The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed in the DjVu format at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/HD2951xC776/co26 or http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/ugafax/HD2951xC776/co26 CO-OPERATION PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY The Co-operative League of U. S. A. VOLUME XII January—December 1926 •f CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE OF U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City 1926 INDEX A Accounting, Cost ................................................................ 56 Adams, Mass. .......................-...........••••••••••-•••••••••••••••..•.•• 122 Agricultural Societies in France................................................... 29 Alanne, V. S. ................................................................203, 228 Alberta Co-operative League ...................................................... 192 Alien, Thomas ................................................................... 213 Amalgamated Credit Union .....................................................73, 175 American Consumers' Alliance ..................................................... 156 American Institute of Co-operation................................................ 171 Annual Financial Eeport of Co-operative League.................................... 217 Auditing Bureau .............................................................. 44, 76 Auditing Dept., Kansas Farmers' Union............................................ 94 Auditing Not Enough ............................................................ 26 B Bakery, Co-operative .......................................................... 13, 61 Banks, Co-operative ...........................................................63, 74 Banks, Labor .............................................................27, 49, 188 Bankers and Christians .......................................................... 45 Bankers Unfriendly to Co-operative Banks........................................... 53 Bearcreek, Montana .............................................................. 194 Belmont, Mass. .................................................................. 122 Benld, Illinois ................................................................... 110 Bergengren, Eoy F. ..........................................................205, 229 Berlin Co-operative Theatre ....................................................... 191 Blaha, Joseph ................................................................... 3 Bjorkman, C. E. ................................................................. 139 Blackwell, A. S. ................................................................. 139 Blauvelt, A. LaT. ................................................................ 69 Bohemian Co-operators in U. S..................................................... 3 Book Eeviews ..........................................15, 116, 126, 136, 177, 195, 224 Book-shop, Co-operative .......................................................... 157 Books for Christmas Sale......................................................... 216 Brady, Peter J. ................................................................. 27 Branch, E. E. .....................:............................................. 229 Bread Consumers' Dollar ......................................................... 209 Bread Trust ..................................................................... 13 Breth, J. A. ..................................................................... 118 Bristol, Ct. ...................................................................... 124 British Congress Eesolution Against War........................................... 132 British Co-operative Problems .................................................... 25 British Co-operatives . . ........................................................ 34, 192 British Co-operatives Help Towns.................................................. 105 British Co-operative Employment .................................................. 71 British Labor Leader on Co-operation.............................................. 50 British Strikes . . . ............................................................... 131 Brookhart, Smith W. ............................................................. 205 Brooklyn Workers Home .......................................................... 76 Brownsville Bakery .............................................................. 62 Building Loan Association ........................................................ 177 Burandt, F. F. ............................................................... 206, 230 Business Methods, Sound ......................................................... 44 INDEX Page Camp, A Co-operative ........................................................ 173, 223 Cambridge, Mass. ..................................................-••••••••••••• 122 Canadian Co-operative Union ................................................... 26, 192 Capital, Co-operative, Helps Private Business........................................ 109 Cartoon Contest ..............................................................-18, 158 Central States Co-operative League........................................ 135, 158, 198 Chain Store Profits .............................................................. 112 Cheel, M. W. ...............................................................-147, 162 Cherry Valley, Pa., E. E. & E. C. Association......................................... 76 Christopher, HI., Co-op. Undertaking Assn........................................... 157 Churches on Co-operation ......................................................... Ill Classes in Co-operative Societies, All............................................... 144 Cleveland, O., Czecho-Slovak Co-operatives........................................... 74 Clifton, N. J. .................................................................... 124 Clinton, Mass. ...............................................................110, 123 Cloquet, Minn. ................................................................... 141 Coal, British: How About Co-operation............................................. 169 Coal, Cost of .................................................................... 126 Coal, How Co-operatives Save on ............. 1..................................... 50 Coal Mine, Shilbottle ............................................................. 10 Colleges, A Trip Among N. E...................................................... 160 Combinations, Large ............................................................. 84 Commercialism in Co-operative Movement........................................... 106 Compagnie Nationale du Ehone .................................................... 108 Competitors, Co-operate with Your ................................................. 84 Compulsory Co-operation ......................................................... 26 Conference of Eastern Societies..................................................... 97 Congress, Fifth ...............................91, 133, 161, 167, 185, 202, 207, 226, 228 Consumers' Co-op. Credit Union ................................................... 76 Contests Among School Children.................................................... 86 Contrasts, Co-operative ........................................................... 147 Co-operation and the Labor Movement.............................................. 229 Co-operation in the U. S. ..................................................... .226, 227 Co-operation Pays for Minnesota Highways......................................... 129 Co-operative Central Exchange .............................................. 33, 55, 113 Co-operative Home Builders in N. Y................................................ 22 Co-operative Housing De Luxe .................................................... 222 Co-operative Educational Association .............................................. 31 Co-operative League . . .......................................................... 226 Co-operative League Officers ................................................... 230, 231 Co-operative Marketing, Principles and Practices of.......................... 94, 210, 224 Co-operative Theatre . . ...................................................... 106, 191 Co-operative Beview, The ......................................................... 193 Co-operative Union of Great Britain............................................... 109 Corporation Versus Co-operation in Cost of Coal..................................... 126 Correspondence File ............................ 17, 18, 38, 58, 79, 99, 118, 138, 199, 239 Cost Accounting System .......................................................... 56 Cotterill, A. E. .................................................................. 229 Course of Development of Socialism (Book Eeview)................................. 116 Creamery, Co-operative (Waukegan) ............................................... 82 Creamery, Franklin Co-operative (Minneapolis)...........32, 55, 72, 95, 106, 148, 182, 228 Credit Union, National, Extension Bureau .......................................... 229 Credit Unions ..............................................12, 53, 73, 76, 95, 175, 229 Critcliley, Joseph ................................................................ 225 Curing Ills with Bills. ............................................................ 44 C. W. S. Jubilee in New York...................................................... Ill Czecho-Slovak Co-operatives in Cleveland, O. ........................................ 74 INDEX D Danish Co-operative Bank ......................................................... 50 Davies, John E., Speaks on Co-operation............................................. 4 Debs, Eugene ................................................................... 225 Dillonvale, O. .................................................................... 1 Directors' Page ................................................. .14, 34, 159, 179, 218 Disarmament, The Need for Total.................................................. 153 Discipline Among Co-operative Workers ............................................. 125 District Leagues .................................35, 55, 75, 95, 113, 158, 178, 197, 228 Dollar Distribution ............................................................... 176 Eastern States Co-operatives .................................. .55, 75, 97, 114, 121, 197 Economics, Co-operative .......................................................... 89 Educational Campaign at Waukegan............................................... 215 Educational Work at Minneapolis............................................... 72, 95 Electric Light and Power, Co-operative. ............................................ 93 Electric Transmission, Farmers' .................................................. 13 Emme, J. F. ..................................................................... 119 Employment in Non-Profit Business................................................ 71 Endowment Fund, League ........................................................ 117 Epstein, Abraham ............................................................... 175 Failures Among Co-operatives.................................................. 110, 112 Fairhope, Ala. ................................................................... 75 Fake Co-operative League ...................................................... 94, 157 Farmer-Labor Summer School ..................................................... 156 Farmer, Living Wages for......................................................... 155 Farmer Viewpoint on Co-operation................................................. 87 Farmers As Co-operators ......................................................... 7 Farmers, Co-operative, in Oklahoma................................................. 174. Farmers' Co-operative Wholesale in Nebraska....................................... 52 Farmers In Eevolt ............................................................... 214 Farmers' Mutual Telephone, Washington........................................... 41 Farmers of Alberta .............................................................. 187 Farmers' Organizations .......................................................... Ill Farmers Union Mutual Life Insurance Co........................................... 92 Farmers Win Fight for Bank ..................................................... 176 Fascist Government, Protest to .................................................... 74 Fascist Persecution, Eesolution on ................................................. 52 Fascisti, Does Mexico Have Its..................................................... 109 Fat and Lean Years in Co-operative Movement....................................... 105 Financing Co-operative Housing ................................................... 223 Finland, Co-operators in .......................................................... 108 Finnish Co-operative Courses ...................................................... 113 Finnish Co-operative Trading Assn. ................................................ 13 First Co-operative Convention, 1914................................................ 210 Fitchburg, Mass. ...................................................... 32, 68, 102, 123 Foreign News ........................................9, 50, 70, 108, 131, 162, 191, 212 Fraley, Edgar S. ................................................................. 79 Franklin Co-operative Creamery ........................ 32, 55, 72, 95, 106, 148, 182, 228 Franklin Women's Guild ...................................:..................... 176 French Co-operative Societies ...................................................... 29 Fundamentals, Getting Close to the................................................. 224 INDEX Page INDEX K Page Gardner, Mass., United Co-operative Society......................................... 77 Gasoline, Co-operative ............................................................ 112 German Cities Join Co-operative Societies........................................... 125 German Industrial Productive Societies............................................. 1-54 Germany, Consumers' Co-op. Movement in........................................... 137 Get-Eich-Quick Co-operators ....................................................... 95 Giant Power Under Co-operative Control............................................ 108 Gide, Charles ................................................................133, 209 Goss, Albert S. ...............................................................203, 231 Governed, It Costs Us a Lot to Be.................................................. 86 Government and Co-operative Control .............................................. 108 Government to Supply Pood ....................................................... 45 Graham, James D. ............................................................... 214 Grange Exchange, N". Y........................................................... 72 Grange, Washington ...........:......................-........................ 148, 162 Greenhead, England .............................................................. 193 Grocers, Lots of ................................................................. 208 H Halonen, George .............................................................204, 229 Halten, Olaf ..................................................................... 206 Harrisville, E. I. ................................................................. 123 Herron, L. S. ..................................................................58, 87 Highways, Minnesota ............................................................ 129 Hillsboro Co-operative Association, Illinois.........................:................ 193 History, Making ................................................................. 210 Holmes, Emil .................................................................... 18 Housing Bill ..................................................................64, 73 Housing, Co-operative (N. Y.) ...........................................21, 23, 78, 222 Huddersfield, England ............................................................ 192 Hull, J. T. ...................................................................... 230 Ideal Co-operative Society ......................................................... 213 Illinois Miners . . ............................................................... 193 Illinois Societies . . .......................................................... 149, 157 Income Tax ..................................................................... 53 Industrial Arts Co-operative ...................................................... 69 Installment Business ............................................................. 16G Institute of Co-operation .......................................................... 171 Insurance . . ........................................... .............54, 92, 154, 229 International Co-operative Congress ............................................ 230, 234 International Co-operative School ................................................. 92 International Co-operative Women's Guild.......................................... 152 International Co-operators' Day ............................................... 103, 130 Iowa Farmers' Union ......................................................... 149, 174 Italy, Co-operative Movement In.................................................. 4, 125 Jaeggi, Bernhard ................................................................ 70 Jardine, W. M. .................................................................. 187 Johnson, Geo. J. ................................................................. 113 Journalism, Good ................................................................ 32 Kansas Farmers Union ........................................................... 94 Keen, Geo. ...........................................................-26, 44, 228,232 Keeney, Pres., Neb. Farmers Union................................................ 225 Labor and Capital Co-operate ..................................................... 194 Labor and Co-operative Movement ................................... <............. 229 Labor Bank on Wrong Side....................................................... 188 Labor Becoming Less Militant, Is................................................. 175 Labor Leader on Producers' and Consumers' C. M................................ 127, 146 Labor Party On Co-operation ..................................................... 10 Landauer, Walter ..................'.............................................. 58 Lavergne, Bernard ............................................................... 29 Laws ....................................................................11, 26, 31 Leaders, Why Have We Lost Those................................................. 165 Lectures, At Co-operative Educational Assn., Bklyn. ................................. 64 Lecturing, I Go A................................................................ 150 Leomiuster, Mass. ............................................................... 123 Les Co-operatives de Consommation en France........................................ 29 Liberty . . ...................................................................... 24 Life Insurance ........................................................54, 92, 154, 229 Life, Not Wages ................................................................ 65 Lindeman, E. C. ................................................................. 6 Literature, Sale of Co-operative.................................................... 209 Litho Credit Union .............................................................. 77 Loan Association, Building ........................................................ 177 Long, C. .............4, 5, 26, 46, 65, 86, 106, 126, 145., 165, 188, 202, 208, 210, 225, 230 M McNary-Haugen Bill ............................................................. 44 Maiden, Mass., Progressive Workmen's Credit Union................................. 95 Management, Store ................................................ 14, 34, 44, 179, 218 Managers' Conference ............................................................ 186 Malmgren, Carl ................................................................. 118 Manitoba Co-operative Wheat Producers.........................................214, 230 Marketing, Co-operative ................................................... 94, 196, 229 Maspeth, N. Y. .................................................................. 124 Maynard, Mass., United Co-op. Society............................................. 77 Meddling, Some More Official...................................................... 50 Mercer, T. W. ................................................................ 10, 138 Mexico, In ...................................................................... 51, 109 Middleman, The ........................................ .^ ...................... 13, 187 Milk, Co-operative ...........'................................................. 106, 182 Milk, Uncomplicated ............................................................ 104 Milk Wagon Drivers' Union....................................................... 65 Mill, Co-operative ................................................................ 162 Mine Disaster ................................................................... 234 Minnesota and Its Many Co-operatives.............................................. 182 Moore, U. G. ..................................................................46, 118 Morann, Pa., Co-operative Association.............................................. 76 Morrow, Should We Take Thought of the.......................................... 25 Movies .....................................................................223, 231 Mussolini . . .................................................................. 9 Muste, A. J. ..................................................................... 66 INDEX N Page Nearing, Scott ................................................................... 38 Nebraska Farmers Union State Exchange........................................... 52 New Co-operative Co. ............................................................. 2 New England Co-operatives ....................................................... 122 New Era Association ..........................................................54, 229 New Haven, Ct. ................................................................. 124 New York Co-operatives .......................................................... 31 • Niemela, W. ...................................................................3, 199 Nitgedaiget, Camp ............................................................... 173 Nordby, H. I. ................................................................203, 228 Northern States Co-operative League..................35, 75, 114, 135, 158, 178, 1&5-, 198 Norwood, Mass., United Co-op. Society.............................................. 78 Nova Scotia Miners Flock to Co-operation.......................................... 51 Nurmi, H. V. .................................................................... 228 0 Oberoutcheff, C. M. .............................................................. 17 Oerne, Anders ................................................................... 51 Official, The Co-operative ......................................................... 25 Ohio Co-operative Banks Among the First.......................................... 1, 2 Oklahoma . ..................................................................... 174 Pascoag, R. I. ................................................................... ... Passaic Strikers Aided ........................................................... 174 Paterson, N. J. .................................................................. 124 Patronage Dividends . . .......................................................... 155 Patronage Voting . . ............................................................. 188 Penetrating Co-operative Jungle .................................................. 122 Pittsfield, Mass. ................................................................. 122 Place of Producers' and Consumers' Movement...................................... 6 Poisson, Ernest .................................................................. 116 Poland . . ....................................................................... 71 Political Neutrality .............................................................. 93 President's Address .............................................................. 226 Prices, Reducing ................................................................. 212 Producers' and Consumers' Co-operative Movement...... 5, 6, 27, 46, 66, 87, 106, 127, 146, 189, 232 Producers' Co-operative Industries in U. S. ......................................... 215 "Produktion" . . ............................................................... 154 Profitable Industry .............................................................. 224 Progressive Workmen's Credit Union............................................... 95 Prosperity, Is the Auto an Index of................................................ 224 Punishing Our Bad Co-operators................................................... 145 Questions on Co-operative Movement................................................ 9 R Kansom, F. W. .................................................................. 230 Eecreation . . . .................................................................. 159 Eecreation, with Co-op. Housing. ................................................... 223 Eegli, W. E. ................................................................ -228, 235 Eeno, Milo ...................................................................... 229 Resolutions ...............................................................52, 93, 230 INDEX Eestaurants . . .....................-••••••..•••••-•••.••••••••••..••..•..•.•..••. 12 Retail Stores Fail ................................................................ 112 Eoanoke, Illinois ................................................................ 193 Bonn, Eskel .................................................................204, 229 Russia ..............................................................38, 94, 172, 213 Sagamore, Mass. ................................................................. 123 Sales, Increase of ................................................................ 24 Saylesville, R. I. ................................................................. 123 School, A Consumers' Co-operative..............................................31, 113 School, International Co-operative .................................................. 92 School, Summer .................................................................. 156 Seattle, Wash. ................................................................... 162 Seward, Gertrude C. .............................................................. 169 Shilbottle, Eng., Coal Mine........................................................ 10 Shortening Working Hours ....................................................... 11 Siegler, A. A. ................................................................... 229 Single Tax ..................... ............................................... 75 Socialism, Development of ........................................................ 116 Soo Society Passes Half Million Mark.............................................. 93 So. Framingham, Mass. .......................................................... 123 Sparta, 111. ...................................................................... 157 Stafford Springs, Ct., Workers' Co-op. Union........................................ 77 Statement of Co-operative League.......:.......................................... 57 Statistics . . .......................................................... 94, 95, 110, 135 Stockholders' Control ............................................................ 208 Stoike, Carl ..................................................................... 15 Students' Beading List .......................................................... 213 Subscription Contest Winner ...................................................... 33 Success Turned to Failure......................................................... 144 Summer School .................................................................. 156 Surplus in 1925 ................................................................. 105 Sweden Has a, Co-operative Postmaster General...................................... 51 Swiss Co-operative Societies ...................................................... 70 Tax Collector on the Escutcheon................................................... 85 Taxes Saved for Miners' Co-operative.............................................. 53 Telephones, Co-operative ....................................................... 42, 52 Tenhunen, Matti ................................................................. 204 Terryville, Ct. ................................................................... 123 Theatre, Co-operative ........................................................ .106, 191 Toksvig, P. K. .................................................................. 79 Tombstone Inscription ........................................................... 71 Town, Co-operators Help the. ...................................................... 10-5 Trade Unionists Become Capitalists................................................ 65 Trade Unionists, Duty of......................................................... 50 Turnover of Merchandise ............................................... .... 179 238 Twenty-weeks Clubs ............................................................. 34 U Undertakers . . .................................................. 157 United Co-operatives .................................................. .. ... - 75 United Workers' Co-op. Assn. (N. Y. C.) ......................................... 222 Utica, N. Y., Co-operative Society.................................................. 78 INDEX Page V Voting . . ....................................................................... 188 W Wage System ................................................................... 133 Wages and Dividends on the N. Y. Times........................................... 216 Walker, John H. ............................................................. 127, 146 Wall Street Paper on Capitalism.................................................. 85 War, Eesolution Against ......................................................... 132 Warbasse, A. D. ................................................................. 29 Warbasse, J. P. ........25, 26, 45, 6S, 85, 105, 125, 144, 150, 166, 187, 202, 209, 224, 226 Ward, Gordon H. .........................................................38, 106, 171 Warinner, A. W. ..................................................2, 189, 203, 228, 239 Warning, Timely ................................................................ 210 Water Power .................................................................... 108 Waukegan, Illinois ........................................................ 32, 82, 215 What Cheer, Iowa ............................................................... 194 What it Means for Telephone Users to Co-operate.................................... 42 Wheat . . ....................................................................... 235 Wholesales, Co-operative ...................................33, 52, 54, 75, 111, 162, 174 Wildbrandt, E. .................................................................. 116 Winchendon, Mass. ............................................................... 123 Women Keal Co-operators in Bussia................................................. 172 Women's Guild .......................................................... 152, 172, 176 Woodland, Wash. ................................................................ 148 Workers' Co-op. Union, Stafford Springs, Ct......................................... 77 Y Year Book ....................................................................18, 230 Young, Owen D. ................................................................. 