The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed in the DjVu format at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/HD2951xC776/co40 or http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/ugafax/HD2951xC776/co40 Give COOPERATIVE BOOKS this Christmas In Special Christmas Wrappings Mailed with Your Personal Greeting Cooperatives in Action Cooperatives and Peace Cooperation — A Way of Peace, J. P. War- basse. Co-op Edition ...................................... .50 Cooperatives and Peace, Harold Fey ........ .05 Cooperatives and Peace Edition of Con sumers' Cooperation ........................................ .10 Great Britain Consumers Cooperation in Great Britain, Carr-Saunders and others .......................... 4.00 Cooperation, Official British Textbook (1835), Hall and Watkins ............................ 3.00 Cooperative Movement in Great Britain Potter-Webb (1SB1) ........................................ 1.10 English Cooperatives, Sydney Elliott ...... 3.00 Housewives Build a New World, Bmmy Freundlich .......................................................... l.GO John T. W. Mitchell, Percy Bedfern .......... 1.10 New History of Coop. Wholesale Soc. .... 3.00 The Peoples Yearbook (1030, English) Cloth 1.00, Paper ............................................ .03 Told in Brief, The History of CWS .......... .10 Toward a Cooperative Commonwealth, T. W. Mercer .................................................... 3.CO Scandinavia Cooperative Housing in Sweden, Ulla Aim Cooperation in Sweden, Axel GJores. Cloth 1.25, Paoer .......................................................... Cooperative Sweden, K. F. (Illustrated) Denmark, The Cooperative Way, Freder ic Howe ...........:..... ............................................ Education for Life, Noëlle Davis ................ Farmers and Consumers Cooperation, K.F. Finland, Nation of Cooperators, Thorsten Odhe (Cloth 1.50), Paper .......................... How Swedish Cooperatives Break Monop olies, Albin Johansson and others .......... Swedish Architecture, K. P. ............................ Swedish Consumers iu Cooperation, An ders Hedberg .................................................... Sweden, Land of Economic Democracy, E. R. Boweu .................................................... Sweden. The Middle Way, Marquis Childs Swedish Adult Education. Eaguor Lund .. The New Norway. O. B. Grim'ey (Ueviseil) .15 .00 .10 2.5(i 2.00 .10 1.00 .00 2.50 .15 2 50 .l.ï 1.30 United States The Annals. Special Cooperative Volume. 23 Articles on Co-ops .................................... 1.00 Consumer Cooperation in America, B. B. Fowler. Co-op Edition .................................. 1.00 Consumer Cooperation in the U.S., 1030, Parker, Dept. of Labor Statistics ............ .30 Cooperation: An American Way, John Daniels, Co-op Edition ................................ 1.50 Cooperatives in America, Ellis Cowling. Co-op Edition .................................................. 1.00 Cooperatives in the USA, A Balance Sheet, Maxwell Stewart .............................................. .111 Cuna Emerges (Credit Unions), Koy Ber- gengren (Cloth 1.50), Paper ...................... .75 Operating Results of Consumers Coop eratives. I!)o7. Harvard Study by Schmaiz ..................................................'..........'.. 1.00 Report of the Presidents Commission to Co-op Europe .................................................... .Ci Statistical Handbook of Fanner Coopera tives, R. II. Elsworth, Farm Credit Adm. .40 The Consumer Awakens, Harold V. Knight .25 The Cooperative League Yearbook (1038) .. 1.0(1 Nora Scotia Father Tompkins, Teacher of Fishermen .03 How St. F. X. Educates for Action ............ .20 Masters of Their Own Destiny, Dr. M. M. Coady, Co-op Edition ................................... 1.00 The Lord Helps Those, B. B. Fowler, Co-op Edition .................................................. LOG Tour of Nova Scotia Cooperatives .............. .21! Philosophies and Interpretations Can We Establish A Consumer Economy, Cecil Crews ........................................................ .1? Charles Gide and Cooperation. Karl Walter .................................................................... 2.50 Cooperation—A Philosophical Interpreta tion, David Sonquist .................................... .15 Cooperation — Middle Way for America, Paul Douglas .................................................... .lu Cooperation—The Dominant Idea of the Future. Henry A. Wallace ........................ .13 Cooperative Democracy. J. P. Warbasse (l'J3(i Edition), Co-op Edition .................... 1. ' Cooperative Enterprise, Jacob Baker .......... 2.00 Cooperative Ideals and Problems, Anders Gerne (Cloth 1.25). Paper ............................ .7J Cooperative Republic, E. Poisson .............. 1.8" Credo of a Co-op Editor, L. S. Herren .... ."> Decline and Rise of the Consumer, Dr. Horace Kallen .................................................. 2.7,"i Facing the Sunrise, Ellis Cowling (Youth) Foundations—Ethics and Economics in Cooperation, Hughes and Neal .................. .71 My Apprenticeship, Beatrice Webb, 2 Vols. .51 Mutual Aid, Prince Kropotkin .................... .25 National Being. George Russell, JE ............ 1.75 Speaking of Change, Edward A.. Filene .... .25 The Place of Cooperatives among other movements, Prof. V. Totomiantz ............ .2." The Spirit of Cooperation, Harold L.iski .15 Order from: THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 WEST 12th STREET, NEW YORK CITY CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL ORGAN Of The Consumers' Cooperative Movement in the U. S. A. V*' VOLUME XXVI January—December 1940 111 ill Published by The Cooperative League of U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City 181 INDEX CONSUMERS' COOPERATION f* PAGE ABC of Cooperatives, The, a review ................................................................................................... Ill Accountant's Role in Cooperation, The ............................................................................................ 106 Accounting, Cooperative .............................................................................................................................. 211 Address of Welcome, 12th Biennial Congress .............................................................................. 169 Aiken, Governor .................................................................................................................................................. 29 All Join Hands, a review .............................................................................................................................. 80 Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments .........................!................................................................... 108 America's Strongest Defense ..................................................................................................................... 99 American Youth Hostels .............................................................................................................................. 72 Arnold, Mary E. .......................................................................................................................................... 12, 127 Art and Architecture, Cooperative ......................................................................................................... 211 Articles on Cooperation, Recent ....................................................................................... 30, 95, 158 Associated Cooperatives of Northern California ................................................... 14, 46, 141 Associated Cooperatives of Southern California ........................................................................ 14 Attacks on Cooperatives ............................................................................................................ 27, 75, 108 Austrian Cooperative Wholesale ............................................................................................................ 143 B Babson, Roger W. ...................................................^^^ 79 Baker, Jacob ............................................................................................................................................................ 159 Bakken, Henry H. .................................................................................................................................... 77, 150 Ballinger, Willis J. ............................................................................................................................................ 49 Banking, Cooperative ........................................................................................................................... 142, 190 Barclay, Wade Crawford ............................................................................................................................. 77 Basic Principles of the Cooperative Movement ........................................................................... 37 Benjamin, R. N. ....................................................................................................................................... 199, 217 Bogardus, Dr. Emory S. ..................................................................................................................... .37, 76 Book Reviews ................................................... 14, 32, 48, 60, 64, 76-80, 94, 109, 127, 159 Bowen, E. R. ........................................................................... 6, 19, 29, 51, 60, 78, 82, 75, 177 Bowman, LeRoy E. ................................................................................................................................. 76, 112 Brickbats and Boomerangs .......................................................................................................................... 75 Briggs, M. J. ........_............................-..........-............~ 201 Broadcast, Cooperative Congress ............................................................................................................ 217 Brookings Institution Report ..................................................................................................................... 131 Brophy, John .......................................... .............................................................................................................. 142 Bryan, Darwin .........................._...............................-.-..........-....-....-........................--.-....------..-•------ 22 Build Cooperative Capital ........................................................................................................................... 186 Building an Urban Cooperative ................._..................................—........................—.......-,-..-...-...- 42 Building Materials ............................................................................................................................................. 221 Building Rural-Urban Local Cooperatives ....................................................................................... 198 Bureau of Cooperative Medicine ........................................................................................................... H Burial Associations, Cooperative ............................................................................................................... 11 Buy for Cash .................................................^ 184 Calkins, Oilman ..........._.........................-................-.............-...............----.------.....-......---..-•--•••---.--—-- 8, 101 Camp Tinicum Recreation Conference ................................................................................................ 156 INDEX PAGE Camps, Co-op ......................................................................................................................................................... 92 Campbell, Wallace J. .............................................................................................................................. 10, 88 Campus Co-op Conference ........................................................................................................................... 191 Capital, Adequate ................................................................................................................................................ 223 Carpenter, J. Henry ................................................................................................................................. 77, 111 Carson, John ............................................................................................................................................. 126, 140 Catholic Central Verein ................................................................................................................................. 158 Central Cooperative Wholesale ............................................................ 12, 14, 29, 56, 75, 141 Centra] Finance Company ........................................................................................................................... 157 Character Building and Cooperatives ................................................................................................... 206 Chinese Industrial Cooperatives .............................................................................................................. 221 Church and Christian Society, The, a review ................................................................................. 77 Circle Pines Center ................................................................................................................................ 93, 142 Coady, Dr. M. M. ............................................................................................................................................. 40 College Cooperatives ..............................................................................12, 75, 191, 123, 214, 220 Columbus Consumers Cooperative ......................................................................................................... 15 Comparative Economic Systems, a review .......................................................................................... 32 Consumer Cooperatives, Report of the NBA, Committee on Co-ops, a review ... 109 Consumer Era is Here Says "Fortune" Magazine ..................................................................... 68 Consumer Expenditures in the United States, a review ......................................................... 60 Consumer Distribution Corporation .......................................................................................... 29, 157 Consumer is the Base of a Plenty Economy, The ..................................................................... 67 Consumers Book Cooperative ................................................................................................ 14, 29, 142 Consumers Cooperative Association .................................................................. 74, 88, 107, 156 Consumers Cooperatives Associated .......................................................................................... 14, 74 Consumers Cooperative Refineries, Ltd. ...................................................... 75, 107, 125, 141 Consumers—The Common Denominator of Farmers and Workers ........................... 3 Cooley, George ...................................................................................................................................................... 223 Cooley, Oscar ......................................................................................................................................................... 137 "CO-OP"—The Cooperative Movement's Greatest Commercial Asset .................. 4 Cooper, Madge Howarth .............................................................................................................................. 44 Cooperation and Nationality, a review ................................................................................................ 64 Cooperation Between Producers and Consumers, a review ................................................ 78 Cooperation Moves South ........................................................................................................................... 92 Cooperation to the Finnish, a review ................................................................................................... 76 Cooperation, The Answer of Free Men ............................................................................................. 105 Cooperative Distributors .............................................................................................................................. 14 Cooperative Housing Association, St. Paul .................................................................................... 142 Cooperative Insurance Services .................................................................................................................. 157 Cooperative Publishing Association ................................................................................................... 46 Cooperative Service, Minneapolis ............................................................................................. 42, 154 Cooperative Union, Recreation Committee .................................................................................... 91 Cooperative Wholesale, The ....................................................................................... 14, 74, 94, 141 Co-ops at Play ......................................................................................................................................................... 125 Cowden, Howard A. ........................................................................................................................... 196, 217 % D Decade of Cooperative Youth Progress, A ....................................................................................... 891 Democracy and Dictatorship ..................................................................................................................... 222 Discussion Groups in a Cooperative, Why ....................................................................................... 78. INDEX PAGE District Federation Plan ................................................................................................................................. 147 District of Columbia Cooperative Law ............................................................................................. 107 Dividends to Pay, a review ........................................................................................................................ 6 Do You Know Labor?, a review ............................................................................................................ 159 Don't Kill the Goose, a review ...................................:.............................................................................. 32 Eastern Cooperative League ............................................................................................................ 26, 93 Eastern Cooperative Wholesale ...............................................'.....I.......... 10, 29, 75, 108, 141 Economic Lessons of the War .................................................................................................................. 99 Economics for the Millions, a review ................................................................................................ 32 Education Program, A Comprehensive Cooperative ............................................................... 192 Edwards, Ellen ....................................................................................................1... 26, 72, 80, 125, 138 Electric Cooperative Movement, The ................................................................................................... 118 Employee Training ..................................................................................................................... 12, 29, 222 Erickson, Morris ................................................................................................................................................... 223 Erickson, Stanky ................................................................................................................................................... 42 Factories are Free for Cooperators ...................................................................................................... 196 Fairchild, Henry Pratt .................................................................................................................................... 32 Farm Bureau Cooperative Insurance Services ..................................................................... 10, 66 Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company ................................................................................................ 29 Fertilizer Production Lowers Price Level, Cooperative ...................................................... 101 Films, Cooperative ........................................................................................................................ 12, 62, 144 Finance Association, A National Cooperative .............................................................................. 188 Finance, Cooperative ....................................................................................................................................... 222 Financing a Cooperative Through Patron-Ownership ............................................................ 20 Finnish Cooperators, Those ........................................................................................................................ 150 Folly of Installment Buying, a review ................................................................................................ 79 Fortune Magazine ................................................................................................................................................ 68 Fox, Glenn S. ....................................................................................................................................................... 184 Frank, Harry ............................................................................................................................................................ 20 From Gettysburg to Phillipsburg ............................................................................................................ 88 Gateshead Community Funds Transferred to CWS Bank ................................................... 143 George, Henry ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 Gold Nightmare, The ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Goslin, Ryllis and Omar ................................................................................................................................. 32 Graham, John, Jr. ................................................................................................................................................ Ill Grange Cooperative Wholesale ................................................................................................... 14, 75 Green, Perry L. ........................................................................................................................... 33, 116, 188 Group Discussions, Summary of ............................................................................................................ 216 Group Health Cooperative ........................................................................................................................... 126 Group Health Federation .............................................................................................................................. 46 Group Health Mutual and Group Health Association ............................................................ 47 Group Work Session, Mills College ................................................................................................... 91 INDEX H Halifax Consumers Society ................................................................................................................ Holmekangas, William .................................................................................................................................... Hall, Fred .................................................................................................................................................................. Halpern, Belle L. ...................................................................................................................................... 16, Hayes, A. J. ............................................................................................................................................................ Hedberg, Anders ........................................................................................................................... 