The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed in the DjVu format at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/HD2951xC776/co34 or http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/ugafax/HD2951xC776/co34 COOPERATION ORGAN OF THE Consumers Cooperative Movement in the U. S. A. VOLUME XX January—December 1934 Published by TKe Cooperative League of U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City INDEX PAGE Action Program of The Cooperative League ........................................ 178 Alanne, V. S. .................................................................. 3 America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation ..................................... 67, 82 American Institute of Cooperation ................................................ 124 Annals for May, 1934, The ...................................................... 126 Architecture, Swedish ........................................................... 109 Artists Barter .................................................................. 15 Austria, Cooperation in .......................................................... 53 B Banking ..................................................................'..... 93 Becker, Michael ................................................................. 158 Bibliography .................................................................... 78 Book Reviews ............................................................ 30, 47, 127 Borodaevsky, S. ................................................................. 13 Bowen, Eugene R. .................................................... 66, 99, 114, 174 Brewster, Eldredge .............................................................. 126 Brooks, John Graham ............................................................ 130 Brookwood Labor College .................................................... 142, 157 Buying Associations ......................................................... . . 25, 26 c Calendar, The League ................................... ....................... 143 Cance, A. E. ................................................................... 98 Canada, Cooperation in .......................................................... 142 Capitalism ................................................................... 68, 115 Central Cooperative Wholesale, Superior, Wis. ................. 17, 18, 23, 40, 61, 88, 156 Central States Cooperative League ............................................ 89, 110 "Century of Progress" ........................................................... 188 Chain Stores .................................................................... 116 Chicago Daily News ............... ........................................ 186, 191 Chicago Forum ................................................................. 189 Christ and Japan ................................................................ 126 Christian Century, The ...................................................... 185, 192 Churches and Cooperation ........................................................ 142 Clubs, Consumers' Cooperative .............................................. 77, 79, 94 Codes and Government .............................................. 4, 5, 7, 21, 37, 92 Competition .................................................................... 13 Cooley, O. .............................................. 2. 7. 18. 42. 52, 53, 59. 60, 110 Commodity Exchange, Palo Alto, California ........................................ 24 "Commonwealth Plan" ........................................................... 98 Commonwealth, The Cooperative ................................................. 9 Communism .................................................................... 69 Congress, The Cooperative Leaque ........................ 97, 114, 129, 134, 161, 165, 18? Consumer Comes Into View, The ...................... ........................ 21, 47 Consumer, Department of the ..................................................... 4, 7 Consumer Emerges .......................................................... 163, 177 Consumers and the Government ............................................... 5, 55, 95 Consumers Cooperative Services, New York City ............................. 23, 93, 123 Consumers Cooperative Methods .................................................. 126 Consumers Guide .................... ........................................... 95 Consumers' Research ............................... .............................. 30 Cooperation Abroad ............................................................. 74 Cooperation in Simple Terms ...................... . . .... ................ 8 Cooperation in Washington .................................................... 37, 38 Cooperative League, The ....................... ............................. 81, 165 Cooperative Trading Company of Waukegan, Illinois ............................... 41 County Councils, Consumer ...................................................... 6 INDEX PAGE Cowden, Howard A. .......................................................... 54, 92 "Credit," by Esopus ....................................................... 12, 29, 45 Credit Cost as Extended by Farm Supply Stores .................................... 5 Credit Unions ................................................................... 15 Czechoslovakia, Cooperation in ..................................................... 12 D Danish Butter Export ............................................................ 51 Debate Outlines ............................................................ 11, 14. 46 Denmark, Cooperation in ...................................................... 94, 157 Dillonvale, Ohio, Cooperation in ................................................. 91 Dobkin, A. ......................................... ........................... 27 Dudley, Sir William .................................. .......................... 187 Eastern States Cooperative League Convention .................................... 107 Edberg, Gideon ................................................................. 20 Editorial Comment from Other Journals ........................................ 159, 185 Education and Advertising ..................................................... 11, 34 Electricity, Cooperative Distribution of ............................................. 14 Elliot, Sidney R. ................................................................ Ill Elsinger, Vera .................................................................. 124 Employees. Cooperative ...................................................... 40, 162 Endorsements ................................................................ 98, 114 England, Cooperation in ............................................... 15, 47, 54, 111 Epworth Herald, The ............................................................ 191 Executive Order, The President's ................................................. 39 Extension Bulletin, The ............................................................ 51 F Fairchild, Henry Pratt ............................................................ 162 Farmers' Cooperation .......................................................... 42, 98 Farmers' Union Central Exchange of St. Paul, Minn. ............................. 109 Fascism ......................................................... 52, 53, 69, 100, 147 Finland, Cooperation in .......................................................... 10 Fitchburg Cooperative Institute ................................................ 61, 157 Ford, E. C. ..................................................................... 155 Forum, The ........................................................ 131, 143, 189. 191 Free Society, A ................................................................. 127 Germany, Cooperation in ......................................................... 24 Gilbert, Joseph ................................................................... 23 H Hanson, Paul ................................................................... 157 Henderson, Fred ................................................................ 82 Holman, E. H. H. ............................................................... 158 Holt, A. E. .............................'........................................ 70 Hosiery Workers Launch Housing Project (Philadelphia) ............................. 41 Housing .................................................................. 14, 41, 143 Hubbardston Cooperative Club ................................................... 62 Hull, I. H. ........................................................... 51, 54, 118, 158 Illinois Farm Supply Company ................................................... 92 Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association ........................ 38, 90, 102, 118, 142 Ingerson, Ralph ................................................................. 35 Insurance ......................................................... 14, 41, 61, 109, 189 International Cooperation ......................................................... 46 International Cooperative Alliance Congress ........................................ 148 International Cooperative Wholesale Society ....................................... 190 INDEX J PAGE Jackson, Arthur C. .............................................................. 51 Japan, Cooperation in ............................................................ 123 Johannson, Albin ................................................................. 23 Johnson, General Hugh S. ........................................................ 98 K Kagawa, Toyohiko .............................................................. 126 Kallen, H. M. ............................................................... Ill, 127 Kauppinen, Ilmari ............................................................... 62 Kong, Woo Keh ................................................................. 62 Kress, A. J. .................................................................... 71 Labor ............................................................... 27, 115, 132, 141 Leach, Henry Goddard ................................................... 131, 143, 191 Leaders of America, Challenge to the .......................................... 80, 104 Lehner, Anthony ................................................................ 90 Linnell, F. J. .................................................................... 154 Literature, Outline of Cooperative League ......................................... 179 M Macy, Thad .................................................................... 102 Magna Charta, Our .............................................................. 49 Marquer, Newman ............................................................ 20, 124 Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Minneapolis, Minn. ......................... 41, 106, 156 Milk Cooperatives ...................................................... 120, 141, 158 Milk Distributing Companies' Profits ............................................. 50 Minneapolis, Cooperation in ...................................................... 92 N National Cooperatives Inc. ............................................. 54, 55, 109, 190 Northern States Cooperative League ........................................... 124, 152 Nebraska Farmers Union ................................................... 24, 40, 92 Negro Cooperatives ............................................................ 8, 22 National Recovery Administration ................................... 4, 6, 21, 37, 50, 116 Noah's Ark Up-to-date ........................................................... 140 Nordby, Harold I. ............................................................... 20 Nurmi, H. V. ................................................................... 150 o October, Cooperative Month ..................................................... HI Ohio Farm Bureau Federation ............................................ 92, 108, 124 Oil Cooperatives .......................................................... 38, 59, 154 Orr, Harriet K. .................................................................. 62 Overlooking Cooperation ........................................................ 56 Pacific Cooperator, The .......................................................... 51 Pacific Supply Cooperative ...................................................... 54 Peoples Cooperative Society, New York City ....................................... 61 Peoples Cooperative Society (New York) .... .................. .................. 61 Peoples Cooperative Society, Superior, Wisconsin ......................... 13, 33, 36, 62 Planning Field Trips ..... ........ . ................................... 63 Political State, Cooperative Democracy Unlike the .................................. 137 Power Production .............................................................. 67, 82 Producers and Consumers Cooperation Contrasted ................................... 15 INDEX R PAGE Range Cooperative Oil Association ............................................... 10 Relief Administration, Federal Emergency ....................... 5, 18, 19, 37, 50, 109, 157 Resolutions, Congress ............................................................ 180 Retail Management Practice, Survey of ............................................ 10 Rochdale Principle, Eighth ....................................................... 184 Rock Cooperative Company, Michigan ............................................ 14 Rockingham Cooperative Farm Bureau, Virginia ..................................... 86 Roosevelt, President Franklin D. ............................................ 39, 130, 146 Russell, George W. ............................................................. 70 S Sanderson, W. E. ............................................................... 54 Savings, What Should Cooperatives Do With Them ................................ 66 Scarcity vs. Plenty .............................................................. 133 Schools and Institutes ........................................ 90, 110, 125, 156, 157, 190 Schools Teach Cooperation ............................................ 82, 98, 142, 190 Self-Help Cooperatives .................................................... 81, 155, 189 Shiplacoff, Abraham ............................................................. 40 Slogans ............................................................. 1,3, 14, 28, 130 Smith, Robert L. ............................................................. 107, 127 Solutions, Four Proposed ......................................................... 68 Statistics ................................................................ 92, HI, 156 Sunnyside Cooperative ............................................................ 13 Sweden, Cooperation in ............... .................. ......... 123 139. 143, 158 T Tanner, Vaino ................................................................ 24, 25 Tennessee Valley Authority ...................................................... 51 Tires, Cooperative ............................................................... 124 Tour, Cooperative European .............................................. 58, 122. 158 Trenary Farmers Cooperative Store ............................................... 14 u Union Oil Company Cooperative, North Kansas City, Mo. ...................... 51, 60, 61 United Cooperative Society of Maynard, Massachusetts ............................ 61, 109 United States, Cooperation in .................................................... 75 Up From the Shadows ............ .............................................. 158 V Virginia, Cooperative Growth in ................................................ 13, 86 W Wallace, Henry A. ........................................................... 131, 146 Warbasse, J. P. ............... 5, 21, 37, 39, 47, 55, 56, 84, 100, 116, 137, 143, 148, 165, 172 Ward, Gordon H. ............................................................. 12, 86 Warinner, A. W. ............................................................... 4, 89 What Cooperators Want ........................................................ 1 Where the Tall Corn Grows ..................................................... 158 With Vision the People Survive ................................................... 84 Women's Guild of Great Britain ................................................... 15 Y Youth Leagues ................................................................ 15, 31 Vr 2$ COOPERATION V. - Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Cooperative United States Vol. XX. No. 1 JANUARY, 1934 10 cents -•*» s- What Cooperators Want 1. Plenty, not Scarcity. The burning of coffee, plowing under of cotton, slaughtering of piggy sows, forced restriction of oil production, bribing of farmers to cut down acreage, and all other methods of sabo taging production machinery are abhorrent to cooperators. 2. Distribution, not Concentration. The Plenty must be distributed to those who can use it, not piled up in the elevators, warehouses and coffers of the rich. To meet the present emergency, free distribution is necessary. But to prevent future concentration and to provide future distribution, a system of consumer and producer cooperatives must be built. 3. Lower, not Higher Prices; Higher, not Lower, Quality. Cooper ators want more and more for their money, a higher and higher living standard. 4. Higher Wages. That is, real wages. If prices rise-—as they are— wages and farm prices must rise more. The ratio must change, Cooper ators are ready to lead in boosting the wages of their employees. Who will follow? 5. Production Gauged to Satisfy Consumer Demand. No system of production yet known is so sensitive to consumer demand as the Con sumers' Cooperative system. It is a problem of control. Cooperators want-— 6. Control by Consumers. How? First, local consumers' societies (Rochdale) for retail functioning. Second, regional federations of local societies into wholesales for wholesaling, production and transportation. Third, federation of regional wholesales into a National Wholesale for centralized wholesaling, production, transportation, and trade with co operative wholesales in other countries. WHAT COOPERATORS WANT—AND WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO GET! i l-__ll___ltl COOPERATION COOPERATION An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and dis tribute for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St.. New York City. OSCAR COOLEY, Editor Contributing Editors George Halonen A. W. Warinner V. S. Alanne George Jacobson ___________L. S. Herron______ ____ Entered as Second Class matter. December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York. N. T., un der the Act of March I. 187S. Price $1.00 a year. Vol. XX. No. 1 January, 1934 Plaster Cast THE consumer, floored by the de pression, is now being put in a plaster cast by the recovery. The world seems to have it in for him. Al most every government is rapidly ex tending its control over industry. Wit ness the import quotas, marketing boards, price-fixing, cartelization, li censing and other measures for cutting out competition. In Austria, for example, a store sell ing peanuts today must continue to sell peanuts tomorrow. The peanut depart ment must be continued; the State so orders. And no new department may be opened. As for starting a new store or business •—nix! In Switzerland, de partmental and chain stores, are pro hibited from expanding. Cooperatives there fear it is only a matter of time before they will come under the ban. In at least two codes being con sidered by the NRA, milling and furni ture, it is proposed that no new plants or concerns be allowed to enter the business. In England, the C. W. S. is being forced to buy home-cured bacon. It doesn't matter if Danish bacon is bet ter, or lower-ipriced—these factors which the cooperators have always as sumed as of some importance are being flipped aside by the governmental pun dits, who appear to think that they and they alone know what is best for the country. Meanwhile, Denmark is fran tically subsidizing her farmers, as is almost every other nation, to make up for the loss of export trade. It seems to be a race to see which country can wipe out its foreign trade the quickest. This wave of strait-jacketing threat ens the very life of the Cooperative movement. Cooperation depends upon freedom of competition. To progress, it must have the opportunity to pursue unhampered its method, which is to compete profit industry out of exist ence. In that work it should have the help, not the hindrance, of the State. For or Against? To be fair, we must admit that not every act of governments is against the consumer. For example, Poland recently dissolved its cement cartel. It was found that of the 17 factories belonging to the cartel, 8 were being subsidized on condition that they produced nothing, while the output of the other 9 could easily have been produced by 2 or 3 In England, the entire milk trade is being brought un der the government Milk Marketing Board, which is fixing prices and li censing dealers. But.—the -manager of this Board is Mr. S. Foster, late man ager of the London Cooperative So ciety. The co-ops may still pay "divi" on milk. And here at home, one day the government fixes the price of milk in a certain city at a profit-insuring, consumer-exploiting level, and the next it proclaims the right of cooperatives to pay the "profits" back to the con sumers. What do you make of that? In the war between producers and consumers, on which side does the State stand? Does it know? Isn't it about time it made up its mind? "Neighbor" In William Morris' "News from Nowhere," his picture of the ideal so ciety, the people invariably call one another "neighbor." It strikes us that the present sorry world would be im proved a shade if more of us got in the habit of addressing our fellows as "neighbor." It is particularly appro- COOPERATION priate for cooperators to do so, since their movement, more than any other, is a movement of neighbors. A cooper ative society is an organization of neighbors, acting together in a neigh borly way and in the interests of their neighborhood. "Fellow-cooperator" is a good word, but it has seven (7) syllables and when all are pronounced properly, the effect is like a double-header freight train getting started, noisily taking up the slack in the couplings all down the line. ^'Friends and fellow-cooperators" •—by the time the speaker has got this out of his mouth, the kids down front are stirring restlessly in their seats wondering if the speech isn't most over, and the old folks are beginning to think about the coffee. "Comrade." Well, the Socialists and Communists have a prior lien on this word, and let them have it, say we. Ever hear an American farmer use the word? No, to him it savors of "Roosia." A cooperative speaker who addresses a farm audience with a chummy "Com rades" might as well follow it with "Thank you" and sit down. Besides, the word calls up the suggestion of "comrade-at-arms," military comrade. Of war or the terminology of war, co- operators will have none. "Neighbor" fills the bill. It is short, sweet but not too sweet, and its pedi gree is OK with the home folks. We suggest that the cooperative move ment adopt this word and use it in passing the time of day. when ad dressing audiences and as a salutation for letters. It is a stout, blue denim word and will stand a lot of wear. a What's Your Answer? What is your answer to this ques tion: Should cooperative publications accept advertisements from private profit concerns, or from any organiza tions that are not consumers' coopera tives or affiliated with the cooperative movement? It is not unusual to see ads of profit goods—especially profit goods that are sold in the cooperative stores—in the cooperative press of other countries. Is it right or wrong? What do you say? V. S. Alanne Cooperatiet Leaders VIENO SEVERI ALANNE, Exec utive Secretary of the Northern States Co operative League, 2100 Washington Ave. N., Minneapo lis. Born at Hameen- linna, Finland, Oct. 23, 1879. Had 3 years at preparatory school, 8 years of "classical lyceum," 4 years at Polytechnic Inst. of Finland (degree in Chemical Engineering), 1 year post graduate work in Organic Chemistry (1903), and 3 months' special course at Univ. of Wyoming. If still you doubt him to be a scholar, dip into his. Finnish-English Dictionary. He read "Life of Giordano Bruno," Marx's writings, Van Loon's "Tol erance," and was influenced. Became interested in Cooperation in 1908 through interest in Socialism. A well- known cooperative educator in the northwest since 1920. "My views have Gradually developed from that of a ocialist-Cooperator and Communist- Cooperator toward that of a 'Cooper- atist,' with strong working-class (So cialist) leanings. I am confident that Cooperation will finally prevail all over the world." Married. Has 1 son, junior auditor for Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior; 1 daughter, formerly co-op- stenographer. His wife, too, is a co- operator. When Alanne speaks, there are no errors or omissions. Covers the subject, dots the i's and crosses the t's. A thorough chemist. But not narrow. And gives himself without stint. Short, stocky, always good-humored. Clips his words short, moustache also. And he's fair—would make good justice of the Supreme Court. When cooperators want a good chairman for a meeting, they seek Alanne. e Cooperation is a way of capitalizing business without capitalism. COOPERATION ALLEN WOOD- SON WARIN- NER, Executive Sec retary, Central States Cooperative League, Bloomington, 111. Born Ray County, Mo., June 24, 1881. Attend ed public school and one year of college. Continued his educa tion in the School of Hard Knocks. He worked as railroad telegrapher. Married. Has a son and a daughter, neither active in the movement. But his wife is his secretary and right-hand man in the League, which is con veniently housed in the front room. And in the basement, where with a multigraph they turn out propaganda, good stuff when Warinner feels like "writing. He got interested in Cooperation in A. W. Warir "Pop" 1916-17, mainly through connection with Socialist Party. ('Score two for Socialism). Was manager of coopera tive stores at Brookfield, Mo., and Tucumcari, N. M., and for a time of the now defunct Central States C. W. S., E. St. Louis. Sees Cooperation "as a cause pro moting better human relations and a method of carrying on the business of the world which will make for greater security for all. If I did not see in it the only practical hope for building a better social and economic order, I would not be interested, especially to the extent of devoting my life to it." Hard-boiled, but "Pop" to the kids. Maybe due to long dealings with co- operators. Likes beer and beginning to show it. Favorite pastime: Refusing secretaryship of National League. Keenest about teaching the young "uns" Cooperation in the one-week summer schools, of which he ran seven last summer. Would Elevate Prostrate Consumer to Seat in President's Cabinet IN an open letter to President Roose velt, F. J. Schlink, director of Con sumers Research, Inc., of Washington, N. J., asks that a "Department of the Consumer" be formed, headed by a Secretary for Consumers in the Cabi net. We have a Dept. of Labor intended to serve the working-man, says Mr. Schlink, a Dept. of Agriculture to serve the farmer, and a Dept. of Com merce which very capably serves the business man. The consumer needs a department. Due to neglect of the consumer in terest, prices 'have risen more rapidly than wages. Taxes are deliberately laid on the consumer to pay the cost of destruction and acreage reduction. Prices are being fixed, which always puts the consumer in a fix. His re- •sponse is to quit buying. For example, sales of electrical household appliances 'fell 10% in October as compared with September, according to The New York Times. Among the "representatives of the consumer" who have been called to Washington to help make codes, Schlink names Lessing Rosenwald, of Sears, Roebuck & Company, called on the men's clothing code, a Mr. Nelson of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, on housing, and A. B. C. Dohrmann, of whom, says Schlink, even the NRA could not give any identifying information. He was called on the cling peach code. The Food and Drugs Administra tion and Bureau of Standards, sup- ' ported by public funds, do not serve the public, the open letter alleges, but rather function largely for the benefit of private business. Yearly the Bureau of Standards tests nearly 2000 dry cells, from a dozen manufacturers. The resulting data is given free to the manufacturers concerned, but is re- COOPERATION fused to consumers, and can not be had even by state and city govern ments unless they agree not to make it available to their citizens. These bureaus should be made a part of the new Department of the Con sumer, says Schlink. Other existing government units which should be moved into such a department are the Federal Purchasing Board, Federal Specifications Board, Office of Edu cation, and the Bureaus of Home Economics, Chemistry and Entomolo gy. The Food and Drugs Administra tion "should be expanded to include fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat, poultry, eggs, fish, etc., and all aspects of public health questions di rectly important to consumers." This would be a real step toward solving the problem of the depression, thinks Schlink, "a step which reaches down to the fundamental causes of the consumer's inability to buy back the products of industry which the work of his hand or brain has made." The Consumers' Opportunities By J. P. Warbasse THE unorganized consumer is still in a weak position. He still bears the brunt of everything that is done to rescue the profit system and set it going. But when he organizes himself with his neighbors, it is surprising what he can do. There are institutions called con sumers' guilds and leagues of voters, and so fortlh, which are lists of names with little or nothing at stake. They really consist of the officials sur rounded by a faint adumbration of consumer consciousness. But there are also real organizations of consumers that have a definite meaning. The cooperative societies represent the consumers in the economic field. Each member, besides being a bona- fide and duly elected member, has staked an investment of from $5 to $1000. The cooperative societies are something genuine and tangible. In cidentally, the churches and social clubs represent consumers organized in their own behalf witili a property stake and a purpose. When such bodies of consumers ex press themselves to the NRA, the NRA takes notice. At the public hearing on the Restaurant Code, on November 28, after two tiresome days of the ordi nary milling and pulling on the part of industry and labor for their own particular advantages, something hap pened that set the hearing on edge. The representative of tihe Consumers' Cooperative Services of New York, as employer of labor in its restaurants, presented protests against the payment of 28 cents an hour and $15 a week, as the minimum wage, to which the Labor Advisory Board had agreed, and de manded that the minimum wage "writ ten in the code should be 40 cents an hour and $18 a week. Sleepy indus trialists and labor leaders woke up; and the presiding Deputy Adminis trator demanded to know, "Wihat kind of an organization is this?" Something different had appeared upon the scene. Wherever cooperation goes, asking for the rights of the consumers, it is discovered to be something different from the sort of business commonly in evidence in Washington. Representa tives of cooperation are recognized as being unique. They come with clean hands. They are not trying to get something for themselves at the ex pense of the public; they are obviously acting as the friends of the public, and acting on behalf of its interests. And to the credit of this Roosevelt Ad ministration, it can be said, this is the first government this country has had that has shown real sympathy for the cooperative movement. The consumers are now given an opportunity to organize themselves and become articulate outside of the cooperative societies. The President has created a National Emergency Council. This consists of the progres- COOPERATION What the Consumer County Councils Are To Do /^ONSUMER County Councils are to be set up in every county of every ^^ state of the U. S. Each Council is to consist of 5 to 7 members, with its headquarters at the county seat. Both urban and rural consumers are to be represented. The chief functions of these Councils, according to a letter from Dr. Paul Douglas' office, will be: 1. "To act as agencies for the consideration of consumers' complaints against undue price increases. 2. "To serve as channels for the dissemination of accurate information concerning NRA and its effects upon consumers. 3. "To act as an agency through which consumers may become articulate on ques tions of national economic recovery. 4. "To aid in development of a more economical and efficient distribution of goods to consumers. 5. "To cooperate with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration to speed reemployment by development of sound civic projects." sive members of the Cabinet and the Chairman of the Consumers Advisory Board of the NRA. The purpose of this body is to organize in each of the 3005 counties in the United States a County Emergency Council. The county bod ies will be under tlie supervision of a State Director in each state. The Councils will be the centers of infor mation concerning the NRA. They will carry on education. They will have to do with public policy and the codes. •price fixing, and compliance. They will promote the distribution of milk and •other farm products from farmer to consumer. In each county in connection with this development will be organized a Consumers' County Council consisting of seven members. The chairman of fhis will be a member of the Executive •Committee of the County Emergency Council. It is proposed that wherever there is a cooperative society, a co- opprative group, or an individual espe cially interested in the cooperative movement, such a cooperator shall be appointed on this Consumers' Council. The other members will be persons especially concerned for consumers' in terests, such as the county agent, a member of the housewives' league and league of women voters, ;a home economics teacher, a farmer, and an industrial worker. These Consumers County Councils will have issued to them bulletins on consumers' problems, prices, commodity standards, and on the organization of buying clubs and how to start and run consumers' co operative societies. The Consumers' Councils will have as a special function reporting to the NRA upon the working of the codes in their communities, with particular reference to the interests of the con sumers. They will also be the centers of information on consumers' problems. The cooperative member will be in a position to promote cooperative educa tion and organization in his communi ty. He may make use of the agencies already existing in the Government for fhis purpose. It is also planned that the Consumers' Advisory Board shall set up an instrumentation for the supply of information on cooperative educa tion and organization. This work has been placed under Dr. Paul H. Douglas, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, who is a member of the Consumers Board. He is chairman of the newly created Bu reau of Economic Education of the CAB, and is aggressively promoting this work. The Cooperative League has been called upon by the CAB to supply names of cooperators in every state and county, wherever possible, for ap- COOPERATIO N pointment on the county councils. The societies of The League will be written to from Washington to make nomina tions to the councils. The League has already supplied the names of all of its societies and individuals and from its lists of cooperators; and the work of organizing these county bodies is now in progress. It is important that cooperators watch these county councils. There is no limit to the possibilities of their services to the cooperative movement. In every county where there is a co- operator he should be sure that a co- operator is made a member of the Con sumers' County Council of his county. He will have the support of the Con sumers' Board, from which this project sprung. What will come of this no one can say. Indeed, the uncertainties of the future are so great as to make it pos sible that these plans to cause the con sumers of the whole country to be ex pressive may miscarry. But the fact remains that an attempt is now being made, in good faith and with intelli gent and able backing, to help the con sumer to help himself. Another significant event is the movement to add a Department of tlhe Consumer to our national government, with a Secretary in the President's Cabinet. This has been proposed to Mr. Roosevelt by Mr. F. J. Schlink, Technical Director of Consumers' Re search. The proposal is so reasonable and the cogency of Mr. Schlink's ar guments so challenging that the matter will not be easily evaded. The more persons who telegraph 'and write to the President in approval of this plan, the more attention it will receive. The NRA is susceptible to the in fluence of the public. Attention is given to every complaint concerning the working of the NIRA that comes to Washington. Once it was futile to send telegrams to Washington, but that is not now the case. Cooperative societies should telegraph protests to the NRA concerning all code matters that affect cooperatives adversely. A copy of the telegram should be sent to the Con sumers' Advisory Board. This is now most useful in the case of the Code of the Retail Fuel Industry (coal), of tlhe Apartment House Industry, of the Salt Industry, of the Iron and Steel In dustry, and many others. The cooperatively organized con sumer is now in favor and should take advantage of his opportunities. The people of the United States have suf fered such defective education and so cial environment of such a character that thev may be counted on to put back in power in due time a political administration which expresses more nearly their own intellectual and moral quality. This present administration is exotic. Cooperation should cultivate its garden while the sun shines. Cooperation in Simple Terms TS there some capitalistically-inclined -*- soul to whom you would like to pre sent the idea of Consumers' Coopera tion in such simple terms that he can not refuse to understand it? Try the following approach: Once men lived alone in caves. The economics of a cave-man's life were simple: When he got hungry he went out and killed game, brought it in and ate and was satisfied; when he was cold he skinned the quarry and wrap ped the skin around him. Thus he produced for his own needs as a con sumer. . .' '"1 Later he became a family man, but his family group lived just as he had lived, going out and securing from Nature what -they needed as the need arose. Each family was self-sufficient. If it did not supply itself with enough, its members went hungry; if with more than enough, they lived in abundance. And if they ate poisonous toad-stools instead of mushrooms, it was their own funeral. Nothing could be simpler than this kind of economy. Then, somebody, having a surplus of one thing, offered to trade it for some thing which his neighbor had in abun- 8 COOPERATION dance but he was short of, and thus exchange and specialization in produc tion commenced. Now watch out, for the soup is thickening. Several things now began to happen, and each thing as it happened made life a little more complex and difficult for man's feeble brain to understand and cope with. First, certain commod ities, like gold, which all valued, were accepted as mediums of exchange, now called money. Then, some men, being cleverer than others, in the act of ex change, tipped the scales in their own favor and so got more than they gave. This more they saved up for a time of scarcity, when they were able to ask and get a high price for it from the people who needed it to consume. Thus began the exploitation of the consumer. Also, when specialization came into vogue, and especially after the inven tion of clever specialized machinery—• because so long as each man or each family produced a little of everything, there was no call for machines, but as soon as one man in one place began producing merely one article with thousands of duplicates, machines for turning out these duplicates became very desirable—'then certain men be gan to hire others and pay them wages. These wage-receivers became depend ent upon the wage-payers and this was the beginning of the exploitation of the laborer. It all came as a result of specialization, which, coupled with the use of machines, we call industrialism. But the really big change which came about, but which must have hap pened in the dark of the moon, because nobody seemed to see it, was that now no one, neither the wage-payer nor the wage-earner, was producing for his own consumption, but all were giving their lives to the turning out of some product or gadget which they planned to sell to others, and grow rich in so doing. This was a revolutionary change, which all came about within a com paratively few years, and it is no won der that man, accustomed for so many centuries to the simple plan of pro ducing for his own use, has not yet learned to operate under this new plan. The early cooperators were in the thick of this industrial revolution. It bore terribly upon them and they said, "Let us produce for our own use, as of old, but let us do it jointly and cooper atively, for the old individual life is gone. As individuals we have not ac cess to the land any more. We are herded into cities. But here in the cities, cooperating as consumers, we will get back to the old sound production-for- use philosophy." And so they started the first consumers' cooperative society and set up the first production-for-use "plant," a cooperative retail store in Toad Lane. (Retailing, it should be re membered, is as truly a part of the process of production as manufacture). Thus, Consumers' Cooperation is a method or system of going back to the simple and obviously sound economic philosophy of the cave-man and the cave-family, and at the same time re taining and making use of 'the scientific advantages of specialized production. It is a way of adapting the simple and fundamental verities to our highly com plex industrial society. • Cooperation Cuts Waste Cutting the costs of retail distribu tion through the method of consumers' cooperation is well illustrated by the operations of the Young Negroes Co operative Buying Club of Philadelphia. Orders for groceries are taken in ad vance; the goods are bought for cash and sold for cash. One Saturday re cently the delivery boy went out with goods to fill $50 worth of orders. Meanwhile the manager, Lewis An thony, waited at the wholesale house for the boy to bring back the $50, so that goods to fill another bunch of or ders, on another route, might be bought. Twice the boy went out, and twice the manager waited for the cash, so that he might buy for cash from the wholesaler. When night fell, all the orders were filled, and the manager could go home without a worry about credit on his books. This co-op buying club of negro workers started on a shoe-string about a year ago and has built up a volume of'$350 a week. COOPERATION The Cooperative Commonwealth (As envisioned in 1918 by Leonard Woolf, author of "Cooperation and the Future of In dustry," one of the best of our books, which may be obtained through the Cooperative League for $1.65.) "In the Cooperative Commonwealth every citizen above the age of 17 would be a member of the association of consumers, the Cooperative Move ment. The organization of the move ment would be the same as today ex cept that the individual societies would be federated in a national organiza tion and would therefore be themselves only the local units for the control of industry and for distributive purposes. The initiation of all industrial enter prise and its direction would be in the hands of the association of consumers. . . . The whole body of consumers in the country would determine what should be produced for consumption. Production would thus be based upon and spring from the only proper motive and object, use. But within the walls of industrial production and distribu tion the industrial workers would themselves be organized democratical ly, and a balance of power would be established be-tween the consumers and the workers. This balance of power would be concerned only with the con ditions of employment. . . "The labor necessary for industrial production is an unpleasant necessity and the world must treat it as such. If conscription for any national purpose is justifiable, it is justifiable for in dustrial labor. Every consumer, male and female, should be required to per form an equal share of this labor. .. Once a year every consumer above the age of 23 would be called up for medical examination under the In dustrial Service Act. The examination would be conducted by what is now the local cooperative society, but which would by that time have become the Local Consumers' Authority. Each consumer would be classified in one of four classes: A. Fit for heavy labor, which would include labor in specified occupations such as mining; B. Fit for moderate labor, which again would in clude certain specified occupations; C. Fit for light or sedentary labor; D. Totally incapacitated for any kind of industrial labor. "Every Local Consumers' Authority would send a return of the inhabitants thus classified to what is now the C. W. S. but which would have devel oped into the National Consumers' Authority for Productive Purposes, The C. W. S. under this system of out dreams knows through its statistical department the estimated quantity of each kind of commodity required for the coming year. When all the Local Authorities have sent in their returns, it fcnows the amount of labor available for the different branches of industry. Simple arithmetic will therefore show the number of days' labor in the coming year necessary for each divi sion of industry. "The C. W. S. then sends a state ment to the Local Authority of, let us say, Mayfair in the following terms: 'Classified in Mayfair as fit for heavy labor, 2000 men, 1000 women; you are required to supply for the year 19.., 1000 coal-miners to work two months, 1000 navvies to work 2^ months, 500 railway porters to work 3 months, 500 general laborers to work 3 months: total 3000 heavy laborers.' The 3000 persons classified in Mayfair in Class A are then summoned on a certain day and draw lots as to whether they shall work as coal-miners, navvies, railway porters, or general laborers, provided that any person may voluntarily ex change occupation with any other per son within the same class. The sane process will be repeated in every local ity for each class. The performance of the year's labor will entitle each per-, son to a fixed wage of say, £4 a week for the year. Every person would probably have to perform a maximum of about four months' industrial labor during the year. In the other eight months he would be at liberty to pur sue the work or hobby of his choice, whether it happened to be coal-mining, writing books, painting pictures, pol itics, science, or philandering." 10 COOPERATION New Co-op. Building in Finland 'T'HIS is the beautiful building, re- -*-. cently completed, of the Finnish Cooperative Wholesale (O.T.K.) in Helsingfors. It is modern in every re spect. In it are housed both the •whole sale and the cooperative insurance so ciety. On the top floors are up-to-date laboratories for the testing of goods to be sold through the society. The in- —Courtesy Federated Press terior is as modern and attractive as the exterior. O.T.K. is owned by 109 distributive societies, which operate 1720 stores and have a membership of 248,000. Flour mills, match factories, a tailoring establishment, a ladies' dressmaking shop, an underwear factory, coffee roastery, margarine factory and a chemical plant are operated. How the Best Stores Do It A "Survey of Retail Management Practices" by the U. S. Dept. of Com merce brought out the following points: Stores selling for cash only were found more frequently to be operating at a profit than stores on a cash-and- credit basis. Stores run at a profit showed more positive methods for collecting delin quent accounts than unprofitable stores. Stores not giving delivery service were profitable in a greater proportion of • cases than those which gave such service. A greater proportion of the profit able stores used sales promotion meth ods, and used them more completely and consistently, than did the unprof itable stores. A larger proportion of stores show ing a profit determined their costs and profits by each of the various depart ments of their business. A greater proportion of the profit able stores made provision for training and instruction than did those stores which indicated a loss. • Fair Business Net earnings of the Range Co-op Oil Association, northern Minnesota, in six months of 1933 exceeded the total share capital. This is a federa tion of 11 co-op stores. COOPERATION II More Pointers on Propaganda * I 'O win converts to Cooperation in -*- any community, one may ap proach individuals directly, or one may work through existing organizations. We will consider the latter method here. In your Youth League, or Woman's Guild, you have ambitious young workers, zealous for Cooperation, anx ious to do something concrete to fur ther the cause. Some can speak (if en couraged), others •write, others con duct classes and forums. All can speak more or less effectively to an audience of one. These cooperators also belong to other organizations in the communi ty, such as the churches, women's clubs, Grange, labor unions, lodges, civic associations, taxpayers' leagues, schools, colleges, Y. M. C. A., Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. It is true that most of these are conservative, even reactionary, groups. But most of them are non-sectarian and non-factional, like the cooperative. And like the co-op they are •working, presumably, for gen uine community betterment. To some extent at least, they should be natural allies of the cooperative. To •what ex tent, can only be found by testing them out. The natural approach to these or ganizations is through those of your members who are also their members. For example: Mattie Smith, who is a member of the Women's Co-op Guild, is elected lecturer of the Grange. That means she gets up the programs for Grange meetinqs. Mattie. how about giving those Grangers two or three pood speakers on Cooperation during the year? Then Johnny Brown, the Methodist minister's son, is running with the Co-op Youth League crowd. Per'haps Johnny can get his father and mother interested in a kind of social re construction that really reconstructs. Maybe he can qet Cooperation on the list of Men's Forum subiects, or have a cooperative movie shown at the Community Services on a Sunday night. And George Spivak, of United Textile Workers Local No. —, at the suggestion of his •wife •who is a co operative guildswoman, gets up in union meeting and moves for a com mittee to study a cooperative housing plan similar to the Amalgamated in New York, •which he describes and shows pictures of. Do It Systematically This kind of work should be carried on systematically. Canvass your mem bership and see 'what other organiza tions are represented. Then call to gether all -who may act in this •way and discuss strategy. A special committee on this form of propaganda may be advisable. Don't pass up the schools. Members of Youth leagues •who are also school students should suggest Cooperation as a subject for debates in English and Public Speaking classes, for talks in Assembly, for essays, etc. How about "The NRA vs. the Cooperative Move ment" as a timely subject? Movies if available are also usually gladly ac cepted by schools. A "field trip" to the premises of the cooperative society by the class in economics or social science may be proposed. A Hospitality Com mittee should be ready to receive them and show them around. Such features are often •welcomed by teachers be cause it gives them something "dif ferent" to do with their classes. Have speakers at meetings and func tions of other organizations •whenever possfble. First it is necessary to have such speakers prepared, both men and •women. The Youth League should get up a class in Public Speaking, having a qualified adult hear and coach the speakers. This class will study both Cooperation and how to talk about it. The community is always ready to listen to one of its young -people •who has something concrete to say and can say it. Then set yourself a quota of "speeches in other organizations," de pending on the number of such organi zations in your community, frequency of meeting, contacts -with cooperators, degree of liberal sympathy, etc. Don't hesitate to ask for more than 12 COOPERATION lip-service support from members of other organizations. Urge them to join and support the co-op with their pur chasing power as consumers. A speech "What Cooperators Are Doing on Abroad" may be very interesting to your audience, but it will not accom plish the effect you desire unless it brings the subject back home and ends with an appeal to "join the co-op." The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men By Esopus The third of a series of tales concern ing the life of the tyrant, Credit, born of the love of the merchant, Dollar, for a bewitching wench named Profit. III. NOW, as the reader will remember, the peasant whose family was in tatters and himself in rags, and who, although his pocket was empty of money had nevertheless gone to the marketplace, hoping that by some miracle he would be able to obtain clothing, returned home rejoicing. The weight of the bolt of cloth across his shoulders was as nothing. Now they would all dress in warmth; they would even go to church and strut before their neighbors. And all because of that good mer chant. Dollar, who had allowed him to take the cloth for nothing. For noth ing? Ah, for a mere promise to pay on Monday after next, when the corn would be harvested and in market. So easy; so simple. But—"The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley." This time it was the plans of men, not of mice. For even while the peasant had been in the marketplace, dickering for the cloth, the mice had been making free in his corn field, chewing and chanking and laying waste over half the crop. It was a sober peasant who, clad in his new warm shirt, hauled his few sacks of corn to market. There he was terrified to learn that corn was a glut on the market, due to some strange reason well understood to the buyers but quite mysterious to him, and the price whic'h he received for his whole crop would not pay for one shirt. Straightway he hurried to the mer chant, Dollar. Holding out the few coins, he said, "This is all I have with which to pay. Prithee give me more time. Mayhap I can sell my goat and pay thee all." Dollar frowned and sternly said: "I took thee for a man of (hy word!" Whereupon the young boy, Credit, who the reader will observe was al ready cutting his eye teeth, said: "Be not hard on him, Father. Give him another week." And Dollar, hu moring the lad, said to the peasant: "Very well. I see you have had bad fortune. I will give thee until Monday week. But you must pledge me your farm. Here, I have already written the pledge. Sign thee here." Trembling with joy, the peasant em braced the young man, Credit, and signed and hurried home, only to be met at the door by his eldest child, who wept and said: "Father, we have no milk for sup per. The goat got hung by the neck in a thicket and is dead." The peasant crossed himself and went into the home that he knew was no longer his. The following week, Dollar took possession. He tore down the hut and built a villa proper to house his beau tiful spouse, Profit, and their son, Credit, who was a lusty fellow and needed room for expansion. The peas ant and his family took to the road and became beggars. Or, as such were called in that land, "unemployed." Thus Credit began life posing as a benefactor of the poor, a pose which, we shall see, he was to hold with ever- increasing cunning and effectiveness throughout his abominable career. How he lost a leg at Rochdale in 1844, and how he has since grown seven new ones, more or less, to take its place, will be told in the next and succeeding tales. COOPERATION 13 Cooperative Growth in Virginia A vigorous cooperative movement is developing among the farmers of Virginia. Gordon H. Ward of Blacksburg, cooperative extension worker, informs us as follows: The Virginia Seed Service is now the Southern States Cooperative, and aims to manufacture and distribute for farmers throughout the South Atlantic region. The cooperative purchasing associations of Maryland and North Carolina may consolidate in the new regional. A subsidiary, known as Southern States Cooperative Mills, has been established and is fast completing a feed mill on deep water in Baltimore, which will have a capacity of 40 cars per day. Fertilizer manufacturing ac tivities are also being expanded with mills in Norfolk and Petersburg. The G. L. F. Cooperative fertilizer plant at Baltimore is being used to serve north ern Virginia. Under the fertilizer code, prices are to be stabilized at a point which will enable the old line companies to make a profit. Since they had an average loss last spring of $4 per ton (while the cooperatives more than broke even), prices will probably be raised at least $4. The cooperatives will have to charge the same price, but they can re fund the $4. Thus they should get the business. Another fertilizer co-op is the Vir ginia Truck Growers Mfg. Corp., which this summer came under the Virginia cooperative act. It was started in 1926 by truck farmers around Nor folk, and has its own fertilizer plant. From the start cooperative principles of one man, one vote and limited divi dends on stock (8%) have been fol lowed. Locals have been organized and given membership through the distribu tion of shares. The secretaries of these locals are being bonded and will handle purchase of supplies for members of the local. In time it is hoped this or ganization will become a general farm ers' purchasing association, integrat ing wholesale and retail operations. Can a Co-op Compete? Ask George Schemm of Valentine, Nebr. He needed a grain binder, ac cording to the "Nebraska Union Farmer." The local dealer wanted $230. George bought his from the Farmers Union State Exchange. When the local dealer found this out, he came down to $150. But George didn't change his mind; he had paid $132.50. • What the Czech Cooperators Are Doing The organized consumers of Czecho slovakia in 1932 got their food products through the cooperative societies 9.6% cheaper than did the consumers who depended upon private stores, accord ing to Prof. S. Borodaevsky. The Central Union of Cooperative Societies in that country is about to celebrate its 25th birthday. The Union consists of 220 consumers' societies, 185 producers' societies, 193 building associations, 174 workers' and peoples' houses, 43 credit societies and a num ber of others. Total membership is 470,000. 75% of the business is done by the consumers' societies. Dollar volume was about 15% less in 1932 than in 1930. e Bon Voyage, Sunnyside! Sunnyside society, Long Island City, opened its store on Dec. 2, with a full line of groceries, delicatessen goods, fruits and vegetables. A "department of natural foods" is planned. The milk and laundry business is reported grow ing steadily. • Superior To Go Ahead The People's Cooperative Society of Superior has voted to go ahead with the opening of a branch store in the heart of the shopping section as plan ned. 14 COOPERATION Sales Are On the Up Sales of cooperatives are on the in crease. For instance, Trenary Farmers Cooperative Store nearly doubled its sales in November over the same month of 1932. Its Munising branch jumped from $1100 to $2600. • Save 40-50% by Cooperating The Associated Cooperative Fire Insurance Companies, Woodridge, N. Y., cut their losses almost one-half last year—from $136,340 in 1932 to $79,300 in 1933. "Our members," writes Boris Fogelson, secretary, "paid from 40 to 50% less than they would have had to pay if insured by stock companies." • Co-op Current Twenty-four farmers in Granite Falls, Minn., says Federated Press, have formed a cooperative for electric power distribution. They buy current from the municipal plant for 5c and retail it to members for 7c. With the difference they put up poles, lines, transformers, etc., and provide for re serves. A good article in November "Har pers," by Marquis Childs, tells how rural cooperatives in Sweden distribute electric power in much the same way. That's right, there are a few Swedes in Minnesota. • Co-op Housing for Minneapolis They are considering cooperative housing in Minneapolis. The Workers Housing Corporation has been formed and an application for a loan of 2}/2 million has been made to Public Works Administrator Ickes. • Total sales of Rock Cooperative Company, Michigan, for the first 7 months of 1933 were $52,899.92, net gain $1484.20. • Sound Sense "If you have invested money in a cooperative society, protect it with your trade."—'The Canadian Cooper- ator. Debate Outline (Editor's Note: My class at Commonwealth got quite hot over this question. That is why I suggest it. O. C.) Resolved, That a candidate for an elective position in a cooperative society (such as member of the Board of Directors) should make an active campaign for election. Affirmative. 1. Makes for intelligent voting—lets members get acquainted with candidate. 2. Stimulates interest in the elections-gets out the vote—makes democracy work- gives the co-op new life.