224 CHJIOTION A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Co-operative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City J. P. WARBASSE, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of VOL. XII, No. 1 JANUARY, 1926 10 CENTS .1' The largest 'business block in Dillonvale, Ohio, a mining town of about 1500 people, is one of the pieces of real estate owned by the New Co-operatwe Company. At the right of the picture is tJie space occupied by the railroad company, which rents its ticket office, waiting room and baggage room from the Co-operators. At the extreme left, barely discernible in thte photograph, is the headquarters of The First National Sank of Dillonvale, which also pays rent to the Co-operative Company. Between the banh and the railroad, office are the entrances to the three centra^ilW Kii Uf—Ji^Co-operative: the grocery store,' the butcher shop, and tlie general storj^fofc sa^'df^f^^ods, shoes, clothing and house The second story over tlf'se stores is also used og the last-named department. LIBRARY CO-OPERATION An Ohio Co-operative Ranks Among the First in the Country "P\ID you ever hear of Dillonvale, Ohio? Perhaps some of you can vaguely recall having heard it briefly mentioned in some co-operative publication or meeting in the past but most of you never heard of it before. And it is the home of one of the strongest and most successful co-operative store societies in America. . Dillonvale is a little mining town tucked away among the hills of Eastern Ohio. Here a group of some four hundred Bohemian miners have attained a degree of success in the development arid operation of their own co-operative business enterprises that entitles this little town to be designated as one of the most important points on the co-operative map of this country. They have been content, however, to spend their time and talents entirely in quietly and diligently building up and firmly establishing their movement rather than shouting their success from the house-tops. They have gone about this task in such a matter of fact way and with so little bluster or ostentation that they have attracted very little attention from the outside world, co-operative or otherwise, and. they have not sought the meager publicity their efforts have received in the past. The store was started in 1908 when thirty Bohemian miners got together and decided they were going to have a co-operative store regardless of how small it might be and in spite of difficulties that confronted them. They each contributed $10 to the original capital after which they proceeded to gather, from whatever source they could, the material with which to erect a store building. By having each member donating his time arid labor on Sundays and days when the mines were idle, they soon had a small building constructed. In fact, it was a very small building and could in no way lay claim to architectural beauty or grandeur but it was their own and that fact compensated for many other deficiencies. While the building was under construction they were gradually adding to their membership and capital and by the time it was completed they were able to purchase the few' essential items of equipment which they could not build with their own hands, and a small stock of groceries. The first year's sales amounted to $4,000. To-day, their sales far exceed that amount every week in the year, their monthly average for this year being approximately $25,000. The Company owns five pieces of business property comprising four store buildings and a large warehouse. One of these is the largest and most valuable business property in the town. It is a two-story brick structure covering an entire block on the main business street. In this building is housed one of their four grocery stores, meat market, dry goods, shoes, clothing, and house furnish- ings departments, while the balance of the building is occupied by the town's only bank, the railroad station and waiting rooms and a pool hall. This is perhaps the one spot on earth where the bank and the railroad are tenants of, and pay tribute to the co-operative society. In addition to this grocery store, they operate another one in Dillonvale, one at Piney Pork and one at Bradley, both of which are near-by mining camps. They also operate a hardware store and own their own hall arid club rooms. The hall can also be used as a theater as it is equipped with stage and scenery. This is used for the company's social, educational and business meetings and func tions and also as a meeting place for practically all the labor unions, radical political organizations and foreign secret societies. CO-OPERATION The butcher shop operated by the Co-operative is by far the neatest and best in the town, and the prices and quality of goods handled far more attractive than those of private competitors. The stores handle groceries, meats, dry goods, clothing, shoes, ladies' ready- to-wear, millinery, furniture, draperies, floor coverings, shelf and heavy hard ware, automobile accessories including gasoline and oils, lumber, roofing, lime, cement, hay, grain and feeds of all kinds. They purchase hay, grain, feed, cement, roofing, lumber, flour and sugar in car-load lots, their turnover in these commodities for this year amovinting to approximately sixty cars. In their sixteen years of painstaking effort they have built up a working capital of $95,000 and a surplus reserve of $78,000. Their capital consists of $22,000 share and $73,000 loan capital. The capital and surplus is invested in business property, equipment and merchandise, their physical inventory on June 30th of this year showing merchandise on hand to the value of $96,000. While attaining this enviable financial condition they have regularly returned from 6 per cent to 9 per cent purchase rebates to their members every half year and have paid a 2 per cent purchase rebate to non-members. The New Co-operative Company has always been a member of The League and one of its strongest supporters. Joseph Blaha, who has been with the Com pany as manager since the beginning, shares the distinction with W. Niemela of Maynard, Mass., of being the only managers in the country who have attended every congress of The League. We hear much about the Finns who co-operate in America. We hear about the Jewish co-operators, and those of other foreign language groups. The Bohemians who succeed with co-operative stores are by no means all in Dillonvale. Chicago Bohemians have a society which has had as many as five stores at one time, though lately two of these have been eliminated and the work concentrated. Cleveland co-operators from the same country, in the Workingmen's Co-operative Company, operate six grocery and meat stores and are most successful. Other smaller groups of these people are contributing their share to the pioneering efforts of co-operators of all nationalities who strive to build a strong movement in America. In the future, when you hear of Dillonvale, let it bring to your mind a picture of outstanding co-operative store success in America. There is little doubt but that this Co-operative Company will continue to stand as one among the best of our living refutations of the oft repeated statement that co-operative stores cannot thrive in the atmosphere of our highly developed super-individual ism. They have proved beyond a doubt, as many other groups are doing, that by intelligent and dilligent application to the task before them and by backing this up with the highest type of loyalty and fraternalism, success equal to that attained in any European country is possible in America. A. W. WAEINNEE. CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION Vital Issues CO-OPERATION BEING CRUSHED IN ITALY npHE LEGA NAZIONALE DELLE CO-OPEKA- 1 TIVE of Italy, the Educational Union of that country, had a membership of 8,000 societies before the Fascisti came into power. By the beginning of 1924 the number had been reduced to 4,600. In the autumn of 1925 the number had shrunk to 1,000. And now is announced the entire destruction of the League by the Fascisti. When the Fascisti first began their reign of terror, the co-operatives were subjected to the same attacks as the labor headquarters and Socialist and Com munist buildings. Many of the stores were burned, officials were beaten, many killed, others exiled. And this persecu tion continued unabated for months. Meanwhile the Government began the organization of its own Fascist Co operative Union, and many of the co operatives were forced to join this. In November of 1925 came the news that the offices of the Lega Nazionale had been seized by the Police Prefect of Milan. Immediately telegrams and cablegrams of protest were sent from the offices of the International Co-opera tive Alliance, and many of the Co-opera tive Unions of the various countries. The cablegram of The Co-operative League of the U. S. A. was as follows: "Italian Prime Minister, Home, Italy: The Co-operative League of United States of America asks you to protect Lega Nazionale delle Cooperative. Warbasse, President." Meanwhile the President of the Lega Nazionale, Antonio Vergnanini, sends a message of greetings to the co-operatives of other countries, closing with these words: "Let us remain united and wait with con fidence. The great struggle between the two opposing forces of speculation and the con sumers becomes every day more extended and more formidable. . . . The latest exploita tions of the dominant minorities, if they can still find defenders for their possessions, must submit to the law of progress, which wills the aontinuous increase of the benefits of civiliza tion to all human forces. . . . "Fellow Co-operators, the Lega Nazionale delle Cooperative is dissolved. Long live the Lega Nazionale deUe Cooperative." Almost at the same time as this dis quieting news comes by way of the International Co-operative Alliance and the British Union, other sources of in formation reveal the fact that the same kind of persecution is being carried on by the Fascisti against the Co-operative Credit Unions, a very large number of which are Catholic. The Fascist organi zation threatens to take control of the People's Banks and Rural Credit Unions into Fascist bodies. The High Commis sioner of the Grand Fascist Council has been directed to take such control. And a vigorous note of protest is voiced in the Osservatore Romano, semi-official Catholic daily paper in Eome. C. L. MR. DAVIES SPEAKS ON CO-OPERATION E. EHYS JOHN DAVIES, Under Secretary of State for Home Af fairs in the MacDonald Ministry, now a Labor Member of Parliament, and "a man of long experience in executive po sitions in the British Consumers' Co operative Movement," spoke at a dinner arranged by the Educational Council of The Co-operative League, at the Twenty- fifth Street Consumers' Co-operative Services Eestaurant, on November 18. A good audience of interested co-opera tors was present. Mr. Davies gave a picture of some of the important facts of the British move ment. He showed how the societies control prices, how successfully they compete with profit business and how much they mean to the working people. The audience was surprised that Mr. Davies regarded the "Producers' Co operative Industries" as the most ra tional form of co-operative production, especially in the face of the fact that, as he stated, "it is doubtful if they can compete with the consumers' Co-opera tive Wholesale Society." Milk distribution, Mr. Davies said, could be carried on better by the munic ipalities than by the co-operative socie ties. In fact, in response to several pressing questions, the speaker asserted that the political municipalities were better qualified to carry on such dis tributive business as they attempted than were the co-operatives. "The most honest, most efficient, and the most re liable bodies that I know of are our municipal governing bodies. They are less corruptible and more efficient than the co-operative societies, than the friendly societies, or than the trade unions.'' Mr. Davies frankly gave his hearers to understand that he was for political action in preference to voluntary co operative action, that he was for Social ism rather than for Co-operation. It was obvious that he believed the Co-operative Movement could help the cause of Socialism. Co-operators natur ally asked themselves: How much could British Socialism help the cause of Co operation ? It appears that British Labor Party statesmen regard Co-operation as a help to the promotion of state Socialism; and that when the Labor Party has gotten fully into power, the political govern ment will take away from the co-opera tive societies their functions of distribu tion and turn them over to the political bodies. This of course may be done by placing the Co-operatives under political con trol, or by making all of the Co-opera tive officials political officials, or by the simple expedient of "taking over" as was unsuccessfully attempted by the Eussian Soviet Government. Mr. Davies did not mention any of these matters; they are simply the ideas that naturally eome to the minds of Co-operators present. One thing is obvious: the future holds in its cabinet of uncertainties the con flict between the voluntary principle of Co-operation and the coercive principle •f State Socialism. Most British people are politically minded. They do not recognize a con flict of forces. To them the political government should be the natural agent of the people. They would make Co operation the tail of their political kite. But in every continental European country this conflict is clear and press ing. In every continental country in which Co-operation is making great progress the Co-operative Movement takes a firm and positive stand against political alliances of any kind, against conceding to the political state any of the functions or prerogatives of the co operative societies. Mr. Davies is a Socialist first and a Co-operator second. He is a fluent speaker, a sincere and honest man and an ornament to the British Parliament. J. P. W. SERIES OF ARTICLES ON PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS IN THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT Beginning with this number we are starting a new series of special articles on the general topic "Producers and Consumers in the Co-operative Move ment." The series which we ran last year under the title "Why Co-operation is not Enough," interested a large num ber of people and inspired them to send us numerous comments, one of which appears in our correspondence columns this month. Mr. E. C. Lindeman, who contributes the opening article in this new series, is a trained student of social science, a teacher, an editor of the New Republic, author of several books. Among other contributors to the series are Peter Brady, President, Federation (Labor) Bank, New York; Smith W. Brookhart, U. S. Senator from Iowa; L. S. Herron, Editor, Nebraska Union Farmer; Frank E. Lowden, former Governor of Illinois; Oscar McGill, Secretary, Co-operative Lumber Exchange, Seattle; A. J. Muste, Secretary, Brookwood Labor College; Norman Thomas, Director, League for Industrial Democracy. C. L. CORRECTING SOME ERRORS In the December number of CO OPERATION the leading article on the Northern States Co-operative League contained several mistakes due to over sight or lack of complete information. The Board of Directors named was 6 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION the board whose term expired early in the year. The present board of the N. S. League is Harold Nordby, Franklin Creamery, president; Paul F. DeMore, Union Consumers' Association, Duluth, vice-president; V. S. Alanne, Franklin Creamery, secretary; E. H. Anderson, Franklin Creamery, treasurer; F. F. Burandt, Franklin Creamery; Mrs. C. E. Nelson, Franklin Women's Guild; H. V. Nurmi, Co-operative Central Ex change, Superior; Eskel Bonn, Co-op erative Central Exchange, Superior; Frank Yetka, Cloquet Co-operative Society, Cloquet. Contrary to our statement, the "Honor Boll" buttons are not for gen eral distribution to the membership of the N. S. League, but are given to in dividuals who have rendered unique service to the League. The special lec turers reported to have been engaged for the Training School did not give the lectures reported in the article, as the regular work crowded the schedule to capacity. The Place of Producers and Consumers in a Co-operative Program FEOM THE VIEWPOINT OF A SOCIAL SCIENTIST By E. C. LINDBMAN "What profound spiritual life can there be when the social order almost forces men to battle with each other for the means of existence?" A. E. both conflict and co-operation are essen tial features. Is it not possible also that many enthusiastic supporters of the consumers' co-operative movement have over-emphasized the consumption phase of the bio-economic process? Has not this placing of presumed opposites created an intellectual problem which stands in the way of progress? Producing and consuming are con tinuous and inter-dependent activities within the bio-economic system. One cannot exist without the other and both vary directly with respect to each other. Discrepancies between the two functions create our economic problems. Every living human being is a consumer. In a rationally-organized society every in dividual would also be a producer of essential services if not of consumable goods. For the great bulk of our popu lation, it is still true moreover that pro ducing and consuming are both com bined in each person. Because a few people have succeeded in manipulating the economic system by means of pro duction and credit control, difficulties arise. In modern industrialized society goods are produced primarily for profit and not to meet needs. It is not sur prising therefore to note that those pro ducers who supply our primary needs, of the simplest fallacies in rea- soning results from placing things in opposition. Thus we argue at great length over heredity versus environ ment, assuming that these two processes are somehow antagonistic; obviously there can be no heredity, i.e., growing, reproducing organisms, without an en vironment. Likewise we speak of individual versus social, conflict versus co-operation, means versus ends, et cetera, indicating that our mental pic tures of these objects or processes present them to us as antithetical, incon sistent opposites. We therefore think that we are discussing important prob lems whereas the difficulties arise out of our naive thought procedures; and of course problems do exist if we think they do. These easy delusions often result from a partial view of a total process. Thus when we speak of either conflict or co operation, we are seeing only one portion of total adjustment. Some idealists tend to develop blind-spots for the conflict phase of adjustment; they dislike struggle and therefore wish to do away with it. But there can be no life without conflict. Living is in fact a continuing adjustment between an organism and its environment in which farmers, are obliged to operate their business with restricted credits and for the most part without profits. They created through intermittent savings the original funds of capital which were promptly utilized by the bankers for promoting quick-profit industries other than agriculture. Farming is still a marginal capitalist enterprise but it travels continuously in the direction of bankruptcy. Our complex industrial organization may collapse but life will still go on if farmers continue to function. If food- production as an economic process de generates, however, no amount of con sumer-co-operation will suffice to prevent a general decline of the standard of liv ing. Many observers, aware of this situation, urge consumers to enter the field of agricultural production. This seems unwise counsel. It means either that people who know nothing about farming will nevertheless be induced to become farmers or that farmers will be exploited by groups of organized con sumers. ' It amounts to throwing the baby out with the bath-water—and the wrong baby at that! The farmer as a bona fide producer is not the consumer's enemy. Moreover, no group of consum ers acting merely as consumers is justi fied in using its savings, its economic power, to dispossess another producing group. Farmers, on the other hand, are likely to prolong the unnecessary conflict be tween producing and consuming func tions by over-emphasizing aspects of capitalistic methods. They are now or ganizing gigantic co-operative associa tions for the purpose of maintaining a higher price level for their products. This they aim to do by eliminating cer tain middlemen and by increasing con sumption through advertising. In so far as they are permitted to secure modified monopolistic control of specific commodi ties, this program may succeed. It is certainly justified as a means of sub tracting the speculative profits of dealers from consumers' prices. Thus far the program has not, however, resulted in lightening the consumer's burden. The price of raw cotton and tobacco, for example, has been partially stabilized, but the consumer has not benefited. Intermediate consumers, those who buy raw products for refinement, are still able to pass the increase on to the ulti mate consumer. In addition, the farm ers' co-operative movement flourishes only where it receives the sanction of powerful governmental or private credit agencies. So long as it remains safe for the bankers, it is encouraged and blessed by the high priests of capitalism. Thus although the farmer as a legitimate pro ducer ought not to be at odds with his customers, the consumers, he virtually assumes this role by playing the capital ist's profit-seeking game. If the present tendency continues, the result will be increased tension between producers and consumers. So long as urban consumers acting on behalf of their consuming function oppose rural producers, or vice versa, the two functions and their rep resentative groups will continue a use less and wasteful warfare. If, as this essay indicates, the conflict between consuming and producing func tions is unnecessary and wasteful, how may the problems involved be ap proached with realistic attitudes ? Ideal ists whose counsel of perfection amounts to pessimism insist that nothing can be done until the entire economic system is altered. They tend to forget that the system is a reflection of our. habits of behavior and that these habits are tena cious. Habit-changing and system- changing must go hand in hand if we are to have orderly progress. Systems and their controlling power-groups may become so case-hardened as to be un amenable to change save by means of revolution, but revolution is justified only when change via the route of science and experiment has failed. Habit- changing as a process subsequent to revolution may turn out to be a costly and painful method. In any case, the true idealist is also an experimentalist. His faith is sustained by the slow gains resulting from the application of scien tific method to human problems. He does not attempt to change parts by changing the whole but rather envisages the changing whole in terms of minute changes in the manageable parts. The above constitutes an argument for the 8 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION introduction of rational scientific prin ciples to the problems involved in the relations between consuming and pro ducing functions. In which direction does science point? If producing and consuming are co ordinate processes, two sides of the same shield, two equally essential functions of the on-going life, is it not apparent that creative results may be expected when they integrate? By the same token, is it not rational to suppose that these two functions will negative each other, i.e., produce non-creative results when they are allowed to remain in juxtaposition? How then may the producing and con suming functions be integrated? The scientific answer is: by experiments which look toward integration. If for example consumers behaving as if their consuming function were primary, or ganize consumers' co-operative societies and leave their producing functions un organized, non-co-operative, the two proc esses cannot integrate. If on the other hand they view themselves as total per sonalities in which both consuming and producing are considered to be vital aspects of life, they will also make some effort to bring their producing function within the co-operative program. Again, farmers who organize selling co-opera tives but continue to buy as individuals may never be helpful in changing our present economic system. If, however, they also apply co-operative principles to buying, credits et cetera, they will soon become a powerful stimulus for fundamental change. This process of integration must necessarily begin on modest levels of experiment. It will probably succeed best when applied to commodities of universal need. Milk may be used as an illustration. With respect to this com modity, farmers will naturally view themselves as producers and urban dwellers will assume the role of con sumers. An efficient distributing or ganization is needed for purposes of insuring quality, purity, prompt de livery and other standards. Hitherto this intermediate agency has bought and sold milk at a profit. If milk-producers organized and demanded higher prices they merely shifted the increase to the consumer. When the price reached a certain level, numerous marginal dairy farmers increased their herds and their production until the middleman was able to "beat down" the price to the producer in general. No one gained by this irra tional procedure save the intermediate buyer and distributor. Milk consumers might also attempt to make certain sav ings through collective buying and dis tributing. Their aim, naturally, would be to secure milk at the lowest possible price and they could succeed only by maintaining a continuous battle with the farmers. Obviously what is needed in this case is a strong producers' co operative association, a strong consum ers' co-operative association, and a joint distributing agency composed of the two groups essential to each other. The integrating process would then follow within the area of joint activities. Pro ducers would be compelled to learn something about the incomes of con sumers and likewise consumers would come to learn something of the cost of milk-production. The ultimate and just price of milk would constitute a ratio between income on the one side and cost on the other. Farmers would then come to have a stake in the industrial workers' welfare and the urban consumer of milk would come to view farming as a process integral to his life. If the joint co operative agency were properly organ ized and efficiently managed, it would create capital through savings. This capital could then be utilized for pur poses of producing a commodity needed by both groups. Why for example, should not farmers and industrial labor ers manufacture the shoes which they jointly need? Why should anyone profit by the credits which are periodi cally necessary to both groups? The theory underlying the above proposal includes five premises: (1) the producing function of one group inevitably intersects the consuming func tion of another; creative possibilities lie at this point of intersection; (2) since consuming and producing are equally- essential functions of life, they should be viewed as mutually-dependent vari ables and not as opposites; (3) co-opera tive techniques applied to one aspect of economic activity (consuming, e.g.,) implies that other phases (producing, e.g. ) will also be brought within the area of co-operative experimentation; otherwise we learn co-operative habits on one level only to negative them on another; thus farmers who limit their co-operation to the one process of selling may actually build an organization which inhibits co-operative activities in other spheres; (4) a co-operative program which aims to integrate consuming and producing functions can effect radical changes in the economic system; co operation confined to either one or the other probably does no more than in crease the efficiency of capitalism and the selfishness of co-operators; (5) achievement in the direction of the above proposals does not await general or sweeping changes in the political or economic system; rather it depends upon an accumulation of small experiments. These are obviously simple principles derived from the known facts of human behavior. But their simplicity adds to the weight of the challenge involved. Dogmatists who base their hopes not upon the realistic facts of existence but upon some abstracted and idealized wish will discount these premises. They are interested in conversions not experi ments; they are evangelists not scien tists. This sketchy outline leaves many queries unanswered. A co-operative program based upon the assumption that economic control should ultimately be confined to the consumers who pro duce must take into account such factors as political and legalistic sanctions, the role of the expert, the function of trade unionism, adult education et cetera, et cetera. Its protagonists must also be aware of insidious defenses of capital ism. Profit-sharing, for example, is sure poison to the co-operative move ment; it merely accentuates and dis tributes bad habits. Many of these ques tions and innumerable others implicit in the co-operative ideal will take on new meaning and resolve themselves into positive equations once we begin to see that consuming and producing are not antagonistic functions. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION* 1. Assuming that all living human be ings are consumers, what proportion of the population may be consideeed as legitimate producers? a. In your community? b. In your county? c. In your state? d. In the nation? 2. Why must some producers produce more than they consume? 3. What groups of producers are affected by your consumption? 4. What groups of consumers are affected by your production? 5. Have any experiments in consumer- producer co-operation been con ducted? What are the results? 6. Is an artist a producer? A teacher? An advertising specialist? A house wife? 7. Is the farmer a capitalist or a laborer? 8. Is a farmer-labor political party feasible? Under what conditions? 9. Are farmers' commodity co-opera tive marketing associations organized to function as non-capital societies really co-operative? 10. Is capital necessary for all economic systems? 11. Why should the earnings of capital be limited? 12. What causes over-production? Un- der-consumption ? *As Headings for Discussion Groups, in ad dition to the books included on our lists, Mr. Lindeman suggests: Foundations: A Study in the Ethics and Economics of the Co-operative Movement, W. Clayton and A. Stoddart; A Theory of Social Economy, G. Cassel. Foreign TO SIGNOR MUSSOLINI r\OST feel secure, 0 Duce! in thy high "It is right that Mussolini should place, know what British co-operators think Among thy Black Shirts, strong in law- about him."—THE CO-OPERATIVE NEWS. less power, 10 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 11 Who now the wealth of humble men devour, While theft and murder multiply apace ? Didst think thou long couldst chain a noble race, Or that within thine own appointed hour Thou couldst make all men low before thee cower, All dreams of freedom from their souls efface ? Men in whose veins the blood of Dante runs, _ Whose fathers were by Garibaldi led, Whose own free minds were by Mazzini fed, Will not endure thy lordship many suns: A tyrant is by all true men abhorred,— Who rules by terror has his fit reward. T. W. MEECEE. British Co-operative Union, Novem ber 30, 1925. THE CO-OPERATIVE COAL MINE AT SHILBOTTLE Would the co-operative societies of the country give their support to a con sumer-owned coal mine if we had one? An indication of the correct answer to that puzzling question is perhaps to be found in the experience of the Co-opera tive Wholesale of England. Shilbottle Colliery and the new col liery village is property of the co-opera tives of England, and the coal mine there is co-operatively owned coal. What happens to it? Tom Myers, an ex-Member of Parlia ment, makes several charges, the most serious of which is as follows: "The men who produce the coal say that it is very doubtful if more than 10 per cent of the coal produced finds its way into co-operative channels. The coal goes to the Shetland Islands, to Banff in the North of Scotland, into boats from the little coal ports close at hand, to make up the shortage in the supplies from private collieries. The co-operative supply used as an accom modation for the collieries of a big combine. Hundreds of thousands of co- operators buying coal, and the co-opera tive pit standing nine days in a period of three weeks recently for lack of trade, and co-operative employees on the dole, while the manager was scouring Scotland seeking orders from private enterprise for co-operative coal." These are serious charges. The reply of the Co-operative Wholesale is to the following effect: That considerably more than 10 per cent of the coal mined goes into co operative channels, but that many of the societies which are closer to private ly-owned collieries continue to use non- co-operative coal, as freight rates are lower. That sales to private firms are at a price above that paid by the co operatives. That the management of the Shilbottle Colliery is most anxious to sell only to co-operatives, but that if they will not buy, certainly the surplus coal cannot be dumped into the sea; better sell it to private firms than shut the mines down entirely. That there is no use establishing new selling agencies for coal among the co-operatives, for there already are coal departments at four points which handle Shilbottle coal. THE LABOR PARTY ON CO-OPERATION Mr. Lang, newly elected Premier of New South Wales on the Labor Party ticket, has had his advisors draw up a resolution setting .forth the attitude of the Labor Party toward the Co-opera tive Movement. Here is the resolution: "As the main objective of the Labor Party in New South Wales is the social ization of the means of production, dis tribution and exchange, it therefore stands squarely behind the Consumers' Co-operative Movement, which is al ready securing ownership of industry for the people, control by the people and is equitably distributing its trading surpluses to the people, and not to the owners of capital. The Labor Party recognizes that the Co-operative Move ment is democratic in every respect. "As the Labor Party has been re turned to power by a majority of elec tors for the purpose of putting its platform into effect, it must therefore extend to the Co-operative Movement every assistance necessary to provide for its unhampered development. That all facilities for Co-operative education be granted and vested interests be re strained where it can be shown they are discriminating against Co-operative organizations.'' CO-OPERATIVES FIGHT PRIVATE FIRMS WITH BOOKS. Germany has some remarkable "book societies," which are co-operative in character. Eeaders pay an annual mem bership fee in these societies and receive four or even six books well printed and bound from their own co-operative publishers every year. The oldest of these, according to a writer in the New York Times, is the Peo ple's Club of Book Lovers, with nearly one hundred thousand members; it is also the largest. The German Book Associa tion is almost as large; and there are many that are smaller. And the private publishers are becoming seriously con cerned, for their sales are falling off. In fact, they made a public announce ment not long ago that any writer who had these co-operatives publish his works would not be sold in the private book stores of Germany. Immediately both the co-operatives and the various Writers Associations rallied to the defense of the novelists, essayists and poets, and in a few months the boycott was lifted and the private publishers and booksellers acknowledged defeat. Again the co operative principle stands vindicated as being more sound economically, much wiser as a social program, and on a higher ethical plane. CO-OPERATIVE NAMES FOR STREETS In England co-operators may see on the corners of their avenues and streets names to memorialize the great work done by the Rochdale Pioneers. In Kettering there is Kingsley Ave nue, Neal Avenue, Blandford Avenue, Holyoake Street, Mitchell Street, Hughes Street. In Enderby there are Federation Street, Co-operation Street, Holyoake Street, Equity Road, Mitchell Road, Maxwell Road, Shillito Road. In New Normanton may be found Derby Street, Industrial Street, Provi dent Street, Co-operative Street, Society Street—the five words that go to identify the society that has established a branch in this town. There is also a Holyoake Terrace and a Merchant Avenue named by the co-operators. MORE COMPULSORY CO-OPERATION In CO-OPEEATION for October, 1925, appeared an editorial on the new law enacted in Queensland, Australia, which provided that when 75 per cent of the growers of any one commodity agreed to market through a co-operative associ ation, the other growers should be com pelled by law to market through this organization also. The editorial pointed out that this is the first attempt at compulsory co-operative marketing. The International Labor Office now tells of a similar law in South Africa, with a similar provision that 75 per cent membership may compel the other 25 per cent of the growers to join the original 75 per cent. There was vigor ous opposition to the bill, but it finally prevailed. The opposition was of two kinds. Some opposed the very principle of compulsory co-operation itself; others thought that 75 per cent was too low a figure. On the other hand, there were many who approved entirely of the measure and wanted even a lower figure than 75 per cent. SHORTENING THE WORKING HOURS Of course, after all is said about the glory of work, everybody wants to be free to do as little as he can. The Co operative Movement is helping toward this end. As an employer of labor co operative societies have taken the lead in shortening hours of work and raising wages. In Europe every co-operative society has abolished the ten-hour day among clerks, although it is still com mon among private employers. In Great Britain the eight-hour day is practically universal among co-opera tives. Now about half of the societies have established the 40-hour week among clerks, which means that they work five days a week. In England in 1913 there were 23 societies working 48 hours or less; in 1914, there were 96; in 1917, there were 134; and in 1924, the number was 779. 12 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 13 News and Comment CO-OPERATIVE CAFE IN CHICAGO HpWELVE years ago a group of •*• Swedish people organized the Co operative Temperance Cafe Idrott. Emphasis was placed upon good food, low prices, good working conditions to the employees. The only restrictions upon membership at the beginning were those forbidding membership to users of intoxicating liquors. The association was organized without capital stock. From the beginning the organization was so successful that new members be gan to swarm in. Believing that too rapid a growth was dangerous, an amendment was drawn to the by-laws which limited the number of new mem bers to ten each year. The society now has 200 members. Surplus has been regularly turned back into the business, so that they now oc- eupy an entire building on Wilton Avenue and operate a branch cafe in another location. In the main building they not only run a large cafe with dining rooms and club rooms for mem bers, but also a bakery and a meat de partment. There is also a good library, game room, room-renting service, and mail distribution service. The new building was erected two years ago. The society is not incorporated; each member has only one share; directors and manager are elected annually. CREDIT UNIONS IN NEW YORK At the beginning of 1925 there were 115 credit unions in New York State, a gain of eight during the previous year There are thirteen new unions; five have dissolved. Total resources increased by $2,000,000 in the year to $10,550,- 000. About a score of these institutions realize their identity with the Co-opera tive Movement and have an interest in it; the rest are maintained by com mercial interests as easier means of securing credits. UNION WORKERS CREDIT UNION, BOSTON This little Credit Union, organized among some of the leading trade union ists of Boston, only a few years ago, now has 157 members, 58 of whom are borrowers, and only 17 of whom are depositors. The share capital has in creased from $2,500 to $3,330 during twelve months, and the loans from $2,327 to $3,579. Total assets are $4,396. Harry Haskell, clerk and treasurer, reports an excellent condition, attested to by the fact that the Bank Examiner O.K.'d every page of the books and all notes and securities. Not a single cent has been lost from the beginning of business. There are 21 officers, all of them serving without pay. Prom the very start 5 per cent has been paid on deposits and 6 per cent on shares. THE COST OF HANDLING The spread of costs between the pro ducer and the consumer should be kept before the people until they decide to do something about it. A crate of celery has been followed from Norfolk, Vir ginia, to the consumers' home in New York City, and this is what happened: The producer sold the crate for 40 cents. Commission man No. 1 sold it for 60 cents; No. 2 sold it for 75 cents; No. 3 sold it for 90 cents; No. 4 sold it for $1.05; No. 5 sold it for $1.15; No. 6 sold it for $1.25 to a buyer for grocery stores; the buyer sold it to a retail grocery store for $1.35; the grocer sold it to his cus tomers for $2.60. This study was made by Franklin D. Eoosevelt, former Secretary of the Navy. B. F. Yoakum in a recent investiga tion found that the farmer received an average of $16.40 a ton for cabbage for which the consumer paid from $60 to $75 a ton; the farmer received an aver age of $31.79 per ton for tomatoes for which the consumer paid $100 per ton; that the farmer received &/% cents for a watermelon for which the consumer paid 50 cents to $1.50. CAN CO-OPERATORS COMPETE WITH THE BREAD TRUST? It is an old story that over in Eng land, the co-operators are undercutting the private bakers much of the time, and still making a surplus. But how about America? We have been deluged recently with stories of the great bread mergers, with a new national bakery corporation having a capital of $400,000,000, etc., etc. One of these huge concerns is the Ward Baking Company. In New York they are selling a twelve ounce loaf of white bread, made by non-union bakers at 8 cents a loaf. The large Finnish Co-operative Trad ing Association of Brooklyn sells a 16- ounce loaf of white bread for the same price—8 cents. Three pounds of bread from the Co-operative costs 24 cents, but if you buy the same amount of bread from Ward, you pay 32 cents. And at the co-operative a higher quality flour and other materials are being used, and full union conditions prevail. This scare that the American workers are giving themselves about bread mo nopoly is only about one-third justified. The other two-thirds is pretty largely the traditional lack of enterprise and initiative of American workers. Ninety- nine per cent of our industrial workers and farmers wail to High Heaven that the Bread Trust is robbing them. But the other 1 per cent quietly go about the job of baking better and cheaper bread for themselves in their own co-operative plants. This Co-operative Bakery did a busi ness of nearly $215,000 in 1925, and there is now such a demand for its products, that it has outgrown its large Brooklyn plant and is planning a new and much larger building in the Bronx. The hand some building in Brooklyn, erected by the co-operators only five years ago, will become a branch to feed the Brooklyn and Long Island, trade, while the new plant will handle the much larger busi ness in Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx and Northern New Jersey. THE FARMERS' CO-OPERATIVE ELEC TRIC TRANSMISSION LINE. Can the farmer's wife substitute elec tric lights for the kerosene lamp, and at the same time enjoy the use of a washing machine, electric coffee perco lator, toaster, vacuum cleaner, curling iron, even the electric stove and sewing machine and refrigeration? And can her man use "white coal" for pumping his water to the barn and fields, for cutting his wood and ensilage, for run ning the milking machine, cream sepa rator, shop motor, hay baler, clipper, grain cleaner, churn and elevator! More important yet, can the farmers organize to get their electric current co-operatively ? In many parts of the Central and Far West the farmers have organized their own co-operatives for getting electric current without paying the huge profit toll exacted by the private companies. One example of such a Co-operative is the Berwick Transmission Line Company of Nemaha County, Kansas, organized in 1919 with $25,000 capital and seventy- eight customers scattered along its thirty miles of line. The co-operators each took one share of stock at $250, elected a Board of Directors, and decided to purchase their current at wholesale rates from the City of Sabetha. The company supplies the poles, wire, insulators and hardware to convey the current along the public high way and the user supplies all equipment between the highway and his house. Current is metered out at a rate of nine cents per kilowatt hour for lighting and seven cents for power, with extra charges for incidentals. Among the users of this co-operative brand of electricity are 69 farmers, five schools, one church, one township hall, one store and one commercial garage. The output of current is increasing each year. How long will it be before the Co-operative is large enough to produce its own current, as so many of the Co operative electric societies of Europe are doing? 