47, 61, Highlights of Central Cooperative Wholesale's Education Program ........................ Highlights of 1939, Cooperative ............................................................................................................ Hiram Cooperative Folk School ............................................................................................................... Hoffman, Roy O. ................................................................................................................................................... Hoot, J. Weldon ...................................................................................................................... Houghman, George ............................................................................................................................................. Housing, Cooperative .......................................................................................... 12, 29, 74, 214, Housing in Scandinavia, a review ......................................................................................................... Howe, Frederic C. ............................................................................................................................................. Hull, I. H. ..........................................................^ Hutchinson, Carl .................................................................................................................................... 194, PAGE . 75 . 147 223 123 192 65 56 10 44 95 32 127 221 111 223 190 214 M. Importance of Action as Consumers ................................................................................................... 40 Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association ............................................................... 11, 94 Insurance Executives Broaden Attack on Cooperatives ...................................................... 27 Johansson, Albin ................................................................................................................................................ 34 . K Kendall, Erick .................................................................................................................................... 48, 79, 95 Kennedy, E. D. ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Konsum Cooperative Station ............................................................................................................ 94, 157 L Labor and Cooperatives ......................................................10, 108, 115, 158, 185, 220, 215 Landis, Benson Y. .................................................................................................................................... 48, 77 Learning Economic Responsibility at Skokie Jr. H.S. ......................................................... 84 Lehtin, Laurie ......................................................................................................................................................... 106 Let's Play, a review ............................................................................................................................................. 80 Let's Quit Starving the Cooperative Movement ........................................................................... 114 Ligutti, Msgr. Luigi .......................................................................................................................................... 206 Lincoln, Murray D. ................................................................................................................................. 78, 200 Little Red Hen and Her Cooperative, The, a review ............................................................... 15 Logan, S. R. ............................................................................................................................................................ 84 London Cooperative Society ........................................................................................................................ 160 Loucks, William N. .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Luikku, Jacob ......................................................................................................................................................... 169 Lund, Ragnar ............................................................................................................................................................ 78 M Manifesto on Rural Life, a review ......................................................................................................... 48 Manual on the Church and Cooperatives, a review .................................................................. 77 March of Fascism, The ................................................................................................................................ 207 INDEX PAGE March of Fascism, The, a review ............................................................................................................ 94 March of Monopoly, The .............................................................................................................................. 6 May, Henry J. ................................................................................................................................................ 9, 223 McLanahan, Jack ............................................................................................................ 18, 79, 155, 216 Medicine, cooperative ................................................................:.....,............................ 11, 46, 126, 213 Memorials .................................................................................................................................................................. 223 Metzger, T. Warren ............................................................................................................................................. 78 Midland Cooperative Wholesale ........................................................................... 10, 46, 92, 127 Midwest Federation of Campus Co-ops ............................................................................................. 75 Modernization of Co-op Stores ...........................................................'....................................................... 223 Morningside Consumers Cooperative Society ................................................................................. 15 Morris, William ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 Mutual Aid Fund ....................................................................................................................................... 143 My Story, Paddy the Cope, a review ................................................................................................... 79 Myers, James ................................................................................................................................................ 77, 159 N National Cooperatives ........................................................................................................................... 11, 63 National Cooperative Recreation School ............................................. 47, 93, 97, 102, 104 National Cooperative Recreation School Regional Conference ....................................... 156 National Education Association Committee on Cooperatives .......................................... 130 National Publicity and Education Conference ..................................................................... 93, 105 National Recreation Association ............................................................................................................ 155 National vs. Regional Insurance ............................................................................................................... 71 New Homes for Old, a review .................................................................................................................. 76 New Jersey Federation of Cooperatives Institute ........................................................................ 93 New Members, New Co-ops, New Ideas .......................................................................................... 123 New Trails in Cooperative Recreation ................................................................................................ 72 Norris Bill Hearings .......................................................................................................................................... 140 Northern States Cooperative Youth League ........................................................................... 14, 89 Northern States Women's Cooperative Guild ......................................................... 14, 48, 109 Nolt, Elmer ............................................................................................................................................................ 66 o Ohio Builds 1940 Program Thru Cooperative Discussion ................................................... 8 Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association ............................................................... 8, 46, 126 Oil well, Cooperative ....................................................................................................................................... 156 Organized Labor and Consumer Cooperative Conference ................................................... 108 P Pacific Supply Cooperative ............................................................................................................... 14, 74 Palestine Cooperatives ....................................................................................................................................... 143 Peace, Cooperatives and ................................................................................................................................. 202 Peace and Cooperation, Discussion Questions on ........................................................................ 132 Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Cooperative Association ............................................................ 75 People's Year Book, The, a review ......................................................................................................... 64 Perkins, Lionel ...................................................................................................................................................... 212 Planks for Political Platforms, Cooperative .................................................................................... 81 Plauche, Jacqueline .................................................................................................................................... 80, 104 Play Cooperatively Too .................................................................................................................................... 97 Play Co-op, The ................................................................................................................................. 15, 73, 91 INDEX PAGE 82 Prepare for Peace ................................................................................................................................................ o± President's Address, Twelfth Biennial Congress ........................................................................ 170 Principles of a Cooperative Economy ................................................................................................... 69 Producer, Political and Purchasing Approach to Economic Problems ..................... 200 Program of the Twelfth Biennial Congress .................................................................................... 134 Publicity and Education Committee ...................................................................................................... 211 118 R Rail, Udo ....................................................................................................................................... us Range Cooperative Federation of Virginia ....................................................................................... 147 Rauschenbush, Stephen ........................................................................................................................ 94, 207 Reading Clubs, Cooperative ........................................................................................................................ 137 Recreation, Cooperative ................................................ 15, 26, 73, 91, 125, 155, 214, 222 Recreation Institute .............................................................................................................................. 125, 155 Recreation Leadership Conference ......................................................................................................... 26 Recreation Program for a Cooperative, A .......................................................................................... 138 Recreation Program, A Comprehensive Cooperative ............................................................... 194 Recreation School, Cooperative ............................................................................................................... 92 Reed, William V. and Elizabeth Ogg ................................................................................................ 76 Refinery, Cooperative .................................................................................................................. 29, 88, 107, Refugees ........................................................................................................................_......................................... 222 Relations with Other Groups ..................................................................................................................... 115 Religion and Consumer Cooperation Conference ............................................................ 47, 183 Resolutions, Congress ....................................................................................................................................... 220 Richardson, Gerald ............................................................................................................................................. Ill Roberts, Dr. Kingsley ....................................................................................................................................... 213 Rochdale Institute ................................................................................................................................. 142, 212 Rochdale Stores ...................................................................................................................................................... 35 Rural Electrification Administration ...................................................................................................... 12 Russell, George W. (AE) ......................................................................................................... 5, 34, 64 Sales Management ............................................................................................................................................. Sanda, Miriam ......................................................................................................................................................... Schmalz, Carl N. ................................................................................................................................................ Secretary's Report and Recommendations ....................................................................................... Self-Help vs. State Help ................................................................................................................................. Selvig, Emil ............................................................................................................................................................ Siegler, CarJton G. ............................................................................................................................................. Skillin, Edward Jr. ............................................................................................................................................. Smaby, A. J. ............................_...................................................._ 53, Smith, Robert L. ................................................................................................................................................ Southeastern Cooperative Education Association ........................................................................ Southern Wisconsin Cooperative Youth League ........................................................................ Spiritual Values of Cooperation ............................................................................................................... St. F. X. University ............................................................................................................................................. Stookey, Charley .................................................................................................................................................. Story of Tompkinsville, a review ............................................................................................................ Summer Activities ................................................................................................................................................ Swedish Adult Education, a review ......................................................................................................... Swedish Cooperative Savings ..................................................................................................................... 94 89 141 177 5 211 16 128 186 211 92 15 221 47 217 127 93 78 143 INDEX I PAGE Taber, L. J. .......................................................................................__^ 33 Teaching of Cooperation .............................................................................................................................. 221 Tenth Anniversary Album, a review ................................................................................................... 48 The More We Get Together ..............................................'.......................................................................... 18 Thompson, Glenn ................................................................................................................................................ 105 Tichenor, George ................................................................................................................................................ 64 Timmins Consumers Cooperative Society .......................................................................................... 91 To the Men Who Built the First Co-op Refinery in the U. S. .......................................... 51 Torma, William .......................................................... 211 Tomlinson, Bob ................................................................................................................................................... 15 Tour of Nova Scotia Cooperatives, Annual ................................................... 12, 46, 93, 107 Tribute to Dr. J. P. Warbasse .................................................................................................................. 222 Twelfth Biennial Congress of the Cooperative League .......................................... 113, 129 Twenty Years After, a review .................................................................................................................. 160 Twin City League of Unions and Cooperatives ........................................................................... 44 Training for Cooperative Play .................................................................................................................. 104 U United Cooperatives .....<.................................................................................................................................... 141 United Federal Workers of America ................................................................................................... 158 Unity and Action Keynotes of 12th Biennial Congress ......................................................... 162 Uphoff, Mary Jo ...................................................................._..__ 25 V Viita, Mrs. Maiju ................................................................................................................................................ 213 W Warbasse, James P. .............................................................................................................................. 170, 202 Washington Information and Research Office .................................................................. 63, 140 What Cooperation Means ........................................................................................................................... 2 What to do With Cooperative Savings ............................................................................................. 53 White, William Alien .................................................................................................................................... 33 Whitney, E. A. ..................................................................................._ 56, 217 Whom Should America Fight .................................................................................................................. 36 Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association .............................................................................. 74 Wisconsin Cooperative Week ..................................................................................................................... 29 Wolfe, Justice J. ..................................................._ 108 Women's Guilds ...................................................................................^ 213, 222 Woodcock, L. E. ......................._................................................................................._...................................... 198 World Conditions and America's Relationship to Them ...................................................... 116 Workbook on Consumer Cooperatives, a review ......................................................................... 16 Wyker, James ....................................................................................................................................................._ 45 Y Youth and Cooperatives ............................................................................................................ 22, 89, 213 Youth Anti-War Congress ........................................................................................................................... 2 5 Youth Councils of Ohio, Cooperative ................................................................................................ 22 Youth Conferences, Cooperative ............................................................................................................ 91 The Common Denominator of Farmers and Workers Self-Help vs. State Help The March of Monopoly George W. Russell Ohio Builds 1940 Program Thru Cooperative Discussion Henry J. May: A Tribute E. R. Bowen Gilman Calkins Cooperative Highlights of 1939 Wallace J. Campbell January 1940 THE BEST CURRENT BOOK ON CONSUMERS' COOPERATION ' I 'HE twelve issues of the national J- magazine "Consumers Coopera tion" taken together contain the best interpretations of the Consumers' Co operative Movement during the year. They include original articles covering every major phase of the movement. They summarize the outstanding co operative events. They review the cur rent cooperative pamphlets and books. For only $1 you get this gold-mine of cooperative information—up-to-date each month. No cooperative leader or prospective leader can really afford to be without it. Subscribe NOW. Send your subscription to: THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street New York City, New York 608 South Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois COMING EVENTS Co-op Recreation Conference sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative League, Saddle River, New Jersey, January 13 and 14. Editors Field Day, First Cooperative Re finery in U.S., Phillipsburg, Kansas, January 24. Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Em ployee Training School, Camp Idahopi, Minnesota, January 29 to February 24. Farmers Union Cooperative Education Service Institute, Jamestown, North Da kota, 41 weeks beginning January 29. Management Training Institute sponsored by Rochdale Institute, Consumer Distri- bution Corp., Eastern Co-op Wholesale, New York City, February 5 to May 27. Rochdale Institute, New York City, Spring Term, February 5 to May 27. Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Associa tion, Annual Membership Meeting. Columbus, Ohio, February 13. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City- 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C. Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Hastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. 118 E. 28St.,N. Y. 116E. 16 St., N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Services Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT LEAGUES Central States Cooperative League Eastern Cooperative League Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild FRATERNAL MEMBERS Credit Union National Association Madison, Wisconsin 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 4043 W. 60 Street, Los Angeles, Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. Box 1000, Superior, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. I JANUARY, 1940 Ten Cents The American Cooperative Movement Needs the Strongest Leaders in the World Certainly it would be no reflection upon the great leaders of the Cooperative Movement in other countries to say that, because of the background of the United States and other circumstances, America needs even stronger leaders than any where else. The primary reason is that they have the greatest opportunity of all. The background of America is more strongly democratic from its beginnings in the political, religious and educational phases of its organization than any other country. This means that the challenge to cooperative leaders is also greater to develop economic democracy in this country. The resources of America are the greatest of any country in the world. This means that we have the most natural wealth to distribute. The size of America makes it necessary that local cooperatives must join regionals and regionals must join the national, rather than locals joining the national direct without intermediate regionals. The problems of adjusting rela tionships between regional leaders seem to be greater than between local leaders. Regionals can more easily conclude that they are sufficient unto themselves, than can locals. We repeat, as we have done before, the challenge which Albin Johansson, the great Swedish leader, threw out to American cooperative leaders when he left our soil, "WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY!" Will American cooperative leaders be able and humble enough to rise to their great opportunity ? They can only do so if cooperators everywhere in America likewise become great. As Dr. Tompkins of Nova Scotia rightly declared, "It takes a great people to throw up great leaders. The primary problem is how the people can themselves become great." An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City. E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917. at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. . I 11 How Should Cooperators Describe Capitalism? We have been inclined to follow the rule "speak gently about the dying" in discussing the present capitalistic economic system. Yet we sometimes wonder if we should not express our true feelings and use harsher words in indicting a system that has produced so much poverty, unemployment, tenancy, crime and war. Should we ue such expressions as one writer did in the NATION, "Capitalism is no longer able to make the rich rich enough so that the poor can get fat from the garbage." Should we follow the example of William Alien White and describe those who are the flower of capitalism in language like this, "If you ask us, we know a better word than 'titan' for old Charley Schwab. It is a three letter word beginning with h and ending with g and meaning something that afterward de velops into sausage and bacon and football covers." It's all a question of what is the language which will move people to cooperate rapidly in an evolutionary way, and not react violently and throw us into Fascism or Communism. We still believe, in spite of such illustrations, which we are all occasionally inclined to use, that violent language only produces violent action, and that the language of peace is the most powerful method of persuasion. WHAT COOPERATION MEANS Cooperation is both an economic system and a way of life. The two are closely intertwined. In fact, it is reasonably accurate to say that the commercial system and the cultural methods which prevail must correspond, for they are both the outcome of the thinking of the same people at any one stage in their development. Hence it follows that Cooperation should be considered and presented both as to its com mercial and cultural meanings. Here are what we consider the major meanings of Cooperation : Commercially Culturally 1. Cooperation means honest quality products. Consumers have no reason to adulterate the products they process and distribute to themselves. It would be the utmost of folly for them to fool themselves by misrepresenting the qual ity of such products to themselves. 2. Cooperation means economy of dis tribution and production. The waste in duplication of production and distri bution facilities would be eliminated under Cooperation. Wastes of time would also be eliminated with the re sult of shortening working hours. 3. Cooperation means economic secur ity for all. Competition results in a few becoming owners. Cooperation elim inates poverty, unemployment and ten- ! ancy by equitably distributing purchas ing power. 1. Cooperation means economic as well as religious, educational and po litical democracy. Everyone becomes an active participant in the economic pro cesses of control with consequent per sonal development of confidence, ini tiative and group-individuality. 2. Cooperation means educational op portunities for all. Participation in democratic processes requires as a fun damental the constant education of adults as well as youth. Cooperation demands education for life. 3. Cooperation means recreational re lease. No longer will opportunities for development in music, art, etc. be con fined to the few. No longer will recrea tion be destructive, but upbuilding in every way. Cooperation is a new order of society. Our present competitive order is bank- Consumers' Cooperation rupt both commercially and culturally. We are in the midst of a dying competitive order and a dawning cooperative order which will give birth to a new commerce and a new culture. CONSUMERS—The Common Denominator of Farmers and Workers There is a widespread mistaken theory in America among both farmers and workers that they can "go it alone". And just so long as this theory is maintained, just so long will farmers and workers be divided and conquered. It would not seem so strange if this theory were held only by finance and industry, but for farmers and workers themselves to hold to this false theory is indeed a tragedy. In Europe, farmers and workers have long ago gotten beyond this stage in their development of purchasing cooperatives. There they accept that they are all consumers and join together to purchase cooperatively. They do not try to isolate farmer purchasing cooperatives from worker purchasing cooperatives. They practice the first Rochdale principle of "Open Membership," which is the true foundation of cooperative purchasing—open membership to all users of the product handled irrespective of occupation or residence. To present this fact accurately we have written to the various European coun tries to get statistics relative to their division of membership and have the following replies: Division of Membership Farm Urban Finland (SOK) .............................. 62% 38% Sweden (,KF) .................................... 29% 71% Norway (NKL) .............................. 26% 74% France (Nancy) .............................. 43% 57% What difference does it make that farmers are the largest percentage of the membership of SOK in Finland, and that workers are the largest percentage of the membership of KF in Sweden ? No difference whatever—because they are all con sumers, whether farmers or workers. How can farmers and workers interests clash by being members of the same purchasing cooperative which deals in products they both use as consumers ? It's high time that all the leaders and members of coopera tive purchasing associations in America took a leaf out of the lesson from European cooperative purchasing development and accepted and practiced the first basic coop erative principle of "Open Membership." This is far more than a simple matter of theoretical philosophizing. It is not a matter of cooperative orthodoxy. It is not a matter of "take it or leave it." It is fundamentally a matter of economic law. In time it will be accepted generally that cooperatives cannot successfully compete with private dealers unless they follow the basic economic law of serving all potential purchasers of the commodities they handle and handling all the commodities which their members desire in economic quantities. Fortunately for the future of the cooperative purchasing movement in Amer ica, two-thirds of the large purchasing wholesales have already accepted the fact that they are Consumers' Cooperatives and have joined together in the Cooperative League and National Cooperatives, which are the national educational and economic organizations of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement. All restrictions on mem bership are bound to be broken down in time both as a matter of cooperative prin ciple and a matter of "economic efficiency. Our Movement will grow in strength as farmers and workers learn that they are both consumers and that they cannot go it alone. January, 1940 3 Pioneers in the Struggle Against Poverty The centennial of the birth of Henry George, who wrote the famous book "Progress and Poverty" which was the first introduction to real economic thinking for many—even though they may not have been able to agree with his conclu sions—has resulted in many articles about his life and writings. Henry George taught the simple truth that "POVERTY Is SLAVERY." Once men were slaves to Masters, which was called "Slavery." Then they became slaves to Land, which was called "Feudalism." Now they are slaves to Machines, which is called "Capitalism." But whether called Slavery, Feudalism or Capitalism, it is still SLAVERY, and some day will be admitted by all to be. It is just as necessary for Cooperation to succeed Capitalism, in order for men to be FREE, as it was for Capitalism to succeed Feudalism and for Feudalism' to succeed Slavery, as steps along the road towards freedom. The world is indebted to Henry George for helping humanity to open its eyes a little wider to the truth and to react against the anomaly of Poverty in the midst of Plenty. In Henry George's day also lived William Morris, who wrote what George Bernard Shaw calls the "greatest of the Utopias" under the name, "News From Nowhere." He also called his and future generations to action with stirring appeals. He declared that when humanity threw off its former yokes it thought it would be free, only to find itself in a new and wider prison house. But now, he said, when we throw off our present yoke of private-profits, 'We shall be FREE INDEED." Such men were true servants of humanity. We need to develop more of them today. The Cooperative Movement's Greatest Commercial Asset—"CO-OP" The old Persian saying is true that the most precious thing a maker or distribu tor has is his reputation. The trademark "CO-OP" is the most valuable commercial possession of the National Cooperative Movement in the United States. On it the reputation of the movement depends. On it the future success or failure will be built. It should be treated as an inviolate evidence of quality. It should be an un questionable guarantee of the truthfulness of the description of the contents of any package or product on which it is placed. It should be enough for any purchaser to say, "Give me the CO-OP brand," without any necessary comparison with others. Not only should this quality distributed under the "CO-OP" trademark be the highest in its grade, but this trademark, owned by National Cooperatives, Inc., should be handled in such a way as to build up the resources of the national move ment so that an increasing number of products can be produced cooperatively as well as distributed cooperatively. While regional cooperatives can do some manu facturing and inter-regional cooperatives still more, yet there can be comparatively little produced today except on a national scale. This means that the Cooperative Movement should take a leaf out of the book of private business and license the use of this trademark only on condition that a percentage be paid to National Coop eratives covering the quantity of every product distributed under the "CO-OP" label. Right now we are almost starving the national movement. Very little more is being saved by the national movement than barely enough to cover the operating expenses of purchasing. We do not even permit the national movement to save enough now on its joint purchases to finance a minimum national publicity, educational and leg islative program. The "CO-OP" trademark should represent unquestionable quality to purchasers and be used as the means of accumulating the funds necessary for the building of national production facilities to guarantee the quality as well as to finance education and legislation. 4 Consumers' Cooperation SELF-HELP vs. STATE HELP (EDITOR'S NOTE: Few men have foreseen com ing events as dearly as George W. Russell, the great Irish poet-cooperator. In an out-of- print book, "Cooperation and Nationality" written in 1912, he appealed to his fellow Irishmen to develop voluntary organizations for "self-help" rather than to depend upon "state- help". We have assembled and are quoting be low some of his outstanding statements which are even more timely today for Americans than when he wrote them over a quarter century ago. ) WHEN a man becomes imbecile his friends place him in an asylum. When a people grow decadent and im becile they place themselves in the hands of the State. ^c ^c ^c It is the tragedy of the decline and fall of the human will in the people we are witnessing, a far worse tragedy than the emigration which is deplored so much. The will is growing powerless to act with out partnership with its fetish or idol the State. $i $£ $£ Every eye was fixed on Westminster, with the natural consequence that the powers and possibilities of the State as sumed monstrous and unnatural propor tions, in men's minds, and what a man or country could do for itself without State aid dwindled to insignificance. All these appeals to the State would not have done so much harm if the mouth pieces of popular sentiment had not felt it incumbent on them to discourage any non-political efforts to promote prosperity. These were described as "drawing a red herring across the track." If Self-help had been fostered as industriously as State-aid we might have arrived at something. But politicians would not admit that it was either possible or desirable that Ireland should help itself until what they wanted done was done first. Irish misery and pov erty were valuable assets in the campaign. The net result in the psychology of the Irish people was that they grew less and January, 1940 George W. Russell (PÊ.) less self-reliant. The State treated Ireland as the great big incapable baby it was represented to be. The country became like a gigantic creche with a whole army of officials guiding, controlling, or spoon feeding it. Ireland, in spite of professed hatred of the State, has never been nearer to complete dependence on it than at the present moment. ^i ^t ^t It is not what the State has done or can do which inspires, but the infinitely nobler possibilities which arise through the vol untary cooperation of men to wring from nature and life the utmost they can give. $f, sjî sjî The Servile State, whose swift coming Mr. Hilaire Belloc deplores, seems to be the objective of the ruling and official classes. I hold that the whole salvation of Ire land depends on what Irish people can do for themselves. I think the worst enemies Ireland has today are those who are for ever supplicating State aid on her behalf. ïjî $£ 3t I would a thousand times rather dwell on what men and women working togeth er may do than on what may result from majorities at Westminster. The beauty of great civilizations has been built up far more by the people working together than by any corporate action of the State. In these socialistic days we grow pessimistic about our own efforts and optimistic about the working of the legislature. I think we do right to expect great things from the State, but we ought to expect still greater things from ourselves. We ought to know full well that, if the State did twice as much as it does, we shall never rise out of mediocrity among the nations unless we have unlimited faith in the power of our personal efforts to raise and transform Ireland and unless we translate the faith into works. The State can give a man an economic holding, but only the man him- self can make it into an Earthly Paradise, and it is a dull business, unworthy of be ing made in the image of God, to grind away at work without some noble end to be served, some glowing ideal to be at tained. $£ 3t $£ Every people get the kind of govern ment they deserve. A nation can exhibit no greater political wisdom in the mass than it generates in its units. It is the pregnant idealism of the multitude which gives power to the makers of great na tions, otherwise the prophets of civiliza tion are helpless as preachers in the desert and solitary places. So I have always preached Self-help above all other kinds of help, knowing that if we strove pas sionately after this righteousness all other kinds of help would be at our service. So, too, I would brush aside the officious in terférer in our cooperative affairs, who would offer on behalf of the State to do for us what we should, and could, do far better ourselves. We can build up a rural civilization in Ireland, shaping it to our hearts' desires, warming it with life, buc our rulers and officials can never be warm er than a stepfather, and have no "large, divine, and comfortable words" for us; they tinker at the body when it is the soul which requires to be healed and made whole. THE MARCH OF MONOPOLY E. R. Bowen """THE present economic system was mor- 1 ally indicted in the Catholic En cyclical "Reconstructing the Social Order" in 1931 in these simple words, "Free competition is dead—economic dictator ship has taken its place." We have had many statistical studies confirming such moral condemnations since monopoly began its great march, which have shown the results in terms of individuals in increasing unemployment, poverty and tenancy. But it has been left to E. D. Kennedy in "Dividends to Pay" (Reynal and Hitchcock, New York, $2.50) to show the results statistically in terms of corporations. Just as rich indi viduals are getting richer and poor indi- vidulas are getting poorer, he also shows that large corporations are getting richer and small corporations are getting poorer. Profits and Losses 960 Corps. 1926................................. $3,665,000,000 Profit 1927 ................................. 3,290,000,000 1928 ................................. 4,100,000,000 1929 ................................. 4,740,000,000 1926-29 ........................ $15,795,000,000 1930 ................................. $2,920,000,000 1,370,000,000 363,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,410,000,000 1,970,000,000 $9,033,000,000 1931 .....-- 1932 ......... 1933 ......... 1934 ........ 1935 ........ 1930-35 ..... 450,000 Corps. $3,835,000,000 Profit 3,220,000,000 4,130,000,000 4,000,000,000 $15,185,000,000 $1,370,000,000 Loss 4,660,000,000 6,000,000,000 3,550,000,000 1,310,000,000 270,000,000 $17,160,000,000 Consumers' Cooperation His conclusions are summarized thus, "a handful of tremendously profitable corporations are getting a strangle-hold on the profits of industry as a whole . . . the rich companies are making money at the expense of the other companies." The- statistics he presents, which are taken from the U.S. Treasury Depart ment's Statistics of Income and from a compilation by the Standard Statistics Co., strongly support his conclusions. Pyramiding Wealth From 1926 to 1929, or the four years before the collapse, 960 corporations (2 out of every 1,000) made $15,795,000,- 000 which was about the same amount as the other 450,000 corporations (998 out of every 1,000) made of $15,185,000,000. But from 1930 to 1935, or the six years after the collapse, the 960 corporations continued to make profits of $9,033,000,- 000, while the 450,000 corporations lost $17,160,000,000. "The earning power of American industry has become concen trated in the hands of less than 1,000 of our corporations." (BJ-960 CORPORATIONS (PROFIT) — BILLIONS (LOSS) (A)-45QOOO , CORPORATIONS 1926 '27 '28 29 30 31 32'33 '34'35 But this is not the whole story of the March of Monopoly. Out of the 960 cor porations, 24 or the "aristocrats among January, 1940 the aristocrats," made 47% or nearly half of what the 960 made in 1937. "All of which," says Kennedy, "brings us back to our major proposition that a few companies make most of the money, and still fewer companies make most of the money that the few companies make." And how has monopoly gotten this strangle-hold on us? By adopting the "principle of dividends before wages . . . by liquidating labor instead of liquidating capital." The monopoly method is to gain control and then hold prices up and pay rolls down and thus squeeze dividends out of consumers and workers. What's ahead of us? Well, the author offers little early hope. "I see no reason why the 1940's should be any better than the 1930's. There is, indeed, every reason to believe that they may be considerably worse." What is the Answer? Unfortunately, as so many such statis tical studies fail to do, the author himself suggests no way out. He only declares definitely that the answer is not to go back from monopoly-capitalism to com petitive-capitalism. In one sentence he does offer a clue to the solution, "The in dustrialist (along with most orthodox economists) thinks in terms of production only. He must learn to think in terms of consumption as well." But it is only wishful thinking to even suggest that the owners and managers of our monopoly corporations might lead the way out to abundance for all. That is where cooperators come into the picture. It's our job to graphically present such statistical studies to others and convince them of the fact that monopoly is making the rich richer and the poor poorer—both as individuals and as corporations—and that the only way out is for the people as a whole to take over industry through or ganizing cooperatives which will raise pay and lower prices and thus eliminate pov erty, unemployment and tenancy. (Those who like statistics will find that this book reads like a novel. It can be ordered through the Cooperative League. ) OHIO BUILDS 1940 PROGRAM THRU COOPERATIVE DISCUSSION h I (EDITOR'S NOTE: It's one thing for a coop erative to have a program. It's another thing to build a program cooperatively. The combina tion of the two is what counts. Ohio decided to try building their 1940 cooperative program by cooperative methods. Here is the story in brief. We submit it as one of those "go thou and do likewise" suggestions for the considera tion of cooperatives everywhere.) MANY an organization in America is democratic to the extent that some leaders in it draw up a plan of action and submit it to the membership for a. "yes" or "no", and it confronts those members in such a void of alternatives and counter suggestions that "yes" is at once automatic and "the only sensible thing." Without any experience of sharing the responsibility for facing problems and developing solu tions, the members soon become accus tomed to expecting the plans from the leaders, and the simple practice of peri odically selecting those leaders and then letting them do the work becomes to them a perfect concept and expression of de mocracy. Even in cooperative organizations this convention too often prevails as the re sult of the overflowing zeal and hard work of the pioneers who leave nothing to be done by the rank and file but to belong. When the novelty of things has worn off, when the myriad details of ex panded services become drudgery for the few, and when the many members fail to demonstrate a proportionate loyalty and willingness to sacrifice for the future ob jective, the leaders often are still unable to appreciate that necessary interest and faith and enthusiasm can come only from experience—widespread participation by the members, familiarity with operating problems, habitual sharing of responsibil ity, group thinking and development of plans and methods, and the vision that all of this kindles. Ohio Cooperatives Try Cooperative Program Planning Members of Farm Bureau cooperative 8 Oilman Calkins Assistant Editor Ohio Farm Bureau News groups in Ohio have held a lot of con ferences the last few years in which they have studied the meaning of cooperative principles and methods, and they have come to the conclusion that there is still more to be gotten out of cooperation than they hav,e so far achieved. Sometime, somewhere, in the discus sions last summer, the suggestion came that the membership develop its own pro gram for the coming year. The organiza tion department of the Ohio Farm Bureau welcomed the idea and tossed it right back to the members. "How," they were asked, "should membership be developed in 1940 ? How should a County Farm Bureau be worked out and executed? In what ways, if any, should cooperative services be expanded in the near future ?" Discussion Process Put to Work During the last week in September and the first week in October, five groups of representative members assembled, one in each of the Farm Bureau "field districts" into which the state is divided. Each group included representatives from each coun ty association, chosen by the counties, who had some understanding of local prob lems, the common problems of all farm ers, the objectives of Farm Bureau and the cooperative movement. Each group spent an entire day to gether. State organization representatives recited vital statistics on the farmer's plight, the economic picture, organization achievements to date. Delegates reported on local problems and needs. Small dis cussion groups were formed. Suggestions poured forth; some were accepted, some rejected. Group secretaries reported con clusions to the reassembled conference group, and on the blackboard a final pro gram was outlined. Each district meeting chose several of its number to form, with those of the other districts, a statewide "Committee of Consumers' Cooperation 30," which met at Columbus for two days during October, received the district re ports, and repeated the same group dis cussion and selection of suggestions pro cess. The Committee of 30 then submitted its final report to a special meeting of the board of trustees of the Ohio Farm Bu reau, and the board approved it in entirety and recommended it formally to the coun ties for their adoption. Counties Get Program Back for Approval and Action Already, it is reported, many of the county groups are at work on various parts of the recommended program, which is too extensive to include here in full. Some of its "planks", for example, are: Employ full-time county organization manager. Each county conduct its own membership plan under organization man ager. Divide county into small units. Have program-planning meeting. Invite all members. Publish county program. Con tact legislators aggressively. Expand Ad visory Council program; include non- Farm Bureau members. Work on financial needs; reduce accounts receivable. In crease efforts for legislation to include ur ban membership in farm co-ops. Manufac ture more commodities. Add groceries, clothing. Start medical projects. Undertake cooperative banking. Develop credit unions. Set up more service points. State organization set up training system for co-op employees. Where will Ohio go in 1940? They don't expect to make a perfect record on this program in one year. But there is a keen consciousness among the members that the program is one of their own making. There is a lot of new interest in reaching the goals. And the odds are high er than ever for anyone who wants to bet they won't succeed ! 