—makes publicity around town. 3. Elevates importance of office and stimulates desire to hold it.—creates pride-and- prestige appeal. In too many societies, office is accepted unwillingly and endured, not sought for and prized. 4. Gives chance for newcomer—'not so likely that the old gang be reelected over and over. Negative. 1. One candidate may be able to afford more advts., more torchlight processions, etc., than another. (Before the debate, the following question should be decided: If cam paigning is to be encouraged, should the society pay a certain campaign expense for each candidate, as English societies do? If expense is to be left to the candidate, should this expense be limited?) 2. One may be a silver-tongued orator, or clever publicity man, while another is tongue-tied. Both may be equally well qualified for the office. 3. May encourage bribery, ballot-box stuffing, and other political chicanery. 4. May stir up personal animosity and cause dissension which may spread to other affairs of the co-op. 5. May involve politics, religion, race, or color of hair of candidates. COOPERATION 15 Artists Get Barter Bug Even the artists are having to go back to barter. They bring their work to the Art Exchange Bureau, 156 West 45th St., New York City, which ar ranges swaps for them. Sometimes the swaps are three- or four-cornered be fore the artist gets what he desires. • The Cooperative Women's Guild of Great Britain has over 70,000 member guildswomen. • Producers' and Consumers' Movement Contrasted \Vhere the consumers' cooperative movement in this country seems to devote its educational work first to development of a cooperative commonwealth and second to efficient coopera tive buying, we (the farm co-ops.) reverse the formula by placing our primary emphasis on efficient cooperative business and secondly upon the development of cooperative spirit. Frankly I believe that is one reason why the farmers' cooperative movement has been moving a little more rapidly in most areas of the U. S. than has the consumers movement. I don't mean this as criticism, because I am well aware that you have faced problems more difficult than ours to solve. (Extract from a letter by a farmers' coopera tive leader.") • Cooperative Youth New Youth League Organized Early in November, a movement was started to organize a Youth League of the Waukegan- North Chicago Cooperative Association. The preliminary meeting was a great success, par ticularly in the number of individuals present. The second meeting completed the job of set ting up the organization as a working group. The constitution as presented was accepted after some amendments had been made. At the third meeting, the following officers were elected: President, Miss A. Ogrin, Vice- President, Edward Koncan, and Secretary- Treasurer, Miss Jennie Popit. Committee chair men were elected, and they in turn selected their committee members. Preparations are being made for quite an ex tensive educational program, and the entertain ment committee has already shown itself to be very efficient. The Youth League of the Waukegan-North Chicago Cooperative Association, is affiliated with the Central States Youth League, and has a membership of over forty persons. It is ex pected to increase this number considerably in the near future, making this organization one of the largest, if not the largest Youth League in the country. Slowko. Credit Unions in the U. S. Of 1612 credit unions in 42 states, 1472 reporting to the Bureau of Labor Statistics have 301,119 members and share capital of nearly 22 million dol lars. 1345 unions loaned to 161,941 member-borrowers in 1932. Their loans totaled over 16 million dollars, an average of $16,475 per union. The average size loan was $156. The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada, Published monthly 75c per annum The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St., New York, N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. 16 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 38. Consumers Cooperation In the United States (IIIus.), 1830.... .10 8.00 48. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase) ...................... .05 4.00 S4. The Coop. Movement. J. H. Dietrloh .05 4.00 &^. Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ................ .10 7.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society .......... .26 16.00 6. Model By-Laws for a Rochdale Cooperative Society .......... .06 2.50 88. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson) .............. .50 El. Model Lease for Cooperative Apartment House ............ .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law ........ .10 88. "When the Whistle Blew" (Story. by Bruce Calvert) .......... OS 67. How a Consumers* Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 .76 6Z. Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter ............... .06 1.00 63 Sign or Transparency of League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter .................... .25 16.09 €7. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound In books of 100. 200, or 250 «8. To Mothers ................... .02 1.00 id. Farmers' Cooperation, A Way Out: An address by L. S. Herron.. .05 4.00 72. "Little Lessons In Cooperation" 35 74. The Burden of Credit ......... .02 1.00 76. What Is the Cooperative Store.. .03 2.00 76. What is Consumers' Cooperation .05 4.00 11. The Most Necessary Thing In Life ......................... .02 1.00 78. Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Money's Worth ........ .02 1.00 78. There Are Two Sides to Every Counter ...................... .02 1.00 '86. Consumers' Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 631 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics.. .25 '81. Cooperative Youth Soners ...... .25 82. What Cooperation mpans to a de pression-sick America ........ .03 2.00 83. What Is the Cooceratlve Leaeue "What Consumers' Cooperation Means to a Depression-Sick America" Try it on your depression-sick friend A new leaflet, mostly pictures 3 cents per copy, $2 per 100 We also recommend "What Is Consumers' Cooperation?" by Dr. J. P. Warbasse. A clear, concise definition. 5 cents per copy, $4 per 100 Order from The Cooperative League Raivaaja Print—Fitchburg, Mass. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred). Subscription, per year (foreign, J1.26).... $1.00 REVIEW OP INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (Pub. by the I. C. A.) ........ Per Tear, S1.5& BOOKS The following books are recommended as con taining: the best discussion of the modern Co- operaitive Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia, 1924 _______ ________ 1.50 Brightwill, L,. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children ........................ .IE Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers ................ 1.10 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1810 ........................ J.l» GIde, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Societies, American edition and notes, 1&22, Cloth l.oO Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees ............. 2.50 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers 1192 ....... 1.1* Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932.... 3.75 Indian Cooperation, Children's story ...... .16 Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing: of Farm Products ....................... 8.10 Kress, A. J. :CapitalIsni, Cooperation, Com munism, 1932 ......................... 2.00 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guilds-women, telling what the Guild has done for them.. 1.25 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold ......... .85 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story ................ .26 Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators ............................. 1.5(1 Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems ............................. 1.85 Owen, Robert: Autobiography ........... .75 Polsson, B.: The Cooperative Republic.... 1.85 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement In Great Britain 1S91........................ ... 1.10 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S. 1.16 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in Society, 1920 .......................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction in Ireland, 1918 ............ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark ............................. 1.10 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920 .................... !.*• Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish) ......................... 1.00 Wajrbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy, (1927D ............................... 1-60 Warbasse, J. P.: What Is Cooperation, 1927 .76 Warne, C. B.: Consumers' Cooperative Move ment In Illinois 1926.................. 8.6» Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Coopera tive Movement, 1911 .................. 6.0* Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917 .................................. !•«• Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry ..................... l.*6 Cooperation, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 19S2 inclusive, each year ................ 1.26 The People's Year Book, 1933, English. paper .75, cloth 1.35 Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1932 .75 COOPERATION Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Cooperative United States Vol. XX. No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1934 10 cents FE6 26 Front Page News "GEVERAL Co-ops that have sur- *^ plus cash on hand are depositing it with the Central Co-op Wholesale in the form of advance payments on their future purchases, rather than keep it in the local banks." The Cooperative Builder, Superior, Wisconsin, Jan. 6, 1934. I_____ 18 COOPERATION COO PERATION An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and dis tribute for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St.. New York City. OSCAR COOLEY, Editor Contributing Editors George Halonen A. W. Warinner V. S. Alanne George Jacobson Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. T., un der the Act of March 3, 18T9. Price J1.00 a year. Vol. XX. No. 2 February, 1934 WE view with pleasure the increas ing articulateness of the con sumer in Washington and his in creasing influence in the New Deal as the effect of its policies on the con sumer is pointed out. Now The Co operative League is asked for pamph lets and leaflets on consumers co operation to be reprinted and distrib uted by the Consumer County Coun cils. Good! Let the presses roll. In addition each County Council should assemble a library of books, periodicals, and pamphlets of consumer information to be loaned throughout its county. Public and school libraries should assist. "Traveling libraries" might be utilized. Give the people knowledge and they will set them selves free. Concerning Revolutions The world has seen but one great change worthy of being called a Revo lution. That was when man changed from production for use to production for profit. The first shot was fired when the first sale was made, that is, when the first goods were exchanged rather than used by the producer. The fight began to get hot when Private Ownership was instituted, and hotter still when Specialization got a-going. The old order was not decisively crushed, however, until the invention of clever machines ushered in Indus trialization, Mass Production, and Capitalism as we now know it. We are now on the gathering wave of another Revolution: the change from production for profit to production for use. That, you say, lodks like going back where we came from. In philos ophy, yes; in techniques, no. We will not go back to the crooked stick plow, but we are in process of returning to the common sense motives of the crooked stick plowman. This Second Revolution began with the first people who perceived the danger into which the profit motive was leading us; with Karl Marx, let us say, for he was perhaps the first to be come really articulate about it. As long as men produced for profit on a small scale, the curse of profit was not so ap parent. When the Machine, the Fac tory and Industrialism came along, men could no longer remain blind to the deviltry that was afoot. Thus the full flowering of the First Revolution gave birth to the Second. Marx and Engels pointed to the danger and said Socialism would save us. Robert Owen and Dr. King also pointed to the danger and predicted Cooperation. All were right, but none were all right. Socialism has developed and is developing in an ever-swelling flood; so is Cooperation. Cooperation and Socialism are separately contend ing for the service motive. Just as a war may be fought by land forces and by sea forces, this Second Revolu tion is being fought by more than one kind of force. Think a minute and you will see that the First Revolution lasted quite a spell, 10,000 years maybe. In compari son the Second Revolution hasn't been going on long, only a hundred years or so. Cheer up! The smallest co-op store in the fur thermost neck of the woods of Michi gan is an outpost in this Second Revo lution. So is tlhe English C.W.S. Soviet Russia is playing a part, a big part. So is the Tennessee Valley Authority. This Revolution manifests itself in a multitude of forms, some of them not easily recognized. There's no call to get excited when COOPERATION 19 some young enthusiast begins to fulmi nate about the "coming Revolution." The real Revolution is here; we are in it. We have been for a long time, and • will be for much longer. Why get lathered up about it? Of course the "coming Revolution" which our young enthusiast heralds is not the Revolu tion that we speak of. There are waves in the ocean; there is also a tide. It's not a bad idea for Cooperators to take a long-term look at these mat ters. It gives them a better idea of where they stand. It also gives them a broader sympathy with all other forces working for the success of the Second Revolution. NRA Nonsense Under the proposed trucking code, Farmer Smith would not be able to haul a can of his neighbor's milk to market for pay, without getting a li cense and filing a schedule of rates. Next thing we know, the small boy who carries tlhe old lady's bag across the street and gets a penny for it will be required to file his schedule of rates. What if Farmer Brown pays his neighbor Smith by helping him butcher, or by giving his kids a lift to school? In that case Smith's "schedule of rates" is going to be interesting reading. The Man from Mars, recently ar rived on the Earth, espied an old Model T in a plowed field, wandering aimlessly and laboriously about as if lost. Out of curiosity he drew nearer. The bus was labelled "The Economic Machine." The driver, a happy but dumb-looking dolt, was tagged Capi talist. Behind him was what appeared to be a back-seat driver, labelled So cialist. Hanging on the running board and watching his chance to hit the driver over the head with a piece of iron pipe was a Communist. A fourth man, labelled Cooperator, had got out of the ancient vehicle and was walking down the road where a sign pointed "To the Cooperative Comm on wealth.'' Odd Lots When gasoline hit 25c in Porto Ri co, the consumers struck. Tourists were scared onto their ships and of ficials were afraid to drive their cars for fear of nails. Porto Rico must have heard our appeal, "Consumers, A- wake!" • The President in his message to Congress said: "We would save and encourage the slowly growing impulse among con sumers to enter the industrial market place equipped with sufficient organi zation to insist on fair prices and honest sales." Sounds suspiciously like cooperation, Franklin. • Add to the growing number of able friends of the cooperative movement at Washington Robert Lynd, one of the authors of "Middletown" and now a member of the Consumers Advisory Board. • "Cromwell, Minn..— Reports on plans for the establish ment of a district sausage factory and a Co-op. Burial Association were heard and given approval.".—The Co operative Builder. Heavens, is this cause and effect? • Ely (Minn.) Cooperative Associa tion nearly doubled its volume in 1933 over 1932. • An electric bulb which gives the same candlepower as ordinary bulbs on about 1/50 the current has been in vented, says Stuart Chase, and is being held out of production by the profit power companies. Typical example of the profit system keeping the public in the dark. o They're going ahead with that co operative bank at the Head-of-the- Lakes. A meeting of 16 co-ops in Clo- quet on New Year's Day appointed a committee to draw up detailed plans. 20 COOPERATION Gideon Edberg Leaders GIDEON ED BERG, chair man. Auditing Com mittee, Franklin Co operative Creamery Assoc.; member, Co operative League Board; President, Minneapolis Coop erative Oil Associa tion; Director, Co operative Housing Association; Secretary, Twin City Co operative Council—'a busy cooperator. Born in Sweden 42 years ago. Went to grade schools and one year in high school, but got most education by the light of the midnight lamp. Three books that influenced him most are "Capital" by Marx, "Progress and Poverty" by H. George, and "Cooper ative Democracy" by J. P. Warbasse (Cooperative League, $1.50). Helped organize and was first presi dent of Cooperative Temperance Cafe Idrott, Chicago, 1913. Managed Ideal Cooperative Cafe, St. Paul. Came to work for the Franklin, chairman of Educational Committee for several years, secretary one year. Married, Mrs. Edberg is treasurer of Minneapolis Women's Guild. "I look to cooperation to establish a new value, based not on gold or life less things but on services and duties performed, beneficial to all the mem bers. I envision the organization of co operative societies in every field of human endeavor, by farmers and workers of every land. . . also by the so-called middle class. The national and international wholesale and in dustrial establishments are being built. . . . Through them free trade will be re established. ... I agree with Sidney Webb that 'Intelligent cooperation is the economic hope of mankind.' " A small frame but paciked with ener gy. Edberg wouldn't be happy if he weren't organizing a cooperative effort of some ikind. A little impatient that the world does not follow his lead more rapidly, which is probably be cause he lacks the pretense and pom posity of the boiled shirt type. • NEWMAN MARQUER, Execu tive Secretary of the Workmen's Furniture Fire Insurance Society, New York, (a cooperative with nearly 70,- 000 members). Born in Germany, Aug. 17, 1869. Went to public school, and at 16 became interested in cooperation through Socialist literature. Has been 14 years with the W. F. F. I., 8 years as its chief executive. He is also a mem ber of the Credit Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Agency—selected as an impassable watch-dog of bad loans. Is a widower. Has two sons and one daughter, none active in cooperative movement. "Since the capitalist system is doomed," says Marquer, "the only way to save humanity is to eliminate the profit motive. The prospects of the co operative movement are bright." A solid burgher is Marquer, an honest financier, an orthodox Socialist, a steadfast friend. His eyes are deep- set under a sloping forehead, his chin juts forward with strength. A modest man (his picture does not appear in print), he is proud of the W. F. F. I. but says little about his own great part in building it up. He with his elderly compatriots in their slightly antique office tucked away in Yorkville con duct an enterprise from which a less fanatical world might learn much. • Nordby Dead Harold I. Nordby, well known co- operator of Minneapolis, was drowned Dec. 17 when the automobile in which he and a fishing companion were riding broke through the ice. Nordby helped organize the Frank lin Cooperative Creamery Association and was its president from 1919 and its general manager from 1925 to 1932. He was also a member of the Board of the national Cooperative League for many years and active in the Northern States League. He was born in Christ- iania, Norway, in 1893. COOPERATION 21 The Consumer Comes Into View By J. P. Warbasse T)RACTICALLY all industries have •^ submitted their codes to the NRA. By the first of January, 195 codes had been approved by the President. Industry and labor have done most of their work. The consumer is grow ing steadily in importance. Now the fundamental and practical work of the Consumers' Board is making its im pression on the NRA. It is an interesting fact that industry and labor have had funds of their own to employ all the people needed to watch their interests. They have wages and profits at stake. But the consumers, either organized or not, have been able to send but few people to Washington to protect them from the codes. The Cooperative League, with 1400 cooperative societies in its membership, having 500,000 individual members, has represented the organ ized consumers. It is the one outstand ing consumer representation. Its mem bership is bona fide and tangible. The members have been elected, and every one has a financial stake of from $5 to $1000 invested in his consumers' socie ty. This is a very different sort of membership from that of many loosely put together organizations supposed to represent consumers. Some independent cooperative so cieties and the Consumers' Research have from time to time sent repre sentatives to look after their interests. But, compared with industry and labor, the consumer has had few people to serve him. We need more help in Washington. There is now open a nice job with The Consumers' Board for a cooperator who can finance himself. The Board has no funds for this, but if the job can be self-financed or financed by a co operative society, it can be made highly useful to the cooperative movement in particular and to the consumers in gen eral. The services that can still be per formed for the consumers are numerous and increasing. The other interests have been working for their own pocket all the time. They have been aggressive, pugnacious and efficient in their spe cial pleading. When the consumers' representative appears before a board or committee, he sounds an utterly dif ferent note. He is discovered as work ing for somebody else and not con cerned for his own profits. He is not trying to get something from the pub lic, but to do something for the public. Wherever his voice is heeded, the pub lic is benefited. This is seen in such situations as the Pure Food and Drug Act. The utterly disgraceful attitude of industry and the press and the indifference of labor may yet legalize lying about patent medicines, cosmetics, tooth and body applications, and the great gamut of humbugs that take a billion dollars a year for their worse than useless stuff. The Consumers' Board and Consumers' Research raised their voices for the public, and made the pious supporters of these frauds wince at the truth. If there is anything that reflects the low grade of civilization of this country it is the support given to the patent medi cine frauds by persons who sit in high places and are acclaimed as respect able. There is no dirtier money in America than theirs. The oil people are still hoping to stop the growth of consumers' cooper ative oil societies. In Massachusetts a cooperative organization has been re fused petroleum by the district oil code authority. This cooperative has been informed by the chairman of the Dis trict Oil Committee, that a cooperative oil distributing society is in violation of the law and subject to a fine of $500! This chairman is an influential politi cian who is president of a local oil company and member of the State Oil Committee. He has announced that no cooperative will be permitted to handle oil. The taxi drivers of Boston recently started to form a cooperative oil asso- 22 COOPERATION ciation and were stopped by the local NRA committee as in violation of the oil code! But they are going too fast. The rights of cooperative oil associations are fully protected by the President's Executive Order of October 23 last. The oil men are presuming that they may intimidate the consumer. But in the end the decision rests with Secre tary Ickes, who has shown sympathy with the cooperative oil societies. The Planning and Coordinating Board or the Oil Code is only advisory. The Secretary of the Interior has the final authority. On his staff are able and sincere defenders of the rights of the consumers to escape from the profit motive if they have the ability and if thev so desire. There remain still some cooper ative difficulties. Manufacturers in several industries refuse to sell to co operative wholesales, and jobbers re fuse to sell to cooperative retails, claiming that their codes forbid sales to the consumer. Some industries re fuse to sell to cooperatives because the cooperatives give patronage rebates. These difficulties have appeared in the petroleum, salt, wire fencing, coal, feed, fertilizer, and other industries. Another executive order signed by the President, is needed, ruling that genuine cooperative societies shall not be discriminated against by any busi ness, and that commodities and sup plies shall be sold to them in every market on the same terms as to other businesses engaged in the same lines; and that a cooperative paying saving returns, patronage rebates, or divi dends shall not be refused the privilege of buying at wholesale or from manu facturers. Then all of the obstacles in the codes, that industry has put in the way of cooperative progress, will be removed. Under these circumstances, the Code of the Cooperative Consumers will no longer be necessary. Their organiza tions will have gotten, by means of executive orders of the President, all of the protection that their own code could supply under the most favored conditions. In the light of the current of events, the consumer is coming into view and the cooperatively organized consumer is discovering the advan tages of his position. News and Comment Whites Don't Know the Half of It Negroes have all the usual diffi culties in organizing cooperatives, be sides some of their own, according to Dr. W.A.C. Hughes, of the Methodist Mission Bureau of Negro Work, who spoke at an all-day conference of co- operators held in Philadelphia, Jan. 11. Several years ago a group in Ar kansas decided that they were being held up by the .plantation stores, and that they needed a cooperative. Word got to the storekeepers, and the next meeting was shot up by a mob. During the afternoon session specific cooperative problems were discussed under the leadership of L. E. Wood cock, secretary of the Eastern States Cooperative League. In the evening John W. Edelman of the American Federation of Full-Fashicned Hosiery Workers described the house for 300 families which they plan to build, using government funds. According to plans, the store and several other enterprises in the house will be cooperative. Dr. Andrew J. Kress of Georgetown University, who has been active in protecting cooperative interests at Washington, talked on "The NRA Opportunity." Cooperative activities in Philadel phia have increased after being dor mant for many years. The United Con sumers Cooperative Association (for merly the Young Negroes Cooperative League) is building up its volume of business and plans to establish several branch depots where customers at a distance from the store can leave or ders and call for them the next day. Two barter groups, one in the suburb COOPERATION 23 of Media and one in the city, are con sidering converting their organizations into permanent cooperatives. • Central Wholesale's Volume Up Sales of the Central Cooperative Wholesale in November totaled $142,- 854.11, which was 52.4% more than in November, 1932. The first 11 months of 1933 yielded over $5,000 larger net earnings, a smaller gross margin, and smaller expenses than in the same period of 1932. • Joseph Gilbert has resigned as as sistant secretary of the N. S. C. L. to give his full time to the Midland Oil Association. He is editor of the "Mid land Cooperator," new monthly paper which contains news of the oil asso ciations as well as excellent editorials on Consumers' Cooperation. "Same to You!" Looking over "The Cooperative Builder," we see many ads by coop erative organizations extending New Year's greetings. Here are some of the interesting things that caught our eye: The Range Cooperative Federation minces no words; they are out "to abolish middlemen and their abomin able system of prof it-taking." Floodwood Cooperative Association invites members to come for their re bate (5%). "It has been saved as a sort of present that you have earned for yourself by supporting the Coop erative." "Happy New Year to all cooper- ators throughout the world!" is the greeting of the Cooperative Trading Company of Waukegan. This is signed by the 66 employees, and part way down the list of names in small type we spy "Jack Liukku". The general manager of one of our largest and finest cooperative societies signs his name along with the rest as simply one of the employees. • This is Station WEBC, Superior. Watch for opening of new co-op store at Be'lknap and Tower Aves., about Feb. 1st. Altoin Johannson Swedish Cooperators Here LBIN Johann son, Director of Kooperativa For- bundet, the coopera tive wholesale of Sweden, was a re cent visitor in Amer ica. He and C. A. Assarson, foreign purchaser of K. F., were entertained at supper by a group of New York co- operators. Mr. Johannson was en thused with the possibilities of building cooperation in this new country as compared with the slow but sure growth to be counted on in his 1000- year old land. To us Americans, how ever, the doings of the Swedish co- operators, especially their assaults on the trusts, are thrilling because they show the cooperative movement com ing to actual blows with the strongest forces of the profit system—and win ning. a Opens New Co-op Cafeteria C.C.S. is opening a new co-op cafe teria at 40 East 40th St., New York City, within two blocks of Grand Cen tral Station. For some time members have demanded a branch in this locali ty, where many skyscrapers were built during the boom period, attracting thousands of office workers, good pros pects for C.C.S. membership. This is the tenth unit in the chain. Chef Har ris, veteran co-op cook, goes from the Thames St. branch to preside over the cuisine in the new establishment. John Bland will be promoted to the Chef's place at Thames. Miss Smith, assistant manager at 25th St. branch, will be manager of the new restaurant. This is the first expansion of Consumers Co operative Services in the cafeteria field in several years. At the same time C.C.S. is experi menting with a cooperative food store at 452 Skillman Ave., Long Island Ci ty, in conjunction with Sunnyside so ciety and Cooperative Trading Asso ciation of Brooklyn. C.C.S. has fur- 24 COOPERATION nished the capital, the plan being that Sunnyside will raise capital among its members and patrons to buy the store, thus releasing the original fund to be used in establishing another store else where. The store is in charge of a man agement committee consisting of Leslie Woodcodk of the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, Miss Arnold of C.C.S. and W. Niemela of C.T.A. Mr. Laakso, an experienced store manager and cooper- ator, is manager. J. A. Jessup of C.C.S. is working with the Sunnyside cooper- ators on the propaganda job. • The Farmers Union State Exchange of Omaha, cooperative wholesale serv ing the state of Nebraska, has made a net profit or saving for its consumers every quarter for the last 10 years. 1933 sales exceeded 1932 by $50,000. • Commodity Exchange at Palo Alto There are unemployed in California. In Palo Alto they consist of all kinds of people. A large proportion are ruined small shop keepers. A goodly percentage are artisans. These people had no money to begin business, but they did begin. The unemployed got the loan of an empty garage, a truck and the donation of electricity and water from the city. They took jobs of clearing wood lands. They trucked and sold the wood. Much of it they traded for commodities. They did a general trucking business. They traded with commodities as though they were cash. They picked berries and fruit for a percentage of the crop. They got a fishing boat and fished and carried cargoes of freight from port to port. All of this shows that business can be carried on without money. Cooperation is learned as soon as service instead of money is made the object of business. • Reducing the Pound of Flesh Mrs. Minnie Larson of So. Dakota is suing to have the mortgage on her farm cut from $16,000 to $6,400. Mrs. Larson claims that since 1927, when the mortgage was made, the farmer's dollar has dropped over 60% in value, and consequently for her to be forced to pay $16,000 would be confiscation. She bases her suit partly on Supreme Court decisions of 1920 wlhich allowed public corporations to break their con tracts with governmental units because the value of the dollar had dropped to 60c. The Larson case has insurance and loan companies scared stiff, says "The American Guardian." No deci sion has yet been reached. Figure it out, you money theorists, ought Mrs. Larson to win? Anyway, we hope she does. It would help the debt reduction process, which accord ing to the "Nebraska Union Farmer" is going on apace. Of the farmers who in 1933 secured land bank commis sioners' loans totaling over $60,000,- 000, 17.6% reported that their cred itors had granted a reduction in their debts. These reductions averaged 23%. Of the farmers receiving first mortgage loans, 5.3% got their cred itors to relent, to the extent of 18.4% on the average. • The insuring of standing grain was: undertaken by the Washington State Grange's Fire Relief Association last year for the first time. 375 policies, to taling nearly a million dollars, were written. • Germans Ban Co«op Periodical The "Review of International Co operation" is banned in Germany. The National Union of German Con sumers' Societies, Hamburg, claimed that the September "Review" con tained "hateful attaciks and calumnies against the new Germany and the Na tional Socialist movement." And so it issued a circular to its affiliated socie ties (over 900, with 3 million mem bers) ordering them to cancel their subscriptions, which they did. Previ ously the union had suggested that it publish a German edition of the Re view, purged and edited so as not to offend Hitlerism. Nothing doing, said the I. C. A. The November Review tells of Vai- no Tanner, I. C. A. president and well 'known Finnish cooperative leader, visiting Hamburg and having a talk with the heads, past and present, of the German union. He reported that many COOPERATION 25 members of cooperative societies had been forced to withdraw, and others have withdrawn voluntarily because they did not like Hitlerized coopera tion. The business of the German so cieties is decreasing. It is proposed, presumably by the Nazis, to hand over the co-op siiops to "professional busi ness men." None of the leaders at Hamburg are very keen about this. Mr. Tanner hopes, to quote the Re view, "that the innate moral force of the people and their leaders will enable the German movement ultimately to obtain the mastery over its present per secutors. Cooperative Cows Give Milk Cooperative consumers' societies in Europe not only pasteurize, bottle and distribute milk but have their own dairies on their lands. That they are learning how to succeed is evidenced by the fact that the Scunthorpe Con sumers' Society of England has a cow, weighing 1,000 pounds, which last year gave over 13 tons of milk,—26 times its own weight. This is the high yield cow of England. The same society has in its herd also the second and fourth high yield cows and holds the gold cup for the highest yielding herd in the country. Buying Associations Doing Well By A. W. McKay BUYING cooperatives are no longer step-children. Under the Farm Credit Act of 1933, they obtained the right to borrow through the Farm Credit Administration on the same terms as marketing associations. By an Executive Order of Oct. 23, 1933, they are authorized to pay patronage dividends to their members despite any codes to the contrary. Cooperative purchasing of farm supplies dates back to the sixties or earlier and formed an important part of early Grange activities during the seventies, but growth was slow for many years. In 1913, for example. 111 purchasing cooperatives were reported with a total business of approximately six million dollars. By 1915 the num ber of associations had increased to 275 and annual business had doubled. Later growth is shown by the follow ing table. Estimated Year Number Membership 1921 898 1925 1,217 1927-28 1,205 1929-30 1,454 1930-31 1.588 1931-32 1,645 1932-33 1,648 The decline since 1931 in volume of business expressed in dollars is ex- Estimated Business 247,000 398.000 533,000 542,700 $ 57,721,000 135,000,000 128,000,000 190,000,000 215,000,000 181,000,000 140,000,000 plained, of course, by falling prices of farm supplies. In part lessened ability of farmers to buy also has been a factor. However, the dollar volume of purchasing cooperatives has declined less than the price level and they have become an increasingly important factor in the cooperative field. The business of purchasing associations was 4.6% of all cooperative business in 1921. By 1930-31, it had increased to 9.0% of all cooperative business; it was 9.4% in 1931-32 and 10.5% in 1932-33. 1932 Record a Good One Operations of individual associa tions during 1932 show that they have come through the depression better than most businesses. Dollar volume of all declined from the peak of 1930-31, yet with two or three exceptions the wholesale purchasing associations maintained or expanded services to their members. What is equally im portant, they came to the end of the year with substantial net earnings which can be used to build up services or make patronage refunds to mem bers. Those young giants of the east, the From an article in the Cooperative Market ing Journal. Mr. McKay recently completed e. survey of farmers' cooperative purchasing as sociations for the Farm Credit Administration. '26 COOPERATION G. L. F. and Eastern States Farmers Exchange, made a record in 1932 which is excelled by few business en terprises, cooperative or private. The total business of the two was approxi mately 32 million and their net income over $700,000. Seven wholesale asso ciations in the middle west and south sold on the average $1,278,000 worth of supplies during the year and closed their books with an average net profit of $34,780. Ten associations in the same area had an average net worth of $162,871 at the end of 1932, which was 61% of their total liabilities. Retail purchasing associations as a rule were able to operate in the bladk during 1932. Sixty-six locals, operating in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michi gan, sold over 4 million dollars worth of supplies to their members and their total net income was $198,566. Thir teen of these associations showed a loss for the year, the largest being $1,- 991.66; fifty-three were able to make income and outgo balance. Seven in dependent local associations in New York made sales totaling $462,269, a decline of 21 % from the previous year, and a total net income of $5,832. Two out of the seven showed a deficit. Thirty- one local gas and oil associa tions operating in Minnesota and Wis consin sold supplies valued at $1,825,- 922 and made a total net profit of $198,515. None of these associations operated at a loss. As a group they were in the fortunate position at the end of the year of having $152,233 cash on hand with which to pay $134,- 311 of current liabilities. Their total net worth was $600,925 or 74.5% of all liabilities. These illustrations show that by and large the purchasing associations are making progress. They are making progress for two reasons—first, be cause of savings they effect for their members; secondly, because they give the farmer feed, fertilizer, seed and other supplies of dependable quality. They are not operating to make a prof it but to secure for the member the kind of supplies he must have at the lowest price at which they can be ob tained. Some Do's and Don'ts Naturally the depression has tested the purchasing associations severely and some "do's" and "don'ts" have been emphasized by experience during this period. The most important is, sell for cash only. The majority of the associations have learned this lesson thoroughly. They have learned that the losses and high margins which adhere to a credit business will drive away trade more quickly than a cash policy. In addition they will wreck the association. Conse quently associations in increasing num bers are refusing to extend credit ex cept in emergencies and then only for a few days. It is recognized now that the association that has more than fifteen days' sales outstanding on its books is headed for trouble as in such a case some accounts receivable will be more than 30 days old. Second, keep down operating costs. With some exceptions, due to services performed or products handled, over head and distribution costs of a whole sale association should not exceed 5% of net sales. Cost of a retail associa tion should not exceed 10% of sales. Third, volume of business. All things considered $750,000 and $50,000, ap pear to be minimum figures for whole sale and retail associations respective- ly- Fourth, keep down inventory. Retail associations should have sales at least 16 times their average inventory. Wholesale associations should turn over their inventory at least 12 times a year. Fifth, keep down investments in fixed assets. As a minimum, annual sales should be 20 times the invest ment in fixed assets. In the long run each association must develop its own operating standards because the conditions under which any two associations operate are never the same. Present Trends There is a tendency at present to set up wholesale purchasing associations as federations, with the overhead or ganization retaining some supervision COOPERATION 27 over the management and record keep ing of the locals. For many sections of the country this appears to be the best solution of the question of local versus central control. While encouraging local initiative and responsibility, it provides a needed checlk on the opera tion of the local associations. Some trend toward the consolidation of purchasing associations can also be noted. It is undoubtedly desirable to expand the territory served by whole sale purchasing associations beyond state lines. Some purchasing associa tions now operating in the south could be combined advantageously. In the middle west similar consolidations of purchasing associations could be made to advantage. Wholesale cooperatives in some instances are competing for business within the same state. It is of interest in this connection that associa tions handling petroleum products have formed a national purchasing organi zation. In the east the territory occupied by the G. L. F. and Eastern States Farm ers Exchange is now well defined and in each case includes all or part of several states. Development of the pro gram of Southern States Cooperative, Inc., will also provide purchasing serv ice by one cooperative over a region made up of three or four states. There is a trend, particularly in the South and East, to the development of a combined marketing and purchasing service. This begins with the local community where the same organiza tion handles supplies and also provides a grading, packing and marketing service for farm products. The plan contemplates that these products will be sold through commodity associa tions where the services of such asso ciations are available and that the overhead organization will provide a marketing service for miscellaneous commodities and maintain a marketing department or subsidiary for that pur pose. Combining marketing and purchas ing in local associations has many ad vantages when the volume of any product is comparatively small. Pro rata costs can be reduced and services offered to more farmers in the com munity. An overhead sales agency for miscellaneous products offers more dif ficulty and should be developed slowly. The Cooperatives and the Strike By Abraham DoKkin Student at Commonwealth College, Mena, Ark. IN the hands of the Trade Unions there lies a powerful weapon against the ruling classes: the General Strike. The difficulty in the use of this weap on is that it cannot be handled ef fectively by the Trade Unions alone. The Cooperative movement is a neces sary ally. During the English General Strike of 1926, this became extremely appar ent. In those ten holidays of labor, the importance of close cooperation be tween these two worlking-class ele ments was shown to be more than a theory.* During this period, local strike boards issued permits to cooperative * ~W. H. Crook: The General Strike. XI, XII. Chap. societies for the distribution of milk and other foods and to individuals to work at this task. This permit system was decided upon at the last moment and proved ineffective. In many communi ties, the boards acted unwisely. There was no adequate check on who re ceived food and other necessities, and sufficient vigilance was not used to prevent "volunteers" and scabs from receiving bread. In some communities there were not enough permits issued, and in others too many. Cooperative shops held to their policy of non-dis crimination and sold to all consumers, instead of to strikers and sympathizers only. The unloadina of foodstuffs at docks 28 COOPERATION and railroads was in confusion. Agree ments were entered into with the Gov ernment to provide for such unload- ings, and in some cases blacklegs and trade-unionists worked side by side. At other places, union officials refused to have even the smallest quantities of food or coal unloaded. On the streets tieups were caused by inexperienced truck and omnibus drivers, and the transportation of food was unnecessarily delayed. The entire machinery was chaotic, unplanned and militated against the success of the strike. Although, in the main, only food and coal trains ran, private trading was not at a standstill, due to the promiscuous issuance of permits. Many private business men transported wares under the pretext of shipping or distributing food and build ing materials (the latter was consid ered a necessity and licensed accord ingly). Had the thing been properly worked out before the strike took place, not necessarily during the few disturbing days before the event but at the Joint Councils of the Trade Unions and Co ops, the leaders of the strike might not have capitulated so readily. Would such tactics as the following be practical? We are assuming a Gen eral Strike in a country thoroughly organized in both Trade Unions and Co-ops. These suggestions might be useful on a smaller scale in local strikes, in those vicinities in which coopera tives exist. Let all strikers register with their local cooperative qrocers and coal or oil distributors. Besides strikers, the professional men, petty bourgeois, and all others who will refuse to carry on their normal occupations for the dura tion of the strike, should register. The only ones who are to work, and at the same time receive food, are those working in lihe co-ops (retail, whole sale, and factories), those on food trains and trucks, those in power houses (private, municipal, or cooper ative; in case more than one exist in any locality, only one is to be oper ated), those in co-op gasoline sta tions, and doctors and dentists. All other work must stop. Effective picket ing of small retail places of business, such as neighborhood grocers, must be done by the organized unemployed. Food and coal are to be supplied on ly to those having strike cards; the co op should draw a line, even among its own members, against those out of sympathy with the strike. Gasoline is to be supplied only to those working in lihe interests of the strike, and to doctors. Electricity must be provided indiscriminately, for it is necessary to keep power houses running, since the streets must be kept well lighted at night, and refrigeration is necessary in co-op groceries. Gas for cooking will fall in the same class as electricity. Whether the co-ops are to work on a cash, credit, or outright donation basis will depend on the conditions of the workers, the unions, and the co ops. There is no room here to consider the advisability of building up a special fund in the cooperatives for strikes, or to have a joint fund with the unions, but such preparation should be con sidered. At present, the English C. W. S. is capable of supplying the workers of England and Wales with food for a period of over ninety days out of its surplus alone. Local co-ops could pro vide many more, days of food, if neces sary.** This is not a blue-print; it is merely a suggestion. Our main purpose is to point out the necessity of harmony and cooperation between the two groups. Mutual funds should be created, the members of the two groups should be the same people, organized both as consumers and as producers. The Co operatives and the Trade Unions must realize that they are necessary to each other, that they must work together, if they are to establish the classless so ciety through peaceful means. • ** Data from The Statesmen's Year Book, p^ 16, and The Peoples' Year Book, pps. 76, 318. The production of goods should be controlled by those who are to use the goods—'this is the very essence of democracy. COOPERATION 29 War Declared on Credit By Esopus The fourth of a series o£ yarns about a scoundrel, who is named in the title. IV FOR many years, the tyrant Credit, had a clear field, and he waxed strong and mighty, like Gargantua. His mother Profit, unlike most women, grew more and more gorgeous and se ductive in the eyes of his father, the merchant Dollar. Their pride in their son was unbounded. He it was who had brought them together (the reader is referred to Tale No. 1), and he it was who rendered their union indis soluble. The first bit of wormwood in the family broth was introduced at Roch dale in 1844, in this wise. It seems that Credit took particular joy in bedeviling the people of Roch dale. He schooled them until they said "Charge it" as easily and naturally as a parrot says "Damn it." They even bought their mugs of beer at the tavern on credit. Thus he enslaved them. But he overdid the matter. Some of the people of Rochdale finally put their heads together and evolved an ingen ious plan to outwit him. They as con sumers of goods would become their own merchants as it were, cooperating to secure their needs. With the entirety of this plan, the most ingenious and yet the simplest imaginable, we are not concerned here. Our interest lies in the fact that one of the cardinal principles of the plan was that ALL TRANSACTIONS BE CASH, and that credit be neither sought nor granted. Thus war was declared and the first shot was fired. It struck Credit just below the left groin, and he took to his bed. His mother Profit, hovered fear fully over him, and his father the mer chant, racked his brain and even con sulted with his hated fellow-merchants to see what could be done to get the boy back on his feet. Now the Rochdalians having sound ed the call to arms, the people of neighboring towns, equally ground down by the tyrant, also raised their banners. The weapon which they used was a new one, invented at Rochdale. It was apparently a little like an old- time catapult, and a little like a mod ern machine gun. But few knew any thing about it, and consequently many were sceptical and laughed and haw- hawed whenever it was mentioned. This new gun was called Cooperation, and the gunners were called Cooper- ators. Laugh as one might at this odd new weapon, there was no doubt that it had badly messed up the left leg of Credit. Time passed and he got no better. Finally, in 1863, the Cooper- ators of all the towns including Roch dale got together to plan an alliance, and the news of what they planned being reported to Credit, he fell a- worrying, to the point that gangrene set in, and amputation was necessary. Now it became evident that the cli mate of this section of the land of Ex change was becoming unhealthy for Credit, and so he journeyed to a prov ince called America, and henceforth made his chief abode there, although he traveled widely. How he was met there by a new enemy called The Chain; how he dis covered and called to his aid a new and diabolically contagious disease, Instalmentia Praecox, or Instalmentia for short; and how a few of his Amer ican victims became Cooperators, but because of a deplorable astigmatism, perhaps induced by attacks of this same Instalmentia, failed to recognize him as their arch enemy, will be told in the next tale and those following. (Meanwhile, the reader is urged not to wait but to have his eyes tested for the astigmatism referred to, which the writer understands, with alarm, is spreading). 30 COOPERATION If You Want Really Good Jam, Ladies- "TT is a well known fact that the •*• quality of commercial jelly and jam is much higher relatively than that of other factory-produced foods be cause the housewife still retains a working practical knowledge of the home standard of ingredients and qual ity to which tihe store product must measure up."—Consumers' Research, General Bulletin, Oct. 1933. That is, the jelly manufacturers are afraid that if their product is not good enough the housewife will fly in a huff and make some of her own. And that must never, never be. CR goes on to recommend to con sumers the development, insofar as is possible and practicable, of their own resources of home production and manufacture. In other words, let the individual housewife make more jelly, bread, baked beans, etc., at home in her own kitchen in order that her com petition may force the profit manu facturer to malce a better article. All right. But for Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown to sparik Mr. Manufacturer with their kitchen competition, seems to us like a mouse attacking a lion. More likely they will succumb to the temptation to feed their families on Mr. Manufacturer's inferior product and so save themselves many weary hours over the hot stove. But is that the only thing left for them to do? No, they can unite in a cooperative and give Mr. Mfr. a real run for his money! A cooperative jam factory, producing the best jam possible and selling it at cost, would be a force to reckon with. Profit manufacturers would be compelled to raise quality of go out of business. This has happened time and again. As a consumers' cooperative gains strength in its locality, it sets the standard of quality and price which its profit competitors have to meet. We hear price-cutters condemned. One would think they are the meanest of rascals. But price-cutting is in the con sumer's favor (that is why it is con demned). And co-ops are indefatigable price-cutters; that is their object in life —to price-cut, or compete, the profit system out of existence. A producers' cooperative too, such as a co-op creamery, by paying the farmer as much for his cream as the profit creamery does, and then giving him his share of the profit besides, tends to set the price in its field. A single farmer making and marketing his own butter would have little if any effect on prices, but a co-op, even if it handles only a minor part of the out put of the locality, because it holds the threat of taking more and more if not all of the output, may become the price controller. If our friends of Consumers' Re search wish to tell their housewife- subscribers how they can really throw the fear of God into the manufacturer of jam or any other product, why do they not publish an article in their bul letin on "The Cooperative Way?" The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St, New York. N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. COOPERATION 31 Books "THE MODERN CORPORATION AND PRIVATE PROPERTY, by A..A. Berle, Jr., .and Gardiner C. Means. Macmillan's. 395 pages. $3.75. WE have in this country a few large cor porations, controlled by a few men. These corporations control enormous blocks of •our industry, employing millions of people, and producing goods which are consumed by mil lions of consumers. These corporations are owned by millions of stockholders, but not con trolled by them. This is the central striking fact brought out by 3erle and Means, (both of whom, by the way, are associated with the '"New Deal"). Ownership no longer means control. In order to control, you have to be one of the grand moguls who, by methods described here have gained the power of electing directors. The old-fashioned company was controlled In the interest of stock-holders. Now the ques tion arises, in whose interest will the modern corporation be controlled? The future, say the authors, will see the community bringing in- •creasing pressure to bear on the grand moguls to force them to control in the interests of the community. That puts it mildly, we should say. Here is a point of interest to cooperators: the modern giant corporation has just begun to grow.—has hardly cut its eye teeth yet, say Berle and Means. We are due to be industrial ized'a lot more. More and more specialization is coming. Now then, in the opinion of this reviewer, this may mean a great growth of consumers' cooperative societies, which thrive best, the record proves, in highly specialized economies. The Rochdale society was a fruit of the rank tree of industrialism. Farmers' cooper ation in America has followed specialization. It seems that not until men hear the chains actual ly clank around their ankles do they unite for mutual liberation. O. C. • THE CONSUMER, HIS NATURE AND HIS CHANGING HABITS, by Walter B. Pitkin. McGraw Hill Company, New York. 421 pps. $4. "X/fOST consumer studies, says Professor •*- •!• Pitkin of Columbia School of Journalism, are made by Babbitts whose intellectual curiosi ty regarding the consumer arises from their de sire to sell him more goods. There were times in the perusal of this tome when we feared the Professor was up to the same monkey business. The book has great value, however, since it calls attention to the all-importance of the con sumer in the economic scheme. For example— "The consumer is beyond economics, before economics and beneath economics. For con suming is living. .. What people want, think, plan and do makes up the mass of primary economic facts." "People have interest in loafing, in sleeping, in 'sitting around and talking, in lying on their backs on the strand and watching the fat green rollers of the Atlantic grunt and lather against the sands. In the eyes of all producers this is the unforgivable sin." Again, in a good chapter entitled "The war between Maker and User." Pitkin points out that under our present system things are not done because people need to have them done, but because they yield a profit. Thus farming, our most essential industry, because it yields little or no profit to capital, languishes. Consumers' cooperation isn't mentioned. Why not, Neighbor Pitkin? • Cooperative Youth New Year in Hubbardston Here it is the New Year again. Let's all strive for bigger and better cooperation. Chas. Hekkala of the Maynard Club gave us a talk on Cooperation in Sweden on Nov. 28. We should give him a big hand for giving us all the dope on it. Then on Dec. 12, we had the honor of hearing Alfred Baker Lewis of Boston talk on Cooperation and Socialism. Social affairs are being held once a month. On Dec. 21, a large crowd attended our pros perity raffle and dance. May I take time now to, thank both Fitchburg and Maynard Coopera tive Clubs for their full cooperation? The prize winners at the raffle were B. Valley of Hub bardston, A. Smith of Rutland, M. Fuller of Boston and H. Johnson of Hubbardston. R. Sutela has given up his Social Committee job because of lack of time, and Walter Hill is now in his place. Beginning with the new year, our club will have forums at the Farmers Hall, say V. Meri- kanto and O. Kujala. Hubbardston Cooperative Club wishes every cooperator the happiest New Year. The Mayor. • Waukegan Guild Elects Waukegan Cooperative Men's Guild had its annual membership meeting January llth. About thirty members were present. One new member was initiated to the Guild. The officers and committees for the coming six months were elected as follows: Chairman, Harry Carlson; Assistant Chair man, O. W. Waters; Secretary, Waldemar Petrell; Assistant Secretary, Wayne Rivers; Treasurer, Erhard Holmgren; Program Com mittee, Ed. Carlson, Toivo Hannula and Leo. Saari; Entertainment Committee, Toivo Jalka- nen, Harry Klass, Wayne Rivers, Arvo Kaner- vo, Frank Ilo, and Gust Clauson; Auditors, O. W. Waters, Bob Moses and Leo Saari; Dele gates to the Central States Cooperative Guild Federation, Ed. Carlson and J. N. Hautala; Delegates to the Local Action Committee, Paul F. Albright, Arvo Kanervo and Harry Klass; Press Correspondents, W. Petrell, L. Saari. The proposed Constitution and By-Laws of the Central States Cooperative Guild Federa tion were read and recommended to be ap proved with minor changes. 32 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 38. Consumers Cooperation In the United States (lllus.), 1933 .15 8.00 *9. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase) ...................... .06 4.00 54. The Coop. Movement. J. H. Dletrlcb. .06 4.00 55. Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ................ .10 7.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society .......... .26 16.00 6. Model By-Laws for a Rochdale Cooperative Society .......... .05 2.50 89. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson) .............. .60 61. Model Lease for Cooperative Apartment House ............ .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law ........ .10 30. "When the Whistle Blew" (Story. by Bruce Calvert) .......... OC 67. How a Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 .75 68. Buttons (League emblem). % Inch diameter ............... .06 1.00 63. Sien or Transparency of League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 In. diameter .................... .26 16.0* 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound In books of 100, 200. or 250 68. To Mothers ................... .02 1.00 70. Farmers' Cooperation, A Way Out: "An address by L. S. Herron.. .05 4.00 72. "Little Lessons in Cooperation" 35 74. The Burden of Credit ......... .02 1.00 76. What is the Cooperative Store.. .03 2.00 76. What Is Consumers' Cooperation .06 4.00 77. The Most Necessary Thing in Life ......................... .02 1.00 78. Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Money's Worth ........ .02 1.00 79. There Are Two Sides to Every Counter ...................... .02 1.00 88. Consumers', Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 531 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics.. .25 81. Cooperative Youth Boners ...... .26 82. What Cooperation rnpans to a de pression-sick America ........ .03 2.00 83. What Is the Cooceratlve Leaeue The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, S7.60 per hundred). Subscription, per year (foreign, J1.16).... $1.09 REVIEW OP INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (Pub. by the I. C. A.) ........ Per Tear, S1.60 BOOKS The following books are recommended as con taining the best discussion of the modern Co operative Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement ,ln Russia, 1924 _________________ 1.50 Briehtwiil, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children ........................ .16 Chase and Schlink: Tour Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers ................ 1.10 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation In Scotland, 1920 ........................ 1.10 Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Societies. American edition and notes, 1622, Cloth l.bO Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees ............. 2.50 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneer* list ....... l.lt Hough. E. M-: Cooperation in India 1932.... 3.76 Indian Cooperation, Children's story ...... .IB Jessness. o. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products ....................... 3.10 Kress, A. J. .-Capitalism, Cooperation, Com munism, 1932 ......................... 8.00 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English euildswomen. telling what the Guild has done for them.. 1.26 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold ......... .86 Nlcholson, Isa: Our Story ................ .16 Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators ............................. 1.6* Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems ............................. 1.36 Owen, Robert: Autobiography ........... .76 Polsson, B.: The Cooperative Republic.... 1.85 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement In Great Britain 1891........................ ... 1.10 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. 8. 1.16 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place In Society, 1920 .......................... l.oo Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction In Ireland, 1918 ............ 1.M Smith-Gordon and O'Brlen: Cooperation In Denmark ............................. 1.1» Smith-Gordon and O'Brlen: Cooperation In Many Lands, 1910 .................... l.*0 Stollnsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish) ......................... 1.00 Warbasse. J. P.: Cooperative Democracy, (19171) ............................... 1.EO Warbasse, J. P.: What Is Cooperation, 1917 .75 Warne, C. E.: Consumers* Cooperative Move ment In Illinois 1926.................. 1.60 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Coopera tive Movement, 1911 .................. S.tO Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917 .................................. l.«0 Woolf. Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry ..................... l.tE Cooperation, Bound Volumes, 1916 to 1932 Inclusive, each year ................ 1.16 The People's Tear Book, 1933, English, paper .75. cloth 1.36 Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1931 .7* Raivaaja Print—Fltchburg, Uaai. COOPERATION Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Coope United States Vol. XX. No. 3 MARCH, 1934 10 cents Defies Depression — Opens Store in Heart of Town — Cash Basis THE People's Co-operative Society of Superior, Wisconsin, has a pro gram for cooperative development in that city and is not to be deterred by a depression, even though it be the worst the country has ever seen. On Feb. 8th, it opened its second store, an up-to-date grocery and meat unit, in the heart of Superior's shopping dis trict, on Belknap St., near Tower Ave. The plan was laid in October, and a systematic program of publicity under a committee headed by Arnold Ronn has been carried out. The city was canvassed thoroughly and a large num ber of patronage pledges were secured. A considerable number of shares of stock were sold, in itself no small feat during these times. Organized labor offered to put its shoulder to the wheel. A bid was made for the support of a wide variety of other organizations and groups. Indi viduals were called upon. And the response was such that the new store took on the aspect of a popular com munity undertaking. The store opened with a goodly stock of Co-op brands, for only a few (Continued on page 36) Modern Interior of New Co-op Grocery in Superior 34 COOPERATION COO PERATIO N An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and dis tribute for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St.. New York City. OSCAR COOLEY, Editor Contributing Editors George Halonen A. W. Warinner V. S. Alanne George Jacobson Entered as Second Class matter. December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. T.. un- der the Act of March Z. 1879. Price $1.00 a year. Vol. XX. No. 3 March, 1934 Paying the Education Bill MANY cooperatives have a wrong idea regarding cooperative edu cation. They look upon it as a nice thing to do, something they ought to do, something they will do next year when they make a large net gain, etc.; in other words as a worthy cultural activity, but not a business proposition. This is the bunk. Cooperative educa tion has the definite aim of increasing cooperative trade. Now is that, or is it not, a business proposition? To make the matter clearer, we propose: 1. That Education and Advertising be considered under one head, or as one department. Both words might be dropped and the word "propaganda" adopted. 2. That at the beginning of each year, a definite quota of increased trade, and increased membership, be set up. 3. And that a definite percentage of total sales be appropriated for the propaganda program necessary to make these quotas. Profit concerns appropriate, in ad vance, a' certain percentage of total sales for advertising. This percentage may bej 1 % in the furniture business, and 30%dn>,the cigarette business; it depends on the product's advertisabili- ty. The point is that profit concerns in general spend a much larger per centage of their gross income to ad vertise their wares (which in quality are nothing to boast of) than coopera tives do to advertise both their wares and the idea that is back of them. Far from voting to spend a per centage of future sales for propaganda, most of the cooperatives wait and see if they have any net, and then it is a wrestle for the more far-sighted leaders to get the membership to vote a small part of that, maybe 5%, to edu cation. Of course in this tiny allotment for education, the cost of trade adver tising, as in the local press, handbills, etc., is not as a rule included. Such ad vertising is considered an operating cost. Our contention is that all prop aganda should be considered an oper ating cost and be budgeted as such in advance. If desired the appropriation can be broken down into so much for trade advertising and so much for "education." The former expenditure will probably be controlled by the Manager, the latter perhaps by the Education Committee. However, every advertisement of Co-op coffee, or Co op oil, is also an advertisement of Co operation, and the copy should make this clear. As to how much the percentage of sales should be we can not say. Per haps 1%, perhaps 2%, or 5%. But it should not be niggardly. From the cold, business viewpoint, money spent for propaganda is well spent, because it means more trade and more members, and consequently greater efficiency of operation. (This is assuming that the work is efficiently done, but that must be assumed of all technical work in a cooperative.) There may be a point of "diminishing returns" in the growth of volume, but is there a cooperative in the U. S. A. that has reached that point? The nub of our proposal is that the propaganda appropriation be a per centage, not of net earnings, but of sales. In the former case it is looked upon as a gift, a sort of benevolence, of the members; in the latter it will be seen as a charge on the business. In the former case it has no direct rela tion to trade, and usually is spent in ways that bring little if any results in trade; in the latter it will be seen to have a direct relation to volume of COOPERATION 35 trade. For every dollar of trade today, a penny, or two, or three, will be spent to increase tomorrow's trade. Incidentally, making all propaganda an operating cost would reduce the in come tax paid by urban consumers' so cieties, a tax which is unjust, discrimi natory, and can be evaded diligently without qualm. o. c • We hate war; not the soldiers who make war. We hate the profit system? not the persons who make profit. • Just In Case- The Editor is no calamity-howler, but one does not have to be to realize that one or both of the following two things may happen to our country within, let us say the next two years: 1. War. 2. An utter breakdown of industry. War threatens in the Far East. Lusty, militant, over-populated Japan wants more territory, and Soviet Rus sia has it. Our State Dept. is alarmed; so are the British. We might easily be drawn in, probably on the side of Rus sia. The question is, what stand will you and I as cooper'ators take? As regards No. 2, business has picked up a little. A few of the unem ployed are a little less hungry, chiefly due to the CWA. The farmer is a little less desperate. But the depression is still with us. Surpluses hang over the market. The public debt grows. And not a thing has been done to raise the weight of the cost of distribution off the backs of the people; in fact that cost is rising as profit business grabs the chance to hike prices to consumers. The question is, will profit business gouge the farmers and workers as con sumers to a greater extent than the New Deal helps them as producers? If it does, it looks as though Uncle Sam's attempt to lift himself by the bootstraps may result in breaking the straps. In case such a breakdown comes, what will be the action of the coopera tives, consumers' and producers'? Leaders R; ? ALPH INGER- ^SON, Manager, „ Oil Dept., Farmers ; ^ Union Central Ex- • I change, St. Paul, Minn. Born in Arm- .: strong, Minn., in 1876 and grew up1 '•, „•*. on the farm. Edu- "; cated in common schools of Hennepin Ralph Ingerson C°- HomCSteaded in No. Dakota in 1900. Helped to form Flaxton Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Marketed his grain through the Equity Cooperative Ex change of St. Paul. Elected to No. Dakota State Senate in 1918 and helped frame and pass laws creating state-owned enterprises •—the State Mill and Elevator Associa tion, Banik of No. Dakota, and State Fire Fund which insures all publicly owned buildings in that state—'"all of which operated under the principles of Cooperation, combined with state ownership." In 1929 he took charge of Farmers Union fieldwork, helped organize 20 co-op oil associations and develop a wholesale service to supply them. Took present position when Central was or ganized in 1931. He sees the cooperative movement "as an infinitely better method of con ducting business from a cold dollars- and-cents standpoint, as well as a 'cause' through which can be attained ideals of justice and brotherhood. Be cause I see great evidence of growing realization of the value of cooperation among the rank and file, especially of the farmers, with whom I come in con tact, I believe the future growth of the movement will be much more rapid in the next, few years than ever before." A little stooped, spare, Lincolnian in face.—no one would mistake this man for anything but a farmer. He speaks reasonably and raises not his voice but his right eye-brow. An even temper and genial, but not easily to be de terred. 36 COOPERATION Defies Depression—Opens Store in Heart of Town—Cash Basis (Continued from page 33) blocks away is the plant of the Central Cooperative Wholesale, regional wholesale for the entire Head-of-the- Lakes territory. The Wholesale bakery also is near, insuring the freshest of baked goods. The main office of the People's So ciety will be at the new location, with Manager Jalmar Nukala in charge. The old store at Fifth 6 Cummings Sts., will carry on as before, with Willie Polk in charge. All employees of the society are union members, and the fitting of the new quarters was done entirely by union labor. The new store, like the old, will be operated on a cash basis. Here is what the management says in a forceful statement: "Credit is a burden and an inevitable source of grief for a store, as well as for the individual consumer. Both will have to get away from it if they hope to manage their business or household economically. We would not be honest to our hundreds of mem bers and patrons, nor to the new comers, were we to bribe or entice any persons to become customers of the Cooperative Store by offering to carry them on credit accounts. Nor could we honestly say that we are conducting a retail service with the maximum elimi nation of useless expense, were we to do so. We say to every patron, to every housewife and the head of every family, earnestly: Credit and debt for daily necessities is the ruination of your peace of mind, and a false momentary convenience that has already demor alized millions of families." The state ment goes on by referring the con sumer who must have credit to the members' Credit Union. In addition to groceries, meats, baked goods, and oil and gas at the 5th Street service station, the Peoples' handles general household supplies, hardware and paints, tires and Co-op batteries. It also distributes coal. The Society has about 500 members and had total trade of $72,652.24 in 1932. It is in a strong financial posi tion, showing current assets 4 times the current liabilities and a net worth of $10,521.79. In 1933 it turned its stock (all depts.) 30.29 times. Naturally, such a daring expansion at this time provoked competitors, two of whom began to advertise "divi dends" and "rebates on purchases." But what are such "rebates?" Merely markdowns in price. Markdowns from what? From any figure the dealer chooses to set! The co-op dividend, on the other hand, is a division of the en tire net profit in proportion to pur- The Meat Department COOPERATION 37 chases, thus converting the profit into savings to the consumers. Will any competitor dare to advertise that he wipes out his entire net profit by giving it back to his patrons? The extension committee is going ahead with unceasing efforts. Already prodigious efforts have been put forth, especially by the executive group, or "Brain Trust," consisting of Chairman Ronn, Jalmar Nukala, Esther Hintikka, Helen Lanto, and T. A. Tenhune. Radio advertising is used, the 55 em ployees of the C. C. W. donating $50' from their coffee fund for this purpose. The new store should be a resound ing success and a strong force in co- operatizing Superior 100%. Cooperation in Washington By J. P. Warbasse ' I 'HE large proportion of liberals, •*• progressives, and radicals in the Government at the present time is not because of increase of intelligence on the part of the American public nor its political representatives, but is due to the collapse of the dominant capital ism. The unworkability of the profit system, the sterility of the minds of its vaunted leaders, and the fallacy of the profit motive as a way of economic life are so patent that the expressions of capitalism no longer command respect. The utterance of such sentiments as these is no longer frowned upon in high places. Cooperation may be talked of freely and its interests promoted as never before. On the other hand is the National Recovery Administration. It is the agency of capitalism. It has been taken over by big business, the very thing that caused the economic crisis. And here big business, and little, are doing what they can to hamper Cooperation. Our time has been largely devoted to protecting the cooperative societies from the codes, and restoring to them the rights they enjoyed before the NRA went into operation. Our first job has been to get out of the way the provisions in the codes that were detri mental to cooperation. This has been pretty much accomplished. When the President signed the Ex ecutive Order of October 23, 1933, he used the words "bona fide and gen uine cooperatives." The Administra tive Board of the Oil Code Authority has asked us for a definition of gen uine cooperative and spurious cooper ative and these definitions are now used as the authoritative interpreta tions. Problems in the various codes have been quite generally solved or are on the way to solution. The last difficulty in the Fertilizer Code has been dis posed of. The impractical notions about "slum clearance" and "municipal hous ing" are better understood in Wash ington than they were a month ago, and cooperative housing will be en couraged and financed if the plans are good and the promoters are capable. The Housing Division of the Public Works Administration, under Robert D. Kohn, is ready and willing to fi nance cooperative housing. We have had several conferences with Mr. Kohn. He sees cooperative housing in a favorable light. Thus far only one acceptable plan for cooperative home construction has been presented, and that is the plan of the Laurel Hill Homes, organized by Mr. A. E. Kazan of New York. Many codes provide that no new industries in their specific field can be started. Thus a group of farmers in the Tennessee Valley, with cheap electrici ty available, are prevented from or ganizing a refrigerating plant for the preservation of their strawberries. Should a farmers' cooperative wish to start a flour mill they could do so only by buying an existing mill. Mr. Hous ton Thompson, a friend of Coopera tion, who is close to President Roose velt, has this matter in hand; and we may be pretty sure he will solve the 38 COOPERATION problem in the interest of the coopera tives. In the oil field, things are stirring. Within the industry competitors are at their old games. Violations of the Code are said to be everywhere practiced by members of the industry. And the horrible spectre of Cooperation con tinues to threaten the profits of the oil men. On February 9 they held a secret meeting in Washington and tried to come to agreement among themselves. But it will only be on paper. They are agreed, however, that the cooperative oil societies are a growing menace to their doctrine of scarcity of oil for the consumer. The cooperatives should be complimented to know how seriously they are taken by the oil industry. But the cooperatives are making the mis take to play into its hands. Boasting of cooperative victories over the oil men, irritating them with ungracious ep ithets, and posting signs on coopera tive oil stations to the effect that "We are the only dealers who can give re bates" are all tactical errors. The oil industry is out to destroy the coopera tives and will leave unused no recourse to that end. The industry has unlimited funds. The Department of the Interior is deluged with letters, telegrams, and personal visits from the oil industry, protesting against the cooperatives and showing how they are disturbing the administration of the Code. Secretary Ickes can not escape hearing from in fluences which are prejudicial to the cooperative oil societies. Thus far we have had favorable rulings, but the position is highly precarious. The oil people now say that either the co operatives will have to cease paying rebates or the Oil Code will have to be changed so as to give the industry the right to give rebates. In the latter event that would mean a restoration of the old cut-throat methods, and it is doubtful if Secretary Ickes or the Ad ministration would be willing to ap prove of such an eventuality. Coopera tives can not cease giving their mem bers the benefit of savings-returns, for that is one of their fundamental prin- •ciples. On March 2, the Petroleum Ad ministrative Board held a hearing at which the cooperatives and the oil in terests presented their respective claims. The cooperatives were repre sented by Lee, Cowden, Cort, Stall- ings, Marchant, and Warbasse. The old line oil dealers offered some facts, some fiction, and much specious argu ment, which it is scarcely possible made much impression. Whatever is done, there is little pos sibility, under the profit method, of making the oil industry adequately serve the public interest. The profit system will ultimately demoralize this industry, as it has the coal business. But oil may yet be saved. The first step toward making the pipe lines common carriers has been taken. This will have to be completed. The next step is wider consumers' cooperative ownership in the industry. This is the direction of the salvaging movement if the industry is to be preserved from demoralization. As to the Consumers' Cooperatives which deal in oil, they will not be on sure ground until they have federated into a solid national union. Societies that are not a part of a federation may in time be found not to be genuine co operative societies. When such federa tion is accomplished, the next step is the cooperative refinery; and the next is the cooperative consumers' owner ship of the oil wells needed to supply their demands. Not until the source of this raw material is in cooperative control will the position of the cooper ative consumers of petroleum products be safe. Government ownership is not the solution of the problem; consumers' ownership is the need. • Cooperation is developing in the Boise Valley of Idaho. The Coopera tive Union Oil Company of Caldwell began operating April 7, 1933 with 230 members and now has 1200. • A metropolitan paper lists the In diana Farm Bureau Cooperative As sociation among the 12 leading mar keters of oil products in that state. COOPERATION 39 r President Signs Second Executive Order /COOPERATIVE societies have >>•>' been disturbed by provisions in many codes which make it impossible for them to purchase as jobbers from manufacturers. Wholesale businesses have also discriminated against them. These difficulties have arisen in the salt, fencing, coal, and other industries. Now these problems are solved by an Executive Order signed by the Presi dent. Like the Executive Order of Octo ber 23, 1933, a long history has pre ceded this Order. It grew out of the need of solving the problems of the co operatives. Either these Executive Or ders had to be signed, or the coopera tives would have to have their own code. President Roosevelt's sympathet ic attitude toward the cooperatives made this very fortunate outcome pos sible. From the standpoint of the co operatives, this is a great triumph. The patient persistence of Dr. Warbasse, constantly at the job, has again been rewarded by another victory for Co operation. Below follows the Executive Order which the President has signed. EXECUTIVE ORDER SUPPLEMENT TO AND AMPLIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 6355 OF OCTOBER 23, 1933 WHEREAS questions have arisen concerning the scope and meaning of Executive Order No. 6355, of October 23, 1933, defining the effect of certain provisions in codes of fair competition upon cooperative organizations; NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under Title 1 of the National Industrial Recovery Act approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 195), it is ordered that said Executive Order No. 6355 be, and it is hereby, supplemented and amplified as follows: 1. No provision in any code of fair competition, agreement or license which has heretofore been or may hereafter be approved, prescribed, or issued pursuant to Title 1 of the National Industrial Recovery Act, shall be construed or applied so as to make it a violation of any code of fair competition to sell to or through any bona fide and legiti mate cooperative organization, including any farmers' cooperative, duly organized under the laws of any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or of the United States, or to sell through any intervening agency to such cooperative organization. 2. No such code of fair competition shall be construed or interpreted so as to pre vent any such cooperative organization from being entitled to receive, and/or distribute to its members as patronage dividends or otherwise the proceeds or benefits directly or indirectly derived from any discount, commission, rebate, or dividend (a) ordinarily paid or allowed to other purchasers for purchases in wholesale or middleman quantities or (b) paid or allowed pursuant to the requirements or provisions of any code of fair com' petition to other purchasers for purchases in wholesale or middleman quantities. 3. The Administrator for Industrial Recovery is hereby authorized to determine, after such hearings and proceedings as he may deem necessary, whether, in any doubtful case, an organization is or is not a bona fide and legitimate cooperative organization en titled to the benefits and protection of this order. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. The White House, February 17, 1934. 40 COOPERATION News of the Movement Central Wholesale Has Good Report A net gain in every month of 1933 is shown by the report of the Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior. The total net was $13,132.86, as com pared with $9,090.57 in 1932. Total sales did not reach the \Y2 millions aimed at, but were $1,383,290.26, a good edge on 1932's figure of $1,310,- 149.08. The best month was July, with sales of $149,670.07. Of the sales, groceries and general merchandise accounted for $1,383,- 290.26, clothing $148,626.53, bakery products $67,223.61. There was a slight decrease in the bakery sales. The gross gain percentage dropped, being 8.26% in 1933 as compared with 9.03% in 1932: but the expense per centage dropped even more, being 7.31% in 1933 and 8.34% in 1932. These figures would have shown up even better if there had not been in cluded a loss of $3,848.63 in the edu cational department. Needless to say the directors of the Wholesale are not worried about this kind of "loss." • Nebraska Union Over 14,000 Strong The Nebraska Farmers Union at the end of 1933 had topped its 1932 mem bership figure of 14,218. At its recent convention, every one of its coopera tives showed increases in business. Sales of the State Exchange totaled $1,244,992.93 as compared with $1,- 192,837.91 in 1932, reported Manager McCarthy. The net saving was $61,-^ 944.97 against $34,913.14 in 1932. The cooperators bought through their Ex change 600 cars of potatoes, 180 cars of coal, 95 cars of lubricating oil, J403 cars of gasoline and kerosene, $173,- 677.24 worth of groceries, $45,524.46 in clothing, and quantities of twine, fencing, machinery, and other goods. Sales of the Exchange in January, 1934, showed a 66% increase over the same period of 1933. The Exchange has purchased a block of ground at 39th and Leaven- worth Sts., Omaha, where it plans to build a retail store and oil station, then as funds permit, a warehouse, feed mill, oil compounding plant and facili ties for handling eggs and poultry. Among resolutions passed at the convention were one recommending "the establishment of mills, bakeries and meat-processing plants at logical points. . . . also that our cooperative wholesale institute the manufacture of our clothing, harness and binder twine at an early date." Another urged the Board to establish short-term schools or institutes of cooperation for the young people. H. V. Nurmi, manager of the Cen tral Cooperative Wholesale of Su perior, was one of the chief speakers. H. G. Keeney was reelected presi dent of the Union by acclamation. • Death of Shiplacoff New York cooperators were sad dened to hear of the death of Abraham Shiplacoff on Feb. 7. Mr. Shiplacoff was once manager of the Brownsville Cooperative Bakery. He was a mem ber of the State Legislature during the War, being the first Socialist As semblyman from New York City. In the Assembly he spoke out fearlessly against the War and was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of disloyalty, but was freed. He was much sought after as an organizer, speaker and writer. • Good Employees' Paper "Employees' News," published monthly by the workers of the Cooper ative Trading Company, Waukegan, and read at their meeting, is the best written paper of its kind to come to our notice. The January number was 6 pages typewritten, stapled to a stiff paper backing convenient for bulletin boards. We especially liked an article entitled "A Vision," in which the author dreams of Waukegan as a miniature cooperative commonwealth. COOPERATION 41 Waukegan Reports The Cooperative Trading Company of Waukegan, 111., closed the year 1933 with total sales of $534,478.32, or 11.95% less than the sales of 1932. Net gain for 1933 was $15,799.58. Total assets were $245,933.08, and the total liabilities were $67,347.53. The assets were about the same as at the end of 1932, minus certain deduction in de preciation of properties, but the liabili ties were less by $18,358.47. The mort gage loans alone were reduced by $10,- 000. The members numbered 2096 at the end of 1933, about the same as one year ago. The annual meeting was held on March 3rd. The 9th annual congress of the Central States Cooperative League will be held in Chicago, April 8 and 9. • Thirty-one co-op store societies in the Lake Superior territory increased their sales in 1933 over 1932. Cloquet heads the list with a $97,225.65 in crease. • B. H. Gitchell, former president of Consumers 'Cooperative Services, New York City, is now NRA deputy administrator in charge of codes for the needle industries. Cooperators Life Association of Minneapolis has over 350 applications for policies. A total of 500 is needed to start operations. Arne Halonen is secretary. • Midland Cooperative Oil Associa tion started off the year with a 3-day school at its plant in Minneapolis, at tended by 120 students from its local member associations. Lectures dealt with principles of cooperation as well as practical problems of the oil busi ness. • The Northern States Cooperative League has changed its office location to 458 Sexton Bldg., Minneapolis. This is at 7th St. and 6th Ave. So. Hosiery Workers Launch Housing Project The most important project pre sented to the recent Conference on Co operation in Philadelphia was the Non-Profit Housing project of the American Federation of Full-Fashion- ed Hosiery Workers. Work will soon commence on a city block of modern workers' apartments, to house 285 fami lies. The building will cost over a mil lion dollars. The P. W. A. is helping to finance the project. The union is very anxious that a full line of cooper ative services (groceries, meats, laun dry etc.) be ready for the tenants when the apartments are opened, and that the project be a real experiment in cooperative living. The United Consumers Cooperative Association, Lewis E. Anthony, Pres., is continuing its remarkable growth. On Feb. 1st it celebrated its Third Anni versary. The cooperative movement of the U. S. may well be proud of this group who, working against tremen dous obstacles, has built up a move ment with a membership of 300 and a first-class grocery store at 4624 Woodland Ave. Their achievement i^ an inspiration to all of us. During the summer and fall two Cooperative Buy ing Clubs, in Kensington and Nor wood, operated successfully throug}' the U. C. C. A. store. However, the demand on the store was so great that this service had to be temporarily dis continued. The Continuation Commit tee of the Conference is now making a drive to sell shares in the U. C. C. A. at $5 each so that the store may handle this increased volume of business. Philadelphia cooperators are working to utilize the benefits of the new Federal labor education program by organizing classes and providing teachers in Consumers' Cooperation. The committee has requested a grant from the A. A. A. for urban consumers' education and is ready to help direct and support the work of the Con sumers County Council. It is our firm belief that in taking advantage of these opportunities we will help bring the co operative movement into its own in Philadelphia. Eldredge Brewster, 42 C O O P E R A T I O N Mergers for Busted Farmers By Oscar Cooley FARMING is a siclk industry, so sicik that every nation that has any farmers is hustling forward with the medicine kit before rigor mortis shall .set in. But nations can not go on pour ing relief into the farmer's soup bowl forever. As an industry and as a way •of life, farming must be rejuvenated .from within. In COOPERATION of October, 1933, we proposed some ways by which farmers and homesteaders may help themselves through cooperation. These ways assumed private owner ship of land. Now we make bold to discuss cooperative ownership, throw ing out some thoughts for our farmer readers and others to mull over and discuss with their neighbors over the line fence. Since the days of the barn-raising, the husking-^bee and the meat ring, the American farmer has been a cooper- ator. The city worker or intellectual who accuses the farmer of going his own, narrow, individual way in all things merely betrays his ignorance of farm life. Today the farmer has de veloped a network of marketing and purchasing associations which puts to shame the puny cooperative efforts of the city man. When one speaks of farmers' co operation, it is usually these marketing and purchasing co-ops which are re ferred to. But the rub is here—cooper ative marketing and purchasing are merely an improvement on individual marketing and purchasing. And today no kind of marketing and purchasing is profitable. The reason is price dis parity, that is, the low level of prices of the things the farmer has to sell in comparison with the level of prices of the things lie has to buy. Co-op mar- ketinq and purchasing help to correct this disparity but they do not complete ly wipe it out. Then, besides price disparity, there is the farmer's debt and tax burden, both untouched by these forms of co operation. Now then. Cooperators, have we nothing to offer the farmer except co operative exchange in a day when the scales of exchange are tipped against him? Others Merge—Why Not He? The farmer is a small capitalist. What have other small capitalists done to get out of the red? They have merged, cutting down overhead, re ducing operating expenses, increasing efficiency. Why should not the farmer do the same? Let us imagine five farmers—Smith, Hansen, Maki, Tatro and Spivak— their farms al'l adjoining. Each has ap proximately 200 acres. All are dairy farmers. In addition as cash crops. Smith and Hansen raise potatoes and canning corn, Spivak has a good-sized orchard, and Tatro and Maki raise some potatoes but more wheat and hay for the market. All have hogs to sell occasionally, as well as eggs and broil ers. But it doesn't matter 'much what they have to sell these days; it is a give-away. Milk hasn't netted them over 2c a quart in two years. Each has a house and barns. Each has a set of machinery, two pair of horses on the average or one pair and a tractor, and an automobile of a sort. They average one hired man apiece. By dint of hard work of all the family each is making a bare living. If they owned their farms and equipment, they could get by, but they don't. Each is owing heavily for feed and machinery. Tatro is still paying for a horse that died on him last winter. The average mortgage is $3000. All are behind with their interest, and Smith and Spivak are threatened with foreclosure. Spiv ak and Hansen haven't paid their taxes for two years and may be sold out by the county soon if something isn't done. What can be done? Under similar circumstances in the COOPERATION 43 textile or lamp-shade business, they would probably merge. Merge they do. They form a cooperative corpora tion called The Five Farms, Inc. Each deeds his farm, buildings, stock and tools to this corporation. In return each receives shares in the corporation in proportion to the amount of property he has contributed. So far this sounds like any business merger. But farming is not only a business, it is a way of life. It has human aspects not to be disregarded. Thus, each of these pioneer cooper ative farmers retains, on a lease from the cooperative, his Jhome and a few acres of land around it, small tools, and small buildings such as a chicken house (with the chiclkens in it) and a pig or two. That is, each retains his individual homestead, to do with about as he will. Life is a matter of striking a balance between the individual and the col lective. The home does not give way to a dormitory; the family life is not up rooted. Mrs. Spivak still has her flow ers and Grandpa Hansen still may put ter around in his garden. The Makis still crunch their hardtack and the Tatros make their blood sausages. Every Sunday morning Mr. Smith takes the same old hollow-backed mare out of the same stall and hitches her up for Mrs. Smith to drive to meeting. Then what is changed? Merged Debts Well, the mortgages have been scaled down 20% (many farm mort gages are being cut more than this), lumped together, and rewritten as one by the Federal Land Bank at a rate of interest from \]/t, to 2% lower than the individual farmers had formerly been paying. The five farmers will now co operate in paying off a single mort gage. A great load of worry has been lifted off each of them. Mrs. Spivak now sings in her garden. They will cooperate also in paying a single tax bill, including back taxes. Spivak's farm and Hansen's won't go on the block; this would cut too big a chunlk out of The Five Farms and re duce the chances for success of all five families. Now it is "each for all and all for each." The corporation takes over all debts such as feed bills—it wil'l even pay for Tatro's dead horse. The cred itors are not pressing so hard now, for they see a better chance of being paid. Of course in the distribution of shares to the five farmers, all debts are subtracted. Insurance on buildings, another over head item, also becomes a corporate obligation. It is considerably reduced because the barns of Tatro and Spivak are old, porous affairs and are given up, the others being ample when used to capacity. Besides, the others happen to be near together. Smith and Hansen living right across the road from one another and Maki only a quarter of a mile down the road. Then an auction is held. Each farm has a mower, and Hansen has two. The three best are selected and the others sold. An unneeded binder goes the same route. The dairies being consoli dated, a milking machine is dispensed with. So is one tractor, and four teams of horses (and the hay to feed them). A wood saw, two corn planters, a silo, a lot of haying machinery and smaller tools make up a respectable auction. Looks like The Five Farms would need a safe. But no, the cash isn't held long. Fifty acres of potatoes are planned for, and so a sprayer and digger are bought. None of these farmers, alone, had enough potato acreage to afford either of these machines. A whole load of milk will now be going to town daily from The Five Farms, and so a truck is bought. The line fences between the farms are pulled down, a .new gang plow is bought and Jimmy Hansen rides proudly into the field and strikes off a furrow over a mile long. Now Smith doesn't have to look over the fence and shake his head dubi ously to see the cocikle'burs going to seed on Neighbor Tatro's land, know ing that his own clean fields will be in fected. Now the draining of that swampy forty down on Hansen's will not be delayed because Spivak, below Hansen, won't bestir himself to clean 44 COOPERATION out his part of the water-course. There will be but one job of threshing now, of silo-filling, of wood-sawing, with many hands to do it. The efficiency program sits heavily on certain persons. Three of the five hired men are let go. This saves near ly $2000 per year. These farmers are in no position to provide jobs for men. In the running of The Five Farms, Inc., each farmer has one vote, Roch dale style. Each wife has one vote, al so, for this is a family affair. And many a farmer's wife is as good a farmer as he is. One of their number, Smith, is elect ed manager. But all important policies, such as the production plan for the year, are passed on "by the member ship." Each member, including individuals of his family, is paid a wage for work done, either in cash or in kind. And the entire product, of course, belongs to the corporation. Out of "profits," a limited dividend on shares is paid, and the rest is pro-rated to the members according to their purchases, as in any consumers' cooperative. Diversification of crops, which re duces risk both as to weather and as to markets, can be carried out more efficiently on this large acreage farm than on the five small ones. For in stance, another cash crop, such as beans, can be added in sufficient acre age to warrant special machinery. An other type of stock, such as sheep, hogs, ducks and turkeys can be raised. The greater the diversification the bet ter, since it enables the five families to live off their land to a greater ex tent. The more produce The Five Farms can "market" right at home among its own families, the more it will sidestep the price disparity of the pub lic market. We are not unmindful of the fact that in farming there are limits on in creasing economy by increasing the size of operations. For that reason farm mergers should not be too big. And specific economies should be def initely in sight before merging takes place. Above all the individual farmer and his family should not be lost to view. It is their welfare that is sought, not business profits. For the success of every crop, they must "care," mightily, else efficiency will be lost, not gained. Psychologically Now let us go and call on the Smiths, the Hansens, the Makis, the Tatros and Spivaks. Let us see how they feel about The Five Farms, Inc. Smith waves his hand to the sweeping fields and says, "This is ours now, all ours. Nobody can take it away from us because we are so strong. Thirty-two of us in these five families.—a 32-horse team—counting the colts." He laughs. There is new confidence and power in his seamy face. Mrs. Hansen greets us next. Her voice is high-pitched and usually quer ulous, but today it is excited. "Oh, you heard about The Five Farms, did you? What do you think of it? Ain't it per fectly grand?" Tatro's head is held high for the first time in months. "I reckon nothin* can stop us now. Eh, Johnny?" Mrs. Tatro looks at her oldest boy with pride and says, "Johnny was figurin' on leavin' the farm to get a job in business, but now he's changed his mind." "We're in business here mow. Ma." We spy Mr. Spivak in an apple tree, pruning. "Is this Spivak's place?" we call out. "Dis is one of de Fi' Farms," comes the answer in a ringing voice. Mr. Maki, Jimmie Hansen and Hank, one of the hired men, are milking. "I always wanted to see a string of cattle that would fill this barn," says Maki, "and now we got 'em." "By godfreys!" avers Hank, "things 're happenin* around here these days." To speak of the economies of com bined operation seems petty beside the well-springs of renewed hope and power which have been tappe:d in these people. For them life has in truth be gun again. They are like pioneers in a new land. The new lands are all old now; the frontier has disappeared. Who will pioneer on this new frontier.—the co operative farm? COOPERATION 45 Credit Wages War with Disease Germs By Esopus The fifth of a series of tales about one of the worst rascals the world has ever known, Credit—a series which might be extended to 1000 and 1 without ex hausting the horrible details. V YOU ask me, how was Credit re ceived by the Americans? Quite cordially, on the whole. For wasn't he as handsome as Barthelmess, as jovial as Roosevelt, and, in spite of his wooden leg acquired at the Battle of Rochdale, as strong as Schmeling? Yet they were just a little afraid of him. This fear irked Credit, for he knew that he must have the complete confidence of the Americans if he were to get his hand to the very bottom of their pockets. Now Credit had a valet, named Big Banker, whom he paid royally to do many dirty jobs for him. And bacteriol ogy was Big's hobby. He nurtured germs and gave them to guinea pigs. One day as he was helping Credit pull on his pantaloons, he said, "Master, I have isolated a germ which I think may be of use to you." "How so, Big?" "When I inoculate a guinea pig with this germ, it appears to affect his brain so that he becomes perfectly docile and trusts me completely. He even walks into a bottomless pit, or puts his foot into a trap, without fear. Now this bacterium, if planted in humans causes a psychopathic condition known to the doctors as Instalmentia Praecox. It is a form of insanity. The person affected shows it by his willingness, nay eager ness, to buy on credit, obligating him self to pay by instalments. He will buy an automobile, sewing machine, vac uum cleaner—almost anything, in fact —on the instalment plan. When this disease attacks him, he suddenly be comes conscious that he can buy with out ready money." "Ah, good!'^ said Credit, "bid this germ multiply." I "Already," said Big Banker, "I have several trillion in a bottle." "Clever fellow!" said Credit. "Now tell me more about this disease. Is it contagious?" "Oh, very. It spreads like wildfire. For example, when Smith sees his neighbor ride home in a new automo bile, he says to himself, 'Egad, if Jones can afford an automobile, I guess I can.' The next time he is downtown, he sees in a dealer's window, 'You, TOO, can ride in the luxurious Hop- pity-Hop. Come in and learn all about our new payment plan.' He is then what the physicians term 'a good case.' Women are especially susceptible." "Also," went on Big, "when Mr. Smith buys a car on instalments- mortgaging his future, albeit none too bright, with utter child-like faith—then right away Johnny Smith gets the idea of buying a bicycle on the same instal ment plan, and Susie Smith doesn't see why she can't buy a new party dress also on instalments. Thus the victims themselves develop the disease to its highest intensity." "Methinks they are happy in so doing," said Credit. Said Big, "I was just coming to that. They, too, think they are not only hap py but fortunate. That is the most in sidious thing about this disease." To get the germs distributed quickly and widely, Big Banker hired spaces in newspapers and magazines and on these spaces smeared the culture gen erously. The mails did the rest. In this and other ways, Credit, aided and abetted by Big Banker, lulled the fears of the Americans nntil he had them so deep in the dungeon of debt, public and private, that they could scarcely see out. How the afore-men tioned Cooperators let in a ray of light, and how the fiendish Credit whispered in their ears that he was their friend, and how some in spite of his foul record even believed him, will be related to all patient readers. 46 COOPERATION International Cooperation I. C. A. Rejects German Movement The International Cooperative Al liance has decided against having the- Nazified German cooperative move ment as a member. First, the I. C. A. asked the new Reichsbund, or National German Union of consumers' societies, if it could send a delegation to investi gate and see if the German societies had given up their autonomy and their democracy to the extent that they could no longer qualify as true cooper atives. The Reichsbund said no, but it would be glad to have a chat with the I. C. A. president and secretary. Whereupon the I. C. A. Executive passed this resolution: "The Executive of the I. C. A., in considering the application of the Reichsbund for membership of the I.C. A., have also taken into consideration the conditions under which the cooper ative movement in Germany at present functions, and they are not convinced that the fundamental conditions of co operation, as laid down in the rules of the I. C. A., can be fulfilled. They are, therefore, unable to admit the Reichs bund to membership in the present cir cumstances .... "The Executive, nevertheless, ex press the hope that the time will arrive, when the German cooperative move ment will again freely take its place in the Alliance in conformity alike with its own traditions and the Rochdale principles of world cooperation." • Centrosoyus, the Russian coopera tive wholesale, has suggested drastic cuts in subscriptions to the I. C. A., be cause of the economic crisis. The I. C. A. Executive rejected this proposal. The cooperative organizations of the U. S. S. R., which are affiliated with the I. C. A., have been slow to make dues payments, thus embarrassing the International. • International Women's Day March 8 is International Women's Day and will be celebrated by the Co operative Women's Guilds every* where. All guilds are urged to arrange a special .program on that day and to try to draw every woman in the com munity to hear the story of coopera tion. A speaker's outline has been .pre pared by the committee of the North ern States Women's Guild. Suggestion for Cooperative Mock Trial A mock trial, or "kangaroo court," is good •*• ^- fun and may be made the basis for an en tire evening's entertainment of the Youth Club or other group. Our suggestion is that a number of cooper- ators be tried for failure to cooperate in various ways. Thus the common ways in which co- operators do fail to cooperate will be brought out. In a mock trial much depends on the gravity of the Judge and the wit of the opposing At torneys. Also the Witnesses add humor. The Judge, clad in a black robe, sits on a dais behind a desk on which is a ponderous book, the Court Docket. In trying to find the cases listed in the docket, His Honor gets all balled up and sternly rebukes the Clerk of the Court for not having the docket in order. The Judge is very despotic throughout. The Prosecuting Attorney has been appointed by the co-op society to prosecute the lax co- operators. All the culprits may have one At torney for the Defense, or each may have one, depending on the amount of talent at hand. Charge against First Prisoner: Failure to wipe feet before entering co-op store on rainy day. Charge against Second: Voted against credit in co-op meeting and two weeks later wants to be trusted for 5-cent cigar. Charge against Third: Has asked Manager three times if he wouldn't please hire his (pris oner's) son who isn't smart enough either to stay in school or get another job. Charge against Fourth: Buying pound of cof fee at A 6 P. store. Charge against Fifth: Flirting with book keeper while latter is trying to close books in time for auditor's visit. Many other charges, both serious and flip pant, will suggest themselves. As usual, the affair should be both entertaining and instruc tive. COOPERATION Random Observations from Wash ington By J. P. Warbasse In 1929 the farmers of the United States paid for 900,000 tons of "filler" in fertilizer. Filler is sand and dirt, put into the fertilizer as an adulterant. The farmer paid the same price for it as for the nitrates and other substances he needed for his soil. He also had to pay the freight on this 900,000 tons and break his back lifting it. • The Standard Oil Company spends millions on advertising. For this rea son its costs rise above those of the independent dealers who do not ad vertise. The counsel of the national oil board has ruled that this advertising expense may be added to the costs of production and passed on to the con sumer as necessary overhead. That means that the fish pay for the worms. The next thing we may expect is that the poor fish will have to dig the bait. Defiling the landscape with signs at the consumers' expense is worse than charging him to look at the scenery. • The average term of existence of a retail grocery is two and a half years. Eighty-five per cent fail in their first ten years. The average retail business' has four employees and does a busi ness of $30,000 a year. Cooperation need not strive very hard to make a better showing. • The consumer in the United States is an unintelligent buyer. A commodity labelled "virgin wool" appeals to him when shoddy would give him better service. The habit of having things delivered by the -store, exchanging goods, charge accounts, and other ex penses to the merchant are all borne by the consumer. The public wants advertised goods, called "standard" brands. This stuff is not standard at all. Scientific standard brands would be brands that have been subjected to scientific analysis and the consumer shown just what he is getting. The consumer has not learned about quali ty. He thinks he knows the difference between A. B. and C grades of milk; but he does not know what 10,000 bacteria to the cubic millimeter mean. The consumer does not ask questions about the thing he is buying. If the manufacturers who make good shoes would starrr^ the words "no paper" on their shoes, the consumer would be helped to understand that shoes not so stamped contained paper where leathir would serve the consumer better. Books THE C.W.S. OF TODAY, by George Darl ing. Just published by the Cooperative Whole sale Society, Ltd., Manchester, Eng. 32 pps. Bringing us up to date on "the largest cooper ative society in the world." The best propa ganda booklet for the C.W^.S. we have seen. Full of pictures (among them a photo of the London board room, which we judge to be one of those "dream rooms" which C. W^arne took a fling at in Oct. 1933 COOPERATION). This booklet should have wide distribution in America at this time. It will be an eye-opener to many cynical citizens. Give it to your neigh bor who thinks he knows all there is to know about big business, and watch his eyes bulge out. The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ ot the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St., New York, N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the LI. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department 48 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends US. 84. 85. 29. 51. 16. 50. 51. 62. 63. <67. 68. 70. 72. 74. 7E. 76. 77. 78. 79. SI. 80. 82. HISTORICAL Per Copy Per WO Consumers Cooperation In the United States (illus.). 1933 __ .IE 8.00 Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart uojji coo.^.i-o.^^ ^uuu.^u. _______ Chase) _________________ .06 4.00 83. What is the Cooperative League The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietridh _________________ .05 Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ________ - ___ .10 Consumers', Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 531 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics.___ .25 What Cooperation means to a depression-siok America ————— .03 2.00 4.010 7.00 TECHNICAL How to Start and Run a Roch dale Cooperative Society _____ .25 16.00 Model By-Laws' for a Rochdale Cooperative Society ———————— .Oi5 2.50 Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson) ———————————— .5(0 Model Lease for Cooperative Apartment House ————————— .10 MISCELLANEOUS Model Co-op State Law ————— .10 "When the Whistle Blew" (Story, by Brace Calvert) ———— .06 How a. Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 .75 Buttons (League emblem), % Inch diameter ———————————— .05 2.001 Sign or Tranispai-enicy of League Eimtolem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter ____________-___ .25 1S.OO Stock certificates, engraved, with League Eimlbleim. Bound in books of 100, 200i, or 260 To Mothers _______——__—— -Oi2 1.00 Farmers' CooperaMon A Way Out: An address by L. S. Her- ron ____________________ .05 4.00 Little Lessons In Cooperation .35 The Burden of Credit __—_——— .02 1.00 What Is the Cooperative Store .03 2.00 What Is Consumers' Cooperation .05 4.00' The Most Necessary Thing in Life _-..______————————_~. -02 1.00' Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Money's Worth ______—— .02 LOO There Are Two Sides to Every Counter ____________—__— .02 1.00 Cooperative Youth Songs ———— .25 The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year (foreign, $1.26) $1.00 Review of International Cooperation (Pub. by the I. C. A.) ____________ Per Year, $1.50 Raivaaja Print—Pitchburg, Mass. BOOKS The following books are recommended as con taining ithe best discussion of the modern Co operative Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T. : Cooperative Movement in Russia, 1924 __ . __ ___________ ———— __ 1.60 Brighltwill. L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book — For Children ______________ ——— ___ .15 Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers __ ——— _ ————— 1.10 Flanagan, J. A: Wholesale Cooperation In Scotland. 1920 _____________ —— __ 2.10 Glde. C.: Consumers' Cooperative Socie ties. American edition and notes, 1822 Cloth ________ — __ __ —— ——————————— 1.50 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees _____ — __ 2.EO Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers 1892 __ _ __ 1.10 Hough, E. M.: Cooperation In India 1932 3.75 Indian Cooperation, Children's story — _ _ .IB Jessnes's, O. B. : Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products ————————————————— 3.10 Kress, A J. : Capitalism, Cooperation Communism. 1832 __ ——— __ ——————— 2.00 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guildswomen. telling what the Guild has done for them - __ .. —— - —— 1.26 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold ————— .86 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story __ ———————— .25 Odhe. Tihorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators ____ - _____ —— __ ————— 1.501 Oerne. Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems ____________ ————————— 1.36 Owen, Robert: Autobiography ——————— .75 Poisson. E. : The Cooperative Republic __ Potter, B. : Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1881 _ —— __ —————————————— Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S. Redfern. Percy: The Consumers' Place in Society, 182O ____________ ———— __ 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction in Ireland, 1918 ____ —— __ - 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brlen: Cooperation In Denmark —————— _ — • ————————————— 1.10 Smith-Gordon and O'Brlen: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920 __ —— __ ———————— 1.60 Stolinsky A: The Cooperative Movemenlt. (In Yiddish) _________ - _ ————————— 1.00 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy. (1,9(27) ______________ —— ^ ————— 1-'5'0 Warbasse. J.P.: What Is Cooperation, 1827 .76 Warne, C. EX: Consumers' Cooperative Movement In Illinois 1926 _____ —— _ — 3.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co operative Movement. 1921 __ ———————— 5.00 Webb Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, ,1(917 _________________ . Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry __ Cooperation, Bound Volumes. 1916 to Inclusive, each year ————————————— 1.26 The People's Year Book, 1833, English, paper .75, cloth __ ———————————————— 1.35 Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1SS2 ___ —————————————————————— -?5 1.85 1.10 2.25 , - —— 1*0 1-66 COOPERATION Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Cooperative United States Vol. XX. No. 4 APRIL, 1934 10 cents Our Magna Charta GENERAL APR 191934 r I 'O a world plagued with dictators, we offer the most democratic body of precepts for ecoiiomic organization ever developed, the Rochdale principles and practices: 1. Membership open to all consumers. 2. One member, one vote. 3. Limited rate of interest on capital. 4. Cash, no credit. 5. Dealings at market prices, the surplus being distributed to members according to patronage. 6. Open books, records and transactions. 7. No proxy voting. 8. Regular appropriation for education. 9. Federation for wholesaling and production. 