14 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 15 Directors' Page TO ALL GROCERY STORE MANAGERS job has its duties and re- sponsibilities. These are the most essential requirements of our store managers. You are responsible to the Co-operative Society for the success of the store assigned to you. The Executive Staff of The League stands ready to help you, but the responsibilities which you assume, you must either carry out or let the other fellow do it. In your relations with your store clerks at all times conduct yourself so that you have their respect. Be cheer ful but avoid familiarity. Be firm, but remember kindly advice goes lots fur ther than harsh words with most per sons. The big job is to study your men and know how you can bring out the best that is in them for the mutual bene fit of the Co-operative Movement and themselves. Increased Volume of Business Many points come into play to ac complish a steady, permanent, increased volume of business. Clerks must be taught to put as much effort in selling their own personality to their trade as they do their merchandise. Everyone likes to make friends, and it is the surest way for a manager and a clerk to build up sales. With some men, this comes naturally, with others it requires con siderable effort, but the habit can be acquired. Continue to build the con fidence with customers by never ex aggerating the goods you are selling. Give the customers the actual facts and don't be afraid to tell the price. En courage the clerks to acquaint themselves as much as possible with the origin of the merchandise they sell, by reading trade papers, the monthly magazine CO-OPERATION, etc. It is always easier for a man to sell an article that he is thoroughly familiar with. Proper dis play of mei'chandise in windows and inside of the store is also helpful. Increased volume however, can only be accomplished by clerks getting and holding new customers. Selling Profitable Merchandise See that clerks are pushing profitable merchandise, and not spending all their effort on Specials. Specials, on the whole, attract only the transient trade, which however should be used to advan tage in an endeavor to develop new customers. Merchandise on Hand Stores must not have too much stock but they must have sufficient to satis factorily take care of their business. Store managers should look over whole sale orders and advise their clerks how to order, and avoid over-ordering. Especially in the case of perishable mer chandise, see that clerks do not over- order and that all perishables are sold out quickly to prevent spoilage. Stock Turnover The matter of stock turnover, or carrying too large an inventory for the amount of sales is also a big factor in chain store business. The clerk should be told that eveiy dollar's worth of mer chandise carried on stock costs the Co operative Society ...... per cent per annum which must be charged against the profits and is detrimental to the store showing. Quick turnover increases profits. Stock Shortage Another problem which the store manager must guard against is stock shortages. Impress upon the clerk's mind the importance of a good stock showing at the end of the month. A store may have a poor showing for a month, due to stock shortage but if the manager does not show improvement, he will be replaced. He may really be innocent as far as his honesty is con cerned—merely careless, but the record may keep him from getting another good job. Clerks must check all merchandise carefully and not sign for anything which they have not received, and watch out for spoilage of perishables. Have scales tested frequently as they soon become out of balance, and very often against the Company. Show the clerks the large amount of revenue that can be made at their stores by using extreme care in opening their containers. Espe cially so with sugar bags as sugar bags with linings in perfect condition wil^ bring a salvage of approximately eight cents while the same bags if linings are torn would have to be sold for probably three and a half cents. Good Clerks In order to accomplish the foregoing it is necessary for store managers to have good clerks in charge of the store; a good clerk is reliable, efficient and loyal to the Co-operative Society. Store managers must at all times have an effi cient man or men available to take the place of a chief-clerk in an emergency, or if a clerk should resign, or be dis charged and see that all clerks are able to intelligently wait on customers. Cleanliness Stores must be kept immaculately clean; store managers must see that proper care is taken of fixtures and machinery, that cellars are kept clean and orderly and above all see that clerks are clean and tidy personally. Rules See that clerks are thoroughly familiar with the rules. See that health and labor laws are thoroughly understood and obeyed by all clerks. Deposits and Care of Money Last, but by no means least, see that a deposit is made from the store once every 48 hours. Instruct your chief clerk that if, for any reason, you are not able to call at the store, he must see that the money gets to the bank. Also im press upon the clerks the importance of handling all their own cash in justice to themselves and the clerks working with them. This should be done wherever possible. Let us all be instilled with courage to bring about a bigger and better co operative organization year after year. CAEL STOIKE, Formerly with Co-operative Union of Germany. Book Review "AS OTHERS SEE US" Co-OPEKATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Published by Grain Dealers' Na tional Association. 126 pages. THE first impulse of a real co-operator, on picking up this little book, is toward ridicule. Who expects a fair treatment of the subject from those who have most to lose from the Co-operative Move ment? But let us hold our merriment in check. One of the common faults of co-operative leaders has been too much complacency. We are content to seek advice and criticism too exclusively from men within our own movement. There may be some very healthful in formation in the criticism of leaders of private business, provided it is carefully thought out. And in this book, the com ments are the result of careful study and mature deliberation. _The book opens with a survey of the history and development of Co-opera tion in America: co-operative insurance, credit, telephones, stores, packing houses, canneries, marketing. We are told that the store movement is a 99 per cent failure, that insurance is the best field for co-operation, with credit second in favor; that packing houses and canneries are universally a bad bet; and that marketing is still in the ex perimental stages with no assurance of permanency. An excellent analysis is made of the co-operative laws in the various states and at Washington. It is easy to pick many flaws in this treatise. For instance, in writing about the store movement, the author uses ex amples only of the groups of stores that have failed: the Granger stores, the Sovereigns of Industry, the Eight Re lationship League. He does not men tion the Finnish stores, the farmers' stores united with the Farmers' Union, the Grange stores in Washington. And he insists that farmers generally had 16 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 17 better get into other lines of co-operative business than groceries and household supplies. There are many other glaring defects of this kind in the book. But there is also much to learn from these studies. A great deal of attention is given to the subject of failures among marketing associations and the reasons therefor. After analyzing the large centralized associations and their trou bles, the writer states his opinion that "the fundamentals (of co-operative marketing) are voluntary co-operation and a broad co-operative spirit which looks beyond immediate personal ad vantages to long-time results." He con demns in unmeasured terms the co operative organized without provision for building up a surplus; the high pres sure promotion campaigns of the Amer ican Farm Bureau and other central organizations and enterprising individu als and state bureaux; the effort of many marketing groups to defeat the law of increased production following higher prices; high prices and fees to execu tives and attorneys ($52,794 for Mr. Sapiro from the Prune Growers in 1921 alone); over-legislation and dependence upon legalistic rather than economic aids to co-operative development; tend ency to "drift away from the local co operative to the large-scale showy kind." Of course these people are strong for the principle of "individualism." They make much of their pet hobby that "if a man can run business efficiently, he will be in business for himself; if he can't, he will manage a co-operative." Their final conclusion at the' end of the book is that though co-operation can effect some petty economies for the farmers, their real salvation is in better methods of production. "And now abideth these three problems in Co operative Marketing: Price, Distribu tion, Quality; and the greatest of these is Quality." C. L. The Correspondence File "WHY CO-OPERATION IS NOT ENOUGH " Editor of Co-operation: Under this title I have read several articles published in your magazine, CO-OPEKATION. I personally realize that co-operation is not the only remedy for the present economic order which permits oppression 'by those in possession of economic means. I write this only to disclose some misunderstandings about co operation and its aims on the part of the contributors to this subject. The Anarchist says, "Idealism must domi nate economic interest." It is true. But is co-operation against idealism? Co-operation has as its aim the production and distribution of goods not for the interest of some indi viduals or social groups, but for the interest of all people. It is based upon a real demo cratic principle—all members are equal; for everybody there is a place in any co-operative organization. He further states: "My own social theory is that known as Anarchist Com munism: Free Communism as opposed to State Communism. It is a society based upon indi vidual freedom with communistic methods of production and distribution. This movement, like all social movements has an economic foundation; but the vitalizing force lies in the ideal of a society of free individuals, each living his life to its highest possibility and recognizing an equal right for others." The writer cannot fail to recognize that co-opera tion is the form of organization entirely sup porting his point of view and why he fails to endorse the co-operative movement is diffi cult to understand. But let us turn to the Socialist mayor who recognizes that '' True co-operation is based on ideals of 'justice, brotherhood and service.' If a civilization can be built on such ideals it will not only survive but be imperishable." Such an interpretation of aims and basis of co-operation gives to the author a right to endorse the co-operative movement as a move ment supporting the principles of the Socialist party to which he conforms and which sup ports "The collective ownership and demo cratic management of all monopolistically owned and controlled means of productive dis tribution." Answering the question "Why Co-operation is not Enough?" the Socialist mayor rightly concludes that only the joint common action of the three movements—so cialism, trade unionism and co-operation—could help in building up a new society based upon mutual help and not upon competition. As a Marxian Socialist he forgot that besides the working class there are many social groups which should also work to overcome individual selfishness. Co-operation, not being a class organization, gives an opportunity, not only to the working classes but to all other groups to achieve this end. The next article criticizes co-operation from the Communist point of view. It seems to me that this writer calls himself a Communist through a misunderstanding. Upon reading his article I find that he is a Bolshevik and not a Communist. The difference between Com munists and Bolsheviks, who claim to be Com munists, is that Communism is a theory of the reconstruction of society upon new bases while Bolshevism is exclusively a theory of struggle and destruction. He says, "The co-operative movement can be used to the advantage of the workers in their struggle provided it is organized and led on the basis of the fundamental class struggle. Co-operation between the workers— struggle between the workers and the bour geoisie; this is the formula for a successful co-operative movement." This is a denial of the very principles of co-operation. Co-opera tion does not care about this or that class. It is concerned in the improvement of condi tions for all classes and all groups of people and in the building up of a society by peaceful means upon new bases such as are so well out lined by the Milwaukee mayor. A man having recourse to struggle and destruction has no right to appeal to co-operators because the very aim of co-operation is reconstruction. The next article examines the co-operative movement from the point of view of the Social Evolutionist. He says, "The economic de mocracy which now impends, as the next great step forward in social evolution is plainly going to be something akin to socialism, it is truey- something akin to communism, something akin to co-operation. But it will be none of these. It will be something foreseen by no prophet now before the people." And further he takes the position of one who believes that there are "inexorable forces, which, under whatever name, history reveals as propelling and guiding the course of events along an orbit which man never controls, never approves, and never even foresees." On the strength of this he con- dudes, "CONSTRUCTIVE social evolution, on the one hand, lies wholly outside the domain of human mentality. The mind of man pos sesses no power over it. Its progress depends not at all upon man's mentality." If this were so, co-operation certainly could do no constructive work. But is it so? And then we come to the subject treated from the standpoint of the Single Taxer. The author speculates with the contradiction of con sumers' and producers' co-operation in which the consumer's object is to purchase goods at the cheapest price possible while the producer aims to sell them at the highest price possible. As this is not the only aim of co-operation and as joint price-fixing easily takes care of this problem, this can be no objection to co-opera tion. He is right in his conclusion that low taxes, and no taxes on livestock, buildings, improvements, implements and personal effects, will be of great benefit to consumers' co-opera tion as it is now benefiting the farmers of Canada. The evolutionist is followed by a professor of economics who discusses the ques tion from the capitalist point of view. It is interesting to note the opening lines of his article: "For certain classes of enterprises the co-operative form of organization is best." A little further he goes on to say, "In a situa tion where the main difficulty is not to get enough capital but to hold the loyalty of patrons, the co-operative form is better" (than the capitalist). Such remarks made by a professor of eco nomics in discussing the question of co-opera tion from the capitalistic point of view is very significant. It is a recognition of the form itself, and that means a great deal. He talks of the Oneida community which for thirty years existed as a communistic group but which finally changed into a New York State joint stock corporation with a capital of $600,000— thus justifying his arguments. As a defender of the capitalist system he praises the selling of shares to workers who thus become members of a corporation. Attacking Co-operation and praising ownership of shares by workers, he comes to this conclusion: "This diffusion of ownership is giving the working men, to a large extent, the ownership of the tools with which they work. There is no reason why it should not be carried further. The joint stock form of organization fits in perfectly with that idea, and it is being acted upon by millions of workers. It comes more nearly being genuinely co-operative than any plan now in operation." And finally the last issue, at the time of writing this, treats Co-operation from the point of view of the Syndicalist. Here the writer restrains himself by saying that "The Consumers' co-operative movement is not enough to insure the transition to a society controlled by the workers because it has in it no dynamic force." Such a restriction gives Mr. Baldwin the right to exclaim in conclusion, "No, consumers' co-operation is not enough for revolutionists!" But here we see again, as in the article of the Communist, that the chief purpose o_f humanity, and of workers in particular, is "to fight." If this is true, then Mr. Baldwin is right, especially if he thinks that "the co-operatives play a purely passive role." But is it true that an organization which is trying to reconstruct the methods of production and distribution for the benefit of all people is playing a purely passive r61e? Giving some credit to consumers' co-opera tion which "is all to the good on the way to a workers' society," Mr. Baldwin concludes: "But it is not the main line toward revolu tionary change, nor is it the essential factor in the actual reorganization of society by the workers." Certainly not! Co-operation means constructive work for the whole population and not for any favored group, whether they be workers or others. The commonwealth must be rebuilt for the people, by the people them selves and not by any special group. I think that it was not necessary to discuss the question: "Why Co-operation is not Enough," for I do not know any Co-operator who thinks that only through Co-operation can the world be saved from all the injustices of capitalist selfishness. But all the contributors to the subject failed to realize that Co-opera tion is not only interested in the reduction of prices but that it has as its aim the recon struction of society upon a new basis—on the basis of mutual help for all and not for the interest of some special group, whatever name this group may have. And working in this direction, Co-operation is doing a very im portant piece of work. Co-operation has its ideal but this ideal was forgotten by nearly all the contributors. New York City. C. 18 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 19 A VETERAN OF WARS, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND INTERNATIONAL Sditor of Co-operation: During the last election in this State, I was the Farmer-Labor candidate for Lieutenant Governor. While I received for that office 345,000 votes, was several thousand short of victory. Had I won, most of my program would have remained on the shelf as I would not have had a Senate favorable to me. Pre vious to this I organized the World War Veterans and worked with the Non-Partisan League, both organizations now being nearly a thing of the past. Eeaction struck and it crumbled everything before it. If we had put our money and energy into the Co-operative movement we would have had an economic background and would now be doing real things in the reconstruction of the economic system. By this experience I however intend to profit; it is better late than never, and the Co-operative movement is our only hope of survival in this economic situation in which we now find ourselves. I speak from a Worker's and Farmer's standpoint. EMIL HOLMES, President World War Veterans. Hopkius, Minn. From The League Office PRIZE CONTEST FOR CARTOONISTS. A PEIZE of $50 is offered by The Co operative League to the cartoonist, ama teur or otherwise, who presents the most acceptable sketch of the co-operative and the non-co-operative character in car toon. These two characters, engaged in dialogue, will be used regularly in publi cations of The League and in other publications of the labor, farmer, and co-operative press. We suggest two characters: one to represent the intelligent and active mem ber of the co-operative society; the other to represent the ignoramus, "bonehead," "boob," "poor fish." With each ap pearance of these characters in public will appear a new dialogue skit, in which the second character shows by his ques tion or comment his utter inability to grasp the most elementary co-operative idea; he gets cheated; while the first character shows his understanding of Co-operation, its significance and ulti mate purpose; he always wins out. Appropriate names for the two charac ters should be submitted also. Beyond these requirements, there are no limitations placed upon the imagina tion of the contesting cartoonist. The characters may both be men, both women, or they may be a man and a woman. A few names for these characters have already been suggested—"Wiz and Biz," "Coop and Snoop," "Imp and Simp," "Eazz and Jazz," "Eazz and Berry." The person submitting the most suit able pair of characters in sketch will then be requested to supply five sketches of these characters in various poses or posi tions, and upon receipt of these five sketches, the Executive Office of The Co-operative League will send a check for $50 to this winner of the contest. The idea will be copyrighted by The Co-operative League and the initials or name of the successful artist will be carried in every picture. Sketches for the contest should be sent to The Co operative League, 167 West 12th Street, New York City. They must be submitted before March 1, 1926. Winner of the contest will be announced in the April number of Co-operation. Contestants may not expect sketches submitted to The League to be returned, unless self-addressed stamped envelope is enclosed. YEAR BOOK OF NORTHERN STATES CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE THE Year Book of the Northern States League is the first attempt to embody co-operative statistics in a Year Book in the United States. The book is paper- covered, has 128 pages, and many in teresting articles in addition to photo graphs, tables of statistics and other valuable information. Price is 20 cents. BOUND VOLUME AND INDEX OF CO-OPERATION INDEX of Volume XI of CO-OPERATION may be procured free from the office of The Co-operative League by anyone who wants a copy. Bound volume of the magazine for 1925 will also be ready in a couple of weeks. PUBLICATIONS — OF — THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE .50 .10 .02 .10 4.00 4.00 2.50 1.00 HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 •j Story of Co-operation .............$ .10 $6.00 7' British Co-operative Movement..... .10 6.00 V) Consumers' Co-operative Societies in N. Y. State (Published by Con sumers' League ................ .10 59 Co-operative Movement in liurope.. .05 64 Progress of Co-operation in United States . .....".....".".'......... -05 TECHNICAL 4 How to Start and Run a Rochdale Co-operative Society ............ .10 5. System of Store Records and Accounts . . . . . . ............. 6 A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Co-operative Society....... .05 8. Co-operative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined... .10 9. How to Start a Co-operative Whole sale . . . . . . • ................. 27 Why Co-operative Stores Fail...... 2 Co-operative Store Management..... 14 How to Start and Run a Women's ' Guild. ....................... .05 15. How to Organize a District Co-opera tive League ................... -10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). . . . . . . ............ .50 32. Application Blanks for Membership in a Co-op Society. ............. 43. Co-operative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C of Co-operative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Co-operative Apart ment House ................... .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law. ........... .10 46. Producers' Co-operative Industries. . .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Co-operative Movement .10 12. Credit Union and Co-operative Store .05 33. Credit Union and Co-operative Bank .05 13. The Place of Co-operation Among Other Movements .............. .25 34. Co-operative Movement (Yiddish).. .02 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) .............. .06 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Co-opera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless .10 53. Real First Aid for the Farmers.... .05 54. Credit at Cost for the People. ...... .05 55. A Better World to Live In. ....... .05 56. Government That Begins at Home. . .05 57. How a Consumers' Co-operative Dif fers from Ordinary Business. . . . .02 60. The " Moral Equivalent " of Jazz. . . .02 62. Buttons (League Emblem in 3 colors) 34 inch diameter. ....... 63. Sign or Transparency of League Em ble .65 1.75 1.25 3.00 lem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam. . .25 15.00 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Co-operative League; (18) Do You Know Why You Should Be a Co-operator; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (22) A Real Co-operator; (36) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; (26) Factory Workers Co operate!; (28) Do You Know About Co-operation in Europe?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (44) What Is the Co-operative Move ment?; (45) Schools and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job; (48) Tips to Co-operators; (49) The Way Out; (58) Making Co-operation Succeed in America; (61) Co-operation Brings Disarmament. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS CO-OPERATION—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hun dred). Subscription, per year..............$1'.00 HOME CO-OPERATOR, 4 pages...... .$1.00 per 100 INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE BULLETIN, (Pub. by The I. C. A.).......... Per Year, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Co-operative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Bergengren, Roy F.: Co-operative Banking, A Credit Union Book ..................... $3.00 Blanc, Elsie T.: Co-operative Movement in Russia . . . . . . . ....................... 2.50 Brightwill, L. R.: Animal " Co-op " Book—For Children............................ .15 Faber, Harald: Co-operation in Danish Agricul ture, 1918 ............................. 2.75 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Co-operation in Scotland, 1920 ......................... 2.00 Gebhard, Hannes: Co-operation in Finland, 1916 2.00 Gide, C.: Consumers' Co-operative Societies, 1921 2.50 Gide, C.: Consumers' Co-operative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth, $3.00; paper bound...................... .90 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... 2.00 Harris, Emerson P.: Co-operation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Cloth, $2.00; paper bound . . . . . . . ....................... .60 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers ................ 1.00 Howe, Fred C.: Denmark, a Co-operative Com monwealth, 1921 ....................... 2.00 Jessness, O. B.: Co-operative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... 2.50 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............ .50 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... .25 Potter, B.: Co-operative Movement in Great Britain . . . . . . . ....................... 1.00 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S..... 2.00 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................. 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 19.18 ........................ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Denmark........................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Many Lands, 1920 ..................... 1.50 Sonnichsen, Albert: Consumers' Co-operation, 1919. Paper bound .................... .75 Steen, H.: Co-operative Marketing............ 1.00 Stolinsky, A.: The Co-operative Movement. (In Yiddish). . . . . . . ...................... 1.00 Warbasse, James P.: Co-operative Democracy.. 2.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co-operative Movement, 1921 ....................... 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Co-operation, 1917. 1.50 Woolf, Leonard: Co-operation and the Future of Industry . . . . . . . ..................... 1.00 Woolf, L.: Socialism and Co-operation........ 1.50 Co-operation in Great Britain and Ireland, paper .25 CO-OFERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1925 inclusive, each ......................... 1.25 Transactions of Second American Co-operative Congress, 1920 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Third American Co-operative Congress, 1922 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Fourth American Co-operative Congress, 1924 ......................... 1.00 Northern States Year Book, 1925. Paper..... .20 The People's Year Book, 1925. Cloth, $1.00; paper bound ........................... .60 (Ten cents postage should be added for books which cost 'more than $2.00, and five cents for the smaller books.) THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE (Member of The International Co-operative Alliance) 167 West 12th Street, New York An educational organization for teaching the history, principles, methods and alms of the Co-operative Movement and for the promotion of Co-operation in the United States. Join The League and thus help promote the educational work of the Co-operative Movement. Subscribe fo» the Monthly Magazine and keep in touch with the Movement. D Subscription for CO-OPERATION, $1.00. Q Membership in The LEAGUE, $1.00. find * nna $. for lor Name... Address. Co-operative Central Exchange Wholesale Grocers and Jobbers, Bakers We supply goods to Co-operative Societies ONLY. We arc owned and controlled by Co operative Societies. We are organized to enable Co-operative Societies to do collectively what they cannot do individually. Co-operative Central Exchange Offices, Warehouses and Plant: Winter Street and Ogden Ave., SUPERIOR, WIS. Co-operators* Ltd. Mutual Fire Insurance Co. is noiv writing insurance in State of Wisconsin THE PRODUCER Issued Monthly Price 3d. If you want to keep in touch with business, organization, administrative affairs, and problems of the British Co-operative Movement, read THE PRODUCER. Published hy Co-operative Wholesale Society, Inc., I Balloon Street, Manchester Post free 4 sh. Cd. a year. The Trade and Technical Organ of British Co-operation. TEE NEW SECRETARY'S LEDGER Published by the Educational Department Central States Co-operative Wholesale So'ciety (208 Converse Ave., E. St. Louis, 111.) is the form for keeping the Membership Ledger of a Co-operative Society which provides ample and proper space for all transactions with a maximum of effi ciency and a minimum of time, worry and errors. Send for Samples and Prices Co-operafion in Scotland In no part of the world is Co-operation fur ther developed, or more successfully practiced than in Scotland. If you wish to keep in formed, read "The Scottish Co-operator" (Published Weekly) Subscription: Year 12 sh.; half-year, 6 sh. Address, 119 Paisley Road, Glasgow, _ Scotland The Madras Monthly Bulletin of Co-operation ROYAPETTAH, MADRAS, INDIA The premier monthly ou Co-operation in India. Special articles on Rural, Con sumers', Agricultural, Credit and Indus trial Co-operation; and Co-operation Abroad. Subscription Rs. 4/12 per annum. The Canadian Co-operator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Co-or*cra- tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under tlie auspices of The Co-operative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum THE HOME CO-OPERATOR A .four-page magazine for use in co operative societies. Issued monthly, in bundles, $1 per hundred. Published by The Co-operative League OKJPER™ A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Co-operative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City J. P. WARBASSE, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at tlie Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XII, No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1926 10 CENTS ONE OF NEW YORK'S CO-OPERATIVE HOUSES. Co-operative Bouses are loth large and small; ornate and plain; "high-priced and low-priced; for organized workers, professional and business people. This house, on Belmont Ave., Bronx, is one of the smaller. Built to house eight families, it was purchased two years ago l>y a Co-operative Association for $41000. Monthly charges ("Bents") range from $60 to $65 for six rooms and l>ath 22 CO-OPE RAT ION Co-operative Home Builders in New York '"PHE workers and professional people of Greater New York have begun to _-M;ake hold of co-operative housing in real earnest during the past few years. Jewish groups in the Bronx, Finnish groups in Brooklyn, miscellaneous groups in Manhattan and Queens—each borough of the great city has co-operative homeseekers driving by different roads toward the same goal: low-priced housing without profit, security of tenure, democratic control by the tenant members themselves. Here you see sixty single people in co-operative control of a lodging house which also provides two meals a day for its members. . There you find a colony of many co-operative apartment houses with two co-operative restaurants situated in the same neighborhood for the convenience of their occupants. A third group experiments with co-operative buying of a few lines of groceries. A fourth specializes in a large playground with tennis courts for the adults and sand boxes, wading pool, etc., for the children. Properties vary in value from $16,000 to $1,400,000. They vary in number of apartments from 8 to 340. They vary as to monthly "rental" charges between $5 per room and $20 per room. Average cost per building is about $175,000; average number of tenant-members, around 28; average rental per room, approximately $12. The most interesting feature of this new movement is its diversity. Among the 35 or 40 housing groups there have been nearly a score of different kinds of experimentation in matters of financing, incorporation, control, management. A rapid sight-seeing trip among these groups would show us some of the fol lowing variations: There are language differences. In the Bronx Borough there are several groups of Jewish workers, a few of Finnish workers. In Manhattan there are one or two Jewish groups, two or three associations.of professional and business people. In Queens we come across several small societies made up of workers or small business men of native birth. In Brooklyn there are more than twenty associations, the majority of them Finnish in nationality, but some Swedish, some mixed, some entirely American born; all of them are predominantly groups of workers. There are differences in form of organization. Many societies are incorpo rated under the joint-stock law, and the co-operative features have to be written into the by-laws. Some are organized as membership corporations without capital stock, and monthly rental charges constitute membership dues. The others are under the co-operative stock corporation law. There are variations in business and financial practice. A few have their members pay in at the very beginning a certain percentage of the total value of the apartment, and this constitutes their financial interest in the association for all time. All payments on mortgages are credited to the association, but no individual has any claim upon them. Other associations have their members subscribe for the complete value of the apartment, part of the payment being made on taking possession, the balance being paid in monthly installments with the rent over a period of several years. The member is given additional stock each year for the amortization payments he has made during that year. A small number of the associations conduct their business with most scrupulous regard to the strictest accounting practice, setting aside adequate reserves for depreciation of the building; amortizing temporary repairs and improvements (such as painting, etc.) over short periods; paying interest on stock owned by members, etc. The majority of the associations do not regard such practices necessary; they neglect such matters as depreciation of the property; make no allowance for interest on members' shares. Some of the societies set a flat initial CO-OPERATION 23 payment and a flat monthly charge for all the apartments in the building, regard less of the fact that some are much more desirable than others; and the early comers get the best locations at the low cost. Most of the societies try to fix initial payments and monthly charges in proportion to the relative value as living quarters of each apartment. There are many ways of handling management. One or two groups rotate membership on the management committee alphabetically among all the mem bers. Others elect boards of directors for one, two or three year terms. In some of the smaller houses the entire membership constitutes the board of directors. A few have a board which appoints one of the resident members to act as manager; others have a board which farms out the management and bookkeeping to commercial real estate agents. There is considerable divergence as to prohibiting members from selling or subletting at a profit. On the extreme left is the group which permits only organized workers to live in the house and evicts any member who sets up in private business. This group rigidly forbids any selling of stock or subletting of apartments on the part of the members at a profit. On the extreme right are the associations where, in spite of original intentions that no speculative practices shall creep in, individual members sometimes hold lease to two or more apartments and sublet at a profit; or they sell their stock at a higher price than they paid for it. In between these two extremes are many variations of the co-operative effort to prevent speculation and exploitation of the public. Some associations permit subletting of furnished apartments at a slight increase over the base price; others feel that control of price is impossible, so they put restrictions upon the period of time that a member may sublet. One association says that members may not sell at an advance in price "except at an advance equivalent to the increase in the assessed valuation of the property." Such are some of the different interpretations put upon the term '' Co-opera tive Housing" by two thousand of the residents of New York. They differ as to definition of co-operation when applied to this field of economic endeavor; they differ as to the best methods of administering such a difficult type of business. From such wide experimentation should come some valuable lessons. Early in January The Co-operative League called a conference of co-opera tive housing associations. Eighteen groups sent delegates; and at the meeting a committee of seven was appointed to make an intensive study of the various co-operative housing practices and to work out a proposal for the formation of a permanent co-operative housing federation of these groups. That committee is now holding meetings. Until a cleancut dividing line can be established between the "true" and the "false" co-operative housing associations, no adequate list of all of these enterprises in New York can be compiled with any accuracy. The list that follows does not pretend to be complete, but it is pretty comprehensive. Co-operative Housing Societies in Greater New York Manhattan Unity House, 135 Lexington Avenue. Workmen's Mutual Aim Association, 1786 Lexington Avenue. Rational Workmen's Co-operative Society, 1815 Madison Avenue. United Workers Co-operative Association, 1 Union Square. 