1939 Index % An index of Consumers' Cooperation for 1939 will be sent to subscribers free on request. HENRY J. MAY Resolution of the Board of Direc tors of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. at its meeting held in Chicago, December 5th, 2939- In the death of Henry J. May, on November 19th, 1939, the Interna tional Cooperative Alliance lost its General Secretary who had served it faithfully and effectively in that capacity since 1913. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U.S.A. hereby pay tribute to the un tiring energy, the sympathetic un derstanding, the wide knowledge, and the high degree of efficiency and sincerity with which Mr. May pro moted the cause of international co operation. In view of these facts, and in recog nition that it was his mastery of in ternational cooperative affairs and his organizing genius that held the International Alliance together dur ing the World War and preserved the Alliance as the only internation al organization which did not break down during those trying years; it is hereby RESOLVED by this Board that our expressions of appreciation of Mr. May's services be spread upon our minutes, that they be published in the official organ of The Coopera tive League, that they be transmitted to the press, and that a copy be sent to the International Cooperative Al liance and to the family of Mr. May. Dr. James P. Warbasse, president, said in transmitting the resolution, "Henry May proved that fidelity to a great cause could hold men to gether in the face of forces that would render them asunder. He not only proved the brotherhood of man, he made it come true." January, 1940 COOPERATIVE HIGHLIGHTS OF 1939 Wallace J. Campbell THE American consumer cooperative movement can list 1939 as its greatest year of progress. By the end of the year more than 2,000,000 consumers were I', members of cooperatives doing a total an- ï nual business estimated at $600,000,000. Among the accomplishments of the year are several important steps into pro duction ; the expansion of cooperative ac tivities from farm to general household supplies ; an increased support from labor and farm organizations ; and a vicious na tion-wide attack on the cooperative move ment, giving evidence of the fact that pri vate profit business is now taking the co operative movement seriously. Among the new factories and other pro duction units now in operation or planned for the next few months are: 1. A $750,000 petroleum refinery at Phillipsburg, Kansas. 2. A $250,000 refinery at Regina, Sask. 3. An oil topping and cracking plant at Mt. Vernon, Ind. 4. Flour mills at Auburn, Ind., and Outlook, Sask. 5. Feed mills at Manheim, Pa., and Superior, Wis. 6. Commercial fertilizer factories and mixing plants at Baltimore; India napolis; Alliance, Ohio; and Mau- nee, Ohio. Cooperative distribution of groceries found its greatest growth in eastern cities when the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, serving 200 cooperatives from Maine to Maryland became the first urban coopera tive wholesale to surpass the $1,000,000 mark. An unusual development in this field was the creation of a co-op chain of grocery stores in southern Minnesota and - Wisconsin sponsored by Midland Coop erative Wholesale and its affiliated retail cooperatives which combine the efficiency of chain store operation with local owner ship, democratic control, and distribution of savings to members. American grocery 10 co-ops adopted a uniform CO-OP label and pioneered in government ABC grade labeling of commodities. Distribution of farm supplies, a field in which co-ops are strongest, continued to grow. The Farm Credit Administration estimates co-op purchases at $440,000,- 000, one-eighth of all U.S. farm supply purchases. The Farm Bureau Mutual Cooperative insurance companies handling fire, auto mobile and life insurance showed in creases of from 18 to 27% for the year. Cooperative credit unions continued to grow throughout the year, reporting 2,250,000 members and assets well over $100,000,000. Continuing its series of farm, labor and cooperative conferences, the Cooperative League arranged institutes at Racine and Akron during the year and planned sim ilar institutes in Kansas City and Cali fornia early in 1940. The AFL and CIO, at their annual conventions, renewed their endorsements of the cooperative move ment as an effective means of meeting the increasing costs of living. And the Na tional Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation and National Grange conventions urged further expansion of cooperatives. Reassuring evidence of the fact that cooperatives are an important part of American life has come in a concerted na tional attack by private profit insurants organizations. Insurance conventions in Boston, Oakland, Indianapolis, Little Rock, White Sulphur Springs, and other places passed resolutions condemning the consumer cooperative movement because it "aims to increase prices to producers" "to cut prices to consumers" and "es tablish economic democracy." In their rush to defend the profit motive, the in surance companies have given the coop eratives more free publicity than they have had for years. Consumers' Cooperation National Cooperative Organization Even more important than the physical advances which the movement made dur ing the year are the steps toward coordina tion of the movement. With growing co operation among cooperatives, the move ment is in better shape than ever before to build soundly in the cooperative decade ahead of us. Among the milestones of the year are: The Cooperative League's first year of operation based on uniform dues of 5c. per year per individual member. Completion of twenty-five years of con tinuous publication of the national maga zine Consumers' Cooperation (formerly Cooperation). Opening of joint executive offices with National Cooperatives in Chicago center ing executive activities in the heart of America. Closer coordination of educational and business activities through concurrent quarterly meetings of the board of direc tors of The Cooperative League and Na tional Cooperatives. Many of the directors serve on both boards, bringing to both a breadth of cooperative experience. National Cooperatives demonstrated its effectiveness as coordinating agency for national co-op buying by acting as the agency through which the grocery co-op wholesales worked out a program of uni form national CO-OP labeling, use of Government ABC grade labeling, and a national purchasing program. National Cooperatives also continued its program of joint buying of tires, binder twine and electrical appliances, closing the year op erating in the black on the savings made through large-scale purchasing. The first national cooperative legislative program was launched in the spring of 1939 with plans under way for the estab lishment of a permanent Washington of fice in the early months of 1940. The bank owned and operated by co operatives was acquired ,by the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association in cooperation with local cooperatives and credit unions in the state. The Citizens January, 1940 State Bank at Beech Grove, Indiana is the first U.S. co-op bank. Basic in a program of cooperative ex pansion has been the greater acceptance by farm purchasing and marketing co operative leaders of the fact that the con sumers cooperative movement includes the purchase of both farm and home supplies. This fact, plus a growing realization on the part of organized labor that it must organize as consumers as well as pro ducers in order to raise real wages opens the gateway to the greatest organizational expansion in American cooperative his tory, if the cooperative movement will take advantage of its opportunity. Cooperative Medicine New progress in cooperative medicine included extensions of both building and service at the Cooperative Hospital, Elk City, Oklahoma; the launching of the Group Health Mutual and Group Health Association in St. Paul; the Cooperative Health Association, Superior, Wisconsin; extension of service of the Group Health Association in Washington, D. C., in the face of a bitter attack from the American Medical Association; experimental work in cooperative health by the Group Health Association of New York with somewhat similar cooperative programs under way in Akron, Ohio; Greenbelt, Maryland; and San Diego, California. The Bureau of Cooperative Medicine sponsored a national conference of group health associations in New York City in July. The Group Health Federation of America which grew out of the July conference will hold its first annual meet ing in Chicago, February 1, 2, and 3. Other Cooperative Services Cooperative burial associations, already strong in Iowa, Minnesota and Wiscon sin began to develop in other sections of the country as an answer to the problem of the high cost of dying. E. R. Bowen, general secretary of The Cooperative League, was invited to address the Na tional Association of Selected Morticians at their annual convention on the growth 11 and function of cooperative burial asso ciations. Cooperative housing, developing slowly because of the large investment required, saw the development of the Cooperative Housing Council in New York City where co-op housing has been strongest to date. More than thirty cooperative apartment projects with a total assessed value of ten million dollars are in operation in New York. Just outside of Madison, Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Cooperative Housing As sociation has completed 22 houses (aver aging in value from $3000 to $5000) in its first co-op housing project. Pioneering in low-cost cooperative housing, Mary Arnold, formerly a director of The Cooperative League, supervised the construction of the Tompkinsville co operative housing project, just outside Re serve Mines, Nova Scotia. Doing much of the work on their own houses, the miners in Tompkinsville have cut their housing costs to $11 to $12 per month for six room modern houses with baths. Follow ing the success of the Tompkinsville pro ject two other housing co-ops started construction this summer and at last re ports were nearing completion. Having launched the work in Nova Scotia, Miss Arnold has gone on to Newfoundland to direct cooperative housing work there. "The Story of Tompkinsville" will be told in a booklet by that name, by Mary Arnold, which will be published by The Cooperative League soon. Cooperative Rural Electrification One-quarter of the country's farms were enjoying high line electric service as the New Year opened. This is more than double the 743,000 farms (10.9% of the total) which were electrified when the Rural Electrification Administration pro gram began in 1935. The great part cooperatives played in this program was revealed in the fact that 88.4% of the projects sponsored by the REA are run by cooperatives. Twenty-one REA cooperatives have grown to million 12 dollar size. The largest has an investment of more than two million dollars ; another has 3,600 consumer-owners; and a third has 1700 miles of line in operation. The average size co-op has an investment of $400,000 and serves 1,200 members from 400' miles of line. During the year 225,000 rural consum ers were brought central-system power for the first time. College Cooperatives Students at American universities took things into their own hands during the year and organized federations of campus co-ops covering the Pacific Coast and the Midwestern states. The Pacific Coast Stu dent Cooperative League was formed in Berkeley, June 13 to 15 by representatives from co-ops on ten campuses. The Mid west Student Cooperative Federation grew out of a meeting in Chicago in May which drew together student co-op leaders from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. These federations will strengthen existing co-ops, spread the co-op idea to other compuses and keep real cooperation in action on campuses where new generations of students might lose the cooperative idea. More than 200 co-ops are in opera tion on 160 campuses according to the Na tional Committee on Student Cooperatives. Cooperative Education Education-by-participation through study circles had its greatest growth during the year. The Maritime provinces, from whence the present drive came, continued to expand their education in spite of the war. Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperatives had 800 study clubs going at year's end and planned for the organization of 500 more in 1940. Eastern Cooperative League, launching its study club advisory council program in September had 156 units in action at the close of the fall ABC Cam paign- Central Cooperative Wholesale includ ed study clubs in its four-fold educational program this fall and plans to have 250 going by April. Consumers Cooperative Association and Midland are continuing Consumers' Cooperation Neighbor Night and Advisory Council programs which began last year. The Farmers Union Cooperative Education Service also pushed study clubs as a basic part of its education program. In Cali fornia, co-op study clubs blossomed forth as Fireside Forums. The Cooperative League conducted its Third Annual Conference Tour of Nova Scotia in August. More than one hundred cooperative, church and educational lead ers took part in the tour which began wtih the Rural and Industrial Conference in Antigonish. Employee education gained momentum as the new year dawned with management training schools planned by CCA, Mid land, Farmers Union, Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association and by the Coun cil for Cooperative Business Training composed of Rochdale Institute, Consum er Distribution Corporation and Eastern Cooperative Wholesale. Central Coopera tive Wholesale held its managers' training course in the fall and Rochdale Institute trained two groups of prospective co-op employees during the year. The National Cooperative Publicity and Education Conference at Milltown, Wis consin, in June, drew together the co-op educational directors and editors from all of the regional cooperative associations and a number of local cooperatives and district federations. This was followed im mediately by the Fourth Annual National Cooperative Recreation School. Much of the credit for the rapidly growing interest in cooperative recreation can be traced to the success of the recreation school. Motion Pictures Motion pictures played a larger role than ever in cooperative education in 1939. "The Lord Helps Those Who Help Each Other," a 16 mm. three-reel, silent motion picture on cooperatives and adult education in Nova Scotia, produced by the Harmon Foundation in cooperation with The Cooperative League was shown to more than a quarter of a million people during the year and is in constant demand. January, 1940 "The House Without a Landlord," a 21/2 -reel picture of the Amalgamated Co operative Houses and the many co-op ser vices in America's largest housing coop erative has been very popular. Three other pictures "Clasping Hands," "When Mankind is Willing," and "A Day with Kagawa," were also used for co-op edu cation during the year. A new three-reel movie of the Swedish Cooperatives photographed in color just before the war began is being edited and will be available soon. The picture is be ing produced by the Harmon Foundation and The Cooperative League. New Cooperative Literature Among the new books on the coopera tive movement published during the year were: "Masters of Their Own Destiny," the story of adult education and cooperation in Nova Scotia, by Dr. M. M. Coady. "The Consumers Cooperative As a Distribu tive Agency," the first college text book on the consumers cooperative movement, by Orin Burley. "Cooperation: A Way of Peace," by Dr. James P. Warbasse. "A Doctor For the People," an autobiogra phy and the story of the first cooperative hospital in the U.S.A., by Dr. Michael Shadid. "Careers in Consumers Cooperation," a study of cooperative employment in the Central Cooperative Wholesale territory, by Clarence Failor. "Speaking of Change," a collection of ad dresses and papers, by Edward A. Filene. "The Consumer Awakens: the Challenge of Cooperation," a popular description of the need for and accomplishments of the cooperative movement, by Harold V. Knight. "Operating Results of Consumers' Coopera tives, 1937," a detailed study of operating efficiency of cooperatives made by Dr. Al bert N. Schmalz of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. "The New History of the C.W.S.," a sev enty-five year history of the great British Cooperative Wholesale Society, by Percy Redfern. "The Cooperative League Year Book, 1939," edited by Cecil Crews. Government Publications on coopera tives included: 13 I "Consumers' Cooperation in the U.S., 1936," based on a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other agencies, edited by Florence Parker. "Statistical Handbook of Farmers Coopera tives," based on the first official detailed census of the farm cooperative movement, by the Farm Credit Administration, edited by R. H. Elsworth. New Pamphlets include: "Cooperatives in the U.S.A.: A Balance Sheet," by Maxwell Stewart. "Cooperation and Religion," by Dr. M. M. Coady. "Father Tompkins, Teacher of Fishermen by the Sea," by Benson Y. Landis. "Cog or Collaborator," by Herman Stolpe. "Discussion Guide on Consumers Coopera tion," by Harry Frank. "What Every Cooperator Ought to Know," by Anthony Lehner. "Co-op Burial Associations," a packet. "In Business For Service," by James Myers. "Cooperative Housing in Sweden," by Ulla Aim. "Swedish Adult Education," by Ragnor Lund. "How to Organize a Cooperative Club," Eastern Co-op Wholesale. "Organized Labor—Organize as Consumers." Progress in the Far West Grange Cooperative Wholesale and Pa cific Supply Cooperative in the Northwest reported continued progress and Pacific Supply launched an auditing service for its member co-ops. In California the Cooperative Educa tion Association and Associated Coopera tives amalgamated to form the Associated Cooperatives of Southern California; and the Northern California Cooperative Council and the Northern California Co operative Wholesale joined forces as As sociated Cooperatives of Northern Cali fornia. With education and business func tions unified, the California co-ops staged their first state-wide cooperative institute. Consumers Cooperatives Associated, with headquarters in Amarilla, Texas, un der the guidance of its new manager, F. E. Hobgood, reported constantly rising business volume and a rapid growth in the use of CO-OP label goods. Co-ops on the March The Cooperative Book Club, youngest member of The Cooperative League, 14 changed its charter and became the Con sumers Book Cooperative, a membership rather than a stock cooperative, as the new year began. During the year it inaugurated a wholesale department to serve libraries, cooperatives and other non-profit organi zations. The Cooperative Wholesale, Chicago, reported its most successful year and steps were taken toward the amalgamation of the wholesale and the Central States Co operative league. The Northern States Cooperative League, after 18 years of pio neer work in cooperative education, voted to suspend activities in October since co-op wholesales in its area had built up effec tive education departments. Cooperative Distributors, national mail order cooperative, added a wholesale de partment to supply drugs and cosmetics to retail cooperatives—a move which proved highly successful. The Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperatives created a mail order depart ment to serve their members. Borrowing a leaf from the book of Swedish cooperatives the Central Coopera tive Wholesale set up an architectural ser vice for its member cooperatives to in crease the beauty and efficiency of co-op stores, an important step in the direction of cooperative leadership. Farmers Union Central Exchange closed its first ten months of 1939 with a volume of $4,433,000 becoming a leading factor in Farmers Union activities. Still leading the movement in women's and youth action, the Northern States Women's Cooperative Guild completed its 10th year of educational work and pub lished a "Tenth Anniversary Album" de scribing its activities. The Northern States Cooperative Youth League passed its goal of 1000 members well before the close of the year. Although 1939 ushered in three new wars and completed a decade of unem ployment, tenancy and poverty, for the consumers cooperative movement in the United States it was a year which may be marked as the most significant in its his tory. Consumers' Cooperation COOPERATIVE PLAY The Southern Wisconsin Co-op Youth League was organized last summer at the dose of a week of cooperative camping at Lake Ripley, Wisconsin. The seventy- four boys and girls who had enjoyed a week of play and study went home and talked with their friends and local co-op managers about organizing a local Co-op Youth Club. By the first of December, three months after organizing, there were eight local co-op youth clubs with a mem bership of over two hundred. Each local club plans its own activities but the general program for the clubs is very similar. They discuss current prob lems, plan debates, have dramatic activ ities, play games, dance, both folk and modern, and a great many other things. The executive board edits a monthly newspaper, The Co-op Crier. The news is sent in by the Co-op Clubs or by their reporters and it also includes feature ar ticles, ideas, suggestions, and other help ful articles. A mid-winter conference of all the dubs is being planned at which everyone will have an opportunity for a full-day of cooperative study, play and dancing. BOB TOMLINSON Rex Corfman, Ohio State Cooperator and Gwendolyn Goodrich, Columbus Co operative worker, led the fortnightly recreation group of the Columbus Con sumers Cooperative in a couple