10. Gradual expansion into every field of economic activity un til the consumers supply all of their needs. In every cooperative establishment, these principles printed in large type should be displayed where all can see. 50 COOPERATION COO PERATID N An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and dis tribute for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A.. 167 West 12th St.. New York City. OSCAR COOLEY. Editor Contributing Editors George Halonen A. W. Warinner V. S. Alanne George Jacobson Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. T., un- der the Act of March Z, 1ST*. Price Jl.OO a year. Vol. XX. No. 4 April, 1934 r I 'HERE seems to be some doubt as to •*• whether the New Deal guarantees the right of collective bargaining to workers, but there is no doubt whatso ever that it guarantees the right of col lective bargaining to the consumers. Just as a trade union is an agency for collective bargaining in the sale of la bor, so a consumers' cooperative so ciety is an agency for collective bar gaining in the purchase of goods and services. This right is already legalized by the cooperative laws of the various states. It is now further guaranteed and protected by the President's Executive Orders of Oct. 23, 1933 and Feb. 17, 1934. Privileged industry and capitalist business may hinder you from bar gaining collectively as producers, but the way is wide open for you to bar gain collectively as consumers. • Too Much to Expect of Any Profit- Maker At a recent code hearing, a certain representative of industry agreed that the purchaser should not be fooled in to buying the quickly rotting fabrics offered by many manufacturers. But when the consumers' repre- senjtative suggested quality labelling as the obvious solution, the industrial ist drew back indignantly, saying, "Why, that is preposterous! You can not expect any producer to say that his stuff is not the best." A School-boy Could Have Foreseen This No better technical analysis of NRA results has been given than the March 4 report of the Consumers' Advisory Board. Logically and forcefully the Board shows that the aim of the NRA is to increase employment and con sumer purchasing power, that this aim is being frustrated by disproportioned price increases, and that it will con tinue to be so frustrated as long as the determination of prices is in the hands of code authorities controlled by in dustrial representatives, that is, by profit business men who stand to gain by price increases. President Roosevelt, if he has the interest of the consumers at heart, as he has so often declared, will correct this situation by giving the consumers not only representation but controlling representation on all code authorities. Otherwise the NRA, by force of eco nomic events, will be worse than a failure. • Out of the Mouths of Infants Enormous profits by milk distrib uting companies during the depression are being revealed by government auditors. Net profits for the last 5 years of the Philadelphia companies averaged 30.76%; Chicago 25.84%; Boston 22.45%; St. Louis 14.64%. If the New Deal were to quit tomorrow, it would have justified itself by the publication in the daily press of these exorbitant profits on a daily necessity. • Publishing of Salaries It takes the Federal Trade Commis sion backed by the authority of Con gress to force the publication of the indefensible salaries of big business potentates. But it is a first principle of cooperatives, laid down by the Roch dale Pioneers, to maintain "open books." They have no outlandish sala ries to hide. Cooperative leaders are helpless unless they have the confi dence of the rank and file cooperators. To win and hold that confidence, nothing is so effective as complete openness and frankness about all tran sactions, salaries, liabilities and assets. COOPERATION 51 To cooperate means to participate, and you can not participate in a business which is partially hidden from you. The profit business man has to quit his mystery tactics before he can quali fy as a cooperative executive. • Maybe We Were Wrong In the Editor's article, "Mergers for Busted Farmers," in last month's issue, it was stated that cooperative pur chasing raises the buying power of the farmer but does not hoist it 'way up to the comparatively high level of his pre war buying power. Cooperation is a gradual thing. It raises the consumer up a peg, but he is down so very, very low at present that cooperation can not immediately raise him up to where he ought to be. However, perhaps we erred on the side of pessimism. We hope so. I. H. Hull, president of National Coopera tives, Inc., in an address at the meeting of the Union Oil Company, related the history of cooperative buying of fer tilizer in Indiana and said, according to the "Cooperative Consumer," "We have bought our fertilizer at a parity price. . . Today in our state a given amount of farm crops will buy more fertilizer than' it bought before the war." He went on to say that if a larger percentage of the farmers would unite in the cooperative program, gas oline also could be purchased at a pari ty price. We would be the last to play down the benefits of cooperative purchasing, which are very great, especially in farmers' needs. However, there are people today, in both city and country, who are so badly off that to propose cooperative purchasing to them as an immediate remedy for their distress would be not only futile but dishonest". The important fact is that the prin^ ciples of consumers' cooperation are adapted to the present situation and to every other economic emergency in which people may find themselves. • Recently launched cooperative pa pers to come to our office are "Co operative Consumer" published by the Union Oil Company of No. Kansas City, Mo., and "The Extension Bul letin" published by the Extension De partment of St. Francix Xavier Uni versity, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The Union Oil is making a drive for new member companies, its paper re ports. By the end of January it had secured 17 new ones. It has a total of over 300 member societies. "The Extension Bulletin," ably edited and full of punch, is carrying cooperative education into the homes- of Nova Scotia and helping to promote producers' cooperatives among the farmers and fishermen, and consumers' cooperatives among all. • "The Pacific Cooperator" is an at tractive and informing magazine pub lished by the California Cooperative League. There are many consumers' cooperative enterprises of various types on the Pacific Coast, but no integrated movement. It should be good ground for both stores and oil associations on the Rochdale plan. We look to the League group there to lead. • Arthur Jackson of Philadelphia has been appointed by the TVA to take charge of organizing cooperatives in the Tennessee Valley. New com munities are being built in this valley, and it is fitting that Cooperation, which will be a new idea to many Tennes- seeans, be introduced here. Success to Mr. Jackson and his helpers. • According to a study made in 1922, the cost of credit extended by farm supply stores in New York was 13.21% of total credit sales. If looked' upon as interest, this is a pretty high rate to pay for the privilege of saying "Charge it." But in Nova Scotia, says "The Extension Bulletin," farmers last year paid from 36% to 186% for the privilege of buying fertilizer on time. • In cooperative Denmark, 45.7% of all butter exports are by the producers' cooperatives; in cooperative U. S. A. 35% of the total output of butter is made in cooperative creameries. Let's. not get an inferiority complex when ever Denmark is mentioned. 52 COOPERATION Cooperation—War—Fascism WE deplore the attack upon the Austrian Socialists, many of whom are also cooperative members. 'Their cause is our cause, so far as it is the cause of democracy and of justice to the underdog working people every where. But we do not hesitate to condemn the means which they took to defend themselves, that is, armed warfare. First, for the practical reason that the odds against them were so great that they could not hope to win, and second, because we are against all war as evil, unsocial and barbarous. There are other means of defense and offense more effective than war. Gandhi has shown the world some thing of the technique of passive re sistance, non-cooperation, and civil •disobedience. People long ago learned the power of the peaceful strike. And the cooperative movement in particular demonstrates the effectiveness of the boycott, a cooperative society being a •group which has seceded from and is permanently boycotting the profit sys tem. Last month, we raised the question, what should be the stand of cooper- .ators in case of war? We propose that it be one of 100% non-cooperation with the war-makers. The cooperative movement is found ed about the home and family. Its watchwords are peace, democracy, in dustry, plenty, justice. War on the •other hand stands for brute force of 'one group of men over another group, assuming that the one group is all right and the other group all wrong and rought to be exterminated. It stands for waste, want, hate, pain and tyranny. No good to mankind has ever come from any war. The Communists oppose imperialist war but embrace class war, that is, a war of the workers against the capital ists. Well, there are black skunks, and there are black and white skunks. Neither are tabby cats. If the 100,000,000 cooperators 'throughout the world were to take a forthright stand against all war, whether it be a war to make the world safe for democracy or safe for a prole tarian dictatorship, and let the war lords know in no uncertain terms that they would take no part whatsoever in war, we should have peace. Violence vs. Gradualism The Austrian Socialists, it seems to the writer, made a major mistake when they first organized their Schutzbund, or private army. No state can permit a private army within its borders; sooner or later such a private army must be dissolved, if not peacefully, then by force. The very existence of the Schutzbund invited the tragic de nouement of February. Some say that the recent disaster proves the inadequacy of the policy of gradualism. On the contrary it seems to us to prove the folly of armed revo lution. By their program of gradual ism, the Austrian consumers were demonstrating what cooperation can do. In time this demonstration would have won over the mass of the people, and then the guns of a Schutzbund would have been unnecessary and the guns of a Heimwehr as useless as sticks. Arsenals are so much scrap iron in the face of the power of peaceful, cooperative action. Guns are the weap ons of barbarians; cooperation and gradualism are the instruments of civilized peoples. It is true that the Austrian Socialists had suffered terrific oppression. Ad mittedly they had great provocation, perhaps greater provocation than hu man beings could be expected to bear. Their mistake lay in not realizing that the Karl Marx House was impregnable as a home but a mere egg she'll as a fortress. What of Fascism? But, one may say, how can cooper ation protect itself from Fascism? Look at Germany, look at Italy. This is a serious question, to which we do not pretend to have a glib COOPERATION 53 answer. It is a question for every co- operator who cares for anything more than his savings return to think sober ly about. What is Fascism? It is a violent manifestation of Capitalism. It is Greed with a knife in its mouth. There is no doubt about this now that we have seen Fascism in three major countries crushing the cooperatives, the trade unions, the workers' parties, and stamping out every vestige of democ racy with a reign of terror. Fascism is financed by big business to hold out sops to little business, so as to get enough popular support to crush troublesome, rank and file democracy. The tactics of Fascism are violence and war, in which all is fair. Conse quently it begins by sweeping away constitutions. Then it proceeds to He to the people by posing as the cham pion of "pure" race, patriotic tradition, and "old-fashioned" religion. This is unadulterated rot. Fascism has nothing whatever to do with race, patriotism or religion. These are mere sheeps' clothing to hide the wolf. The dema gogic mercenaries of profit business have always used such smokescreens. Behind the scenes they are engaged in cementing the autocratic control of the profit-takers. The old get-and-grab system is dy ing and Fascism is its last desperate effort to rescue itself by force. To save himself a dying man will take any measures, however extreme or fantas tic. The disease that the system is dying, of is the cancer of profit, which has al ways dwelt in its body. When this aged and infirm patient is advised to have the cancer cut out, he says no, with vehemence, and lashes out at the doctors. Then the people, the serfs of the system, cluster around and shoot arrows at him to hasten his demise, but it only serves to enrage him and make him hire mercenaries to go out and beat them up. Now then, when an old scoundrel is. dying of an incurable disease, why try to hasten his death, when it is sure to cause such retaliation as has happened in Italy, Germany and Austria? Why not let him die, meanwhile enduring his groans and squawks as patiently as possible? Why not stick to building co operatives, which aid and abet his death by a process of quiet starvation?' And which prepare the people to move into his office when he is gone and run business on a service, not greed, basis. There is really nothing else for the cooperatives to do. They can not op pose violence with violence, even if it were advisable. They have no guns or army with which to fight. Their func tion is the peaceful one of producing and distributing goods to consumer members. They have no weapon but discretion, and it behooves them to- make of that the canniest use possible.- Again we suggest, let us study and use the technique of that eminently practical little man, Gandhi. O. C. News of the Movement The Situation in Austria THE cooperative societies have been placed under the control of a Commission of Administration. The President and Vice-President of this Commission are well known non-so cialist cooperative sympathisers. The cooperatives are paying the penalty for having had leaders who were active as socialist political leaders at the same time. Dollfuss, the Austrian Chancellor has voluntarily given Mr. May, the General Secretary of the I. C. A., the assurance that the cooperative prin ciples and constitution will be respect ed and the autonomy of the societies restored as soon as political activities' are eliminated. Early in the troubles, Dr. Karl Ren- ner, former Chancellor of Austria, head of the Workers' Bank and chair man of the Cooperative Wholesale GoC, also a member of the executive- of the International Cooperative Al- 54 COOPERATION liance, was arrested. Later, Frau Em- my Freundlich, president of the Inter national Cooperative Women's Guild, was reported arrested. Their arrest is entirely due to their socialist party political activities and has nothing whatever to do with their cooperative connections. • Fascist Lords Attack Co-ops In England the cooperative move ment is being savagely attacked by Lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere, publishers of the Daily Mail and Daily Express, who are taking up the cause of the private trader, whose existence, Beaverbrook says, "is menaced by the growth of the cooperative stores." Rothermere, under a headline, "Hur ray for the Black Shirts"—as if we would not recognize him for a Fascist without that!—states, "It is impera tive that any further extension of co operative retail societies should be restricted by law." Beaverbrook on one day contends that the co-ops are a menace because they undersell the private traders, and on the next sends out agents to buy in stores of the London Society and prove that the co-ops charge more than the private trader and so are enemies of the consumer. The fact is that milord is worried because the co-ops, by a more efficient method of doing busi ness, are steadily taking customers and trade away from the private shops. He also calls himself "an apostle of high wages." This is a joke when we consider that over 85% of co-op em ployees are unionized, while, according to the Ministry of Labor, in private trade only the following percentages are unionized: Retail grocery trade 2 to 4% Wholesale and retail meat trade 12 to 25% Dry-goods and allied trades 3 to 10% Catering and refreshments 5% Some of the private trades, notably the milk, dry goods and newspaper distributors, are recognizing and at tacking Beaverbrook as a mountebank. He, meanwhile, has become a member of the London Cooperative Society! Well, he can't do any harm—he has but one vote in 500,000. Our readers will enjoy the following lines which appeared in the London "Morning Post" some years ago: "To those in search of public work Two urgent needs at once appear; To dam the stream of Beaverbrook And drain the mud of Rothermere." First Year of National Cooperatives, Inc., Reviewed at Annual Meeting The previous year's activities of the National Cooperatives, Inc., were re viewed at its first annual meeting in Chicago on Feb. 12 and 13, contracts let and plans made for future expan sion. Frank H. Osborne of Minnesota, Second Vice-President, summed up the first year's experience of District Wholesale Cooperative Purchasing Organizations in working together in a National Organization in the remark that "We have had valuable expe rience in getting the horns knocked off of some of us." Mr. I. H. Hull of Indiana, President, made an able introductory address in which he emphasized ithe importance of cooperation in solving the factory- farm parity price problem. W. E. Sanderson of North Dakota, First Vice-President, urged the neces sity of further organization of new lo cals and their being combined into re- gionals wherever regionals are not al ready covering 'the field. Howard A. Cowden of Kansas City, Secretary-Treasurer, reported on the activities and progress for the year, giving evidence of the usefulness of the National Cooperatives, Inc., to its members in the saving of thousands of dollars by combined purchasing and in legislative protection -to cooperatives. A seventh regional group, the Paci fic Supply Cooperative, Portland, Ore gon, was admitted to membership. Representatives from three other re gionals were interested visitors investi gating the advantages to their mem bers of joining the national organiza tion. Resolutions of great significance were adopted protesting the change in COOPERATION 55 Rule 7 of Article 5 of the Petroleum Code with reference to cooperatives selling equipmenit, requesting a hearing by the Petroleum Board to clarify the interpretations-of 'the Petroleum Code and the Executive Order in view of misinformation being spread by leaders in the Oil Industry, urging amendment to the Farm Credit Act giving cooper ative purchasing associations the same loan privileges on equipment as co operative marketing organizations, en dorsing a Department of the Consumer in the National Government, urging upon the Commissioner of Education the teaching of consumers' cooperation in vocational classes. Expressions of appreciation were voted to The Co operative League and its President, Dr. Warbasse, for the service ren dered by them to the consumers co operative movement. As a further definite step in cooper ative action on the part of the member groups the trade name, CO-OP, used by the Union Oil Company (Coopera tive) on tires, tubes and batteries and by the Midland Cooperative Oil As sociation on petroleum products was assigned to the national organization. Perhaps the most important new project discussed was that of future united action in insurance and bonding as a result of which a committee repre senting the various groups was ap pointed. The officers of the Committee are: Wm. Hyde, Clusa Service; V. S. Peterson, Midland Coop. Oil Ass'n. and A. C. Millington, Farmers Union Insurance Company, Nebraska. At a meeting of the new Board of Directors held immediately following the Annual Meeting all officers were reelected for the coming year. The re- elected officers are: I. H. Hull, Presi dent; W. E. Sanderson, First Vice- President; F. H. Osborne, Second Vice-President; Ivan Lanto, Third Vice-President; Howard A. Cowden, Secretary and Treasurer. Troy Wom- ble of the Consumers Associated, Amarillo, Texas, the regional which became the sixth member of the Na tional during the year, was elected Fourth Vice-President. The Administrative Board elected for the coming year consists of V. L. Everson, E. G. Cort, Ralph Ingerson, Ivan Lanto, O. C. Burgess and Ho ward A. Cowden. Dr. Warbasse States His Platform IN the interest of the consumers, Dr. J. P. Warbasse, President of The Cooperative League and member of the Consumers' Advisory Board of the NRA, offers the following as oppor tunities of the Government to serve the consumers: — 1. Statistical research into costs at each stage of the industrial process, making available for the consumers the information upon which an under standing of profits may be based. 2. Development of indices of retail prices, wages, and consumers pur chasing power, to show the relations of the consumers to the cost of living. 3. No price increases under the codes excepting as justified by in creased wages to labor and increased scarcity of raw material. 4. Regulation of the amount of profit that may be taken in the progress of a commodity from the point of produc tion of the raw material through its various stages to the consumer. 5. Placing of limitations upon over head costs, such as arise from salaries and bonuses to officials, payments to subsidiaries, and stock purchasing privileges enjoyed by directors of cor porations. 6. The encouragement of efficiency methods in the interest of economy. 7. The elimination of middlemen and unnecessary handling of commod ities. 8. Unemployment insurance, oro- vided by industry, to take care of the unemployed whom industry now dis misses from its consideration to be come a burden upon the consumers. 9. Development and control of standards having to do with quality, labelling, and statements concerning 56 COOPERATION products, and protection of the con sumers from fraudulent and harmful commodities, by means of a Consumer Standards Board with research and laboratory facilities. 10. Removal from all N.R.A. codes of restrictions of production and re strictions of competition where the consumers would be immediately bene- fitted and not ultimately injured by freedom of production and freedom of competition. 11. Encouragement and aid in the organization of the consumers to get better access to the things they need, by means of education and guidance in the development of consumers co operative societies. 12. The protection of consumers co operatives from inimical provisions of the codes of the N.R.A. 13. Loans to consumers' enterprises in the supply of housing and other needs, in which adequate security can be provided and amortization within reasonable time guaranteed. 14. Consumers' representation on all code authorities. 15. The creation of a Department of Consumers in the United States Gov ernment with a Secretary of the Con sumers in the Cabinet of the President^ such a department to have jurisdiction over the Bureau of Home Economics, Food and Drug Administration, the Public Health Bureau, the Bureau of Education, and other agencies of th» Government which have to do espe cially with the consumers' interests. 16. The promotion of education to> make clear to the consumers the dif ference between the policy of scarcity, now dominating business practice, and the policy of plenty as a consumers' aim. Overlooking Cooperation By J. P. Warbasse THERE is much talk about the con sumer. Articles are written, com mittees are appointed, discussions are promoted, and plans are projected in his interest. Through all of this runs the idea of the consumer getting better access to the things he needs. In the end, the thought comes out that some thing must be done for the consumer. The more progressive minds go so far as to suggest that if the consumers would only organize for their protec tion, then the problem might be solved. The one subject of importance to the economic life of the public, of which the public is most ignorant, is the ex tent of cooperative organization of these very consumers. The man in the street does not know about it because it is a subject not admitted to the ad vertiser-controlled literature which he reads. The trade unionist is not in terested because his leaders and of ficials do not want the general mem bership to become interested in some thing that would detract attention from the trade unions as the solution of the working man's problems. The political-* ly unorthodox avoid cooperation for the same reason as the trade unionists, and furthermore because cooperation makes for the reduction o£ the func tions of the State and not for the ex pansion of the State. Social workers, and philanthropists are not interested because the growth of cooperative so cieties tends to make philanthropy un necessary. The intellectuals prefer to> patronize profit business while they oc cupy themselves talking and writing about other schemes of social better ment in some future Utopia. The aca demic economists do not like coopera tion because it does not fit into their picture; 'their learning, their statistics, and their theories are built about the profit motive, and cooperation dis turbs them all. People engaged in profit business, and that means most everybody, see how cooperation may eventually interfere with their profits if it should enter their field. Then, too, against cooperation are human indifference and indolence. To- COOPERATION 57 go into cooperation means putting up money and taking risks. It means also to be concerned for goods on the shelves, delivering the milk bottle at the kitchen door, weighing and measuring commodities, making change at the cash register, keeping books, auditing and balancing accounts, and actually carrying on business. These are all rather vulgar and material functions. Nice people prefer not to be involved in such things. Talking, writing, and voting are easier—and less risky. There is also the danger of a coopera tive business failing, and there is the reproach that goes with failure. It is more comfortable to be working for some noble scheme that can not fail be cause it exists only in the mind or in some distant land. Looking to the State to solve problems removes one frorn^ close contact with the responsibility. Stateism results from the moral indo lence of the consumers. Nevertheless there are people who are organizing as consumers to get the things they want. The existence of their cooperative associations should be known at least to those who think they are enlightened, if for no other reason than that, in the chaos of profit business, the cooperatives are by far the more successful of the two. The oil business in the United States, for ex ample, is a product of our master minds; but the money losses and the people whom it has thrown out of jobs during the past four years have shocked our whole economic system. And the oil business today is so de moralized that it seems destined to be taken over by the Government to make possible a supply of oil products for the public. But during this same pe riod of depression, the oil associations of the cooperative consumers have thriven. Although dependent on profit business for their supplies, they have grown and multiplied. Their oil sta tions dot the countryside through all the middle and northern states. There are now some 1500 of these associa tions. People who have invested in them have not lost their money. Em ployees have not lost their jobs. Last year these associations distributed to the consumers some 38,000 tank cars of gasolene and kerosene, or over 300,- 000,000 gallons of refined oils; 8,700,- 000 gallons of lubricating oils; and around 3,800 tons of greases. Their capital investment amounts to $15,- 000,000. They have 7,000 employees. In 1933 they supplied their consumer patrons with $35,000,000 worth of petroleum products. On this, their savings-returns (patronage rebates) to members averaged 15 per cent on the retail prices, or over $5,000,000 in cash, handed back to their members. This averages 33 per cent yearly in come on investment, and illustrates the cooperative method in an industry which takes large profits from the con sumers. It is natural that profit busi ness should begrudge the consumers this saving which, without the cooper atives, would be profits for somebody else. These oil societies are moving in the direction of all cooperatives—'to ward federation and toward owner ship of the sources of supply. The United States adds to these 1500 oil societies, some 1600 coopera tive societies among the farmers for supplying their members with farm necessities. Many of these maintain large warehouses, and some have fac tories and mills for producing feed, fertilizer, flour, lumber, and other goods. Their membership is over 500,- 000. Their business in 1933 amounted to $200,000,000. About 500 more co operative societies conduct retail stores. There are several cooperative wholesales, owned by the retail asso ciations. There are 2000 cooperative banks, mostly credit unions; and some 900 other societies carrying on hous ing, restaurants, bakeries, milk supply, telephone service, medical care, laun dries, electric supply, undertaking, and other services. This total of 6,500 as sociations has an estimated annual turnover in business of $365,000,000 and 1,800,000 members. It is not much to say that these as sociations are in general more success ful and economically more substantial than the profit businesses which com pete with them; but it is important that they represent a different kind of busi- 58 COOPERATION ness. These are businesses run for the purpose of supplying their members directly with commodities and services. And by means of these organizations, "the members are learning how to carry on business to supply their needs with out being at the mercy of profit busi ness or without turning to the State to serve them. The Cooperative League, whose function it is to federate the coopera tives into a single national union, al ready embraces 1500 of these associa tions, with 500,000 members and an annual business turnover of $100,000,- 000. This organization in turn is a member of the International Coopera tive Alliance which consists of the na tional societies of forty countries, with a total of over 100,000,000 members in over 250,000 societies. This does not include the societies of Italy and Ger many which have been dismissed from the Alliance until they shall be able to free themselves from fascist control. The United States is one of the backward countries in cooperative or ganization. Great Britain has 7,000,000 members in its 1300 cooperative so cieties. Their total capital amounts to £145,000,000. Their total sales in 1933 were over £200,000,000. The net sur plus saving ("profit") was £26,000,- '000. The Cooperative Movement is notably substantial in Denmark, Swe den, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Switzerland. In these countries are found wholesales and manufacturing businesses owned by the consumers which are often the largest businesses of their kind. Already in many districts in these countries most of the business is carried on by cooperative societies. And this means every kind of business. Whether it is in Stockholm or Luzern that one looks for the finest distributive stores, he finds the shops of the co operatives answer to this description. It is difficult to find people in the United States who are aware that the largest flour mills, that the biggest •wholesale business, that the largest tea production, and the best run coal mines in the British Empire are owned by co operative consumers' societies. Few know of the banking, insurance, hos pitals, electric power and light plants, on a large scale carried on by the or ganized consumers, in many countries of the world. The significant facts of cooperation seem to escape the minds that are now groping for solutions of their problems. In the presence of high ly successful cooperative housing in New York, reformers who are dealing with the housing problem turn to the politicians and landlords to administer housing for the people. But there stand the cooperative houses, occupied by their owners who were once at the mercy of the landlords of the tene ments. However, quietly and steadily, the Cooperative Movement goes on. The people who do learn of it and who un derstand it put their hand to its service. And I have never known an under standing cooperator to turn away from its cause. • SIX WEEKS WITH EUROPEAN COOPERATIVES How Many Can Go? Please Write TIME—Sailing on "lie de France"— July 28th. Arriving New York on "Olympic" September llth. ITINERARY — Gothenberg, Stock holm, Helsingfors, Leningrad, Mos cow, Copenhagen, London, Man chester, Glasgow. SPECIAL ATTRACTION in London: Congress of International Coopera tive Alliance and Exhibit of Cooper ative Manufactures in the Crystal Palace. Otherwise the places to be visited speaik for themselves! COST—Tentatively figured at $375— $400. Rate includes third class pas sage both ways on steamer; trans portation abroad; lodging through out in good pensions or small hotels; meals; tips in hotels for standard service; transfer of baggage and group members from station to hotel and vice versa. Rail journeys are third class and sleepers are not in cluded except for the night journey from Leningrad to Helsingfors. Higher class accomodations may be booked. Write The Cooperative League at 167 West 12th St., New York, N. Y. COOPERATION 59 Will the Oil Co-ops Expand into Other Fields? r I 'HE Cooperative Association of •*- Uruguay, organized only a year ago, has 9 different sections. One is responsible for the distribution of milk, meat and bread. Another is a medical section with surgeries in Montevideo and two other towns and claims on the services of 48 doctors and 12 dentists. Other services are motor-car repairs, nursing, physical culture, house plan ning, social and recreational, and legal services. An educational section has 1600 students and deals in many sub jects, including cooperation. The so ciety has 5000 members. It appears that the cooperators of Uruguay see cooperation, not as a mere grocery store or oil station affair, but as an all-around program of eco nomic and social reconstruction. Looking over our many and diverse cooperative enterprises in the United States—stores, oil associations, apart ment houses, bakeries, dairies, credit unions, buying clubs, creameries, burial associations, restaurants, and others—it seems that we have many black beans, many red beans, many white beans,—but where is the bean porridge? In any community a cooperative oil association is a fine thing, but it is only a beginning. Obviously, co-op gasoline and oil will not lubricate all the problems of the community. It will do only two things: (1) Give the com munity a better buy in gasoline, oil and kindred products; and (2) Give the people of the community practice in running their own cooperative enter> prise. But if the cooperators are satisfied with No. 1 and do not go on to make use of No. 2, using the knowledge gained to spread cooperation into every useful economic activity in the com munity, extending the cooperative services into every street and alley and down every high-road and cross-road, then cooperation in that community is a stunted and insignificant thing. It is not enough to plant a co-op oil association, a co-op bakery, a co-op hospital, in a given community; we must plant COOPERATION. The aim of any cooperative society should be the complete cooperatization of the community, and the members should not lie back on their oars until this is accomplished. Cooperators often say that you can begin to cooperate right where you are in a small way and develop gradually to larger fields. We verily believe that they take such pride in their small be ginnings and become so absorbed in them that they quite forget the pro gram of development into larger fields. But a beginning must be made some where, and the question may be: In what type of enterprise? The cooperative food store has been found a logical and practical beginning enterprise for cooperative societies the world over. In the rural districts of our own country, many more oil associa tions than stores have been started in recent years, with almost 100% suc cess. It does not matter what type is used, so long as the development does not stop there. Cooperative stores, more than any other type, have shown a capacity to expand into other services, such as milk, bakery, restaurant, coal, feeds and farm supplies, social and educa tional activities. Perhaps the oil asso ciations also will spread their wings, but they have not done so to date. Many co-op stores have added gas stations, or at least a gasoline pump on the premises, but have any oil as sociations built food stores? We should rejoice to hear of it. Man does not live by gas alone. The reason why the oil associations have stuck to oil is that they are com posed of farmers who are conscious of buying gasoline through their associa tion to meet their needs as producers. They are not conscious of their gen eral consumer needs and do not think of their oil association as a general 60 COOPERATION consumers cooperative, at least not to the extent that the members of a co operative store society do. Perhaps now that oil associations are starting in some cities (notably the Minneapolis Cooperative Oil Associa tion), the oil movement will broaden its horizons. The credit union is another type of cooperative with which many groups begin. It may begin very small, and is easy to run. But if a group of cooper- ators stop with the achievement of a credit union, of what significance is their cooperation? Very little. They have helped themselves in saving and in borrowing money. And they have added to their education. But those are the limits of their cooperative move ment. Credit cooperation is an admirable way for a group to begin, but it should not stop there, as it does with a ma jority of the credit unions. A few go on into group buying, such as the Lowe's Grove (N. C.) rural credit union, which in six years purchased $250,000 worth of supplies, at an esti mated saving to the members of $30,- 000. We wish this were typical of credit unions, not exceptional. We are inclined to estimate the value of any cooperative enterprise, not on the cash saving which the mem bers reap, but on its capacity for ex pansion into other fields of consumer- need-supply. In this respect the co operative store rates high. It is an ideal nucleus around which to build an all-around cooperative program. It is our belief, however, that such a program will be built around any co operative which is made up of really zealous cooperators. O. C. News and Comment Union Oil Company Members Not Hungry for Dividends The Union Oil Company Coopera tive finished the year 1933 with a con siderable increase in surplus savings over the year before. It has always paid savings-returns. The management at the end of 1933 saw that the asso ciation could refund to the members 20% on the gross business. The au ditors recommended paying a 15% re turn. When the directors met to pre pare their recommendations for the stockholders meeting, after going over the matter thoroughly they decided that not more than 12J/£% be paid, and accordingly made this recommendation to the stockholders. The matter was discussed for some two hours by the stockholders at their meeting. The stockholders seemed to be more con cerned about leaving the money in the business for future expansion and development than they were in paying it. out in cash to themselves. A delegate representing one of the western cooperatives made a statement substantially as follows: "A few years ago in a meeting of this kind, most of the stockholders would have talken the position that we should pay out every dollar possible, and I am greatly sur prised now that the stockholders are taking the position that the savings we have made in the past year would be worth more to us in the treasury of the company and used for expansion and development of additional facilities than it will be if distributed to the member companies. Judging from the statements, which have been made here today, it is no longer a question of 'how much can we pay out', but rather a question of 'how can we best use the surplus savings we have made'." Another delegate, representing a company which was not a member, who had been sent by his association to investigate, made this statement: "Myself and three others are at the. 'window looking in.' The thing that we are the most interested in, is whether or not you are going to 'milk the cow dry' by paying out all of your surplus savings or whether you are going to leave a substantial amount in the com pany to build up your reserve for ex- COOPERATION 61 pari'ding of your facilities. W'e believe the latter course is the course which should be pursued, and we are not in terested in becoming affiliated with you unless you pursue that course." At the conclusion of this discussion the stockholders voted a savings re turn of 12%%, but in the same resolu tion gave the directors the authority to withhold the payment for an in definite time and to pay the return on ly when in the judgment of the di rectors the best interests of the com pany would justify such payment. Substantial reserves were also set a- side by action of the stockholders. The present reserves now equal 93% of the capital stock. • "Our Codes" Taking advantage of all the current talk about codes, the Central Coopera tive Wholesale is using an advertise ment headed "Our Codes" and con sisting of three small designs; first, CO-OP, the cooperative brand trade mark; second, 'the trade union label; third, the Blue Eagle. A large poster of this design appears in the new store of the Peoples' society, Superior. • New Society in New York A "Peoples Cooperative Society" has been formed in New York City, with headquarters at 7 East 15th St. There are three branches, in Morning- side Heights, Greenwich Village, and south Bronx. Laundry collection serv ice is offered. The society is a member of Cooperative Distributors, Inc. which offers 75 to 100 articles by mail order. "The People's News," a mimeographed paper is issued. The work of the socie ty at present is largely education. • Growth at Maynard Total business of the United Co operative Society of Maynard, Mass., in 1933 was $256,573.80, an increase of $11,300, or an average increase per month of $940. The net will warrant a savings return of approximately 3% of sales. A new line of the society is range oil, which sold 53,683 gallons in months. Nevertheless, the coal output increased. 110 carloads of produce were handled during the year. Addi tional space had to be provided in the granary. A storage plant was built in the basement of the main store to in sure the keeping of vegetables." The society employs 28 full-time workers and others part-time. • Fire Insurance The 5 Cooperative Fire Insurance Companies of Sullivan and Adjoining Counties, N. Y., gained 132 members in 1933, making a total of 1523. These cooperators saved approximately $120,500 over what profit insurance would have cost, says Boris Fogelson, Secretary. • Fitchburg's Institute Energetic Kenneth Pohlmann writes us that the success of the first term of the Fitchburg Cooperative Institute has "surpassed expectations." The sec ond or winter term started January 22. This is the only example we know in America of a general educational proj ect sponsored by a co-op society. Six instructors offer 15 courses ranging from Psychology through Science and Modern Drama to Cooperation. Each meets one evening a week for 12 weeks. A registration fee of $1, plus $1.50 for each course, is charged. Eino Friberg teams up with Pohlmann in the directorship. There is an Advisory Board of 5 interested citizens. Classes meet in the rooms of the United Co operative Society. But, some will say, why not stick to teaching Cooperation? No, Fitchburg has the right idea. First, because gen eral, cultural education is necessary to develop the capacity to cooperate. A recent survey by the Dept. of Agricul ture showed strikingly that the farmers who cooperate most are the farmers who are best educated. Second, be cause such a project is a real service to the community which is bound to react favorably to the co-op. The Institute now has 35 students, from all walks of life. Many of them are learning of the cooperative move- 62 COOPERATION Ilmari Kauppinen Pres., Peoples' Co operative Society, Superior. ment for the first time through this school. This is also true of some of the instructors. • Successful Cooperation At the annual meet ing of the Peoples' Cooperative Society of Superior, Wis., which is aggressive ly expanding, total sales in 1933 of $77,061.14, an in crease of about 6% over 1932, were an nounced. Net gain was $1,474.15 and a savings return of ap proximately 2% was voted. The number of the directors was increased from 9 to 11. A resolution of the meeting directed the managers to purchase, insofar as possible, from the Central Cooperative Wholesale. The new store, described in our March issue, is already on a self-sus taining basis. Patronage has increased steadily. People of Superior who have known nothing of Cooperation are now learning about it through this bold expansion of the Peoples' Society. • Hubbardston Digs Out of the Snow Spring has come once again after all the tough weather of these last four months. Hub bardston Co-op Club is rehearsing for a one- act farce to be given at the play contest in Maynard some time in April. Socials and co-op nites have been very successful all winter. We have been fortunate in getting new members lately. At present we have 27 members, which means 27 full-blooded cooperators. Our bowl ing team, which is in the Dusty League of Gardner, goes by the moniker of the "Hub bardston Cooperative." A new party in town which "was organized by us and goes by the name of the Coopera tive Party succeeded in getting its member, Rev. Alex Kukko, into the board of public wel fare at the last election. Another member, Mr. Ilmari Salminen, was defeated by a few votes in the selectman race. New clubs, to be formed by the league in the near-by towns soon, will be a success, let's all hope. Hope alone won't build these, but let's work for them with all our might. •—The Mayor Held by Bandits The following letter from a student of co operation was recently received by Professor Colston Warne, director of the Cooperative League Correspondence School: • Rural Normal College, Pei-chuan, Hwei-hsien, Honan, China. Dear Doctor Warne: I am really sorry in writing to you so late. I entered the C. L. C. School in Oct. 10, 1930. But hardly a month after that I was captured for ransom by the bandits in the city where I was, in Fukien. The ransom firstly asked was too high for my family to pay and I remained in their hands for several months. Wlien I was at last released I was very sick. The typhoid fever attacked me and I was obliged to stay in the hospital for another several months. The period of convalescense lasted almost a whole year and I really recovered my health only this year. I begin my studies in Cooperation as soon as I have force and leisure enough. I read Dr. Warbasse book several years ago. And in reading it again I get the meaning more clearly and the profit is more real. I read twice your lessons before I write the answers. In asking you to pardon me generously for my delay which is against my will, I beg you to correct my mistakes and give me some advices in the studying of Cooperation. Woo Keh Kong. Academic Questions Many letters like the following show a grow ing interest- March 20, 1934 To the Editor: For some years I have been carrying on an investigation of the various forms of coopera tion in the State of Wyoming, preliminary to writing a thesis on the subject. I have some interesting material on con sumers cooperation and am desirous of bring ing my material up to date. If you can suggest organizations in the State or individuals in terested in the movement, who could inform me as to such organizations, I should greatly appreciate the assistance. To what extent do you consider Mutual Building and Loan Asso ciations a form of consumers' association? Are there not a number of Mutual telephone com panies which are purely cooperative and of the consumer type? Dr. Warbasse's books and articles have been of great assistance, but I hesitate to address him since I know how very busy he must be. Probably you also have plenty to do, and I can only plead that I know no one else, who can give me just the information I need. I inclose $1.10 for a year's subscription to "Cooperation" and postage. (Mrs.) Harriet K. Orr University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo. COOPERATION 63 Planning Field Trips THE Editor recently accompanied a party of Commonwealth College students on a visit to two negro colleges in Arkansas. W^e talked with individual students and instructors, sat in classes and held discussions on social and eco nomic problems of the day, ate in the dining- hall, went to assembly and listened to spirituals wonderfully sung, and sang some workers' songs in return. It was a stimulating and en joyable experience. We learned what these negro students were thinking about, especially in reference to eco nomic and race problems. We found them liberal, even radical, in their views. And we had reason to believe that they were stimulated by our views, especially on the equality and united action of negro and white workers. En couraged by this experience, Commonwealth will probably send other student groups on similar trips to fellow institutions. Again we were impressed by the value of field trips both as an educational method and as a way of spreading ideas. We suggest the following types of field trips for cooperative groups: 1. A Youth League may make a trip to near by colleges or schools to find out what is being taught in social science classes, and to present the cooperative idea. Go prepared to give and take. Be ready to sing co-op songs, and maybe give a skit if desired. First, write the Dean or President for an invitation; usually they will cooperate in such an educational purpose. As to cost, the Commonwealth trip took 10 people to 2 colleges about 150 miles away, for 2 days, for about $30. Reducing the group to 5 would have cut the cost in half. 2. A Youth League, Women's Guild or other groups may make a trip to a special point of interest, such as a liberal forum, an unemployed league, a prison (an interesting place to go when you don't have to), a legislature in ses sion, or a municipally owned light plant. Such trips add to one's education, sometimes give a chance to propagandize in neighboring towns, and appeal to members making them feel that their league or guild is alive and has "some thing doing." 3. The obvious co-op field trip is to visit other cooperative enterprises. The Central Co op Wholesale gets its member societies to send groups to visit the plant in Superior. These trips are popular. Societies should also visit one another, make exchange visits, give ex change parties, plays, dances, or other enter tainments. There is much that can be learned from one another, not to mention the pleasure of social contacts with neighbor cooperators. Such visits also make for more mutual action. When a live co-op group goes to visit one that is in a comparatively comatose state, who knows what inspiration may be the result? When a group of worker-cooperators go to visit a group of farmer-cooperators, both will find themselves in school. How long since your group has been visiting? Fill up with co-op gas and let's go. • Silver-Tongued Orator Is Seldom Efficient In re whether a candidate for an elective position in a Cooperative society should make an active campaign, I should say that what is most needed in such an officer is "efficiency." The silver-tongued orator, or the clever pub licity man seldom possesses this quality; the tongue-tied man may or may not. The efficient man, however, seldom is a talker. He is a doer. A campaign connotes the forensic. There the talker will overcome the efficient but silent doer. Ergo, campaigning will accomplish what is not desirable. What will make for intelligent voting? In telligence, exercised in voting. The voter will have to supply it, and if he has it not, there is not much that can be done about it. Yours for intelligent, efficient cooperation, William Ryan, Attorney, West New Brighton, N. Y. The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St.. New York. N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. 64 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 33. Consumers Cooperation in the United States (illus.) 1983 __ .IB 8.00 «9. Story of Toad Dane (By Stuart Chase) ________________ .06 84. The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietridh _________________ .05 4.00 85. Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ____________ .10 7.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Roch dale Cooperative Society ____ .26 15.00 6. Model By-Laws for a Rochdale Cooperative Society ________ .05 2.50 29. Credilt Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson) ____—______ ,5iO 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apartment House _________ .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law _____ .10 30. "When the Whistle Blew" (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ____ .06 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 .75 •62. Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter __————______ .05 2.001 •63. .Sign or Transparency of League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter ________________ .26 15.00 «7. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Eimlblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 260 •68. To Mothers ______________ .02 1.00 70. Fanners' Cooperation. A Way Out: An address by L. S. Her- ron ___________________ .05 4.00 72. Little Lessons in Cooperation, .35 74. The Burden of Credit _______ .02 1.00 75. What is the Cooperative Store .03 2.00 76. What is Consumers' Cooperation .05 4.00' 77. The Most Necessary Thing in- Life ____________________ .02 1.00 78. Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Moray's Worth _______ .02: 1.00 79. There Are Two Sides to Every Counter ________________ .02 1.00 SI. Cooperative Youth Songs ____ .25 The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. 80. Consumers', Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 531 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics__ What Cooperation means to a depression-sick America _____ .03 2.00' 4.00 83. "What is the Cooperative League 82. .25 Raivaaja Print—Fitehburg, Mass. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.60 per hundred) Subscription, per year (foreign, $1.26) $1.00 Review of International Cooperation (Pub. by the I. C. A.) ____________ Per Tear, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as con taining the best discussion of the modern Co operative Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in, Russia, 1924 ___________________ 1.50 Brighlt'Will, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children ____________________ .15 Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers ____________ 1.10 Flanagan, J. A: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 __________________ 2.10 Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Socie ties. American edition and notes, 1922 Cloth _______________________ 1.50 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees _________ 2.50 Holyoake: RodhdaJe Pioneers 18'92 ____ 1.10 Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932 3.75 Indian Cooperation, Children's story ___ .15 Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products _________________ 3.10 Kress, A. J.: Capitalism, Cooperation Communism, 1932 _______________ 2.00 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guildswomen, telling what the Guild has done for them __________ 1.25 Madamis, J. P.: The Story Retold _____ .85 Nichofeon, Isa: Our Story ___________ .25 Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators _____________________ 1.50 Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems ______________________ 1.35 Owen, Robert: Autobiography _______ .75 Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic_ 1.85 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1891 ___________________ 1.10 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S. 2.26 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in Society, 1®20 ___________________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction in Ireland, 1918 _________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark ______________________ 1.10 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920 _______————__— 1.60 Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movemenlt. (In Yiddish) ____________________ 1.00 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy (19:27) _______________-____——— l.©0 Warbasse, J.P.: What Is Cooperation, 1S27 .76 Wame, C. EL: Consumers' Cooperative Movement in Illinois 1926 __———————— 3.5'0 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers* Co operative Movement, 1921 _i.—•.________ 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, •,1917 ___________—_____———————— 1J60 Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry _—————————————— 1.66 Cooperation, Bound Volumes. 1915 to 1932: Inclusive, each year „_-——————————— 1.25 The People's Year Book, 1984, English, paper .76, cloth -—_______!—————————— I-35 Tear Book of The Cooperative League, 19'32 _ _________________________ • COOPERATION Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Coo United States Vol. XX. No. 5 MAY, 1934 10 cents A Special Issue This is a special issue of COOPERATION. It consists largely of a summary of Consumers' Cooperation. There is a constant de mand for such a presentation for general distribution and it is to meet such requests that this special issue has been prepared. We be lieve our readers will appreciate having the whole Consumers' Co operative Movement placed before them in this way. The inside 16 pages will be reprinted as a pamphlet for widespread distribution. It is intended to be the primary pamphlet for use in general educa tional work and it is anticipated that 'it will be ordered and dis tributed in large quantities by Consumers' Cooperative Associations. The title is America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation, and the following subjects are covered: The Four Proposed Solutions—'Capitalism, Corporatism, Communism and Consumers' Cooperation. Why Consumers' Cooperation is Necessary. What Consumers' Cooperation Does. How Consumers' Cooperation Grows. Organize a Consumers' Cooperative. Study Consumers' Cooperation. Leaders, Speak Definitely—'Lead Out! Join The Cooperative League. What an Opportunity! 