105-117 East 102d Street Apartment Houses. Beekman Hill Co-operative Association, 343-349 East 50th Street. Consumers Co-operative Housing Association, 68 Barrow Street. Ethical Culture Co-operative Society, 579 West 65th Street. 167 West 136th Street Co-operative Corporation. Varma Co-operative Homes, Inc., 2056 Fifth Avenue. Suoja, 1 West 127th Street. 24 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 25 Bronx Consumerized Homes, 1884 Belinont Avenue. Yiddishe Co-operative Heim Geselschaft, 406 East 149th Street. Long Island Smmyside First Co-operative Housing Association, Inc., Queens Boulevard and Carolyn Street, Long Island City, L. I. * Sunnyside Second Co-operative Housing Association, Inc., Long Island City, L.I. Brooklyn 517 49th Street Club, Inc. Berkshire Court, Inc., 7th Avenue and 40th Street. Florence Homes Association, 540 40th Street. Park Hill Home Association, Inc., 759 42d Street. Advance Homes Association, Inc., 870 43d Street. Baltic Homes Association, Inc., 4113 7th Avenue. Victory Homes Company, 671 46th Street. "Alku" Co-operative Apartments, 814-816 43d Street. 682 Lexington Avenue Co-operative Tenants Union, Inc. 684 Lexington Avenue Co-operative Tenants Union, Inc. 466 49th Street Club, Inc. Riverview Co-operative Association, 41st Street and 7th Avenue. Sunset Court Association, 4002-4012 7th Avenue. Bay View Association, Inc., 671 47th Street. Sunset Homes Association, Inc., 705 41st Street. Sunset View Association, Inc., 605 41st Street. Corner View Association, Inc., 4401 4th Avenue. Hillside Association, Inc., 566 44th Street. Parkslope Association, Inc., 570 44th Street. Pleasant View Association, Inc., 574 44th Street. Hilltop View Association, Inc., 4404 6th Avenue. Broadview Association, Inc., 4313 9th Avenue. Topview Association, Inc., 807 44th Street. Linden Heights Association, Inc., 702 45th Street. Sun Garden Home, 655 41st Street. Eight Family Home Association, 546 40th Street. Vital Issues LIBERTY A/TOST people do not want liberty. ^^ If they had it they would not know what to do with it. Whenever they are threatened with liberty they dodge it and try to escape. They are so suc cessful that there is not much liberty for anybody. There is a natural human apathy and indifference which prompts people to want to avoid responsibility. "Let George do it" is our national motto. We put it on our coins, but give it a high sound: "In God we trust." Political bosses provide the voters with candidates and tell them how to vote. Pedagogues tell people what to study. The great ethical and religious questions are taken care of. The deci sions as to what is right and what is wrong are all ready made. The fashions relieve people from the responsibility of making decisions about their clothes. In industry the boss tells them what to do. Workers' control of industry which im plies real responsibility of financing and administration, is a fatuous dream. The workers do not want control of industry. They just want more wages. Capitalistic business supplies the wants of the people. If capitalistic business fails to do it, the natural ten dency is to turn to the State. State socialism is the natural successor of capitalism, among people who do not want liberty. Let the State do it. Let the politicians do it. Let George do it. Let somebody else do it for me—and to me. And so more and more the people are directed, driven, told what to do, shoved, pulled, fed, paid, and sent home. The whistle blows, the clock strikes. Sit down, get up, open book, take off hat— it is all thought out and ordered before hand by somebody else. This method prevails because people prefer it. To have a Co-operative Movement re quires that people shall want the liberty to think for themselves; that they shall actually have the audacity to break away from the prevalent method of doing busi ness; that they shall have the boldness to defy disapproving opinions; and that they shall claim the liberty to assume responsibilities for the sake of making themselves masters of their fate. J. P. W. SHOULD WE TAKE THOUGHT FOE THE MOREOW? 'pHAT excellent little monthly, "The •*• Co-operative Official," raises a most important question in its leading edi torial for December, 1925. It is to the following effect. More than eighty years ago, under economic and social conditions which were markedly different from those that prevail to-day, the Rochdale co-operative society was organized. Since that time, right down to this age of giant power, billion dollar capitalist monopolies, in ternational combines of finance, world federations of labor unions, of co-opera tive societies, and of capitalist govern ments, the British societies calmly roll along with this same form of organiza tion, apparently feeling secure in the belief that the solution of the consumers' problems in 1844 was divinely ordained to stand as the solution for all future time and for all future conditions. As a result the leaders of the entire British movement are concerning them selves with minor problems entirely: Shall we sell at market price or cost- plus price: Should dividends be high or low? Shall we give employees a bonus? Fifty years ago these were the most vital problems besetting the move ment. To-day there are vastly greater problems demanding attention, and getting none. The co-operatives of many continental countries are experimenting with the problem of securing business efficiency without sacrificing democratic rule. A few of them are trying to find out just what share of the control and the earn ings of the society's business should be given to employees if the movement as a whole is to be most effective. What should be the relation between pro ducers' and consumers' co-operatives? How can we permeate the largest capi talist corporations and prevent these mammoth institutions from overpower ing the co-operatives? What should be the attitude of co-operatives toward state and municipal control of food or coal distribution; toward state ownership of public utilities? The editors of this valuable paper believe that the British Co-operative Movement needs an advanced body of thinkers who will do for it what the Fabian Society has done for the British Labor Movement. We in America have an advantage over our co-operative cousins. Any drastic changes to be made in England and Scotland must wait upon the conversion of a vast mass of thousands of powerful societies, hun dreds of thousands of officials too busy to stop and think, millions of consumers so steeped in the traditions of their co operative ancestors that any suggestion of drastic innovations may be anathema to them. The co-operatives of the United States are still comparatively few, still in the stages of early experimentation, still open minded and ready for sug gestions. The editors of CO-OPERATION are frequently blamed for discussing co-operative theory too much, and co-op erative practice too little. The latter part of the charge may be well founded. But we can't have too much questioning about these larger and more ultimate 26 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 27 matters, for upon them depends in a very large measure the future ability of our movement to withstand the compe tition of the prevailing capitalist system. Co-operation demands not only the well- oiled machinery that keeps it going to day and to-morrow. It also needs a far-seeing philosophy that seeks out the very fundamentals of social and eco nomic science and seeks to apply them at once to the practical work of the moment. MOEE COMPULSOEY CO-OPERATION? In a recent number of CO-OPERATION we have reported the legislation in Queensland which compels a minority of farmers producing a particular com modity to market through the associa tion formed by the majority of such producers; and we later called atten tion to a similar law being enacted in South Africa. By way of the International Labor Office the news now comes to us that the Ministry of Justice of Czechoslovakia is considering the formulation of a law which would compel all members of con sumers' societies in that country to pur chase their supplies exclusively from their own associations, provided, of course, that these societies have such goods in stock or can supply them within a reasonable time. Members failing to obey this rule would be liable for any losses incurred by the society. What are we coming to? What does it all mean? Is this kind of meddling due entirely to the-office-holder's passion for legislating uniformity of conduct? If the co-operators of other lands are going to permit that kind of thing, they are going to see their co-operative move ment go into a swift decline. In fact, it may be that some of the enemies of our movement, shrewder than their fel lows, know that compulsion and co operation do not mix, and therefore adopt this method of chloroforming it. C. L. AUDITING IS NOT ENOUGH '"THE Bureau of Accounting of The Co-operative League is one of the steps forward in our American Move ment. This Bureau is now auditing the accounts of the member societies of The League. Mr. George Keen, secretary of the Canadian Co-operative Union, throws a much needed light on this subject when he says: " At the best, however, an audit tells a society it has lost money after the event." The Canadian Union, he says, calls for monthly statistics showing gross profits, as well as wage, delivery, and general expense percentages. When a society is seen from its reports to be losing money, the Union gets after the society, advising it how to adjust the expenses to its revenue. In a letter to us, Mr. Keen cites an example. On compiling the statistics last summer, he found a certain society was losing money. He took up the mat ter with the directors. When the figures for the next month came in a loss was again evident. Again the board of the society was advised. When the report for the third month came in the loss of 3.6 cents for every dollar of sales had been converted into a saving of 1.41 per cent by a reduction of the expense ratio from 20.6 per cent to 14.59 per cent. "The drift toward disaster had been arrested," Mr. Keen concludes. Experience, the world over, is showing that sound co-operation demands an expert accounting bureau which is con stantly familiar with the finances of each society. This is the practice in European countries. Where a weekly or even daily report is made to the central bureau, societies do not fail. Any trend toward failure is known before failure takes place. Then the necessary steps are taken to change the trend. Under these circumstances a society would fail only because it wanted to fail; and no society wishes for this disaster. Out of the Accounting Bureau of The League must grow an expansion into the field of supervision. Societies must place their figures before the Bureau, and it must be in a position from day to day to know just how they stand. Our movement will come to this in the course of time. Then we will have our feet planted on the solid rock of permanence. J. P. W. Producers and Consumers in the Co-operative Movement* FEOM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE LABOE BANKEE By PETER J. BEADY President, Federation Bank of New York AMEEICAN labor banks are still in their formative stage but they already have served to bring hundreds of thousands of workers into touch with the ideals of co-operation. As they grow into power they will help mould that future democratic credit structure which is the keystone of a higher national and industrial life. Because it has a practical purpose and because the American workers are ready to grasp anything that will bring finan cial security to them, our bank has ob tained remarkable support. Because of their constructive aims, other labor banks have merited and received public support and widespread commendation. There is always considerable specula tion on just what labor banks can and will do. One of the most absurd is that they will be used as an economic club. Another is that they will slacken the striving of the workers for a higher life. Labor banks are auxiliaries in the work ers' advance. They must remain prac tical banking institutions, existing pri marily to safeguard and make produc tive the resources entrusted to them by their depositors, now over $100,000,000. In addition they must continue to give special services. Only when the total wealth responsive to these institutions amounts to billions, by no means a far distant goal, will it be possible for labor bankers to wield the power to remove those defects that make for the imperfect functioning of our banking and credit system. The great emphasis must now be laid upon making our labor financial institu- * This is the second in a series of articles under this general title. The first was by E. C. Liudeman, from the viewpoint of a Social Scientist. tions powerful for they are still in their infancy and only a few of the larger ones have reached the stage where they can be considered substantial. Only in the degree to which they achieve financial power will they be able to assist the co operative or any other large scale move ment of producers. Labor banks have already served effectively in extending to large groups banking facilities that they did not utilize before; they are performing an educational work of immense value; they have aided in bringing added financial security to thousands of workers' fam ilies and have served useful industry by stimulating fruitful investment. It is laudable and necessary to have ideals but a labor bank that has merely ideals is like a union that by its charter vows to conquer the world but in prac tice adds nothing to its members' pay envelopes. Labor banks must be sub stantial before they can function effect ively and to make them function is our practical purpose now. Labor banks are helpful whenever possible to co-operative enterprises, but all loans must be made on a strictly credit basis. A genuine co-operator would be the last to seek a labor bank loan on the basis of sentiment. Labor bankers should be too conscious of their responsibility to the movement to permit such commitments. There must be effi cient management if profits are to be made for the stockholders, whose prac tical idealism has made the labor bank possible and for the depositors, who sus tain the institution and make it grow. We have the nearest approach to a popular and democratic financial insti tution in the labor bank that is re sponsive to organized labor and in par- 28 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 29 ticular in the bank whose control is vested in a large number of organiza tions and as wide a spread of stock holders as possible. The Federation Bank of New York with international unions, local unions and union members as stockholders, of over one hundred and twenty-five different crafts, comes as close to being such a representative or ganization as any in existence. I cannot insist too strongly that the immediate object of all labor banks should be to justify their formation by achieving a substantial, profit-making basis. That accomplished, we must build up our resources until the pooled capital of labor gives us a position of respect and power in the world of finance. I am of the belief that as we become more powerful, more efficient and more effect ive, our great service to the producers will be to become their investment spokesmen. An instinctive realization of this as the future function of labor finance is the influence which has led to the re markable acclaim and popular support that has been given our banks. The big investment banker is the master of in dustry to-day. Industry is being cen tralized into fewer hands every hour of the day. Mergers of baking companies, milk distributors and other interests are of daily occurrence. We have had ample evidence in the past of the great power wielded by Wall Street, because it is the center of the world's finance, and now, more than ever, is the dominating in fluence over our economic life. With the centralization of industry there is going on constantly a diffusion of wealth and we find that the producers are beginning to hold bonds and stocks in industrial concerns in increasing volume. The advance of the American wage earner through the efforts of the labor union, so that he has an investment margin in his wages, has made the acquiring of security ownership possible and we know there is already a large oc- cumulation of such investments in the hands of the producers. Labor is eager for workers to acquire savings and to make these savings pro ductive by investment in useful indus try. Labor is keen to co-operate to make industry profitable alike for investors and workers. No labor union will lose, it can only gain in strength and respon sibility, when it can class its members as small investors and property holders. But American labor realizes that the diffusion of wealth now going on, even in non-union industries, will not bring representation or control until the work ers who hold these securities become part of the labor banking system and will deposit their proxies with a labor banker to represent them in the decisions that confront their particular industry. The evolutionary process of wealth distribution in conjunction with the rise of people's banks and labor banks will, with the years, transform our dominant financial structure and make it more representative and equal to the strain of modern production and consumption. All this lies in the future for the labor banker who is but the instrument of the mass power behind him. He is limited by that support. Co-operators, accus tomed and experienced in business affairs can be of great aid in solidifying the existing labor banks and by helpful counsel can be of valuable assistance to the labor banks in their localities. Much remains to be done to entrench such in stitutions, to co-ordinate them and to develop their service. Our great need now is to develop power. Slowly, gradually, conserva tively labor banks will grow. As they become the depositories of the workers' surplus cash, of their investments, in the degree that they represent the financial resources of the great majority, they will be able to transform our present finan cial structure. Labor banks merit all the enthusiasm they have received for they can become the entering wedge for workers' partici pation in management of industry. The vital need at present is to make every labor bank a substantial, efficient, well- managed institution, meriting support by the sound conduct of its affairs. We must develop its power to serve. As you sow, so shall you reap. Labor banks have a great mission. It is a fas cinating aspect of the co-operative move ment, quite new to America. Les Cooperatives de Consommation en France ("THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES OP FRANCE" by BERNARD LAVERGNE, Professor in the University of Nancy. Published in 1923.) M. Lavergne has written a most inter esting book. It has such value to stu dents of Co-operation that I wish to give it fuller consideration, than an ordinary book review. Therefore I quote liberally from significant chapters. To Mr. Lavergne the Consumers' co operative societies are the only ones that merit the term "co-operative." The so-called "co-operative societies," organ ized by industrial producers, do not use their profits for the social good of an unlimited number of members, but con centrate their profits among the owners. History shows that they have a tend ency to close their associations to new members so as to have more profits to divide among their own limited group, and that they employ workers at a wage, rather than include them as partners. These methods prevent any hope of their expansion. Although the state by its loans and subsidies has many times saved the majority of these organiza tions from failing in the different crises which have menaced them during the last thirty years, nevertheless even in France, the country of their origin, these workers' associations appear to have no future! A few recent French figures concern ing the agricultural societies for the pur chase of supplies, for credit, and for in surance may be interesting. There are about 6,500 of these agricultural pur chase societies. There are 15,000 eo-operative insurance societies for pro tection against accident, fire, and hail. There are 7,500 co-operative credit banks. These have 300,000 farmer-mem bers and more than 200,000,000 francs in actual outstanding loans. Five thousand of these rural banks in 1922 had re ceived loans amounting to 365,000,000 francs from the state, without interest. Two thousand five hundred Raiffeissen banks are independent of any state loans. There are only 40 or 50 "banques popu- laire" or credit unions among the urban workers in France. They are relatively unorganized as to the control of co operative credit. The Agricultural Co-operative Socie ties for Production and Sale are formed among agricultural producers for the purpose of disposing of their product. The distribution of their profit among the majority of societies is in proportion to the amount of the agricultural prod ucts turned into the society. There were about two to three thousand milk pro ducers' societies, 1,600 cheese and fruit producers in the Jura mountain region, and 300 miscellaneous agricultural so cieties in France in 1921. It will be interesting to all students of Co-operation to learn of the condi tions oj: membership which are required by the French Federation. In the first place the three fundamental Rochdale principles are accepted as fundamental. In addition the Federation excludes from its membership any societies which 1. Limit their number of shareholders; 2. Which allow dividends on share capital; 3. Which allow votes in proportion to share-holding; 4. Which pay more than a limited in terest on capitalization; 5. Which do not give to all members equal voice in the conduct of their asso ciation through an annual general as sembly. So insistent on the pure doctrine of co-operation is the Federation that all societies in France which do not follow the Rochdale practices are called by the Federation "False Co-operatives." It is interesting to understand the relation of the administration of experts of the Regional Union to the societies. In the general' assemblies the members elect an unpaid Council of Administra tion for each society composed of about ten or twelve members. The council employs an Administrative Chief. He is responsible for the conduct of all the L . 30 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 31 enterprises. He appoints three heads of departments: an expert in distribution, an expert in accounting, and an expert in purchasing of commodities. Each one of these experts is personally respon sible for his department. He appoints and removes his assistants. The Gen eral Administrator has to do with the larger policies of finance and the prog ress of the society. He reports to the Council of Administration of the local societies; the Council of Administration reports to the members. Within the co-operative organization the commercial activities are strictly separated from the social activities. The general result of this policy is to central ize the financial and economic aspect of Co-operation in the hands of experts, and to decentralize the social and educa tional work, among the members. In this way both are strongly built on foundations, different, but equally sound. The National Federation has an an nual budget of about 350,000 francs; in addition it receives about 300,000 francs annually in subscriptions for its weekly bulletin, "L'Action Cooperative." The budget of the Federation comes from dues from the membership societies, on a basis of 5 per cent of their turnover; 3 per cent of this 5 per cent is appor tioned to the National Federation; 2 per cent of it to the regional departments of the Federation. The National Fed eration has twenty-three regional de partments, four of which are in Algeria and Morocco. The National Federation employs three permanent secretaries, be sides many other experienced assistants. The author gives in a most interesting manner his opinions on the place of the wage worker in the economic order and the contrast between the syndicalist philosophy and the co-operative philoso phy. The workers in a complete co operative regime will come to see that high wages are not as important as low cost of living; the progress of the whole community is more important than the profits for the few. They will see that it is nonsense for the workers to demand special consideration. Under the com plete Co-operative Democracy a demand for higher wages would be an offense, not against the few employers, but an offense against all the people. The only demand for an increase in wages that ever could be justified would be when it was accom panied by such an improvement in the technique of the industry that there would be a lowering of the cost of pro duction and of distribution. He finds the following benefits accruing to the workers under co-operative industry: "As consumers, the workers partici pate in the distribution of the earnings of industry. As shareholders, the work ers participate in the administration of an industry. "As members of the society they have knowledge of its conduct, finances, earn ings and investments, and have confi dence in the honesty and sincerity of its reports. '' The workers are assured of equitable working conditions and wages such as are now safeguarded only by trade union organization. "Wages will be used as a necessary technique in order to assure the worker a regular revenue. '' As the workers become owners of the industry, as consumer members, the class struggle between owner and employee will cease." The author constantly emphasizes that the major social problem which confronts the world is the equalization of wealth: the just distribution of wealth. But he sagely remarks: "What good would be the equalization of wealth if the amount of wealth were diminished, as a result of a new economic organization? Why let go the prize of to-day for the spirit of to-morrow?" Therefore, the problem of co-operators is how to maintain co operative production and distribution at the same high level of prosperity and efficiency as "Big Business." The criterion by which any economic system must be judged is, "Is it productive?" He asks: "Is Capitalism productive?" Yes, but it is full of costly waste and troublesome problems. It is necessary to conserve the technical efficiency of capitalist industry and yet eliminate its evils. The gradual control of giant in dustry is the big economic problem that faces Co-operation. What is the future of the Co-operative Eegime as seen by M. Lavergne? He believes that state socialism is only a brief stage that must be passed on the road of economic progress, and that to morrow state socialism will give place to a Co-operative Democracy—more effi cient, because it is more flexible in its methods—and more desirable, because it is more respectful of the liberty of the individual. The Co-operative Ee gime, in his opinion, will be a "capital ism without capitalists." The merit of the Co-operative Eegime is, in his eyes, as great politically as it is economically. The great virtue of Co operation will be to set us free from the tragic dilemma which faces us to-day (under capitalism); which is either to become solely efficient as a producer (for profits or for wages) and cease to be a good citizen, or to become a citizen of the Socialized State and a supporter and beneficiary of its enterprises, thereby be coming day by day a less efficient pro ducer. To combine the necessary technical efficiency in the administration of Big Business with democratic control and social approval of the masses is the great problem of modern time. It is to the honor of the Co-operative Movement that day by day it brings us nearer toward a harmonious solution of these apparent antagonisms. A. D. WAEBASSE. News and Comment CO-OPERATIVES IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK Co-operative organizations of all kinds chartered in New York State reported a total volume of business exceeding $92,- 000,000 for the 1924 crop year, according to a summary made by Commissioner Berne A. Pyrke of the Department of Farms and Markets. Of 1,384 co-opera tives incorporated since 1917, the state ment shows 1,056 reported being ac tively engaged in business during the current year. Activities of the 1,056 active organ izations ranged from the marketing of thirty odd farm products to the carrying on of co-operative restaurants and build ing co-operative apartments. Educa tional work and co-operative consumer purchasing are also included. All of this growth has taken place mainly within the last seven years, the record shows. The first co-operative law was enacted in New York State in 1914, but it was four years later that development of co operative activities was stimulated by new legislation. At the beginning of 1918 there were but 17 active co-opera tives in touch with the Department of Farms and Markets, but since that time more than 1,350 charters have been granted to groups of producers and con sumers for nearly every purpose per mitted under the law. A considerable part of the total volume of business was done by co-operatives in the dairying industry. Consumers have also built up extensive units, one of which is now operating four large cafeterias and a laundry in New York City. THE EFFICIENCY OF A CONSUMERS' CO-OPERATIVE SCHOOI The last issue of The Co-operative Student, organ of the Co-operative Edu cational Institute, a genuine Eochdale co-operative, contains the following ex planation of how such an institution goes about selecting its curriculum: "The Educational Committee has been conducting individual and group consultations with our students. This activity of the committee is of tremen dous importance that should not be over looked. "Plans are being made for the ap proaching Spring term. A curriculum is to be adopted and a teaching staff is to be engaged—perfectly normal plans. How does our Educational Committee go about it? "Thus: It starts with the classical co-operative theory that it is the con sumers who create the need for the com modity—an economically sound theory. In our case the consumers are the stu dents and the commodities are the vari ous subjects. "The task of the committee is to de- 32 CO-OPERATION termine the demand of the students for the various subjects. The committee does not resort to miracles or to guess ing, but applies the simple method of consulting the students—the consumers. "In this simple method lies a deep and profound significance, the very fundamentals of co-operation. Our com mittee does not resort to the 'hit and miss' system of determining demand as private enterprises do, and frequently guess wrong, notwithstanding their huge advertising campaigns—an enormous waste for which unfortunately the con sumers pay. "The Educational Committee first finds out how many students will attend our school during next term and subse quently consults these students as to what subjects they have to study. Their replies form the basis of the schedule of subjects for the ensuing term. Since these students are representative of most other students, their choice of subjects is equally representative of the choice other students may select. Subjects that are not in demand are eliminated. Sub jects that are in demand are retained and new ones introduced. "This method determines the success of individual classes without an iota of risk. Sometimes there arise technical difficulties, but generally this method has proved successful since its inception and is meeting with greater success as the committee continues to improve its technique. "There are many other features in these student conferences that are of distinct service to the students individ ually and to the school as a whole. The chief aim is to render service and to avoid waste. In a very large measure the Educational Committee has attained its aim and it is to be congratulated for formulating unique plans for a unique activity.'' DOINGS AT FRANKLIN CREAMERY On January 7th the educational even ing courses began in the auditorium of the Northside building. Mr. Holman of St. Paul is giving a course in "Machin ery and Progress," which consists of 12 lectures. Mr. Louis J. Duncan is giving a course of 24 periods in the study of English. In the middle of February a course of 12 periods in "History of In dustry and Co-operation" will be started by V. S. Alanne. The Educational De partment of the Franklin Co-operative Creamery Association is in charge of the courses. The third series of questions in the Co-operative Study Contest conducted by the Franklin Educational Committee appears in the January number of the Minneapolis Co-operator. Three cash prizes are offered for the best answers to all the questions submitted. Each series of questions contains ten questions regarding the nature, work, form of or ganization, etc., of the Franklin Cream ery Association or of other co-operative organizations. "Come and Hear Your Milkman Sing" is the appeal made in the pub licity conducted by the Concert Com mittee of Franklin when advertising the Annual Concert given by the Franklin Co-operative Male Chorus at the Ly ceum Theatre on January 26th. Neither the Chorus as a body nor any individual members thereof receive any of the pro ceeds of the Concert. This is the second affair of this kind in Minneapolis, and the Chorus is now known throughout the city. GOOD JOURNALISM —CO-OPERATIVE KIND A few, only a very few Co-operative papers published by local Co-operative societies in the United States, really merit much attention or praise. But of those few, there are not many that excel the Waukegan Co-operative Call, a four- page paper published every month by the Co-operative Trading Company of Waukegan, Illinois. These folks not only know what kind of news is interesting and educational, they know how to get it down on paper in a readable fashion. Furthermore, they know that pictures are valuable, so they carry several of them in the same isue often. The December number of this live little Co-operative journal not only car ries two good pictures, but tells some interesting facts about the progress of of the society. They have within the CO-OPERATION 33 past year opened up a branch store in another part of town, and the sales here have increased several hundred dollars each month since the beginning. During 1925 more than 200 new members have been added to the membership role. The big dairy department is growing by leaps and bounds and milk is now being delivered in Lake Forest, an adjoining town. The total busines for the year in the two stores and from the dairy was almost $500,000. GLAD NEWS OUT OF FITCHBURG Several years ago, in the days when the first split occurred within the ranks of the Finnish co-operators of Massachu setts, the worst damage was done to the cause of the co-operative movement in Fitchburg. There the strong United Co operative Society, with its several gro cery stores, bakery, men's furnishings department and milk routes was cleanly divided between the Rights and the Lefts, and the latter finally withdrew their support from the society and opened a competing store owned and controlled by the Workers' Party. During 1925 a conference of all the Finnish co-operators of Massachusetts was held, and the two political groups among them tried to arrive at a com promise which would not limit the inde pendence of either political party so far as political work was concerned, but which would withdraw political matters from the arena of co-operative action. The Lefts there and then promised to close up the opposition store in Fitch- burg. Early in January the word comes that as a result of this conference and two subsequent conferences held in Fitch- burg, the store owned by the Workers' Party has been closed and the members of that party have come back into the United Co-operative Society. So closes one more chapter in the in teresting story of political differences within the co-operative movement. For tunately this chapter has a happier end ing than many. The Workers' Party store was a paying proposition and brought considerable revenue to the treasury. Which is all the more cause for congratulations to the membership of that Party on their move in the direc tion of establishing neutrality within the co-operative movement. CAN CO-OPERATIVE WHOLESALES SUCCEED IN THE U. S.? The Bureau of Business Research of Harvard University has compiled a study of operating expenses in wholesale grocery houses. The study includes the average margins for wholesales doing a business of between $500,000 and $1,000,000 annually. The Co-operative Central Exchange is a Co-operative Wholesale. Here are the figures of the Exchange as compared with those of the average private whole sale house listed by the Harvard Bureau. Private Central Wholesales Exchange 1924 1925 Gross margin ... 