last national election and was reflected in the laws passed by the "New Deal" Congress. Dr. Dawber says, "Farmers as producers and consumers must join hands with the industrial workers who are also producers and consumers, to bridge the gulf between production and consumption." But, "agri culture is still the primary industry. Upon its economic strength the nation's economic life will finally depend." This economic strength is not very high just now, however. Within the past twenty years one million two hundred thousand farmers have either lost their farms or have been reduced to tenancy. "Many and varied are the schemes being tried to meet the baffling problems of our economic life. During recent years the government has sent to this task an army of specialists, but in the end the farmer must solve his own economic problems." To do this, "rural people are beginning to organize cooperatives to meet their economic problems. They are discovering that it is possible through the Cooperatives to balance the budget, to prevent the cities from continually draining the country." The chapter on the Cooperative Movement is very strong. Dawber challenges the rural leader ship and especially the church to "take seriously the question of its responsibility to the masses of under-privileged people and develop some pro- qram of social action through the Cooperatives." In fact, the whole book is built around this theme. The author does speak of religious education, of church buildings, of the need of an educated ministry, and these chapters may not be so defi nitely cooperative in tone. But yet, it is education for life, for social action, he is wishing. It is the church, the centre and dynamic forces in the com munity, as it is in Nova Scotia, he would have developed. It is an enlightened ministry of a" new day which can lead rural people to self-assurance and economic freedom, he pleads for. Dr. Dawber is, of course, a churchman and as such puts 'the church in the centre, not for the sake of the church, but for the people, as Kagawa would place it. For "never did the church have a finer opportunity to proclaim the inescapable laws of God, and to bring us back to a sense of partner- 192 ship with Him in protecting, salvaginn making the holy earth which He placed • keeping." To this task Mark A. Dawher c n' rural layman and minister in positive, str !? "* ward language. May the church and it, i or" heed the call! ts Rev. T. Henry Brooklyn Church and Missions Cooperative Ideals and Problems, Anders O Revised Edition, Cooperative Uni™ A016' ehester, England, 1937. 75c. ' Man- Anders Oerne got his early practical tra; • fighting with labor. He went through the 9 strike in Sweden in 1909 and learned that Ik? rould not solve its problem by the general t ^ ' A man of education and background, with a A in philosophy from the University of Upsala^T applied his mind to economic questions. As a r«, u in 1910, he entered the service of the Swedish tional cooperative league. It was largely the influence of Oerne that the Swedish movement has become the strongest in v neutrality of any in the world — neutral not only £ matters of politics and religion but in labor matters also. This is one of the most important books on co operation. Oerne does not write as a socialist or trade unionist or reformer, but as a cooperator discussing cooperation as an economic system Naturally socialists, laborites, and farmers, not yet \ grasping economic fundamentals, attempt to op- I pose some of Oerne's ideas. His book has caused much controversy in Sweden, just because of its cooperative nature. Oerne's early socialist training still affects his thinking. While he no longer entertains the fan tastic notion that the state can solve the problems of society, as he once did, still he retains a tender place in his heart for compulsory government. The reviewer thinks that Oerne is dn an untenable posi tion in his statement that a compulsory organiza tion, such as the state, always will be indispensable for the protection of rights and justice, for educa tion, and for the care of the sick. This very asser tion contradicts itself. However, the education and the thinking of cooperators goes on, and advances with the advancement of cooperation and Oerne is among the most advanced. Dr. J. P. Warbasse. "Industrial Conflicts — Strikes," by Charles C. Webber, National Council of Methodist Youth. 740 Rush Street, Chicago, 111. 15c plus 3c postage. This is a four section study unit written by the Secretary of The Methodist Federation for Social Service. It is primarily intended for church youth groups and includes a worship service in connec tion with each of the four lessons which cover (1) Why do workers go out on strike? (2) What happens when strikes take place? (3) How can strikes be eliminated? (4) What can young people do in strike situations? The Consumers' Cooperative Movement is sug gested as one of the means of eliminating strikes. The author is becoming well known among coop; erators for his strong advocacy of the Consumers Cooperative Movement in his addresses ana writings. , i These books and pamphlets may be °|?er, Farm Leader Looks Ahead .................................................. Farm Leaders .............................•.......••...-•..•••••••••-•••••• Farm Marketing Cooperatives .....................................-.-•••••••• Farm Purchasing Increases .......................................-•••••••••• Farmers and Consumers Cooperation, a review .........................••••••• Farmers and Consumers, Relation of ............................•••.••••••••••_. ç^ Farmers Union Central Exchange ................................--••••••••• "• ^ Farmers Union Cooperative Hospital, Elk City .......................-.•••••••••' gp Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Associations .........................-••••••••••' 7 Farmers Union, Educational Program of .............................••••••••••" 31 Farmers Union National Convention .................................••••••••••" 22 Federal Trade Commission .........................................•-••••••••"' 52 Fey, Harold E. ................................•..............•...•••••••••••" 22 Filene, Edward A. ...............................................-.-••••••.•••••' 27 Fill 'Er Up, a Radio Play ..........................................-••••••••••• PAGE ................................. .............................. 207 film5 , ' " " ........................................................ 66, 123, 145 pnla lohn'T. ................................................................. 6b ^Bertram B. ............................................................. 84 G ........................................ 27 - nres Axel ................................................................... 122 r „HP Cooperative Wholesale ................................................ 21, 61 William ................................................................ 17 Jibson, r endale Cooperative Association ............................................... 158 rrepnhills Consumer Services .................................................... 126 G enleaf, Esther .............................................................. 198 Croup Health Association ....................................................... 142 H Hayes, A. J. .............................................................. 159, 170 Hedberg, Anders ............................................................... 22 Highlights of 1937, Cooperative .................................................. 21 Holier Than Thou .............................................................. 146 Holsti, Dr. E. Rudolf ........................................................... 123 Housing. Cooperative ........................................................... 12 Houston, Dorotihy .............................................................. 103 Hull, I. H. .................................................................... 172 Hutchinscn, Carl R. ............................................................ 200 Button, Barbara ............................................................... 34 Huxley. Aldous ................................................................ 52 Hyde, William ................................................................ 199 Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association .................................. 21, 47 International Cooperative Alliance, Congress of .................................... 22 International Cooperative Wholesale Society ...................................... 188 International Economic Cooperation .............................................. 187 International Ladies Garment Workers Union ..................................... 92 Insurance and Finance .......................................................... 177 Insurance and Security, Cooperative ............................................. 174 Institute on Organized Labor and Cooperatives .............................. 154, 203 Inquiry on Cooperative Enterprise in Europe ..................................... 22 J Jackson, Robert H. ............................................................. 34 lacobson, Walter ........................................................... ' 193 lohansson, Albin ................................... . . 114' 122 Jones, E. Stanley ..................... ! ! . . \ . '.'. . \ . . '.'. '. ' '. '. '. '. '.'. '.'. '.'. '. '. '. '. '. '. '.'. \\ '.....[ 37 K Kallen, Horace M. ............... ....... . 36 Kagawa^ Toyohiko ............................................. .'.'.'.'.'.'".'. .'.'.'." '6/65 £att, Herbert ............... . .... 1 80 H. G. ....................................... ^\\\\\\\\\'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' '. 17 . ............. . °operativa Forbundet, Sweden ............................ 24 81 ' £ , ............................ Knickerbocker Village Cooperative ....................... . ' 77 ^nudsen, William A. ............ . . - . " 57 £°f°d, L. v. ........... .................:...:.::.:::"•::"• ;••••••••••-••••• ^ Konsum, Washington, D. C. .............................................""."'. HI INDEX Labor and Cooperatives ......................... 5, 31, 36, 47, 56, 61 69 1 ";? Manchester Guardian ...............................................;.... Manhattan Consumers Cooperative Federation ............................... Martin, Homer ........................................................... McDonald, George A. ..................................................... 127 Message To Cooperators .................................................... Methodist Student Conference, National .................................. Midhel, Virgil ............................................. ...........!.""" Midland Cooperative Wholesale ........................... 11, 21, 47, 62, 76, 125 Milk .......................................................... . ' 32 Miller. M. G. ...........................................................'.'.'.'....' Minnesota State Committee for Cooperative Planning ............................... Monopoly, Breaking Stranglehold on America ................................... Monopoly, How U. S. Co-ops Busted the Fertilizer ............................... Moore, James R. ............................................................... Moore, William ............................................................ 26, Morgan, Joy Elmer ......................................................... 81, Morrison, C. C. ................................................................ Movies, Cooperative ............................................................ Murphy, Governor Frank ........................................................ Myers, James .................................................................. 50 15 47 19. 101 25 98 127 46 195 77 113 148 148 196 15U 52 30 98 20. N National Catholic Rural Life Conference ......................................... National Catholic Welfare Council .............................................. National Committee on Student Co-ops ........................................... National Conference of University Students in Canada ............................ National Education Association ........................................... 58, 126, National Peace Conference .................................................... 51 National Society of Cooperative Accountants ..................................... National Student Federation of America .......................................... National Women's Cooperative Guild ............................................ Nationalism and Culture, a review .............................................. Newfoundland Goes Cooperative ................................................. New National Recognition for the Cooperatives ................................... New Norway, The, a review ........................... ................--•••••• New York Times .............................................................. Noble County Cooperative Association .......................................... North Daikota Farmers Union .................................................... North Shore Cooperative Society ................................................. Northern States Cooperative Womens Guild ..............................-••••••• Nova Scotia, Mecca o-f Cooperation .............................................. Nova Scotia Revisited .... . . . ....... ..............-•••••••• Nova Scotia Tour ................................. ...... .. 15, 18, 23, 90, 1/0, Nurmi, H. V- ......................................................... 100, 101. 58 35 196 26 144 . 58 193 26 192 110 37 58 48 51 179 62 77 112 155 84 204 111 INDEX O PACK advisory Councils ..................................••••••••••••••••••-•• 149 Bureau Cooperative Association ................... 