of hours of folk dancing and singing at a recent meeting. There was no lack of spice and variety in the evening's program, for there were dances of every style and of widely diver gent origin. "The Meadow Green Waltz" from Bohemian soil three-stepped its way into the midst of the long-way set inspired by the "Noble Duke of York." The "Eng lish Circassion Circle" dissolved into an old-fashioned American Square when the dancers tried their agility at "Divide the Ring." All in all the members who January, 1940 frolicked that night were spirit-light and limb-sore when they said good-night. From THE CO-OP TIMES An evening of games and dancing un der the direction of the Play Co-op wound up a special three-evening program spon sored by the Educational Center of the Morningside Consumers Cooperative in New York City late in December. In ad dition to singing games and square dances, the group presented a number of charades. It is planned to have a group meeting regularly for recreational activ ities starting the first of the year. BOOK REVIEWS THE LITTLE RED HEN and Her Cooperative, Antioch Bookplate Company, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 1939, 10 cents. Available through The Cooperative League. ONCE UPON A TIME there was a little hen, And a very wise chicken was she, And thence follows in verse, a tale of the barnyard cooperator who believed and practiced a philosophy of cooperation, and who also pa tiently but hopefully, finally converted her less cooperative and aloof barnyard companions to ways of working together for the common good. Her name was Henny-penny and she was the mother of three little chicks. One day as she was searching for food she came across a little pile of wheat. Henny-penny had vision. She knew that if she planted the wheat there would be a sufficient quantity for a lot of tasty, wholesome bread. Henny-penny was also we- minded and lost no time in seeking the coop eration of her neighbors the Rat and the Cat, the Pig and the Dog, in a bread-making ven ture. Even the Rat, heretofore a none too use ful member of society was welcomed into mem bership in the little red hen's cooperative. // all will work together, It won't be hard for any And we each can have a share of wheat, Said little Henny-penny. But when Mistress Henny proposed a coop erative to her friends she met with the common resistances of the less visionary and unbeliev ing animals. So she planted her wheat alone, tended it, and then baked tasty, brown loaves of bread. All this time she attempted to enlist her companions' aid in a cooperative enterprise but she met only with rebuffs. When she and her brood were finally feasting on the fruits of her labor, the four non-believers stood by, 15 *- / il ii weeping, ant! most regretful of the indifferent attitude they had taken. Unselfish Henny-penny shared her bread with them, happy at last that they saw the evils of their old way of doing things, and in this spirit they formed a bread- making cooperative in which each was to share in the work, giving his most natural contribu tion. The following year found them with the fruits of their cooperative efforts. So great was their satisfaction that they gleefully burst into a song and dance. In this keynote of joy, the poem is brought to a close. THE LITTLE RED HEN and Her Cooperative was written by Kate Bradford Stockton, a farm er's wife and active cooperator. She originally wrote the parable for her own grandchildren. It is ably illustrated by Anne Parker, and the music, included also, was composed by Eliza beth Morgan. Here is a bit of rhyme which should pervade every nursery and grace the bookshelf of every cooperator or believer in the cooperative spirit as a fundamental parr of character. True, it is the stoiy of cooperatives, the obstacles which beset them, and the vision and fire of deter mination which finally finds the rainbow flag waving victoriously—but it is mirrored in the poetry of the nursery and its characters are the lovable animals familiar to every child. It is a poem with a message well told and can be classified as having real educational value. Simple and refreshing in its presentation, perti nent in its lesson, grown-ups and children alike will find it pleasureable reading. A first venture into the realm of cooperative literature for chil dren, the story should inspire further attempts into this field for the thousands upon thousands of juveniles who cannot learn too early to prac tice, the cooperative way of doing things. BELLE HALPERN A WORKBOOK ON CONSUMER COOPERATIVES —Carlton J. Siegler, The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th Street, New York, 25 pages, lOc. Designed primarily for use in secondaiy schools this Workbook answers a real need for good material to be used in consumer educa tion courses. It is divided into three units— Consumer Marketing, Consumer Cooperatives, and Consumer Education. Each unit has a bibli ography, specific topics for discussion, question naires, research projects, etc. The material has been collected during the past three years and has gone through the test of practical applica tion in a number of schools. The author, Mr. Siegler, is a teacher in New- town High School, Elmhurst, New York; Ex ecutive Secretary of the Consumer Education Association and author of several books and articles in the field of consumer education. Teachers, pupils, and study group leaders will find this Workbook a thorough and stimu lating study guide. 16 CO-OP LITERATURE • Student Cooperatives Co-ops on the Campus, Bertram B. Fowler .03 Campus Co-ops, William Moore .................... .05 Handbook on Student Co-ops, Based On the Findings of the Pacific Coast Con ference of Student Cooperatives .............. .10 • Novels Fresh Furrow: Burris Jeiikins (Special) .50 The Brave Years: Win. Heyllger .................. 1.5(1 • Textbooks on Cooperation Consumer Cooperative Adventures, Kan- dall and Dagjg'ett, Case Studies, Special .511 Consumers' 'Cooperatives, Julia E. John son, Debate Handbook .................................. .8(1 When You Buy, Trilling, Eberhart and Nicholas, High school and college, two chapters on consumer cooperatives ........ 1.80 Cooperation, Hall and Watkins, Official British Textbook .............................................. 3.011 The Consumers Cooperative as a Distribu tive Agency, Orin E. Burley ...................... 3.00 Windows on the AVorld, Kenneth Gould, high school text, one chapter ou coop eratives ................................................................ 3.0(1 • Cooperative Recreation The Consumer Consumed, Josephine Johnson, a Puppet Play ................................ .03 Cooperative Becreation, Carl Hutchinson, reprinted from The Annals.. ...................... .05 Two One Act Plays, Ellis Cowling .............. .15 The Answer, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling ...... .2(1 The Spider Web, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling .23 Education Through Recreation, L. 1*. Jacks .................................................................... 1.50 List of recreational materials, songs, dances, games, available from Cooperative Kecreation Service, Delaware, Ohio. FILMS "The Lord Helps Those — Who Help fiucli Other," « new 3 reel, 16 mm. film of the Nova Scoti« adult education and cooperative pro gram, produced by the Harmon Foundation. Excellent photography. $4.50 per day, $2.2ii additional showings, $13.50 per week. "A House Without n Landlord," a new 2% reel, Jfi mm. silent film on the Amalgamated Cooperative Houses in New York City. "Clasplnx Hands," 10 mm. silent, two reel filiii. showing how cooperation is taught in the schools of France. Won the Grand Prize ill the International Exposition, Paris, 1837. "When Mankind is Willing." a 10 mm. sileni three-reel film, with English titles, of coop erative stores, wholesales and factories in France. A Day With Kagavva, 3 reel, silent, 16 mm. Kagawa and his co-ops in Japan. Rental: Each of three above $3 per day, $1.5(1 for each additional showing or $10 per week. . POSTEBS Organize Cooperatives, 19"x28" Green, 5 for $1 ...................................... Cooperative Principles, 19"x28" Blue, 5 for $1 .......................................... Cooperative Ownership. 19"x28" Mulberry, 5 for $1 .......................................... .20 Consumer Ownership—Of, By and For the People, 19"x28", Eed-White-and- Blue, 5 for $1 .................................................... .211 À The More We Get Together The Gold Nightmare Financing a'Cooperative Through Patron-Ownership Cooperative Youth Councils of Ohio Jack McLanahan E. R. Bowen Harry Frank Darwin Bryan Youth Anti-War Congress Mary Jo Uphoff Recreation Leadership Conference Ellen Edwards Insurance Executives Attack Co-ops February 1940 Consumers' Cooperation j ^NATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR COOPERATIVE LEADERS HAVE YOU SUBSCRIBED? Last year Consumers' Cooperation- gave its readers two score original feature articles about American and European co operatives, about national cooperative or ganization, cooperative finance, operating methods, new educational techniques, co operative education, legislation, medicine and peace. Each an article especially pre pared for Consumers' Cooperation by an authority in the field. What led to the drives for cash policy,1 uniform accounting methods, larger re serves and smaller inventories to meet economic crises, the study club as an edu cational method, recreation as an essential feature in the life and growth of a coop erative? These and many other programs got their first stimulus in Consumers' Co opération. $1 per year; 27 months for $2. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City COMING EVENTS WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE WEEK, pro claimed by Governor Heil, to be ob served February 26 to March 2. Dedication, First Co-op Refinery in the United States; Phillipsburg, Kansas, May 4. Board of ' Directors, The Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Mor- rison, Chicago, March 18 to 19- Board of Directors, National Coopera tives, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Morri- son, Chicago, March 20. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 107 West 12 St., N. Y. C- Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57_St., N. Y. C. Design Service,. 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES Naine Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Rastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. 118 E. 28 St., N.Y. 116E. 16 St., N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Services Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer- Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT LEAGUES Central States Cooperative League Eastern Cooperative League Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 4043 W. 60 Street, Los Angeles, Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. Box 1000, Superior, Wisconsin FRATERNAL MEMBERS Credit Union National Association Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS1 COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT Volume XXVI. No. 2 PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY FEBRUARY, 1940 Ten Cents GOLD, RECREATION, WAR AND RED HERRINGS "I wanted the gold and I got it" is as dangerous for Uncle Sam as it was for Dangerous Dan McGrew. With seventy per cent of the world's gold supply lying in American vaults, we are embarrassed with too much "wealth." True, to most of us the only gold problem is to get our hands on the yellow staff—only to get arrested for having it. But for every consumer the gold problem is vitally important because it may break the back of our economic system and throw us into another crisis which would make 1929 pale by comparison. Whether you realize you have a gold prob lem or not, read E. R. Bowen's article, "The Gold Nightmare" in this issue. ***** Want to solve the gold problem ? Go form a youth group and start singing and folk dancing. Or go directly to your membership and put your co-op on a sound financial basis. ***** The logic of these answers may be obscure but without organization effective enough to change the current of today's flow of gold our most immediate step toward a solution lies in building and strengthening our cooperatives. Jack McLana- han, Darwin Bryan, Ellen Edwards, Harry Frank and Mary Jo Uphoff, writing in this issue, tell of effective methods of accomplishing that result. To make our cooperative answer completely effective we must build interna tional cooperative trade based on use not profit. We must build an economy which will not tremble and shake when one nation, playing the rest, corners the world's blue chips. An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City. E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals ancf Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917. at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. Before the opening of the world-wide economic siege we call a war, steps were being made through the International Cooperative Wholesale Society and the newly formed International Cooperative Agency to build more rapidly the cooperative trade of the world. With the war in progress, many of those activities have been destroyed. Today we need more than ever to build our own democratic institutions at home, so that when and if the great siege is over democracy can be put to work again. If we are to preserve our own beginnings in democracy we must Keep Amer ica Out of War. For the blue prints are drawn for the elimination of democracy here on the day -war is declared. If we need more encouragement we will find it in the first nation-wide attack on the co-ops, launched for profit, by the executives and agents of the stock insur ance companies who are resorting to what one of theif own number calls "dragging international red herrings" into the picture as selling points for private profit in surance. Those who want to make a profit on insurance are trying to keep people from insuring themselves. The attack, stupid in its resort to name-calling and red-baiting, has brought the cooperatives more publicity than they have had in a long time. Guest Editorial "The More We Get Together" Jack McLanahan Education Department Midland Cooperative Wholesale I ^HE more we get together, together, together . . . the more we get . . ." was •A running through my mind as I turned the old Plymouth out of the yard and headed for Minneapolis. One of two club members had already gone, others were still in the house saying goodbye, and two were still picking out tunes on the piano. It had been a great evening together and with a good lunch to finish it off every one was in high spirits. For a new club the discussion went nicely, projects were planned and the recreation period was real fun. At the end of the evening we teamed up for a number of games and then sang—everyone of the 20 odd there. The sec retary knew most of the tunes and did a bang-up job at the piano. Almost all in the little red book—even a couple in German—were gone over before our voices were worn thin—and, by George, I believe that's all that ever did bring the meeting to a close. "The Happier We'll Be" As I settled down for the hour's run in, my mind kept turning to the words of that song—"the more we get together"—yes, more, we haven't been getting together much, haye we? Maybe that's the cause of a lot of our troubles—"the happier we'll be"—well, that sure was a happy group tonight ; a demonstration of the truth of the idea. I couldn't stop the tune, it just seemed to sum up the meaning of the whole co-op plan. "The more we work together"—discuss, plan, stand shoulder to shoulder, organ ize—"the more power have we"—yes, that's the secret . . . power when we stand together. The secret of our future. Simple, isn't it ? I suppose that's why we've been so long in finding it. Get together—work together—nothing else is needed. With the experience of that evening and others in the last weeks I am convinced that every club ought to open and end with group singing. Once you try it you won't have to "ought to," but you'll "want to." More and more of the clubs are; it's lots of fun.—Reprinted from "Together," Midland Neighborhood Cooperative Clubs 18 Consumers' Cooperation The Gold Nightmare E. R. Bowen ANSWER for yourself this question. The world has 25 billions in gold. The United States has 18 billion out of the 25. The government bought last year 31/2 billion. At this rate we will have all the gold in the world in two years more. What then are we going to take from other countries to balance our exports against our imports? This is the nightmare that is troubling the business and banking world. It is not often mentioned in print. It is too awful to talk about even in whispers. E. A. Goldenweiser, Federal Reserve Board research chief, finally spoke out in the January Reserve Bulletin and warned that the United States cannot halt gold buying or we will have chaos in international finances and serious dislocation of domestic business. Then Winthrop W. Aldrich, chairman of the Chase National Bank, followed by devoting a large part of his annual message to stockholders to the gold problem, indicating our dangerous position. We were personally partici pants in a nationwide discussion group of prominent bankers and business men with farmers and workers recently when the United States was repeatedly described as a "gold sucker." What are the dangers? Well, the first is the danger of inflation with such huge gold reserves. The second is the danger of our shortly being unable to continue even our present low amount of export shipments because of our un willingness to again be fooled by accepting I.O.U.'s, because of the fact that other countries are running out of gold to balance our excess exports with our imports, and finally because of our inability to import goods and services in equal amounts to offset our exports of goods and services. The third danger is that gold is likely to become valueless as money. The crux of the whole gold matter is that the United States is unable to dis tribute at home to our own people the goods we can ourselves produce. Since we cannot distribute our own domestically produced products, we also cannot dis tribute foreign goods for which we exchange a part of our domestic production. The present economic system is fast winding up to a high tension and the gold mainspring is likely to break. After the crash of 1920 we started the wheels of industry going again by loans to foreign countries and by installment selling. The crash of 1929 inevitably followed when we became scared over the possi bility of collecting these foreign and installment debts. After the 1929 crash we again started the wheels of industry rolling by debt. This time by domestic gov ernment loans instead of foreign loans, by another orgy of installment selling, and by gold purchasing. Gold purchasing was only an alternative to foreign loans. In the end the gold may be worth no more than the I.O.U.'s were. What are we going to do when the gold gives out? This is not a scarehead but a real question which every cooperator should be thinking about and dis cussing. The solution will have an effect upon all business, cooperative as well as private. February, 1940 19 i'! Of course, there's only one final answer and that is to develop cooperatives faster so as to distribute purchasing power widely and thus balance production with consumption—or selling with purchasing—both at home and abroad. Years ago before he became Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace said in testifying before a. Senate Committee that gold was a relic of barbarism but we were still barbarians. And so we truly are. If we were not -barbarians we would feed and clothe and house every American well instead of ill. We would exchange goods for goods without private profit, which in time we will do as cooperatives develop. If there is an immediate moral for cooperators today, however, in the gold crises we face, it would only be to reiterate the same advice we have repeatedly given and will continue to repeatedly give, and that js to batten down the hatches for the storms ahead by not speculating in inventories, by going on a cash basis and eventually eliminating both receivables and payables, and by building up cooperative capital and reserves. Cooperative ships must be prepared for the storms ahead, the storm clouds of which are already rolling up, and are plain to be seen. Financing A Cooperative Through Patron-Ownership (EDITOR'S NOTE: Strengthening the capital structure of cooperatives is being very much discussed today because of world conditions and the need of cooperatives to be debt-free to meet any circumstances which may arise. Here is the story of one local cooperative which built up its capital stock to over $33,000 in only three and a half years by not paying patronage returns in cash until a member owns ten ($10) shares of stock.) MOST local cooperatives face the difficulty of insufficient working capital furnished by the member patrons. Too much money is borrowed from banks on notes, from individuals and firms on mortgage notes and from commodity wholesales on open accounts and trade acceptances. Realizing this difficulty our organiza tion committee (part of which later be came the board of directors) spent much time in analyzing how to get the mem bers to furnish the capital. The Philosophy of Patron-Ownership Arguments on how to make the co operative valuable to the patron were 20 Harry Frank, Manager, Consumers Cooperative of Walworth County, Elkhorn, Wis. pursued. In every instance the answei seemed to be Ownership by the Patron. These are some of the thoughts that were brought out: "As a rule the tenant farmer will take all he can from the farm he works with out putting anything back to restore soil fertility. Tenant farmers usually do not keep the fences, the buildings or the equipment in good repair. Why should they? Next year they might be gone. Their usual attitude is to get all they can today in cash that they might spend it and enjoy themselves. Let the owners worry." "One cannot control what he does no: own, unless he has control by proxy. Since proxy voting is not allowed in co operatives and since it is democratic con trol that governs, it also follows there must be democratic ownership." "A person will invest in a life insurance policy and sacrifice many present daily needs that he might be assured of future returns and an independent livelihood. He invests and pays excessive yearly premiums on life protection because he Consumers' Cooperation III has confidence in the record of the in surance company to do as agreed. Also by investing in life insurance he is buy ing protection, thereby becoming the owner of his own future security." Thus it was brought out that the patron must have an investment in the coopera tive to be an owner. The patron-owner must be constantly informed of the busi ness conditions, difficulties and develop ments that he might exercise democratic control in guidance. He must know of its financial condition, its system of rec ords, quality of merchandise and of the actions by his elected directors that he might have the assurance of continued and growing confidence. Whatever policies this cooperative fol lows must be such that the patrons have the opportunity to accumulate sufficient individual ownership that they will take an interest in the affairs of their invest ment. At the same time the opportunity of investment must be fair and equal to all. Practical Policies Encourage Patron-Ownership With the background of such an analy sis our original organization committee, composed of a number of persons who saw local social and economic advantages in cooperation, formed the policies on which the Consumers Cooperative of Walworth County was to operate. Briefly these policies of finance are: a. Only such persons shall share in all the advantages of the coopera tive who will take the initiative to invest at least one $10 share of capital stock. b. Ten shares ($100) are all that any one person might invest in the As sociation. c. All fully paid shares draw the cur rent interest rate which is paid in cash from the earnings of the co operative at the close of each fiscal year. d. A person may become listed on the stock ledger and a patronage card February, 1940 will be set up for him if he indi cates his initiative and willingness to become a member by making a down payment of not less than one dollar ($1) on a share of stock. e. All patronage savings will be in vested for each member in addi tional stock until he has either pur chased or earned the limit of ten shares. f.. Capital stock may be withdrawn at par value from the cooperative by anyone at any time subject to the following conditions: 1. Any obligations to the co operative must first be taken care of. 2. The person must withdraw all his capital invested. 