11.5 6.28 5.97 Operat'g expense. 11.0 5.64 4.84 Net profit ...... .5 .64 1.13 WINNER OF SUBSCRIPTION CONTEST During the autumn The League office offered a plaster replica of the Sarteel Statue to the co-operative society send ing in the largest number of new sub scribers before January 1, 1926. Lauri Kajandi, an employee of the Finnish Co-operative Trading Associa tion, Brooklyn, N. Y., won this prize for his society by sending to The League office 20 new subscriptions during the three months. Though new subscrip tions came from many other societies, no one of them quite equaled this figure. 34 CO-OPEEATION CO-OPERATION 35 Directors' Page HOW TO INCREASE THE SALES OF CLOTHING, FURNITURE, SHOES, ETC. Hundreds of co-operative stores are carrying these and other such slow-mov ing commodities as laundry appliances, farm machinery, mining tools, or coal and wood. They move slowly in the best of times, and when times are bad they may not move at all. Several of the British co-operatives have found a method of increasing the sales of these goods 50 or 100 per cent. The best ex ample is that of the London Society. The manager of this society found that the members were buying many of the higher priced goods from the instal ment houses and cheap private stores in the neighborhood. Instalment purchase may be a bad habit to encourage, but it offers genuine service to workers who never have more than a few dollars ahead, for it enables them to distribute the cost of a high priced article over several weeks or months. Why shouldn 't the co-operative offer the same kind of service in a less vicious form ? "Twenty-weeks Clubs" were started. Bach member joining a club subscribed for $5 (or some multiple of that amount) and paid in each week 25 cents. After he has made a definite number of pay ments (perhaps two or six or ten) he is entitled to exchange his certificate of membership in the club for goods at the store. He pays for the goods by instal ments, but some of the instalments are paid in advance. The store has to ex tend some of the credit; the member has to extend the rest of the credit. It is fairer to both sides. Usually the clubs are small, and are organized by well-known and reliable members of the society. A woman starts out and signs up her friends in such a club. She goes the rounds every week making the collections of instalments due, and receives a small commission for her services. As she is in a much better position to talk to her neighbors than is the clerk at the store, she brings in much business that would otherwise pass the co-operative. The chief precautionary measure necessary on the manager's part is that of making sure of the absolute honesty of the organizer and collector about whose personality the club is or ganized, for if such authority as this is given to a person of doubtful integrity or one who lacks a normal amount of tact, the store may lose friends instead of making them. Experience has shown that such clubs as these, organized within the co-opera tive, help the members to organize their expenditures, for the weekly payment is put aside every pay day just as the por tion of the rent is laid away for the landlord. The family systematizes and makes easier the spending of the income, and both parents and children are prob ably better clothed and better cared for Here are some of the interesting re sults of the experiment made by the London Society: For the year just preceding the or ganization of the first club (spring of 1923) the sales in the drygoods depart ment were 211,000 pounds. For the second year after the starting of the Club System the sales of this department were 488,000 pounds—an increase of 131 per cent. The business brought in exclusively by the clubs was 24,500 pounds during the first half year; 142,000 pounds the next year, and 245,500 last year. Nor did the cash trade suffer. In 1925 an in crease of 23,500 is shown over the cash trade of 1923. The number of customers served in 1924 was 79.5 per cent greater than in the last year before the clubs were started. The average purchase per mem ber has doubled during the two years. During these two years the turnover of goods has increased from two to three times, enabling the manager to carry a more varied and up-to-date line of goods, with less depreciation and smaller charges for interest on invested capital. Total expense per dollar of sales, after deducting the full expense of organizing and operating the clubs, are slightly more than 50 per cent of sales expense before the clubs were organized. A loss sustained by the departments prior to the starting of the clubs has been converted into a net profit of 40,000 pounds for 1924. Many of the co-operators feared that such an extension of credit trading as this would result in considerable losses. As a matter of fact, losses per $1,000 of sales have amounted to one-tenth the amount saved in interest charges as a result of the more rapid turnover of goods. The average purchase by a club mem ber in the drygoods department is nearly three times the average purchase of an ordinary member in the same depart ment. The average instalment system of pur chase conducted by a private store penalizes the consumer by levying an additional charge upon the goods of 5 per cent or upward. The "Twenty- weeks Club" protects the co-operative consumer from such exploitation. District Leagues EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NORTHERN STATES' CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE The year 1925 marks great progress in the history of the Northern States' Co operative League. It is becoming a real factor in the development of the consumers' co-operative movement in the United States. . . . Most of the time of the Franklin edu cational director during the year has been consumed in his work for the North ern States' Co-operative League. The question of whether or not the Frank lin Co-operative Creamery Association should allow their educational director to spend so much time in his work for the League has been discussed during the year at two or three meetings of the Franklin Board of Directors. Always a decided majority of the board has taken the stand that work done for the North ern States' League is at the same time work done for the Franklin Co-operative Creamery Association. Membership Campaigns A great deal of attention has been paid during the year to membership cam paigns, particularly during the first part of the year. . . . While during 1924 only 71 persons paid $1.00 each, as indi vidual membership dues, toward financ ing the League's activities, at the end of this year our individual membership rolls show not less than 338 individual members paid up for 1925. . . . Constituent Membership While a great deal of attention has been paid during the year to obtaining individual members for the League, it has also been the object of the League to obtain new constituent members. . . . At the end of the year the following so cieties make the constituent membership of the Northern States' Co-operative League: Franklin Co-operative Creamery Ass'n, Minneapolis, Minn., with 5,269 share holding members. Co-operative Central Exchange, Su perior, Wis., a wholesale organization of co-operative store societies (mostly Finnish), with a membership of 36 regular incorporated societies and 24 buying clubs at the end of year 1924, and with a reported individual mem bership in these affiliated societies of 9,399 shareholding members. Cloquet Co-operative Society, Cloquet, Minn., with 679 shareholding mem bers. The Associated Textiles, Minneapolis, Minn., with 403 shareholding members. Union Consumers' Co-operative Society, Duluth, Minn., with 277 members. Farmers' Co-operative Co., Wright, Minn., with 116 members. Wentworth Farmers Co-operative Asso ciation, Wentworth, Wis., 90 members. Farmers' & Consumers' Co-operative Association, Brule, Wis., 83 members. Spooner Co-operative Association, Spooner, Wis., 66 members. 36 CO-OPERATION Workers' Mutual Savings Bank, Su perior, Wis., 34 members. . . . Thus the total dues-paying constituent membership of the Northern States' Co operative League at the end of the year consists of: Nine local consumers' Co-operatives with a total individual membership of 6,995, and one co-operative wholesale group paying dues to the League for 6,353 individual members. This makes the total individual membership of the affiliated constituent societies of the League, for which they have paid dues this year, 13,348. . . . Fraternal Members There have been several additions to the fraternal membership of our League during the year 1925. The Central Labor Union of Minneapolis had voted to affiliate with our League before the Cloquet convention at which they were represented. The Co-operative Cigar Company of Minneapolis also joined the League as a fraternal mem ber during the first part of the year. During the latter part of the year two other organizations have become affili ated witJh our League as fraternal mem bers. These are the Milk Wagon Driv ers' & Dairy Employees' Union No. 271 and the Franklin Good Fellowship Club. This makes the total of organizations in fraternal membership with our League 11, as against 7 at the end of last year. . . . The Cloquet Convention The fourth annual convention of the Northern States' Co-operative League was held this year considerably earlier than the annual conventions held previ ously. It was held at Cloquet, Minn., on the 28th and 29th days of June. . . . There were several changes in the composition of the Board of Directors of the League effected at the Cloquet convention. Of the old board members the following were re-elected: P. F. De More, H. I. Nordby, V. S. Alanne, H. V. Nurmi, and Bskel Ronn. The following new members were elcted: F. F. Burandt of Minneapolis, who served on the board also in 1923; Mrs. C. E. Nelson of Min neapolis; B. H. Anderson, also of Min neapolis, and Frank Yetka of Cloquet. The new board elected as its officers the following: H. I. Nordby, President; P. F. DeMore, Vice-President; V. S. Alanne, Executive Secretary; E. H. Anderson, Treasurer. The Third Co-operative Training School In accordance with the authorization of the Cloquet convention, the third co operative training school was held in Minneapolis from October 5th to Novem ber 28th, inclusive. This school was at tended by 25 students, of whom 14 stayed for 8 weeks, 1 for 7 weeks, 7 for 6 weeks, and 3 for 4 weeks. . . . It is interesting to note regarding this year's training school that less than one- third of the students were attached to co-operative stores or other co-operatives before coming to the school, while almost two-thirds of them had never had any practical experience at the co-operatives. In other countries, where the consumers' co-operative movement is stronger, all of the students at the training schools con ducted by co-operative central organiza tions are drafted from among the em ployees of the co-operatives. Tear Book Undoubtedly the greatest single piece of work attempted by the League during this year has been the first Year Book of the League. . . . While it may be said that the Year Book, as far as its technical make-up is concerned, does not come up to first-class standard and is not what it was planned to be, there is no doubt that it represents an important step forward in the consumers' co-opera tive movement of this country. . . . It is interesting in this connection to note that 40 per cent of the expense con nected with the publishing of the Year Book has been covered by commercial advertising obtained by three of the con stituent and one of the fraternal societies of the League. . . . The "Northern States' Co-operator" The need of a printed organ for the Northern States' Co-operative League has been keenly felt since our League became really active. The Cloquet con vention authorized the Executive Board CO-OPERATION 37 of the League to issue a paper every two months. The Board of Directors of the Frank lin Co-operative Creamery took a very favorable attitude in regard to this mat ter. They decided to cut down the size of their own local publication, The Min neapolis Co-operator, every other month, to four pages, to pay $50 for the five thousand and odd copies of the Northern States' Co-operator which every other month was to be mailed to all Franklin shareholders together with a four-page Minneapolis Co-operator. . . . Correspondence School The Cloquet convention also author ized the Executive Board of the League to offer certain correspondence courses in co-operative and technical subjects. In the beginning of August plans were sufficiently ready to enable the League to offer a two months' correspondence course to those who wanted to prepare for the League's third training school which was to be opened October 5th. There were 25 students enrolled for ihis correspondence course, and of these 12 attended the League's day school. Ihe plans are to take up this correspond ence work again from the beginning of 1926. . . . Field Work During the early part of the year the Executive Board routed two field repre sentatives to visit co-operative stores in the southern, western and central parts of the state. Mrs. Edward Solem was out on a short trip, but became ill and had to give up her work. Mr. 0. J. Arness, however, continued working for the League for several weeks, visiting altogether some 65 co-operative stores and gathering rather comprehensive sta tistical information regarding these stores. . . . Conference of Co-operative Stores Through the field work which our League was conducting during April and May, the idea of holding a confer ence of the co-operative stores of Min nesota naturally suggested itself to your secretary, and after getting proper au thorization from the Executive Board, he began to circularize the Minnesota co-operative stores, urging them to send delegates to the conference at which the problems of the co-operative stores could be discussed and at which an attempt could be made to form a co-operative joint buying organization. The date for this conference was fixed at June 21st and 22d. . . . There were altogether 25 accredited delegates at this conference; 16 of these were representing 9 different co-opera tive store organizations which were not affiliated with any central organization. The conference decided to take steps to form a joint buying organization and elected a temporary Board of Directors for this purpose. . . . Co-operative Propaganda Work A good deal of effort has been made by your secretary during the year to se cure subscriptions for CO-OPERATION, the magazine published by The Co-operative League. . . . Practically all of the 94 yearly subscriptions which during the year have been obtained through this office have been obtained in connection with the individual membership cam paign. Several copies of Dr. Warbasse's book, "Co-operative Democracy"; Professor Gide's book, "Consumers' Co-operative Societies"; Albert Sonnichsen's book, "Consumers' Co-operation," and Pro fessor Fred Hall's book, "Elements of Commercial History,'' have been sold by the League during the year. In speaking of spreading co-operative literature, the League's own Year Book and the Northern States' Co-operator, of which three issues have so far been published, must not be forgotten. . . . Conclusion In conclusion I wish to say that I strongly realize the far-reaching impor tance of the work which our League is trying to do. ... Let us resolve that we shall see to it that at the end of 1926 we shall have still bigger things to re port to our constituents and to those interested in the success of the Co-opera tive Movement. Fraternally submitted, (Signed) V. S. ALANNE, Secretary. Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 31, 1925. 38 CO-OPERATION The Correspondence File RURAL LIFE VERSUS CITY LIFE Editor, Co-operation: There may still be a steady flux of people to the city from the farms, and yet the rewards of farming not only not tend to decrease, but actually increase. The figures show an increasing productivity of farm labor^ and at the same time an absolute increase in' population on the farms, though not as great as in the cities. The general interpretation among agricultural economists is that the pro ductive capacity of the farms of this country has increased faster than the purchasing power of the mass of the population. This being the case, each farmer will receive a larger income if the number is reduced to those needed to supply what the consumers can consume. During the war we expanded our wheat production beyond what we needed to supply the consumers in this country. When the European demand declined after the war we were producing too much wheat. The income of the wheat farmers this year will be greater than their income in 1923 because there are fewer farmers producing wheat. As to the character of the people leaving the farms for the city, it varies in different sec tions of the country. In the regions where land is poor and cannot compete with the better land, it has undoubtedly been the better elass who have moved out to other farming regions and to the city. In the other regions where farming has been paying over a series of years, the best farmers have, as a rule, been the ones to hold on to the farms. It has been the men with other abilities and likings that have left the farms. They have made better mechanics, lawyers, doctors, and other useful producers, than they would have farmers. I will admit that having fewer people in a given community for a time made it more difficult to carry on a satisfactory community life. But with the development of good roads, reliable automobiles, the extension of the telephone and rural relivery, the perfection of the radio, and the development of consolidated schools and eommunity churches, rural life for the country as a whole, has, in my opinion, started on a permanent uphill path. To me the outlook is optimistic rather than pessimistic. The main danger we have to fear is one common to all the people as a whole, the increasing centralization of the control of the capital wealth of this country. The bankers are taking an increasing toll from our whole production for their service of supplying the necessary capital, owned by other people. Pro fessor Bipley has ably described it in a recent issue of the Nation. Genuine co-operative banking is the solution for the problem. If we can organize our own supply of capital, we can win the fight against privilege. Here is a common ground where producers and con sumers can start to work together. St. Paul, Minnesota. GORDON H. WARD. FROM RUSSIA Editor, Co-operation: I had a very good interview with the Secre tary of the AU-Kussian Co-operatives. They have an immense suite of offices and seem to be very prosperous. I thought you might be interested to see this thing. I am not very intelligent on co-operation, but the Secretary with whom I talked was loaded with figures and gave me a lot of stuff. Everywhere I went in the TJ. S. S. E. I ran across co-operatives—mostly consumers. The big towns are full of them. Usually they are the big stores. The "N. E. P." has a hard life. Maybe the Co-ops will have a slump, but they are sure on the up-grade now. "Co-operatives gain in Workers' Republic . . . At the present time the co-operatives make up about 40 per cent of all the bread consumed in the republic. In Moscow they bake 75 per cent of the bread used. The 77 leading co-operative societies bake more than 80 million pounds of bread per month. Half of all the textiles sold are handled by the co-operatives. They also handle 80 per cent of the petrol. The Secretary of the All Eussian Co-operatives estimates that at the present time 60 per cent of all Eussian workers and 22 per cent of all peasants belong to the co-operatives and that the co-operative societies get from 50 per cent to 55 per cent of the monthly salary paid to the workers of the Soviet Eepublic. If these figures are even approximately cor rect, they give an idea of the immense role that the co-operators are playing in the life of the Soviet Eepublic. While it is still true that the co-operative movement has gained most of its support among the city workers, the peas ants are taking a greater interest in co-opera tion. On June 1, 1925 there were 4,343,000 town dwellers who were members of the co-operatives and 4,838,000 peasants. There were 19,000 co-operative societies in Eussia on Oct. 1, 1923. They had 25,500 shops and 5,896,000 members. Two years later, June 1, 1925, there were 25,500 societies, 49,000 shops and 9,183,000 members. During the eight months ending June 1, 1925, the member ship of the co-operatives increased by almost exactly two millions. Co-operation is no longer a theory in the Soviet Eepublic. It is the method by which workers, and to an increasing extent, the peasants, provide for the distribution of goods on a non-profit basis. SCOTT NEABING. Eussia, December 11, 1925. CO-OPERATION 39 PUBLICATIONS -OF THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 3. Story of Co-operation ............. $ .10 7. British Co-operative Movement..... .10 39. Consumers' Co-operative Societies in N. Y. State (Published by Con sumers' League ................ .10 59. Co-operative Movement in Europe.. .05 64. Progress of Co-operation in United States ...................... .05 27. 2. 14. 15. 29. 32. 43. 50. 51. 16. 46. 11. 12. 33. 13. 34. 30. 41. 42. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 60. 62. 63. TECHNICAL How to Start and Run a Rochdale Co-operative Society ............ System of Store Records and Accounts . . . . . . ............. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Co-operative Society....... Co-operative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined. .. How to Start a Co-operative Whole sale . . . . . . . ................. Why Co-operative Stores Fail...... Co-operative Store Management..... How to Start and Run a Women's Guild ....................... How to Organize a District Co-opera tive League ................... Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). . . . . . . ............ Application Blanks for Membership in a Co-op Society.............. Co-operative Housing ............. A B C of Co-operative Housing.... Model Lease for Co-operative Apart ment House ................... MISCELLANEOUS Model Co-op State Law............ Producers' Co-operative Industries.. Control of Industry by the People through the Co-operative Movement Credit Union and Co-operative Store Credit Union and Co-operative Bank The Place of Co-operation Among Other Movements .............. Co-operative Movement (Yiddish). . " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert).............. Social Aspects of Farmers' Co-opera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). . . . . . . .............. Co op Homes for Europe's Homeless Real First Aid for the Farmers.... Credit at Cost for the People....... A Better World to Live In,....... Government That Begins at Home. . How a Consumers' Co-operative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... The " Moral Equivalent " of Jaz£... Buttons (League Emblem in 3 colors) 34 inch diameter........ Sien or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .10 .50 .05 .10 .10 .02 .10 .05 .10 .50 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .05 .05 .25 .02 .06 .25 .10 .05 .05 .05 .05 .02 .02 $6.00 6.00 4.00 . 4.00 2.50 1.00 .65 1.75 1.25 3.00 .25 15.00 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; SO Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Co-operative League; (18) Do You Know Why You Should Be a Co-operator; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (22) A Real Co-operator; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; (26) Factory Workers Co operate !; (28) Do You Know About Co-operation in Europe ?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (44) What Is the Co-operative Move ment?; (45) Schools and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job; (48) Tips to Co-operators; (49) The Way Out; (58) Making Co-operation Succeed in America; (611 Co-operation Brings Disarmament. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS CO-OPERATION—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hun dred). Subscription, per year............. .$1.00 HOME CO-OPERATOR, 4 pages...... .$1.00 per 100 INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE BULLETIN, (Pub. by The I. C. A.).......... Per Year, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Co-operative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Bergengren, Roy F.: Co-operative Banking, A Credit Union Book ..................... $3.00 Blanc, Elsie T.: Co-operative Movement in Russia . . . . . . . ....................... 2.50 Brightwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book—For Children............................ .15 Faber, Harald: Co-operation in Danish Agricul ture, 1918 ............................. 2.75 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Co-operation in Scotland, 1920 ......................... 2.00 Gebhard, Hannes: Co-operation in Finland, 1916 2.00 Gide, C.: Consumers' Co-operative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth, $2.00; paper bound ..................... .90 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co- . operative Committees ................... 2.00 Harris, Emerson P.: Co-operation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Cloth, $2.00; paper bound . . . . . . . ....................... .60 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers ................ 1.00 Howe, Fred C.: Denmark, a Co-operative Com monwealth, 1921 ....................... 2.00 Jessness, O. B.: Co-operative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... 2.50 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............ .50 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... .25 Owen, Robert: Autobiography .............. .50 Potter, B.: Co-operative Movement in Great Britain.............................. 1.00 Redfem, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S..... 2.00 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................. 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918 ........................ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Denmark........................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Many Lands, 1920 ..................... 1.50 Sonnichsen, Albert: Consumers' - Co-operation, 1919. Clotb, $1.50; paper bound......... .75 Steen, H.: Co-operative Marketing............ 1.00 Stolinsky. A.: The Co-operative Movement. (In Yiddish). ............................ 1.00 Wai-basse, James P.; Co-operative Democracy.. 2.50 Webb. B. and S.: The Consumers' Co-operative Movement, 1921 ....................... 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Co-operation, 1917. 1.50 Woolf, Leonard: Co-operation and the Future of Industry . . . . . . . ..................... 1.00 Woolf, L.: Socialism and Co-operation........ 1.50 Co-operation in Great Britain and Ireland, paper .25 CO-OPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1925 inclusive, each ......................... 1.25 Transactions of Second American Co-operative Congress, 1920 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Third American Co-operative Congress, 1922 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Fourth American Co-operative Congress, 1924 ......................... 1.00 Northern States Year Book, 1925. Paper..... .20 The People's Year Book, 1926. Cloth, $1.00; paper bound ........................... .60 (Ten cents postage should be added for books which cost more than $2,00, and five cents for the smaller books.) THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE (Member of The International Co-operative Alliance) 167 West 12th Street, New York An educational organization for teaching the history, principles, methods and aims of the Co-operative Movement and for the promotion of Co-operation in tbe United States. Join The League and thus help promote the educational work of the Co-operative Movement. Subscribe foi the Monthly Magazine and keep in touch with the Movement. Enclosed find $......... for D Subscription for CO-OPERATION, $1.00. D Membership in The LEAGUE, $1.00. Name. Address. Co-operative Central Exchange Wholesale Grocers and Jobbers, Bakers We supply goods to Co-operative Societies ONL.Y. We are owned and controlled by Co operative Societies. We are organized to enable Co-operative Societies to ila collectively what they cannot do Individually. Co-operative Central Exchange Offices, Warehouses and Plant: Winter Street and Ogdeu Ave., SUPERIOR, WIS. Co-operators" Ltd. Mutual Fire Insurance Co. is now writing insurance in State of Wisconsin THE PRODUCER Issued Monthly Price 3d. If you want to keep in touch with business, organization, administrative affairs, and problems of the British Co-operative Movement, read THE PRODUCER. Published hy Co-operative Wholesale Society, Inc0 1 Balloon Street, Manchester Post free 4 sh. Cd. a year. The Trade and Technical Organ of British Co-operation. THE NEW SECRETARY'S LEDGER Published by the Educational Department Central States Co-operative Wholesale Society (SOS Converse Ave., E. St. Louis, 111.) is the form for keeping the Membership Ledger of a Co-operative Society which provides ample and proper space for all transactions with a maximum of effi ciency and a minimum of time, worry and errors. Send for Samples and Prices Co-operation in Scotland In no .part of the world is Co-operation fur ther developed, or more successfully practiced than in Scotland. If you wish to keep in formed, read "The Scottish Co-operator" (Published Weekly) Subscription: Year 12 sh.; half-year, 6 sh. Address, 119 Paisley Road, Glasgow, Scotland The Madras Monthly Bulletin of Co-operation ROYAPETTAH, MADRAS, INDIA The premier monthly on Co-operation in India. Special articles on Rural, Con sumers', Agricultural, Credit and Indus trial Co-operation; and Co-operation Abroad. Subscription Rs. 4/12 per annum. The Canadian Co-operator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Co-o"era- tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Co-operative Union ot Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum THE HOME CO-OPERATOR A four-page magazine for use in co-operative societies. Issued monthly, in bundles, $1 per hundred. Published by The Co-operative League (MOTION A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Co-operative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City J. P. WARBASSE, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XII, No. 3 MARCH, 1926 10 CENTS THE HEAD OFFICE of one of the largest and lest Co-operative Telephone Companies in the country: The Farmers' Mutual Telephone Company, Whatcom County, Washington. These farmers have their poles and wvres strung between the towns and villages of the whole county, a>n.d there ave eight other ExcJia-nges, most of them in buildings own-ed by the Co-operative. Connections can lie made through all these centrals with the Pacific Telephone Company, and from two of them can be made with the British Columbia Telephone Co. These farmer co- operators reach the outside world by wire, as well as by their co-operative marketing associa tions, which handle their dairy products and eggs. ill , 42 CO-OPERATION What it Means for Telephone Users to Co-operate* A N excellent example of the benefits derived from co-operation may be found •"• in the history of the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company in Whatcom County, Washington, started a little over 20 years ago, when a large percentage of the fine farms now existing in that section were undeveloped. There were many poor roads and these were often narrow and obstructed by trees and brush, making it hard to build good telephone lines. But this company has pushed ahead until it is now the largest Mutual Telephone Company in the west. The start of the company was due to the need of communication in the county, so in 1902 and 1903 some people purchased their own phones and built party lines. These lines were first run so as to take in the.principal farms, and the shingle and saw mills. Small switchboards were placed in the homes of families in each place. In the early summer of 1905, these various groups had a meeting at Belling- ham and decided to form a mutual company to cover the entire county outside the city of Bellingham. They secured a fifty-year county franchise, recorded the articles of incorporation. The by-laws provided for 2,000 shares of stock at $15 a share. It was so arranged that each person who had furnished and set nine poles and contributed $1.75 toward the purchase of wire and help on the switchboard was considered to have given the value of one share of common stock, or he could pay the cash for his shares of stock. Bach subscriber also had to furnish his own phone and batteries. Now the batteries are all furnished by the company. The common stock was easily sold all over the county, wherever lines were expected to be built, many purchasing stock who never secured a phone, but wished to help the enterprise. By 1909 about 1,000 shares had been sold. In the beginning the company had only single lines that were heavily loaded, except some people living near the centrals who furnished their own equipment and had double, or metallic lines. The switchboards were of little value and were usually placed in the home of the single operator. The operators were necessarily paid a low wage. The lines were often repaired by the subscribers or the local director himself. As the organization grew, the lines extending toward other centrals were joined, thus giving connection between the towns. These lines were gradually replaced by metallic trunk circuits. The subscribers' lines were slowly divided up and metallicized until at present fully 95 per cent of all the lines are metallic circuits. Some of these lines are long and if the county were served by a regular old line stock company many non-paying lines would never have been built. Properties have been purchased at every one of the nine centrals except at Blaine which is leased. The company owns good concrete or wooden buildings to provide for the exchanges. In 1911 to 1914 the phones were classified, and rates were filed for the different classes of residence and business phones and distinction made between party and main line. A surplus began to show from this time on, and all profits were applied to paying the indebtedness or extending the system. By 1915 the company was able to secure any funds that might be needed without much effort. Slight increases in rentals have been made as needed to keep the company on a paying basis. No dividends have ever been declared to the stockholders. The directors are elected annually, one man from each Central district and one director at large. They meet monthly and canvass all expenditures. The local director is especially valuable to the organization. He can * Information supplied by L. A. Jones, secretary of the company since 1915. CO-OPERATION 43 adjust grievances at once. He knows best what is needed in his district. Subscribers can see him almost any time. This gives prominence to the local ownership, for each nominates its own candidate for director. Bach shareholder has but one vote. No proxy voting is allowed. The greatest number of shares held by one person is four; a share of stock is of little value, unless one has a phone to make use of it. The original invest ment of each shareholder was a little less than $45. During these 20 years, there is a plant value back of each share of stock to the amount of $125. The company is managed from the general office at Lynden. Here the president has charge of the work crew which does all the construction and repair work; supervises the service men at all the centrals; purchases all the poles; plans all new work and re construction, and reports to the Board all work needed to be done. By the fall of 1917 the poles and lines were in very bad condition, and when a heavy sleet storm destroyed most of the equipment, the stockhold ers raised $35,000 among themselves and rebuilding was begun with heavier poles and much cable line. This company was the first co-operative organization in this county. Later the dairymen and egg men were organized. Hundreds of people are members of two or more of these organizations to-day. There are few changes among the employees. The majority of them have been in the service of the company for several years. They own their own homes where they are employed and take a part in the various community activities. One of the chief sports of the Bell system is buying up these farmers' mutual companies at a figure slightly above what the shareholders have paid, and then raising the rates to recoup on the investment. And this method of killing off the co-operatives has been remarkably successful. In view of this fact it is refreshing to learn of the fine fight and the strong stand taken by the Farmers' Mutual Company of Whatcom County. These people have planned their work so carefully and well, and their association is now so strong financially that there is little danger of their being swallowed by the Bell system. Some figures on the activities of this company are interesting: ED. BROWN Of Ouster, was the first President of the Company and one of the most active pioneers. He is now a State Senator and Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. Average number of phones................. Average number of calls per phone month. Miles of pole line.......................... Miles of wire............................. Number of shareholders.................. Operating revenue ....................... Net operating income.................... Value of plant—net...................... Paid-in capital stock..................... Surplus reserves ........................ 