47, 60, 62, 111, 141, 191 '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '.'. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '. '.'. '. '. '. '. '. '. '.'. '. '.'.'.'.'.'•'.'. '.'. '. '. '. '.'. '.'. '.'. '.'. '. '. 59 Vermund ........................................-••.••••••-•••••••• 59 Frank ................................................................ H2 r People's Money—Not for Cooperators 116 Trifle' Coast Students Organize League of College Co-ops .......................... 91 pa* Supply Cooperative ................................................... 21. 76 Slraer Carlos C. ............................................................... 178 °Siet Club of 1938 .......................................................... 16 •eace and Cooperatives .......................................................... 3^ Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association ....................... 11, 21, 47, 125 FBtins. Lionel ... .......................................................... 201 -.pins and Needles ............................................................ 92 po e Pius XI .................................................................. 95 »residential Address ........................................................... 168 'review of the Cooperative Congress, a broadcast ................................. loo r-cc Discrimination ............................................................ 98 Price Fixing ................................................................... 50 Producers and Consumers, Cooperation Between ................................... 2 Public Cooperation ............................................................. 45 Publicity and Education .............................................. 121, 181, 196 Purchasing and Distribution ...................................................... 182 R Racine Consumers Cooperative .................................................. 180 Recreation Institute, National Cooperative ................................. 23, 79, 124 Recreation, New Material on ..................................................... 48 Recreation Program of a Trade Union .......................................... 92 Reed, Mabel ................................................................... 37 Regli, Werner E. ............................................................... 199 Resolutions Committee, Report of ............................................... 206 Reviews, Pamphlets and Books ...................... 15, 48, 63, 95, 109, 127, 143, 159 Ringham, F. E ................................................................ 193 Herts, Dr. Kingsley .......................................................... 202 Rochdale Institute ............................... 23, 31, 39, 62, 94. Ill, 126, 170. 200 Roosevelt, Eleanor ........................................................ 19, 22, 58 Roscnblum, Marc .............................................................. 27 Rural Cooperatives ....................................................... _. . .. . 178 Rural Electrification, Cooperative ........................................ 22, 60, 143 Russell, George (AE) ......................................................... 130 Sandburg, Carl ................................................................ 44 * Francis Xavier University .................................................... 95 *Nings on Co-op Editions of Books ... :........'................................ 205 Miools and Cooperatives ...................................................... 195 «*>rd, John R. .............................................................. 18 J-rate Committee on Unemployment and Relief .................................. 58 «did. Dr. Michael ............................................................ 11 *°rt Cut to Fascism in America ................................................ 183 *aU Town Co-op ............................................................ 73 to'*, Robert L. .............................................................. 182 u"d Cooperative Organization and Proper Legislation ............................ .87 Pffln, International Cooperative Alliance Appeal for .............................. 15 TON S UM F R S1 Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Resolution of ........................... ^E X-/ Vw««^ B ^ ^___ ^"™" .____ ^~* *™^ sSZn° cooperatives'::::::::::::::::::::!::::;y//////////////////////;/; 26,'gj 55 /^""*/*""*\ AI fj 8 |"^ /\ I I /*"*\ IV I Student Christian Movement, National Assembly of ........................... ^ / f If 1 I/ L__ IJ / \ I if II X. I IS S±.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: | LX^ V-^ ' L_ F\/-\ I I W l N Sweden ................................................................ 42, 43 ,,, ^"^ Sweden, Cooperative Education in .............................................. ' » nFFlClAL NATIONAL JOU RNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT Sweden, Political Unity of Farmers and Workers in ........................... ," \Jt > ' Swedish Voluntary Producers and Consumers Organizations .................... ^ Switzerland ....................................••....•••••••••••••.......... 24 T Tanner, Vaino ................................................... 24, 25 PEACE-PLENTY-DEMOCRACY Teachers College, Columbia University ........................................ ^ ..«,„•••• rat Teaching of Cooperation in the Public Schools .............................. JQ-J __ _—————————————————————————————-———————————————————————————————— ^Luse-tanAr-^^ » Volume XXIV. No. 1 JANUARY, 1938____________Ten Cents Tihey Starve That We May Eat, a review ...................................... j jg Thompson, Glenn ..............................••....•••••••-.•••••........... 197 Three Depressions and Their Lessons .......................................... 57 /^IID LJ/^DCC C/^n 1OOOI Tomlinson, Charles E. .................................. ...................... 13 WUK Fl^rto I~\Jf\ IVoo! Tompkins, Dr. J. J. ............................................................. 99 Tours, Cooperative ............................................................ 15 Tour of Nova Scotia Cooperatives, a review ...................................... 95 When individuals get through hoping for a happier New Year they are Toward Economic Democracy, a review ......................................... m usually through trying to make it one. We are still hoping and here are some l reasurer s Report ............................................................ 205 of our sincerest hopes. U 1. We hope for a greater economic application of Brotherhood. Union Equity Cooperative Exchange ........................................ 62, 189 2. We hope for an increase of mutual confidence which can only come from United Automobile Workers of America ......................................... 47 economic cooperation, not competition. United Cooperative Society, Maynard ............................................ 77 United Farmers of Ontario ................................................... 12, 21 3. We hope tor the strengthening of political democracy and the greater ex- Unusual Opportunity, An ...................................................... 35 tension of economic democracy. Urban Cooperative, Building An .................................................180 Utah State Federation of Labor, Resolution of ..................................... 12 4. We hope for more rapid progress in organizing Consumers' Cooperatives to reduce prices and Farm Cooperatives and Labor Unions to raise pay. V 5. We hope for the greater extension of public ownership of monopolistic Verdiere, Cardinal .............................................................. 17 ___ utilities and finance. V.O.L.G., Cooperative Wholesale, Switzerland ................................... 24 , . . o. We nope tor wise government assistance to farm and labor producers to -,, enable both groups to gain 'hig'her minimum incomes. Wage Earners Health Association, St. Louis ..................................... V 7. We hope for higher taxation of excessive profits and incomes to remove Wallace, Henry A. .......................................................... 6, 9") tnese stagnant savings from the hands of the -few who cannot consume Walworth, George .......................................................... • • • • 25 them and for social insurances to redistribute them into the pockets of the Warbasse, Dr. J. P. ....................................... 39, 94, 110, 159, 66, 68 millions dispossessed of jobs, incomes and ownership of personal and pro- Webbin9Beatrîce •••••••••••••••••• Y.\\Y.\\\^\\\\\\\\\\\\V.'.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'- .2. 6 ductive property who can consume them. What Is a Cooperate» .......................................................... ! 8. We hope to be able to help in the accomplishment of these economic Whitney, A. F. ................................................................ ,, ajms Whitney, Richard ........................................................... 50' g S' Wood, Robert E. ........................................................ • • • • 90 9. We hope to develop culturally through group recreation. Woodcock, L. E. .......................................................... l"' I, ,n ... Workmen's Mutual Fire Insurance Society ..................................... "• '£ lu- We hope all are increasingly happier through 1938. World Youth Congress ...........................................-•••••••••••• .^ V/orth of a Co-op Trade Marik, The ...............................•••••••••••••• ^ -—- ________________________________________________________________ WPA, Cooperative Project of the ............................................... A"°rgafn to sPread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in uuiuary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. y ublished monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. 36 94 '•,„ E°wen. Editor. Wallace J. Campbell. Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative I outh ....................................................................... 26 journals and Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. \outh Goes Cooperative ..........................................-.---••••••• Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New TorTc. N. T., under the Act ___ of March S, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. COOPERATION BETWEEN PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS E- R- Bowen what is commonly known as ^/Ownership, With his unusual his- »*• *^ , « -t t . . i .1. . THERE are just two basic elements in an economic system—producers and consumers. These two elements cover the entire fields of production and distribu tion. In her pamphlet "The Discovery of the •Consumer," written after forty years of research, Beatrice Webb sums up the significance of a correct analysis of the functions and relationships of producer and consumer groups in these striking words, "I believe this distinction between the kinds of organization—between As sociations of Producers on the one hand and Associations of Consumers on the other—to be no idle fancy, but perhaps the most pregnant and important piece of classification in the whole range of so ciology." \Vho Arc Producers? How Arc They Organized? Producers include only a limited num ber of the entire population. Necessarily they must largely omit small children, the sick, the physically and mentally handi capped, and the aged. The constant tend ency of society is to raise the minimum and lower the maximum ages of those whom it expects to be active full-time producers. The years of production are being shortened at both ends. As society has developed through the ages, three general groups of producers have evolved. They are commonly termed: farmer, labor and professional. Farm producers' organizations have adopted the name "Farm Cooperatives." Labor producers' organizations use the name "Labor Unions." Professional pro ducers' organizations call themselves "Professional Associations." It has been suggested that it would be better if all producers' organizations would adopt the same surname and call themselves "Un ions"—that is "Farm Unions," "Labor Unions" and "Professional Unions"— and leave to consumers' organizations the use of the word "Cooperative" and to social organizations the use of the word "Association." By so doing, a dis cussion of the relationship of consumers, producers and social groups would K greatly clarified. e Fundamentally there is no reason wli every producer should not be a memh ^ of the organized vocational groun *( which he is a part. In no other way his interests as a producer be fully rer) a° sented in any negotiations with consume" groups. There should be, as Beatrice Webb phrases it, a "ubiquitous (Omni present) organization ^ of the producers by hand or by brain." "Who Are Consumers? How Are They Organized? While producers include only a limited and ever decreasing percentage of the population, as we have seen, on the con trary consumers include everybody. A child consumes even before it is born and the aged until their last breath. Neither sickness nor any physical or mental •handicap eliminates anyone from the ranks of consumers. When individual consumers began or ganizing to supply their needs and repre sent their joint interests as consumers in negotiating with organizations of pro ducers, they first of all developed volun tary types of organizations. While these have adopted a number of names, in general they have largely used the name "Cooperative" to describe their organiza tions. There is no field of human con sumption into which voluntary con sumers' cooperative organizations have not entered. It is commonly accepted that it was John T. W. Mitchell, an early President of the English Cooperative Wholesale Society, who early emphasized most clearly the significance