3. He will lose all interest on his capital stock from the last interest payment date. 4. He will lose all rights to savings on his patronage from the beginning of the current fiscal year. 5. He might reinvest again at any time, at which time a new patronage card will be set up for him. Results of Policies The organization committee held its first meeting in April, 1936. By June of that year approximately 400 shares of stock were subscribed and the organiza tion meeting held. By August first the doors were opened for business. With the fiscal year ending October 31, a complete audit of the records of the association is made. Below is listed the growth in capital stock paid in and the growth in member owners in only a little more than three years. Oct. 31, 1936 Oct. 31, 1937 Oct. 31, 1938 Oct. 31, 1939 Dec. 31, 1939 MEMBER OWNERS 264 466 611 751 798 CAPITAL STOCK $4975.34 7869.70 16773.43 26744.62 33265.19 21 Cooperative Youth Councils of Ohio THE county educational units, known as the Cooperative Youth Councils in Ohio, are based on democratic prin ciples and conduct their affairs by means of group action. While receiving some guidance from Farm Bureau adult lead ers, the youth members of the Councils have complete responsibility regarding all matters which concern them. Their chief interest at present is in the rich field of wholesome social association and recrea tion. By young men and women joining in such group activities as play parties, folk dances, charades, folk games and discussion circles, they are creating a bet ter understanding of their common prob lems and laying the foundation for their solution. And how better can youth de velop a realistic method of solving prob lems than by coming to grips with those of the present and in sharing each other's anxieties for the future in give-and-take situations ? The Councils are also helping youth to realize that they are the consumers, la borers, technicians, farmers, professional leaders, etc., and God forbid, the soldiers of tomorrow. They have a job to do in dividually and collectively in earning a living, getting an education, and living happily with others, and they are learn ing to face the fact that this job is theirs and that it will never be done by trying to apply out-moded ideas of the past to present problems. Youth's efforts toward their own bet terment, whatever that may include, must come through their dealing realistically with what concerns themselves, but, be cause their problems are interwoven with those of others, in addition they must make far-reaching efforts toward the bet terment of not only those of their own communities, but of the United States and of the world. 22 Darwin R. Bryan Educational Department, Ohio Farm Bureau . Realizing these facts, the Ohio Farm Bureau has for several years endeavored to stimulate individual and collective ini tiative on the part of rural youth. It be lieves that the Cooperative Movement provides the • means by which a society for the good of all can be fashioned. It endeavors to maintain itself as a demo cratic organization, to be receptive to new ideas, to be progressive and actively to seek opportunities for extending its in fluence. Why not then, prepare young people to take their place in carrying on its work? A beginning toward this end was made in 1936 by establishing Coop erative Youth Camps. How the Youth Councils Grew Convinced that merely joining an or ganization does little good unless it leads to action, the Farm Bureau has for the past five years set about inviting young people to attend these Cooperative Youth Camps for the purpose of putting be fore them the principle of cooperation as a way of living and of acquainting them with the means of equitable eco nomic sharing. The duration of the sessions is five days, and the courses of instruction in clude group recreation, consumer coop erative economics, methods of discussion, and the techniques of maintaining demo cratic principles in youth organizations. Foremost among the courses of instruc tion is the comparison of the prevailing economic and the cooperative théorie and methods of carrying on business. Thirty of such camps have been held in different parts of Ohio, and some thou sand young men and women have at tended them. As a direct result of a few youths going back to their local com munities and urging others of their own Consumers' Cooperation age to get together to' share in righting the wrongs of the present day, Youth Councils have developed. With the financial assistance and guid ance of adults of the local Farm Bureaus and Cooperative Associations, thirty- seven county-wide Councils, with an av erage attendance of two thousand young people a month, have been organized within the last two and one-half years. The philosophy underlying these or ganizations is that youth can best work in community groups that function as organized units for the common good. A Typical Youth Council Meeting The following is a first-hand report of 1 Council meeting: "I write this report of the happenings of a County Co-op Youth Council di rectly following the meeting. (Thursday evening, October 5, 1939, in the Farm Bureau Hall.) One can't help but do this. To you who read this, I'm not trying to be impressive, because such real things took place in the meeting that every word must be sincere. "By real things, I mean simply this: Here were 65 young folk—boys and girls —gathered together for three and one- half hours, and actually there was not one dull moment. They went from play parties, to the business meeting, to the discussion circles, to the co-op refresh ments, to the folk dances, and to the finish without one stop. The secret was not a cut-and-dried program all worked out beforehand by an appointed commit tee, not a standardized bundle of rules and regulations, not a one-man show, not a clique telling the others what to do, not a leader out in front beckoning the rest to follow, but a group of young people working together as one unit. Here- was what one could call a working de mocracy. "Permit me to itemize their sessions. (1) Play party games were participated February, 1940 in by all. Everyone had the privilege of' playing. No shining stars! In fact, every body had a chance to shine. (2) The business session was absolutely out in the open; the chairman was right on the job seeing to it that the questions were properly discussed by those who desired to express themselves. And, mind you, nobody railroaded ideas! They discussed their problems pro or con and voted un til they arrived at a mutual agreement. Their main job now is to help raise funds to put a new floor in the Farm Bureau Hall. They are on their way by deciding to charge themselves an admission fee at their recreation parties. They all worked out the first party for the evening of October 23 as a group idea. I must men tion the fact again that such talking pro and con you can't imagine; no sooner was one person through than up would pop another. Plenty of time was always allowed by the chairman for discussion before voting. (3) Discussion circles were tops! They called on me to give a brief explanation of Thrift Clubs. I tried to put a little "zing" behind the explana tion. But say, you should have heard their summarizations ! There were ten circles, and ten secretaries gave reports. Their conclusions might be given briefly as follows: a. Let's know more about Thrift Clubs, so that ours will work toward a Credit Union. b. We are highly in favor of controll ing more of our own finances. c. As youth, we see the necessity of thrift. (4) Refreshments in the form of ice cream bars were bought at wholesale and sold at retail. Incidentally, they sold sev enty bars to themselves. All savings ac cruing go into their general Council fund. Their treasurer reported some $55.00 on hand. Each meeting they have a volun teer refreshment committee. (5) Folk dances were of the advanced type, so that those who knew more complex dances than just play parties and quad- 23 UP I rules could enjoy themselves. (6) The whole was just a happy experience of having been in a going concern where everybody helped the going. "Again, to you who read this report, 1 saw things, evidences of mutuality within this group such as I've never hail the privilege of seeing before. Much credit is due to the future Farm Bureau people of this Ohio county." Applying Democratic Principles to Youth Organization Throughout the Cooperative Youth Camps and the Cooperative Youth Coun cils the Ohio Farm Bureau has insisted that youth must take the responsibility for developing their own ideas and running their own affairs, and that this can be successfully done only by consistently ad hering to democratic principles and techniques. The Farm Bureau interprets democratic principles somewhat as fol lows: 1. Youth Councils accept organization as a means of facilitating action and not as an end in itself. They have proved that doing things together, such as carrying on group recreation, thrift clubs, co-op buying clubs, and by the entire group planning their own programs, brings about a spirit of unity and of democracy. The Farm Bureau advises Youth Councils to postpone formal organization, includ ing the election of officers, until such unity has been experienced. Officers are then to be both nominated and elected by means of the secret ballot, the balloting being repeated as often as necessary to get a satisfactory majority. 2. Committees are self-selected, never appointed. The whole group decides what committees are needed and the members volunteer for those on which they wish to work. 3. Matters which concern the whole group are first presented to them and dis cussed in a general way. They then break up into groups of five or six for a more 24 thorough discussion. When all are ready, all groups corne into general session and each unit reports the result of its dis cussion. After discussion in the general group, there may be further small group discussions or the matter may be disposed of by a vote or by other action. 4. All policies are determined by the whole Council and never by an executive or appointed committee. 5. Group recreation, in the form of play parties, quadrilles, folk dances, sing ing, and charades, based on common in terest, offers rich experience in whole- rome association. Paramount to the success of coopera tive youth work is the leadership of those who know how to help young people to work on the basis of coopera tive and democratic principles. Building a New Generation of Leaders Every year young men and women go on their own initiative or are sent by the Youth Councils to the National Coopera tive Recreation School, sponsored by The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. and by a number of Regional Cooperatives to acquire a fund of recreational material in the form of activities and skills and to learn how to put into practice principles of cooperation. In Cooperative Youth Councils, then, young people get the kind of experience by playing together, by discussing Council problems and by saving together, that prepares them for further efforts in Co operative action. By working cooperative ly on everything that takes place in their Councils they acquire the techniques of cooperation and develop the conviction that the cooperative way is the only way of working out not only their own com munity life but even the most difficult and far-reaching economic problems. Without such experience 'we lose the house that is supposed to be built on a foundation of learning to live with others for the common good." Consumers' Cooperation Youth Anti-War Congress MORE than 400 delegates from stu dent, labor, farm, cooperative, church, and peace organizations and so cieties attended the Third Annual Youth Anti-War Congress in Chicago Univer sity's International House, the last week in December. This was a substantial in crease over the representation last year when the Youth Section of the Keep America Out of War Committee, whose membership is comprised of individuals and organizations agreed on a minimum peace program, met in Cleveland, Ohio. The Congress, organized in plenary and commission sessions, permitted an ex traordinary amount of democratic discus sion. The program of the Youth Com mittee was discussed the first day in ses sions on civil rights, industrial mobiliza tion, the war referendum, alternatives to armament economics, opposition to mili tarism and conscription and international ism. The second day, the delegates met in special interest commissions for coop erative and farm organizations, labor unions, student organizations, church groups and others, to find fields of peace action suitable to the needs of the vary ing types of organizations. Farm and Cooperative Organizations The commission on Farm and Coopera tive Organizations was composed of rep- tesentatives from student housing and eating co-ops, recreational groups, coop- etative store associations, Farmers Unions and others. In a statement presented to the Congress, the Commission voiced its disapproval of all Industrial plans as contrary to the cooperative principle of voluntary action and endorsed the war referendum for its democratic principle, as well as its educational value in teaching the individual his moral responsibility for war. The commission "advocated use of government funds to create economic stability and security at home through February, 1940 Mary Jo Uphoflf, Director Department of Education Wisconsin Farmers Union social investment and spending, to' re finance tenant farmers, finance housing projects, expand the work of the Farm Security Administration, for public works and other methods that would increase the purchasing power of the consumer, instead of building more armaments. "In the long run," the commission agreed, "only a continuous program of education and the elimination of the eco nomic causes of war will stop war." The Cooperative Movement in America, how ever, has not grown to be enough of an economic force to alone stop war here. Therefore, the commission urged that members of cooperative and farm organ izations also throw their support to peace organizations and affiliate themselves - with groups whose program is com patible with their needs, ideals and philos ophy. Students interested in coopera tives were advised, in the report, to ac quire information about them, and in every case to initiate a continuous pro gram of education in connection with any and all cooperative enterprises. Mary Jo Uphoff, educational director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, pre sided as chairman of the commission. Resource persons assigned to the Com mission on Farm and Cooperative Groups who added much to the lively discussion were—E. R. Bowen, executive secretary of the Cooperative League of the U.S.A. ; Warren Nelson, secretary of the Wiscon sin Farmers Union ; Paul Erickson, South Dakota Farmers Union state secretary and Junior leader ; and Eamon Parks from the Canadian Cooperative Commonwealth Youth Movement. Rev. Mgr. Luigi Ligutti of Granger, Iowa, and Rev. Father John Rawe of Creighton Univer sity, Omaha, Nebraska, who visited the Congress, were invited to participate in the discussion and contributed valuable viewpoints to the commission sessions. 25 To Keep America Out of War Few changes were made in the Youth Committee Against War program despite the large increase in membership this year. A ninth point on neutrality was added to the original eight-point pro gram, which urges constructive economic action and spending as opposed to huge armament expenditures and the develop ment of an economy dependent upon them; endorses the war referendum and the student strike against war; advocates strict neutrality and strengthening of out present neutrality laws; opposes any and all forms of industrial mobilization, mili tarization of the schools and colleges and any conscription moves; rejects the "po lice force" concept of American partici pation in international .affairs; opposes any abrogation of civil rights; and defi nitely supports farm and labor organ izations, cooperatives and youth organiza tions as important and necessary instru ments of democracy. Co-ops at Play Recreation Leadership Conference "YY/E believe that cooperatives are VV important units in building a more just economic system, but we are not forgetting that fundamentally we, as cooperators, are interested in making life fuller and richer and that is why we feel recreation is so important." This statement, coming at the close of a lively discussion, seemed to sum up the thinking of the forty persons who at tended the Recreation Leadership Confer ence, January 13-14 at Saddle River, New Jersey. The Conference was sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative League and was attended by members of cooperatives from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Greenbelt, Maryland, and others interested in cooperative recrea tion. The staff were all members of the Cooperative Society for Recreational Ed ucation. The purpose of the conference was three-fold—to stimulate interest in developing recreation activities in local cooperative programs; to demonstrate ef fective forms of cooperative recreation and to give leadership training. An important part of the conference was a discussion of the relation of recre ation to the cooperative movement and specific recreational problems in local societies. The group was unanimous in feeling there was a need for creative rec reation in every cooperative. They felt 26 Ellen Edwards that the question of what activity to start with—crafts, dramatics, dancing—would depend upon the local situation. In some cooperatives it might be good to "expose" the entire membership to recreation at a regular co-op meeting while in others it might be best to start with a small group of persons who are interested in some particular activity. Recreational leadership - should be consisent with democratic, co operative principles. Singing games and folk dancing were major activities at the conference as this type of recreation expresses so well the cooperative spirit. The entire group par ticipates simultaneously yet there is ample opportunity for individual expression. In dramatics, stress was laid on such forms as charades, pantomimes, tableaux, skits, etc. which can easily be rehearsed and presented in an evening. Work on pup pets followed this pattern with the con struction of a number of paper bag pup pets which were used, later in the confer ence, in an impromptu puppet play. People who had never before done any metal work or cut out a linoleum block found themselves creating bracelets, ash trays, bowls, or monogrammed stationery. The emphasis throughout the confer ence was on participation and judging by the genuine good time everyone had it is the basis for any successful recreational program. Consumers' Cooperation Insurance Executives Broaden Attack on Cooperatives INSURANCE executives and the Na- i- tional Association of Insurance Agents which launched an attack on the coopera tive movement at their annual convention in Boston, October 3, 4, and 5 have ex tended their attack on cooperatives to al most every section of the country. Speak ers attacking the cooperative movement accuse it of "the creation of a new eco nomic democracy" and declare that it is "un-American" because it attempts to give the producer more for his goods and at the same time lower the purchase price to the consumer. Speaking at Little Rock, Arkansas, be fore the mid-year meeting of the Arkansas Association of Insurance Agents, Fred erick W. Doremus declared, "This (co operative) plan has as its foundation the sale of producers' goods and services through marketing cooperation at the highest possible figure and the purchase of commodities at wholesale for distribution through consumer cooperation. . . . We know that such a plan doesn't square with the economic foundation upon which the business of this country has been built." Addressing a Rotary Club luncheon in Rochester, New York, Ray Murphy, for mer national commander of the American Legion and now assistant general manager of the Association of Casualty and Surety Executives, declared "The cooperative movement is revealed as a planned pro gram for the complete overthrow of our tried and true system of private enterprise. Once the American people know the truth about the cooperative movement in Amer ica they can be trusted to send it back to Europe." The Ohio Farm Bureau News, taking issue with the charge that cooperatives are "un-American," countered with the question "Is Democracy un-American?" The editorial then pointed out that the co- February, 1940 operatives introduce democracy into bus iness by giving each member a vote, dis tribute profits on the basis of consumer participation in the business enterprise, and have open membership. Showing that these square with fundamental American principles of democracy, the Farm Bureau News again asks "Is Democracy un-Amer ican ?" The same Mr. Murphy, who is credited by many sources as being the chief insti gator in the drive against cooperatives and author of the vicious anti-cooperative pam phlet "The Road To Ruin" which is be ing privately circulated among insurance agents, admitted later in an address before the Indiana Association of Insurance Agents that "If properly directed in the right hands, the cooperatives could do a service for the consuming public." At White Sulphur Springs, West Vir ginia, T. W. Bethea told the International Association of Casualty and Surety Under writers and the National Association of Casualty and Surety Agents that he had been retained to seek methods of drama tizing the capital stock insurance system and as a result, urged insurance agents to stress the "security" and "agency service" of the private profit insurance companies and point out the dangers of the coopera tive movement. He declared "The biggest and most dramatic point and the one we have most successfully employed (in sell ing capital stock company insurance) has been the story of the cooperative move ment." Mr. Bethea continued "The consumer cooperative is a store or other business undertaking, owned and managed by and for consumers for the purpose of supply ing themselves with commodities or ser vices at cost." Mr. Bethea declared that in order to fight the cooperatives, "agencies hold night meetings—two or three agen cies at a time—and even the stenographers 27 'Il I and office boys, persons not usually asso ciated with the soliciting of insurance, are present." In Oakland, California, Raymond L. Ellis, assistant vice president of the Fire men's Fund Insurance Company, made a slashing attack on the consumer coopera tive movement before the California As sociation of Insurance Agents. Immediate ly following his attack, the Hunters Point Cooperative Society in San Francisco in vited him to become a member of their cooperative and participate in the grand opening of their new cooperative store. Mr. Ellis, in his address to the Insur ance Agents, pointed out that "Too fre quently we see business men buying from cooperatives for a passing advantage— possibly these business men who have transactions with consumer cooperatives do not realize that in the final analysis all business men are consumers." Following the convention, the Profit Motive Institute of Los Angeles announced a concerted campaign against the consumer coopera tive movement. In Springfield, Mass., Harvey R. Pres ton, a local insurance'executive threatened to resign as a director of the Springfield YMCA because the "Y" had allowed the local consumer cooperative to meet in its auditorium. Mr. Preston denounced the consumer cooperative movement as "a communistic trend" and "a menace to the economic structure of the U.S.," and an nounced that he would bring Harold P. Janisch, general manager of the Asso ciated Insurance Agents and Brokers to Springfield to "expose" the cooperatives. Prominent Springfield citizens immedi ately sprang to the defense of the co-op. Quentin Reynolds, manager of the Eastern States Farmers Exchange declared that "the cooperatives believe in individual ini tiative and private property," and declared "Consumer cooperation is as antagonistic to Communism as it is to Fascism. It is incompatible with either. It is a bulwark against both." He pointed out that in Fin- 28 land where cooperatives are doing about 40% of distribution, "Communist Russia is penetrating Finland not through these consumer cooperatives but by force. Rus sia will abolish consumer cooperation there if she conquers Finland as she did in Russia, and for the same reason, Hitler and Mussolini abolished it in their coun tries." Mr. Preston, in his attack had at tempted to prove that the cooperatives were communistic by pointing out that Hitler and Mussolini abolished them when they came to power. The Springfield Republican in an edi torial, declared "To accuse these private voluntary cooperatives of being 'fellow travelers' with 'Communism' and there fore as being dangerous to the American system and way of life is seen to be ludi crous in the light of their long history in Great Britain, Scandinavia, Canada, and this country. "The Republican congratulates the manager of Eastern States Farmers Ex change, Quentin Reynolds, on his brief, clarifying and convincing defense of the cooperatives against unwarranted attack." The Springfield Cooperative reported that the resultant publicity brought it the biggest business it had ever had, strength ened the loyalty of its present members, and brought in new members. Coopera tives in other sections of the country wel comed the reams of free publicity growing out of the private profit insurance mens' attack. New Recreation Material The following Kits, containing words, music and directions, are now available from The Cooperative League: Play Party Games ............................................. 