1921 2,545 212 583 2,987 961 169,336 9,765 82,599 15,330 31,974 1922 2,497 220 686 3,111 964 170,107 11,447 83,086 15,375 53,186 1923 2,532 205 590 3,225 849 171,360 11,281 85,298 15,390 64,467 1924 2,608 210 617 "860 172,791 9,768 98,337 15,435 74,230 ,1 „ .'illi,! 44 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 45 Vital Issues CURING HIS WITH BILLS 'TPHE Indians were driven out and the •*• farmers now have possession of the land. But they are having more trouble with it than the Indians had. The Indian medicine men beat torn toms when things were not going well, and usually things got better. The farmers' medicine men introduce bills in Con gress—and things get worse. Now all the talk is about the McNary-- Haugen bill and the Hoover-Jardine bill. The first aims to create a domestic short age of food stuffs by encouraging ex ports of farm products. The second aims to cause a domestic shortage by reducing production. The end result of either of these plans is increase of prices of foods to the consumer. And some way or other in this hocus pocus the farmer is supposed to be benefited. The United States is composed mostly of land—and some water. The land is supposed to be used to raise food. Now it is used to raise prices. Land is more and more employed for speculation. But to speculate, one does not need to live nine miles from a movie screen, so now most of the folks have gone to town, and left nobody but the hired man on the farm. Once an agricultural country, the U. S. A. is now a commercial country. The majority of the population is in the towns. And the majority of people are more interested in low prices for food than they are in high prices for farm products. In other words, the balance of power in Congress, where these bills for farmers' ills reside, is in the hands of the representatives who want the votes of the consuming people, most of whom live in towns. L. S. Herron, editor of the Nebraska Union Farmer, is one of the few men who keeps busy trying to set the farm ers straight on these matters. But it is difficult for a wise and discerning ob server of economic events, such as Mr. Herron, to compete with the medicine men who claim to be the farmers' friends and protectors and who have a trail leading from the farms to the District of Columbia—well trodden, but slippery. SOUND BUSINESS METHODS We realize more and more that the day has passed when a co-operative so ciety can thrive on sentiment, ideals, and good will. Good business is also an es sential. We are learning this from the experience with the League's Accounting Bureau. The day must come when socie ties, in order to qualify for membership in The League, must not only be carried on under true co-operative principles, but they must keep books that show where they stand financially. They must account accurately for the trust of funds which the members have placed with them. They must submit to periodical auditing. And all of this information must be in the hands of the Accounting Bureau of The League. The Bureau is learning things about societies, and giv ing them advice that is vital for their existence. This experience is similar in every country. A society in Canada has re cently closed up for lack of proper ac counting and sound business methods. Mr. George Keen, the Secretary of the Canadian Co-operative Union, has an appreciation of good business methods because he has seen the havoc played by their neglect. In this conviction he writes: "I feel that the most urgent need, both in the United States and Canada, is national unity and co-ordination, with the view to the mobilization of the judg ment and experience of each organization for the benefit of the whole movement; and the provision of machinery whereby the weak may be guided until they be come strong. I am of opinion that the national co-operative union should be something more than educational to meet our conditions. While it is im perative there should be complete local autonomy, we ought to function commer cially with something of the authority of the executive of a big chain store cor poration, and have at our service good business men of sound judgment, and having the necessary initiative and resource to foster satisfactory develop ment. We should not dictate to the local retail society, but such men having behind them the moral influence of a united movement should, in some re spects, be almost as effective, and, indeed in one respect, more effective than the autocratic controller -of chain stores." Profit business is all business and no sentiment. Co-operative societies may have as much sentiment as they will and ideals they must have; but they will fail unless their books balance; and failure is about the worst thing that can happen to a society. Failure has only one merit: it stops a bad society from doing any more harm. But every failure leaves a scar upon the body of Co-operation. GOVERNMENT TO SUPPLY FOOD TO PEOPLE It is reported that the British Govern ment has under consideration purchas ing the staple foods in large quantities and selling them to the people at cost, thus cutting out profit from food stuffs. Premier Baldwin suggested this step in Parliament some time ago. Now it is reported that British agents are in the United States studying sources of sup ply preparatory to rendering a report. The situation in Great Britain is stead ily moving from bad to worse, and the political leaders know that something extraordinary must be done. The question naturally arises, why should the Government go into the new business of distributing food when a third of the people are already organ ized into co-operative societies which have seventy-five years of experience behind them and which already consti tute the largest distributors of food in the country. They are the only organi zations with the machinery and the trained people who know how to dis tribute food at cost. It will probably come ultimately to the co-operators, but the politicians first have to try their hand. J. P. W. BANKERS AND CHRISTIANS IN DEBATE '"PHE bankers and the leaders of the Christian Church are in disagree ment again. Which may surprise the hardened sinner who cannot see that there is any distinction between them. This is how it happened. President Coolidge told the country that reduction of taxes on large incomes would benefit the whole people, for it would encourage investment of more capital in productive industry. Immediately the Department of So cial Action of the National Catholic Welfare Conference vehemently protests that whether Mr. Coolidge is right or not is beside the point. We do not need nor want more capital in business; there is too much of it there already. It will do better service if used in some form of public work or in the payment of salaries to government employees. The Federal Council of Churches (Protes tant) heartily endorses this view. And then comes the counter-attack from the spokesman for the National City Bank of New York, to this effect: The churchmen do not know what capi tal is. It is not money, but wealth in productive form. And there can never be too much wealth in the form of raw supplies. Railroads are inefficient be cause they lack proper capital. The people suffer from a housing shortage because there is not enough capital in the form of materials to provide cheap houses. Higher wages, shorter hours, a higher standard of living for the masses all depend upon increased productivity, and increased productivity all waits upon new capital in the form of equipment. When bankers and churchmen fall out, we Co-operators hesitate to mix into the row, for such spectacles are not to be enjoyed every day in the year, nor in every country of the globe. But in this instance our conscience force us to raise a feeble cry of protest to all three expressions of opinion. 46 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 47 Our good President, Honest Cal, is no economist anyhow,—and is probably repeating the lesson someone else set for him, so let's not waste time here. Our brethren of the churches seem to be sparring at windmills. Does it make so much difference whether more or less capital goes into industry, so long as industry is controlled as it now is, and directed primarily to the making of money rather than to the satisfaction of the needs of men and women and chil dren? It is not too much capital from which our industries suffer, but too much gambling with capital and with the industries themselves. And the respected bankers make their colossal mistake in their cheeky assump tion that the chief purpose of railroads is to provide transportation to the pub lic; that the realtor and building con tractor is animated first and foremost by a craving to see folks well housed; that the capitalist generally wants busi ness to nourish solely that the masses of workers may have better living condi tions. Perhaps even more important, is their quiet assumption that all capital freed from taxation naturally flows into productive industry. We just wonder, by what kind of reasoning can they list real estate speculation, munition manu facture, the making of hundreds of mil lions worth of cosmetics, narcotics, ex travagant clothing and other personal adornment; the billions that go into sales promotion, the loans to foreign governments for military expansion, and countless other doubtful investments as productive in the best sense of the word ? We have an interest in the question of how income taxes shall be appor tioned, but it is a mild interest only. Our greatest concern is with the sources of income themselves—the industrial and commercial institutions of the country and how they shall be controlled and to what end directed. C. L. Producers and Consumers in the Co-operative Movement* FROM THE VIEWPOINT OP AN URBAN CO-OPERATOR By U. G. MOORE E do not spend our entire lives as producers, nor even the major part, and our present struggle is to lessen still further the place of production in our lives. We come into the world as non-productive consumers and continue as such for several years. As age dark ens the pathway, we again reach a non productive milepost. If we accept as true, the figures used from time to time relative to the dependency of old age, this is the lot of the overwhelming ma jority of mankind. We cannot but admit that for a considerable portion of our lives we are just consumers, not pro ducers at all. Prom the hour of our birth to the time the last rites are spoken over our stilled forms, we are consumers. Whether we work, or play, or sleep, we consume. Consumption is the constant thing in our lives; production but a means to that end. Even the slogan of some protesting groups, "To the worker the full fruits of his toil," is not a cry for more production but a cry for more consumption. Most of us are agreed that the con sumer should, as far as possible, produce * This is the third in the Series of Articles under the title. The two previous ones were from the viewpoint of the Social Scientist and the Labor Banker, and were written by E. C. Lindemann and Peter J. Brady. what he consumes. We are also agreed that the producer should consume all he produces, using these terms in a mass or social sense, since this is a day of mass production, but always keeping in mind that the sick, the infirm and help less comprise a group of consumers un able to produce. When the time arrives that all consumers are producers and all producers are consumers, i.e., when industrial relations are so adjusted that the two are one and inseparable, then this period of disputations will have passed, and all such distinctions. In the meantime, we must keep clearly in mind the inevitable antagonisms that grow out of organizations based solely on production. The consumer co-operator believes that producers' co-operatives are an improve ment upon individual capitalistic indus try inasmuch as the individualistic viewpoint has been diluted slightly by a group viewpoint—the individual pro ducer has become aware of a common interest with another producer of the same commodity and has to some extent discarded money as the measure of man's personality. However, he is still antag onistic to producers of other groups. For example: if he is a producer of citrus fruits in California, he tries to outsell the apple grower. He is even in competition with the citrus producer of Florida, of Japan, of Spain. Some time the gap between these far-separated citrus growers may be bridged, but there is still the gap between them and the apple grower, and the fig grower, and the prune, peach, pineapple, berry and other growers ad inf initum, no group of which consumes what it produces, and so all find themselves in a turmoil of com petition ; engulfed in a constant rise and fall of uncertainty, as to the loyalty of their membership, as to the prices and sale probabilities of their products. Con sumers co-operation has been able to minimize selling uncertainty and in crease both knowledge and funds. Of the hundreds of Producers' Indus trial Societies organized from Owen's time to the present, exceedingly few have survived. A few have been taken over by the Consumer Societies; a few have continued separately by hanging their existence upon the friendly pur chases of Consumers' Societies; a few have degenerated into the usual profit- taking establishment; but the vast ma jority have passed into vapor. There is a type of Producers' Society, such as creameries, in which producers of raw milk band themselves together to produce another commodity from this raw material, but this process is pri marily one for profit since the milk pro ducer must find some one to buy his creamery product—he cannot use it him self. These have met with reasonable success, but what will they do when the consolidation process gets under way in this field? Unless there are good, strong Consumers' Societies to take their products, will they not go under ? There is still another form of Pro ducers' Co-operatives which would be better termed, Marketing Co-operatives —the Wheat Pools, California Fruit Growers Ass'n, Washington Co-operative Egg and Poultry Ass'n, etc. Here, there is co-operation in marketing, but produc tion for profit is still the main factor. It has been demonstrated that the first form cannot exist in any appreciable degree without the help of Consumers' Co-operatives. It seems quite likely that this is soon to be demonstrated with the second form. If the third form can hold together the majority of farm pro ducers in any given line and maintain its monopoly, it seems likely that many storms will be weathered. But if it suc ceeds in this respect, its outlook being production for profit, it will, in all prob ability, follow the path of all monopolies unless checked by consumer organiza tion. It is possible, and quite probable, that Consumers' Co-operatives in the U. S. will find it necessary, and desirable, to deal with the Marketing Co-operatives. It may be that this contact will lead to a cumulative change in the mental atti tude of the latter that will bring them into the consumer fold by mutual con sent, but from past experience one is led to the conclusion that the Consumers' 48 CO-OPERATION Societies will be forced into farm production as a consequence of unsatis factory relations with the other co-opera tives or gravitate into farm production as a natural result of consumer psy chology—most likely because of both conditions. The future society, it seems certain, will be determined by the ability of any form of organization to furnish to the consumer in satisfactory quantities and qualities and at satisfactory costs the things he desires to consume. The con sumer will eventually change or sweep aside the organizations that do not func tion to his satisfaction, and set up his own organizations over which he can exercise direct control. So far, we have been dealing with or ganizations of producers. What now, is the place of the individual producer in the consumer organizations? There are two phases, both largely time elements—transition and consum mation. As long as most of us are tarred from the black pot of individualism and have but a faint social sense; as long as the producer attitude exists; as long as there are so many poor receiving sets above the neck; as long as there is lack of under standing as to industrial and distribu tive processes and economics and mathematics and accounting, there will be disagreement and conflict between the Consumer Society and its employees, with the fault now on one side and now on the other. It is the work of Educa tional Committees within the Consumer Societies to cure these mental astigma tisms and myopias, and hypermetropias if you please, for as I see it, co-operation is but a channel through which human beings may function with the least fric tion. It does not immediately remove frictions but it does stimulate a will to understanding and provide a means by which an understanding may be reached. This is the transition process. While Consumers' Co-operation is but a fractional part of society, there must be machinery for securing speedy ad justments of real or fancied injuries. Such machinery does exist in varied but imperfect forms. It is not possible within the limits of this article to go into detail. This may be obtained by referring to Co-operative Democracy by Dr. Warbasse; Consumers' Co-operative Societies by Professor Gide; People's Year Book for 1924. Theoretically, the fact that the em ployee is a society member ought to re duce friction to a minimum, and usually does, but for reasons given in a preced ing paragraph, some of the member employees and many of the non-member employees have the producer attitude and want their own way regardless of anything else. Disputes that cannot be settled by con ference between co-operative managers and employees are, in England and Scot land, referred to a committee from the Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Trade Union Congress, and usually have been settled promptly and satisfactorily. In Germany, after much controversy, a satisfactory working agreement was reached between the Trade Unions and the Co-operatives, but with the break down following the war, trouble arose, wild strikes were indulged in, and much confusion has dogged the path of the German co-operatives in their attempts to deal with their employees. Finally a national agreement was reached with two of the unions and while this has not brought the much hoped for peace, it has been of help, and coupled with the Labor Code passed by the govern ment, settlement of these difficulties seems to be progressing as rapidly and favorably as could be expected. There was much demoralization also in Austria, but the co-operatives seem to have found it easier to reach an un derstanding with their employees al though the results have not been all that the co-operatives had a right to expect. Belgium appears to have had fewer open breaks than most other continental countries, due in part to the fact that the trade union movement is largely co operative, i.e., it has developed under the wing of the co-operatives. Besides, the arrangement of boards or committees for the settling of disputes is of a char CO-OPERATION 49 acter to make satisfactory settlement possible. The People's Houses, or co operative centers, which have grown up in many of the Belgian cities, have aided in developing this condition, since they have brought the various groups into frequent and intimate contact with each other and given them an oppor tunity to "have it out" openly and so cially outside of committee. The story in Holland, Sweden, Nor way, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, is much the same. Everywhere, a willing ness to meet employees even more than half way, to do everything possible and still preserve the co-operative organiza tion, in spite of unreasonable and im possible demands, no doubt instigated in many instances by capitalist business. The workers in British Co-operatives on the whole have better hours, better pay, better working conditions than those in privately owned establishments. This is true practically everywhere, par ticularly when the consumer society be gins to make headway and develop resources. The following quotation from a report made by Vogt Fiser, Secretary of the Czecho-Slovak Co-operative Society of Prague, represents the attitude of prac tically all consumer co-operatives toward their employees. "I do not wish to say, and I must not say, that it is all honey with the staffs of our workers' co-operative en terprises, but it is true that all the co-operative societies and the co-opera tive undertakings together as a rule 100 PER CENT CO-OPERATORS One of the members of the Milford Co operative Society, Milford, N. H., last year bought from his co-op, store goods to the value of $618. He had a large family to feed, and he fed them entirely out of the co-op. The Milford Society paid a 10 per cent rebate that year, so this member was well rewarded for his loyalty. We should like to hear from other Co operatives which can quote a figure to match the purchases of this 100 per cent Co-operator. But of course we are inter ested oinly in the head of a family; not in the proprietor of a restaurant, hotel or boarding house. grant their employees better payment than private employers do, and that the functionaries and heads of co-operative societies regard their employees as fellowmen and comrades and not as workers placed beneath them." In the last report of the Consumers' Co-operative Services, Inc., a New York City organization, occurs the following: "In a Co-operative, no question in volves both policy and practical admin istration more vitally than does labor. A distinct sentiment exists among our members that we should pay as good wages and give as good conditions as a going business will permit. The Board of Directors heartily endorses that senti ment." Regarding the final stage, I again quote Dr. Warbasse: "When more than half of the con sumers are employees in the co-operative industry, it is evident that the voice of the workers becomes the majority voice. By this evolutionary method, what be gins as consumers' control moves slowly on until it becomes workers' control of industry"; theoretical oneness of inter est being realized in the actual merging of consumer and producer into one com mon and individual interest. Thus, does our theory that consumer organization provides for the producer a larger place within its folds than he can find elsewhere, and offers the surest and quickest plan for reaching indus trial democracy in comparative peace, find abundant justification in the ac tualities of co-operative practice. ARE LABOR BANKS CO OPERATIVE? A member of the largest Labor Bank in New York informs us that at the last annual meeting of the stockholders of the bank, it was voted that the 10 per cent limit upon earnings to stockholders be abolished. Fear was expressed that the depositors might get something that be longed to the stockholders! This is a confirmation of the fears expressed many times by co-operators the country over: that the labor banks, now only semi-co operative, would gravitate toward capital ism rather than toward co-operation. 50 CO-OPERATION Foreign SOME MORE OFFICIAL MEDDLING The Co-operative News, of England, relates the following incident: Mrs. Margaret J. Dodson was granted 300 pounds compensation when her hus band was killed in the Beckermet mines recently, and she applied to the County Court to procure her money immedi ately. The man who represented her stated that she wanted the funds to in vest in her co-operative society. His Honor, Judge Taylor, advised her to invest in the War Loan fund, where she could get 5 per cent. Her repre sentative insisted that she could get 5 per cent in the Co-operative, and urged that the co-operative society was as strong as the Bank of England. Also, it was nearer her home; she could get the money out on short notice, which would not be the case with the War Loan investment. "They say there is no fool like an old fool," replied the Judge. "I think there is better security in the investment I have mentioned." "The officials of the court could tell us something about getting money out of the War Loan," insisted her spokes man. "If the money is invested there it may be tied up for years." "I order it to be invested in War Loan," said the Judge. "I think the widow ought to have a say in the matter," was the answer. "She has not. The matter rests solely with me by Act of Parliament." HOW CO-OPERATORS SAVE ON COAL There has been another Koyal Com mission sitting in England, and this time it is to study the prices of coal. One of the findings of this Commission is that the co-operative societies handle coal more economically than the private deal ers, and thus bring fuel to the consumers at a lower net price. In 1924 the Ministry of Mines showed that the average cost for managerial overhead of the private firms was four shillings, one penny per ton; while for the co-operatives it was one shilling, eight pence, barely two-fifths as much. This is all gain for the co-operators who own the business and get the benefits of any economies. ANOTHER BRITISH LABOR LEADER SPEAKS Mr. A. J. Cook is to-day more in the public eye of Great Britain than any of the other well known radical laborites of that Empire. He is General Secretary of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain which forced the Conservative Government to grant a subsidy to the mining industry a couple of months ago. Mr. Cook's advice on Co-operation is as follows: "I believe in scientific fighting, to hit the other fellow out and not punch my self. That is why they don't like me; they don't mind you because many of you have not yet realized the value of real co-operation. Many of you are out side the Co-operative movement, and it is the first duty of a trade unionist to join the Co-operative movement. When every trade unionist realizes the value of the movement in a struggle then our scientific organization will be on the way to realization. Link up with the Co operative; and until you have done so don't blame the private traders for doing what they consider is best for themselves.'' THE FAILURE OF A GREAT CO OPERATIVE BANK On June 2, 1925, the world-famous Danish Co-operative Bank closed its doors to its depositors and members. For months since then the question in the minds of thousands of co-operators has been, "Why?" "How could such a powerful institution fail?" The answer appears in the Co-operative Of ficial for December. The bank was opened in 1914 and in corporated as a joint stock company in which votes were allotted in proportion to shares owned. From the very begin ning the bank engaged in all phases of the banking business as well as in financ ing co-operative institutions and the CO-OPERATION 51 agricultural industry. The progress was so rapid, especially during the boom days of the war period, that the directors failed to exercise the necessary caution. Branches were established in all parts of the country and loans extended most freely. Finally, after the farmers had tried many devices for increasing the market for their dairy products, they decided to promote the export business, and a loan of twelve and one-half million kronen was procured from the bank to finance the new effort. Though all the dairy so cieties were to profit from new markets abroad, only one-quarter of them as sumed liability for this loan. When the post-war depression wrecked the attempt to form an export trade the bank had to stand the loss. At the last moment a new Board of Directors and new managers were ap pointed, and these men tried to raise twenty millions of additional capital. The Danish State Bank, the Co-opera tive Wholesale Society, the Co-operative Cement Society, and the Co-operative Foodstuffs Society all contributed their quota, amounting in all to eight millions, but the dairy and bacon societies refused to contribute to new capital. Apparently there was a very marked lack of confidence in the management of the bank on the part of the farmers. The great powers vested in the directors and managers proved to be the weak spot in the whole organization and the cause of the failure of the farming element to support the institution at the critical time. These same farmers at the very end decided it would be no more expen sive to form a new bank than it would to rebuild the old one; and in view of the anti-co-operative features of the old bank a new one would be better anyway. Already there is a movement afoot to establish a new bank, and several local groups of farmers have purchased branches of the old institution for the purpose of organizing local banking so cieties. Meanwhile a large part of the work formerly done by the Danish Co operative Bank will be undertaken by the Workers' Co-operative Bank, whose membership is chiefly industrial workers and their societies, whereas the Danish Co-operative Bank was essentially an agricultural bank. NOVA SCOTIA MINERS FLOCK TO THE CO-OPERATIVE The miners of Nova Scotia have been through a devastating strike for many months in the early part of 1925. Now that the strike is over, their British Canadian Co-operative Society shows an increase of 372 in its membership. This society is the largest on the American continent, and rendered val iant service to the strikers during their time of need. The sales for the first three months since the strike ended have been $332,938, on which the di rectors have declared a patronage rebate of 7 per cent. All of which goes to show that the right kind of a Co-operative society flourishes on adversity. SWEDEN HAS A CO-OP POSTMASTER GENERAL Mr. Anders Oerne, secretary of the Co-operative Union of Sweden, has recently been appointed postmaster gen eral of Sweden for a period of six years. Long active in various political offices as well as a leader in the labor and co operative movements of his country, Mr. Oerne is now recognized in all coun tries as one of the best known authorities on labor and co-operative economics in any of the European countries. He is also a member of the Executive and Central Committees of the International Co-operative Alliance. THE MOVEMENT IN MEXICO Last year when the President of the Republic of Mexico was in Europe, he spent much of his time studying Co operative societies, especially in Ger many and France. He has had pub lished by the Mexican Government several works on the subject. The Mexican Federation of Labor is giving more attention to Co-operation than ever before. _______ There are now 779 Co-operative socie ties in England which set 48 hours or less as the maximum working week for its employees. That means more than half of the Co-operatives of the island. Can private business boast as good a record ? 52 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 53 News and Comment THE PROSPERITY OF A FARMER'S CO-OP WHOLESALE The Farmers Union State Exchange, co-operative wholesale for the stores of Nebraska, jumped its total business in 1925 to a total of $1,521,311, an increase of more than 12^ per cent over that of the year previous. The net profit of $36,633 is an increase of more than 100 per cent over that of 1924. One of the problems of these farmers is the opposition of the salt combine, which now has become so hostile to the Co-oper ative that it refuses to allow them a jobber's commission on salt sales, and tries by means of special concessions to the local stores to win the salt business •away from the Exchange. That is the reason for a recent meeting of co-oper ators at Kansas City where exchanges and farmers' buying agencies from seven of the central agricultural states dis cussed combined action to procure direct connection with the sources of salt supply. The Exchange is not only selling to local co-operative stores and to groups of farmers throughout the state; it is also operating a few stores directly under the control of the Exchange itself. The headquarters store did a business last year of $99,000. In contrast with the shaky financial condition of the business four years ago, when notes payable totalled $216,000, the current liabilities are now reduced to a figure which is only one-eighth of the current assets. There are few co operatives in the country that can show as sound a financial condition as that. CO-OPERATIVE PHONES VERSUS THE BELL SYSTEM Some of the farmers out in Nebraska are losing patience with the continual rise in the costs of telephone service. The following resolution, adopted by the Farmers' Union of Merrick County at its quarterly meeting in September, is symptomatic of the sentiment of thou sands of farmers: "Whereas, The Bell Telephone Com pany has received permision from the courts to raise the rates, and has done so when the same seemed to patrons of said telephone company to be as high as should reasonably be asked; therefore, be it "Eesolved, That we, the members of the Farmers' Union of Merrick County, Nebraska, at this our quarterly meeting held September 14, 1925, do instruct our legislative committeemen from Merrick County to advocate a rural county tele phone system, and bring the same before the state convention proper, to be dis cussed in the open. '' Frank N. King, J. G. Engel, "John Wegert, EmilBecker, Committee." Meanwhile, there are scores of Co operative telephone lines already being operated in other parts of Nebraska and adjoining states. The Bell interests do not have everything their own way in the rural districts as they have in the cities. RESOLUTION ON FASCIST PERSECUTION The following resolution has been re ceived by the office of The Co-operative League from various societies: "Whereas, the present Fascist Gov ernment of Italy has destroyed the co operative societies of Italy and forcibly occupied the offices of the Lega Nazion- ale: "We, the members of the Co-operative Association, of , , in our annual membership meeting assembled, join in the protest of the International Co-operative Alliance, and extend our sympathies to the perse cuted Italian co-operators. "Further, we heartily endorse the proposal made by the Red International Labor Union that the International Co operative Alliance take the initiative to call a conference of the Amsterdam International of Trade Unions, the Red International Labor Union and the In ternational Co-operative Alliance to formulate measures to fight Fascism. Signed this day of , 1926. Chairman. Secretary." Copies of this resolution, as passed by their membership meetings, have been received from the following co-opera tives: Co-operative Trading Company, Quincy, Mass.; International Work People's Co-operative Association, Gil bert, Minn; Marengo Farmers' Co operative Merc. Association, Marengo, Wis.; Brookston Farmers Co-operative Trading Co., Brookston, Minn.; Finnish Co-operative Hotel and Boarding House, Cleveland, Ohio; People's Co-operative Society, Superior, Wis.; Cloquet Co operative Society, Cloquet, Minn.; Northern Farmers' Co-operative Society, Angora, Minn.; Elanto Company, Nashwauk, Minn.; National Co-opera tive Co., Ironwood, Mich.; Rock Co operative Co., Rock, Mich.; New York Mills Co-operative Co., New York Mills, Minn.; Consumers' Co-operative Co., Hibbing, Minn. CONFISCATORY INCOME TAX The Co-operative League has heard of a great number of cases of income tax levied against co-operatives on a misunderstanding of what a co-operative is legally liable for. In fact, the Ac counting Bureau of the League is now fighting a case at Washington which in volves a tax of $6,000 that should never have been assessed. But the ruling of the Internal Rev enue Department to the effect that the Nebraska Farmers' Union Exchange owes taxes and interest for 1917 and 1918 to the amount of $53,000, is a new one. Most co-operatives, even some of our wholesales, do not have that much capital. At this writing we do not know what patronage rebates were paid members of the Exchange during those two years, so it is impossible to even guess at the amount for which the co-operators are really liable. TAXES SAVED FOR MINERS' CO-OP. The State of Pennsylvania has been taxing the little miners' co-operative at Cherry Valley (West of Pittsburg) on a capital stock valuation of $12,500. The Directors let this go for a good while and did not make any serious objection, for they had no local legal advice that could help them without charging them extortionate fees. Fin ally they put the matter in the hands of The League. After repeated exchange of letters between The League office, the Assessors of Washington county, Pa., and the State House at Harrisburg, the valua tion of the capital stock of this little society was reduced by the Auditor General's office from $12,500 to $9,000. Which means a reduction in the tax for 1924 and 1925. UNFRIENDLY BANKERS In the State of Washington the State Bankers Association is afraid that the co-operative banks may encroach upon the privileges of its members. A bill, drawn by the secretary of the association, would prohibit savings and loan societies from paying more than 5 per cent. The bankers also demand that only members can do business with these societies and that depositors be not permitted to draw out money that has once been invested in the societies. These are restrictive measures intended to hamper the growth of co-operative banks. Five years ago these societies in Washington had $20,000,000 assets. Their present assets are around $75,000,000. A GENUINE WORKERS' (CO-OPERA TIVE) BANK One of the great misfortunes of the American labor banking movement is the fact that all the labor banks are in corporated as capitalist banks. The Headgear Workers' Credit Union, owned and controlled by the 850 members of the Cloth, Hat, Cap and Millinery Work ers' Union, a credit organization 100 per cent co-operative and democratic in structure, presents a vivid contrast to these labor banks. During their eighteen months of existence they have raised a capital of $125,000 and have proved to be the fastest growing credit union in New York State. 