66 COOPERATION COOPERATIO N An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and dis tribute for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A.. 167 West 12th St.. New York City. E. R. Bowen, Editor Contributing Editors George Halonen A. W. Warinner V. S. Alanne George Jacobson Entered as Second Class matter, December It, 1917, at the Post Office at New York. N. T., un der the Act of March S. 1879. Price >1.00 a. year. Vol. XX. No. 5 May. 1934 EDITORIAL Our New Secretary On the first of January this year, Mr. Eugene R. Bowen entered upon the duties of General Secretary of The Cooperative League. His native state is Iowa. After grad uating from college, he went into busi ness in Illinois and became a manu facturer of power farm machinery. Disillusioned by practical experience as to the profit method, he resigned from business to study through to a definite conclusion as to the economic system necessary to distribute the products which the power machines he had helped to build had produced. This led to his realization that the coopera tive organization of consumers offers the democratic solution to the econom ic problem. Mr. Bowen has intensively thrown himself into the promotion of the con sumers' cooperative movement, not on ly as an economic method but as a force capable of the intellectual and moral rescue of a society close to the brink of decay. He brings to his office understand ing, earnestness, and executive ability. Before his vision there spreads a so ciety to be salvaged by the simple ex pedient of cooperation and mutual aid. Mr. Bowen stands ready to do his part and to give his best energies to this end. J. P. W. What Should Cooperatives Do With Their Savings? The profits or savings in Consumers' Cooperatives belong to their members. They are the owners. Their purchases maike the profits possible. What shall they do with them? A natural first answer would be to pay them back at once into their own pockets on the basis of their purchases. But experience has demonstrated that it is wise to consider that there will be lean as well as fat years and it is well to provide sufficient reserves for pro tection in times of declining price le vels. The goal of a Cooperative De mocracy also requires the setting aside of reserves for the expansion of each Cooperative Association as rapidly as good judgment deems wise. From one standpoint this would seem to answer the question as to what Cooperatives should do with their savings: set up reserves for protection, set up reserves for expansion and pay the balance back to themselves. But experience has also proven that cooperative businesses do not survive and grow without constant educational work within their membership. The members must be kept closely in touch with Cooperative principles and prac tice. Education is insurance of steady and growing trade. Still further, the educational prob lem before Cooperatives is how soon do they want to bring into being a complete Cooperative Democracy. The "Promised Land" is on ahead—how soon do we want to really live in it? Anything short of it is a constant handicap to ourselves and our chil dren. Cooperative education must be viewed as a missionary movement. We help ourselves as we help others. The Cooperative League can help to advance the Consumers' Coopera tive Movement much faster, as rapidly as Cooperative Associations appre ciate the vital necessity of national education in Cooperative principles and practice and determine to use a larger part of their savings through their League to "Cooperatize America." COOPERATION 67 AMERICA'S ANSWER -CONSUMERS' COOPERATION A CHALLENGE AND A CALL TO ACTION! By E. R. Bowen, General Secretary The Cooperative League Power production has made plenty possible for all. As George W. Rus sell says, "It is now our business to stretch our hands out and take it." What limited lives we live compared with what we might. We have the poverty of scarcity in the midst of a surplus of plenty. Nearly all of us have far less than we would if we justly distributed the food and goods our auto matic power machinery can produce. We must build a new economic owner ship system for our power production age. First, we tried producer ownership and control. Then gradually we adopted our present producer-finance combination. Both have failed, for in the midst of plenty we still have widespread want. There is a successful, proven alternative we can turn to, which will give us economic justice and freedom—that of Consumers' Cooperative Ownership and Control. President Roosevelt made a most significant suggestion in his address to Congress when he said, "We would save and encourage the slowly growing impulse among consumers to enter the market place equipped with sufficient organization to insist upon fair prices and honest sales." The only consumers' organizations, which can effectively and permanently do this are Consumers' Cooperatives. Justice Brandeis of the Supreme Court has been telling America ever since he wrote his famous book, "Other People's Money," in 1913, that America's way out was cooperative organization by the consumer. His closing statement, written over twenty years ago was, "May we not expect that when the cooperative movement develops in America, merchants and manufacturers will learn from farmers and workingmen how to help themselves by helping one another and thus join in attaining the New Freedom for all." There are now many evidences that farmers, office and factory workers are definitely be ginning to learn and practice this peaceful way to plenty for all. The great French leader of Consumers' Cooperation, Professor Charles Gide, sums up the matter of the future economic organization of society in these few words, "What is the consumer? Nothing. What must he be? Everything!" The purpose of this pamphlet is to tell briefly the story and facts about Consumers' Cooperation, to indicate the fine kind of a world a Consumers' Cooperative organization of society would be, and to tell how to get it. Write for further information in the way of facts and figures to: THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE, 167 West 12th Street, New York, New York Pamphlet No. 341 Single Copy lOc Ask for quantity prices 68 COOPERATION THE FOUR PROPOSED SOLUTIONS Individualistic capitalism has largely served its time in the progress of the human race, as did serfdom and slavery before it. It has so centralized wealth that, whereas formerly the richest 2% of the people owned only 5% of the wealth,,now the richest 2% own 80% of our wealth. Interest payments were still 96.8% in 1932 of what they were in 1929, while wages dropped to 39.8%, according to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research. In a great agricultural state like Iowa, farm tenancy has been increasing at almost 1% per year since 1900—'then 30% were ten ants, now nearly 60%. Four general solutions are being attempted today to remedy the above conditions: first, Regulated Capitalism; second, Corporatism or Fascism; third. State Communism; and fourth. Consumers' Cooperation. We in America should, undoubtedly, begin by determining definitely just what we want as a nation and then carefully analyze each of these four pro posed systems to determine which will more nearly give us what we want. We must determine whether we want to continue Political Democracy or adopt Political Dictatorship. The establishment of democratic political govern ment was one of the great forward movements in history. Political Democracy is America's great contribution to the world—America's Dream, it is called. Surely in America we need not give up our hard-won heritage of one hundred and fifty years of political, religious and educational freedom in trying to gain economic freedom. Next we must weigh carefully and decide whether we want Economic Democracy or Economic Dictatorship—'an economic system whereby we will have ownership by the few and limited production, or ownership by the many and unlimited production. The key problem is ownership. The amount of food and goods we produce and their degree of widespread distribution are de pendent upon the distribution of ownership of the means of production and distribution. Shall we not, in America, adopt Economic Democracy, or owner ship by the many, as well as Political, Religious and Educational Democracy? Now let us analyze each of the four proposed systems in the light of the assumption that we, in America, want to retain our present Political Democ racy and adopt Economic Democracy, and see which of the four proposed systems will give us what we want. The first of the four proposed systems is the one with which America is now experimenting—that of Regulated Capitalism. Under this system will we be able to retain Political Democracy and achieve Economic Democracy? What does Regulated Capitalism as we are now practicing it mean? Un der Regulated Capitalism we are abandoning rugged individualism and adopt ing paternalistic protection. Government crutches are being supplied to bank ing, business, farming and labor. The purpose is said to be to establish so- called balanced abundance. Harold Laski says we are attempting to do with our economic system what is impossible from its very nature. It was built to make profits for the few; we are trying to make it produce service for the many, which cannot be done. We will eventually realize that there are two diametrically opposed and inherent contradictions in Capitalism under Power Production. Thus we cannot have Political Democracy under Power-Production Cap italism. Power-Production Capitalism is Economic Dictatorship, or ownership and control by the few over the many. The indefinite continuance of Political Democracy alongside Economic Dictatorship is impossible. While we are now attempting to retain Political Democracy, we cannot do so indefinitely if we continue Economic Dictatorship. Eventually we must either adopt a system of Economic Democracy or give up Political Democracy. COOPERATION 69 Again, we cannot have Economic Democracy under Power-Production Capitalism. Economic Democracy, or ownership by the many, is possible only under conditions of Hand-Production Capitalism—or by returning to the "lowered standards of an earlier era." Under hand-production each man can own his own means of production. But power-production inevitably produces ownership by the few under Capitalism. Either we must give up power- production or ownership by the many if we retain Capitalism. In other words, under capitalism we must accept hand-production and scarcity if we want ownership by the many, or we must accept ownership by the few if we want power-production and plenty. We cannot have both power-production and ownership by the many under Capitalism. Individualistic Capitalism has not only served its day but Regulated Capitalism cannot give us the good life for all. Capitalism is an organization of producers for a day of hand-production and scarcity—our problem now is consumption in a day of power-production and plenty, and requires a new economic organization of consumers. Italy and Germany are experimenting with Corporatism or Fascism. This system is Capitalism to the extreme degree with Political Dictatorship. It is' denied that the people are capable of ruling themselves. Faith is placed in "the superiority of an individual representing absolute wisdom." Political Democ racy as well as religious and educational freedom are abandoned, and economic autocracy is reinforced by governmental authority. Power-production is lim ited by the requirement of private profits. Corporatism gives neither political, religious, educational or economic freedom to the many, and is not the solution for Democratic America. Russia has adopted Communism. Its essence is Political Dictatorship by a minority instead of Political Democracy. It accepts the leadership of a sup posedly super-minority. Ownership is by the State. Unlimited power produc tion is possible. While the purpose is the economic welfare of all, the method does not produce either political, religious or educational Democracy, nor does it produce Economic Democracy, or voluntary ownership and control by the many. Democratic freedom is sacrificed for economic justice. It is not Dem ocratic America's way out. Most discussions today are about these three systems of State-Controlled Capitalism, Corporatism and Communism, as though there were no other solu tion being developed on any large scale in the world. Yet there is a fourth highly developed, standardized and established system—Consumers' Coopera tion. It is the method proved by long experience in such democratic countries as Great Britain, Scandinavia, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, etc. It does not require State control. It builds new retail units one by one, which in time take over industries and .place the ownership and control in the hands of con sumers. It substitutes consumer ownership for production-finance ownership. It is the only voluntary democratic economic system. It challenges Capitalism, Corporatism and Communism, Consumers' Cooperation alone gives us the two things we want. It retains and reinforces Political Democracy and permits religious and educational free dom to their final degree. It completes the long struggle for freedom by adding Economic Democracy, through voluntary ownership by the many and un limited power production. America is beginning to learn and to follow this Peaceful Planned Road of Plenty for ALL. Individualistic capitalism is ending. Paternalistic protec tion, either of the left as in Russia, the right as in Italy and Germany, or the center as in America, will never satisfy our desires for freedom. Voluntary Consumers' Cooperation offers us a way out that is in keeping with our dem ocratic traditions and institutions. Consumers' Cooperative Ownership and Control of Industry is the Economic System for America! 70 COOPERATION WHY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION IS NECESSARY The first business method used was that of barter. It was a direct ex change of food for food or goods by the two parties involved. In time the two original raw material producing classes turned over to middle-men the func tions of transporting, trading, manufacturing and financing. Each middle-man was originally expected to receive only a fair share of food and goods for the functions he performed. But these middle-men even tually found that, since all the food and goods had to pass through their hands as through a bottle neck, they were able to gain control and take toll beyond their fair shares. They hid this toll-taking in secret excessive salaries and covered up fabulous earnings by watering stocks. Others were attracted by the greater ease and earnings of middle-men over producers and so started an enormous number of unnecessary duplicated production and distribution facilities. At length the middle-men took far more than they could consume while producers in factories, offices and on farms received proportionately less and less. This process was further covered up by the devices of currency and credit which were only intended to measure the amount of food and goods produced and facilitate their distribution, but which made it all the easier for middle-men to gain control of the tokens which represented the actual prod ucts. So we now have food and goods in abundance for everyone, but a few hold the tokens which give them the ownership of the stored up food and goods which they cannot use since they are already surfeited, while the many receive so few tokens that they cannot buy back the abundance they have produced and the still greater abundance they are able to produce, and must live in poverty and fear. Dr. Arthur E. Holt describes the process clearly when he says that the traders have bargained across two counters, over one for labor and over the other for farm produce, to the ruin of both. Over 2,500 years ago Plato prophesied, "Ruin follows when the trader rules." We have found it all too true. The first real signs of collapse came before the world war, but they were covered up by shipping to other countries the surplus our present system could not distribute at home and by extending credit in the form of public war loans and private peace loans. Installment selling was adopted in the domestic mar ket and the future pay of millions mortgaged to enable them to get from the piled up surplus what they could not pay cash for out of the earnings they received. Thus the final collapse was postponed for some 20 years but the end inevitably came. We have reduced production with millions in want of even the simple necessities of food, clothing and shelter. Everyone should have, as George W. Russell says, "a feeling of shame that any should be poor in the national house hold. The horror of it! Private capitalism is not beautiful. It is not free. It is not just. It is not even efficient. It has failed to keep on producing in increasing quantities. Professor George S. Counts says, "It no longer works." Private profit has paralyzed production. Sidney and Beatrice Webb clearly describe the present situation, "Our capitalist civilization is dissolvinq before our eyes. COOPERATION 71 We are now trying to prime the pump of private profits by public loans. We are organizing still further by occupations into banking, business, labor and farming groups. But toolless workers and landless tenants cannot control what they do not own, no matter what kind of political regulation or voca tional organization they have. We must face squarely the elimination of the ownership and control of the tools of production and distribution by a few middle-men. Temporary help can be given in leveling up low incomes by establishing national minimum wages and maximum hours and in leveling down high in comes by taxation, but this is not a permanent cure. We are at the end of an era and in the process of a change as great as any of the three great changes in history that have preceded; the first, from barbarism to slavery; the second, from slavery to serfdom; and the third, from serfdom to wage sweating, which is the outstanding characteristic of the system called capitalism. The change now in process is from capitalism to Consumers' Cooperation. Farmers have grasped the meaning of this situation and are organizing rapidly. They are now buying cooperatively their farm and home supplies or nearly every kind, such as fertilizer, seed, feed, gas, oil, machinery, coal, lum ber, hardware, groceries, clothing, etc. Farmers have also organized to market cooperatively practically every kind of food products they raise, such as grain, live stock, vegetables, fruits, milk, cotton, etc. They are bringing their products to the edge of the city without any middle-man's profit, as a result of cooper ative buying of farm supplies and cooperative selling of farm products; but then they must turn these products into the hands of private-profit processor- distributor middle-men who take toll from farm producers in lower prices and from city consumers in higher prices. There is one real solution. City consumers must organize into consumers' cooperatives' to buy direct from farm cooperatives and eliminate the excessive middle-men's tolls that are crushing both city and farm workers. City workers have now organized cooperative clubs, stores, oil stations, dairies, cafeterias, apartments, bakeries, etc. All these different 'kinds of coop eratives are in existence in America today. However, as yet, there is no suck great activity in cooperative organization in the city as there is among farmers. But there are signs of rapidly increasing interest as the pressure of the depres sion continues and particularly now that we are beginning to be disillusioned about the results of paternalistic protection. We are abandoning so-called rugged individualism for all time as a system and have now turned to paternalistic protection; but already the evidence is piling up that prices and profits rise faster than payrolls, with the result that every day more and more Americans are turning to Consumers' Cooperation. Cooperation seeks true individualism. As Professor Kress states, "Cooperation does not aim to subju gate the individual to the masses but to make individuality possible for the masses. Neither farm nor city consumers can solve their problems separately. Farmers can buy their supplies and sell their products cooperatively but they will go broke or live in poverty because they cannot control the price they get. Factory and office workers can organize into labor unions but must still live on a low scale because they do not control the prices of what they buy. Farm, factory and office workers must unite and form Consumers' Cooperatives to eliminate the toll-taking private-profit middle-men. This is the only way economic justice and freedom can be gained. 72 COOPERATION WHAT CONSUMERS' COOPERATION DOES It is not necessary to theorize about the results of Consumers' Coopera tion. It has 90 years of successful experience behind it. Consumers' Cooperation is the Economic System necessary to match the 20th Century Age of Automatic Power Production. It is a democratic economic system based on "cooperation for use" and not "competition for profit." It is the Economy of Abundance instead of Scarcity. These are some of its proven Principles and Practices—which really make "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" possible for ALL. Consumers' Cooperation means Consumers' Ownership and Control. In asmuch as consumers furnish the market, which is the most essential thing in an economy of abundance, organized consumers must have the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution so that they can regulate production to their needs of consumption, can supply themselves with pure products without adulteration, and do so without competitive wastes in the processes of production and distribution. Consumers' Cooperation is Economic Democracy. Consumers, who are everybody, become the owners. Voting is by person and not by property,- one person, one vote. Proxy voting is eliminated—members must attend meet ings and be active. Membership is open to everyone. We now have manage ment control largely in industry, not even stockholder control. Under a co operative system consumers control and the management executes their will. Consumers' Cooperatives Distribute Profits Justly. So-called profits, •which in cooperatives are really overcharges or savings, are paid back to the consumer-member-owners on the basis of purchases, as patronage refunds. Those who produce the profits get them in proportion to the contribution they make towards them by their purchases. John T. W. Mitchell, the great leader of the C.W.S. says, "Those who pay the profits should get them back." Consumers' Cooperation results in Security—not Speculation. Capital is hired at the lowest cost. A minimum rate of interest is paid. There are no ex cessive earnings for investors so there is no watering of stock to cover them up. Stock cannot be sold at more than par value. Consumers' cooperatives re quire no governmental stock market security regulation because there is no speculation in cooperative stocks. Consumers' Cooperation Increases the Income of Every Consumer-Mem ber. A 10% patronage refund on regular retail prices means one ninth more food, goods and services. Consumers' Cooperatives Pay Fair Salaries. They are large enough to secure trained experts for managing large scale industry, but not excessive, as under the present management control of corporation policies and payrolls. Consumers' Cooperatives Abolish Secrecy. Whatever cannot survive in the open in a democracy is wrong. Balance Sheets. Profit and Loss Statements and every other figure and fact are open to consumer-member-owners in a cooperative. It is the business of all. Consumers' Cooperatives Strive for Cash Business, not Credit. Credit was said by one of the men who organized the first Rochdale Cooperative in England to be "The invention of the Devil." The only real reasons for credit business are competition for customers and inequality in the distribution of wealth, both of which cooperation eliminates. Under Consumers' Cooperation the money you invest buys a stock of goods which is carried on hand. The cash you then pay for each purchase enables the inventory to be replenished, ready for you the next time you need it. COOPERATION 73 Consumers' Cooperation Produces Pure Food and Goods, not shoddy products nor poison for profit. There is no reason for adulteration when con sumers own their own business and buy for themselves. Deception is the result of the attempt to make more private profit for a few owners. Under coopera tion the truth can be told in advertising and over the counter. Consumers' Cooperation Prevents Waste and Produces True Economy. Duplicated milk wagons, delivery trucks, and all the wastes of competitive factories and distribution systems organized as a result of the urge for private profits are eliminated under cooperation. These wasted hours of working time can be saved and used for real culture and recreation and not for fighting one another like barbarians—even though today -men use gloved hands to grab the most. Consumers' Cooperatives Promote Peace. They are the necessary eco nomic foundation to prevent war, which is caused by competition for markets to dispose of the surpluses that capitalism cannot distribute among the workers who produce the food and goods. Cooperatives remove the barriers to trade. Consumers' Cooperative Ownership and Control of Industry is the Key that we must adopt to open the door of Plenty for All. It will distribute the piled up surpluses which automatic power driven machinery has produced. Consumers' Cooperative Organization Gives the People Ownership, which Workers' Organizations do not. We have thought of ourselves as producers and organized into occupational groups. "For a century and a half," says Professor Fairchild, who wrote the book "Profits or Prosperity," "we have been trained to think of ourselves as producers instead of as consumers .—one of the most remarkable instances of inverted logic on a large scale that mankind has ever displayed." Organizing as producers is, as Mrs. Webb says, organizing the servant side of our lives, while organizing as consumers is or ganizing as masters of our lives. George W. Russell says, that when we or ganize as producers and not as consumers we are like an army that gives back to the enemy all it has won at the end of each week. Organizing as producers only is "fighting with one hand behind our backs." Organizing as consumers into Cooperatives will give us ownership and real power. The dollar we spend is more powerful than the dollar we get. Consumers' Cooperative Organization Gives Us Democratic Liberty with Economic Justice which Political State Organizations Do Not. Political State organizations suppress liberty.—they are compulsory. Consumers' Cooperation gives us economic democracy—it is voluntary. While we are getting economic justice we must also have democratic freedom. Consumers' Cooperation will Complete the Struggle for Liberty and Justice for ALL. We have deceived ourselves into thinking that religious, educational and political liberty were really possible without economic liberty and justice. Now we know they are not. Consumers' Cooperation finally ful fills liberty and justice for ALL. It gives every consumer equality in the con trol of business. It is democracy in our economic life. We have finished with competitive individualism; we will not go back to "the vomit of private capi talism" as brought to light by the Senate investigations. Nor is paternalistic protection, with bureaucratic political State control the way to liberty and justice. True liberty and justice in our economic lives can only be found in the voluntary cooperative ownership of industry by consumers. Arouse Dem ocratic America! Build faster the necessary consumers' cooperative units of a democratic economic system. 74 COOPERATION HOW CONSUMERS' COOPERATION GROWS The history of real Consumers' Cooperation dates from 1844. There had been Cooperatives organized before but not until then were the final prin ciples formulated and adopted which formed the foundations of its successful growth. The story of the start of Consumers' Cooperation, as of any great Move ment, is a simple one. The organizers of the first association were 28 poor weavers of Rochdale, England. After a year of effort they had saved a pound apiece. With this amount they bought a small stock of groceries. They were laughed at, of course, but they persisted. They had vision and practical com mon sense. They called themselves by the prophetic name of the Equitable Pioneers. They adopted the three basic principles, (1) One member one vote; (2) Minimum interest on capital; (3) Refund on purchases; which have so appealed to the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere that the Consumers' Cooperative Movement has now grown from its small beginnings to a membership of over 70 million in over 40 countries. From the example of the first Rochdale store sprang others and after twenty years their combined purchases were so great that they formed a wholesale. Then the demand for certain products became so large as to war rant owning factories. Now the Cooperative Wholesale Society owns about 150 factories, has a wholesale department which does a business of 82 million pounds, a banking department with an annual turnover of over 600 million pounds, and an insurance society with a premium income of over five million pounds. Over 6,700,000 families, or over half the families in Great Britain belong to Cooperative Associations. Their retail business in 1933 amounted to 300 million pounds. The Scandinavian countries have proved to be fruitful ground for the growth of the Movement. Denmark is an outstanding example of both Cooper ative Buying and Marketing. In Sweden they can see "through to the end" as they express it. Taking over trusts is simple there with their large member ship. The only thing necessary is for the Cooperatives to decide, upon the basis of practical study, that the time is ripe, and then proceed to build a new facto- ry. As soon as the products of their own factory appear in the stores the co- operative-member-owners switch their trade from the private to their own cooperative brand. In this way they have successfully broken the margerine, flour milling, and other trusts. Their latest victory is an electric light bulb factory built in association with cooperatives in the other Scandinavian countries. Finland's growth started as late as 1899, but with a wonderful foundation of educational promotion. It now includes over half of the popula tion. Belgium is an example of the use of cooperative profits for public service, the savings being used for the building of People's Houses and for educa tional, recreational and cultural purposes. Switzerland has towns that are al most entirely cooperative with cooperative distribution of electricity an out standing development. COOPERATION 75 Consumers' Cooperatives have been subjected to State control in Russia. Italy, Germany, and Austria, for the time being. But the cooperative spirit has never been suppressed. Freedom must eventually win and voluntary cooper ative control be restored in all of these countries. Consumers' Cooperation in America dates from 1845, only one year later than the original beginnings in England. There have been many waves but al. have subsided until recent years. The soil in America was not yet fallow as long as the safety-valve of free land was left. Since the beginning of tEe 20th Century the invention of power machinery and war and speculative emotions have largely prevented sound thinking about the necessary changes in our distribution system to match Automatic Power Production. However, among farmers, the pressure of low prices for farm products and comparatively higher prices for manufactured goods resulted soon after the war in sufficient stimulus to start cooperative organization on a large scale. Sound cooperative principles were adopted and the present growth is well founded. Feed, seed and fertilizer were naturally the first farm supplies selected for cooperative buying. Already one cooperative organization does a thirty million dollar volume of purchasing and another ten millions. Coopera tive oil purchasing was then begun, until today the latest statistics for the year 1933 report a total volume of thirty-five million dollars with a savings-return to consumer-member-owners of an average of 10%, or $3,500,000, which would otherwise have gone into increased dividends to a few stockholders. One cooperative life insurance company has made a record of fifty million dollars in policies in fifty months. Consumers' cooperatives in towns and cities in America are of even older growth although of smaller size as yet. Some groups of cooperative stores are over twenty"five years old. There are outstanding proofs of the success of Consumers' Cooperatives in dairies, bakeries, cafeterias, apartment houses, etc. Fire and auto insurance have proved to be live fields for cooperative prog ress. More recently cooperative credit unions or cooperative savings and loan,, banks are being organized in large numbers. We are beginning to learn, as older countries have, that cooperative finance is the real foundation of co operative growth. Consumers' cooperatives have grown during the depression as they grew during the war. They feed on need. Consumers' cooperation grows gradually. It builds quietly unit by unit. It replaces commercial business and keeps the wheels going while it rebuilds the economic structure of society. It does not require bullets or ballots to grow. It demands no violent revolution. The Ship of State on which we all ride need not be wrecked. The framework of our government is democratic. It will permit Utopia but not secure it. We, the people must do that for ourselves. The power rests with us. The collapse of the old system of capitalistic autocracy has greatly increased our opportunity to build a Cooperative Democracy. The method is by organizing and develop ing retail cooperatives in each neighborhood, and from them growing into wholesaling and manufacturing. Will you do your part, as a citizen, in the necessary economic rebuilding of America? 76 C O O P E R A TIO N ORGANIZE A CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE Everyone has his or her part to do in building the New America of Peace and Plenty for ALL. Everyone can do definite work right in his own neigh borhood. What must be done is to transform your neighborhood store, oil station, etc., into a Consumers' Cooperative. What is necessary is for someone in every neighborhood with initiative and idealism to start studying the Con sumers' Cooperative Movement—then to call a meeting of friends among farmers, office or factory workers and get into action. There is every reason for prompt action everywhere. If we are ever to have a Cooperative Democ racy we must begin in every neighborhood and build retail units of all kinds. If we are to hold to majority evolution in America and not be led into a revo lution with minority control, the majority must act instead of simply talk; they must start at home building retail units, instead of depending upon voting and paternalistic protection with private-profit banking-business actually in power behind the political screen pulling the strings for plays by political puppets. Society provides higher education for some of its young people, who should be leaders, not followers. Instead of asking for a job or going idle in a time like this, they should take the lead and organize groups into Consumers' Cooperatives. It's already beginning to be done. Make a job for yourself by organizing a Cooperative and at the same time have the great joy of being an active factor in the rebuilding of the world on a cooperative basis. President Frank of the University of Wisconsin, is reported to have said to a recent graduating class, "Don't let anything keep you out of the Cooperative Move ment. Then don't let your interest in the one cooperative you are a member of blind you to the larger interests of the cooperative movement as a whole." What we must do is to break down class lines and the cleavage between the country and city. Neither can live alone. Workers, whether farm, office or factory, should unite in Consumers' Cooperatives and rub shoulders and build a new society. Farmers may organize into marketing cooperatives but unless they also organize buying cooperatives, they cannot control the prices of the things they purchase. Office and factory workers can organize labor unions but they cannot control the prices they are charged unless they also organize Consumers' Cooperatives through which to buy. Why should farmers pay private profits anywhere on feed, seed or fer tilizers? Eastern farmers who belong to the Eastern States Farmers Exchange, Springfield, Massachusetts; the Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange, Ithaca, New York; or the Southern States Cooperative, Rich mond, Virginia, do not. Why pay private profits on gas, oil, twine, machinery, building supplies, etc.? Farmers belonging tc the Indiana Farm Bureau Co operative Association, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana; the Ohio Farm Bureau Service Company, Inc., Columbus, Ohio; Farm Bureau Services, Inc., Lansing, Michigan; the Farmers Union Central Exchange, Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota; the Farmers Union State Exchange, Omaha, Nebraska, or the Grange Co operative Wholesale, of Seattle, Washington, do not. Why pay private profits on gas, oil, tires, batteries, etc.? Farmers who have joined the Midland Co operative Oil Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Union Oil Company Cooperative, North Kansas City, Missouri; Consumers Associated, Inc., Ama- rillo, Texas; or the Pacific Supply Cooperative, Walla Walla, Washington, do not. COOPERATION 77 \ Over a hundred consumers' cooperative retail stores of farm, factory and office workers have united to buy groceries, dry goods, gas and many other farm and home supplies through the Central Cooperative Wholesale, of Su perior, Wisconsin. Eastern consumers' cooperatives have organized The Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, Inc., of New York City. In Minneapolis drivers and consumers have organized the Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association and eliminated private profit in milk distribution. These are il lustrations of some of the wholesale cooperative buying activities in the United States. Individual stores such as the United Cooperative Society, of Maynard, Massachusetts; the United Cooperative Society, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts; New Cooperative Company, of Dillonvale, Ohio; Soo Cooperative Mercantile Association, of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, Illinois; and Cloquet Cooperative Society, of Qoquet, Minne sota, average over 25 years of successful experience. The fact that many of these associations were formed by foreign born citizens is a challenge to American born men and women to learn to cooperate as consumers. In New York City, Consumers' Cooperative Services, Inc., is the largest example of a chain of Cooperative Cafeterias, Amalgamated Apartments the largest of a number of Cooperative Apartment Houses, and Workmen's Furniture Fire Insurance Society an example of Cooperative Fire Insurance. What has already been done can be repeated elsewhere. America is now under similar pressure to that which caused the great development of cooper atives in other countries. The need is now definitely here. It is only a matter of desire, thought and action which are now evidenced in a rapid expansion. A Co-op Club may be the necessary precedent of a Store, Oil Station, Milk Route, etc;, in order to do two things—first, to educate the members in cooperative principles and practice, and, second, to build up enough business with little overhead to form the nucleus of a volume to make the initial start of a store practicable. A few people can start. Adopt a few simple rules—the Rochdale prin ciples of one person one vote, minimum interest on capital, and patronage re funds on purchases. Start on a cash basis. Many clubs require cash with the order and thus reduce the initial capital required. Appoint organizing, buying, research, educational, and recreational committees. Then get into touch with wholesale sources of supply or also make contracts for club members' refunds from retailers by pooling purchases. A Consumers' Co-op Club can stajrt small and grow big. This has been the beginning of some of the largest cooperatives in the world. Do not leave it to others to start in your neighborhood. You are responsible for building your unit of the Cooperative Democracy. This is the "immediate practical way in which you can clear your own little corner of creation." Ernest Poisson says that no great social change has ever taken place in human history until the units of the new social order have been built within the framework of the old. If you cannot start a full fledged Cooperative Retail Organization at once, a Consumers' Co-op Club is a way to lay the foundation for a Co-op Store, Oil Station and Milk Route, which are the primary retail units necessary for a new Economic Democracy. 78 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION America is beginning to use the words "Consumer" and "Cooperation"' in our daily press and conversation. But Americans generally do not yet know what these words really mean when joined together to describe an Economic System. The silence which the minority beneficiaries of capitalism have im posed upon the press, pulpit and platform has prevented any wide-spread knowledge of Consumers' Cooperation getting to the people. Only "the truth will make us free," but neither preachers, professors, nor politicians, who are our spokesmen, nor our writers of articles and books, have taught us the simple facts about the economic system of Consumers' Cooperation. But as is said, "When leaders fail, the people point the way;" and farmers, office and factory workers are learning the principles of Consumers' Cooperation and putting them into practice in new Cooperative Purchasing Associations which they are organizing every day. Cooperative Associations do not succeed best unless a good proportion of the members really understand cooperation. This means knowledge of the history, principles and methods. False cooperation springs up where the people do not understand. Only those who know cooperative principles can build a sound Cooperative Association. Constant education is necessary. The literature of Consumers' Cooperation is large. There are general histories, discussions of principles and practice, descriptions of its growth in different countries. A suggested list of some of the best Books, Pamphlets and Magazines follows. Others can be found in the bibliography in the magazine COOPERATION. CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE BOOKS Cooperative Democracy, Dr. J. P. War- basse (1927) .................. $1.50 The standard work in America by the President of The Cooperative League. Cooperative Movement in Great Britain, Beatrice Potter (1891) .......... $1.10 The first clear analysis of the signifi cance of consumers' cooperative owner ship and control as compared with em ployee ownership. Still standard. The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, Beatrice and Sidney Webb (1921) Paper $2.00, Cloth $5.00 Written after thirty years of study in the birthplace of Consumers' Coopera tion by the greatest English economic investigators and writers. Rochdale Pioneers, George W. Holyoake, (1892) ....................... $1.10 Early history by one of the original Owenites who is called the "peer of co operative propagandists." Finland, A Nation of Cooperators, Thorsten Odhe (1931) .................. $1.50 A late story of the wonderful develop ment of Consumers' Cooperation in Fin land. Cooperative Ideals and Problems, Anders Orne (1926) .................. $1.35 A book on Sweden by a cooperative writer and officer and later Director of the Postoffice. Consumers' Cooperative Societies, Charles Gide (1922) ................... $1.50 The standard Continental work by one of the great leaders of cooperative thought. John T. W. Mitchell, Percy Redfern (1924) ........................ $1.00 The biography of the great leader of the C.W.S. who forged out the philosophy of consumer control. Every man and young man should read it as the story of the ideal business man. My Apprenticeship, Beatrice Webb (1926) ........................ $3.00 An autobiography by the world's great est woman cooperative writer. Every woman should have it. The People's Year Book, (1934) Paper $.75 Cloth 1.35 National and International. The annual of the great English and Scottish Wholesale Societies. Full of facts and figures and beautiful illustrations. No other business report like it. COOPERATION 79 CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE PAMPHLETS America's Answer—Consumers* Cooperation Single Copy $.10. Ask for quantity prices. The pamphlet you are reading. A chal lenge and a call to action. A summary of consumers' cooperation. Should be distributed in large numbers. What Is Consumers' Cooperation, Dr. J. P. Warbasse ...................... $.05 A boiled-down statement of consumers' cooperative principles and practice. The Cooperative Movement, J. H. Dietrich $.05 A sermon on Cooperation by a Min neapolis minister in a State where there are over 4,500 consumers', credit and marketing cooperatives. Cooperation Here and Abroad, Hugh J. Hughes ........................ $.10 A general story written by a former farm paper editor and Minnesota State Director of Markets. The Discovery of the Consumer, Mrs. Sid ney Webb (1928) .............. $.25 Written after 40 years of study by the one who first clearly "Discovered the Consumer." Model By-Laws for a Consumers' Coopera tive Association .................. $.05 Sweden, Where Capitalism is Controlled, Marquis W. Childs ............. $.25 A splendid story by a reporter who was sent to Sweden to learn if that country is not going to show the world the way out. The Economic Foundations of World Peace, Toyohiko Kagawa .............. $.35 America has sent missionaries to Chris tianize Japan; now Kagawa is writing pamphlets to Cooperatize America. A remarkable application of ethics to economics. Consumers' Cooperation Study Outline $.50 Six interesting and valuable lessons. Everyone should study them. Ready in early fall of 1934. How to Start and Run a Consumers' Co-op Club .......................... $.25 Reasons for, detailed instructions, by laws and sample forms. How to Start and Run a Cooperative Store $.25 How to Start and Run a Cooperative Oil Station ......................... $.25 Cooperative Housing, Agnes D. Warbasse $.10 Showing how to organize and finance cooperative ownership of homes. CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MAGAZINE COOPERATION—167 West 12th Street, New York City, New York .............. $1.00 The Official Magazine of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement with National and International News. Published by The Cooperative League, which is affiliated with The International Cooperative Alliance. START A CONSUMERS' CO-OP CLUB It's high time everyone in America learned rapidly what it means to be a consumer and to cooperate. The old order is breaking down fast. "The crumbling order of selfish greed" must be replaced by a cooperative order for human need. There is a wide-spread growth of Consumers' Co-op Clubs and an intense interest in consumers' problems. What is needed is a lot of "Co-op Clubs" in every locality, made up of both young and old, who want to know the truth and who will act when they learn. Organize such a group. Urge the study and practice of Consumers' Co operation. The Cooperative League can supply you with a Consumers' Co-op Club Course, with study outlines covering six lessons, which are most in teresting and valuable. The six lessons are as follow: 1. Economic History—from Barbarism to Slavery to Serfdom to Wage Sweating to Consumers' Cooperation. 2. Proposed Ways Out—Constitutional Capitalism, State Communism, State Corporatism (Fascism) and Consumers' Cooperation. 3. Early History and Principles of Consumers' Cooperation. 4. Consumers' Cooperation in Practice Today—among 70 million con- • sumer-member-owners in over 40 countries. 5. Literature and Leaders of Consumers' Cooperation—Great Books, Pamphlets, Writers, Leaders. 6. How to Start and Run a Consumers' Cooperative. No person should fail to know about the principles and practice of Con sumers' Cooperation. Consumers' Cooperative Ownership is the foundation of the New Day beyond the New Deal—the New Freedom for ALL. 80 COOPERATION LEADERS, SPEAK DEFINITELY—LEAD OUT! Leaders speak of a "New Social Order" and of a "Cooperative Common wealth" or of a "Cooperative Democracy." Mostly they talk in generalities. You should definitely point out just what Consumers' Cooperation really means, so that all will understand and act. Preachers! Great preachers like Charles Kingsley in England and Sonne in Denmark were pioneers in the development of Consumers' Cooperatives. Today Kagawa of Japan is saying .specifically that the Kingdom of God means the organization of Cooperatives, and he is personally helping to organize them. Why should not American Church leaders speak out definitely as to the practical economic application of the principles they preach? Professors! Great professors like Hannes Gebhard of Finland and Charles Gide of France were in the forefront of consumers' cooperative leadership in their countries. When will American educational leaders really teach the facts about the principles and practice of the democratic economic movement of Consumers' Cooperation? Politicians! You who have a sincere desire to help bring about economic justice under political democracy, will you lend your support to the only move ment which will bring economic justice to the people and preserve our dem ocratic institutions? Technicians! Yours has been the creative genius which has made abun dance possible. You have harnessed the energy of nature and made it the servant of man. You have overpowered one of man's greatest enemies, disease. Will you accept the challenge and now help to build a democratic economic sytem that will give widespread distribution of the products of your efforts by promoting Consumers' Cooperation? Business Men! Those of you who have social vision and a real desire to serve, will you help build the new Cooperative Democracy by devoting your business ability to the practical problems of Consumers' Cooperation? Will you organize your private-profit business into a public-service Consumers' Cooperative, and 'manage it for the consumer-owners? Farmers! The people living in the towns and cities could consume the food you produce if only they could buy it. You could consume vastly more of the goods they can produce. Will you work with them in organizing Con sumers' Cooperatives everywhere and eliminate toll-taking, private profit middle-men? Labor Leaders! Your members are hard pressed by unemployment, low pay and rising prices. Of what value is an increase in wages if retail prices increase in greater proportion? You will not have served the interests of your members to the fullest degree possible until you have done everything neces sary so that they are able to buy a good living with the higher wages you are fighting to secure. Promote Consumers' Cooperatives as well as Labor Unions in order to enable workers to take over the ownership of industry, become economically free, and enjoy the plenty they have produced. It is necessary for every progressive American to study through for him self the cause of our failure for all to have plenty in the midst of abundance, and then to call upon American leaders to cease being cat's-paws to the cap italistic order. Consumers' Cooperation, which means Economic Democracy, challenges every leader in America. If present leaders do not respond to the challenge, others must rise from the people. If we in America are to continue the orderly process of evolution under Political Democracy, our leaders must point the way toward Economic Democracy. The challenge of Democratic Consumers' Cooperation is at your door. Every servant of the people should speak definitely and lead out in organizing along the evolutionary and peace ful way of planned progress and plenty for all as demonstrated by the Con sumers' Cooperative Movement. Speak out and lead America towards Eco nomic Democracy. COOPERATION 81 JOIN THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE The Cooperative League is the Official United States Organization of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement. It is affiliated with the International Cooperative Alliance. The League is a federation of District Leagues and of Consumers' Cooperative Associations. It was organized in 1915 and has carried on the work for nearly 20 years of holding up the standards of Consumers' Cooperation when America was off on a war and a speculative spree. Now America is becoming consumer- conscious and turning to Cooperation as the Way Out. It is supported by Wholesale and Retail Cooperative Associations, Individual Cooperators and Social-minded Citizens. Everyone should join in order to develop the Move ment faster in America and prevent minority dictatorship. The work of the League is four-fold: First: Promoting the Consumers' Cooperative Movement; first, directly through its monthly magazine COOPERATION, by publishing literature and by interviews, correspondence and addresses; and secondly, indirectly by enlisting the support of the other groups into, which we are organized, such as the churches, schools, political or ganizations, labor unions, farm organizations, professional associa tions, etc. Cooperators must blazen forth their belief. Second: Organizing Consumers' Cooperative Retail Units and Whole sales. A constant campaign is carried on to build the Cooperative Democracy by organizing Consumers' Co-op Clubs, Stores, Oil Sta tions, etc. More active advance organizing work can be done as. funds are available. Third: Assistance to Member Consumer Cooperatives in the form of Business and Legal Advice, Auditing, Insurance and Wholesale. Buying Service and Educational Programs and Institutes. Fourth: Protecting the Consumers' Cooperative Movement from attacks- by capitalistic business whether direct or indirect through govern mental codes, interpretations, etc. The President of The Cooperative League is Dr. J. P. Warbasse, who is also a member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Al liance and of the Consumers' Advisory Board of the National Recovery Ad ministration. The Directors are Officers in Wholesale and Retail Consumers' Cooperative Associations who have proved their ability by successful practical leadership of their own Cooperative Organizations. The Cooperative League has three Regional Divisions with headquarters in the following cities: Eastern States Cooperative League, New York City: Central States Cooperative League, Bloomington, Illinois; Northern States Cooperative League, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Every citizen in America whether already a member of a Consumers' Cooperative or as yet only interested in a general way in the building of a new social order, and who wants to do more than merely read, talk and vote about it, should be an active supporter of The Cooperative League. Who will build the New Economic Order which will make America a Democracy of Plenty for ALL? Who is responsible in a democracy for the world of want and war we live in except each one of us? Join The Cooperative League, sub scribe to COOPERATION, order books and pamphlets and get into action building the world we want for ourselves and for our children. 82 COOPERATION WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY! The great leader of the Swedish Cooperative Wholesale who was re cently in America made two significant statements. The first was that, "in Sweden we can see our way through to a Cooperative Democracy." Referring to America, he said, "What an opportunity!" And so it is. A land blessed with the greatest abundance of natural resources. A people with genius for mechan ical invention. Now we have only to learn to work together to eliminate waste in manufacturing and distribution and to distribute our food and goods Justly for everyone to be surfeited with plenty. This is the fourth great step in economic history. Each new economic order has always been preceded by a change in the technique of production. First, mankind invented hand weapons which enabled some men to con quer others and resulted in the economic order of slavery. Then we developed hand tools and serfdom followed. Next machines brought capitalism with wage sweating which replaced serfdom. Each time as men progressed into a new economic order and threw off their former masters they at first thought them selves free, only to find they were in a "new but larger prison house" and still crushed by want and war. Now we have made another great step in the technique of production by inventing automatic power machinery. Fred Henderson says that mechanical inventions before were an extension of man's arms, but automatic power is a substitution for man's arms. Accordingly we must develop a new economic order to fit automatic power production. Then we shall all have plenty and at last be "free indeed." New thinking is growing rapidly. New waves of thought are sweeping over us with great speed. First, came technocracy which taught us that we had reached the Age of Plenty and left the Age of Scarcity and must develop a New Economic System to fit Automatic Power Production. Then we began to think about money and are in the process of trying to develop an accurate measure of production and exchange. Then came the codes which are leading us to organize into the different occupations in which we are engaged. Now we begin to hear the word consumer more and more and are urged to co operate. Real cooperation by consumers means the organization of Consumers' Cooperatives on a national scale. Power can only be secured by cooperative ownership. Any other organization of consumers is largely conversation with out power for real action. As consumers you are all powerful. Where you spend your money means the control of business. Every trust is afraid you will stop buying or buy else where. You have the power in your own hands to take over any industry. The process is simple—all you have to do is to set up your own consumers' co operative retail store and oil station and transfer your trade from private- profit business to your own cooperative association. Then your local associa tion joins with others into a wholesale and your wholesale starts manufac turing and the job is done. It's the way to own every trust.—America is then yours—an America owned by all of us—not just by a few. Justice Brandeis compares capitalism and cooperation in this way, "The essence of the trust is a combination of the capitalist, by the capitalist for the capitalist. The es sence of the cooperative system is association of the people, by the people for the people." Consumers' Cooperation is the Democratic Economic Order. It is Amer ica's Answer. We have reached the point where no real recovery can be made in any other way. Start action today right where you are in organizing a Co operative. Accept your personal responsibility as a citizen in a democratic country to build your local retail store, oil station or other unit of the New 'Cooperative Democracy. (MEMBERSHIP, SUBSCRIPTION AND ORDER BLANK) THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE, 167 West 12th Street, New York City, New York. Gentlemen:.— Please comply with my requests as checked and listed below: Please enroll me as a member of The Cooperative League. I enclose $_______ as my dues as a ________________ Member. (Donor, Contributor, Associate or Supporting). $1.00 of which is for one year's subscription to COOPERATION, Donor ............$100 Contributor ........ 25 Associate .......... $10 Supporting ........ 2 Please enter my subscription to COOPERATION for one year. $1.00 enclosed. Number of Copies Please enter my order for the following pamphlets and books: Name Author Amount Total amount enclosed $_____.__. Street Name ___________________ or R. F. D._ Place Date ^Z£> COOPERAT Organ of the Con- Movement in sumers Coo United States Vol. XX. No. 6 JUNE, 1934 10 THIS IS SELF-HELP THROUGH MUTUAL AID While we are now in the general psychological stage of Pater nalistic Protection in America, thefe are signs of groups in cities and towns who are thinking their way through to Consumers' Coopera tion. Two recent communications \ve have received read: Akron, Ohio—'"Conditions have been bad here and several of us have 'just recently decided to get together and try to do some thing for ourselves," Grand Island, Neb.—"We have opened up a little grocery store for the members of our society. Sp far we have been able to make the little money the men have to spend for groceries go 10% far ther." Signed, The Self-Help Society. Self-Help through Mutual Ajd is America's Answer. When groups start helping themselves as Consumers' Cooperatives in stead of depending upon the government, we shall begin the building of Economic Democracy in America. 82 COOPERATION COOPERATION An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., New York City. E. R. Bowen, Editor Contributing Editors George Halonen A. W. Warinner V. S. Alanne George Jacobson Entered as Second Class matter. December 19. 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. T.. un der the Act of March ». 187*. Price $1.00 a year. Vol. XX. No. 6 June, 1934 EDITORIAL Sow the Seed Suppose that Cooperators could say to everyone in America tomorrow, "Consumers' Cooperation is the An swer." What a great transformation would start everywhere. But that isn't the way it can be done. We've got to do the job of education more gradual- ly- But we can do it more rapidly than we have. Literature is the seed. The new pamphlet, "America's Answer- Consumers' Cooperation" is intended to be the primary general ipiece of literature for widespread distribution. Order a quantity and sow them among your members and friends. • Cooperators Should Insist that Schools Teach Facts about Consumers' Cooperation Cooperative education carried on di rectly by Cooperative Associations among their own members is slow but sure. It builds solidly among increas ingly larger local groups the necessa ry information and inspiration about the Consumers' Cooperative Move ment. There are many cooperative as sociations as yet which are practicing cooperation but not teaching it to their own members as they should. The Cooperative League, which is the educational organization supported by cooperative associations, not only assists its members in their own edu cational work but reaches out still further to educate other individuals and groups not already in the Cooper ative Movement. But neither the local nor wholesale Cooperative Associations nor The Co operative League can do directly all the educational work that should and must be done. We have in America a vast public educational system. Co- operators have a right as citizens to demand that public school and college officials teach the facts about Con sumers' Cooperation to their children. We are taxpayers. We support the public schools and colleges. We do not ask for propaganda. We simply ask that the truth be told about the 90 year old development of Consumers' Co operation in over 40 countries in the world. We have a right to demand it. Let's do it. Every Cooperator should talk personally to his public school and college leaders and persuade them to add a course on the Economics of Con sumption to their curriculums. Cooper ators who have connections with pri vate high schools and colleges should do the same. Let's make use of the facilities of our great educational sys tems to Cooperatize America. One college upon whom this was urged by a Cooperator announces in its 1934-35 catalog the following new course: ECONOMICS OF CONSUMP TION, — A study of consumers' choices, standards of living, consumers' cooperation, and the management of consumers' income. Students attending this college next fall will learn the truth about Cooperation. Why not see to it that your school also teaches the facts about Con sumers' Cooperation next year. Take this upon yourself as one of your du ties in "clearing your own little corner of creation. • Power Production and Private Owner ship are Incompatible Perhaps the clearest analysis of the necessity of a new economic order as a result of the coming of power pro duction is contained in a book written by Fred Henderson of England en- COOPERATION 83 titled, "The Economic Consequences of Power Production." Why do we have to build a new economic order? Why must that new economic order be a collective one? W'hat is the basic reason society must now go through the throes of one of the greatest changes in the world's his tory? What 'has really happened to us that such a great change is now re quired? Our economic system is the same, in general, as we have had for all the years of our history. Once it seemed to work pretty well. Why doesn't it now work so well? In the 19th Century everyone had a job. Wealth was in creasing gradually for most of the people. But now millions cannot get jobs and their resources are constantly decreasing. What is the primary rea son for all this? The answers are many but the basic reason is seldom clearly presented. It is this. Power production has produced poverty. "What?" you say, "Poverty? No, it has produced plenty." But think it through. It isn't our economic system that has changed— it's our production system. Power pro duction has replaced hand production. We could go back to hand production and redistribute the tools among all the people again and have jobs for every one. We could make our old economic system wonk pretty well again, if we are willing to accept hand production. Power production has centralized production; it requires collective action. It demands collective ownership, a new economic system, whereby the people as a whole will own the means of pro duction and distribution. Our only question to decide, if we want to retain power production, is what form of col lective ownership we want. Power pro duction has produced poverty—'yes, but only because of the fact that when power production was tending towards collective organization we did not steadily change our economic system towards collective ownership. Power production can produce plenty instead of poverty just as soon as we all rec ognize the necessity of a new collective , economic system to match collective power production and start building such a system everywhere. Cooperators are the ones who can and must teach America tfhe necessity of a collective economic order to match collective power production and the exact kind of a collective economic or der which we in democratic America should adopt. • How Much of the $3,500,000 Should Be Used for General Education? Three and a half million dollars is a large amount of money. It is the amount, according to the government, which cooperative oil stations saved their members last year. Suppose we start to divide it up. The immediate needs of the member owners is one consideration. Reserves for future expansion and protection are another. But let's think from the stand point of the world which we live in, as a whole. America is going to move out in some direction in a definite way. Those who wish to preserve their present advantages will spend millions to do so. From constitutionally con trolled capitalism they will lead us on to dictatorship if they feel they need and can do so. But we cooperators don't want to go that way. Yet day by day as we talk to indi viduals and groups we are all the more impressed with the almost total lack of any knowledge of the Consumers' Co operative Movement among most Americans. How are they going to be taught? And taught they must be rapid ly by the millions if we are to forestall the coming of a minority dictatorship and advance instead towards a Co operative Democracy. Cooperators should begin to think in the broad terms of the Cooperative America we so badly want. To prevent being led into Dictatorship, and to lead out actively toward the kind of a co operative world we want to live in, calls for a larger share of cooperative savings being used for widespread co operative education. The Cooperative League has definite plans for more rapid promotion of the Movement as fast as the funds for additional writers^ speakers and literature are available. 