25c. American Folk Dances .............................. 25c. Joyous Folk Dances from Other Lands ............................................................... 25c. Old Fashioned Country Dances ......... 25c. Consumers' Cooperation What's News with the Co-ops THE State of Wisconsin will observe WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE WEEK, February 26 to March 2. Governor Heil, in his proclamation of the third annual co-op week urged the citizens of the state "to learn more of the meaning of coopera tion and its expanding possibilities." The opening of the first cooperative re finery in the United States at Phillipsburg, Kansas was hailed by articles in Business Week, Time, and other national journals in addition to the cooperative press. The three-quarter of a million dollar refinery and 70-mile pipe line, built by coopera tives affiliated with the Consumers Co operative Association will be formally dedicated May 4. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale became a million dollar organization when its business for 1939 jumped to $1,071,000, a gain of 49.3 per cent over its sales in 1938. The model town or Greenbelt, Mary land is now duly famous for its complete ly cooperative business enterprises. Set up by the Consumer Distribution Corpora tion, established by the late Edward A. Filene, the self-service grocery store, meat market, drug store, soda fountain, variety store, gas and oil station, beauty shop, valet shop, barber shop and theatre in January passed into the hands of the people who will operate them through their own cooperative Greenbelt Consum er Services. Consumer Distribution was requested to set up these business enter prises when the model town was opened in 1937. The Consumers Book Cooperative, formerly the Cooperative Book Club, re ported a business of $61,500 in 1939. Or ganized two years previously with a vol unteer staff and $56 in capital, the book cooperative is now serving 1440 indi vidual members, co-ops and libraries from New York to India. Consumers Book Co- February, 1940 operative changed from a stock to a mem bership corporation the first of the year following a membership referendum. Training schools for cooperative em ployees are under way in Kansas City, Lake Ihduhapi, Minn., Jamestown, N. Dakota and New York City under the direction of Consumers Cooperative Association, Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Farmers Union Cooperative Education Service, and the Council for Cooperative Business Training. The latter organization is made up of representatives of Eastern Coopera tive Wholesale, Consumer Distribution Corporation and Rochdale Institute. The Institute opened its sixth term in New York, February 5. Cooperative life insurance will now be available in New York State following the issuance of a license to the Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, December 31. The Farm Bureau Auto Insurance Coop erative is already active in the state. One hundred and forty-two representa tives of cooperatives in Vermont held their second annual conference at God- dard College'with Governor Aiken in the chair. Although no official action was taken, the delegates discussed seriously the possibility of forming a League of Ver mont Cooperatives. Central Cooperative Wholesale which completed the biggest business in its his tory in 1939 ($3,424,000) opened a model testing kitchen early in February. A new note in the field of housing was sounded at the Ninth Annual Convention of the National Public Housing Confer ence when E. R. Bowen, general secretary of the Cooperative League called for the development of a "vast program of pub lic-cooperative self-liquidating housing as a means of achieving the goal of provid ing every American family with a decent home." 29 I The Press Boosts the Co-ops— July. 1939 to January. 1940 MAGAZINES ADVERTISING AGE, October 30, 1939, "Adver tisers Get Complete Picture of Consumer Activity" AMERICA, September 30, 1939, "Cooperatives of Antigonish Are Much Misunderstood," Joseph H. Fichter AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST, October, 1939, "Consumers' Cooperation in Great Brit ain," reviewed by Grace S. M. Zorbaugh AMERICAN FRIEND, January 18, 1940, "The Noble Finns Put Co-op Baiters on the Spot," an editorial BOILERMAKERS JOURNAL, October, 1939, "Stretching the Consumer's Dollar," John Carson BRIDGE, October, 1939, "A Credit Union in a Cooperative Store" BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE, FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN'S MAGAZINE, October, 1939, "Stretching the Consumer's Dollar," John Carson BUSINESS WEEK, April 22, 1939, "The Con sumer Movement," Business Week reports to Executives July 29, 1939, "Co-op Transfer," Govern ment housing project in Maryland will take over Filene's stores, now in the black. "Woolworth Rival," British co-ops plan vari ety chain in Woolworth field. January 20, 1940, "Funeral Co-op," news item on Central Wisconsin Cooperative Burial Association THE CALL, monthly column on Cooperatives by Kingsley B. Leeds CENTRAL-BLATT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, October and November, 1939, "Toward a Consum ers Economy," J. Elliot Ross January, 1940, "Cooperation and Credit Unions" CHRISTIAN CENTURY, September 20, 1939, "Co-ops in the Maritimes," Wallace J. Campbell CHRISTIAN REGISTER, January 1, 1940, "An- dover Church Accouches Cooperatives" COMMON SENSE, September, 1939, "Co-ops Up to Date," review of "The Consumer Awak ens," by Wallace J. Campbell THE COMMONWEAL, July 28, 1939, "Progress on the Northern Front," report of coop eratives in Nova Scotia. August 18, 1939, "New Houses and New Men," Edward Skillin, Jr. Nova Scotia miners raise themselves nearer security through cooperation. 30 September 1, 1939, "Are Cooperatives the Answer?" by John Horton and Ray Scott. Two authors discuss the limitations of co operatives and their applicability in the parish. October 6, 1939, "Cooperation and Religion," Dr. M. M. Coady, taken from a chapter of "Masters of Their Own Destiny" November 3, 1939, "Consumers Cooperation and World Peace," an editorial D AND W, June, 1939, "Debunking Those Swedish Co-ops," an anonymous writer gives the "much heralded Swedish Coop eratives an airing." September, 1939, Albin Johansson, president of KF, defends Swedish co-ops DEMOCRATIC DIGEST, October, 1939, Mrs. Elea nor Roosevelt in her letter column points to the cooperatives as one means of pre venting food profiteering. DISCUSSION, Fall, 1939, "Nova Scotia Progress Due to Study Groups Organized by Priests" DOMESTIC COMMERCE, August 30, 1939, "Ad vertising Costs Co-ops 1.7 Percent of Net Sales." Taken from Newt for Farmer Co opératives October 30, 1939, "Trends in Cooperative Development From 1933 to 1936" December 30, 1939, "Consumers Coopera tives in 1938" ECONOMIC JUSTICE, December, 1939, "In What Kind of Regime Does the Cooperative Movement Thrive Best?" FISHERY MARKET NEWS, November, 1939, "Nova Scotia Fishermen Aided By Coop eratives," Ralph Russell THE FORWARD, July 29, 1939, "Sweden Coop erates," R. M. Verna THE FORUM, October, 1939, "Guinea Pigs Left March," Stanley High January, 1940, "War on Consumers," George H. Tichenor. Mr. Tichenor points out what's behind the attack on cooperatives and the consumer movement—an answer to Mr. High's article. FREE AMERICA, January, 1940, "Laboratory for Social Change," Bertram B. Fowler. The story of adult education and the consequent cooperative action in Prince Edward Island. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, Spring, 1939, "The Consumer Movement," Kenneth Dameron. A thorough survey of the vari ous consumer movements including the co operatives. Consumers' Cooperation lii THE HAT WORKER, November 15, 1939, "One Way to Beat High Prices," reprinted from the Journal of Electrical Workers and Operators INTERNATIONAL LABOR REVIEW, July, 1939, "The Cooperative Movement in Palestine" JOURNAL OF ADULT EDUCATION, December, 1939, "Antigonish Revisited," Benson Y. Landis THE LABOR NEWS, October 27, 1939, "Con sumers' Cooperation in Great Britain," re printed from the American Federation!!! MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, July, 1939, "Coop eratives in Foreign Countries, 1935 to 1937," Myrtle M. Selove MACHINISTS MONTHLY JOURNAL, October, 1939, "Stretching the Consumer's Dollar," John Carson THE NATION, August 5, 1939, "Cooperation Versus Monopoly," Keith Hutchison. How Swedish and Finnish cooperatives prevent monopolies. NATIONAL STUDENT FEDERATION REPORTER, November 3, 1939, "Government in Stu dent Cooperatives" NEWS FOR FARMER COOPERATIVES, December, 1939, "The Antigonish Way," Lucile W. Reynolds ORGANIZED LABOR, November 25, 1939, "When Food Prices Rise," reprinted from the Journal of Electrical Workers and Op erators PRINTERS' INK, November 24, 1939, "Con sumer Groups Gain As Advertisers Beat Bushes for Witches," C. B. Larrabee PROTESTANT DIGEST, June, 1939, "The Head of the Table," Adult Education, Coopera tives and Democracy in Nova Scotia September, 1939, "The Logic of Cooperative Medicine," Michael Shadid November, 1939, "A Cooperative Economy," by E. R. Bowen, reprinted from Consum ers' Cooperation January, 1940, "Profit is Not American!" an editorial. "Cooperatives or Corpora tions: Men or Money," Walter Rauschen busch, reprinted from "Christianizing the Social Order" RAILWAY CLERK, October, 1939, "Stretching the Consumer's Dollar," John Carson READERS DIGEST, October, 1939, "Guinea Pigs Left March," by Stanley High. Reprinted from The Forum. THE SIGN, January, 1940, "Cooperatives — Utopia or Delusion?'^ John F. Cronin, S.S. TERMINAL ISLAND TOPICS, January 12, 1940, "Cooperative Highlights of 1939," Wal lace J. Campbell February, 1940 TIDE, October 1, 1939, "Consumer Study," a review of the comprehensive study done by the American Retail Federation December 15, 1939, "Co-ops — a big one folds but many others continue to thrive" January 15, 1940, "Agents vs. Co-ops," a survey of the insurance companies and the methods they are using in attacking the cooperatives TIME, January 1, 1940, "Co-op Refinery"— news story of CCA's new refinery WORLD YOUTH, November 25, 1939, "China's Industrial Cooperatives" NEWSPAPERS BOSTON HERALD, December 18, 1939, "Coop eratives Deny Red Tie" CLEVELAND CITIZEN, October 20, 1939, "Con sumer's Cooperatives" November 10, 1939, "Co-ops Go On Record in Favor of Labor" NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, October 18, 1939, "Cooperatives Urged to' Set Up a Defense Plan" November 7, 1939, "British Cooperatives List Business Increase" November 30, 1939, "Henry J. May Dies; Leader of Cooperatives" December 21, 1939, "1939 Seen Peak For Consumer Cooperatives" February 4, 1940, "49% Gain Listed by Cooperative Wholesale" NEW YORK POST, December 6, 1939, Ludwig Lore in his column, "Behind the Cables" comments on Kuusinen and his attempt to split the American cooperative movement in 1930. January 2, 1940, "Cooperatives List 2,000,- 000 Members" NEW YORK TIMES, July 30, 1939, "Co-op Move Peril to British Stores" September 7, 1939, "European Co-ops in War Helped Cut Food Prices" October 18, 1939, "Co-ops Told to Oppose Price-Fixing Efforts" November 7, 1939, "Sales 3.8% Higher in British Co-ops" November 30, 1939, "Henry J. May, 69 ; Co operative Head" January 2, 1940, "1939 Banner Year for Co operatives" January 21, 1940, "Adult Education Win ning in Canada" February 5, 1940, "Eastern Co-op Sales at #1,071,000 in 1939" NEW YORK WORLD TELEGRAM, August 23, 1939, "My Day," Eleanor Roosevelt com ments on the pamphlet, "A Tour of Nova Scotia Cooperatives" 31 «*• W f 1 CO-OPS IN NEW BOOKS COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS, by William N Loucks and J. Weldon Hoot, Harper and Brothers, New York, #3.50. In a rather comprehensive comparative survey or Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism and Coopération, the cooperative movement, treated last but not least, is presented in fifteen pages of description and twenty-five of interpre- tation. The authors, both members of the eco- norme staff of the Wharton School of Business and rmance at the University or Pennsylvania examine cooperation both as a modification of or supplement to capitalism and as an alterna- tive to the capitalist system. With little faith in the "cooperative commonwealth" they be- lieve that the cooperative movement will be "one of the essential ingredients of any major economic modification we may seek." DON'T KILL THE GOOSE, by Ryllis and Omar Goslin, Harper and Brothers, New York, «-> <=n wt.jv. In this book on economics, written and il- lustrated so that it is a pleasure to read, Ryllis and Omar Goslin examine the sources and dis- tribution of the peoples' income^and conclude that the prize goose who lays the golden egg of prosperity is the consumer." As one of the "Seven Prescriptions for Pros- perity" the Goslins declare "The consumer co- operative tends to transform the producer sys- tern of production and distribution for profit into a system of consumer ownership and pro- duction for use." They then tell briefly the dra- made story of the growth of consumer owner- ship from the old weavers' shop in Toad Lane in 1844 to the gigantic British and Scandi- navian co-ops today and the growing movement in America. They conclude, however, that "use- ful as the idea of consumer cooperation is, a t i i i . i , more vigorous attack on our problem is needed before we shall be able to achieve genuine and lasting prosperity." ECONOMICS FOR THE MILLIONS, by Henry Pratt Fairchild, Modern Age Books, New York, «9 <=(! .»z.ju. ,,.,,, , ,, Pointing out that there has been much talk recently of The American Way as if it were a fixed and rigid system of political and economic administration," Dr. Fairchild declares: "In re- ality, the American way has always been the •" r j * . , ' , way of adventure, innovation and acceptance of change." In a brief section on "Cooperation," the au- thor says that there is a "middle way" which is "represented most importantly by what is known as the cooperative movement." Charac- terizing it as a form of "limited socialism," Dr. Fairchild says cooperation "within the last few years has undergone a notable expansion in the United States, where it promises signifi- cant results in the immediate future." 32 CO-OP LITERATURE • Student Cooperatives Co-ops on the Campus, Bertram B. Fowler .():! Campus Co-ops, William Moore .................... .05 Handbook on Student Co-ops, Based on the Findings of the 1'acitlc Coast Con ference of Student Cooperatives .............. .in • Novels and Biography Fresh Furrow: Burris Jenkins (Special) .50 The Brave Years: Win. Heyliger .................. 1.5(1 My Story, by Paddy the Cope. Co-ops in Ireland .................................................................. 2.7.Ï • Textbooks on Cooperation Consumers' * Cooperatives, Julia E. John son, Debate Handbook ................................. JW When You Buy, Trilling, Eberhart and Nicholas, High school and college, two chapters on consumer cooperatives ........ 1X1 Cooperation, Hall and Watkins, Official British Textbook .............................................. 3.dll The Consumers Cooperative as a Distribu tive Aeency, Orin E. Burley ...................... 3.00 Windows on the Wurld, Kenneth Gould, high school text, one chapter on coop eratives ................................................... • Cooperative Recreation ... 3.0« .15 Cooperative Keereation, Carl Hutchinson, reprinted from The Annals.. ...................... .05 Two One Act Plays, Ellis Cowling .............. .13 The Answer, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling ...... .20 The Spider Web, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling .25 Education Through Keereation, L. I'. Jacks .................................................................... 1.50 List of recreational materials, songs, dances. ~ s B Those — Who Hei Euch other.""« new 3\ee\, iTmm. film of "the N*™ Scotia ndult education and cooperative pro- gram, Produced by the Harmon Foundation. Excellent photography. S4.BO per day, $2.S> additional showings, $13 50 per week. ..A Hollse without a Landlord," a new 2V; reel, 16 mm. silent film on the Amalgamated Cooperative Houses in New York City. -Clasping Hands." 16 mm. silent, two reel film showing how cooperation is tauglit In the schools of France. Won the Grand Prize il the International Exposition, Paris, 11)37. m Ma,lUin<1 ,„ vvim,,c.., a tc mm. sne,„ three-reel film, with English titles, of ^Mil- erative stores, wholesales and factories in France. A Day With Kagawa, 3 reel, silent, 16 mm. Kagawa and his co-ops in Japan. Rental: Each of three above $3 per day. $1.50 for each additional showing or $10 per weel. POSTEES Organize Cooperatives, 19"x28" Green, 5 for $1 .......................................... — .2* Cooperative Principles, 19"x28" Blue, 5 for $1 ..._.._..................................._.-... .2« Cooperative Ownership, 10"x28" ^ Mulherry, or S .......................................... Blue, 5 for $1 .................................................... .!" Consumers' Cooperation À Whom Should America Fight? Basic Principles of the Cooperative Movement Dr. E. S. Bogardus The Importance of Action as Consumers Dr. M. M. Coady Building an Urban Cooperative Stanley Erickson The Hiram Co-op Folk School Madge Howarth Cooper Manifesto on Rural Life, A Review Dr. Benson Y. Landis What's News With the Co-ops March 1940 MAR 23 1940 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA HAVE YOU SUBSCRIBED? Last year Consumers' Cooperation gave its readers two score original feature articles about American and European co operatives, about national cooperative or ganization, cooperative finance, operating methods, new educational techniques, co operative education, legislation, medicine and peace. Each an article especially pre pared for Consumers' Cooperation by an authority in the field. What led to the drives for cash policy, uniform accounting methods, larger re serves and smaller inventories to meet economic crises, the study club as an edu cational method, recreation as an essential feature in the life and growth of a coop erative? These and many other programs got their first stimulus in Consumers' Co operation. $1 per year; 27 months for $2. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City COMING EVENTS Board of Directors, The Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Mor- i risen, Chicago, March 18-19. Board of Directors, National Coopera tives, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Mor- rison, Chicago, March 20. Co-op Editors and Educational Directors, Meeting, The Cooperative League, Chicago, March 21-22. Fourteenth Annual Convention, Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Com pany, Farm Bureau Mutual Fire Insur ance Company, and Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio, April 4-5. Dedication, First Co-op Refinery in the United States, Phillipsburg, Kansas, May 4. Fifth. Annual National Cooperative Rec reation School, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, June 14-26. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Medical Bureau,, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C. Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. • Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES • - - T\ 1 Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. 118E. 28 St., N.Y. 116 E. l6St.,N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millaid, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio rarm Duiciiu v^uuptAOLiv», ixoo u ——__^—, _ Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Services T •--»«•:-!.:_ Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT LEAGUES Central States Cooperative League 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois Eastern Cooperative League 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. 4o43 W. 60 Street, Los Angeles, Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild Box 2000, Superior, Wisconsin FRATERNAL MEMBERS Credit Union National Association Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. 3 MARCH, 1940 Ten Cents COOPERATIVE INTERPRETATIONS Perry L. Green, President of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and Director of the Cooperative League, says, "The reason why social idealism has not gone further is because it has not had a cooperative economic vehicle through which to express itself." * * * Mr. L. J. Taber, Master of the National Grange, says, "Whenever agriculture, labor and business sit around the council table, remembering always and at all times the consumer . . . then we shall see not only the triumph of democracy but the return of prosperity." Might we suggest that the "remembered consumer" may be like the "forgotten consumer." The consumer must sit in at the council table and hold an equal hand if he is to have any real power. Only when and as organ ized into Consumers' Cooperatives will the consumer play his rightful role, which is to be the solvent of class consciousness between all the producer groups. Other wise there might as well be a consumers empty chair at the table, for the remem bered or even spoken voice of unorganized consumers would probably have less effect than a tap on the wrist. * * * Kansas cooperators ought to get William Alien White started on advocating Cooperatives as the solution of the social sins of Monopolism. He "stole the show," so the reports read, at the recent Lincoln birthday celebration at Springfield, Illinois, by saying among other things, "Unemployment is the product of our very enterprise, our business, our economic organization." Anyone who can so dearly indict Monopolism ought also to be ready and able to advocate Cooperatives as the solution. An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City. E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. Be Careful Not to Hate Americans can help other nations most to solve their conflicts by eliminating the spirit of hate from our lives. There are few if any greater truths ex pressed in simpler words than these by George W. Russell, the poet-cooperator of Ireland, "Love and hate are alike in this, that they change us into the image we contemplate. We grow nobly like what we adore through love, and ignobly like what we contemplate through hate." There are millions of Americans who were themselves born in one or another foreign country. There are millions of others who were born in America who are direct descendants of those who were born in other countries at war. There are few Americans who do not trace their ancestry back to nations on both sides of the conflict. Some of us have relatives of but few generations back in the prin cipal nations at war. Which of these blood relations should we hate and why ? But spiritual relationships are even more important than blood relationships. And spiritually Americans are brothers of the people of all the nations. Be careful that you do not hate or you will grow ignobly like what you hate, says Russell. Bad News for Mr. Johansson of Sweden We still have worse news about Amer ica for Albin Johansson, President of KF of Sweden. He asked us if it was really true that we Americans had again increased our installment purchases be fore the 1937 depression to the same figure as we did before the 1929 depres sion. We could only admit that we had again made the same tragic economic mis take. He got up and paced the floor as he discussed the evils of credit on con sumer goods. Now we have also to admit that we have since learned that the American people not only duplicated the amount of installment credit but that it was longer time credit. Roger Babson says in "The Folly of 34 Installment Selling" that at the end of 1929 only 15% of installment paper on automobiles was more than one year old, but at the close of 1936, the notes not fully retired in 12 months amounted to 50% of the total. We Americans have become experts in hanging ourselves in the noose of credit, we are sorry to say, Mr. Johansson. But if you will not lose faith and be patient, we will promise to learn from what you have done in Sweden, by putting coop erative purchasing in America on a cash basis, and also influencing other businesses to do so as well. More Proof that Farm and Urban Residents can Organize Together Successfully as Consumers In the January issue of CONSUMERS' COOPERATION we published an ar ticle under the title "CONSUMERS - The Common Denominator of Farmers and Workers," in which we cited as un challengeable proof that farm and urban residents were members of the coopera tives in Finland, Sweden, Norway and France. At that time we had not received a re ply to our letter requesting information as to the percentages of farm and urban