1 54 CO-OPERATION NEW ERA LIFE INSURANCE IS GOOD INSURANCE At the close of business December 31, 1925, the New Era Association, of Michigan, counted a benefit membership of 33,902 men and women who are pro tected by insurance to the total of $40,256,000. Since its organization more than twenty-five years ago, $4,614,- 305 has been paid out for death claims. This association is as purely co-opera tive in form as any that has yet come to the attention of The League. An average of 35 or 40 death claims are ordered paid each month now, and the membership continues to grow steadily. Expenses of management run from $20,000 to $25,000 per month, which is an indication of the size of the business. Total assets are $235,785. The officials of New Era are in close touch with the Northern States Co-op erative League; in fact, they have been considering the matter of affiliating with either the National League or the North ern States League for nearly two years. FARMERS' BUYING FORCES GET TOGETHER Recent reports from the Farmers' Union of Nebraska tell of a conference in Kansas City on January 29, at which representatives from the farmers' ex changes and wholesales from Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska were present. A purchasing committee of one from each state was elected. Mill representatives were present to confer with these co-operators and show what savings might be effected by combined purchase. One agreement was reached whereby fifty cents per ton brokerage is saved on one commodity, and tentative agreements were reached on others. The joint purchasing committee is composed of the following members: H. A. Cowden, Missouri Farmers' Asso ciation; L. E. DeVoss, Kansas Farmers^ Union Jobbing Association; Z. H. Law- ter, Oklahoma Farmers' Union; Wm. G. Ashline, Iowa Farmers' Union Serv ice Association; C. McCarthy, Nebraska Farmers' Union State Exchange. Course of Lectures at the Co-operative Educational Association CO-OPERATION—ITS HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE By MEMBERS OF THE STAFF OF THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S. A. Sundays—6:30 P.M.—At 400 Stone Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. February 14—Economic Conditions of Early 19th Century in England; Rochdale and the Pioneers. British Labor and Co-operation During Eighty Years. —J. P. War'basse. February 21—Co-operation Goes to the Continent. The Belgian Plan. The Unique Contributions of France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Austria. —Cedric Long. February 28—The Movement in Den mark, Finland, the Scandinavian Countries, Poland and Russia. Co operation in Its Relation to Farm ers. How Organized Producers Become Organized Consumers. —Cedric Long. March 7—The Rise and Development of Co-operative Banking Throughout Europe and Its Migration Into Asia and America. —Edward A. Norman. March 14—Co-operative Health, Hous ing, Experiments and Accomplish ments at Home and Abroad. Social, Educational and Recreational Pro grams. Co-operation for Women, Children and the Home. —Agnes D. War'basse. March 21—The Beginnings of the Move ment in America, Its Early Dis eases and Its Development Through Infancy and Adolescence. The Enemies and Barriers that Hinder Progress. —Cedric Long. CO-OPERATION 55 March 28—The Present Status of Co operation in the United States Among the Farmers, Miners, Rail road Men, Textile Workers, Middle Class Groups. The Foreign Lan guage Groups. —Cedric Long. April 4—The Many and Various Types of Co-operative Business. Distribu tion of (1) Commodities, (2) Serv ice, (3) Ideas. The Wholesales, Educational Leagues, Technical Service and Advice.—Cedric Long. April 11—The Relation of Co-operation to Politics and the State. Can the Dictator Conquer Co-operation ? Co-operation versus the State. —Cedric Long. April 18—The Philosophy and Ethics of Co-operation. An Agency for Inter national and Industrial Peace. Co-operation as an End in Social Reorganization. P. War'basse. District Leagues ANNUAL MEETING OF THE FRANK LIN CREAMERY ASSOCIATION The annual meeting of the largest con sumers' co-operative in the United States, situated at Minneapolis, went smoothly and well, in spite of some of the prophecies to the effect that a society which has grown as rapidly as this one will inevitably run into factionalism and other disrupting affairs. The entire board of directors was re- elected. The treasurer reports total business for the year as being $3,533,175, an increase of $231,699 over that of the year before. The net surplus for the twelve months was $102,033. The members voted at the meeting to pay 7 per cent interest on capital stock, and to set aside $2,000 for the work of the Educational Committee. Seven out of the eleven members of the Educational Committee were re-elected. The meet ing also voted unanimously to extend an invitation to the Co-operative League to hold its next Congress at Minneapolis. More detailed reports of the year's work at Franklin will appear in a later number of CO-OPERATION. THE BEST YEAR AT CENTRAL EXCHANGE The Co-operative Central Exchange, of Wisconsin, did a business of $835,532 in 1925, on which the net gain was $8,869. This is the best record these co-operative wholesalers have ever made; and they hope to raise the figures in 1926 to an even $1,000,000 of sales. The following is the record since organization: MEM- CUS- YBAE 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 BERS 15 25 40 48 56 56 56 60 65 TOMERS 15 i 50 83 100 103 112 108 99 93 SALES $ 25,573 132,423 313,664 409,591 312,346 337,567 504,177 613,214 835.532 GAINS $ 268 2,063 7,330 6,798 3,399 1,183 5,181 5,973 8,869 CAP. STOCK $ 480 4,020 6,940 10,890 15,389 16,292 17,993 21,501 27,279 One of the interesting features of this table is the indication that the trade is increasingly becoming concentrated with the member stores, and the scattered sales to nonmembers is being cut down each year. This shows a healthy appre ciation of service to member-societies as the first job of the co-op wholesale. Total assets at the close of 1925 are $176,243, of which $122,793 are current. Current liabilities are $85,691. The surplus reserve is $8,869. FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF EASTERN STATES CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE DECEMBER 31, 1925 RECEIPTS Initiation fees paid at Spring field Conference, Feb., 1925. $70.00 Proportion of dues paid into The Co-operative League... 258.42 Total Receipts .......... $328.42 DISBURSEMENTS None. 56 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 57 From The League Office A SPEAKER AVAILABLE FROM THE LEAGUE Early in the summer Mabel W. Cheel, district adviser on the staff of the League, will be traveling between the Pacific Coast and New York, and will visit many of the co-operatives along the way. She will probably go from Central California up to Washington, and then travel east across the North Central States to Chicago, Indiana, Ohio, and through either Pennsylvania or New York. Societies desiring to have Mrs. Cheel stop and meet with directors or to attend a membership meeting and speak on Co-operation should communicate with The League at the earliest possible moment, so that the trip can be planned in advance. Mrs. Cheel will leave California about the middle of May and will be in the Chicago territory about the 1st of June. The cost of having her stop off for such a meeting will be only nominal. THE ORGANIZATION OF A COST ACCOUNTING SYSTEM FOR THE LEAGUE One of the first tasks of the League auditor has been to plan an accounting system, the chief object of which is to show the expense of running the League in relation to the membership dues re ceived at the present and to those ulti mately needed to make the League an organization wholly supported by its members. Two main classifications of League activities are used for this pur pose : the Self-Supporting Activities and the General League Activities. It is hoped that the self-supporting activities, in time, will pay for them selves. The income thereof is derived chiefly from sales and service charges. The purchase of books, pamphlets and other articles that are sold are deducted from this income. A time distribution system has been installed, by means of which every worker at the League office keeps a record of that part of his time which he devotes to the various self- supporting activities. The share of the League expenses that pertain to the self- supporting activities is charged to this account. There is still a large deficit here, but it is hoped that, by a careful accounting system, a way to eliminate this loss will be found. First and most important of the re ceipts of the general League activities are the membership dues; then come donations made to meet the present deficit. Eent, one of the expenses which should ultimately be met by member ship dues, is now listed as a donation. This amount has been arbitrarily set at $100 a month and has been charged pro portionately both to the self-supporting activities and to the general activities. The time of volunteers has been recorded and listed as a donation so that it can be charged to the activity served. The rent collected from apartments let in the League house about covers the house expenses and is a part of this report only in that it goes through the books of the League. Under expenses of the general League activities come salaries and the overhead expense which take care of educational work and of routine matters. A full report, showing the cost of maintaining the League office will be published annually. This quarterly report serves to introduce the new ac counting system and to make clear any reference to running expense that may appear from time to time in CO-OPERA TION. WERNEB E. EEGLI, Accountant. JjCO (M g.Sco (M 'S'Pcs &'£ ^JH d-S1-1 jr1-^ ^ w o in in ?D -ctl O O CO O O in t-o o co ?o co t~ t- m «> O CO C5 CO •cti in • CXJ CO ' CO o in CSrfl s&§ be ^ P " K _ g -c P< o l o» (M O^ CO CO CO O i> in S o EH CO CO l> to ° O O i-l O C5 O «o co o CO CO B

QJ &3 o EH O •* O O C5 O in co o f the banks associated with them. But insurance for the service of the people can be carried on. The European coun tries have it developed to a high degree -of efficiency. In this country we have a good number of co-operative insurance «ompanies. One of these is the Farmers' Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Iowa. This company was not organized ex clusively for the purpose of providing life insurance but for the purpose also of acting as a financial institution to loan money for the assistance of agri culture. Last year the assets of the com pany more than doubled during the year. So also did the surplus. In June, 1924, the company had $3,153,750 insurance in force; a year later it had $4,551,750; to-day it has over $6,000,000. It not only pays death claims promptly but it pays interest on capital invested by its mem bers. It pays higher interest to its members for money and furnishes in surance at a lower rate than profit- making companies. But over and above these it lends money to the farmers on first farm mortgages at reasonable rates. In June, 1924, it had $44,000 loaned on farm mortgages; in June, 1925, it had $110,650; and to-day it has over $200,000. This money is loaned to farm ers at 5 per cent interest. It is loaned without charges for commissions and other extra expenses, and means a great saving to farmers who have been paying from 8 to 15 per cent interest for similar loans from profit-making insurance com panies and banks. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States had at one time $100,000 of capital stock remaining un sold. G. J. Gould and E. H. Harriman offered $7,000,000 for this $100,000 of stock in order to get control of the com pany to use its assets to finance their railroads. E. E. Kinsinger, the secretary of the Farmers' Union Insurance Com pany says: "If Gould and Harriman could afford to pay $7,000,000 for an in surance company to finance their rail road operations, what can the farmers of Iowa and other agricultural states afford to pay for a company pledged to the financial support of agriculture?" AN INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE SCHOOL Co-operators who are visiting Europe this summer will be interested to know about the Sixth International Co-opera tive Summer School, to be held at Man chester, England for two weeks from July 17th to 31st. The five previous schools of this char acter have been conducted and financed by the British Co-operative Union. This year, for the first time, the International Co-operative Alliance has taken charge of the schools and in the future they will be under the direction of the Interna tional. Two series of lectures will be given by leaders of the British Co-operative Movement, on "Co-operative Institutions in Britain," and "Co-operative Prob lems." Special lectures will be given by H. J. May, Secretary of the Interna tional Co-operative Alliance; M. Ernest Poisson, the French leader, and others. Each afternoon will be devoted to special excursions to such places as Eochdale, the London Society, the Wholesale and Productive Works, societies in the Lake Country, etc., etc. Both Wednesdays are set aside for all-day excursions. An effort will be made to have all the stu dents from countries outside England housed in the Hotel of the Co-operative College, so that they may get acquainted. Already one co-operator in New York has indicated his intention to attend these sessions. The charge for the lec- CO-OPERATION 93 tures, classes, excursions, accommoda tions and meals come to four pounds per week per student. Application for admission should be made before the 1st of June. POLITICAL NEUTRALITY IN THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT At the Conference of Eastern States Co-operative Societies in Worcester, Mass., on the 18th of April, consider able attention was given to the political factionalism which has agitated many of the co-operative communities during the past few years. The societies which have suffered most are some of the strong Finnish and Jewish co-opera tives. A resolution was finally pre sented to the conference and adopted unanimously. The resolution is as follows: Whereas, it appears from the reports of many co-operative societies present at this conference that the progress of the co-operative movement is impaired in certain societies be cause of the division of the members into hostile political groups; and Whereas, it appears that there is a lack of true co-operative educational work; be it therefore Eesolved, that this Eastern States Confer ence, assembled in Worcester, Mass., April 18, 1926, expresses its regret that political differ ences are introduced into co-operative Societies to become a cause of discord among co-opera tors; and be it further Eesolved, that strong and intensive co-opera tive educational work be started among the members and consumers, with specific reference to the young people of the co-operative societies throughout this district by arranging lectures, speeches and courses for training the employees and managers, as well as directors of the movement; by publishing leaflets, articles in various papers, and by any other means pos sible. And -be it further Resolved, that this Conference of Co-opera tive Societies of the Eastern States recognizes the Co-operative Movement as a movement which aims to embrace all consumers, and must therefore be neutral in politics and all other matters external to Co-operation. CO-OPERATIVE ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has published a bulletin en titled "How Farmers Can Secure Elec tric Service by Co-operative Effort." One of the interesting stories it contains is that of the Pioneer Electric Light Company, of Lancaster County, Pa. This company was organized in 1920 by a group of farmers, and now serves 117 consumers' meters, of which six are for power and the others for lighting and small motors. There are 86 stock holders, more than 80 of whom are con sumers. The largest stockholder owns ten shares. No member may vote more than ten shares at meeting. Twenty- eight miles of 2,300 volt, three wire line are being used. It is the farmers' experience that it costs $1,200 per mile to build main line extensions, together with transformers, meters and services under 100 feet in length. The poles are locally grown chestnut 30 feet high. The farmers have given the right of way for the lines without charge. This company has paid no dividends during the five years of operation, and has laid aside $3,000 of surplus. The energy is being purchased from the plant of the Pennsylvania Water and Power Company at Holtwood, Pa. SOO PASSES THE HALF-MILLION MARK The Soo Co-operative Mercantile As sociation of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in 1924 did a business just short of a half a million by $470. In 1925 the sales were $551,367, definitely setting this society pretty near the top of our store societies in the United States as far as volume of business goes. The capital stock increased during the year from $34,470 to $40,090. The net gain for the year was $30,542. From this sum will be paid interest on capital, rebates to purchasers and employees, and in come taxes. The thirteenth annual meeting was held on February 10th, and the chief speaker was Mr. E. E. Branch, secretary of the New Era Life Insurance Associa tion of Grand Eapids. The members voted to increase the authorized capitali zation of the association from $50,000 to $100,000. There are now seven stores and a bakery operated by these co-operators. The bakery is the largest and most up- to-date in that part of the state. CO-OPERATION DO OUR FARMER READERS AGREE WITH THIS? In the course of a recent summary of the development of the co-operative mar keting movement in the United States, the Department of Research and Educa tion of the Federal Council of Churches comes to the following explanation for the more rapid expansion of the co operative marketing movement than of the co-operative consumers' movement: "A further fact that needs to be un derstood in appraising co-operative mar keting in the United States is the wide divergence between the philosophy held by a large majority of the leaders of the farmers' associations and that which characterized the historic movement of consumers' co-operation. The farmers propose no such a widespread reorgan ization of capitalism as is contemplated in the elaborate scheme of consumers' eo-operation. The co-operative market ing movement has offered a method of dealing with certain distribution prob lems; it has not proposed an extended plan for the social control of wealth. The leaders of the marketing movement have thus won a degree of approval among conservative financiers which has not been accorded the protagonists of consumers' co-operation in this eountry." AUDITING FOR THE FARMERS In 1918 the Kansas Farmers' Union Auditing Association was incorporated and started doing audit work for the farmers' marketing associations and in stalling and standardizing record sys tems. Membership is limited to Farm ers' Union Organizations, but audits are conducted for other organizations, usu ally at an increased price. Nearly 500 audits have been made in 1925. All auditors are experienced in this kind of work and are under bond. Lately a new line of service has been given societies in the form of bonding managers and officers of local Co-opera tives. In the near future the association expects to open an employment agency. ANOTHER CO-OP FAKIR MEETS HIS JUST REWARD For many years there has been a finance company with headquarters in Pittsburg, Pa., which sailed under the name "Co-operative League of Amer ica." The prime mover in the business was one Hawkins, formerly the head of the Hawkins Mortgage Company of Indiana, another concern of the same kind. The Pittsburg company had branch offices in New York and many other cities and did a very large busi ness. The Co-operative League of the U. S. A. made repeated efforts to get them to discontinue the use of the name, but to no avail. As a result, many people confused the two organizations, and genuine Co-operative League in New York was often visited by men and women who wanted to borrow money. RUSSIAN CO-OPERATORS STUDY AMERICAN BAKERIES Three delegates from the Leningrad Co-operative Societies of Russia have been in the United States making a spe cial study of the most modern automatic methods of baking bread. Their names are given as L. Rubinstein, P. J. Vevers, and S. Monass. Eighteen of the Leningrad Co-opera tive Societies manufacture in ten plants about 600 tons of bread per day, or 70 per cent of all the bread consumed in the city. This is the 100 per cent rye bread, known as "Russian black bread." As the consumption of bread in Russia constitutes a larger proportion of the food eaten than in America, there are large forces of employees at work in the Russian bakeries. The installation of the most modern machinery will free most of these peo ple for other kinds of labor. WHEN WE COUNT UP ALL KINDS OF CO-OPS The United States Department of Agriculture now has listed 10,803 co operative societies in the country. It is estimated that there are probably 12,000 societies in all. The figures do not include co-operative banks, credit associations, nor insurance companies. Fifty-four of these are marketing federations with local units; 49 are sales agencies operating in central markets; 35 are bargaining associations; 98 are large-scale organizations of the central- CO-OPERATION 95 ized type. One-third of the total num ber listed are primarily interested in marketing grain, and one-fifth of them in handling dairy products. Over 70 per cent of all these associa tions are in the twelve North Central States; while about 6 per cent are in the three Pacific States and less than 3 per cent in New England. Minnesota re ports more than any other one state, with 1,383. Iowa has 1094, Wisconsin 1,092, Illinois 822. ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING CREDIT UNIONS OF MASSACHUSETTS The Progressive Workmen's Credit Union of Maiden, Mass., renders its members an excellent Fourteenth An nual Report at the close of 1925. Share capital has now passed the quarter- million mark, reaching $226,773. De posits are just short of $41,000. The guarantee fund is nearly $20,000. Total resources are $308,274. During 1925 the income from interest earnings were $30,346. As expenses were low, there is a substantial sum left for an interest payment of 6 per cent on deposits and 8 per cent on shares. GET-RICH-ftUICK CO-OPERATORS The more cautious farmers of the coun try have long watched with considerable misgivings the splurging of some of the huge banker-befriended associations of growers of tobacco and other commodi ties, especially when these concerns are promoted by high salaried lawyers and stock salesmen of the flashy type. A recent investigation of the Tri-State Tobacco Growers Co-operative Associa tion of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina confirms some of the worst misgivings. Twenty-seven officials were found to be deriving large profits from the sale of co-operative products to concerns in which they had an interest. The general manager and the head of the warehouse department of the co-oper ative, already receiving $30,000 and $7,000 respectively for their services, made an extra profit in one year of $82,000 which they split between them. Similar profits were made other years. In fact, nearly half of the crop for three successive years was dried in plants in which these and other officials had a financial interest. These farmers better go slow and watch their step. BIG AND LITTLE CORPORATIONS There are more than 9,360 corpora tions that deal with agricultural products in the United States. Just one of these 9,000 made $38,735,391 profits in 1923. The other 9,359 had only $92,201,000 all together. There are about 400,000 corpora tions of all kinds. One thousand of these took almost exactly four billions in profits in that year. Which shows that whether your stocks and bonds bring you much in come depends entirely on the kind of corporation that issued them. There are big corporations and little ones, big profits and small profits. District Leagues THE EXCELLENT EDUCATIONAL WORK AT MINNEAPOLIS The reports of the Educational Com mittee of the Franklin Creamery Associ ation and the Educational Department of the same association, as presented to the annual meeting in January, makes an excellent impression upon the reader of these documents as they appear in eight closely typewritten pages. The recommendations of the Educational Director regarding the work that might be undertaken by the Educational Committee in 1926 is equally interesting. We can here quote only the most significant items from the three documents. 96 CO-OPERATION Educational Committee. "In February, 1925, classes in public speaking were arranged under the auspices of the Educational Committee . . . which were held for ten consecu tive weeks with an average attendance of about twenty. . . . "In March, Mr. Smaltz, Friends Service Committee, gave a travelogue on Russia, illustrated with slides. . . . "A number of books on co-operation were ordered for the Franklin library, making the library fairly complete so far as standard books on co-operation are concerned. . . . "Between April 20th and June 12th, a series of 15 house or neighborhood meetings were arranged in different parts of the city, and the campaign wound up with a general program meet ing in the Franklin auditorium. The average attendance at house meetings was 20. The meeting in the auditorium drew about 150. Several of the Frank lin employees appeared as speakers at these house meetings. . . . "At a meeting in May a motion was carried to purchase a moving picture machine to be used at the program meetings of the committee. This machine has been of good service. . . . "International Co-operative Day was celebrated in the Franklin auditorium on July 2d under the joint auspices of the Franklin Educational Committee and the Northern States Co-operative League. . . . "In July the Committee voted five scholarships of $50 each to members or employees who would attend the Training School. Four of these were granted. . . . "The Committee had full charge of the stockholders' picnic at Riverside Park in August. . . . "In September the Committee pur chased the statuette 'International Co operation' to present to the Franklin Association, through its Board. "In October and November plans were made by joint action of the Com mittee and a similar committee from the Minneapolis Central Labor Union for educational evening courses to be held during the winter. Twenty-three stu dents were enrolled and three instructors have been meeting with them regu larly. . . . "At the close of the Training School November 28th, a banquet was provided for the students, instructors and friends of the school. . . . "During the autumn and winter large propaganda meetings have been held in various parts of the city, with an aver age attendance of 200. The program has usually consisted of two short speeches on the Franklin Creamery and on Co operation, two or three moving picture films, and one or two musical numbers. Ice cream has been served free. "A class in chemistry has been or ganized, and attendance is from 12 to 15. ... "During the winter the Educational Committee has met two or three times with the Board of Directors of the Franklin Creamery. . . . "Durnig the year Mr. Edberg, of the Committee, has disposed of 98 copies of CO-OPEEATION, selling them at 10 cents apiece at meetings." Other items in the report concern finances, personnel of the committee, other minor meetings and activities put through during the year, etc. Educational Department. "The work has been divided into four main kinds: " (a) Conducting classes, either di rectly or through correspondence, for the benefit of the employees and stock holders of the creamery. " (b) Contributing to the Minneapolis Co-operator and writing articles on Co operation. " (c) Working together with the Edu cational Committee, in an advisory ca pacity, and at times managing its cam paigns and other activities. " (d) Miscellaneous minor activities, such as correspondence, acting as guide, taking visitors through the creamery, etc. "A correspondence course in Co-oper ation has been worked out. This course comprises 40 single-spaced mimeo graphed sheets, containing 7 lessons, 70 questions, and correct answers to these. . . . "Contributions to the Minneapolis CO-OPERATION 9? Co-operator to the extent that space has permitted. Also edited the International Co-operative News section in the Minne apolis Co-operator." Many of the other activities of the Educational Director have been carried on under the time and name of the Educational Committee or of the Secre tary of the Northern States Co-operative League (Mr. Alanne is both Educational Director of the Creamery Association and General Secretary for the N. S. League). Mr. Alanne makes some very pertinent recommendations regarding the position of Educational Director. "(a) That regardless of who may oc cupy the position, or how much the ex pense of the Department may reduce the net profit of the Creamery business, the work should be carried on and gradually enlarged. " (b) That the evening classes be con tinued and strengthened. "(c) That a study be made of the best methods for making the administra tion of the Association truly democratic, without losing anything of the business efficiency." Recommendations to the Educational Committee1. Mr. Alanne makes 15 recommenda tions to the Educational Committee of the Franklin Creamery. The most sig nificant of these are: "1. That the Educational Committee work in closer conjunction with the Ad vertising Department of the Cream ery. . . . "3. That program meetings be con tinued and that the distribution of co operative literature be made a rule of the meetings. The Minneapolis Co- operator as well as bundle orders of CO-OPERATION and pamphlets published by The Co-operative League to be used. "6. That the committee continue its efforts to establish regular library hours and to get the Franklin employees and stockholders to use it. "7. That the committee consider it one of its important duties to help the Northern States Co-operative League to get individual members and subscrip tions for CO-OPERATION. "8. That elaborate preparations be- made this year to celebrate the Interna-, tional Co-operators' Day on July 4th,, and that the first week in July be made a special propaganda and campaign week. "10. That the members of the com mittee seriously undertake during the year to inform themselves on the Co operative Movement, its principles and methods; and that toward this end, the committee either devote half of the time of each meeting to co-operative study and discussions, or arrange special study meetings every other week for this purpose. "11. That the present committee vote, to order the magazine CO-OPERATION for, all members of last year's committee who attended at least 15 meetings of- the committee during the year, and pay for their individual memberships in the. Northern States Co-operative League." CONFERENCE OF EASTERN STATES.. SOCIETIES On Sunday, April 18th, at Worcester, Mass., the Eastern States Co-operative. League held its Second Annual Con vention; and on Monday, the 19th, a Managers' Conference was conducted under the same auspices. The E. S. League Convention Twenty-seven delegates were present- from the following societies: United Co-operative Society, Worcester, Mass.; United Co-operative Society, Maynard," Mass.; United Co-operative Society, Fitchburg, Mass.; United Co-operative Society, Norwood, Mass.; United Co operative Society, Gardner, Mass.; Co operative Bakery of Brownsville, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Finnish Co-op Trad ing Ass'n, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Consumers'^ Co-operative Services, New York City; Utica Co-operative Society, Utica, N. Y.; Workmen's Circle Co-op Bakery, Worcester, Mass.; Jewish Workers'- Co-op Bakery, Springfield, Mass.; Hebrew Co-op Bakery, Brockton, Mass.; Hudson Guild Co-op Store, New York City; Consumers' Co-op Housing Ass'n, New York City. 98 CO-OPERATION The business enterprises represented by these delegates included nine grocery or meat stores, nine bakeries, five restaurant departments, two dry goods departments, three dairy departments, one laundry, one shoe store, one billiard parlor, one coal yard, one furniture de partment, one co-operative house. The treasurer reported more than $1,250 in the treasury and no bills out standing. Nine of the societies have already paid dues for 1926. A long discussion took place upon the subject of political factionalism within the co-operatives. Leaders of both Socialist and Communist groups among the Finns participated in the discussion, as well as some of the active members of these political parties. There was a general agreement that the co-opera tive movement could best be served by maintaining absolute neutrality within the co-operatives, and the resolution on the subject, presented by W. Marttila, was by common consent referred to the Eesolutions Committee and reported in the form presented in another article in this number of CO-OPEEATION. A chicken dinner was served the dele gates at noon and in the afternoon busi ness was resumed. The report of A. Wirkkula on joint buying aroused considerable discussion, and a special committee was appointed to consider the advisability of establishing a job bing association with a manager in charge. Three hundred dollars was appropriated for the work of this com mittee. Mr. Eegli presented the situ- tion as regards auditing and accounting among the Eastern societies, and Mr. Woodcock outlined the scheme for com pilation of figures of societies in the East and publication of a directory. The directors were also authorized to proceed with the publication of an Eastern States League paper. The following directors were elected: Otto Endres, Utica; K. E. Grandahl, Fitchburg; Cedric Long, New York; W. Niemela, Maynard; M. Bubinson, Brooklyn; A. Wirkkula, Brooklyn; L. E. Woodcock, New York. At a meeting of these directors later, Mr. Endres was made president, Mr. Woodcock, secretary, and Mr. Niemela, treasurer. The convention authorized the finan cing of one delegate to the National Congress at Minneapolis in November. Other details were referred to the direc tors for action. Meeting of Board of Directors Most important actions taken by the board were: 1. Authorization of publication of an "Eastern States Co-operator" monthly, using one page of the League associate magazine, at least 100 copies to be sent every member society. 2. Appointment of a committee to take complete charge of gathering in formation and publishing an Eastern States Directory of Co-operative Socie ties. 3. Finnish societies at Maynard and Fitchburg authorized to roast coffee for member societies of the League until the coffee business becomes strong enough to warrant the establishing of a special plant. Managers' Conference The chief discussion on Monday among the thirteen managers present centered about joint purchase of flour and joint roasting of coffee. Mr. Niem ela presented figures which indicated that a saving to the societies of five cents per pound might be effected by joint coffee roasting. Mr. Niemela and Mr. Grandahl volunteered to undertake temporarily the roasting of coffee up to 3,000 pounds per week for the com mittee at bare overhead expense, in the roasting plants at Maynard and Fitch burg. Mr. Eegli presented the subject of Uniform Record and Accounts in Co operative Business and a valuable dis cussion ensued. A still more lengthy discussion centered about the subject "Bakery Sales to Private Grocers—Is This Practice Co-operative?" Almost every individual present, including several of the visitors, took an active part in the debate. The managers present represented societies having a combined member ship of 8,800 shareholders and a com bined annual turnover of $2,431,000. CO-OPERATION 99 The Correspondence File THIS MANAGER HAS HIS DOUBTS Editor, Co-operation: It is supposed that a co-operative has a manager who understands merchandising, who is supposed to make a success of the business, to treat them all absolutely on the square, and to do a legitimate business. Then he has a bunch of directors to contend with, who do not know any more about running a, business than a bunch of hungry wolves do. Then you say, 'The manager should take orders from the directors'. You find some directors who have some good common sense, but the most of them cannot suggest anything that would lead a manager to some good points. But they can open their mouths big in the hope of catching some stray fiy in the form of a coin. Do not think that I want to be smart, kicking on a high horse and such sort of play; but the case is just in plain words. Now, Gentlemen, I like to hear from you again. F. CO-OP MERCANTILE Co., —————————, Manager. Co-operative Central Exchange Wholesale Grocers and Jobbers, Bakers We supply goods to Co-operative Societies ONI-Y. We are owned and controlled by Co operative Societies. We are organized to enable Co-operative Societies to do collectively what they cannot do individually. Co-operative Central Exchange Offices, Warehouses and Plant: Winter Street and Ogden Ave., SUPERIOR, WIS. Co-operators* r.tcl. Mutual Fire Insurance Co. is now writing insurance in State of Wisconsin The Canadian Co-operator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Co-cura tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Co-operative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum Statement of the Ownership, Management, Cir culation, etc.. Required by the Act of Con gress of August 24, 1812. Of Co-operation, published monthly at New York, N. Y., for April 1, 1026. State of New York, County of New York, ss.: Before me, a notary public in and for the State and county aforesaid, personally appeared J. N. Perkins, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that she is the business manager of Co-operation, and that the following is, to the best of her knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management, etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, re quired by the Act of August 24, 1912, embodied in section 411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to wit: 1. That the names and addresses of the pub lisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are: Publisher, The Co-operative League, 167 West 12th St., N. Y. C.; Editor J. P. Warbasse, 167 West 12th St., N. Y. C.; Man aging Editor, Cedric Long, 167 West 12th St., N. Y. C.; Business Manager, J. N. Perkins, 167 West 12th St., N. Y. C. 2. That the owner is: The Co-operative League, 167 West 12th St., N. Y. C. (1,000 organization members); J. P. Warbasse, President; Albert Sonnichsen, Vice-President; Cedric Long, Secre tary; A. Wirkkula, Treasurer. 