of consumers' co operative organization. It was Beatrice Potter (Webb) who drew out of John Mitchell's mind and wrote down m philosophic terms the first clear descrip tion of the modern Consumers' Coopera tive Movement. Later, as told in her au tobiography, "My Apprenticeship/ she met Sidney Webb who led her to an un derstanding of the second type of Conj Burners' Cooperative organization " Consumers' Cooperation u. 1 knowledge and analytic ability, î°njescribed how all forms of public or- izations had evolved from original voluntary types. This second type of nsumer organization Mrs. Webb calls Cu "obligatory" type, as compared with |he original "voluntary" type. To illustrate, originally each person as individual carried his own lantern, cted as his own protector, put out his his own water, delivered his own com munications and taught his own children. In time men learned the advantage of carrying on such functions as voluntary groups of consumers. It was later found that it was inadvisable to depend alto gether upon voluntary organizations in some fields—that a ;policeman could not well ask a citizen who was being slugged whether he belonged to a voluntary pro tective organization, which hired the policeman, before helping him; that the fireman could not wait to ascertain if the house on fire was insured in the volun tary fire association which employed him: that there was no good reason for laying a water main past the house of a citizen and permitting him to refuse to pay his share of the cost. Such consumer func tions accordingly were eventually trans ferred from the "voluntary" to the "obli gatory" type of consumers* cooperatives and the services either paid for out of taxes or by fees on the basis of the amount used. It should be added, to complete tlie statements of the Webbs, that they ad vocate the reorganization of government functions to separate economic from political matters. In other words, they urge that such "obligatory" economic services as water, electricity, communi cation, transportation, etc. should be or ganized separately from the political functions of protection, justice, taxation, etc., and that we should vote as con sumers for those whom we desire to di rect our public economic services sepa rately from voting as citizens for those whom we desire to direct our political affairs. A similar general proposal is also advocated by Toyohiko Kagawa with a descriptive chart of such a suggested governmental reorganization in his book "Brotherhood Economics." The Primacy of the Consumer in an Age of Plenty It is becoming clearer that our eco nomic system is organized on the wrong base to meet our present problems. Ori ginally, Dr. Horace M. Kallen argues in his "Decline and Rise of the Consumer," mankind organized its economic services primarily on a consumer basis. Later the producers became dominant over the consumers. He argues for a reorganiza tion of our economic life on a consumer foundation. "We are born consumers and become producers," says Dr. Kallen; "We are consumers by nature and pro ducers by necessity." Professor Leroy E. Bowman has p'hrased the same thought in somewhat these words, "When the problem was production in an age of PRODUCERS' AND CONSUMERS' ORGANIZATIONS EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS PRODUCER I CONSUMER INTERESTS I INTERESTS IN BUYING HOUSEHOLD GOODS VOCATIONAL GOODS f|F) THROUGH ORGAN! ! tD LABOR UNIONS FAR HA CO-OPS 1938 THROUGH ORGANIZED CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES scarcity it was necessary to organize as producers to solve the production prob lem; now the problem is consumption in an age of plenty and it is necessary to or ganize as consumers to solve the distribu tion problem." Swedish Voluntary Producers' •and Consumers' Organizations In discussing the relationship of Pro ducers' and Consumers' organizations with the leaders of Kooperativa For- tmndet, the general consumers' coopera tive wholesale of Sweden, their interpre tation and the lines along which they are organizing producers' and consumers* •groups in Sweden could be illustrated by the accompanying chart on page 3. Each individual has two economic in terests—his producer interests and his consumer interests. There are two producer interests—the sale of products or services. In some cases producers sell their services direct ly, in other cases they sell their services through the products which they indi vidually produce. Generally farmers and 'fishermen and some other primary pro ducers sell the products of their labor, rather than their labor. On the other hand, factory and office workers and pro fessional people generally sell their serv ices directly. To sell their products farm ers organize marketing cooperatives; workers organize labor unions and pro fessionals organize associations to sell their services. Consumer interests are the purchase of two forms of goods — household goods and vocational goods. Household goods include food, clothing, furniture, sh It etc. Vocational goods include farm plies, workers' tools, and professiSUPi equipment. Both forms of goods—h hold and vocational - are sup f6' through consumers cooperatives T some cases such consumers' coopéra« specialize in household or vocati ^ goods^-whether or not they handle both or only certain goods is altogether a m t ter of efficiency and service to their mem" bers. By organizing farm cooperatives, labor unions and professional associations the producers of Sweden increase the pay they get; by organizing consumers' co operatives and public utilities the con sumers of Sweden reduce the prices they are charged. Thus they distribute pur chasing power widely among the people The Relation o£ Organized Farm Producers and Consumers in Sweden After organizing into voluntary groups the producers and consumers of Sweden have formulated the beginnings of a co operative economic constitution. They have entered into an agreement between the producers and consumers of farm products in which the pay to producers and the price to consumers is determined by a coordinating board representing the two groups, with no private monopoly- middleman or any government authority between them. There is no toll of either profits or interest taken from the pro ducers or consumers, . The chart illus trates the working out of the agreement into which they have entered in the case of some of their farm products. RELATION OF FARMERS AND CONSUMERS FARM PRODUCERS MEAT: 1 l COORDINATING BOARD CONSUMERS COLLECT There is no good reason why the fields f farm producers and consumers' organ- tions cannot be definitely determined If3 joint agreement between the repre- ntatives °f ^e two organized groups. F orn time to time it is probable that cer- •n shifts o'f functions will be found ad- ^isable between the work which organ- • ec| farm producers and organized con- 'timers should perform. The joint board can agree upon such changes from time to time as are in the interests of justice and efficiency. What is needed in the United States is that a more rapid ad vance be made towards the formation of such a cooperative economic constitution as has been done in Sweden. The Relation of Organized Workers and Consumers in Cooperatives It has also been possible to set up similar joint boards to act between the organized workers and consumers in the cooperative movement in many coun tries. In general the agreements entered into between cooperatives and their em ployees are based upon standard labor union contracts with somewhat of an in crease in wages or reduction in hours from the standard, in addition to vaca tions with pay, insurances and better working conditions. Coordinating 'boards are set up to deal with questions which arise as to relationships between the co operatives and their employees, as illus trated. Competitive vs. Cooperative Economic Organization In general the present economic system is illustrated by the chart of the two counters and the two wedges. On the side of the lower counter stand the producers—farmers, labor and pro fessionals. They come to the counter to sell their .products and services. These are purchased by the business and bank ing monopoly-middlemen between the counters. They add a toll in business profits and banking interest. The pro ducers then go around to the other coun ter and buy back as consumers the prod ucts and services they have sold, after being processed, with a toll of profits and interest added. The job of business and bariking is to drive the wedges of profits and interest in farther—which means to force up the prices they charge the people as consumers and force down the pay they give to producers, in order to increase the profits of business and the interest of banking. What, then, is the answer? ; The second chart illustrates what the people are now beginning to organize to do—as consumers and producers to drive back the wedges of profits and interest and push the two counters together so that eventually, as producers, the people will bring to the counter all that they can produce and, as consumers, will divide it up in such a way that everyone will have the plenty which is now possible for alL RELATION OF LABOR AND CONSUMERS LABOR UNIONS COORDINATING BOARD Consumers' Cooperation PROFESSIONAL Jan CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES MANUFACTURING , 1938 A Cooperative Economic Society ions and Consumers' Cooperativ " Dr. Horace Kallen describes the ftV Secretary of Agriculture, Henry A. free society as one where "each cir e Wallace, says that "a cooperative eco- the land would enter twice into er of nomic society will be the living stream of association with his fellows; once mic thought for the twentieth century as a sumer, with all his fellows;' once as ^" ducer with the members only of his ^?" industry or profession." ra"- The ideal towards which we progressing is a self-contained econo^ society of producers and consumers deT ing directly with one another as orqan ized groups, in the same way that ' " dividual producers and consumers on*1" dealt directly with one another. Fortu* nately, we, in the United States, do not have to depend entirely upon theoretical idealism. In the Scandinavian countries these ideals have been applied and have proven to be thoroughly practical. It js only for us to follow their example and apply them to American conditions. What we need in America is not so much either theorizing or even original think ing—both of these have been largely done for us. What we need badly is ac tion in organizing as producers and con- COMPETITIVE WAY century as a political democratic society .was the liv ing stream of thought for the eighteenth century." He appeals for the formation and adoption of an economic constitution on which to build such a cooperative so ciety. He sums up the future cooperative economic society in these words: "The Cooperative way of life must pervade the community, and this means there must be consumers' cooperatives as well as pro ducers' cooperatives." As' comprehensive a summary as has been made of the future cooperative eco nomic society of organized producers and consumers is contained in Beatrice Webb's pamphlet "The Discovery of the Consumer." In concluding this pamphlet she says, "Unless I completely misinter pret the irresistible ground-swell of (British) democracy, it is this consumers' cooperation, in its twofold form of volun tary association of mem- sumers. bers (in what we now Icnow as the cooperative society) and obligatory association of citizens (in the economic enterprises of national as well as lo cal government) — all of them in organic connec tion with an equally ubi quitous organization of the producers by hand or by brain (in farm cooper atives, trade unions and professional associations) which will constitute the greater part of the social order of a hundred years hence." Toyohiko Kagawa of Japan, considered iby many as the world's most practical idealist says, "if producers and consumers come together in a spirit of cooDeration, then so ciety has coordination. Then producers are con sumers and consumers are producers . . . We must organize Producers' Un- FARMER COMPETITION VERSUS COOPERATION FARMER COOPERATIVE WAY LABOR PROFESSIONAL THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 0F THE FARMERS' UNION Gladys Talbott Edwards, Cooperative Education Service LABOR PROFESSIONAL Consumers' Cooperation ORE important than organizing new _ cooperatives is 'building an educa- * nal program as a foundation for them. """That is the belief and the practice of , farmers Union Central Exchange, Ie farmers Union Terminal Association d the Farmers Union Livestock Com- ajssjon. It is also the belief and practice f the state divisions of the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America whose members own these co operative agencies at St. Paul, Minne- The Farmers Union membership of the states of North Dakota, Montana, Min nesota and Wisconsin take seriously the word, "educational" in the name of their organization. It comes first in the title and it therefore comes first in their pro gram. Growing Cooperatives— A Greater Need for Education Each state has a well-developed pro gram of Junior education, under super vision of a state director. But as the co operative businesses sprang up in greater and greater numbers, a need was felt for a coordinating office which could assist in keeping the educational program apace with the cooperative development. So the Farmers Union Cooperative Education Service came into being. In North Dako ta, for instance, cooperative oil compa nies affiliated with the Central Exchange, blanket the state in a network of cooper atives. It is the proud boast of the Farm ers Union membership that a man may traverse the entire state and never put a : gallon of any but cooperatively owned i gasoline in his gas tank. The coopera tives rank second only to Standard Oil in North Dakota. The Farmers Union membership owns not only petroleum cooperatives, but creameries, elevators, shipping associa tions, poultry and egg processing plants, stores and credit unions. Only a thorough jjira constant educational program could *eep this varied group of cooperatives 3we and functioning. To meet the need tor added educational facilities, the state January, 1938 organizations of Farmers Union, together with the Farmers Union Central Ex change and other terminal businesses, owned by the states, formed a central education office called the Farmers Union Cooperative Education Service. This of fice acts as a coordinating and distribut ing unit for educational material used by the states and the business activities, thus cutting costs and eliminating duplication. The educational program of the Farmers Union embraces age groups from eight to eighty. It is comprised of such elements as text books and lesson outlines for reg ular classes, essay and four-minute speech projects, study circles, winter in stitutes, summer camps, county leadership schools, circulating library and a monthly program service to locals. A Program for Juniors The Junior members of the Farmers Union are designated by the Constitu tion as being those c'hildren of members, who are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. All rights and privileges of dues-paying members are theirs. They are already a part of the Farmers Union and their educational program is designed to give them full understanding of the cooperative movement. A Junior Leader is in charge of educa tional work in each local. Juniors are or ganized into classes.