84 COOPERATION .With Vision the People Survive By J. P. Warbasse IN the Constitution of our Govern ment, in the utterances of our found ers, and in the whole .history of the United States as a political system, there is no trace of any economic ideal excepting that of competition for profit getting. The shrewdest business men were to have the big winnings. Wealth was to be developed in .their hands; and the idea that came the nearest to a humane thought was that, if there was much wealth at the top, some of it would trickle down among the people. The race was to the swift. As to the hindmost, the devil took them. On this basis, this country was built, made its fortunes, waged its wars, and'suffered at periodic intervals its moments of doubt. The French writer who said, "The United States is the only country that has gone from barbarism to decay without passing through a stage of civ ilization," had reference to the- price we paid for our utter devotion to profit getting as both a means and an object of life. Not until the Interstate Com merce Act of 1887, the Anti-Trust Act of 1890, and the Clayton Anti-Monop oly Act of 1914, was there any gov ernmental interference with the right of every business to get from the pub lic all it could take. A hundred years of ruthlessness in business built traditions which are firmly established. The tra dition of greed was the basis of our patriotism. Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover made it the fundamental of their administrations in their demand that "the business of America is busi ness." President F. D. Roosevelt is the first president who has enunciated a policy even suggesting .human justice in the economic affairs of the nation. And for this we have to thank the depression; for the depression has proved the defi ciencies, if not the unworkability, of the ancient doctrine of the founders. Thoughtful people now see the harm we have suffered from attempting to build an economic structure upon the basis of scarcity and upon production as the object of industry. Plenty as a purpose and, distribution as an aim have at last caught the vision of econ omists. They have awakened to the existence of the neglected consumer. They have evolved a consumer philos ophy. But one thing remains: they need to catch the idea that the con sumers can .organize ,to complete the circle. Organized consumers now sup ply their needs by methods entirely within the realm of service and un touched by the motive of scarcity or profits. They are organized in the co operative movement, with more than 300,000 societies and over 100,000,000 members, in all countries of the world. They are giving a daily demonstration of the consumers' ability to supply their needs in the marts of trade. Those who think the democratically organized people can not function ef fectively in their own interest should not blink the fact of this growing dem onstration of success extending back a hundred years. The natural mistake made by those who are unaware of the cooperative facts is to draw their anal ogy from political experience. Political democracy, in the society of profit business, does not succeed. Economic democracy exists in the consumers' cooperative societies. It is the only kind of democracy that does succeed. This is because it is concerned with the administration of things and not with the government of people. Co operation is based on the logical doc trine of selfishness which can not suc ceed except by serving others. It suc ceeds only as it proves its capacity to serve, only as it discovers and trains administrators of the common good, and only as it applies the principles of centralized administration and decen tralized control. This is practical consumerism. This is the system of business that makes the home and the place where things are consumed and enjoyed, rather than the place where things are produced. COOPERATION 85 the object of its efforts. Mills and roar ing dynamos and the zeal "for produc tion are the result of the profit motive. The Marxian philosophy, unconscious of the consumers' power to organize, has promoted interest in labor and wages as the great aim. The result is splendid smoke stacks and squalid homes. The success won by;the cooperating consumers is not a precarious success. It has been won by competition against profit business and the political state. The millions of people who carry on cooperative business are in this move ment because it gives them advantages which the other methods of business do not supply. Cooperation grows not by edicts, force, or the whims of electoral majorities, but only by demonstrating its superiority to the consumers who need to be served. The cooperative movement is so hardy that the attempts to destroy it made by the Communists in Russia, the Fascists in Italy, the Nazis in Germany, and the Dollfuss- ards in Austria, have failed. Its peren nial potency defies these agencies. And now the economists, the leaders of ethical thoug'ht, and the teachers are awakening to its facts. But our economic situation has be come so serious that people have grown impatient. They want something done at once. They are insistent upon im mediate relief. At a recent meeting to discuss a way out, the majority of people in the audience dismissed co operation as too slow. "Before we can organize cooperative societies to sup ply our needs we shall all be dead," ex pressed the impatient spirit. The near est these people came to a solution was that the Government should pour out money to employ the needy and feed the hungry. It is the same old idea that prevailed in Rome over a thousand years ago; and solved no problem. In Rochdale, England, ninety years ago the impatient souls said the same thing. Like those of today, they wanted some body else to do something ,to relieve their distress. They said;".'Cooperation is too slow." But the Rochdale cooper ative pioneers went on and started a little business with $140. It has spread into every corner of the world. In Eng land alone its capital, has grown to $500;000,000 and its institutions are the largest in the land. The impatient con sumers looked at the great flour mills of the capitalists and said, "Cooperation is too slow, we must get these mills by some quick method." The quick method has had ninety years to win the flour mills for the people, but it has not yet succeeded. The patient cooperators, despite the dire predictions of the eco nomics professors of Oxford and Cam bridge, went on their way. Now they own the largest flour mills in the Em pire—not larger than any mills of nine ty years ago but larger than any other mills of today. The Swedish cooper ators accomplished the same result in one fourth the time. When the im patient Swiss had spent thirty years trying to get a bill passed by the Parlia ment to nationalize the meat business, the Swiss Cooperative Union in the course of one year decided to make it self the owner of the beef trust, and in that same year made itself the owner of the beef trust. Cooperation is not the slow method; it is the fast method. The impatient, who think they know a quicker way, come and have their little hour and pass away. The best run coal mines in Great Britain, the largest bakeries in hun dreds of cities, factories, mills, steam ship lines, houses and villages, streets and parks, fire departments, banking and insurance, recreations, hospitals and clinics have all been acquired by the cooperative consumers while im patient souls have fretted and got nothing for their pains. A hundred examples in the field of big business could be given to show that the cooperative method has suc ceeded by its sure procedure of attack upon the ownership of the sources of supply where hasty methods have failed. If the people of 'the United States wanted themselves to own the coal mines and the railroads and the steel Jrust,. independent, of-the govern-, • ment, theycould set orKfoot'the educav t lion and the planning that would give "'them just that result. If, "Without vi sion the people peBS'h," tKefr With vi sion they survive. 86 COOPERATION The House Cooperation Built By Gordon H. Ward HT* HE House Cooperation Built is -L the largest and most modern farmers' supply store building in the Sr.enandoah Valley of Virginia. Erected in the summer of 1932, it is in deed the result of cooperative effort. It was built by the Rockingham Coop erative Farm Bureau out of funds ac cumulated from the annual r:embership du>r paid by the members and from the earnings of ten years of cooperative buyina and marketinq. Every penny of the cost was paid in cash. This cooperative h-^s built ur> its capital funds to nearly $100,000, "prin cipally through a plan worked out by G. F. Holsinger, the first president of the organization and now president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federa tion. The farmers sign up for member ship covering a three-year period and sign checks payable at the beginning of each of the three fiscal years covered by the membership. The money thus paid to the organization for member ship dues is placed in the capital fund and each member is given a certificate to evidence his equity in the capital fund to the amount of the money that he has paid in each year. When the Rockingham Cooperative Farm Bureau was established in 1921, 368 farmers paid membership dues of $5 each. Dur ing the next three years the membership increased to 575, with the membership dues at $10 per year. Since that time the annual membership dues have been $6 a year and the membership has in creased to approximately 1400. The directors are planning to reduce the annual dues for the next three years to $4 per annum in the hope that a suf ficiently increased membership can be secured in this way to offset the de crease in the amount of the annual dues. They are interested in increas ing the membership and volume of business so that the operating ex penses per unit will be reduced. The plan of operation has been to charge the members only a narrow margin above the cost of the goods so that the farmers get their patronage dividends when they purchase their supplies. The annual earnings have gone into the reserve fund. The growth in membership and fi nancial strength has been accompanied by a rapid expansion in the services rendered the members by their cooper ative. When the Farm Bureau was started in 1921 the manager was em ployed only five days per month. He collected orders from the members suf ficient to purchase a car load of feed, fertilizer or other staple commodities. *». COOPERATION 87 \ Shenandoah Valley Co-op. Headquarters The members had to pay for these when they placed their order, or at least before they unloaded their pur chases from the car. The total volume of business handled during the first year of operation amounted to only $17,000, which included two cars of livestock marketed for the members. The members soon found that this car-door type of service was not satis factory, so they decided to rent a warehouse in which they could have a stock of supplies available for them at all times. By this time they had ac cumulated sufficient capital from the membership dues to purchase an inven tory of supplies. This necessitated en gaging the manager on a full-time basis. They were fortunate in having a member who had had considerable experience in a country store and this man, C. V. Smith, has been the man ager ever since. The Farm Bureau has always operated on a strictly cash basis, which has eliminated losses from uncollectable accounts. During the first vears of operation the Rodkingham Cooperative Farm Bureau purchased feeds, fertilizer, ce ment, hardware, roofing, fencing, har- • ness, seeds, oyster shells, tires, gasoline and oils, as well as staple groceries such as salt, sugar and flour. As the interest of the members demanded it, the cooperative has added additional lines of supplies. As the membership in the north western part of the county increased, the farmers there asked for a branch warehouse. One was therefore estab lished in Timberville in August, 1924, and during the first year one man in that warehouse handled $50,000 of business. The expansion of the busi ness also required an addition to the main warehouse in Harrisonburg. As the membership in the southwestern section of the county grew, it was ne cessary to establish another branch in Bridqewater in August, 1927. During the first year this branch did $71,000 of business, which was handled by one man. In order to provide space for handling a full line of staple groceries and work clothing at this time, a fur ther addition was put on the main warehouse. In 1931, the membership in the eastern part of the county had reached 200, which experience has demonstrated is a sufficient number of patrons to support a branch ware house. A branch was therefore opened in Elkton. The growth in membership and vol ume of business in 1930 convinced the directors that there was not sufficient space at the site of their main ware house to provide the necessary ware house space to properly serve the members. They therefore purchased a plot of ground 160 feet wide running 335 feet along the railroad. As the depression deepened in 1931, the market for the corn and wheat pro duced by the members declined so that ii was very difficult to sell these grains at anywhere near the cost of produc tion. In order to provide a market for this grain the cooperative installed equipment to grind the grain and mix it with other feed ingredients into a balanced ration for dairy cows, chickens and other types of livestock. This milling and feed mixing operation taxed their warehouse space to ca pacity. In 1932, the prices of building materials had dropped to low levels and the cooperative found itself with sufficient funds on hand to erect a per manent home for itself. A warehouse building of fireproof brick and con crete construction, 50 by 150 feet, with two stories and a basement was there fore erected on the land belonging to the organization. At the same time a gasoline service station and concrete coal bins were built to provide more complete service for the members. The House Cooperation Built was completed in the fall of 1932 and pro vides space for properly displaying and handling virtually all essential sup plies that farmers need in the produc tion operations on their farms, as well as to feed and clothe their families. All these commodities are provided to the members at the lowest cost consistent with quality. As a result of this type of service the volume of business has grown to approximately three-quarters of a million dollars per year and re- 88 COOPERATION quires a staff of 25 people to handle it. Approximately two-thirds of this busi ness is the purchasing of supplies and the other third is the marketing of live stock and wool for the members. Cooperation between the members, the directors, and the manager has built this efficient service organization, as well as the House • Cooperation Built. The members have loyally sup ported their organization with their patronage. The business has to depend upon the members for its patronage be cause it does no business with non- members. The directors are elected by the members at the annual meeting and meet monthly to determine the policies of the organization and act on important matters. The president, D. C. Acker, has been a member of the Board of Directors from the founding of the organization and served as vice- president until G. H. Holsinger re signed to become president of the Vir ginia Farm Bureau Federation. The manager, C. V. Smith, has grown up with the business and is an efficient merchandiser. He is also a strong be liever in educating the members re garding the activities of their organiza tion and regarding cooperative prin ciples. He occasionally prints one of the "Little Lessons in Cooperation" originated by the Central States Coop erative League on a blotter for dis tribution to the members. An education committee was ap pointed from among the members of the Board of Directors in the spring of 1933 and in conjunction with the edu cation committee of the Valley of Vir ginia Cooperative Milk Producers As sociation conducted a series of educa tion meetings in various sections of the county. Another series of these meet ings has been planned, at which the cooperative films of the Franklin Cooperative Creamery will be shown. Annual Meeting of Central Cooperative Whole sale a Demonstration of Democracy To one who had been accustomed to attending the annual meetings of the Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior, Wis., there would have un doubtedly been many happenings much similar to those of former years. 'But to one who attended the annual meet ing, which took place on April 10 and 11, for the first time, it was an event long to be remembered. The comparative statistics showed health. Sales were up, gains were up. The reserve fund carries an item of $22,149 for contingencies and coopera tive expansion. This 17-year-old Coop erative Wholesale which was the first to join The Cooperative League in tends to continue to push out and grow. But the statistics were not the most interesting thing to one who was at tending this meeting for the first time. Even more challenging were the re ports and the discussions. Imagine a private-profit business report including any such statement as this from the re port of Mr. H. V. Nurmi, general man ager, "In the organization of the com mon people lies the magic power which will permanently solve our economic ills.—as soon as the wealth producers band themselves together in the field of production and distribution, inhuman exploitation is bound to cease." The report of George Halonen, Educational Director, opened with these words, "At last, the A-B-C's of collective ac tion are being 'learned in America," and went on to outline the work of the Educational Department as "Forward —our Program." The work of The Cooperative League in protecting the interests of cooperatives was stressed. A resolution was presented relative to the names and salaries of all em ployees being made public. After long discussion it was voted not to include them in the Year Book but to include them in the report to delegates and to read them at the Convention. Imme- COOPERATION 89 diately Mr. Nurmi suggested that .the auditor, Mr. Mandelin, be called upon to read the payroll, which was done.. Cooperation has nothing to conceal within itself. Every detail is the busi ness of the members. Only outsiders have no right to the detailed reports, as the Convention wisely decided. The 18th year of the Wholesale is now under way. The storm of the de pression has been met successfully and further growth is ahead. Central States Cooperative League Congress Draws Record Attendance By A. W. Warinner The Eighth Annual Congress of the Central States Cooperative League, held in Chicago Sunday and Mon day, April 8th and 9th, drew by far the largest attendance that has ever been present at a League Congress. The 47 regular delegates, 47 fraternal delegates and the 50 or more unat tached individuals in attendance left no doubt in anyone's mind of the growing interest in Cooperation as a solution of the world's economic prob lems. The first session of the Congress opened at 10:40 a. m. Sunday, at Kap- lan's Hall, 3902 West 26th Street. The address of welcome was delivered by Josef A. Novak, president of the Workmen's Cooperative Mercantile Association, the sponsor of this year's Congress. The Secretary then read letters and telegrams of greeting from other cooperative organizations, in cluding The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., the Central Cooperative Wholesale and the Eastern States Co operative League. This was followed by the address of the President, Edwin C. Palmer. Two-minute reports by regular and fraternal delegates occu pied the balance of the morning ses sion. The afternoon session on Sunday was devoted to a discussion of such live subjects as "The Economist Dis covers the Consumer," "Cooperatives and the NRA," "Bringing the Urban and Agricultural Consumers' Move ments Closer Together," and general educational activities, with especial stress on summer schools. These dis cussions were led by such outstanding cooperators as E. R. Bowen, General Secretary of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., Anthony Lehner, of the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, J, Liuikku, General Man ager, Cooperative Trading Co., Wau- kegan. 111., Edward Carlson, Vice- President, Central States Cooperative League, J. L. Reddix, President, Negro Cooperative Stores, Inc., Gary, Ind., C. C. Palmer, President Noble County Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, and A. W. Warinner, Secretary, Central States Cooperative League. Outstanding highlights of the Con gress were the number of new faces in attendance, the rapidly increasing jn- terest in Cooperation being shown by members of the Negro race, there being more Negroes present at this Congress than at any previous cooper ative congress ever held in this coun try, provision for promoting the de velopment of buying clubs and the de cision to conduct a summer school of fering an advanced course in coopera tion in addition to the League's regular summer school. Every delegate pres ent stressed the necessity of taking immediate advantage of the opportuni ty afforded the Cooperative Movement to grow and expand by the present economic condition of the country and the fact that even the economists have finally discovered the consumers and are beginning to realize that any ade quate scheme for economic recovery must give the consumers first consid eration. The plans for forming the Chicago Cooperative Council were approved by the Congress. Hudson S. Dailey's 90 COOPERATION appointment as Chicago representa tive of the League was confirmed and plans were made to open a Chicago office of the League in the near future. Plans were also made for continuing the Thursday afternoon broadcasts over Station WCFL throughout the year. Math Oqrin, of North Chicago, J. L. Reddix, of Gary, John Konecny of Chicago and Jacob J. Novak, of North Chicago were elected directors to fill the four vacancies on the Board. The officers for the ensuing year are Ed ward Carlson, Waukegan. 111., Presi dent; J. J. Novak, North Chicago, 111,. Vice-President; John Konecny, Chi cago, 111., Treasurer and A. W. War- inner, Bloomington, 111., Secretary. The dinner and supper served the delegates and visitors by the ladies of the Workmen's Cooperative Mer cantile Association, Sunday and the entertainment and dance Sunday eve ning were bright spots in the entertain ment program which everyone en joyed. All in all the Congress was an outstanding success, and much praise is due the local cooperators for the fine hospitality and entertainment provided for the delegates and visitors to the Congress. Indiana Enlarges Training School Program to Include 40 Counties By Anthony Lehner In the summer of 1933 the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n. ven tured into a new and heretofore un tried field. It established, with the splendid assistance of the Central States Cooperative League, a series of one week's Training Schools, in which it taught the farm leaders and home- makers of tomorrow the fundamentals of a cooperative philosophy. It was a modest and unpretentious beginning. Six weeks brought together groups of 20—40 young men and •women, (about 170 in all) most of whom went back home into their re spective counties and townships and instituted a program of search for and study of the truth with regard to pres ent day economics. It taught them to think. And because it taught them to think, they were responsible for the fact that this year the organization is aslked to extend its program and carry it into 40 counties, each one of which will furnish from 10—40 students. It is conservative to estimate that we will reach between 1200—1400 outstanding young people, who will develop, to a greater or lesser degree, the ability to think and act cooperatively. The course offered consists of five discussions and lectures each day, with ample time allowed for recreation. By playing together it is easier to learn how to work together. The topics to be presented and discussed are: The Fundamentals of the Cooperative Movement as originated by the weav ers at Rochdale, Producers and Con sumers Cooperation, the Credit Union Movement, Cooperative Banking, the Cooperative Development in Europe, especially in the Scandinavian Coun tries. It also includes topics with specific reference to agriculture as Cooperative Marketing, Aids for Agri culture in its Present Crisis, etc. It is through this educational pro gram that we shall be able to arouse them to the facts of the changed con ditions. It is our hope that ultimately our whole educational system may be so transformed that it will direct the thought of our young people along cooperative lines rather than along the lines of a worn-out competitive tradi tion. Since our public school system has not yet seen fit to accept the chal lenge of a new day and gear education to the realities of our present day social and economic environment, the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n. has accepted the challenge and is trying, by educating its younger COOPERATION 91 leaders, to point the way to permanent economic recovery through the teach ing of the fundamentals of a coopera tive philosophy. Instructors and lecturers in the Schools include I. H. Hull, Anthony Lehner, M. J. Briggs, Anson Thomas, Lewis Tavlor, C. H. Laselle, A. L. Stallings, F. I. Barrows, Glenn Thomp son, C. S. Masterson, Mrs. Mary Wi- ble, Martha Ritchhart. District League Summer Schools The Central States Cooperative League has now made definite plans for two summer schools this year; one, the regular school and the other of fering an advanced course. Both will be held at Druce Lake Camp, eight miles west of Waukegan, Illinois, \vhich is an ideal place for a summer school. It is completely equipped with dormitories, dining hall, kitchen, as sembly hall, swimming pool, baseball diamond, tennis courts, a lake with boats, etc. The regular summer school is plan ned to open Monday, August 20, and close Sunday morning, August 26. The advanced school, which will probably be designated as the Central States Institute of Cooperation, in order to distinguish it from the regular summer school, is planned to open Sunday evening, August 26, and close Satur day evening, September 1. A prospectus for each school will be ready within the next two or three weeks and can be secured by writing the Central States Cooperative League, Bloomington, Illinois. Two one-week summer schools of Cooperation are being run this month by the Northern States Cooperative League. One alt Maple Plain, near Min neapolis, Minn., June 17 to 23; and the other at Moose Lake, Minn., June 24 to 30. At Moose Lake the League has the collaboration of the Carlton Coun- Cooperative Federation. In the Fall, the League expects to conduct jointly with the Central Co operative Wholesale an 8-week Co operative Training School for man agers and other employees, at Superior, Wis., resuming a .major educational effort that was omitted last year. The Eastern States Cooperative "League will hold its annual summer institute at Brookwood, Katonah, N. Y., from July 15th to July 21st. Par ticulars and reservations may be ob tained on request. •t Cooperators in Action A Red Letter Day in Dillonvale Sunday April 22nd was a great day for cooperation in Dillonvale, Ohio. Joseph Blaha, manager of the New Co operative Company, and Joseph Pavlo- vic, Jr., 'had arranged for a real Coop erative drive to reach non-members and to entertain their members. The day opened with an hour's radio entertain ment over WWVA at Wheeling. The Cooperative band furnished the music and talks were made by A. W. Warinner, secretary of the Central States Cooperative League, who was in Dillonvale conducting a ten day cooperative school, and by E. R. Bowen, General Secretary of The Cooperative League. The afternoon was given over to a similar program at the Cooperative hall in Dillonvale. The band was dressed in new suits of Cooperative League colors. The pro gram of classical music was played as only Bohemian musicians can play. Culture and Cooperation go hand in hand as this 26-year-old group of Cooperative stores so well prove. These miners are fighting with both hands—through Cooperation as well as through Trade Unions. • Ohio Boosts Local Co-ops The Ohio Farm Bureau is in process of changing its cooperative set-up in the direction of granting more local control. County Cooperative Associa- 92 COOPERATION tions are now being formed, somewhat on the plan of those that have proved so successful in Indiana, They com bine purchasing and marketing activi ties. The County Associations form Regional Associations, and these in turn make up the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, which is a member of Farm Bureau Oil Company and in turn a member of National Co operatives, Inc. Ambitious expansion of Ohio's al ready considerable cooperative busi ness is planned. For example, it is hoped to have 65 oil bulk stations throughout the counties by the end of 1934. With energetic co-op leaders like Murray Lincoln, Silas Vance and others at the helm, this ought not to be hard. • Cooperators Active in Minneapolis "The most important thing hap pening in the Cooperative movement in Minneapolis," writes Gideon Edberg, head of the Educational Committee of the Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association, "is that we have inter ested the Board of Education to spon sor classes in Consumers' Cooperation on their adult education program. This is due largely to the activity of the Twin City Cooperative Council." The Minneapolis Cooperative Oil Association, organized about a year ago, is succeeding splendidly. It now operates four gas stations and has others planned. A savings return was paid last year and a greater saving is indicated this year. It has nearly 1000 members. A fuel oil cooperative named Allied Cooperatives, Inc., was organized without any initial capital, by existing oil associations in the Twin Cities last summer. In the first quarter of 1934. its trade was $13,582.96 and a net saving of $1,064.68 was returned to patrons. On March 31, its assets were $3,576,.92. A large business is ex pected next winter. Dr. A. J. Herbol-- sheimer, president of Allied Coopera- tives, is also candidate for Coroner on the Farmer-Labor ticket in Min neapolis. Interest in building a Cooperative store organization in the Twin Cities is now greater than ever before. The plan is laid and organization work is going forward with a view to starting operations in the fall. • Many Co-ops Report Gains The Farmers Union State Exchange of Nebraska had total sales in the first quarter of 1934 of $392,969.50, an in crease over the first quarter of 1933 of $172,395.06. The gross margin in-, creased from 9.2% last year to 9.9% this year, and the net from \% to 4.04%. The Exchange is going ahead with the erection of its new $90,000 building in Omaha. In April, with the spring season still incomplete, the Eastern States Farmers Exchange reported fertilizer sales of 10,173 tons, or 100% more than in the first half of 1933. The Exchange's feed mill at Buffalo, running day and night, grinds out 50 cars of feed each 24 hours. The Exchange gained 6500 members in 1933, how having a total of 48,500. It handled 12^% more ton nage in 1933 than in 1932. Many cooperative stores in the north central states report large increases this spring. Sales of the Farmers' Coopera tive Sampo of Menahga, Minn., were about 65% higher in March than in the same month of 1933. The increase at Bruce Crossing, Mich., was 50% and at Ely, Minn., 73%. New branch stores have recently been opened by both Menahga and Ely. Sales -of the Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior, Wis., in Jan uary and February increased 62% and 68% respectively over the correspond ing months of 1933. • Cowden on Important Oil Committee Howard A. Cowden, president of the Union Oil Company (Coopera tive) of No. Kansas City and secre tary-treasurer of National Coopera tives, Inc., has been appointed to the Planning & Coordination Committee, Marketing Division of the Petroleum Industry, by Oil Administrator Ic'kes. This appointment, states the "Cooper ative Consumer," "gives cooperatives , representation where matters of vital COOPERATION 93 importance to the industry are being planned and put into operation." Need less to say, Mr. Cowden's appointment was opposed and hampered to the ut most by the profit oil interests. • Service, not Profit, Banking Mr. C. B. Whitnall of the Common wealth Mutual Savings Bank of Mil waukee, Wis., has just recently been in New York City attending a national meeting of Mutual Savings Banks. He reports these non-profit banks as hav ing gone through the depression in an unusual manner as compared with private-profit banks. The Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank of Milwaukee had earnings in 1933 of $61,741.73 and expenditures of $58,399.49. The largest item of earn ings was interest on loans, $46,504.09; the largest expenditure was the 3% dividend to depositors, amounting to $32,532.74; $7,075 was added to the guaranty fund, which is now $79,500. The banik has over 2600 depositors. The deposits are protected by the Fed eral Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Commonwealth is a member of The Cooperative League. In discussing the question of why Consumers' Cooperation had not developed further in his progressive city of Milwaukee, he expressed in a significant way the difficulty, by saying that its promoters had thought in terms of the capitalistic psychology of mak ing more sales instead of the coopera tive principle of collective purchasing. The difference is vital to the success of a cooperative. • Consumers Get Back 14c on the $ The Illinois Farm Supply Company is one of the largest cooperative oil wholesales in the country. It is made up of 56 county units, which did a total business of $6,000,000 in 1933 and for the third consecutive year paid a savings return of over half a million dollars. Average return to patrons was 14 cents of each dollar of purchases. Illinois Farm Supply runs a fleet of over 400 tanik trucks and has 146 bulk plants. More trucks and plants are being added in 1934 and prospects are bright, according, to L. R. Merchant, manager. • Consumers Cooperative Services Ends Fourteenth Year Successfully Cooperation in cities is not so wide spread in America as in smaller towns but the Consumers Cooperative Serv ices is a fourteen-year-old demonstra tion of its success.' The story of how this chain of cafeterias started and was operated as a private enterprise for three months and then turned over to the patrons who purchased it and how it has since grown to include a chain of ten cafeterias located in the heart of Manhattan as well as a cooperative apartment house and still has a balance sheet of reserve savings available for still greater expansion is "a dream come true." It is perhaps even more than the founders dreamed. It also demonstrates that Cooperation is possible right in the heart of a large city as well as else where. The report of the general manager, Miss Arnold, reviewed the somewhat strenuous events of the previous year operating under the Codes. The out standing protest made by the C. C. S. against the low wages in the restaurant Code was emphasized. Announcement was made that the new branch at 40 East 40th Street had paid from the start and had now pulled up into third place at the end of three months' operation. General discussion was engaged in by the members relative to the experiment being tried in the opening of a coopera tive store in Sunnyside. Cooperators coming to New York should not fail to patronize these eating places where they can find their friends and secure pure food without private profit. • The Danes Cooperate as Consumers, Too One thinks of Danish cooperation as being largely a producers' move ment, but the fact is that 1760 con sumers' societies embrace 319,000 members, representing a third of the population of Denmark. 94 COOPERATION In Every City and Town—A Coop Club AGAIN we bring up the question which is receiving foremost at tention from thinlking cooperators in America: How is Consumers' Coop eration to be propagated in the cities? By comparison, cooperation on the farm can almost be left to itself; it is growing lustily and naturally, like corn in Iowa. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of Cooperation in the cities and towns. The urban coopera tives are few and comparatively static in growth. But this is no cause for discourage ment. Millions of middle and working class people in the cities are ripe to cooperate if they only knew how. Their environment.—capitalist indus trialism.—has got the better of them for the moment, but they are eager to get free. They will welcome Cooperation as the sword to cut the Gordian knot if it can once be placed in their hands. In the farm districts, we find that certain type-forms of cooperatives have been developed and then dupli cated over and over. There are the co-op grain elevators that dot the prairies from Texas to Saskatchewan. The creameries are another type-form. Then, in the consumers' branch, there are the oil associations, hundreds of which have been formed in the last decade, all on much the same plan. It only remains for a practical, workable plan to be formulated for the city en vironment; then we may expect to see urban co-ops "stamped out" with machine-like rapidity, from New York to San Francisco. What shall be the plan? Again turning to the farmers, we see that they have formed their co-ops largely along commodity lines. A co-op is formed to sell grain, or butter, or cotton; or to buy oil, or feeds. To this, the nearest analogy we have in the city is the craft trade union, which is i "cooperative" to sell labor of a pecialized type. But can the urban » insumers form commodity co-ops? hardly, for there is no one commodity that they buy in large bulk. Their needs are many and diverse. Thus the store came to be the type-Torm of con sumers' society in England because the store furnished not one commodity but hundreds, and it succeeded to the ex tent that it surrounded the cooperator's entire life as a source of supply. The store is the ideal type-form city coop erative. But the store has not done notably well in America, and some cooperators are discouraged thereby. However, there was a time when alfalfa, it was thought, could not be grown in the northern states, but now it is profitable even in parts of Canada. By diligent study and experimentation, it was adapted to what seemed to be an un favorable environment. The same can be done with the cooperative store. The problem with the urban store- as with alfalfa—is to get it once "rooted." To secure enough members to provide capital and patronage, and to meet competition at the start—these are the difficulties. To overcome them we suggest considering the Coopera tive Club. A number of such clubs are being experimented with at present. The Cooperative League is not only study ing these experiments with interest but aiding them wherever possible, in the belief that here may be the cooperative type-form for city and town con sumers. The Cooperative Club should be not only a buying club; it should be a study club as well. The members should come together regularly, say twice a month, to learn how cooperatives are run, to read cooperative literature and discuss it together. This type of club, with emphasis on consumer-conscious ness, is being broadly initiated by Co operative Distributors (C.D.) of New York City. So also is St. Francis Xavier University of Nova Scotia doing an outstanding job in promoting this type of study club in that province. What better project could be under taken by any university that desires to COOPERATION 95 be of genuine service to the communi- ty? A club for study only is apt to be dry and academic for practical minds. People will study and discuss for about so long and then they want to be up and doing. Well, let them. The Coop erative Club does not meet to study merely to improve the minds of its members; always it has action in view. The study focuses on the definite aim of intelligent, cooperative action. In deed the live, alert club starts the wheels of action almost as soon as the first meeting is held, and from then on action parallels study. This action may be the buying of milk, coal, laundry service, or the pool ing of orders for groceries and dry goods to a co-op wholesale or mail order. If in a school the Club may tackle the buying of books and sup plies, running of a dormitory, lodging house or common dining room. If in a small town or suburban district, a be ginning may be made with the buying of seeds, fertilizers and garden sup plies, chiclks, plants, building materials, oil and gas, automotive supplies, etc. As cooperative students, the Club members first learn the idea of what Consumers' Cooperation is. Then they investigate what line or project is most practical for them to begin with. Then, as cooperative consumers, they proceed to act. Meanwhile they continue to meet regularly and study how to push their cooperation further. Each 'interests his or her friends and neighbors, shows them the benefits gained and to be gained, and gets them to join. Goals should be set up. The first goal is the incorporation of the Club as a Cooperative Society. The second goal is the opening of a cooperative store. Succeeding goals may be the establishment of branches and amalga mation with other nearby societies. But along with all this, study precedes and accompanies action. Model bylaws and set-ups for Coop erative Clubs are now available through The Cooperative League. Any consumer, anywhere, may purchase a copy, and also receive the best advice and information the League Has at hand. He then will be equipped to go out and organize his neighbor-con sumers into a Cooperative Club. The following might be adopted as a slogan for Cooperative Clubs: STUDY ACT Cooperatively! Write for the Consumers' Guide The Consumers' Guide of May 7, 1934, has three articles about Coop eration. It is a remarkable issue. Dr. Frederic C. Howe writes on "Con sumer Credit." Another article tells about Cooperative Marketing. And there's a final one on Consumers' Co operation under the striking heading, "Lubricating your way to a lower cost of living." Cooperators who do not yet receive this publication should write to the Consumers' Counsel of the AAA to be put on the subscription list. The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con. ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St.. New York. N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department.~~~~~ 96 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends as. 84. 85. 86. 341. 4. 6. 29. 51. 16. 30. 57. 62. 63. 67. 68. 70. 72. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 Consumers Cooperation in the United States (illus.) 19B3 __ .15 8.00 Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase) ____T____________ .05 4.00 The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietridh ____________———— .05 4.«0 Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ________——^— .10 7.00 Consumers? Cooperative Methods, J. P. Wiarbasse, 1934_______ .10 6.00 America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation, E. R. BoWen___ .10 6.0« TECHNICAL How to Start and Run a Roch dale Cooperative Society _______ Model By-Laws for a Rochdale Cooperative Society ____________ Crediit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson) ________________ Model Lease for Cooperative Apartment House ____________ .25 15.00 .05 2.50 .50 .10 .10 .06 .01 .05 .75 2.00' MISCELLANEOUS Model Co-op State Law ________ "When the "Whistle Blew" (Story, by Brace Calvert) ______ How a Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter ______________ Sign or Transparency of League Emiblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter _______________ .25 15.00 Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emlbleim. Bound in books of 100, 200', or 250 'To Mothers _____—————————— .02 1.00 Farmers' Cooperaltion. A Way Out: An address by L. S. Her- ron ____________________ .05 4.00 Little Lessons in Cooperation .35 The Burden of Credit _—_— .02 1.00 What is the Cooperative Store .03 2.00 "What is Consumers' Cooperation .05 -.00' The Most Necessary Thing In Life ___________________ .02 l.Off Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Money's "Worth _______ .02 1.00 There Are Two Sides to Every Counter ________________ .02 1.00 The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE I WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. Raivaaja Print—Fitchburg, Mass. SI. Cooperative Youth Songs ____ .25 80. Consumers', Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 531 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics__ .25 82. "What Cooperation means to a depression-sick America _____ .03 2.00 83. "What is the Cooperative League MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year (foreign, $1.26) $1.00 Review of International Cooperation (Pub. by the I. C. A.) ____________ Per Year, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as con taining ifche best discussion of the modern Co operative Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia, 1924 ____ ____ ___^.___.___ l.SO Brighltwill. L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children ___________________ .15 Chase and Sehlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers ____________ 1.10 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 __________________ 2.10 Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Socie ties. American edition and notes, 1322 Cloth ________________________ 1.50 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees ________ 2.BO HolyoaKe: Roclhdafe Pioneers 18'92 ____ 1.10 Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932 3.75 Indian Cooperaltion, Children's story ___ .15 Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products _________________ 3.10 Kress, A. J.: Capitalism, Cooperation Communism, 1932 _______________ 2.0-0 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guildswomen, telling what the Guild has done for them __________ 1.2S Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold _____ .85 Nioholson, Isa: Our Story ___________ .25 Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators _———————_____—______ 1.50 Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems __•___________________ 1.35 Owen, Robert: Autobiography _______ .75 Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic__ 1.85 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1891 ___________________ 1.10 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S. 2.25 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in Society, 1S20 ____________________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction in Ireland, 1918 _________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark _____________________ 1.10 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands. 1920 _______________ 1.60 Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement (In Yiddish) ___________________ 1.00 Totomianz, V; The Place of Cooperation among other movements __________ .25 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy (19i27) _________________________". 1.50 Wiarbasse, J.P.: What Is Cooperation, 1827 .75 Warne, C. B.: Consumers' Cooperative Movement in Illinois 1926 __________ 3.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co operative Movement. 1921 _________ 5.00 Webb. Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, ,191,7 ___. ____________________ 1J60 Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry __——_____————__ 1.65 Cooperation, Bound Volumes. 1915 to 19&2 inclusive, each year ———_"_——————— 1.25 The People's Year Book, 1934, English, paper .75, doth ——————_———:————— 1.35 Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1932 _________________—_—————— .75 COOPERATION f the Con- Movement in the sumers Cooperative United States Vol. XX. No. 7 JULY, 1934 10 cents First Call for Cooperative Congress Tentative plans are being laid for the Biennial Congress of The Cooperative League this fall. Present discussions suggest the time as around the middle of October and the place as in the Central West. Looking ahead and visioning the possibilities in a Congress of all Cooperative Purchasing Associations in the United States brings a real inspiration. We are in the midst of compiling a complete mailing list of all Wholesale Cooperative Purchasing Organizations in every State. Large and small the number is truly amazing. Al ready we know that there are over fifty such associations. To say that they should have a common meeting place in a Cooperative Congress is, under the conditions of today, hardly to be questioned. Now is the time to begin planning definitely to attend the Con gress. A tentative program will soon be prepared. Suggestions are in order and are welcome. What subjects should be covered and what speakers should be invited to speak? Let us know what you think. Preliminary invitations to attend will soon be sent to all Cooper ative Purchasing Organizations in the whole United States. Further news bulletins will follow and every effort made to bring together the whole Consumers' Cooperative Movement. Whether already members of the League or not, every one will be invited. Present members are urged to assist in inducing non-members to attend. The whole Cooperative Purchasing or Consumers' Cooperative Movement must have its own special meeting place and there dis cuss its common problems and opportunities. We must make plans to capitalize the growing consciousness that the final answer for America is not Political Protection but Consumers' Cooperation. 98 C O O P E R A TI O N COO PERATIQ N An organ to spread' the knowledge - of the'' Cooperative Movement, whereby (the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., New York City. E. R. Bowen, Editor Contributing Editors V. S. Alanne George Jacobson George Halonen James R. Moore A. W. Warinner Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., un der the Act of March S. 1879. Price $1.00' a year. Vol. XX. No. 7 July, 1934 EDITORIAL General Johnson says that we are developing towards "a government of business, by business." The difficulty is that he didn't finish the sentence. He should have added, "for business." That's where the fault lies. What we need, and some day will have, is "an economic government of consumers, by consumers, for consumers." The Brookings Institute brings Tech nocracy up to date with another in vestigation. This time we are told that our present productive capacity could give America twice as much as we are producing. Then why don't we start the wheels rolling? It's because our present producer-finance-political control of our economic system puts on the brakes. When consumers own and control there will not need to be any investigations as to what we might but don't have—we'll just go ahead and have all we want of everything. Dr. A. E. Cance, head of the Agri cultural Economics Department of the Massachusetts State Agricultural Col lege, is one man among university pro fessors who knows and teaches what Consumers' Cooperation really means as a new economic order. We need a lot more such men who will not limit their teaching to Cooperative Market ing. We were • recently told by a New England farm leader that the first time hevever ate oleo was when he. was in the town 'in New England Vhich ships out the most butter. Farmers must soon see that they can only solve their own problems by helping organize their city customers into consumers' cooperatives to deal direct with their mariketing co operatives and eliminate the toll taking middleman. Then they can have all of their own milk, cream and butter they want and their city customers can too. We're finally backing up on the re tail price fixing provisions of the codes. First it was milk and now the service industries with others to follow. For tunately we're learning fast. But why did we have to experiment? Great Britain proved by 500 years of trial and error that it was a foolish thing to attempt to regulate retail prices by a political organization. Ervin E. Ging, Master Washington State Grange, says, "Cooperation, to me, means the cure of our modern troubles. Shifting to cooperation from the old worn-out selfishness of capital ism is like changing to a modern auto mobile after having used an old horse and buggy." The "Commonwealth Plan," ap proved at least tentatively by a majori ty at the Socialist Party convention, would organize distribution as follows: "Retail and wholesale trade will, in greater part, be conducted through consumers' cooperative societies. "Any person will be entitled to be come a member of such a society by purchasing one share of stock at the cost of one dollar. A member shall have one vote, and one vote only, in the democratic control of the society. The cooperatives will, as their business warrants, create their own wholesale organizations, which shall be operated without private profit." COOPERATION 99 How Should a Factory be Owned r I 'HERE are several conceivable •A- ways of owning a factory. Let's see what they are and how they work out. The first way was for an individual producer to build and own a factory. It can hardly be imagined that any other method would have been thought of in the beginning. Some one dreamed out an idea of producing some-form of goods. He built a factory to produce the product of his dreams. He owned it privately. No one questioned his right to do so. He sold his product to his neighbors. The demand grew and he took partners into the business. All were owners and all were workers. The idea of the workers owning fac tories still persists as an idealistic scheme but in practice it has the funda mental fault that it doesn't work. Such organizations have persistently failed throughout the years until few remain. The failure of worker owned fac tories led to a second type of owner ship. One man continued as owner and hired others to work for him or sold shares to a part of the workers and to others. The development of this form of ownership is that with which we are familiar today. From ownership by the producers it has developed into a com bination producer-finance ownership and in some cases with an entirely fi nancial ownership and a hired manage ment who are not themselves investors. We know the results of this form of factory ownership. It too has failed. It is unable to keep production steadily increasing and to distribute its prod ucts equitably among the people. The failure of worker ownership and of ownership by a few financial in vestors has led to the thought on the part of some that the government should take over the ownership of the factories. If private ownership has failed then why not public ownership? The problem of public ownership is largely a question of political control. Electing people through a political or- ' ganization to handle a business organi zation is inefficient. Political manage ment of a business is only indirectly responsive to the will of the people. Why not elect an economic manage ment direct for the purpose of con ducting the business for which those who are chosen are best fitted? Those businesses which cover the whole of a city, which everyone wants and which are uniform like water, electricity, etc., should be owned by the public but the public should directly elect the direc tors as a business organization and not indirectly as a political organization. In that case public ownership would be efficient but then it would also be owned and controlled by the con sumers as a whole and really be an other form of consumers' cooperation or public cooperative ownership. But while there are some forms of business which coyer certain areas in which all the people living in those areas want the same form of services, in general most businesses do not man ufacture goods which all the people in a given area want. How should such factories be owned? Well there is a simple alternative to producer owner ship, finance ownership arid political ownership. It is not experimental. It has 90 years of successful proven ex perience behind it. It starts at the re tail outlets. The people ' who live around a store, oil station, etc., join together and buy shares and own it cooperatively as consumers. Then such associations join together in a larger area and form a wholesale and then, when the demand for any one product is sufficient, the wholesale starts a fac tory to produce that product and the factory is cooperatively owned by the consumers to supply their needs. They create, the demand, the factory sup plies it. They own it as they should. The thought of owning the factories by means of the people owning the re tail outlets might well have been called "Peoples' Ownership." It is commonly called "Consumers' Cooperation." It is the answer for Democratic America as to how factories should be owned and will be owned as fast as we Americans- see clearly that the key to Economic Democracy lies in the retail outlets1'' right at our doors. 