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: None. J. N. PERKINS. Bus. Mgr. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 25th day of March. 1026. (Seal) SIDNEY BENJAMIN. (My commission expires March 30, 1926.) The Madras Monthly Bulletin of Co-operation ROYAPETTAH, MADRAS, INDIA The premier monthly on Co-operation in India. Special articles on Rural, Con sumers', Agricultural, Credit and Indus trial Co-operation; and Co-operation Abroad. Subscription Rs. 4/12 per annum. THE HOME CO-OPERATOR A four-page magazine for use in co-operative societies. Issued monthly, in bundles, $1 per hundred. Published by The Co-operative League 100 CO-OPERATION PUBLICATIONS —OF— THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 3. Story of Co-operation .............$ 7. British Co-operative Movement..... 39. Consumers' Co-operative Societies in N. Y. State (Published by Con sumers' League ................ 59. Co-operative Movement in Europe.. 64. Progress of Co-operation in United States. ..................... .10 .10 .10 .05 .05 TECHNICAL 8. 9. 27. 2. 14. 15. 29. 32. 43. 50. 51. 16. 46. 11. 12. 33. 13. 34. 30. 41. 42. 53. 55. 57. 60. 62. 63. .10 .10 .02 .10 .05 How to Start and Run a Rochdale Co-operative Society ............ .10 System of Store Records and Accounts . . . . . . ............. .50 A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Co-operative Society....... Co-operative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined... How to Start a Co-operative Whole sale . . . . . . . ................. Why Co-operative Stores Fail...... Co-operative Store Management..... How to Start and Run a Women's Guild ....................... How to Organize a District Co-opera tive League ................... .10 Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). .................. .50 Application Blanks for Membership in a Co-op Society.............. Co-operative Housing ............. .10 A B C of Co-operative Housing.... .10 Model Lease for Co-operative Apart ment House ................... .10 MISCELLANEOUS Model Co-op State Law............ .10 Producers' Co-operative Industries.. .10 Control of Industry by the People through the Co-operative Movement Credit Union and Co-operative Store Credit Union and Co-operative Bank The Place of Co-operation Among Other Movements .............. Co-operative Movement (Yiddish).. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) .............. .06 Social Aspects of Farmers' Co-opera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). . . . . . . .............. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless Real First Aid for the Farmers.... A Better World to Live In........ How a Consumers' Co-operative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... The " Moral Equivalent " of Jazz... Buttons (League Emblem in 3 colors) 54 inch diameter........ Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS $6.00 6.00 4.00 4.00 .05 2.50 .10 .05 .05 .25 .02 .25 .10 .05 .05 .02 .02 .25 1.00 .65 1.75 1.25 3.00 15.00 (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Co-operative League; (18) D'o You Know Why You Should Be a Co-operator; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (22) A Real Co-operator; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; (26) Factory Workers Co operate I; (28) Do You Know About Co-operation in Europe?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (44) What Is the Co-operative Move ment?; (45) Schools and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job; (48) Tips to Co-operators; (49) The Way Out; (58) Making Co-operation Succeed in America; (611 Co-operation Brings Disarmament. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS CO-OPERATION—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hun dred). Subscription, per year............. .$1.00 HOME CO-OPERATOR, 4 pages...... .$1.00 per 100 INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE BULLETIN (Pub. by The I. C. A.)......... .Per Year, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Co-operative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Bergengren, Roy F.: Co-operative Banking, A Credit Union Book ..................... $3.00 Blanc, Elsie T.: Co-operative Movement in Russia . . . . . . . ....................... 2.50 Brightwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book—For Children . . . . . . . ..................... .15 2.75 Faber, Harald: Co-operation in Danish Agricul ture, 1918 ............................. Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Co-operation in Scotland, 1920 ......................... 2.00 Gebhard, Hannes: Co-operation in Finland, 1916 2.00 Gide, C.: Consumers' Co-operative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth, $2.00; paper bound ..................... .90 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... 2.00 Harris, Emerson P.: Co-operation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Cloth, $2.00; paper bound . . . . . . . ....................... .60 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers ................ 1.00 Howe, Fred C.: Denmark, a Co-operative Com monwealth, 1921 ....................... 2.00 Jessness, O. B.: Co-operative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... 2.50 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............ .50 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... .25 Owen, Robert: Autobiography .............. .50 Potter, B.: Co-operative Movement in Great Britain .............................. 1.00 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S..... 2.00 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................. 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918 ........................ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Denmark. . . . . . ..................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Many Lands, 1920 ..................... 1.50 Steen, H.: Co-operative Marketing............ 1.00 Stolinsky, A.: The Co-operative Movement. (In Yiddish) Warbasse, James P.: Co-operative Democracy.. 1.00 2.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co-operative Movement, 1921. Board, $2.00; cloth..... 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Co-operation, 1917. 1.50 Woolf, Leonard: Co-operation and the Future of Industry. . . . . . . ..................... 1.00 Woolf, L.: Socialism and Co-operation........ 1.50 Co-operation in Great Britain and Ireland, paper .25 Co-orEEATioN, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1925 inclusive, each ......................... 1.25 Transactions of Second American Co-operative Congress, 1920 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Third American Co-operative Congress, 1922 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Fourth American Co-operative Congress, 1924 ......................... 1.00 Northern States Year Book, 1925. Paper..... .20 The People's Year Book, 1926. Cloth, $1.00; paper bound ........................... .60 (Ten cents postage should be added for books which cost more than $2.00, and five cents for the smaller books.) A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Co-operative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City J. P. WARBASSE, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post OfKce at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XII, No. 6 JUNE, 1926 10 CENTS HEEE IS A CORNER OF the main grocery store of the United Co-operative Society of Fitchbwg. More than $147,000 worth of goods were sold from this one store alone last year. There are three branch stores,j^f£jFff88S£ser 100 INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE BULLETIN (Pub. by The I. C. A.).......... Per Year, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Co-operative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Bergengren, Roy F.: Co-operative Banking, A Credit Union Book ..................... $3.00 Blanc, Elsie T.: Co-operative Movement in Russia . . . . . . . ....................... 2.50 Brightwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book—For Children............................ .15 Faber, Harald: Co-operation in Danish Agricul ture, 1918 ............................. 2.75 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Co-operation in Scotland, 1920 ......................... 2.00 Gebhard. Hannes: Co-operation in Finland, 1916 2.00 Gide, C.: Consumers' Co-operative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth, $2.00: paper bound ..................... .90 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... 2.00 Harris, Emerson P.: Co-operation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Cloth, $2.00; paper bound . . . . . . ........................ .60 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers ................ 1.00 Howe, Fred C.: Denmark, a Co-operative Com monwealth, 1921 ....................... 2.00 Jessness, O. B.: Co-operative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... 2.50 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............ .50 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... .25 Owen, Robert: Autobiography .............. .50 Potter, B.: Co-operative Movement in Great Britain. . . . . . . ....................... 1.00 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S..... 2.00 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................. 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918 ........................ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Denmark. . . . . . . .................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Many Lands, 1920 ..................... 1.50 Stolinsky, A.: The Co-operative Movement. (In Yiddish). ............................ 1.00 Warbasse, James P.: Co-operative Democracy.. 2.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co-operative Movement, 1921. Board, $2.00; cloth..... 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Co-operation, 1917. 1.50 Woolf, Leonard: Co-operation and the Future of Industry ............................ 1.00 Woolf, L.: Socialism and Co-operation........ 1.50 Co-operation in Great Britain and Ireland, paper .25 CO-OPEKATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1925 inclusive, each ......................... 1.25 Transactions of Second American Co-operative Congress, 1920 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Third American Co-operative Congress, 1922 ......................... 1.00 Transactions of Fourth American Co-operative Congress, 1924 ......................... 1.00 Northern States Year Book, 1925. Paper..... .20 The People's Year Book, 1926. Cloth, $1.00; paper bound ........................... .60 (.Ten cents postage should be added for books which cost more than $2.00, and five cents for the smaller books.) A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Co-operative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City J. P. WARBASSE, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XII, No. 7 JULY, 1926 10 CENTS THE CO-OPERATIVES IN THE EASTERN STATES. There are (exclusive of credit unions and housing societies and mutual insurance companies) about 140 co-operatives in these eight states. Only 26 of them are yet affiliated with the Eastern States Co-operative League or The Co-operative League of the U. S. A. Most of the remaining 114 are isolated societies, without any central affiliations, groups of people satisfied'with their own efforts, complaceiitly indifferent as to what may be the fate of fellow co-operators in other sections, even indifferent as to the sources of help which they themselves will need when the day of misfortune arrives. The Pages immediately following tell something about a few of these co-operatives. (No, there are no co-operatives out in New York Harbor. But there was not room for four dots on Manhattan Island, so they were taken out for a ride on the ferries!) 122 CO-OPERATION Penetrating the Co-operative Jungle are approximately 140 consumers' co-operatives in New England, - New York and New Jersey. Barely 40 of these are well known to the Co-operative League or any other central organization. During the past two months two members of the staff of the League have been hounding down some of these unknown co-ops, taking them out of their hiding places and getting them up into the light of day. Some of these societies are so interesting they are worth writing about. Massachusetts has dozens of these unexplored co-operatives. The Belmont Co-operative Society, although quite unknown to the rest of us, is one of the largest in the state. Last year they did a business of $300,000. Among the respectable and conservative commuter population of the Boston suburbs, they have two classes of members : 135 are stockholders owning shares of stock at $25 each. There are in addition 700 non-stockholders who pay annual dues of $1 which entitles them to the rebate at the end of the year. The only advantage in being a stockholder is the 6 per cent interest on investment. In Cambridge, within a few blocks of each other, there are two Lithuanian co-operative societies. One of them owns two stores and does a small and not too profitable business among the church-going members of that nationality. The other is a much more prosperous institution, organized among the socialists and other radicals. These 150 shareholders have built up a reserve fund enabling them to own their corner building and also two tenement houses. The society pays neither interest on capital stock nor rebates on purchases but retains everything for expansion of their grocery and meat business. High in the Berkshires in the town of Adams, there is a Polish co-operative grocery and meat store, a Polish co-operative bakery, and a co-operative coal and wood company organized among the German, English and American people. The last is the oldest of the three and is doing a business of approximately $40,000 annually, in fuel. Incidentally, the directors have adopted the policy of putting no more stock on the market. Sales to non-members prove to be rather profitable when the profits from them are distributed to the members along with the surplus on their own purchases. The Polish store and bakery, although run by two separate societies, are supported by the same people. The selection of the manager for the bakery, this year, illustrates what peculiar ideas co-operators sometimes have. They took the owner of a retail store, which is running almost directly across the street from the co-operative store, and made him manager of the co-operative bakery. At Pittsfield is perhaps the most prosperous co-operative coal company in the country, doing a business of nearly $300,000 a year in coal only. Here again the mistake is made of refusing to take in new members. The theory behind the policy here at Pittsfield, as in Adams, is that the members are entitled to the profits of sales from non-members and if a large number of new shareholders were admitted, the purchase rebate would drop below the customary 5 per cent. John L. McLaughlin, the manager, has been in charge here many years and is a suc cessful administrator. CO-OPERATION 123 Fitchburg, Mass., boasts of a Finnish co-operative and a Finnish credit union, both of which are a great credit to the Co-operative Movement. There is in the town another co-operative which nobody boasts about. It is a little co operative society whose manager says that neither he nor the directors are inter ested in any other co-operatives and have no information to give to The Co operative League. The Producers and Consumers Co-operative Association of South Framing- ham, maintains an excellent store for the sale of groceries, meat, and fish, under very competent management. Entire lack of education and too large a plant for the $66,000 worth of business annually, is the reason for failure to more than break even. The members are farmers, workers and ordinary middle-class Americans. At Leominster, the Italians have a little store doing less than $40,000 worth of business. As is customary, in so many Italian stores, the business is run by a clerk and the manager holds an outside job giving attention to the business only during the evenings and on Sundays. At Sagamore 60 Italians maintain a general store. They pay 5 per cent on capital and serve their fellow-Italians to the tune of about $27,000 of merchandise a year. In the nearby town of Plymouth another group of 325 Italians operating under" the popular name, "Christopher Columbus Consumers' Co-operative So ciety" do a slightly larger business. In the same town, the old, well established, Plymouth Co-operative Association, organized among the American and English workers and having 500 shareholders, is doing a business of about $75,000 a year under strictly Rochdale principles. In Clinton it is the German mill workers, ably supported by English and Scotch people, who have built up an annual business of $101,000. For the past four years they have returned a purchase rebate of 10 per cent. We didn 't even get to the little town of Winchendon but some good friends advised us to write to the Co-operativa Italiana. Almost by return mail we got a fine little protograph of their store and members, and their reports show that 50 shareholders are loyally supporting a grocery, meat, dry goods, and shoe business amounting to $32,000 a year in sales. One answer in their report which we ques tion is a statement that they paid a 20 per cent purchase dividend last year. So much for Massachusetts. Rhode Island does not boast so many co-opera tives. At Saylesville 100 employees of the large mill in the town organized a co-operative which is being directored very much by officials in the mill. The present manager seems to be making an effort to buy up most of the stock. Ap parently he considers the business successful! At Pascoag, 164 textile workers and farmers have been running a co-opera tive store since 1890. The sales are only $46,000 a year. In Harrisville a group of American and English co-operators have a business of $100,000, handling all kinds of food stuffs, dry goods, hardware and general merchandise. Connecticut boasts of many groups of foreign co-operatives. In Terryville there is both a Ukrainian co-operative and a Polish co-operative. The manager of neither was very communicative when questioned. The former apparently is run like an ordinary joint stock company with all profits returned to the 70 share holders. The business is scarcely more than $25,000. At the Polish store the business is $35,000 and a regular 1 per cent rebate is returned to members and 124 CO-OPERATION non-members alike and 7 per cent is returned on stock. Both groups own their buildings. At Bristol 57 Polish people have a small grocery business but apparently are not able to pay either interest or rebates and the manager knows very little about the inside workings of the association. New Haven boasts of having what is one of the few living co-operative laundries in the country. Six years ago eighteen women rented a barn, installed a couple of washing machines and started a co-operative laundry service to sup plant the individual laundry maintained in their various homes. To-day there are twenty-two members and eight additional patrons of the laundry. Two wash ing machines and a mangle constitute the only expensive equipment. Drying is all done on the old fashioned clothes line in the back yard. The weekly income is about $240 and for the past few years the Co-operative Laundry Company was operated at a slight gain each year. The success of this institution is due in no small measure to the compact and intimate membership and to the fact that these people would rather pay a little more for good service than go to the commercial laundries. New Haven also has an interesting Italian society, known as the Co-operative Society Marchegiana, organized last October. The store handles groceries and meats and sells nothing for cash. There are only 80 members and no goods are sold to transients or non-members. Every member invests in a credit book. These books are issued in dimensions of $1, $5, $10 and $20. For every purchase at the store a corresponding amount is registered in the credit book. Thus the only cash handled by the manager or his assistant is cash taken in on the issuance of a new book. Business averages about $2,500 a month. To date no adequate tour has been made of any part of New York State. Maspeth, L. I., a suburb of Brooklyn, has both a Russian and a Polish co-opera tive store, the former with a membership of 75 and the latter with 103. The manager of neither store seems to be very clear on co-operative principles and recent reports from the Russian co-operators of Brownsville indicate that the Maspeth store is having financial difficulties and some of its Lithuanian members wish to withdraw their investments. The consumers' co-operatives in New Jersey are situated almost entirely in the suburbs of New York. In addition to the well known Purity Bakery and the Co-operative Butcher Shop at Paterson, there is also a little Italian co-operative store organized fifteen years ago and having a membership of 220, no one of whom is allowed to own more than one $10 share of stock. Sales in 1925 were $62,000 and the man in charge is one of those unusual Italian managers who knows what he is doing. Last year they made about $1,200 profit. In the neighboring town of Clifton another group of Italians are running one of the most prosperous co-operatives to be found in the United States, under the name of the Italian-American Family Association, organized seventeen years ago. They operate a grocery and meat store, pool room, assembly hall and re freshment bar. There are 550 members each of whom contributed a five dollar membership fee. There is no capital stock. In 1925 the sales were $145,000 and the profit about $11,000, most of which was made on the assembly hall, pool room and bar. The grocery and meat business is run on a cost plus basis. Organized entirely without capital stock, the association now has, from its members, a loan capital fund of $56,830 and in addition a reserve fund of $66,389 made out of accrued profits. One hundred fifty of the Passaic strikers are being given relief regularly through this store. It would be possible to extend indefinitely these examples of isolated socie ties. Our movement should have at least one man in the field constantly visiting these people, advising them where possible, and establishing confidence in the idea of a central co-operative federation such as the Eastern States League is trying to build up. CO-OPERATION 125 Vital Issues GERMAN CITIES JOIN CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES For some years a strange movement has been going on in Germany. Cities have been joining the local co-operative society. At the present time more than seventy-five municipalities have become members of the distributive society. This means that the municipality as a whole, the political organization which elects a mayor, city council, and other govern ing officials, votes to join the co-opera tive society as a body. This indirectly connects every citizen with the co-opera tive society. We have piiblished in this magazine the names of some small towns in North ern Germany which have taken this step. More recently larger cities are doing the same. Such cities as Cassel, Diisseldorf, Essen, Heilbronn, "Rostock, and Weimar have become members of the local co operative consumers' society. The advantage which the city enjoys in connecting itself with the society is that it is able to make its purchases on better terms. These cities maintain hos pitals, welfare institutions of every sort, and many of their departments are large c.onsumers. Many of them see the ad vantages of coal and milk being distrib uted by the co-operative method. By joining the co-operative society, they solve the problem of responsibility of distribution in many fields; all in the interest of their citizens. In countries such as England, Bel gium, and Austria, where the idea of political socialism is strong, the trend is in the opposite direction. In those countries one actually finds members of co-operative societies voting to have the political municipality take over more and more of their distributive business. This idea is especially strong with refer ence to coal at the present time. But the New Germany is pretty well cured of its old political ideas. It is turning more and more to voluntary or ganization of the people to solve their consumers' problems. Even politicians are growing sympathetic to the co-opera tive idea. At the recent celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Co-opera tive Society of Cassel, the mayor of the city sent a congratulatory letter in which he recalled the occasions when the so ciety had come to the help of the municipality in times of need. "These services," he said, "rendered in periods of extreme difficulty, will never be for gotten. May the society continue to be a blessing to the people of the city." This slow and constructive movement in which the people do things for them selves, goes steadily forward. It is releasing the people from the complica tions, the red tape and the indifference of the political machinery. It is making new demonstrations of its efficiency and practicability. The fundamental sound ness of the co-operative idea is the reason for its progress. J. P. W. DISCIPLINE AMONG CO-OPERATIVE WORKERS One of the oldest criticisms levelled against the co-operative movement by its enemies is that a business owned and administered by workers cannot procure that efficiency which is essential for suc cessful competition with private busi ness; the workers will demand excessive wages, soldier on the job, talk back to the manager. The charge is made too often and is usually exaggerated. But, unfortunately, there is some truth in it. In fact, we know of one co-operative where it recently became necessary to install a timeclock in order to cure the employees of cutting short their working hours. Much of the European experience seems to indicate that this is a more serious menace to the producers' co operatives than to the consumers' co operatives. In the former the employees, permeated as they often are with the old trade union psychology which has taught them that the first interest as union mem bers is to seek a higher scale of wages and shorter hours, carry over into the co-operative factory this same attitude, 126 CO-OPERATION CO-OPERATION 127 and having the power to hire or fire their own managers, they can too easily wreck the whole enterprise. A statement which comes to our attention in E. A. Lloyd's new book, "Co-operative Movement in Italy,'' shows us how serious this danger is. Signer Belilli, one of the Italian co operative leaders has this to say about the situation,—"There are too many co operative societies in Italy and too many people who call themselves co-operators. If the Trade Unions to increase their efficiency require quantity, Co-operation demands quality—moral and technical quality. . . . We are reproved, and sometimes justly, because work executed by Co-operative (producers') societies costs more. Is it not time to see whether this occurs through lack of discipline in the workshops or whether even, through not taking individual values into ac count, we have allowed the simple idea of equality of wages to become rooted in the masses? We have many workers who fulfil their duty diligently, but there are others who, indeed, in General Meet ings shout for the 'eight-hour working- day, increases of wages,' etc., but then go to work five minutes late, work with out will, spend their time reading the newspapers and will not submit to any discipline. We must tell such workers in the clearest terms that they have not the right to exploit the co-operative movement and their fellow workers. We must establish the rule that each work man must be regarded as worth what he produces.'' And Signer Quaglino, one of the fore most leaders of the Builders' Guild movement, has this to say,—"If our workers have one defect it is that under the lash and the threats of the capitalist speculator they produce more, whilst under the fraternal treatment of co-op eration they produce less." Though the situation is not nearly bad enough in our consumers' co-opera tive movement to cause alarm, still we can learn much from these comments of two of the leaders in the field of co partnership. In our societies where this kind of difficulty is causing trouble, we must push among the employees Educa tion, Education, and more Education. COEPOEATION VERSUS CO-OPERA TION IN COST OF COAL Secretary George Keen of the Co-oper ative Union of Canada has made an in teresting comparison of the capital charges against the coal mines at Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, belonging to a huge British corporation, and similar charges against the coal mine operated by the Co-operative Wholesale Society of Eng land. Total capitalization, minus reserves, of the British corporation amount to $129,000,000, a sum vastly in excess of any actual assets the company may own. There are 12,500 miners working in these coal pits, and working only part time and at low wages. This means that each miner carries the load of $14,320 of capital charges. Supposing that an aver age dividend of 6 per cent were to be levied against this capital (which is cer tainly much less than most owners of coal properties have expected in the past), each producer in the mine would be carrying an annual interest charge of $619.20. The C. W. S. mine at Shilbottle is capitalized at the very low figure of $129,175 (no watered stock included!). There are 447 men employed in the mines. In other words, the investment per man-power is only $288.98. As only 4.23 per cent was paid on capital in 1924, the interest charge per worker was $12.21. More than half of the net profits for 1924 were returned to the consumer members of the C. W. S. There you have it. Capitalism charges each worker with a tax of $619.20, while Co-operation charges him only the $12.21 which it requires for the pur chase of credit. Here is the reason for the failure of the mining industry to function efficiently in Great Britain and America. When are the co-operators in this country going to learn to apply the same efficient economic principles to the mining of coal that they now apply to the administration of hundreds of co operative stores, bakeries, restaurants and credit unions? C. L. What is the Relation of Producers and Con sumers in the Co-operative Movement* By JOHN H. WALKER President Illinois State Federation of Labor As a practical matter, the question could be answered in a number of ways. First, from the point of view of an ideal co-operative movement in which prac tically all of both production and con sumption was handled through one co operative organization. Or, it could be answered as applied to co-operative pro ducers organizations as such, with no connection between them and the con sumers co-operative institutions, except that they would sell to the latter their products just as they would to any private corporation. Or, as applied to consumers organizations having no con nection with producers organizations, except as they bought from them. It could be made to apply to the co-oper ative situation as it exists in our own country at this time, where there is per haps less of a co-operative movement than in any civilized country in the world. Or, as applied to any one of the different operating productive and consumers co operative institutions now existing in Australia, New Zealand, France, Russia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslo vakia, Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. To attempt to deal with all the dif ferent situations would take up more space than an article of this kind should cover, and to deal with only one of them, would be of little value. I will deal with the general subject in a way that I think will be most helpful. The most serious obstacle in the way of establishing and building up in the United States a real consumers and pro ducers co-operative movement which would include the finances and proper * This is the seventh in a series of articles under this title. The others have been from the viewpoint of the Social Scientist, the Labor Banker, the Urban Co-operator, the Labor Educator, the Farmer, and the Student of Agriculture. financial machinery for caring for it, etc., is the complete lack of knowledge' about the movement and the benefits that (both immediately and ultimately) can be derived from it, also the prejudice- that obtains against a co-operative move ment in the minds of the workers, due to that complete lack of co-operative knowledge about it. In addition to that, in our country, the interests which co-operation will sup plant seem to be better informed than the workers as to what a real co-opera tive movement would mean. These enemies of the co-operative movement have studied it and its effects on private traders in other countries, and they are organized in our country to prevent its establishment and upbuilding, perhaps better than the enemies of that move ment ever were in any other country in the world. They have apparently greater resources with which to fight it and under our laws and customs and conditions, seem to have greater latitude in the methods they use in opposing its establishment or in destroying it where it has been established. These things should be clear in the minds of those who are starting such an institution or who have one organized and operating. Unless they are, the co-oper atives are likely to meet with disaster. The lack of information is a natural consequence of our not having a co-op erative movement here and the trade union movement not being in close touch with the co-operative movements in other countries. The prejudice is largely a consequence of the activity of the private merchants and private interests within our nation, who are intelligently and ceaselessly working to prevent its estab lishment. For instance, in a town in which an attempt is being made to establish a con sumers co-operative society and operate stores, it seems that every merchant is 128 CO-OPERATION not only opposed to it, but is able to influence his employees to oppose the in stitution; and as the average worker in the community is employed by a private merchant or manufacturer, practically all the workers are against Co-operation. As the bankers and newspapers are almost entirely dependent on the local mercantile and manufacturing establish ments, they too are influenced to oppose a co-operative movement; and as they in turn influence the railroads, whole salers and jobbers, we find that prac tically every institution and influence in existence is antagonistic and opposed to the creation and upbuilding of a move ment, which, in the judgment of the private corporations, is intended ulti mately to supplant their institutions and put them out of business. These conditions I think are mainly responsible for most of the co-operative failures that have taken place in our country. They can be overcome only by an educational campaign, and (at least in the beginning) by the selection of men and women as members and officers, managers, etc., of the co-operative in stitution whose interests are not likely to be antagonized by the upbuilding of such an institution, and who have such a knowledge of it and are so committed to it that nothing will change them from their love for it, their loyalty to it and their determination to establish, upbuild, and extend it. A producers' co-operative institution so called, where it is not connected with a consumers' co-operative either directly, through being part of it, or indirectly by agreeing to sell to it, is practically the same thing as the ordinary corpora tion operated for private profit, except that (1) there are perhaps more stock holders in it, (2) sometimes more of the stockholders work in it than in the ordinary corporation, and (3) the stock is usually held in lesser quantities than in the ordinary private corporation. The consumers' co-operative institution which is operated purely for the purpose of reducing the cost of living, is little different from the ordinary mercantile corporation operated for private profit, except that there are a great many more stockholders in it, holding a lesser amount of stock than ordinarily. Per haps more of the members of that cor poration or of the members' families are working for it, than work for the ordi nary private corporation. However, if in either of these institutions the pur pose is to develop a real co-operative movement which has for its goal the reduction of the cost of living, the im provement of conditions of the workers, the education of the people, and the exercise of its power and influence in the interest of humanity generally, then that institution can be classed as a rea] part of the co-operative movement. The farmers' producers' co-operative societies serve in the same capacity for them that the trade unions do for the wage earner, except that their organiza tion markets the products of their labor, whereas the trade union markets the labor of its members directly. Although the farmers who are organ ized co-operatively may feel that their interests and that of other workers, wage earners (who constitute the farmers greatest market) are in a sense, recip rocal, ordinarily, these farmers seek to serve their own immediate personal interests first, regardless of how those wage earners may be affected. They try to get the highest price possible for their own products and try to get their products for the lowest price (perhaps these products are non-union or even prison made). The wage earner in the trade union movement who must buy the farmers' products in order to live, wants them as cheaply as he possibly can get them. At the same time he gets as much as he can for his labor. And so a feeling that is not altogether friendly obtains between them most of the time. Both the intelli gent trade unionist and the intelligent farmer can see beyond these situations created by conditions that they do not yet control, and they act in a friendly way towards each other wherever they can. These wise trade unionists know that the farmers' interests and their own are mutual, and that the farmer is their largest single market. When the farmer has good