—not into separate locals. A study topic is chosen for the year and lessons are prepared upon this topic. These lessons are studied by the Junior classes. Culmination of the annual topic is through an essay contest. Juniors learn to speak adequately and briefly upon a current topic through the four-minute speech project which also culminates in a national contest. Out of the four-minute speech project which was originated in North Dakota has grown the minuteman project. Young people desirous of gaining additional experience in public speaking, meet with various groups and deliver speeches upon the co operative movement. A final qualifying speech is then given, upon which the speaker must be prepared to answer questions asked by the audience. If he has delivered his speech and can answer the questions upon it in a manner satis fying to his judges, he is awarded his minuteman badge and his name is added to the roll of minutemen in the Junior de partment records. Thereafter, when there is need of a speaker in that minuteman's territory, he is assigned the job. Minute- men have done fine work in organizing and selling share capital in new. coopera tives. They have worked for peace legis lation and have done a splendid job of publicizing cooperative enterprise. The minuteman badge is an oxidized silver disk bearing the insignia of a lan tern. The task of the minutemen is to keep the light of knowledge burning, to awaken their sleeping fellows to their need to band together. Girls as well as boys become minutemen. Cooperative Summer Camps Summer camps were started for the Junior members, as was all the rest of the educational program of the Farmers Union. Like the rest of the program, they now take in all age groups. Subjects taught in summer camps are: public speaking since no one may be a truly capable cooperator unless he is able to express himself; parliamentary usage-— since cooperators must operate their own businesses and must know the rules by which they can do so; social problems-— because cooperators must know what forces are at work in the world today, the relationship of one group of society to another, and the effect of the various problems of society upon the individual; cooperative history and principles^~be- cause cooperators must know what has gone before, and what principles to ap ply in solving their problems; and com munity recreation, drama and handicraft —because the cooperative movement is by nature a folk movement and people must learn to play together if they are ever to learn to work together. Some 5000 young people have at tended Farmers Union Camps since they were made a part of the program in 1934. The camp idea has spread from North Dakota and Montana, which states ini tiated it in 1934, to Wisconsin; Minne sota, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. The summer camp season now ends with a ten-day session at an All State Camp centrally located. This yea students from six states and visitors fr *' eleven states attended the All-State Ça m which was in the Black Hills of S™ J! Dakota. Uth Training Leaders The Junior program of education can not be carried on without trained leader ship so county training schools for lead ers are conducted. Thus, the educational work is carried into the adult field. The same topics as are taught at the Junior camps are taught in these schools, with the addition of a course upon the annual study topic. These are examples of the topics chosen: world peace, the coopera tive movement, the machine age, money and credit, and peace and patriotism. Workers Education under W.P.A. has turned to the Farmers Union for help in making up courses and in several states has carried on a rural workers' education program, under supervision of the Farm ers Union. Leadership camps are now sponsored by North Dakota, Montana, and Wis consin organizations where the adult members may meet to study and discuss their work in the cooperative movement and community leadership. The classes in leadership camps are largely discussion classes. Winter institutes from three to four weeks duration are conducted for a group whose ages range between eight een and thirty-five years. Older students are accepted if they are leaders in their community or if they are employed by cooperative business institutions. Soda! science, economics, public speaking, practical parliamentary work through operating theïr own cooperative meal as sociation, and recreation, drama and handicraft are the courses given at the institutes. Part of this work is done by volunteer instructors from colleges lo cated in the states sponsoring the insti tutes. Junior Reserves Children younger than Juniors are called Junior Reserves. They are thirteen to fifteen years, inclusive. Their studies are conducted by class work in the loo union, but an older Junior is often tn teacher for a Reserve class. Unit one for Reserves is a study of the history of the O0perative movement and the Farmers Union- Unit two is a study of economic History with the use of the basic text, "Story Without End" by Leslie A. Paul. Unit tHree is a study of cooperative achievement throughout the world. Other njts will be developed for use later. Re serves have their own camps or classes at camp which is another training ground for Juniors who help to staff the Reserve camp- Reserves also have the opportunity in North Dakota and Wisconsin of study ing the cooperative movement in High School. It is a compulsory course in Wis- consin'-an elective course in North Da kota. As the Twig is Bent Children from eight to twelve are Juveniles. Their studies are carried on in the same way as the Juniors and Re serves, through classes in the local. Juniors often teach these classes, also. Montana conducts county camps for Juveniles with Juniors and leaders from within the county on the staff. Juveniles study stories of cooperative history, weed eradication, the lessons written from the social angle, conservation of birds and wild flowers, and little lessons in citizenship. A Living Ideal Class meetings for these young people in rural areas often offer their major so cial contact. They assist with the pro grams put on by their locals, and take part in county and state conventions. They feel themselves and they are, an active part of their organization. Their cooperatives represent a living ideal to them. A circulating library composed of books which are too costly for most in dividuals to buy is maintained by the Education Service for use of the mem bership in the states surrounding it. A monthly program service is also pre pared by the various State Directors and sent in printed form to locals in many states. This monthly program is an aid to local leaders who have had no train ing in preparing entertainment. It is also a source of material to people who have, very often, no other place from which to obtain material. A well-planned and executed program goes far toward getting new persons interested in the work being done by cooperatives in a given territory. The Farmers Union Central Exchange has found that its operating costs are cut because its educational work is carried on by the membership of the Farmers Union locals—a labor of love, performed gratis, and all the more effective because of it. WHY CHURCH PEOPLE TAKE TO CO-OPS Sylvanus M. Duvall, Associate Professor of Economics, George Williams College I HE almost pathetic eagerness with which many church people, and es pecially leaders, have welcomed cooper ation to their collective bosoms, merits an understanding which it has usually not received. The rash of articles on coopéra tion with which religious journals have suddenly broken out has described the movement and discussed its supposed ""»its and limitations. Of greater signifi- ^ce. to the Church, is an appreciation °' the nature of the pent-up pressure of social idealism which has for so long awaited a suitable channel for expression, Consumers' Cooperation January; and the possibilities of cooperation of adequately furnishing such an outlet, Christianity and Economics The discovery of the social implications of Christianity opened up for many a whole new area of religious living and belief which was entrancing. Economic motives and practices seemed to explain much of the lack of progress in the world, and the apparent inability of the Church to function more effectively in the solu tion of human problems. The Kingdom of God, conceived in social terms, gave to 9 religious activities a meaning and a goal which did much to inspire both confi dence and consecrated effort. The first joyous response consisted mainly in preaching the "social gospel" and passing resolutions. We students used to sweep down upon conventions with carefully prepared resolutions de manding changed economic practices, the abolition of the profit motive and what not, in the name of the Christian ideal. We had fun in those days: just as the small boys in and around Boston in 1775 had fun snowballing the British soldiers. And like them, we were terribly in earnest about a really serious problem. As preachers we lashed our congrega tions with devastating indictments and demands for speedy economic reconstruc tion. I am frankly amazed at the tolerance of our business men members who loy ally continued to pay the salaries of those who flogged them. It was a thrilling ex perience; all this resolving and declaim ing. And as long as it remained fun, we did not stop long to evaluate it. But after a while the newness wore off. The an noyance of the "enemy" with our verbal snowballs grew tame. Snowballs Won't Stop Depressions Not only tame, but obviously futile. The tornado of depression blew us out of our comfortable security and close enough to the precipice of economic col lapse so that we could look over the brink —and shudder. Something more than preaching was needed here. The volcano of Mars had not been shattered by its previous eruption. Suddenly it burst forth, covering Ethiopia, Spain, and China, and filling us all with dread with its ominous rumblings. No snowball res olutions were going to stop that. In America, the fires of labor disputes spread with a rapidity and lack of con trol which gave real concern. Every where strikers and worlkers were on the march; blood was being shed. No pro gram of quietly walking to church and listening to our "powerful" sermons was going to solve this situation. We could no longer remain content merely to let our intellectual and spiritual motors run "free engine"; no matter how smoothly they purred, or how frighteningly they roared. We just had to have some way of gearing them into an actual program in 10 which we could see that we were act accomplishing results. a"V The Idealist Faces Reality But what to do? Communism, fasc- and other forms of dictatorship Were Sm pugnant. Socialism? The Socialist Pa'f was steadily losing ground. Furtherr^/ would the turning over of our comnl ' industrial structure to a group of u * doubtedly sincere idealists result in an^ thing but a mess? Some joined the picket lines and .tihrew in .their lot with the labo movement; in a few cases, even resiqnino their pulpits or chairs to do so. But there most church leaders are not at home. Per haps they are frightened by the revela tions of racketeering and dictatorship in the movement. More likely they are just not built, temperamentally, for the rigors unpleasantnesses and fighting involved So there they were; sincere idealists, with an earnest determination to contribute to a solution of our social problems, but with no place in which they seemed to fit. And then along came the cooperative movement, like a veritable Sir Galahad, to rescue the fair maiden of ideals from the castle of futility and frustration. In the first place, it actually embodied the Christian ideal of service as the primary purpose of business. O yes, private en terprise talks much of 'service', and ac tually does render important services. But it serves in order to get. Services are rendered primarily as a means to a great er end, and that end is private profit, which means that someone makes money out of someone else. It is taken for granted that services which do not pay. at least in 'good will with a potential cash value, will not be given. The whole busi ness