100 COOPERATION The Coming Fascism By J. P. Warbasse T)ROFITISM is doomed. Fascism is •*- the final desperate attempt to keep alive the expiring profit method of business. This is by the use of force, by the destruction of the last relic of democracy, and by the creation of a non-parliamentary dictatorship. Dis regarding the established standards of political and social justice, fascism vio lates the rights of individuals and transgresses the tenets of all institu tions which do not sustain the profit motive. In order to win adherents, it appeals to mass prejudice by asserting its uncompromising devotion to the preservation of the national interests, and by proclaiming itself as a defen sive measure. It calls upon the people to unite to abolish factions and dis senting .parties, to make their nation great by the solidarity of its people, and to fight against all other forces capable of winning adherents away from its standards. Those people who resist encroach ment upon their established privileges and rights are coerced by ruthlessness and cruelty. The unyielding are de stroyed. Fascism appears before the profit system collapses and loses control of the property, the credit, and the armed strength of the government. By the use of existing parliamentary means, with the addition of force, it captures the weakened government and the control of the economic affairs of the nation. Back of it all, as fascism sets up its dictatorship, stands big business, scared, timid, and hysterical. Since the profit method of business is unworkable and leads naturally to its own decline and collapse, it is destined to be followed by some other method. But before its final disintegra tion, desperate measures for its rescue are employed. Should -the privileged forces in the capitalistic countries defer using these measures, or employ them unsuccessfully, the collapse comes, and brings chaotic disorganization of in dustry. Then the best organized, the best led, or the most appealing scheme to reestablish an economic structure takes command of the situation. This happened in Russia. Socialism and communism supervened. A more practical way for profitism to keep itself alive is to make conces sions of profits and prerequisites in the interest of the public good. But this it is rarely willing to do. It will have all of its profits, keep all of its wealth, or sink with its money clenched in its hands. This trend can be seen in all of the industrial countries, where privileged wealth has not been willing to part with a good share of its privileges. The more highly civilized countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Switzerland, curtail privilege and take the steps that save themselves from both fascism and communism. Italian fascism was promoted by big business, and attempted to destroy everything that conflicted with profit getting. The cooperative societies, the trade unions, and the socialist party were marked for destruction. In Germany, it was not only big business but the international bankers and the armament trust that financed the fascist movement. German fascism was promoted also by the iniquitous Versailles Treaty and by the restless ness and discontent of youth which grew out of the injustices sponsored by that treaty. Austria, Bulgaria, Roumania, Hun- pary, Jugoslavia, and the rest of the Balkans, for the same reasons, are al ready in the lap of fascism. The situation in Great Britain il lustrates this trend toward fascism. As keen as the British are for their parlia mentary government, there is a still more powerful invisible government which the nation maintains. The prop erty-owning class and the business in terests are growing anxious and con cerned for the safety of things as they are. Their recent attacks upon the co- COOPERATION 101 operative societies, their zeal for mili tary expansion, and their promotion of reactionary legislation are all signifi cant. A well organized and financed fascist movement is rapidly developing under Sir Oswald Mosley's leadership. He has frankly asserted that the coop eratives must be stopped. He has organ ized his thousands of followers along military lines. He parades his army of black shirts through the streets. His minions are drilled in offensive tactics. His female supporters are taught jiu- jitsu. From his barracks he issues his military orders. He commands armored cars and airplanes. He sends his com panies into the corners of England to create disorder, to break up meetings, and to break open heads. This occurs when people are assembled in the in terest of non-profit business or to take measures to protect themselves from the oppressions of profitism. Opposition to this rapidly growing British fascism expresses itself in ap peals to the Government to curb this menace to British liberties. The Bri tish take their government seriously. They are destined to a terrible disil lusionment. When the crisis comes, and the Government has to take sides with fascism -or democracy, it will be found casting its lof. with Mosley. The Prime Minister and the: Kinq will Be found just where Victor Emmanuel and Hinderiburg are found. It is a fatuous hope for cooperators to look to the British Government for the protec tion of their constitutional rights; that is not the policy of the British Govern ment, and never has been. Its support is for the dominant propertied class. In the United States our approach to fascism is through the National Re covery Administration, It will serve for a while, but we may expect the time to come when a more rigorous form will appear. The NRA might easily be converted into a dictatorship. Already it is in the air. Few cooperators in the United States ever hoped to see the day when the cooperative movement would have reached such a growth that big busi ness would fear it. But that has already come to pass. The cooperative oil so cieties have become a source of con cern to the profit oil business. The in dependent dealers first became excited. A year ago when the Petroleum Code was formulated, a dealer said in Washington: "These cooperatives in the States of Wisconsin and Minne sota have put out of business more than a hundred of my oil stations; they are destroying the petroleum industry." Since that, the oil cooperatives have gone on from one success to another. They have beaten the oil people at every turn. They have gotten the restrictions removed from the code. They have a cooperator on the na tional petroleum committee. Decisions they sought have been made in their favor. And they continue to grow. Their business last year, amounted to $35,000,000. And $5,000,000 were paid back in cash to their members as sav ings-returns. These amounts are not so much of a loss to big business as they are an index of what is coming. Big petroleum business is thoroughly excited and is taking a hand in the effort to stop the expansion of cooperation. The Petroleum Institute holds meet ings to plan stopping the coopera tives. The various State Petroleum Committees resort to every possible expedient to hamper cooperative so cieties. I have in my files NRA docu ments signed by these administrative bodies, containing threats, false state ments, and suggestions of coercion. In New England the big oil corporations refuse to supply cooperatives with petroleum products and insist that they are illegal businesses, all in defiance of the provisions of the NRA. Mem bers of the bodies established by the NRA for the administration of the Petroleum Code are now frankly talk ing of coercive measures to put the co operatives out of business. They are excited, vehement, and on the verge of hysterical outbreak. This was evi denced at the recent hearing of the co operatives before the Petroleum Ad ministrative Board. The oil men ceased to reason and to employ the usual parliamentary methods; they defied the Government and frankly stated that, in the interest of their profits, they would 102 COOPERATION violate the law. These men are a part of the'NRA machinery and the great majority of them are in the oil business. At the present time, the State Petro leum Board in Oklahoma is engaged in a controversy with the cooperatives and is being beaten at every step. Thd irritation of the oil men is now ready to express itself in violation of the demo cratic rights of the cooperatives. In the meantime, the cooperatives are going on with their expansion. 'They are demonstrating that their methods are more successful than those of .profit business. And they are pro ceeding with their movement toward the ownership of their own refineries and oil wells. This is essential because the oil business is promoting a .conspir acy to deny the cooperatives the right to buy oil in the market. This o'il situation is recited because it illustrates conditions such as precede a fascistic outburst. I have had much contact with these oil men, and I know that they are ready for anything. They are thoroughly aroused. They believe in the justice of their cause. They are not concerned for a better and more practical economic system. They are not burdened with notions of social reform. They believe that profitism of fers the best way of production and distribution, and anything that inter feres with it is against the public good. And the time is coming when they will be willing to fight for these beliefs. Just now the United States is at a critical situation. Profit business is either going to improve or get worse. Should its rehabilitation take place, the progressive measures and the present advantages enjoyed by the coopera tives will fade away and become a memory. If good profits, salaries, and wages return, the getting of money will satisfy both employers and workers. Gamblers, speculators. tradesmen, bankers, farmers, and workers will bend their energies to the getting of the money difference between the cost and selling price. The getting of things will concern only that small element of our population found in the consumers' cooperative societies. However, should the depression continue and deepen, an increasing growth of cooperation may be expected. As profitism witnesses its own decline, and governmental help fails to cure its ills, it will have to rise up in the form of fascism to smite with fanatical force the agencies which threaten or supplant it. These are the prospects with which we are confronted. In any evsnt the path of cooperation will not be strewn with roses. Its way lies through ad versities that will test the quality of its members and the character of its leadership. How Cooperation Saves Chicks Which Profit Hatching Lost By Thad Macy Hatchery DepL, Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, Inc. ©OPERATIVE HATCHERIES are teaching our Indiana people that quality protection can best be ob tained through cooperative production, in which the control is in the hands of the chick buyers, that is, the con sumers, rather than the hatchery men or the producers of the hatching eggs. Here in Indiana some 600 hatcheries are operated under all sorts of policies by some 600 different people, primarily for their own profit. These hatchery men have been in competition with each other, and quite a few of them have been trying to take business away from their competitors by using all sorts of schemes to reduce their costs of production rather than to improve the quality. Such hatchery men have established a very low standard of baby chick, as well as a low price; and it has been difficult for baby chick buy- COOPERATION 103 ers to buy chicks that would be free from disease. • Dr. Axby, Indiana State Veterina rian, says that, in the territory where studies have been made, 33 1/3% of all chicks hatched die during the first three weeks, and that practically all of this loss was due to Pullorum (B.W. D). Dr. L. P. Doyle of Purdue says that a high proportion of the better flocks in the state are afflicted with Paralysis. The cooperative-minded poultrymen of Indiana finally decided to see what could be accomplished through the operation of cooperative hatcheries. In 1933 four hatcheries were started un der the supervision of the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, Inc. The hatchery at Indianapolis kept an accurate record of the number of chicks that died during the first three weeks of their lives. At the end of the 1933 season, we found that our 326 customers had lost, during the first three weeks of the chicks' lives, an average of only l%% of the chicks they had purchased. So far during 1934, our average customer has lost less than 2% of the chicks shipped to him. Compare this with the average loss of at least 25% of all chicks hatched! This outstanding record was ac complished through a combination of proper blood-testing and proper hatch ery operation. The Farm Bureau hired the best veterinarians available for blood-testing work and used only the methods of blood-testing that are rec ognized as being the most accurate, and then, to preserve the value of this testing, they denied themselves any extra profit by refusing to do custom hatching for the general public in the incubator rooms. All of these hatcheries and all of the flocks are under the supervision of the Indiana Live Stock Sanitary Board. Up until the time we started, only four Indiana flocks had been declared free of Pullorum Disease. However, at the end of our first year's operation, we •ourselves had five Pullorum-free flocks and were able to start the first Indiana Pullorum-free hatchery. These outstanding results were ac complished because our policies were developed entirely for the protection of the baby chick buyers and not for the immediate profit of flock owners or hatchery operators. We have also developed a coopera tive plan for the control of Paralysis in poultry. Dr. Doyle states that the aver age loss from this disease runs all the way from 10% up to 70% each year. Here is the plan: First, we work with only the most cooperative-minded flock owners; then, we describe carefully the symptoms of the disease and show the flock owner pictures of birds that are afflicted. If he declares that he has never seen anything similar to this in his flock, we then inspect the flock; and, if we find no signs of it, we risk the flock and begin buying hatching eggs from it, and strictly supervise the introduction of new blood. However, we keep an accurate record in the hatchery of where the chicks from this flock go; and we explain to the chick buyer that this disease can be spread in some other way than through the hatching eggs and urge the chick buy er to keep the chicks entirely isolated from all other poultry and contam inated surroundings, and to report to . us if Paralysis appears at any time later in the life of the chicks, so that we can trace bacJc through our records and eliminate the parent flock responsible for the trouble. In starting our hatchery at Indianap olis in 1933, we were forced to dis card over 80% of the flocks we in spected because of symptoms of this disease alone. However, the reports from our 1933 customers indicate that we were almost always correct in our original diagnosis. Only a very few of our original flocks have had to be dis carded because their chicks developed this disease. We are confining our work to only three breeds of chickens. It is our de sire to standardize the breeds of p'oul- try. At present, our average Indiana community is supporting fifteen to twenty different breeds of chickens; and we believe that, if we can encourage these communities to standardize on a very limited number of breeds, the re- 104 COOPERATION COOPERATION 105 suiting uniform poultry products could be more satisfactorily marketed through cooperative channels. It is our plan to have key trap- nested breeding flocks owned by our cooperative association, rather than by individuals; because the ownership of such flocks will involve quite a bit of financial and labor investment, and the owners would be very proud and jealous of them. If these flocks were owned by private capital, their owners might be very hesitant to report any faults or flaws that might appear. If lameness developed in some of the birds, they would be very likely to imagine that this was of no importance and refrain from reporting such early symptoms of Paralysis and quite a bit of damage might be done; whereas, if these key breeding flocks are owned by the entire cooperative group, no single individual would lose much and such faults would, therefore, be more quickly reported. The success of our program so far is reflected in the demand for our product. In 1934, we .have expanded until we have a total hatchery capacity of 389,000 eggs (over 24 tons); and, in spite of the fact that 1934 has been one of the poorest hatchery years known, we have had extreme difficulty in meet ing the demand. When we started, only 6 of the 600' hatcheries were cooperating with the Indiana Live Stock Sanitary Board by using their plan to control Pullorum; but, as soon as we started, quite a few other hatcheries woke up and climbed on the band wagon; and now at least 60 are attempting to operate under their plan. It seems that whenever a cooperative establishes any worth while improvement, the old line in dustry will try to copy the improve ment and cash in on the publicity that the cooperative furnishes. A Challenge to the Leaders of America HT'HE challenge of any movement in -*- the advancement of civilization is to the leaders of every period; to those individuals who hold the confidence of the people. In a period of widespread economic distress such as we are now expe riencing, the crying ne.ed is for leader ship which will point the true way out. The pressure for action and leadership is intense today, because of the astounding paradox of poverty and misery amid abundance. Whereas in previous emergencies the cry of the distressed .has been for some one to find a remedy for real scarcity or phys ical disaster, today the millions who are in want point to the bulging ware houses, the crops being plowed under and destroyed, and power machinery which would ease the burdens of their lives standing idle and rusting from disuse. The challenge of the led to their leaders is not the usual plea for succor by the unfortunate. No observ ing person can fail to detect a growing demand for something more than min imum and uncertain subsistence among the millions of unemployed and poorly paid workers. Leaders who are anxious to conserve our democratic heritage cannot evade the impelling challenge that the ideal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all is utterly irreconcilable with the spectre of want stalking amidst plenty. Our political, ethical and educational democracy cannot long survive a regime of eco nomic autocracy which is far more op pressive and ruinous to the very lives of the people than the worst of the political autocracies which our fore fathers struggled by force of arms to* overthrow. The treatment of our eco nomic ills with paternalistic palliatives moist soon give way to a search for the real and tangible causes of distress, within our midst and their real economic remedies. No discerning ob server can fail to see the question of the ownership of the facilities for pro duction and distribution as one of the chief causes of the economic dilemma of today. The challenge to the leaders of 'J I America today is, what kind of institu tions do we want? Do we want the communism of Russia in which all is owned by the State under the dictator ship of a minority? Do we want the fascism of Italy or Germany in which a capitalist ruling class has all but destroyed all vestiges of democracy? America is embarked upon a third alternative which, if continued, may al so be ultimately destructive of our present democratic -institutions. We are now experimenting with a form of economic fascism within the framework of political democracy. The private owners of industry will, under this sys tem, restrict production to a point where this troublesome abundance and plenty will no longer exist. Then the economics of our forefathers, based upon competition among consumers to purchase a limited supply of goods, will permit business to be done at a profit to the owners and so-called prosperity will have returned. Under government supervision a wholesale restriction of production is being caried on which, if carried to its logical consequences, will mean the gradual supplanting of power produc tion by hand labor. Since labor saving machinery was introduced into this country largely as a means for reducing labor costs, and since many labor sav-? ing devices have been perfected but not used because the cost of labor has not reached the point where their use is profitable, it is inevitable that as we create greater surpluses of labor by restriction of production, the use of machinery will diminish under pressure of the necessity of providing work to all people. No one knows how far this process will go if we continue to at tempt to return to "prosperity" by creating an artificial scarcity. But none can deny that this is a rational end to the economic solution we are attempt ing today. One commanding question arises, will our political democracy long survive such a process of rever sion to the economy of scarcity of an earlier hand labor age? To repeat the challenge, leaders of America, what kind of an economic and political structure do we want? How much does our political democra cy mean to us? Can the idealism which sustains such a form of government long survive a virtual economic fas cism? One conclusion we must accept: We cannot have power production of abundance under an economic fascism of ownership by the few. Power pro duction can be sustained only under a form of ownership which permits the people to buy what they produce. Power production cannot operate as long as a fascist ownership by the few permits some people to receive a far greater share of the production than they can use. The doctrine of more equitable distribution of ownership and income which has long been preached as an altruistic ideal, now has become an economic imperative. As a practical business consideration, there cannot be abundance for all under the existing system of ownership. The leaders of this country must decide whether or not they want to see a civilization based upon mass power production of abundance for all, or whether they want to return to the ele mental use of the machine as a part of a handicraft culture yielding a standard of living comparable to that enjoyed in this country in the 19th century. If they decide to endeavor to revert to the economy of scarcity by continuing the policy of production restriction now in vogue, they must be prepared to face the possible violence of revolution by the masses who have tasted abundance and may never again submit to pro longed minimum subsistence when they know that continued plenty for all is possible. If, on the other hand, our leaders finally decide for abundance for all by mass power production, then they must be prepared to abandon ownership by the few and substitute ownership by the many; that is, by consumers. Ex perience has shown that when the product of an industry approaches the amount which consumers can consume, the competition among producers lowers the price of the product to a point where it covers the cost of pro duction only, leaving no margin of profit for the producer, thus removing 106 COOPERATION COOPERATION 107 the only sustained motive for efficient production under private capitalist ownership. The essence of this problem •of production and distribution is own ership, and if we choose the alternative of abundant mass production for all, we will have automatically barred ownership by the few which is the sub stance of private capitalism as we know it today. The principle of ownership by and for the many finds an application in • several forms of social control of the , instruments of production and distribu tion. The problem of the leadership of this country is to find the method of collective control of industry which as sures the maximum service to the peo ple and yet supports the basic tenets of freedom in our political democracy. That method is Consumers' Coopera tion! This is the rallying point for the na tional leaders of American thought and action. We must organize to collective ly own our means of production and distribution through Consumers* Co operatives. The organization of Consumers' Co operatives represents a practical pro gram upon which leaders of all faiths and political points of view may unite. It is a program of action which can be utilized independently by the smallest group in the most remote section. But the movement will not carry itself. In telligent and energetic leadership must carry the burden of organization. If the present leaders do not respond, then we must expect the confusion and distress which attends the struggle of the masses to produce new leaders to whom the challenge of cooperative ac tion is all impelling. On this vital ques tion of the ownership and operation of industry by and for the consumer, the masses of people must and will be served. Will the leaders of American - thought and action accept the chal lenge to lead forward to economic democracy by advocating and assisting in organizing Consumers' Coopera tives? Eastern States Cooperative League Convention Reflects Widespread Expansion Midland Makes Progress THE 1933 gross business of the Mid land Cooperative Oil Association, which was reported at the annual meet ing on June 11-12 as $1,073,566.57, represents a gain over the preceding year of 21.4%. In the first four months of 1934, the dollar volume jumped 126% ahead of the same period of 1933. Important changes in the Midland were made at the annual meeting, which had a record-breaking attend ance including delegates from 60 mem ber associations in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The name was changed to "Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Inc." This was done to distinguish the Midland as a wholesale unit from the retail co operatives, and also to allow for future expansion in other lines than oil. The articles of incorporation were amended to make the Midland a stock corporation. Previously it had been a membership organization. This change is to strengthen the financial set-up. What are now certificates of indebted ness will be converted into preferred stock under the new set-up. A new district, in Wisconsin, was recognized through the election of a director, J. Mahrike. Directors John son, E. P. Karau, and J. C. Bender were reelected. W. L. Witte, of the Wisconsin Dept. of Markets, addresing the meet ing, made a strong plea for sympathy and joint action between rural and city people. E. R. Bowen, General Secre tary of The Cooperative League, dis cussed the four economic solutions being tried in the world and advocated Consumers' Cooperation as America's Answer. V By Robert L. Smith ' | yHE progress in Cooperative ex- •*- pansion revealed by the reports of delegates to the Tenth Annual Con vention of the Eastern States Coopera tive League held at West Quincy, on June 2nd, was reflected by the fact that 32 societies were represented as Com pared with 19 at last year's convention. The first session convened on Sun day morning with Meyer Rubinson, President of the Eastern States Co operative League, in the chair. An ad dress of welcome in which he ex pressed a hope that the convention would bring to light better ways of joint action was delivered by Frank Aaltonen, Manager of the United Co operative Society of Quincy. The outstanding feature of the brief reports by the delegates was the opti mistic viewpoint stimulated by in creases in membership, sales, and branch expansion experienced by ell in the past year'. In addition to the gratifying report that the Eastern Cooperative Whole sale had successfully avoided the red in supplying a • wide variety of com modities', Leslie Woodcock, Manager of the Wholesale, outlined two pro posals for expansion. The first of these ' is an endeavor to take advantage of the experience of the Mid-Western societies in distributing petroleum products cooperatively and endeavor ing to organize the field in New Eng land. The second is the addition of a field man to the staff in order to facili tate the organization of new coopera tives and to handle the numerous rej quests already received for such aid. The opening address of the after noon session was made by E. R. Bow- en, General Secretary of The Co operative League of the U. S. A. Tak ing as his theme Cooperation as the way but for America, he pointed out that capitalism has failed in its final claim—the ability to produce. He graphically traced the submergence of the consumer as middleman's owner ship was developed further and further. With Economic Autocracy and Polit ical Democracy proved as incom patible, the threat of fascism becomes dangerously real. Mr. Bowen chal lenged the Cooperative Movement to awaken American consumers to the co operative solution of our difficulties. Three significant developments seem to emerge from the mass of facts and figures reported by the delegates. First of these is a shift in cooperative interest, in which the foreign language groups have succeeded in bringing in other nationalities to the extent of 50% of their trade. The increased interest on the part of American-born persons was felt to be a most encouraging sign. The second development is the policy of the established societies to give henceforward managerial and finan cial aid to any groups of 100 persons signifying their intention to organize a Cooperative Society. The third new departure was revealed in the report of Kenneth Pohlmann of Fitchburg. Plans' for a Junior College in Fitchburg threatened to fall through and several Cooperators stepped into the breach. The result was the organization of a Cooperative Institute with 56 students and 7 qualified professors teaching a variety of courses from English to Co operative Theory^ Plans for the coming year are still more ambitious. The delegates elected M. Rubinson, M. E. Arnold, F. Aaltonen, W. Pernaa, T. Kiuru, J. Salerno as directors of the Eastern States Cooperative League with terms expiring in 1936. J. Suomi- nen was elected to complete the term of S. Farber expiring in 1935. For the Eastern States Cooperative Wholesale the nominations of A. E. Kazan and A. Seraffin as directors were approved with terms expiring in 1936. 108 COOPERATION COOPERATION 109 After adopting a resolution expres sing the gratitude of the delegates for the splendid hospitality of the United Co-operative Society of Quincy and the excellent dinner served by the Cooper ative Huvila Park Ass'n, the conven tion adjourned leaving everyone im pressed with the renewed energy dem onstrated by the delegates and hopeful for the prospects of the coming year. Cooperation in Action Gubernatorial Cooperation - - Ohio Farm Bureau Leaders Generate Cooperative Enthusiasm HTWO days spent at the offices of the •*• Ohio Farm Bureau in Columbus in contact with leaders in all of its divisions is too short to make all the personal acquaintanceships one would wish and to gather more than a frac tion of the cooperative inspiration and information possible, but still long enough to become filled with admira tion for the great progress in practical cooperation already made there and for the many visions of the future of cooperation. Cooperative marketing preceded co operative purchasing as is usual with farm organizations. But Ohio farmers now realize very keenly that they are consumers as well as producers and are organizing accordingly. Dr. A. E. Cance, Agricultural Econ omist of the Massachusetts State Col lege, speaks of Murray D. Lincoln, Ex ecutive Secretary of the Ohio Farm Bureau as "one of my boys" and is rightfully proud of his progress. Mr. Lincoln tells of having a phone call one day when in school suggesting that he investigate a new position in Con necticut. It proved to be that of Agri cultural Agent. There he had his first experience with cooperative buying. His instructions were ito "find out what the farmers wanted." They wanted to buy fertilizer cooperatively, so he helped them do it. From there he went to Myron T. Herrick's bank in Cleve land as Agricultural representative of the bank, which led to an association with "Uncle" George L. Cooley, the second winner of the medal for distin guished service to agriculture awarded by the American Farm Bureau Federa tion, and now President of the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Later Mr. Lincoln was chosen as Executive Secretary of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the President of which is Perry L. Green, former Secretary of Agriculture of Ohio, also an ardent cooperator. Within the short space of eight years the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company has developed to the place where it has assets of over three million dollars. It now covers six other states as well as Ohio. The Sales Manager, L. J. Bennett, was met as far away as Burlington, Vermont, out on business in that state, which they have under contract with the Vermont Farm Bureau. Under the aggressive leadership of Silas Vance, the Ohio Farm Bureau Service Company is now rapidly developing a state-wide cooperative oil program. Mr. Vance is "selling" his members hard on the advantages of their hook-up with the National Co operatives, Inc., through the Ohio Farm Bureau News, of which James R. Moore is Editor. Mr. Moore is putting Cooperative Buying or Consumers' Cooperation "right out in front" in re cent issues of this interesting publica tion. It is not possible to include the names of all those in this progressive organization in a short story, but suf ficient to say that it appeared that every one was a cooperative buying enthusiast. Cooperative education is a real part of their program. All employ ees have attended a cooperative school during the past year. Other plans are being formulated for a much wider program for reaching the membership and for training leaders. Arrangements are made with two colleges for alter nating work and study periods for a limited number of students. ; .ft Floyd Olson, governor of Minneso ta, and a half dozen of his department heads are among those who have re cently applied for life insurance with the Cooperators' Life Association of Minneapolis. This is real support for the cooperative movement from a friendly political party in power. 148% Gain The Farmers Union Central Ex change of St. Paul increased its dollar volume in the first four months of 1934 over the corresponding period of 1933 by 148%. Maynard Goes Into Ice, Fish The United Co-operative Society of Maynard, Mass., has recently started delivery of ice, also a fresh fish depart ment. Other improvements made by Maynard are new meat and fish dis play counters, a spray-equipped fruit and vegetable storage plant, and new tile floors and air cooling system in the dairy. Own Co-op Tire Moulds National Cooperatives, Inc., does not have its own tire factory.—not yet .—but it does own some ten thousand dollars worth of moulds in which the various sizes and grades of Co-op tires are made on specification, in the Mo hawk Rubber Company's plant at Akron. • A Hair They Can't Split Cooperative oil associations may borrow from the banks for Coopera tives on that portion of their products handled which can be .classified as "farm supplies," that is, used in pro duction, says the Farm Credit Ad ministration. However, you won't need a separate tank on your car for "busi ness" gas and for "joy-ride" gas, the FCA allows. Combined Cooperative Effort Gets Action from FERA The Cooperative League recently had a letter from the Republic Farmers Cooperative Association of Republic, Michigan, advising that some of those .receiving government relief in their territory were not permitted to secure their supplies at the cooperative, and asking us to investigate the matter and make an effort to help them. We now have a letter from the Fed eral Emergency Relief Administration at Washington, from which the follow ing is quoted: "The practice now in effect in Michigan is to allow the recip ient of direct relief to name the store of his choice." While this was a local issue, it may also happen elsewhere among retail co operative organizations, and is another piece of evidence of the advantage of the consumers' cooperative movement's presenting a united front. Swedish Cooperative Architecture Outstanding The Architectural Record of May carries a section in which is given "Representative Selections of Ex amples of Contemporary Architecture from Nine Countries." It is significant that the examples from Sweden are all of cooperative buildings.—a coopera tive cracker factory, the Luma cooper ative electric lamp factory, and two cooperative stores, one being a stand ardized type of cooperative country store. Cooperation thinks in terms of cul ture and beauty as well as business ef ficiency and economy. The caption un derneath the cooperative cracker fac tory illustration says, "The site of the factory is a wooded island, and the selection of location was influenced by a desire to obtain a natural beauty of setting." The entire plant is supplied with conditioned air, to provide com fortable conditions for workers. 110 COOPERATION Learning Cooperation Central States Cooperative League Announces School and Institute Attractive folders announcing the Fifth Annual Summer School of Co operation, also the First Annual Insti tute of Cooperation are now being mailed out by the Central States Go- operative League. This year an Insti tute offering an advanced course is being held in addition to the regular Summer School. The Summer School opens Monday morning August 20th, and the Institute Sunday evening Au gust 26th. Both will be held this year at Druce Lake Camp, near Waukegan, 111. The camp has a kitchen and a dining hall, dormitories, an assembly hall, swim ming pool, tennis courts, athletic field, boating and everything else for the vacationer. The charge for tuition, meals and room for the Summer School will be $10, for the Institute $12. Splendid programs as well as a real vacation are offered to those who at tend. Write the Central States Coop erative League, Bloomington, 111., for announcements and programs. • A Big Number The June 16 issue of "The Co-opera tive Builder" was a humdinger—24 pages. For size this stacks up well alongside "The New York Times," and for content, far above. Many so cieties ordered bulk quantities for dis tribution to members. Art Katka, who was recently hired by the Central Co operative Wholesale es fieldman, aided and abetted this distribution of a real educational newspaper. • Subscribe to Cooperation Every Manager and Director and as many members as possible of every Cooperative Association in America should be a subscriber to COOPER ATION, in addition to the publication issued by his or her own wholesale. It's the official journal of the National Movement with International News. It is needed by every official to keep in touch with the qreatest movement of <" • • V^.,1?"-'*", ~ all time. • "Look Out—The Co-ops Are Coming" An article by Oscar Cooley in Ad vertising and Selling under the title of "Look out—The Co-ops are Coming" suggests that business prepare for the oncoming change to Consumers' Cooperation that is rapidly on the way. The article has provoked an editorial in The Christian Science Monitor which says, in part, "Back of the co operative movement are certain sound fundamentals that account for its growth. Its activities demonstrate true democracy; it is international in its out look. — 'Moreover, the cooperative movement is based on the belief that- '• the consumer should work intelligently » . and constructively toward doing more , and more for himself instead of looking to government agencies for aid.—It is one movement that no intelligent per son need fear. It threatens no over turn, but rather a steady and sound evolution in business, looking always toward a fairer and more equitable distribution of world necessities." Both the article and the editorial are significant—'One in a business journal and the other in a religious paper. • America's Answer—Consumers' Co operation—'now reprinted in pamphlet form—'many orders being received "America's Answer —• Consumers' Cooperation" which is now reprinted in pamphlet form is evidently filling a real need for a comprehensive, con densed .summary of the whole Con sumers' Cooperative Movement judg ing by the orders being received. Quan tity orders from 10 to 5000 have been placed by individuals and retail and wholesale cooperatives, "Most, convincing, up-to-date and forceful piece of cooperative literature we have ever read" is one of the many expressions in the letters received. Or der a quantity for your friends and members. 25 copies 7c each; 100 copies 6c each; 1000 copies 5c each. COOPERATION 111 Two Unusual Cooperative Articles Worth Reading Quite significant evidence of the growing realization that the final way out is democratic economic consumers' cooperation was to see two splendid ar ticles on this subject appearing in lib eral journals in the same week. You will surely wish to read them in full. "Consumers, Organize!" is the title of the consumers' cooperative article by H. M. Kallen in The Christian Century of June 27th. It is an unusual article to appear in a prominent independent religious journal. It has in it such stim ulating statements as these, "We are born consumers and only become pro- , ducers. As consumers the interests of each of us are harmonious with the in terests of all our fellow citizens. We become producers because we are forced to.—The defense of the con sumer cannot be left to the state. The consumer must defend himself by tak ing care in person of ihis interests as consumer.—Any existing society such as a church or a trades union or a fra ternal order can constitute itself a con sumers' cooperative. It need not wait on revolution or on 'building social ism' in order to bring benefits to its members. It brings them immediately with organization and they increase day by day and step by step and bit by bit.—It is high time that the con sumers' cooperative movement receive the encouragement of wider support." • Sydney R. Elliott, Editor of Rey nolds Illustrated, which is described as the only democratically owned and controlled newspaper in Great Britain, describes "A British Bulwark Against Fascism" in the June 27th issue of The Nation. It's one of the best articles in recent years in an American Magazine telling the story of the British Coopera tive Movement. The concluding sen tence thrills one with it's prophetic sug gestion, "Ten years hence Consumers' Cooperation in Britain may celebrate with its centenary the achievement of economic democracy at the center of a world empire." After reading this article you may al so wish to order one or both of the two pamphlets published by the Coopera tive Wholesale Society, Ltd.—'"Told in Brief" which is a historical story, and "The C.W.S. of Today," which is a current description of this great or ganization. Order from the League Of fice—price lOc each. The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con. ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONOMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St., New York, N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. Raivaaja Print—Fitehburg, Mass. 112 C O O P E R A TIO N STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS Per Copy Per 100 38. Consumers Cooperation in the United States (illus.). 1983 __ .15 8.00 69. Story of Toad Dane (By Stuart Chase) _________________ .05 4.00 84. The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietricfa _________________ .05 4.00 85. Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ____________ .10 7.00 86. Consumers' Cooperative Methods, J. P. Warbasse, 1934 _______ .10 6.00 341. America's Answer — Consumers' Cooperation, E. R. Bowen ___ .10 6.00 87. .Sweden, Where Capitalism is Controlled, Marquis W. CMMs__ .25 88. The Economic Foundations of World Peace, Toyohiko Kagawa .35 ORGANIZATIONAL PAMPHLETS 4. How to Start and Run a Roch dale Cooperative Store ______ .25 89. How to Start and Run a Con sumers' Co-op Club ________ .25 6. Model Py-Laws for a Rochdale Cooperative Society ________ .05 2.50 29. Credit Unior Primer (By Ham and Robinson) ____________ .50 51. Model Le&se for Cooperative Apartment House _________ .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law _____ .10 30. "When the "Whistle Blew" (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ____ .06 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 .75 62. Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter ____________ .05 2.00 63. Sign or Transparency of League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter ________________ .26 15.00 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emiblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 2150 68. To Mothers ______________ .02 1.00 72. Lit*le Lessons in Cooperation .35 74. The Burden of Credit ____ __ .02 1.00 75. What is the Cooperative Store .03 2.00 76. What is Consumers' Cooperation .05 4.00 77. The Most Necessary Thing in Life __ __________________ .02 1.00 78. Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Money's Worth _______ .02 1.00 79. There Are Two Sides to Every Counter —————— __________ .02 1.00 81. Cooperative Youth Songs ____ .25 80. Consumers', Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 531 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics __ .25 82. What Cooperation means to a depression-sick America _____ .03 2.00 83. What is the Cooperative League MONTHLY MAGAZINES Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year (foreign, $1.26) $1.00 Review of International Cooperation (Pub. by the I. C. A.) —————————__ Per Tear, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recommended as con taining the best discussion of the modern Co operative Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia, 1924 ____ ___ __ _ ___ i go Brighlbwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children ___________________ .15 Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth7 A Book for Consumers ___________ l.lo Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 __________________ 2.10 Gide. C.: Consumers' Cooperative Socie ties. American edition and notes, 1922 Cloth —————————_____________ 1.50'' Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees ________ 2.50 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers 1892 ____ 110 Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932 3.75 Indian Cooperation, Children's story ___ .15 Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products _________________ 3.10 Kress, A. J.: Capitalism, Cooperation Communism, 1932 _______________ 2 00 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guildswomen, telling what the Guild has done for them __________ 1.2S Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold _____ .85 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story __________ 25 Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators ______________________ 1.50 Oerne. Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems _____________________ 1.35 Owen, Robert: Autobiography ______ 75 Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic^ 1.85 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1891 ___________________ 1 10 Redfern, Percy: John T. W. Mitchell, (1924) LOO Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S. 2.26 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in Society, 1820 ___________________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction in Ireland, 1918 _________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon .and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark ___________________ _ 1.10 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920 _______________ 1.60 Stolinsky. A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish) _ ___________.______ i.oo Totomianz. V; The Place of Cooperation among other movements __________ .25 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy" (1927) ____—————______________^ 1.50 Warbasse. J.P.: What Is Cooperation, 1S27 .75 Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Cooperative Movement in Illinois 1926 _________ 3 50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co operative Movement. 1921 __ _ _ _ 5.00 Webb, Beatrice: My Apprenticeship, (1926) s!oo Webb. Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, il917 ———_.——————______________ ijeo Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry ______________ i 65 Cooperation, Bound Volumes 1S15 to 19S2 inclusive, each year _____________ i 50 The People's Year Book, 1934, English, paper .75, cloth _________________ 1.35 Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1952 __________________________ .75 flDA 7.57 OPERATION Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Cooperative United States Vol. XX. No. 8 AUGUST, 1934 10 cents Plan Now to Attend the Cooperative League Congress BY a strong majority vote the place of the Cooperative League Con gress has now been set as Chicago and the dates as October 18, 19 and 20, Now let's every one help make it the greatest get-together of the Cooperative Purchasing Movement ever held in this country. It is suggested that the first day of the Congress be devoted to education in Consumers' Cooperation. There have been many signifi cant developments in educational programs during the last two years. Cooperatives that have not adopted such programs need to learn from the lips of those that have as to their success. Many forms of educa tional activities are now increasingly possible; since consumer interest is growing with increasing economic pressure. The second day can well be devoted to commercial cooperative discussions. It is planned that those who discuss each subject will also act as committees which will meet prior to the regular sessions of the day and thereby enable those who are particularly interested in any one development to meet those who are most active in that line as well as to better formulate a presentation of the subject before the Congress as a whole. The last day might be given over to the laying of future plans for a broader program and better financing of the work of The League, the election of Directors, Officers, etc. All this should form a real foundation for a significant meeting which will be far more than just a chance for speakers to talk with an audience to listen, but will definitely produce results, not only in in creased inspiration, but in useful information and practical organiza tion. Consumers' Cooperative members and friends, on to Chicago October 18, 19 and 20th! •••v t 114 C O O P E R A TIO N COOPERATION An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., New York City. E. R. Bowen, Editor Contributing Editors V. S. Alanne George Halonen A. W. Wat-inner George Jacobsoh James R. Moore Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. T., un der the Act of Marefc 3, 1879. Price $1.00' a year. Vol. XX. No. 8 August, 1934 EDITORIALS Perhaps the Swiss have an improve ment on the cooperative slogan "Self- help through mutual aid." They say "Self-help through mutual action." At least to Americans "action" has more of an effective suggestion than "aid." The great need in America is mutual consumer action. • Competition sets "every man's hand against his brother." Consumers' Co operation joins every man's hand with his brother's for united self-help. There are no race, creed, political or voca tional class lines in the Consumers' Co operative Movement. • Reading about Consumers' Coopera tion without actually doing something actively to educate others and to help organize cooperative associations will, in the end, drug one into inaction. You cannot know the truth and do nothing about it and grow. • Fifteen hundred college graduates recently assembled at a "Choosing a Career" conference to hear business and banking leaders tell "How They Succeeded," while these leaders are un able to operate the economic system which they at present control in such a way as to provide jobs for those to whom they spoke. A demonstration of personal success and social failure. The education of America to the growing adoption of Consumers' Co operation must come through the "pass ing of the torch" on by those who have already learned of the movement to others now in economic darkness. Missionary zeal is constantly needed. How can a cooperator who holds the truth fail, in a time like this when free dom is again at stake and dictatorships threaten democracy, to be aggressively active in promoting the one great vol untary democratic non-class economic movement of Consumers' Cooperation which will free the world forever of war and poverty and bring us all into a world of peace and plenty? • Horace Mann's final message was this, "I beseech you to treasure up in your hearts these my parting words: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." Probably the greatest victory anyone can win for the regeneration of the world is to help develop a Consumers' Cooperative re tail organization in his own home com munity and thereby "clear his own little corner of creation." • An illustration of the inability of consumers to protect themselves by "pressure" applied to the present capitalistic system is a news item rel- ativ0, .to itnan and wife picketing a shoe shop in New York City that sold the lady a pair of shoes, but is reported to have refused to do anything about the matter when she discovered that the shoes did not fit. Mr. and Mrs. Consumer vented their indignation by walking to and fro in front of the shoe shop, exhibiting placards telling the passersby the details of their dis pute. They were given an opportunity to "tell it to the Judge," and were fined $10 or two days in jail. It is to be ' hoped that in the end they will learn that "they cannot control what they do not own," and that the real way to get the shoe service they want is to organ ize a consumers' cooperative shoe store, instead of by making a futile protest about the sins of the present capital istic system. COOPERATION 115 Clarence Darrow says that we have "bowed down before the Baal of Steel." "Busting" the steel trust didn't succeed. Political regulation of the steel trust doesn't succeed. Taking over the steel trust by organizing retail cooperatives, then wholesale, then starting coopera tive production, is the one way for the people to gain ownership. • "Jersey Milk Price Is Increased One Cent — — ^- 75% of Increase Will Go to the Producer and the Remainder "to the Distributor." This was a news headline. Why shouldn't it read, "Re mainder to the Consumer"? The only reason is that consumers generally have not yet developed sufficient confidence in themselves to organize and become their own cooperative distributors. • R. G. Tugwell, Under-Secretary of Agriculture, speaking of processing and distributing businesses such as packers, millers, canners and milk distributors, says, "They use their power to sweat the farmers from whom they buy, the wage earners who work for them, and the consumers who buy their goods/' That is why consumers and producers must own and control their own dis tributing and processing businesses. • Strikes and more strikes. Bloody heads and broken bones. A few killed. Then a truce until the next time. Stuart Chase says "the outbreaks of the sum mer of 1934 show in effect that large groups of workers no longer believe that what they conceive to be economic justice can be given to them by the New Deal. They think that it must be won, as in the past, through their own fighting efforts." Workers in Con sumers' Cooperative Associations do not have to use violence to get justice. Cooperation encourages vocational organizations of all classes of workers. The greatest problem before coopera- tors in America is how to teach work ers that the one real way to gain justice is to organize themselves as consumers and take over the ownership of th? means of production and distribution and then employ themselves. "Capitalism is preparing to commit suicide, in its increasing preparations for war. This time the bomb will ex plode right in their own hands" is a prediction by Moscow papers on the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the World War. The only way to prevent war and violent revolution is by peaceful evolution through active cooperative organization effort. • Too easy government money may be a misfortune for a cooperative if being able to borrow it readily should induce an expansion beyond a point justified by sound business. One .of the Roch dale Pioneers is said to have declared that "credit is the invention of the devil" and it may easily prove to be true if unwisely used. True coopera tion is self help. • Dillinger is dead. Public enemy No. 1 of yesterday is gone. He has paid the price for defying society's rules. But Samuel Chotzinoff says "It seems to me that Dillingers will rise among us, in one form or another, so long as private property exists." He ascribes Dillinger's depredations not to personal pathology. "He was not a killer in the ordinary sense of the word," he says. "His depredations were motivated by the simple and universal desire for the accumulation of property and his mur ders were the inevitable outcome of in terference with this desire." He then includes in the same class "a goodly number of persons who, as captains of industry, display an extraordinary in difference to the lives of their human obstacles. If these most often stopped short of murder, it was only because they could achieve their desire through the use of the less sensational political and economic weapons at hand." Our flare for the sensational is for the moment satisfied. But now let us highly resolve again that we will re build this world into a Cooperative Economic Democracy where our sons will have no need or cause to attack society in order to attempt to gain eco nomic justice. 116 COOPERATION The Consumers Should Move Forward By J. P. Warbasse IN Great Britain, early in its cooper ative development, many societies had a number of stores. The numbers have increased until some societies have several hundred stores in a single city. The federation of cooperative so cieties to form wholesales resulted in consolidating multitudes of multiple stores into great national chains. The first chain stores were established by the cooperative societies of Great Britain. This development was long before the formation of capitalistic chain stores. The chain store is of dis tinctly cooperative origin. In the United States the develop ment of the profit chain store has been one of the striking phenomena of our business methods. In some business circles it is called "cooperative." These stores follow, after their fashion, the cooperative method. The independent storekeeper is being squeezed out of business by the chains, but he is mak ing a last effort to save his business by adopting the method of federation first practiced by the cooperatives. This is the natural trend. Profit stores now at tempt a limited imitation of several co operative methods. They not only form chains, but many of them pay a "divi dend" or rebate to their consumer pa trons. This consolidation of profit busi ness is one of the expedients resorted to with the view of keeping alive the impracticable profit method. There seems to be no end to its possibilities. Profit business, failing as an inde pendent enterprise, is moving in the direction of public control and owner ship. The bigger profit business be comes the more impersonal it is. It is now becoming a great machine with little human control. Personal pride or interest in its ownership is passing away. Its one function is to produce profits. If it fails to do that, it is promptly deserted or turned over to the government. The chain trend is illustrated by the new combination of 14,640 food stores in the United States. This is a union of five big chain grocery organizations. They are joining to carry on bigger business together. Their buying power will be much increased. It is said that the new organization will be called the Food Distribution Association. This is a combination "in restraint of trade" but it is now permitted under the N.R.A. The increase of discounts, as the amount of .purchases increases, is also permitted by the Grocery Code. Combinations are thus promoted by the Code. The N.'R.A. is the instrument that is now used by industry to be rid of the old antitrust restraints. The independent grocery stores are moving in the same direction. There are some 90,000 of these stores now linked with various chains. Some of these are operated by wholesales. There is every indication that these chains will continue to grow. For their own protection their movement may be expected more and more to include wholesaling and production. Either the chains will continue to establish their own wholesales, or wholesales will go on organizing chains of retail stores. And the end is big business. Little profit business has to move in that di rection or die. And the fate of big profit business also is death. The law of diminishing returns is fundamental in economics. This law operates as business expands. A busi ness that is making a certain amount of profit, when it doubles its capacity and turnover, naturally makes twice as much profit. But presently it reaches a point of expansion when this ratio of increase ceases and a decreasing ratio of profits takes place as the business expands. This is the spear point upon which profit business is destined to be impaled. The law of diminishing returns ap plies to profit business. But it does not apply to cooperative business. Co- COOPERATION 117 operation does not make profits; it makes savings. And the law of savings is utterly different from that of profits. There is a way to solve this chain store problem. Consumers' ownership would change its motive and place it beyond the reach of the law of dimin ishing returns. When the chain store business is largely gathered within a single great organization, and is failing to yield profits, its continuation need not be sought by means of government ownership; the cooperatively organ ized consumers may become the own ers. They furnish the money that keeps it alive. They supply the funds which replace everything they take from the chain store, and to that they add an extra amount called the profit. If the profits of the manufacturer, the whole saler, and the retailer amount to twen ty-five per cent, then every four years the consumers have bought out the business and given it back to the for mer owners. The consumers, who thus keep on year after year buying out profit busi-. nesses and giving them back after they are paid for, may get title to a business by getting from some source some sur plus of credit. This is the way coopera tive housing proceeds. Such credit might come from several sources. The Government, with its power to create money as well as to give credit, might issue to a consumers' organization enough credit to buy out a chain of stores. This would be issued against a certain percentage of the surplus savings accruing over a period of years. In other words the consumers would buy the business and pay for it out of what would otherwise be the profits. It need not be the Government that is looked to for this purpose. The busi ness itself that sells itself to the con sumers can furnish the credit. This it would do by simply making the trans fer, and then accepting installment payments that would be made each year over a period of years until the whole amount is paid. Insurance companies, banks, and the surpluses in the hands of cooperatives might supply the means for such pur chase. This is precisely the principle used by cooperatives the world over in their expansion. The constant growth into new fields is accomplished by means of the surplus savings set aside for ex pansion purposes. These surplus sav ings of the cooperatives are made out of the golden current that once was profit, but which under cooperation is shunted off as savings into the pockets of the consumers. The raising of the capital is not dif ficult provided that the consumers have set up an efficient form of organization. Assuming that the time will come when such businesses will want to sell out, then the efficiency of the con sumers remains as the last question. That such efficiency is possible is an swered by the millions of successfully organized cooperative consumers. They have attained to their state of development by virtue of their effective competition with profit business. Their superior efficiency is one of the out standing facts of this period of eco nomic trial. They are demonstrating an ability to carry on business, produce savings, and prevent losses, where profit business is failing on every hand. A demonstration is now needed to prove that the consumers can move in to big business. A department store or chain of stores could furnish the ma terial. This should not be done too fast. A program should be worked out and presented to the customer patrons of the business. The program would include adult education in cooperation. These people would have to be taught the history, principles, and methods of cooperation. This would be done by story, radio, and the tested methods now used for propaganda and adver tising. The next step would be their organization and putting up as much capital as they could raise. They would elect their board of directors. Admin istrators and employees would be ap pointed. In all of this the existing co operative societies would play an im portant part. It has been found that cooperation 118 COOPERATION must grow from something small to something big. No proof is at hand to encourage any other assumption. All attempts to begin big have failed. All of this we know. But we know also that bigness was not the reason for the previous failures. The reason was lack of education of the members, lack of efficiency, and neglect of cooperative principles. No cooperative principle prescribes the size of a cooperative society. When a society is so big as to militate against democracy of control then it must be subdivided into local groups of mem bers who can meet and know one another and discuss their problems in an intimate way. These local groups in turn send representatives to a cen tral meeting. It cannot be said that the consumers have not the ability to prepare them selves for big business. They have al ready passed through the stage of small business into big business. They have been occupied in business for nearly a hundred years, and that busi ness has now grown big. The established cooperative move ment of every country stands ready to give its succor and support to any gen uine effort of the consumers to serve themselves cooperatively. This is something profit business neither can or would do for its kind. Cooperation helps cooperators to succeed. How Consumers' Cooperation Adjusts Supply to Demand and Increases Demand Extracts from an address given by I. H. Hull, General Manager of Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n, Inc., and President of National Cooperatives, Inc., at the American Institute of Cooperation, Madison, Wisconsin—July 12, 1934. OUR discussion will have to do with a plan which, without further con trol, automatically fits production to consumption, and which at the same time, systematically and effectively tackles the far more important job of increasing demand by building up the ability to pay. Our operations have proved that just as far as we buy cooperatively, just so far the surplus problem is solved, and supply and demand are put in balance. For several years we have bought and produced our lubricating oil require ments cooperatively. Today we thus supply farmers of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana. In this case, the production is owned and operated by the consumers of the oil. We know accurately what our require ments will be. Our production is gear ed to a known demand. Oil is not made to sell. It is made to use. There can be no surplus. Through the National Cooperatives, Inc., farmers in twenty-one states now buy petroleum products cooperatively. Those organized consumers know accurately what their requirements are, and they contract accordingly. The re finer then adjusts his production to a certain demand. The Tennessee Corporation, large manufacturers of commercial fertilizer, have never had any other way of sell ing except through the cooperatives. They have no sales organization. Their distribution has become so stabilized that they know what to plan for. Con trast this situation with that existing among other companies, where half a dozen factories each build up an in ventory, each expecting to exploit a given field, each later to be disappoint ed because competitors had taken part of the business they had planned to get. Some day when consumers of agricul tural products are completely organ ized, they will go to organized pro ducers and buy future supplies, and fit supply to demand in the same way. Let's also see what can be done by cooperative buying to increase demand by putting more money into the pockets of the consumer. COOPERATION 119 First, cooperative buying has been able to eliminate much of the profligate waste which resulted from free compe tition in business. They tell us that the petroleum industry in 1931 spent $455,- 000,000 for operating filling stations that were not needed. Under free competition and in order to divide the business among all competitors, it was necessary to support five times as many stations as needed. Where a com munity such as Greeley, Col. puts in its own filling station and properly sup ports it, that community can save three- fourths of the cost of dispensing gaso line. As a result, Greeley, Col. for seventeen years has returned to its members in the community, more than twenty cents of every dollar that those members have spent for petroleum products. That station is now doing the business that would ordinarily be done by half a dozen stations and the sav ings are divided. That distributed money adds to the buying power of the community. In Indianapolis, because of the wasteful system of distribution all last winter, 3^c hogs retailed in the form of pork chops for 28c a pound. Milk which nets the farmer about 3c a quart delivers to my home for 12c a quart. I pay six milk drivers going down my street though I patronize only one. I wish urban consumers would under take some cooperative buying and see what might be done in the elimination of waste. The 28c price of pork chops reduces consumption and destroys the market demand for hogs. The market for farm products needs as direct a route as possible to the ultimate con sumer. If organized buying of farm products could effect savings such as organized buying of gasoline effected at Greeley, Col., then the elimination of waste would greatly increase con sumer demand and the increased de mand could have only one effect, name ly, to strengthen the farm markets. But there is another way in which cooperative buying builds demand. The term "demand" as economists seem to use it means want plus buying power in the same individual. Our old sys tem of business has built up lots of buying power and it has built up lots of wants, but it has so divorced the two that the folks who want, can't buy and vice versa. It doesn't help the de mand for wheat and pork for one man to have a buying power of l^/i billion dollars, while ten million families want bread and pork they cannot buy. The old system of business has sadly failed to bring about the proper allocation and distribution of buying power. That seven and a half billion dollar buying power adds almost nothing to the na tion's demand for gooHs. If it were owned by the 6,000,000 farmers of the U. S. it would mean an added buying power of $1,300 to each and every farmer. Nearly everyone today has wants of at least that amount. Cooperative buying distributes earn ings among the large group of people who constitute the potential demand for goods. Competitive profit business has resulted in an inordinate concen tration of wealth which has had the effect of strangling the buying power of the great mass of people where most of the wants are. Cooperative buying is the natural answer. Cooperative buying solves all these dilemmas. It fits supply to demand. It reduces waste and it distributes wealth all because it starts with the founda tion of all economics, namely, human wants. Being controlled by the people, who have the wants and recognizing that wants are mere torture until ac companied by the ability to buy, it in stantly sets into motion those processes which result in bringing about a better standard of living for that great group of people who constitute the market for most of the world's goods. Economically, buyer control of distribution is well nigh without flaw. Practically, there is much to do. We are not yet fit for democratic control of business. Our educational program must be developed before we can go far, but with all of the difficulty of de velopment, it is no more difficult, and certainly it is far less uncertain than other proposed recovery plans. 