relationship is fundamentally that of people who are trying to get as much as possible out of each other. Thus the pur chaser tries to get as much value as pos sible, regardless of the interests of the merchant, and the merchant tries to get as much profit as possible out of the cus tomer. While personal considerations are by no means absent, the whole atmos phere tends to be, every man on guard against his neighbor. "in the cooperative movement, this whole situation is reversed. The enter prise exists as one that serveth in order actually to serve; not to make P™tltso The whole idea of the movement is to k Consumers' Cooperation to every individual, all excess expenses which would otherwise u taken from him in the form of profits. Therefore no one makes anything out of vbody else- This tends to eliminate, t only the incentive to cheat, but also V incentive to persuade tlie customer make purchases contrary to his own •„terests. Needless to point out, the whole 'tmosphere toward personal relationships becomes transformed. Consumers coop eration furnishes a technique which makes it possible for individuals to act spiritually toward each other in their eco nomic relationships. The significance of this possibility can .hardly be over-esti mated. Other considerations, hardly less im portant, have commended the cooperative movement to religious people. Most im portant, it is an action program; some thing which can be done; right now, even by timid professional people. You can actually see the results of your 'ef forts. No more having to wait until the majority voted the socialist ticket. Nor need you risk too much on the outcomes of sudden and sweeping changes. You could start at the bottom and build up; learn from vour mistakes without piling up a debt which threatens the whole monetary structure. Furthermore, it was essentially democratic, and in harmony with the best of American traditions. In •the cooperative movement, then, church people have seen a technique for a sane, orderly, and growingly successful pro gram of action. No wonder they have fairly flocked into the movement; often with more zeal than understanding. Will the movement "succeed?" Cer tainly cooperation is no patent medicine for the solution of all human problems from fallen arches to dandruff. It will no more prevent fascism than typhoid innoc- ulations will prevent automobile acci dents or the bubonic plague. Further more, its significance for the Church is not primarily economic, but spiritual. For many, it has proved a veritable manna in a wilderness of frustration. It has given to many church people the first solid food for their ideals which they have ever had. For such, the saw of idealism has at last got its teeth into a real log. No wonder it sings. CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES IN ACTION Superior, Wisconsin — Central Coop erative Wholesale, in cooperation with local cooperative stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, will launch its first series of circuit schools Jor employee training January 3. The schools will be held at 18 points in the whole sale's territory and will consist of three sessions at eac'h point. Classes will be held in the evening so that employees from all neighboring co-op stores may at tend. The training will deal with tech nical points concerning advertising and service for groceries, appliances and auto equipment. Minneapolis — Every working day in the first 10 months of 1937 a 20-car train- load of petroleum products moved out of *e plant of Midland Cooperative Wholesale consigned to local retail co operatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Midland's 160,000-gallon-a-day vol ume is expected to total 48,000,000 gal- '°ns of gasoline, lubricating oil, and fuel oil for 1937. During the first 10 months the Jam co-op exceeded its business for the luary, 1935 entire year of 1936 and shipments were 1,003 cars greater than for the same pe riod last year, an increase of 24.95%. The first ten months business totaled 5,023 cars, and it is expected that the volume for the year will exceed 6,000 car loads. Harrisburg, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, organized four years ago, did a business of $24,000 and accumulated a net worth of $2,200 during its first year of business. •During the first nine months of 1937 business totaled $745,699 and is expected to exceed a million dollars by the end of December. Volume for the first nine months was a quarter of a million dollars greater than for the entire preceding year. Calculated on a nine month basis, the growth of the co-op wholesale has been 94%. Three new county-wide cooperatives have been organized and two other coun ty units are almost ready for operation. Net worth of the state-wide organization is estimated at $67,000 while the ten 11 I operating county units have an additional net worth of $109,000. This striking de velopment is best described in terms of casli sales: 1934 ............. $24,837 1935 ............. 274,868 1936 ............. 511,887 1937 (nine months)''754.699 Elk City, Okla.~Dr. Midhael Shadid, chief of the staff of the Farmers Union Cooperative Hospital here, -won the first skirmish with the local medical society and the State Board of Medical Exam iners in the latter's attempt to revoke his license to pratice. The Oklahoma Medical Society wanted the case tried before the State Board of Medical Examiners. The Supreme Court of Oklahoma, however, has handed down a decision refusing to issue a -writ of pro hibition sought by the Board of Medical Examiners to prohibit the district judge from trying Dr. Shadid's case. As a result of the decision the Board of Medical Ex aminers will have to go before the district court to show cause why Dr. Shadid's license should be revoked. This decision will take the case out of the hands of the Medical Society. Toronto, Ontario—The United Farm ers of Ontario, -which recently became a member of National Cooperatives, Inc., proposed, the union of all the cooperatives in the Province in one association at its annual convention here November 24. E. R. Bowen, general secretary of The Cooperative League of the USA, was one of the featured speakers at the conven tion. He described the cooperatives in Europe -which he visited last summer and pointed out the effect of the co-ops in solving the problems of poverty, unem ployment and tenancy. Agnes MoPhail, Member of Parlia ment, described Mr. Bowen's addresses as masterpieces of graphic presentation. Washington, D. C.—More than 2,200 families in New York own and operate cooperative apartments, according to a survey of cooperative housing just com pleted 'by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. The apart ments have an appraised value of $10,- 293,000. J2 The development of cooperative Ti ing in the United States has been thusT almost entirely in the apartment-h field; it has been concentrated in qre fe New York and has been restricted bv tlf large amount of capital necessarv t building. Of the 39 projects for whirl statistics are available, 35 are in Br t lyn, Bronx and Manhattan. Two n projects are being developed in N&W York, the other two in Wisconsin. &W The co-op apartments in New Yo k have been built to meet almost every il come level. They range from an 8 apart" ment dwelling to a twelve-story apart] ment house with a pent house and an eight-building, 730-apartment project Most apartments are 2, 3, or 4 rooms' The value of the apartments vary from $75 to $700, depending on the location or type, while rentals range from $4 per room per month to $12 per room per month with the single exception of one co-op estimating its rental value at $22 per room per month. In addition to operating the apartments the co-op associations maintain stores, milk delivery, laundry, electric power, summer camps, classes and recreation. Cloquet, Minnesota—America's largest retail cooperative is still growing. During the first 11 months of 1937 business to taled $1,059,354 and it is expected thaf the volume will pass $1,150,000 by the first of the year. Salt Lake City, Utah—The Utah State Federation of Labor, meeting here for its thirty-third annual convention, endorsed the formation of Consumer Cooperatives and urged their organization by organ ized labor. The resolution, approved unanimously by the convention, is as fol lows: "WHEREAS, labor unions are economic or ganizations designed to increase the living standards of workers through obtaining higher wages and improving working conditions, and "WHEREAS, Cooperative organizations similarly are economic organizations designed to increase the living standards of workers by lowering prices of goods and services t>y reducing profits and overcharges, "Therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Utah State Federation of Labor in its thirty- third annual convention assembled, does nere- by endorse the formation of ConsumertC°j operatives and credit unions, and urges in organization among organized labor. Consumers' Cooperation KECKRATION Ellen Edwards Editor ART, LIFE AND COOPERATION Charles E. Tomlinson (Editor's note: This article is an abstract of a amphlet of the same title written by Charles E. Tomlinson, publicity director of the Cooperative Wholesale Society, Manchester, in 1925.) ART and Cooperation are two forces working along parallel lines to the goal of perfection. The one is ideal: the other is practical. Each stands for social service. The artistic nature, like the co operative nature, is sympathetic. It can not live to itself alone; it must give pleas ure and inspiration to others in terms of art. True Art and True Cooperation can only spring from free and voluntary ef fort; and in their expression they are above nations. They may be, by circum stances of race and country, national in character; but in their essentials and in their ultimate they are international, no frontiers barring their progress, no creed narrowing their scope, no color blinding their outlook. The empire of Art is world wide, and Cooperation is enthroned in the great heart of Humanity. Art is a spiritual triumph. Cooperation is a triumph over materialism. The ideal of Art is Beauty — that is Perfection, whether in man or material. Art is the history of man's efforts in the past to wards that ideal; it is the expression of man s hope of achievement in the present; and it is the inspiration for attainment in 4e future. The ideal of Cooperation is beauty in living, the perfection of Hu manity. Cooperation is the history of man's struggles towards that ideal; it is the greatest political expression of our nope of present-day advancement; and it 15 the inspiration for the salvation of Hu manity. The story of Art is the story of Man's Evolution. The story of Coopera- h°n is the story of Human Progress. Januarv, 1938 The Machine—Master of Man It has been said that the special func tion of the Nineteenth Century was to banish the picturesque. Certain it is that the greatest period of Art was in the Middle Ages. The masters and the men of the craft guilds held Labor sacred as the handmaid of Art. A piece of work was then a complete achievement of a man's own effort, an artistic accomplish ment, an expression of his individuality. Alas, the artisan is now no longer the devotee of Art, but the slave of Machine ry. Today the brain and the (fingers of the craftsman make not "a thing of beau ty and a joy forever" from out a shape less mass and dedicate it .to the service of the people. Everything nowadays is a mechanical creation, an aggregation of standardized parts. 'Machinery, and not Man "is the master of things." And man suffers in body and soul under the domi nation of the Frankenstein of his own creation. The mission of Art is to inspire Man to take possession of himself, and the ministry of Cooperation is to help him to do so by teaching him how to become the master of the machine, the com mander of his soul. The Elizabethan Age was the most glorious art period in our island story; in fact, England with her Shakespeare and fellow dramatists, her Spencer and a ring of poets, her Bacon and other philoso phers, her school of native music com posers who still are masters of the madri gal, was then mistress of the world in matters artistic. The Victorian Age, the other brilliant period in the history of our country, saw the art li'fe of the people sacrificed to the twin gods of Mammon and Machinery, -with their profit-making, labor-saving, but soul-destroying doc- -13 J trines. The baser gold of trade and com merce became the currency of the na tion's thought and activities instead of the pure gold of Art. Competition—The Blight of Art The reign of Competition was ushered in with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and a blight fell on Art. The nineteenth century became highly mate rialistic. The spiritual life of the people, for which all true Art stands, began to revive, however, with the awakening of •the new democracy when voices were heard in the wilderness crying out the way of salvation through Cooperation. Competition truly is death—the death of all the highest motives in man—the anni hilation of the soul. Cooperation is life— the preservation of the noblest ideals— the uplifting of man to the heights of the eternal verities. Competition stands for fraud, deceit, ugliness. Cooperation is the very antith esis of Competition, and so is at one with Art, which stands (for honesty, truth and beauty. Art, therefore, has its definite place in the Cooperative Movement; and the importance of the cultivation of art- should be recognized in cooperative edu cational work equally with instruction in the matters of science which concern the more materialistic side of our activities. Cooperation Restoring Civilization Art and Cooperation seek not to make profit, but to bring joy into life. Coopef- ators! we say we want the best in every thing. Let us prove our words. Our home should be a treasury of things beautiful. Let us have the most artistic furniture of cooperative production that our means can afford, instead df the monstrosities in wood and iron that oft encumber our dwellings. Let us make our homes pleas ing to the eye with wall-papers of artistic merit and pictures that cheer and inspire. Let us go forth to our work and pleasure clad in garments of taste and style. Let our needs for entertainments be minis tered unto by means of refinement. Let us keep our lives 'bright and our memories sweet with festivals, anniversaries and pageants. Let us make the refreshing in fluence of art ifelt not only in our cooper ative societies but in the wider coopera tive organizations, our municipalities. H The virtue of cooperation was reve 1 A to us by Robert Owen; with the twent eig'ht poor weavers of Rochdale bee/ the peaceful revolution through coope ° tion; and, today, under the world-\vid" influence of cooperation, man, both as ' * dividual and in the mass, is having a 1/°" value set upon him. "Art," says Lavate* "is nothing but the highest sagacity and exertion of Human Nature." Cooperatio is the practical means towards that encf The one is aesthetic; the other is ethical The cooperative estimate of humanity means a new outlook on li'fe—on the in dividual and his relations to the family to the community, to the nation, and to the world. The Cooperative Movement is a struggle, not against individuals or any class or party, but against a social system based on selfishness and working through competition. Our destiny is the Coopera tive Commonwealth, which shall have for foundation sure and strong the freedom of the individual to develop himself, in peace and through industry, for service in the common good. The Comradeship of Art and Cooperation Cooperation makes ifor the right under standing of life, and through its collective thought, has a culture distinctly its own. And why not an art? "The conscious utterance of thought by speech or action, to any end, is art," according to Ralph Waldo Emerson. What better medium for an all-embracing effort? The earnest longing for the betterment of humanity, the glowing hope for the progress of the people, the fervent faith in the salvation of the world through cooperation, what inspiration is here for poets and painters, musicians and singers, architects and sculptors, orators and dramatists! Art and Cooperation, in glorious com radeship, stand for grace in thought, gra- ciousness of speech, and gracefulness in action, and so will make life sweeter and nobler, because animated by that unify ing energizing principle. "Those who desire," declared Water Crane, "to 'build up a larger and fuller human life, based upon collective owner ship of the means of material existence m a cooperative commonwealth, cannot af ford to leave Art out of account, as the great source of joy, the harmonizing in fluence of beauty, the spirit of order and Consumers' Cooperation rtion, at once creative and adaptive, of 'lifting men's thoughts on to the j fftièst plane- and yet, withal, a sweet I iliar and domestic spirit, cheering and forting, and gladdening the eyes with (ai and color, as it sheds its refining in- jïence everywhere." CO-OP TOURS New York— The Cooperative League •ill sponsor three cooperative tours dur- * the summer of 1938, arranging for ' jpS to visit cooperatives in Europe, Nova Scotia and the Middlewest. The Trip to Cooperative Europe will be the fifth consecutive tour sponsored by The League and as in previous years will visit the democratic countries of North ern Europe. The Cooperative 'Conference- 1 our ot Nova Scotia in 1937 met with such re sponse that two sections of the tour are being planned for this coming summer. Ninety religious, educational and co-op leaders visited the Maritime provinces on the tour last year. The tour of the Midwestern coopera tive wholesales now being arranged for this -coming summer will be the first com prehensive tour of its kind. New York —- The Manhattan Con sumers Cooperative Federation made a collective buying contract with a private laundry a little over a year ago. Last month business was large enough to war rant the hiring of a full-time manager to pick up and deliver laundry for co-op members. FOR THE COOPERATORS OF SPAIN The International Cooperative Alliance has ad dressed its fourth appeal to the cooperators of the world in behalf of the cooperatives, the cooper ators and their families in Spain. Not only homes, but cities, towns and villages have been destroyed in an orgy of wanton de- structioa Spanish cooperators in defending their own liberties are fighting for the maintenance of those| institutions of democracy and human rights which constitute the foundation and ideals of our cooperative system." Money is urgently needed to supply food and tU ut0 tf101153110^ of cooperators who have lost ™°r homes. Funds should be addressed to The «"operative League, 167 West 12 Street, New ork City; they will be forwarded to the I.C.A. «Purchase food and medical supplies which will sent directly to cooperators in Spain. Jam , 1938 New Co-op. Literature Cooperative Health Associations, by the Execu tive Board of the Bureau of Cooperative Medi cine, published by the Bureau of Cooperative Medicine, 32 pages, 25c. The Bureau of Cooperative Medicine has com piled general information about medical care in the U. S. and the need for Cooperative Medicine to make health protection available for the people who are not now adequately served. The pamphlet will be reviewed in an early issue of Consumers' Cooperation. Creative Pioneers, by Sherwood Eddy and Kirby Page, published by the Association Press, 161 pages 50c. Paper covers. Sherwood Eddy and Kirby Page have written this book primarily for college students. It is basically a book urging them to enter the three primary fields of Consumer, Producer and Public economic organization—.namely, Consumer Co operatives, Labor Unions, Farm Cooperatives and Public Utilities. These three major fields of eco nomic activities are discussed in the first three chapters of the book. The fourth chapter dis cusses race relationships; then follows a chapter on choosing a vocation or avocation, with the concluding chapter discussing social religion. This is a practical book. It is not up in the clouds discussing a "Heaven on Earth" or a "Co operative Commonwealth." While there will probably be some disagreement with the authors as to the classification of the fields of cooperative and public economic activities, these différences of. opinion can readily be eliminated by the pro cess of democratic discussion and practical or ganization. There are pages in the book suggesting definitely the possible vocations in cooperative, labor and public utility fields which should be of great help to the youth of America. This book might be termed the barrage of "A Crusade for Cooperation" which may be similar to the Student Volunteer Movement. The sugges tion is made of a possible "Student Social Action Movement." Such a movement might well adopt a slogan "A Cooperative World in This Genera tion," similar to the slogan adopted by the Student Volunteer Movement "The Evangelizing of the World in This Generation." The authors state that they are not attempting to form a new or ganization and rightfully conclude, "If there is to be a student movement for social action, the stu dents themselves will have to go forward in this day, as those of the former generation did in their day. Each generation has to build their new order within the framework of the old; and they have to do it themselves." It is to be regretted that in the cooperative chapter the authors failed to tell the life stories of a few outstanding cooperative leaders, after whom students might well pattern, as the chapters on labor and politics cited illustrations of such leaders. This book doubtless will be widely used in dis cussion groups on college campuses as well as by other study groups. It fills a long felt need. 15 THE PRESS BOOSTS CONSUMERS' COOPERATION Boilermakers Journal, November, "Organization Answer to H. C. L.", Albert H. Jenkins. Federal Consumers' Counsel holds cooperation is the answer to soaring prices. Better Times, December, "Cooperation as a Social Force," J. P. Warbasse. The importance of the cooperative movement to the social worker as a solution to many of our problems. Booklist. October 15, "The Consumers Coopera tive Movement," J. P. Warbasse. A general survey of the .principles and development of the cooperative movement. Business Week, October 23, "Trlnle Cooperative Test"; a story of the Workers Aim Cooperative Association at Heightstown, New Jersey. Christian Century. November 24, "See Coopera tives in Nova Scotia," J. Henry Carpenter. A report on The Cooperative League Tour to Nova Scotia this past summer. Commonweal, December 3 and December 10, "Workers' Cooperatives," Joseph H. Fichter. In the first of these two splendid articles the author tells of the working conditions in cooperative factories and stores as revealed by the Presi dent's Commission. The second article deals -with the necessity of a close alliance between the labor 'r^ovement and the cooperative move ment and the steps that are being taken in this direction. Consumers Guidf. November 1, "Should Con sumers Unite?" Consumers' Counsel D. E. Montgomery sums up the case for consumer organization. The Cowhell, November, "Nova Scotia—Land of CO-OP Enterprise," R. H. Elsworth. Mr. Els- worth, a member of the Nova Scotia Tour last summer, tells of the cooperative developments in the sections visited. Indians at Wfrk, December 1, "A Word About Cooperation," Edward Hufoerman. An ele mentary discussion of the necessity for con sumers cooperation, and what co-ops can do. International Tournai of. Religious Education, No vember, "Cooperatives in Europe," a survey of European co-ops based on the Report of the President's Commission. Midwest Mutual News, September, "Must Coop eratives Be Built from the Ground Up to be Run Successfully?",^ Albert J. Hanglin. The author's answer is "yes." Monthly Labor Review, October, "Consumers Cooperatives in Chicago," Sidney N. Gubin. One of a series of spot studies made for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May and June, 1937, in connection with its general survey of cooperative associations. November, "Cooperative Housing in 1936," a survey of cooperative housing. Valuable statis tical material. 16 New York Teacher, November, "Labor operatives," Jacob DracMer. A ' " ganized labor to join the cooperative ^ *° ON to "make New York a co-op town." ment Presbvferian Tribune, November "Con of Nova Scotia." J. Henry "• ' ' rector of The Cooperative League Nova R6 •'" Tour, describes what the .group saw fhi C0fia mer. sum- Th«- Queen's Work. October. "In Nova Ç Three Men Drive Povertv Plumb Crazy " M excellent material about the cooperative d T opments in Nova Scotia. e'~ November, "An Open Letter to All Who TV i, Co-ops Destroy Small Business," Georao A McDonald, S. T. The author feels that the sm li grocery man should welcome the opportunities that cooperatives offer to the experienced honest retailer, rather than fighting against tb.' movement. Railwav Clerk, November. "Organization Answer to H.C.L.", Albert H. Jenkins. Scholastic. October 16, Special Consumers COOD- praHve Edition. Nearly all of this issue of this high school weekly is devoted to articles and features on the cooperative movement. "Labor and Cooperatives," "Cooperation and the British Press," "Help Wanted in the Co-ops." "Cooperative Housing in Sweden" and a co-op radio play are some of the feature articles. Ex cellent illustrations. Welcome News, October, "Scandinavia Shows the Way," Grace Maclnnis. Women and Missions. November. "New Wavs for Old." Dorothy Franklin. The story of the Delta Cooperative Farm at Rochdale, Missis sippi. COOPERATIVE PAMPHLET CLUB OF 1935 The Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Associa tion last year formed its first Cooperative Pamnhlet Club. With a $1.00 membership fee it distributed one pamphlet a month to its members for as many months as possible with the capital subscribed. Through group buying, the 766 mem bers of the pamphlet club made a patronage saving of 23c on the dollar, which was returned to them in additional literature. Beginning January 1, the second club will get under way. Among the early selections are: Education and the New Social Order, by John Dewey. , *i Producers and Consumers Cooperation, by Mur ray D. Lincoln. Cooperative Recreation, by Carl Hutchmson. Although most of the members of the club are in Ohio, persons outside the state may J™1 . the same fee. Subscriptions should be sent to Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Library, North High Street, Columbus, Ohio. Consumers' Cooperation CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY- DEMOCRACY Volume XXIV. No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1938 Ten Cents COOPERATIVE CO IMENTS "The consumer problem is in a very real sense a labor problem," said Wil liam Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, in a letter to the Cost of Living Conference, conducted bv Consumers' National Federation in New York City. What labor must do is to take on itself the burden of solving its "consumer problem," which can only be done by the organization of voluntary consumer cooperatives. We do not know when we have read a truer statement relative to economic and political action than the following by Mr. H. G. Keeney, President of the Nebraska Farmers' Union and newly- elected ^Vice-Président of the National Farmers' Union: "I do not think we are going to solve our economic problems through political action but through Co operation. We will get favorable and helpful legislation just about in propor tion to our economic strength and we develop our economic strength through Cooperation." Spokesmen for Big Business have learned a few words which they repeat like parrots: "Repeal Taxes," which real ly means "lighten the load on the rich"; "Balance the Budget," which really means "reduce relief payments to the poor"; "Get the government out of busi ness," which really means "let utility rates rise." An unusual statement was made by Cardinal Verdiere, Archbishop of Paris, as reported in the New York Times, The Cardinal said "During the three social stages of slavery, serfdom and wage- earning through which it has passed, humanity has been obliged to make an incessant effort to throw off the chains that one of its groups has loaded upon the other, and revolutions in the last analysis only represent a new emancipation of the sacrificed classes. When one studies closely these periodic crises that convulse the world, it will be found that they have no other object than to achieve greater equality and a fairer place for the indi vidual, that is to say, for everybody." *vr!