120 COOPERATION Why Co-op Milk of the most acute problems of the urban consumers is milk. It is the most necessary of food products and the most perishable and susceptible to contamination. All of the natural difficulties involved in assuring an ade quate and sanitary supply of milk to our cities have been complicated by the practices of the large milk distributing corporations which have increased the "spread" between the price to the farmer and the retail price to the con sumer to a point where large numbers of consumers cannot buy enough for their needs and the farmer cannot re main solvent on his income from his product. In addition, the quality of much of our milk is below any reason able standard and the methods of hand ling it are such that its food value is seriously impaired. How, in this en lightened age, can such a situation ex ist? What events have brought us to a point where producers and consumers both suffer while middlemen grow rich? The First Stage—Direct Distribu tion by the Producer. Originally in small communities the farmer delivered his milk directly to the consumer, an ideal arrangement in small com munities. The Second Stage—The Advent of the Independent Distributor. As the demand for milk grew and the farmers increased their herds, the farmer him self could not tend his cattle and de liver his milk as well, and a division of labor became necessary. The farmer had the alternative of employing a man to distribute his milk or of withdrawing from the distribution field. In most cases the farmer chose to bring his milk to the city to be distributed by another person or company. As sanitary stand ards became more stringent and pas teurization was required, the dis tributor in most cases assumed this function, although a higher quality product would have been assured by pasteurization at or near the farm. The Third Stage—Growth of Mar keting and Distributing Organizations. First the producers organized into mar keting cooperatives by which they were able to maintain some control over price and quality. When the dis tributors were unorganized, the organ ized producers exercised considerable control over the milk market. But, in time, the distributors organized for monopolistic control to protect their interests. Being large corporations with important political and banking con nections, they were able to influence legislation favorable to their position, to dominate the producers' marketing cooperatives, and by extensive propa ganda to deceive the consumers. As a result, milk distributors have been able to pay large salaries to executives and large dividends on watered stock during a period when both consumers and producers, the only important par ties to be considered, are suffering acutely. The quality of the milk is poor in many cases; the farmer receives too little to live on; the consumer must pay so much he can't buy all he needs. What are the Alternatives—What is the Final Answer? 1. Governmental Regulation—Since we are not as yet organized as con sumers economically as well as we are as citizens politically, we have been compelled to turn to governmental regulation to attempt to alleviate the difficulties of the present situation. At tempts thus far have been experimental and not particularly successful. As to Producers — producers' prices have been fixed, but costs of production have not, with the result that feed costs have increased as well as milk prices. Whether government action can pro duce and maintain a fair spread be tween the two is still uncertain. As to Distributors—publicity would seem to be the government's principal possible means of preventing excessive salaries, huge profits and watered stocks. How effective it will be is uncertain. As to Labor—the bargaining power of milk drivers and others will be increased COOPERATION 121 only by still more definite support by the government of the legal right of la bor to bargain collectively. As to Con sumers—-price fixing was at first at tempted, but has now been abandoned from the milk codes. Consumers who are unorganized have today only two means of protection—-any competition there may be between distributors, and a buyers' strike, either individually or collectively. 2. Municipal Distribution—There are no cases of municipal milk distribu tion in this country upon which a final judgment may be based. In other countries where it is being experiment ed with, one report says that, while quality is improved, municipal distribu tion does not result in economy. There would be considerable objection to the distribution of milk under the direction of the political administration of our American cities, because little reduc tion in costs could be anticipated under our present inefficient political bu reaucracy. 3. Distribution by Producers' Marketing Cooperatives — Since the distribution of milk was originally handled by the producer on a small scale, there has been some tendency to revert to this principle of ownership of distribution facilities by producers' marketing cooperatives. This plan might eliminate some of the present waste through duplication of distribu tion facilities and also result in higher quality, but it has the serious disad vantage of developing oppressive monopolistic practices when organized on a large scale. The entire absence of the consumer's voice in the determi nation of price bars this solution as an adequate plan. 4. Cooperative Organization of Con sumers Owning Both Distributing and Producing Facilities—This method of organization has been attempted in some European cities where consumer cooperatives own and operate many different kinds of factories. The busi ness of dairy farming, however, has been developed so substantially as a privately owned, small scale enterprise that there is considerable doubt that it could be efficiently run by a large cen tral organization through salaried em ployees. Farming appears best adapt ed to a system of private ownership by individual farmers who are organized as producers into marketing coopera tives. 5. Combined Cooperative Organiza tion of Consumers and Producers—The joint ownership of the milk distribution facilities by producers and consumers has some points in its favor from an idealistic standpoint. As a practical plan, however, the inevitable clash be tween the diverse interests of the pro ducers and the consumers would seri ously impair the workability of the plan as a cooperative undertaking. Co operation, in its essentials, presumes a common purpose and a community of interests and any organization which attempts to reconcile the interests of producers and consumers among its membership would be seriously limited by internal conflict. 6. Consumers' Cooperative Owner ship of Distribution—buying from Pro ducers' Marketing Cooperatives. A system in which the consumers own cooperatively the milk distribution facilities and bargain for their supply with producers' marketing cooperatives appears to overcome the disadvantages inherent in other plans. The advantage to both groups would be the elimination of the waste of duplication and excessive earnings of officers and profits to owners of pri vately owned distribution facilities, plus a control of quality which is dif ficult to assure in any other way. Consumer Cooperative distribution of milk is not an experiment. In fact, the cooperative method of distribution has more satisfactory experience be hind it than any of the other currently advocated alternatives. With the milk industry in the com plete control of only those who con sume and those who produce milk, and with no third party to be served by the negotiations, the solution of the milk problem would be here. 122 COOPERATION Madison, Wis., Turns from Political Regulation to Consumers' Cooperation T)ERHAPS there has been no city in -*• the United States where the philos ophy of Political Regulation of In dustry and Finance has been more definitely prescribed as the solution of our economic ills than in the city of Madison, Wis. This fact was dis cussed energetically there long before it became apparent to most people that neither a producers' nor a financial or ganization of society could longer function in the interests of all the people without some form of social control. The remedy proposed was political regulation of railroads, in surance companies, banks, industry, etc. Generally speaking, the majority of the people of America are still in this stage of thinking. But to progress ive thinkers the failure of political regulation to protect the people and result in the operation of monopolistic organizations in the people's interests is clearly apparent. It is accordingly of more than or dinary interest to find that in the city which has been the center of political regulatory thinking that a definite start has now been made toward the economic organization of consumers into cooperatives. The Madison Con sumers' Cooperative, Inc., is already a reality and functioning in the distribu tion of milk. It deals direct with a producers' milk marketing cooperative. It is operating a small pasteurizing plant and is already using two delivery trucks. A local consumers' cooperative oil station is under way in a definite form. A sufficient number of members have signed up and enough stock has been paid for to make it possible to enter into a lease for a location and to make contracts for equipment. It is probable that by the time this issue reaches our subscribers the station will be in opera tion. Thus the proof grows of the in creasing development of America's thinking from Producer to Financial to Political and on through to a Con sumers Economic Organization. Cooperation in Action Off to Europe and the I. C. A. Congress Our first Cooperative Tour, which it is hoped will be an annual affair, be gan on July 28th when the S. S. Cale donia sailed with Messrs. Hull, Fled- derjohn, Eustis and Parddneck and Mrs. Eustis and Miss Hottenson on board. Their first stop will be in Den mark, then Sweden, Finland, Russia and back to Great Britain to the Inter national Cooperative Alliance Con gress in London which meets Sept. 4 to 7th. Dr. Warbasse sailed later direct for England. Prof. H. M. Kallen will return to London from Geneva. We shall have detailed first hand re ports from them at our own Congress in Chicago in October and shall be greatly interested in knowing how Cooperation is really faring under Communism and Fascism and its prob ability of preventing dictatorships in Great Britain, Scandinavia and other politically democratic European coun tries. • Japanese Cooperators Pay League Visit Two unusual visitors at The Cooper ative League office were Mr. Makato Tsuji, Secretary of the Central Union and Mr. Masakuza Saji, Manager of the Central Bank of Cooperative So cieties of Japan. Both were charming and keen gentlemen. In Japan the Cooperative Pur chasing, Marketing and Banking Movements are all federated into the one Cooperative Union. The move- COOPERATION 123 ment there is still largely agricultural. The principal commodities purchased cooperatively are fertilizer, feed an'd heavy oil for lighting purposes. Raw silk, rice and cereals are marketed co operatively. The Cooperative Union has 100 employees with six branches: organizing and educational, research, auditing, cooperative college, publish ing and general managing. We have heard so much about the activities of Kagawa in applying ethics to economics in that country that we were tempted to ask more specifically about him and the reply was that, while the people did not understand so well what he preached, they did un derstand what he practiced. Perhaps our ethical leaders in America might get a suggestion from this fact. • Capitalists Praise Cooperation Cooperators will find an article en titled "Sweden—A Nation of Marked Economic Stability" which appeared in the INDEX published by the New York Trust Company both gratifying and amusing. When profit business goes out of its way to record the social benefits of a movement that seeks to eliminate profit business—'that's news! Mentioning "the marked success of certain experiments in social planning and cooperative organization" the ar ticle goes on to recount the relatively fast recovery of Sweden as compared with other countries. Cooperation shares the laurels for Sweden's re markable stability with the existence of state monopolies and a managed cur rency. "The Cooperative Union is acknowledged to be in a strong posi tion and to contribute notably to the economic stability of the country; total sales, in 1933, amounting to 152,480,- 000 kronor as compared with 149,450,- 000 kronor in 1932." An editorial in the June 13th issue of the Illinois Union Farmer is of interest for the same reason. It recounts the tale of a hostile business man who was forced to study Cooperation because of its effect on his business. Having looked into the matter he stated that he found its principles perfectly sound and couldn't understand why farmers and consumers generally didn't or ganize to run their own businesses. We agree with him most heartily and the only answer seems to be that those of us who have arrived at this conclusion must make a still greater effort to show the light to our neighbors. • Human Nature Still Bad In Co operative Cafe (From New York Evening Post) At the Consumers' Cooperative Cafe, way downtown on Thames Street, they make quite a thing out of saying good-by to free competition. It's really awfully cheap, the food is of the very best, and the people who work there seem transported with the joy of being in such a forward-looking move ment. In the midst of bright-colored deco rations in red, blue, grass green and yellow they have nursery-like pictures on the walls with the legend, large let tered, "WE ARE COOPERATORS." You know? But at the side of these idealistic sen timents comes a grim reminder that old human nature is still at work even there. "Watch your coat," warns an other sign. "We are not responsible for personal property." • Conflict Consolidates Cooperation An article in a recent issue of the COOPERATIVE CONSUMER re ports the organization of a National Cooperative Council in Holland for the mutual protection of agricultural and consumer cooperatives against the at tacks of private traders. Six Coopera tive Unions are affiliated with the Council for issuing general propaganda and general fostering of cooperative principles. Until recently relations be tween these two groups were not of the best. The significance of this union should not be wasted on American Co- operators. Now is the time for the American movement to consolidate the gains it has made in both fields. 124 COOPERATION Co-op Tires Repeat Although it is harder to show con sumers a saving through the use of quality goods than through average goods at lower prices, it is essential that Cooperators succeed in this edu cational task. Quality is equally as im portant as economy and should be a constant goal of Cooperative enter prise. The report of the Peetz Con sumers Oil Company of Colorado is encouraging as a recognition of the standards being maintained in the pro duction of Co-op tires. Manager Wil liams has received a renewal of the Logan County contract for tires and tubes as a result of the service given by the last order under trying conditions. • Increased Interest in Consumers' Co operation at New England and American Institutes of Cooperation The growing interest in Cooperative Purchasing, as it is generally known among farmers, or Consumers Cooper ation as it is more commonly spoken of among urban residents, was clearly evidenced at the New England Insti tute of Cooperation held in June at Burlington, Vt., and at the American Institute of Cooperation at Madison, Wis., in July. Both of these Institutes are more largely the meeting place of those interested in the Cooperative Marketing Movement. At both Insti tutes Mr. Bowen, General Secretary of The Cooperative League was called upon unexpectedly to present the sub ject of Consumers' Cooperative Educa tion and Organization. The discussions showed that marketing men are be coming consumer conscious as well. • Ohio Plans Wider Educational Program In Ohio, the name of Vera Elsinger is spoken with deep respect. She had the vision of a Cooperative Democra cy. She gave her life for it. Now a Vera Elsinger Memorial Fund has been set up by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Board of Trustees. This fund will be maintained by charter subscriptions and will be used to pro mote the interest and education of youth in the cooperative field and to stimulate among adults its development — a philosophy of life. as Newman Marquer Cooperation lost one of its most valued leaders on July 31, 1934, in the death of Newman Marquer, Executive Secretary of the Workmen's Furniture Fire Insurance Society, of New York. Mr. Marquer had been largely in strumental in building his organization into one of the strongest cooperative insurance companies in the country, insuring the furniture of 60,000 mem bers scattered over 17 states, and ad ministering a million dollars of social capital in their behalf. In addition to administrative work that would have swamped a lesser man, Mr. Marquer undertook to ex pand his organization so that it could insure the houses of its members as well as their furniture. No week went by but that some of the many difficult details of this change were accom plished. He did not stop with this. Be yond his own organization, beyond co operative insurance, he saw Coopera tion as a whole. No matter how busy, he was always available to consult and advise with the directors of The Co operative League, of which his Society was one of the largest members. This country needs more men of his calibre —men who never seek power or position for its own sake; who, beyond a fair wage, never seek money for themselves; men who put their whole heart and strength into building solidly and firmly the corner of the coopera tive structure that has been assigned to them. • Northern States Cooperative League Plans Annual Convention St. Paul will be the place and the Farmers Union Central Exchange the hosts of the 13th Annual Convention of the Northern States Cooperative League on Sept. 10 and 11. The Con vention will meet at the St. Francis Hotel. This Convention brings to gether leaders and members of whole- COOPERATION 125 sale and retail cooperative associations in the North Central States. Delegates, members of cooperatives and friends will undoubtedly make up a large at tendance. • Idaho for Cooperation "Yours for Cooperation and more of it" are the closing words of a letter from Mr. C. A. Oliason of Meridian, Idaho, in which he tells of the growing movement in that State. "Co-op oil sta tions are taking hold here fast," he says, "with the valued assistance of Howard A. Cowden, President of the Union Oil Company (Cooperative) of North Kansas City and Secretary of the National Cooperatives, Inc." He asks for further information about Co op stores and adds: "Many of our people are fast becoming convinced that the safest and sanest way out of this 'Living Hell' is through the Co operative Movement applied to all our needs—^a Great Cooperative Common wealth." Cooperative Institutes Increase Recognition of the need for getting the Cooperative Philosophy across to the children of Cooperators, Coopera tive employees and young people who have gotten a spark of enthusiasm for Cooperation from one source or an other is revealed by the numerous institutes being conducted this summer. A report of its Sixth Annual Institute sent to COOPERATION by the Eastern States Cooperative League re flects the stimulation such educational activities give to the movement. Twen ty-one students met at Brookwood La bor College, 'Katonah, N. Y., during the week of July 15-21 for a series of lectures and discussions on Coopera tive theory and practice. The need for the well established societies to enlarge the scope of their activity came out in the discussion of Cooperative distribu tion of petroleum products led by Wal- demar Niemela. This same note was struck by the discussion following Miss Phyllis McMillan's description of the Grange League Federation Exchange of N. Y. State which is at present serving its 95,000 members with feed, fertilizer, seed and paint. The high point of the Institute was reached in the four closing lectures by Dr. War- basse, President of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. Reflecting his deep understanding of Cooperation and enlivening his clear analyses with illustrations from his wealth of per sonal experiences, Dr. Warbasse gave the students a new appreciation of the real significance of the Cooperative Philosophy and the vast possibilities for its practical application. The Northern States League has just completed two very successful Insti tutes. The first began on June 18th at Maple Plain and was attended by 41 students. The second began on June 24th at Moose Lake and over thirty students were in attendance. Twenty- seven organizations helped to support the institutes by scholarships and con tributions. Not satisfied with the lim ited treatment necessary at a one week Institute, the League is planning an eight week Cooperative Training School in conjunction with the Central Cooperative Wholesale to be held in Superior, Wis., starting September 24th. With 320 fifty minute class pe riods in which to discuss the many phases of Cooperation it is anticipated that gratifying results will be attained. Having run one week courses in four previous years, the Central States Cooperative League has decided to supplement this year's Summer School, which is scheduled for the week of August 20-26 at Druce Lake Camp, Waukegan, 111., with a First Annual Institute from August 26 to September 1. The purpose of this innovation is to give those students who have attended previous schools an opportunity to do more advanced work. There can be no doubt that if the Cooperative Movement is to build for the future the education of young peo ple in the ideals, practices and prob lems of Cooperation is the most es sential function of its present leaders. 126 COOPERATION New Cooperative Literature to Read The Annals May 1934 The May issue of the publication of the American Academy of Political and Social Science marked a red letter day for the buying public when it appeared with the title "The Ultimate Con sumer." Even more startling was the sub-heading "A Study in Economic Illiteracy." Of particular interest to Cooperators is the article by Dr. Warbasse, Presi dent of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. and member of the Consumers' Advisory Board at Washington. Un der the title "Consumers' Cooperative Methods" Dr. Warbasse briefly out lines the history of the Movement and the implications of its philosophy. He emphasizes the difference between profit business and Cooperation and between voluntary association and the coercion of the state. The timeliness of this publication makes it especially valuable to those who desire to keep up with the van guard of economic thought. It can be obtained from the Academy's office, at 3457 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Dr. Warbasse's article is reprinted and can be secured from The Coopera tive League at a price of lOc. • Christ and Japan, by Toyohiko Ka- gawa. Friendship Press, New York. $1.00. In Toyohiko Kagawa the Interna tional Cooperative Movement has a staunch champion. Kagawa upholds Cooperation not primarily from the point of view of a labor leader or so cial reformer, though he is both, but rather as a Christian. He believes that support and promotion of the Cooper ative Movement is the logical out growth of a Christian's profession to follow the principles of Christ in eco nomic living. To him Cooperation is the Economic Program for Christiani ty- Nowhere does the challenge of this Japanese Christian prophet ring more fearless and true than in his recent book, "Christ and Japan." He does not hesitate to chastize the Christian Churches for their moral blindness and he declares with convincing power the great hope of the redemption of the economic order to be found in the fear less application of Christian principles through the Cooperative Movement. Kagawa absolutely rejects exploita tive capitalism and materialistic com munism as a pattern for the social or der and says, "The only way out is a conscious uniting of forces and a cohe sion without coercion, such as char acterizes the Cooperative Movement, and the placing of production, ex change, distribution and consumption on a non-exploitative basis. Then and only then can both the individual and society be given a fuller, finer life." It is the vast unministered needs of the common people and the tragic apathy of the Christian Church which leads Kagawa to lift his prophetic voice to point to the Cooperative Movement as a redeeming agency for both the people and the church. He says, "This Cooperative Movement, rooted as it is in love and brotherhood, is unquestion ably an out and out Christian Move ment." Kagawa envisages not only the achievement of economic security through the cooperative movement but also universal peace, saying, "Then if we utilize on an international scale, and in the interests of world peace, the benefits derived from such cooperative effort, war will be definitely eliminated from the life of mankind." In the voice and life of Kagawa a new church is in the making. A church whose members will pour -their reli gious passion into the development of the Cooperative Movement. "The churches," Kagawa writes, "would turn from minor religious issues and would correlate their forces and unite in setting in motion a brotherhood movement which would express itself through cooperatives." Such churches would be the answer to Kagawa's mov- COOPERATION 127 ing prayer as he cries out, "Oh God, make haste; Teach the world's Chris tians the Cooperative way." Eldredge Brewster. • A Free Society, by Horace M. Kal- len. Robert Ballou Company, New York. $1.00. Freedom, to Mr. Kallen, is of two sorts and neither is socially desirable without the other. First, freedom from the fear of poverty and destitution is essential. This he calls the "negative freedom of security" for it is not sought for its own sake but merely as a means to a further end. This further end is a fullness of life requiring "conflict, dan ger and novelty." "Positive freedom" is the label he applies to this oppor tunity for adventure which is the super structure on the foundation of eco nomic security. "Obviously 'capitalism' or "rugged individualism' does not fill this bill," the author states and goes on to draw a picture of a society in which the ever divergent interests of persons as individuals and their need for as sociated effort are brought into har mony. It is obvious, that such a viewpoint can find expression in only one social philosophy—Cooperation. Mr. Kallen is well aware of this and as his analysis proceeds, he demonstrates a knowledge of philosophy, psychology and econo mics which lends considerable weight to his conclusions. His description of the conflict between production and consumption is clear and graphic. The solution he suggests is a recognition of the "natural and moral priority of con sumption over production" and the or ganization of producers according to their trade or vocation. "Thus each citizen of the land would enter twice into economic association with his fel lows; once as consumer, wifh all his fellows—once as producer, with the members only of his craft, industry, or profession." Mr. Kallen has succeeded in combin ing clear thin-king with a fluent and in formal style which makes the digesting of our most important current prob lem and its historical background a ' pleasurable task. Because of its grasp of this great economic problem.—the consumer—and its interpretation of the present American scene, this book rec ommends itself to every cooperator. Robert L. Smith. The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con. ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR FURNITURE SAFE-ECONQMICAL-COOPERATIVE WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY 227 East 84th St., New York, N. Y. Member of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Under supervision of N. Y. State Insurance Department. The Cooperative Builder The official organ of Northern States Cooperative League Central States Cooperative League Central Cooperative Wholesale An interesting and lively cooperative journal published semi-monthly at Superior, Wis. Subscription rate $1.00 per year. CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Superior, Wis. Raivaaja Print-—Fitehburg, Mass. 128 COOPERATION STUDY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The books and pamphlets listed below are available through The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12, N. Y. C. Read them and pass them on to your friends EDUCATIONAL PAMPHLETS Per Copy Per 100 38. Consumers Cooperation In the United States (illus.). 1983 —— -16 8.00 S9. Story of Toad Lane (Ey Stuart Chase) —-—-————————————— •'"> 84. The Coop. Movement, J. H. Dietriclh ___————————————— -05 6. 29. 51. 16. 30. 57. 62. 63. 67. 68. 72. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. SI. 80. 82. Cooperative Society Credilt Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson) ———————————— .50 Model Lease for Cooperative Apartment House ————————— .10 MISCELLANEOUS Model Co-op State Law _ ——— .10 "When the Whistle Blew" (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ____ .06 How a Consumers' Cooperative Differs from Ordinary Business .01 Buttons (League emblem), % inch diameter ____________ .05 Sign or Transparency of League Emblem. Green and gold, 8 in. diameter ________________ .25 Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emibleim. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250 To Mothers ______________ .02 Lit*le Lessons in Cooperation The Burden of Credit What is the Cooperative Store What is Consumers' Cooperation Most Necessary Thing in The Life .02 .03 .05 .02 What Cooperation means to depression-sick America ____. What is the Cooperative League 4.00 4.00 85. Cooperation Here and Abroad, H. T. Hughes ———————————— -10 86. Consumers' Cooperative Methods, J. P. Warbasse, 1934——————— .10 341 America's Answer—Consumers' Cooperation, E. R. Bowen——— .10 87 Sweden, Where Capitalism is Controlled, Marquis W. Childs— .25 88. The Economic Foundations of World Peace, Toyohiko Kagawa .35 ORGANIZATIONAL PAMPHLETS 4. How to Start and Run a Roch dale Cooperative Store _———— .25 89. How to Start and Run a Con sumers' Co-op Club __—————— -25 Model By-Laws for a Rochdale 7.00 6.00 6.0'G .05 2.50 Are You Sure You Are Getting Your Money's Worth _______ .02 There Are Two Sides to Every Counter ______——_______ .02 Cooperative Youth Songs ____ .25 Consumers', Credit, and Produc tive Societies, Bull. 531 of the Bureau of Labour Statistics__ .25 .03 .75 2.00' 15.00 1.00 .35 1.00 2.00 4.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 MONTHLY MAGAZINES Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year (foreign, $1.25) $1.00 Review of International Cooperation (Pub. by the I. C. A.) ________.____ Per Year, $1.50 BOOKS The following books are recomimended as con taining ithe best discussion of the modern Co operative Movement. They may be ordered through The League, postpaid on receipt of price. Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia, 1924 ___________________ 1.50 Brighltwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children ___________________ .15 Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers ____________ 1.10 Flanagan. J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 __________________ 2.10 Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Socie ties. American edition and notes, 1922 Cloth ________________________ 1.50 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Cooperative Committees _________ 2.50 Holyoake: Roclhdale Pioneers 1892 ____ 1.10 Hough, E. M.: Cooperation in India 1932 3.75 Indian Cooperation, Children's story ___ .15 Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products _________________ 3.10 Kress, A. J.: Capitalism, Cooperation Communism, 1932 _______________ 2.00 Life As We Have Known It. Life stories of English guildswomen, telling what the Guild has done for them ________—— 1^25 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold _____ .85 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story ___________ .25 Odhe, Thorsten: Finland, A Nation of Co- operators ——____—„——_______—— 1.50 Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems _____________________ 1.35 Owen, Robert: Autobiography _______ .75 Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic__ 1.85 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain 1891 ___________________ 1.10 Redfern, Percy: John T. W. Mitchell, (1924) 1.00 Red-fern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S. 2.25 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in Society, 1S20 ___________________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Recon struction in Ireland. 1918 _________ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark ______________________ 1.10 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920 _______________ 1.60 Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish) ___________________ 1.00 Totomianz, V; The Place of Cooperation among other movements __________ .25 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy (1,927) ____-___________________ 1.50 Warbasse, J.P.: What Is Cooperation, 1827 .75 Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Cooperative Movement in Illinois 1926 _________ 3.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co operative Movement, 1921 _________ 5.00 Webb, Beatrice: My Apprenticeship, (18.26) 3.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, ,1917 ______________—_________ L'60 Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Fu ture of Industry _—————_____—__ 1.65 Cooperation, Bound Volumes. 1915 to 1932 inclusive, each year ____"_________ 1.50 The People's Year Book, 1934, English, paper .75, Cloth ____—____——————— 1.35 Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1932 ____-_______——____—————— .76 CONGRESS PROGRAM NUMBER COOPERATI Organ of the Con- Movement in the sumers Cooper United States tive Vol. XX. No. 9 SEPTEMBER, 1934 10 cents Come to Chicago October 18, 19 and 20 to The Cooperative League Congress You will find in this issue of COOPERATION the complete Preliminary Program of the Ninth Biennial Congress of The Cooperative League. Consumers' Cooperation recognizes education as the first necessity for the promo tion of the Movement and accordingly the entire first day will be given over to Educa tion in Cooperation. Practical illustrations will be discussed in detail by those who are personally engaged in Cooperative Educational Work. Many of the presentations will ' cover new developments since the previous Congress and will be highly interesting and suggestive. Cooperative Business in the principal forms in which it is developing most rsiidly in America will be discussed the second day by many of those who have qualif'- the best authorities in each line. Practical plans will be presented. The last day wiii be given over to the business of The Cooperative League itself. A more definite Pro gram of Action will be formulated to take advantage of the rapidly growing interest in Consumer Problems. Most clearly it is true that "Our day has come in America" as was expressed with great feeling by one of the older Cooperators who has fostered the growth of the Con sumers' Movement in America over the last 25 years. The obligation rests heavily on the leaders of every Cooperative Purchasing or Consumers' Cooperative Association to, join hands in a great unified drive to promote economic democracy and prevent dictator ship. The Cooperative League now includes in its membership most of the larger Co operative Associations. Come to Chicago and meet and hear the great leaders of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement in America present from their own personal ex perience information and suggestions of vital concern to every Cooperative Association. Listen to the reports from the Delegates who have just returned from the Interna tional Cooperative Alliance Congress in London. Plan to attend. Invite others. These will be three days of significance to each Association represented at the Congress, to the entire Cooperative Movement and to America as a whole. 130 COOPERATION Sept. 1934 COD PERATID N An organ to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., New York City. ____________________ E. R. Bowen, Editor Contributing Editors V. S. Alanne George Jacobson George Halonen James R. Moore A. W. Warinner Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. T., un der the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00' a year. Vol. XX. No. 9 September, 1934 EDITORIALS In England new members are joining the Consumers' Cooperative Move ment at the rate of one for every minute of the working day. And doing it voluntarily, because it pays. • Prof. John Graham Brooks, who was one of our American Cooperative Prophets crying in the wilderness when we were off on our wild speculative spree, said in the early twenties that "the social order is threatened on two sides—by a raw communism and a re actionary capitalism." How well we can now see what he then saw ahead. The job of cooperators is to help steer the American Ship of State straight ahead to economic democracy and not let it be wrecked on the shoals of dic tatorships on either side. Presenting this fact as the problem of America and then enlightening people as to what such countries as Great Britain and Scandinavia are doing in developing along Cooperative lines as compared with Russian Communism on the one hand and European Corporatism on the other, is perhaps the best way to start others thinking their way through tc Consumers' Cooperation as the world's way out. • Cooperation pays dividends in one's heart as well as in one's pocketbook. Senator Borah waxes indignant over the menace of monopolies and their effect on the "little man." Yet the little- man private business is just as much a part of the present profit system as the monopoly. It's not size that's the fault. It's private ownership of the means of distribution and production whether little or big. Both must be replaced by Collective Cooperative Ownership for either the little business or the big monopoly to serve the people. • "Private business engaged in han dling farm products at a profit cannot be regulated into decency," says A. W. Ricker, Editor of The Farmers Union Herald of St. Paul. Attempts to con trol as citizens of a political state must give way to ownership by consumers of a self-contained economic organiza tion of society. Our present hodge podge system of producer-financier- political organization is only a tem porizing attempt to alleviate the ago nies of a dying economic order, and make it as livable as possible while we build the new Cooperative Democracy. • "Real farm relief will come through cooperative business." • President Roosevelt almost said Consumers' Cooperation again. "Only through the submerging of individual desires into unselfish and practical co operation can civilization grow." He also clearly stated the difficulty in achieving cooperation—"It is just as hard to achieve harmonious and co operative action among human beings as it is to conquer the forces of nature." Finally he expressed the Cooperative ideal, "We are concerned with the multiplication of wealth through co operative action.—wealth in which all can share." Perhaps he .knows there's something beyond the New Deal, and was suggesting it. • Cooperators need zeal. You must feel with all your heart that you belong to society. Sept. 1934 COOPERATION 131 Secretary Wallace observes: "The appalling thing about consumers is not only the slowness with which they get going, but their incredible relentless- ness when they do get started." While Consumers' Cooperation has started slowly and haltingly in America, it is now on a solid foundation of Rochdale principles, practical business experience and accurate auditing, and when the age of our wholesale cooperatives is considered, the speed of their growth is amazing. • Perhaps the Consumers' Cooperative Movement may now "get a break," as the saying is, into the ranks of labor to a greater degree as a result of the declaration of the American Federation of Labor that "When private business is not able to resume its functions then society is forced to take over the means of production." Let Cooperators every where now use this declaration to per suade labor that the way for society to take over the means of production is by starting Consumers' Cooperative stores, oil stations, milk dairies and other retail cooperative associations. • We must be conscious cooperators. Many who join cooperatives think only of immediate cash benefits. Coopera tion is a new way of life.—a new eco nomic system that will recover owner ship for the people. • "Why, that's the answer, isn't it?" said a young college graduate recently after we had poured cooperative prin ciples into his mind for about fifteen minutes. "You folks have the real an swer, haven't you?" queried a middle aged man who came into the League office recently. Both are new converts to Consumers' Cooperation. Both are studying the Movement and preparing for activity in it. Personal contacts have always been the best way to "sell" an idea as well as merchandise. The real reason for a Cooperative League is to act as an economic home missionary to America. Century of Progress? The newspapers some time ago were full of stories of the great banquet given by Mr. Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., President of the General Motors Cor poration, at the opening of the Century of Progress. Henry Goddard Leach. Editor of The Forum, says that "speaker after speaker.—scientist, in dustrialist, educator — painted with realism and with imagination the images and immeasurable possibilities of future production. Their hearers ap plauded, but they were not quite satis fied. For there was no answer to the silent question of the ultimate con sumer. How are these products to be distributed? The mandate that night was the old, reckless voice of 1929: 'Produce!' "The Consumer was not represented that preview evening. No one pointed to the great statue of the workingman at one end of the banquet hall. No one explained how these future products pf industry were to be distributed. No one indicated who would purchase them and with what kind of a dollar. The speakers seemed like a group of explorers on the outside of a fog slap ping each other on the back, about to plunge in without chart or compass." "Mr. Peterson, Vice-President of the fair, could have told them about his native country of Sweden, where con sumers control their own production and depressions are something read about in the foreign news. Mr. Knud- sen, Vice-President of General Motors, could have spoken about the coopera tives in his ancestral Denmark." Some of our foreign born citizens have become among our greatest phys ical scientists and have taught us how to produce plenty—but others have taught us how to distribute through Consumers' Cooperation and make this wealth of abundance available to all. All honor be to these pioneer coopera tors. May we, their followers, spread the knowledge more rapidly and wide ly, now that the soil has been made fertile by the plowing of economic pressure. 132 COOPERATION Sept. 1934 A Challenge to Labor Organize as Consumers as Well as Producers! WHAT does American labor en deavor to secure through the power of a union organization? Fred Bramley, the late great Secretary of the Trades Union Congress in Eng land, said that the purpose of trade unionism was "to secure by continual association and by means of collective bargaining a standard, or minimum, rate of wages; a reasonable working day or week and other conditions of employment necessary for the protec tion of the health and economic in terests of the worker." Two things, then, the worker seeks to secure through union membership: 1) A sufficient money income, and leisure for rest and enjoyment, 2) Conditions of work which are pleasant and healthful. But have the labor union members, or anyone else who works for wages in this country, ever achieved these two objectives in any substantial form or for any sustained period? The an swer is emphatically no. Certain groups of organized workers have, in periods of so-called prosperity, achieved a high level of money wages in comparison with the unorganized workers. But employment for all wage earners is uncertain and the prices which they must pay for the products of their own labor prevent the achieve ment of real prosperity for the working classes even when the wheels of in dustry are turning briskly. So long as the workers must pay many times ithe cost of production in order to buy for themselves the work of their own hands, it must be abun dantly evident by now that the secur ing of higher money wages alone will not secure for the worker the standard of living and enjoyment which would be reasonably possible for all people if the economic system under which we live were designed to serve the many rather than the few. Producers Organizations Not Enough Working people of America, you have been living in a dream. While you have derided the acquisitive tend encies of the overlords of the industries which employ you, you have suffered the privations of the working man peaceably in the hope that some day you would escape from it and be per mitted to enjoy the good things of life which, even in an era of abundance, our economic system will dispense to but a few people. When you have seen fit to join with your fellows in a labor union, you have sought objectives which are amazingly akin to those pur sued by the forces which employ you. You have been content to struggle merely for an increased money wage. But you do not live with money; you live with the things which money buys; you have been producer minded. You have ignored the fact that the primary strength of the great numbers of work ers is in their power as consumers. Consumers' Organizations Necessary for Real Power Workers as producers are scattered through a great many different oc cupations within which they compete with one another for the chance to work. But workers as consumers have identical interests and through the power of numbers they could control the markets of the world. When will the workers of this coun try start fighting with both hands— with their buying power as well as their labor power? When will workers start using a two-edged sword? Work ers have organized the servant side of their lives through labor unions. When will they organize the master side of their lives through consumer coopera tives? It is said that the workers who organize only as producers and not as consumers are like an army which would give back to the enemy at the end of each week all the ground, guns and prisoners which were gained dur- Sept. 1934 COOPERATION 133 '* ing the week. Yet when the worker toils through the week for a wage which is won by hard bargaining through his union and then proceeds to spend it so that a substantial share of it goes into the hands of people who contribute little to the products which the worker buys, but who exact a heavy profit from the transaction—'the same people with whom he struggled to gain his money wage—'he has literal ly given his winnings to the enemy! A Producers' Capitalistic Order Requires Scarcity Almost from the dawn of history there has been real scarcity of most of the things which man needs for a rea sonable enjoyment of life. Consequent ly it was logical that all forces should be directed toward the production of consumers' goods. In recent years, however, it has been evident that pro duction has reached or exceeded a point at which consumers can buy all of the product of industry and agricul ture under the present economic sys tem. The remedies of almost every agency—'industrial management, labor organization, and the federal govern ment—all have looked to the excess of production as the prime cause of the difficulty and have taken steps to destroy usable goods and restrict pro duction facilities. It is not a new pro cedure. Industry has practiced sabotage for many years as a deliberate means for maintaining a favorable market un der an economic system which permits a profit to be made only when scarcity exists. But never before has planned sabotage become a part of our estab lished national policy. Workers of America, what does this producers' philosophy of scarcity for profit mean to you? There are two al ternatives: (1) Automatic power pro duction machinery will operate on a restricted basis and you will either live on a dole or starve; or (2) the clock will be set back fifty years, the auto matic power production machinery will be discarded so that the small amount of work can be distributed among the many workers, and you will once again become a slave to long hours, hand tools, and low wages. There is no other alternative under the producers' philos ophy of returning prosperity by creat ing artificial scarcity. A Consumers' Cooperative Order Distributes Plenty There is another alternative if you will awake to the power you have as consumers. As consumers you may or ganize to buy collectively the things which you need through cooperative buying clubs, stores, oil stations and dairies. .Several retail associations can then own a wholesale. Wholesales in turn start factories. Then you have a cooperative democracy. Industry then is run wholly in the interests of the people who make the things which they need. You call it a fantastic dream? It is a reality in several European coun tries. In Great Britain the Cooperatives serve nearly 7,000,000 members end employ 260,000 people. In Denmark, Sweden and Finland the cooperatives are in the forefront of the business in terests. In America the farmers are awakening to the fact that their domi nant interests are consumer interests and they are organizing now extensive ly into consumer cooperatives. White collar workers are becoming aware of their consumer interests and are or ganizing cooperative restaurants, stores and apartments. Organize Consumers' Cooperatives! You cannot really control what you do not own. Organizing as producers does not give you ownership. Or ganizing as consumers recovers owner ship of industry for the people. Why only fight as producers for the crumbs of capitalism—why not fight also as consumers, take over the ownership of industry, employ yourselves, and get the full results of your labor? Leaders of American labor, this is a challenge to you. If you would serve to the fullest extent the interests of your members you will leave no stoiie unturned until their power as con sumers is organized and made effective through Consumers' Cooperatives. 134 COOPERATION Sept. 1934 Program of the Ninth Biennial Congress of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. Hotel Morrison, Chicago, Illinois, October 18, 19 and 20, 1934 Thursday, October 18th Dr. J. P. Warbasse, President, The Cooperative League, Presiding Registration of Delegates and Visitors—8s30 A. M. Morning Session—10:00 to 12:00 President's Address—Dr. J. P. Warbasse Secretary's Report—E. R. Bowen Treasurer's Report—M. E. Arnold Election of Committee on Committees and Nominations Afternoon Session—1:30 to 5:00 General Subject—"Consumers' Cooperative Education" 1:30 to 2:30—Cooperative Youth Education Speaker (20 min.)—Anthony Lehner, Educational Director, Indiana Farm Bureau Coopera tive Association Discussion (10 min.)—C. C. Palmer, President, Noble County Farm Bureau (10 min.)—H. O. Sankari, President, Cooperative Youth League 2:30 to 3:30—Cooperative Member Education Speaker (20 min.).— George \V. Jacobson, Midland Cooperative \Vholesale, Inc. Discussion (10 min.).—Helen Hayes Lanto, Northern States \Vomen's Cooperative Guild (10 min.)—Edward Carlson, President, Central States Cooperative League 3:30 to 4:15—Cooperative Employee Education Speaker (20 min.)—George Halonen, Educational Director, Central Cooperative Whole sale Discussion (10 min.)—V. S. Alanne, Executive Secretary, Northern States Cooperative League 4:15 to 5:00—Cooperative Journalism Speaker (20 min.)—A. J. Hayes, Editor, The Cooperative Builder Discussion (10 min.)—James R. Moore, Editor, Ohio Farm Bureau News Evening Session—7:30 to 9:30 7:30 to 8:30—Teaching of Consumers' Cooperation in Schools Speaker (30 min.)—Dr. M. M. Coady, St. Francis Xavier University. 8:30 to 9:30—Education of the General Public in Consumers' Cooperation Speaker (30 min.)—George Keen, General Secretary, The Cooperative Union of Canada Sent. 1934 COOPERATION 135 Friday, October 19th Mr. H. V. Nurmi, Vice-President, The Cooperative League, Presiding General Subject—"Consumers' Cooperative Business" Morning Session—9:00 to 12:00 "9:00 to 10:00—Cooperative Oil and Farm Supplies Speaker (20 min.)'—Howard A, Cowden, President, Union Oil Co. (Cooperative) Discussion (10 min.)—Ralph Ingerson, Manager Oil Dept., Farmers Union Central Ex change (10 min.)—C. L. Brody, Executive Secretary, Michigan State Farm Bureau .30:00 to 11:00—Cooperative Stores Speaker (20 min.)—Ivan Lanto, Sales Manager, Central Cooperative Wholesale Discussion (10 min.)—C. McCarthy, General Manager, Farmers Union State Exchange (10 min.)—Leslie E. Woodcock, Manager, Eastern Cooperative Wholesale 11:00 to 12:00—Cooperative Milk Speaker (20 min.).—Roy Larson, Vice-President, Franklin Cooperative Creamery Ass'n Discussion (10 min.)—J. Liukku, General Manager, Cooperative Trading Co. Afternoon Session—1:30 to 5:00 1:30 to 2:30—Cooperative Insurance Speaker (20 min.)—Murray D. Lincoln, Executive Secretary, Ohio Farm Bureau Federa tion Discussion (10 min.)—V. S. Peterson, Secretary-Treasurer, Cooperative Insurance Ass'n (10 min.)—Wm. A. Hyde, Manager, Clusa Service, Inc. 2:30 to 3:15—Cooperative Business and the New Deal Speaker (20 min.)—Quentin Reynolds, General Manager, Eastern States Farmers' Ex change Discussion (10 min.)—Dr. J. P. Warbasse, President, The Cooperative League 3:15 to 4:00—Cooperative Credit Unions and Banking Speaker (20 min.)—Roy F. Bergengren, Executive Secretary, Credit Union National Ex tension Bureau Discussion (10 min.)—C. H. Laselle, Manager, Insurance Department, Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association 4:00 to 4:30—Cooperative Buying Clubs Speaker (15 min.)—A. W. Warinner, Executive Secretary, Central States Cooperative League 4:30 to 5:00—Cooperative Auditing Speaker (15 min.)—Werner E. Regli, Director, Auditing Dept., The Cooperative League Evening Session—6:30 to 9:30 Cooperative Banquet—Dr. J. P. Warbasse, Toastmaster Kagawa and Cooperation in Japan—Helen M. T