îfE^n 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. "bushed monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S A.. 167 West 12th Street. New York City. J™,,BTen Ertiror- Wallace J. Campbell. Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative _^urnals and Educational Directors of Cooperative Wholesales and District Leagues. ntered <" Second Class Matter, December 19, isn, at the Post Office at New York, N. T., under the Act of March 1, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. Who is Right? Before leaving for Florida in his pri vate plane, Mr. U. S. Business declared that America would swing immediately into an age of prosperity such as we have not before enjoyed if Congress would give to business "the green light" by re pealing the undistributed profits tax, modifying the capital gains tax and bal ancing the budget. Just after spending his last pay check as a result of being laid off, Mr. U. S. Worker declared, before going on relief, that "when the excess incomes of the few are distributed to the many through in creased pay and reduced prices, then per manent prosperity for all will arrive." Go To Nova Scotia Next August The January issue of "The Interna tional Journal of Religious Education," published in Chicago, contains a splendid article by John R. Scotford on "Adult Education in Nova Scotia." Dr. Scotford is Editorial Secretary of the Commission on Missions of the General Council of Congregational and Christian Churches. He was a member of the Cooperative Tour of Nova Scotia last summer and makes several very important observa tions on the adult education program there. Dr. M. M. Coady, the inspiring leader of the movement, told Dr. Scotford that the economic problem is also the great religious, educational and political prob lem today. Economically, Mr. Scotford empha sizes the cash benefits to the members, and also adds "The manager of a coop erative store confessed that it was far more satisfying to return dividends to his members than to make profits for him self." Educationally, Dr. Coady declares, "There is nothing which encourages in tellectual activity more than thinking which pays." Mr. Scotford adds, after talking with members of cooperatives, "Once they felt themselves lost in a hope less maze; now they are experiencing the thrill of being a part of a movement which is going places." Religiously, Dr. Coady says, "If drawing men together in a common purpose is not religion, then what is?" Politically the implications of 18 the movement are clear, for it is Onl extending the principles of dernocrL which are liberty and equality t0 ?' building of an economic democracy th t political democracy can be preserved *'* It now appears that a large number of Americans are likely to take the Co erative League Tours to Nova Scor" next August to see first hand these stud'1 circles and cooperatives. ^" The False Face of .Big Business That Big Business talks one thing and does the opposite thing is indicated by the eight-point platform adopted by the 2nd Annual Congress of American In dustry, called by the National Associa tion of Manufacturers. What Big Busi ness says and what Big Business does is summarized below: 1—Big Business encourages private initiative. YET the development of monopolies, which is rapidly taking place, is destroying privaie initiative. 2—Big Business promotes sound industrial prac tices. YET industry produces shoddy and adulterated products and sells them on credit terms, both of which are the opposite of sound business practices. 3—Big Business supports equitable employment relations. YET the LaFollette Committee in vestigation reveals that industry spends mil lions on a labor spy system which breaks down the foundation of friendly relations. 4—Big Business creates new and broader markets. YET Assistant Attorney General Jackson stated in a recent radio address that industry "Priced itself out of the market" instead ol creating broader markets. 5—Big Business makes contructive efforts to alle viate depression effects. YET industry lays off employees and continues to pay high salaries to officers and dividends to stockholders, which deepens rather than alleviates the depression effects. 6—Big Business supports sound government poli cies. YET Big Business violently opposes equitable taxation and social insurances as well as public utilities, which are the soundest kind of government economic policies. 7—Big Business cooperates with agriculture. YE1 monopoly processors of farm products force down the prices to producers to the lowest point possible. 8—Big Business stands for peace. YET private- profiteering, which is the heart of monopolistic industry, is the primary cause of War. It is because the people are seeing through the false face of Big Business more rapidly With each passing day that they are .organizing themselves as con sumers, producers and citizens, to taKe over business and operate it in the in terests of all the people. ____ Consumers' Cooperation LADY VISITS THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE MY DAY HYDE PARK, Sundays-One citizen of these United States spent a most interesting hour and a quarter yesterday morning being educated in the coopera tive movement in the United States. She went to The Cooperative League, at 167 \V. 12th St., New York City, and talked with Mr. Eugene R. Bowen, the general secretary, and Mr. Wallace J. Campbell, the assistant secretary. The opening conversation explained how little she knew of what was going on in the cooperatives of this country. She thought it best to admit this at once, knowing it would be found out in a very short time. Then she was shown a map with the location of the large wholesale cooperatives. They deal almost entirely in farm supplies, such as seed, feed, fer tilizer and gas and oil. Only a few of them have dealt in groceries but these are now expanding. The whole movement is in its infancy here in comparison with the way it has developed in Sweden and in England, where it serves not only the needs of the By Eleanor Roosevelt lower income group, but as a balance wheel to the general price level. After a short time. Dr. James Peter Warbasse, president of The Cooperative League, came in and announced he had just been giving his examinations at the only medical college which requires a knowledge of cooperative medicine, the Long Island College of Medicine and Surgery. He feels this branch of medicine is still getting scant recognition, but as forty per cent of our people are either unable to avail themselves of medical services because of cost, or because they live where such services are impossible to obtain, it seems obvious that something in the nature of cooperative medical and dental services will have to be furnished. I would have liked to visit the cooper ative institute on the upper floor, but I was late and could only murmur that I hoped to return some-day, A dentist ap pointment kept creeping up on me in spite of my interest in the cooperative and finally I had to dash off. (Reprinted with permission of United Features Syndicate.) Mrs. Roosevelt (right) Dr. J. P. Warbasse (center) E. R. Bowen (left) February, 1938 19 A FARM LEADER LOOKS AHEAD Murray D. Executive Ohio Farm COOPERATIVE HIGHLIGHTS OF 1937 (Extracts from an article "What Will 1938 Bring Forth?" in Ohio Farm Bureau News, January, 1938). EVERYBODY wants economic securi ty, a decent income, a permanent job. protection against accident and sickness, enough money to take care of one in old age and so forth. Enough for All Blessed as is this nation, particularly with natural resources, there is enough to provide everyone with the above desired -objectives. But because of the present economic and political system they are denied the great mass of people. And the people have within their own hands the tools to assure them. We must keep re peating that until it is accepted, and un dertake action to secure these desired objectives for the people. How are we going to get them? First'—organization. The individual is helpless in the present complex system of society. You can't go it alone. And as I have said so often—the cost of organization is never as great as the cost of the lack of it. Producer Organizations Needed We first need organization of groups who have a similarity of interests—farm ers, laborers, white collared workers, small business men. and others. You must Tiave producer organization first. Consumers Organization Needed Second—then after we have producer organizations developed we must find the community of interests between groups and work out a program of common ob jectives. That does not necessarily mean that the different groups will agree on every thing. That is not possible until we find •one common meeting-ground. There is such a common meeting- 20 ground but people are not ready to accent it as yet. We are all consumers—that s the only eventual common meetinq- ground for all our people. It's the only place where we have a complete similari ty of interest. But we have thought of ourselves so long as producers that \ve can't see the woods because of the trees —yet. We will some day. Farmers must find a common meetinq- ground with the laboring people for they constitute, with farmers, the great group of folks in America who have too low in comes. Consequently, we as farmers have a similar problem with the laboring peo ple, and somehow must find ways and means of working with them. Now be sure you understand me. I said the laboring people. I have the same re servations about some of the labor unions that you have. But they are here. They are the only organized groups represent ing (to whatever small or large degree of effectiveness) the American laboring man. Organize! Organize! Finally, economic power leads to polit ical power and in turn those two deter mine what our social development is to be. So to me, we need organization first, and much stronger farm organizations than we have ever had to date. Then we need to work with other people in Amer ica who have a similarity of interests. Third, we need to develop our own eco nomic power. This will come through the development of cooperative services owned and controlled by the people who use them, with profits going back to those who made the business possible in the first place. This increases mass purchas ing power which is a primary need in America today. The tragedy of this whole situation is that people have within their own hands the tools to fashion their own destiny » they will but use them. However, we are making progress. Consumers' Cooperation NINETEEN thirty-seven was a year of marked cooperative progress, not nly because the cooperative movement rew in volume and membership and en tered new fields but also because it at tracted greater attention from the world at large than it had in any previous year. With the Cooperative Wholesales Central Cooperative Wholesale, or ganized in 1917 with $15.50 capital, celebrated its 20th Anniversary with as sets of $262,000 and is supplying 140 co operative stores with $3,000,000 worth of goods a year. Consumers Cooperative Association, North Kansas City, established a coop erative grease factory and continued its shipments of co-op blended oil to co operatives in Europe. Midland Co-op Wholesale, Minnea polis, ended its tenth year with its volume ($3,000,000) ten times that of its first year; was shipping a 20-car trainload of petroleum products a day to local coop eratives; and made plans to add a gro cery department. Midland, CCA and CCW made a joint contract to take the complete output of an oil refinery in Oklahoma. The Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insur ance Co., Columbus, became the 7th largest mutual casualty company in the U. S. Late in November it was granted a license to write auto insurance for co- operators in New York State. The Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association passed the $5,000,000 mark for annual volume—the first time in its history. United Cooperatives, Inc., with headquarters in Indianapolis, completed construction of its new $150,000 oil com pounding plant and made plans for a smaller plant in Warren, Pennsylvania. Farmers Union Central Exchange, St. Paul, built its volume to well over $4,- 000,000 and is serving 240 retail cooper atives in the North Western states. Grange Cooperative Wholesale, Seat- Ue, strengthened the relationship between the Wholesale and the retail cooperatives uary, 1938 it serves by providing for election of directors directly from cooperative units rather than from corresponding Grange units. Co-op business was reported up 30% over 1936. Pacific Supply Cooperative, Walla Walla, Washington, and Consumers Co operatives Associated, Amarillo, Texas, showed steady gains. CCA estimated on the basis of early returns that purchases were 50% larger than in 1936. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, New York, opened its own warehouse in Sep tember, 1936, after acting as a brokerage buying agency for eastern co-ops for several years. In 1937 business increased 90% over its total for the previous year. The number of local organizations served jumped from 45 to 195, and the year's sales were expected to pass half a million dollars. Cooperative Distributors, New York, shifted to traditional one-price policy to conform to Rochdale practice and elected to its helm Professor Raymond Walsh of Harvard. United Farmers of Ontario was ad mitted to mem'bership in National Coop eratives, Inc. thereby stretching the co op wholesale federation's influence be yond national boundaries. The Coopera tive Wholesale which was also admitted to membership in National Co-ops, moved to new headquarters in Chicago and piled up new record volumes each- month as the year drew to its close. The Cooperative Life Insurance Com pany of America added $6,000,000 worth of insurance bringing its total insurance in force to $20,000,000. Workmen's Mu tual Fire Insurance Society, New York, completed its 65th year of continuous operation with 67,800 members, assets of $1,120,000 and $85,900,000 worth of in surance in force. Two years ago the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association began operations. Nineteen thirty-seven found it serving ten county-wide cooperatives, business was 86% ahead of last year and' driving steadily toward an annual busi ness of a million dollars. 21 Special Events of 1937 In a year studded with important de velopments these were some of the most outstanding events: The report of the Inquiry on Coopera tive Enterprise in Europe was presented to President Roosevelt in April after the six-man commission had spent almost a year in its preparation. To date no of ficial action has been taken. The Congress of the International Co operative Alliance in Paris, attended by 10 American delegates, clarified the Rochdale Principles: created an interna tional organization of cooperative youth and took action to set up an office of the International Cooperative Wholesale Society in London. Edward A. Filene, Boston merchant and father of the credit union movement in the US, who a year earlier set up Con sumer Distribution Corporation with as sets of $1,000,000 to organize a chain of cooperative department stores, died in Paris a few days after the close of the ICA Congress. Anders Hedberg, executive of the Co operative Union of Sweden, and Sydney Elliott, Editor of the British cooperative Sunday newspaper Reynold's News, toured the American cooperatives under the auspices of The Cooperative League. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt "dropped in" at the office of The Cooperative League December 18 to discuss the growth of the cooperative movement with leaders of the American movement. The Cooperative Builder changed from a semi-monthly to a weekly co-op news paper in March. The Farmers Union, at its national convention in Omaha, "went cooperative" by making the development of cooperatives the major emphasis of its national program. Rural Electrification made its greatest progress to date. Dur ing the year the Rural Electrification Ad ministration loaned $33,000,000 to coop eratives for the erection of lines and plants for the distribution of power. Important Support from Other Fields Endorsements of the consumers coop erative movement were voted by the conventions of the American Federation of Labor, the United Rubber Workers of America and the Steel Workers Organ izing Committee in addition to a number 22 of state and local labor organizations Governor Herbert Lehman of the Sta of New York endorsed consumer coo eratives in his annual message to tk" New York State Legislature and ad cated the organization of milk cooper°" tives as yardsticks to determine thp f •" <• r «n lair price of milk. The Federal Trade Commission, jn tu report of its study on Agricultural In come, declared that "the heavy costs of distribution cannot expect to be kept in satisfactory check without consumer co operatives." But before the reoort was published that section was withdrawn Most significant events of the year as far as support from religious organiza tions were concerned were: The formation of a special committee on the Church and Cooperatives as a section of the Industrial Division of the Federal Council of Churches; Important emphasis on the cooperative movement at the Catholic Rural Life Conference at Richmond; And the National Assembly of the Stu dent Christian Movement and the Na tional Conference of Methodist Youth which took uncompromising positions in support of the consumers cooperative movement. Educational Progress In the field of cooperative education several extremely important steps were taken. The State of Minnesota approved the expenditure of $5,000 for the prepara tion of study materials on consumers co operation and cooperative marketing to be used in the public schools. The North Dakota State Legislature also approved a bill providing for instruction in con sumer cooperation and cooperative mar keting in the public schools. A survey of the teaching of consumers cooperation in colleges, conducted by The Cooperative League, showed 18 colleges with specific courses on the co operative movement and an additional 131 colleges and universities where the cooperative movement is discussed in courses in marketing, economics and sociology. , In the number of institutes conducted, the Northern States Cooperative League led all other cooperative organizations. 'ft, Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative As iatic*1 pioneered in cooperative camp S? rk with 20 camps from three to ten j^ vs duration for youth, employees and coooerative executives. A National Cooperative Recreation Institute in Des Moines in June drew 50 tudents, many of them education and »creation directors of cooperatives. Im mediately following the institute educa tional directors and editors from coop eratives throughout the country met for a three-day conference. Tours of Nova Scotia and Europe took more than a hundred cooperators to make intensive studies of the cooperative movement in those sections. For honors in reaching the general public with the cooperative idea, a medal of the year could well be awarded to the March of Time's newsreel on "Finland's 20th Birthday" which displayed pictures of Finnish co-ops in 11,000 theatres throughout the country. New Worlds to Conquer New organizations which date their of ficial existence from 1937, many of them pioneering in new fields, include the fol lowing organizations: The Cooperative College, New York, sponsored by The Cooperative League as a training school for prospective coop erative educators and executives; The Bureau of Cooperative Medicine, to educate for and advise in the forma tion of cooperative health associations; The Cooperative Book Club, also in New York, which will act as cooperative purchasing agent buying books of all types for members in all sections of the country; And Greenbelt Cooperative Services, set up by Consumer Distribution Cor poration to assist in putting all the com mercial enterprises in the government's model town at Greenbelt, Maryland, on a cooperative basis. Big Broadcasts of 1937 Several cooperative wholesales and a number of local cooperatives launched Jugular radio programs during the year, twelve national broadcasts over coast- to-coast hookups of the National Broad casting Company, the Columbia Broad casting System and the new Mutual Consumers' Cooperation February, 1938 Broadcasting System were arranged dur ing the year. "America's Town Meeting"—NBC—Jan. 21 Murray D. Lincoln "Cooperatives and American Progress" Edward A. Filene NBC—Feb. 10 "College Cooperative Symposium"—CBS—Apr. 17 Wm. Moore, Sam Beers and others "Consumers Cooperation"—a Debate—MBS— T. P. Warbasse and Michael Schaap May 16 "Cooperative Enterprise in Europe"—CBS— Jacob Baker May 19 "Let's Talk it Over"—NBC—Aug. 2 Inez \Veed Jones "Consumer Cooperation Analyzed"—CBS— Dr. James Palmer Aug. 11 Farm and Home Hour—England's Co-ops Sydney Elliott NBC—Aug. 13 ICA Connress—Broadcast from Paris—CBS— Vaino Tanner and Howard Cowden Sept. 8 Filene Memorial Broadcast—CBS—Oct. 29 Dr. Warbasse, Orchard and Garrison University of Chicago Forum—CBS—Nov. 14 Anders Hedberp Africa's Town Meeting—NB'C—Dec. 23 Cooperative Medicine—Kingsley Roberts Publications of 1937 Outstanding in the periodical field were a special cooperative issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social .Science, May, a comprehensive survey of the American consumer cooperatives in the March is sue of Fortune, and a special cooperative issue of Scholastic, the National High School Weekly, October 16. Books and Pamphlets published during the year included: "Report of the Inquiry on Cooperative Enterprise in Eurooe" "Cooperative Enterprise," bv Jacob Baker "The English Cooperatives," by Svdney Elliott "The Brave Years," by William Heyliger "Cooperative Ideals and Problems," by Anders Gerne "The Cooperative Movement in Sweden," by Axel Gjores "Swedish Consumers in Cooperation," Anders Hedberg "Cooperation: The Dominant Economic Idea of the Future," by Henry Wallace "The Consumers Cooperative Movement," by Harry Laidler and Wallace J. Campbell "Cooperation: The Middle Way for America?" by Paul Douglas "Cooperatives," A Headline Book, by R. A. Goslin "A Primer of Bookkeeping for Cooperatives," by Werner Regli "Consumers Cooperatives," by Rev. Edgar _ Schmeidler, OSB "A Primer of Cooperative Medicine," Bureau of Cooperative Medicine "Cooperative Health Associations," by J. P. War- basse, Kingsley Roberts and others. 23 CONSUMERS' COOPERATION DEFINED WE all need to learn to talk the same cooperative language. To this end The Cooperative League has submitted to the International Coop erative Alliance for acceptance as a world-wide definition of Consumers' Co operation the following, "Consumers' Co operation, in its broadest sense, is under stood to mean the cooperative purchasing of all forms of food, goods and services by ultimate users organized on the basis of Rochdale principles." European Interpretation The Cooperative Wholesale, VOLG of Winterthur, Switzerland, as nearly as any other, was similar in its earlier be ginnings to most of the cooperative wholesales in the United States. The Re port of the Inquiry on Cooperative Enter prise in Europe says in describing VOLG, "Consumer Cooperation among the rural population began near Winter thur with the organization of a society that engaged at first only in the joint pur chase of artificial fertilizer, but later added other farm supplies and consumers' goods." It should be particularly noted that the report says that "Consumer Co operation among farmers started with the joint purchase of fertilizer," which is one of the principal items in farm supplies. The Swedish Cooperative Wholesale KF has published a pamphlet entitled "Farmers' and Consumers' Cooperation." In this pamphlet they have a diagram showing the consumer and producer eco nomic interest of farmer, labor and pro fessional groups. The chart showing the consumer economic interests of farmers describes them as of two types, namely: the cooperative purchasing of household goods and the cooperative purchasing of vocational goods. As used by KF, the word "vocational" includes all forms of farm supplies. The subheads in the pamphlet further clarify their definition of the Consumers' Cooperative Move ment. The subheads read, "The Farmer as a Household Consumer" and "The Farmer as a Vocational Consumer." Un der the first heading of "The Farmer as a Household Consumer" they discus ti i- 1 • 1 e ^^Uot) tflP cooperative purchasing by farmers of n forms of household supplies. Under tin second heading of "The Farmer as * Vocational Consumer" they include th** cooperative purchasing by farmers o[ afl forms of farm supplies. A new book describing the cooperative movement in Norway includes the co operative purchasing of all forms of goods as parts of Consumers Cooperation It says, "Taking all the members of the dif ferent consumers cooperative organiza tions into consideration: the Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society, the inde pendent cooperative societies and the co operative purchasing pools, it is a safe estimate that between 30 and 35 per cent or one-third of the population of Norway are members of cooperative consumers' societies of one kind or another. On a trip through France, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, England and Scotland we discussed this subject of the correct definition of Consumers' Coop eration with the leaders in each country. Universally the leaders with whom we talked declared personally that they con sidered the cooperative purchasing of farm supplies to be part of the Con sumers' Cooperative Movement. Vaino Tanner, President of the Inter national Cooperative Alliance, General Manager of the Elanto Society of Hel- singfors and Minister of Finance of Fin land, said, "We have two great Con sumers' Cooperative groups in Finland.' The newer Cooperative Wholesale group, with which he is directly con nected, namely OTK, handles both household and domestic goods in the one organization. In the case of the other Co operative Wholesale group, as a result of mistaken theorizing in the early be ginning, so we were told, the wholesaling of farm supplies was organized sePa^fJ ly from the wholesaling of household supplies, although both are considered as part of Consumers' Cooperation, ana the products of both wholesales are dis tributed through the same retail coopera tives. , A separate cooperative wholesale Consumers' Cooperation farm supplies was at one time [ in England but failed and re- 1 cooperatives which handle farm sup- 'T s are members of the Cooperative Wholesale Society, which is the largest C nsumers' Cooperative Wholesale in , world. Ge