residents in the membership of the sec ond of the two large wholesale groups in Finland. Now we have the informa tion from the new book by Professor H. H. Bakken, "Cooperation, to the Fin nish." He lists the division of member ship in OTK as 29% farm and Jl% urban. The membership of SOK, as we previously stated, is 62% farm and 38% urban. Whether farm or urban residents pre dominate makes no difference in a Con sumers' Cooperative Purchasing Associa tion in other countries. It is high time that it should make no difference in America, and that the laws which bindet this vital development should be changed as well as the prejudicial thinking of both farm and urban residents toward one another which keeps them apart. Consumers' Cooperation Private Profits Do Not Mean Private Enterprise and Private Property How it does irk one to read or hear some spokesman for the old order call upon Congress to "remove the im pediments to sound business recovery." Who was it who asked for regulation of business by Congress ? Charles Beard, our greatest historian, has thoroughly analyzed the progress of regulatory laws over the past half- cen tury and shows conclusively that it was big business itself which asked for such laws in order to try to curb competition and enable it to increase prices and profits still further. Who was behind the NRA, v/hich was an attempt to foist upon America the German cartel system? Why the industrialists of course; labor and consumers were pawns to be thrown sops while big business reaped more profits. A recent spokesman for big business was Walter S. Gifford, $200,000 a year president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, before the Chi cago Association of Commerce. He called, as usual, for the preservation of private initiative and private enterprise. But what he and other similar high-salaried spokesmen really mean is the preserva tion of private profits. Private profits kill private initiative and private enterprise, as proven by the number of unemployed and the fear of unemployment by nearly every worker and farmer. Private profits kill private ownership, as proven by the number of tenants on farms and in towns. John Dewey challenges our misuse of words and ideas when he says, "The tragic breakdown of democracy is due to the fact that the identification of liberty with the maximum of unrestrained in dividualistic action in the economic sphere under the institutions of capital istic finance is as fatal to the realization of liberty for all as it is fatal to the real ization of equality." Just so our identifi cation of private profits ,with private ini tiative, private enterprise and private property has been fatal to the realization of economic liberty and equality for all. March, 1940 The real impediment to prosperity which must be removed in America is private-profits. Only by the removal of private-profits will private initiative, pri vate enterprise and private ownership be preserved. Co-ops Come Back! The "stick-to-it-ive-ness" of Coopera tives is surely being demonstrated in the United States today. Where private-profit business discontinues at the rate of over 20% per year, cooperatives are hardly washing out at all, comparatively. We expect eventually to have definite statis tics to prove this fact from studies being made. The best calculations we now have are that not over 2% of the cooperatives organized in the last two decades have discontinued, which is a stupendous re duction from the private-profit business percentage. Rochdale Stores in Washington, D.C. is a late illustration of the "come-back- ness" of Co-ops. In 1937 they lost $1,173. In 1938 they lost $571 more. Did they quit? Well hardly! The members put in more capital and pushed all the harder. And what happened in 1939? Well, it was quite significant and more than worthy of this all-too-brief story. In 1939 Rochdale Stores made savings of $2,293, or more than enough to wipe out the losses of the two previous years. Their volume jumped from $52,059 in 1938 to $117,468 in 1939, or a 125% increase. Their gross margin remained about the same in all three years: 16.1% in 1937; 16.03% in 1938, and 16.3% in 1939, which surely indicates that their prices are low. However, their expenses reduced from 19.45% to 17.13% in 1938 and to 14.35% in 1939. Their net savings for 1939 as a whole were practi cally 2%, and still higher for the last 18 weeks of the year, or 3.3%. "The best cooperative eloquence is business success" can now be put up as a motto by Rochdale Stores, as they previ ously demonstrated the motto that "Co operatives have 'stick-to-it-ive-ness'." 35 Whom Should America Fight? ' I "HERE are many who think that J- America has a duty to the world that can only be absolved by entering into the wars between nations. Let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that America should go to war. Jf we should, then whom should we fight? Of course, it is assumed that if we go to war it will not be primarily to protect ourselves. We are a physically isolated na tion with seas on both the East and West and friendly nations to the North and South. We do not have to go to war for our own protection. We are urged only to go to war on the altruistic plea of help ing other nations. We are presumed to have a responsibility to protect democracy against dictatorship. Shall we declare war on Japan for in vading democratic China? Shall we de clare war on England for withholding democracy from India ? Shall we declare war on Italy for its assault on Abyssinia? Shall we declare war on Germany for its rape of democratic Czechoslovakia? Shall we declare war on France to free its colonies in Africa? Shall we declare war on Russia for its violation of the demo cratic rights of Finland? If we are to assume the supervision of the world, we might as well face what it means to really do so. Some would differ entiate between the imperialistic controls of Japan, England, Italy, Germany, France and Russia over other nations. But in the last analysis what is the real difference? Are we really to believe that the purposes of England and France in invading Africa and Asia were different from the purposes of Japan, Italy, Germany and Russia in invading other countries ? And it might be questioned whether our own hands are so clean that we can hold them up and declare ourselves guilt less of the same purposes in our invasion of the rights of other small countries. But assuming that we have a world duty to do battle against imperialism every- 36 where, is war the way to win the struggle? "Ideas are things which can only be conquered by a greater beauty or intellec tual power, and they are never more pow erful than when they do not come threat ening us in alliance with physical forces," wrote George W. Russell (M) in 1915 at the beginning of the former world war. Yet today nations hold out the olive ' branch in1 a 'mailed fist. They mount the dove of peace on a cannon. They tie the pipe of peace to a bayonet when they thrust it out. They cry Peace! Peace! and build armaments of force which belie their words. They extend one palm in open handclasp and clench the other into a fist | behind their backs in readiness to fight. Yet a great law of human behaviour is that the means must be the same as the ends. The spirit of fear and the power of force can never produce friendship—only the spirit of love and the power of per suasion can lead to brotherhood. Our job is not to fight the world. Our I job is to clean up our own back yard. John Dewey says in "Freedom and Cul ture" that we have in America the same attitudes and institutions that produced Fascism. Stephen Rauschenbusch supports this statement by first hand evidence in "The March of Fascism." Not only can democracy not be imposed on other na tions by force, but we do not have a true democracy as yet in America. The idea of "greater beauty and intellectual pow er" which will conquer the ideas of Fascist and Communistic and Capitalistic Imperi alisms, is the idea of religious, educational and political democracy plus economic co operation—this is the greater idea which will conquer all the "isms." Our great contribution to the world would be to be a "light to the nations"—to be an eco nomic as well as a political democracy—a nation where all the people have economic security through incomes, jobs and owner ship, as well as personal liberty—to which the people of the world could look fot hope and from which they could learn. Basic Principles of the Cooperative Movement UT of ninety-five years of concrete and varied experiences, the co-operative movement has evolved principles which command the thoughtful attention of all open-minded people. While the ground work for these principles was laid in the democratic soil of England and Scotland, the development of the movement in the Scandinavian countries including Finland, in Western Continental Europe, in Can ada and the United States, and in the Orient has tested co-operative principles under a variety of severe and far-reach ing conditions. These principles have emerged where nations have respected personality, where they have striven to achieve democracy, where they have sin cerely sought to put the religious concept of brotherhood of man into real opera tion, and where peace and good will, not force, violence, or revolution, are hon ored. A Bulwark of Reliability Virtually a century of diversified ex periences in many lands gives co-operative principles a bulwark of reliability. Most of the criticisms of these principles under estimate the experiences out of which they have naturally grown, and hence they reveal superficial thinking and ul terior motivation. They come in large part from directions which seem to ig nore Franklin's emphasis on thrift; our Constitution's concern for establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, and promoting the general welfare; Washington's stress on "the perfect se curity of liberty" ; and Lincoln's devo tion to a government of, by, and for the people. With these expressions of our forefathers, co-operative principles are in harmony, in fact, in closer harmony than the principles and" the practices of the movements which have not yet exam ined co-operatives with open minds. Consumers' Cooperation March, 1940 Dr. Emory S. Bogardus Department of Sociology University of Southern California In making an analysis of the principles which explain the achievements of the co-operative movement, one may find at least five trends that have wide sanction. Universal Participation 1. The first may be called universal participation. The true co-operative is open to everyone who will study its na ture, join, participate, and co-operate. There are no exceptions. Apparent ex ceptions are represented by those mem bers who become inactive or who join in order to undermine the movement or who wish to use it as a tool for promoting the advance of some other social movement in which they are more vitally interested. Participation is as universal as the con sumer. Since everyone is a consumer, the consumers' co-operative, which is the ba sic type of co-operative, may include ev eryone. The co-operative movement is as universal in its opportunities for partici pation as the entire nation and as hu manity itself. The co-operative maintains neutrality with reference to classes. It never pushes one class ahead at the expense of another. It refuses vested rights for itself or for any class in society. It works against class consciousness. It undermines class hatred. It even builds the co-operative spirit be tween classes. The co-operative is universal in the opportunities that it offers to everyone to become an owner of property. It makes property ownership universal. It enables all its employees to become property owners. And with property ownership comes a universal sense of social respon sibility, of security, of freedom from the haunting fears of unsecurity, of that un- security which plagues so many millions of people in our country today. The co-operative is neutral also with reference to races and religions. It is an 37 II I antidote for many of the racial and re ligious prejudices that so torment man kind. It enables people of different races and religions to see each other in the best expressions of their common human na ture, namely, where they are co-operating, one with another. Universal participation in the develop ment of consumer welfare, of ownership attitudes, and in the accompanying sense of social responsibility, of working to gether by members of all classes, races, religions—this is the realistic picture of what happens when the co-operative movement enjoys life, liberty, and the pursuit of co-operation. Democratic Organization 2. The principle of democratic organ ization is innate in the co-operative move ment. The cooperative movement extends the idea of democracy as expressed in our political framework into our indus trial life. In giving every shareholder one vote per person instead of one vote per number of shares that he holds, it helps to make industry democratic. In allow ing no proxies in voting it emphasizes the importance of personal participation, and it prevents power from being concen trated in a few persons who might be tempted to act dictatorially rather than democratically. In extending democratic procedures such as discussion, the free expression of per sonal judgment, and the rule of the ma jority, the co-operative movement makes a wide human appeal. Moreover, in re fusing to stoop to the use of force or of violence it gains its greatest support in democratic countries. Significantly enough it is suppressed in authoritarian nations of all types. It is permitted to function in fascist countries, such as Italy and Germany only when fascists (or nazis) are in charge of its societies. Moreover in Soviet Russia the urban cooperatives were liquidated in 1935, their properties were confiscated, and state-owned stores were set up in their places (rural co-operatives are due to experience a similar fate as soon as state-owned institutions can be 38 made to function in rural areas). In the United States the chief opponents of the co-operative movement appear to be per sons who either have lost faith in de mocracy or never had any such faith. They are persons who are dictatorially inclined and -not in full sympathy with American principles of democracy as defined in terms "of the people, by the people, and for the people." The co-operative will not inaugurate false propaganda or indulge in whisper ing campaigns. It acts above board, puts its cards on the table, has no hirelings to misrepresent anybody or anything through the press or over the radio. Its methods put to shame anything that is not open and democratic. Co-operatives accept the prevailing way in the United States of free enterprise. All they ask is to be treated fairly and on their merits. They perform above not be low the rules of the game. Co-operatives carry the democratic principle to the point of not confiscating property and of not planning to overturn the social order. They begin with their own funds, and build co-operative activi ties from the ground up, relying on their own strength. They ask no subsidies from the government. They demand no tariff protection. If any phase of Ameri can life practices real self-reliance, the co operatives probably head the list. More over, they work for the widest possible distribution of wealth. No country has ever had to pass anti-trust laws because of any activities of co-operatives. Co operatives break not make monopoly prices. As far as the cost of government regulation is concerned they are the least expensive form of economic enterprise. In the co-operative movement employ ees are also employers and owners, as well as consumer members. As such, they vote on business policies the same as do other members. Business experience and ownership experience give co-operative employees a breadth of view and a demo cratic insight found in no other major type of enterprise. The co-operative practices democracy Consumers' Cooperation as well as talks about it. Its members learn the real meaning of democracy through doing democracy. This procedure is much better than to profess democracy but not to practice it. The co-operative dignifies the individ ual. His needs and rights are both re spected. The personal liberty which our forefathers made the foundation of our national life is honored and respected by the co-operative movement. The co operative hitches personal liberty to the star of national and human welfare, and democracy takes on a living meaning. When operating in line with its in nate nature the co-operative functions not from the top down, but from the ordinary citizen up. It is persona non grata among dictators everywhere. It devises no auto cratic schemes. It does not resort to in timidation. It does not frighten people into compliance. On the other hand, it invites action, co-operative action, creative action, zestful action. Industrial Efficiency 3. The principle of industrial ef ficiency provides a fair wage to both capi tal and labor alike. While small and young co-operatives may not live up to these standards, yet nowhere is there any deliberate attempt to treat labor as a com modity to be bought and sold or to beat it down to a slave level. Since each co-operative is owned by its members including its employees each member as he becomes efficient learns the rudiments of business methods. At least he insists on business-like methods, and in so doing couples the co-operative spirit, which may take an idealistic turn, with business-like procedures. In insisting on buying and selling for cash and in developing a business on a cash basis, the co-operative avoids the problems of installment buying and the accompanying evils of high pressure salesmanship. Being less wasteful and less riskful, a cash cooperative business is able to weather falling markets and depression storms. It opposes speculation and promotes security and sanity. March, 1940 A co-operative does not aim to sell to each individual as much quantity goods as possible, but to help each purchaser to buy as much quality goods as his needs and circumstances will justify. It inflicts no high advertising costs. It would save the average American household a large part of its present advertising bill. The co-operative lays claim to efficiency in the sense that it keeps the money in the community where it is spent. It in creases local purchasing power. It pushes up the returns to the producer and low ers the expenses of the consumer. It is "the shortest cut between producer and consumer." It restores the producer-con sumer relations of the early days of our republic. Thrift in the original American sense is re-instated. It gives a spending philos ophy a natural setting within a savings philosophy. It increases economic security without calling upon government for large annual subsidies. It lowers the pro portion of national wealth required for taxes and at the same time raises living standards. Continuous Education 4. The principle of continuous edu cation energizes the co-operative move ment. The more one understands co- operatve principles and lives them the more easily do co-operatives thrive. Like wise, the more freely one participates in a co-operative the greater becomes his understanding of cooperation. The natural sequence is to play together, cooperatively not competitively, then to think cooperatively together in a study circle and then with members of other study groups to start a buying club and a co-operative business. In the study group a dozen members become acquaint ed with the history and philosophy of co operation. In it they study carefully what is involved in each proposed co-operative step before they take it. In discussions they evolve new co-operative develop ments and devise ways and means of procedures before undertaking new co operative advancement. 39 Co-operative education is accompanied by and sometimes preceded by recreation as an integral phase of its activities. Learning comes easiest through playing. Co-operative recreation includes singing together, folk games, folk dancing, social dramatics, and games in which the object is not to beat but to boost. Informative education takes the place of duplicatory,, misrepresentative, and pressure types of advertising. The co operative instructs consumers in how to buy efficiently. It sets forth its wares simply, conservatively, and inexpensively. It considers the "co-op label" its best advertisement. It substitutes three grades, A, B, C, for "a hundred brands." The co-operative vocabulary has no need for terms, such as "cut-throat com petition," "charging as much as the pub lic will bear," "monopoly prices," "sell ing an idea," "high-pressure salesman ship," "insecurity," "speculative gains," "gambling." It emphasizes terms such as "participation," "co-operation," "savings refunds," "democratic behavior," "free dom of personality." Peaceful Evolution 5. The fifth principle is that of peaceful evolution. Co-operatives avoid mushroom growth. They lay foundations deeply. They evolve slowly. They practice evolutionary development. Since the co-operative movement gen erates the co-operative spirit between per sons, between groups, between nations, it makes unnecessary the dread terror .of wars. Within the co-operative framework, nations find negotiation and arbitration adequate. They have everything to gain by helping each other and nothing to lose, which is something absolutely be yond the authoritarian mind. They gain their greatest strength from helping each other solve their respective problems, not by fighting and destroying one another. The co-operative movement logically begins with' the retail consumers' co operative. The credit union co-operative closely follows. The wholesale is next in line of development. Production co operatives come next. Then the various utility co-operatives are called for, and at the same time a whole series of welfare co-operatives, such as insurance, housing, and health. Although the order may be varied considerably the method is always by peaceful evolution. The co-operative movement begins with the individual, the consumer. It moves on to the household and through its co-operative spirit restores to the fam ily a nationally valuable unity. It brings communities together, and gives demo cratic national morale a new birth. It reaches to the farthermost parts of the earth with its constructive and dynamic re-organization of society. It promotes calm and collected activities, not hatred, war, and destruction. It builds personali ties through peaceful and evolutionary enterprise. The Importance of Action as Consumers' WITHOUT consumer institutions, the real results of activities in the producer field cannot be ultimately at tained. The Industrial Revolution destroyed the domestic system. It also swept away community industries and took from the common man any chance he had of con- 40 Dr. M. M. Coady, Director, Extension Division St. Francis Xavier University trol in a large sector of production. It did not take away consumer institutions. In every community we find stores, banks, and various kinds of service agencies. These will always remain. The. owner ship of such institutions is the natural means of eventually bringing back the control of production to the people. Consumers' Cooperation The primary producers of North Amer ica have not seen this. They have lost hold of their economic institutions and have been in many cases vainly struggling through group action in the field of mar keting to get it back. They will never be able to do so unless they attack the prob lem from the consumer end. Moreover, what the common man has to sell, his kbor or his primary products, is not his with that absolute ownership which he has over the money in his pocket. The wheat in his bin may be worth a dollar a bushel today, but, on account of con ditions over which he has no control, it may be worth only fifty cents tomorrow. The wage-earner may be able through group action to sell his commodity at fifty cents an hour today but a depression may lower its value or make it impossible for him to sell it at any price. What these groups really own is the remuneration, however small, that they get for their commodity when they do sell it. When the industrial worker really does succeed in getting employment and remunera tion for it, he owns his money absolutely and can say where he is going to spend it. The significance of this has not been clear to him in the past. His major ef forts have been centered around the fight for higher wages. Labor unions sit in with corporations and fight over wages and conditions of work. After a long and strenuous battle they may succeed in obtaining higher wages, but this increase in wages may often be nullified by a rise in the cost of living. The laborer is prone to look upon the producer corporation that employs him as his natural enemy. It is true that the corporations have done some strange things. However, they are not the only villains in the piece. The entrepreneur, after all, is quite a decent fellow. At least, he is a producer. He blazes new ^Reprinted from "Masters of their Own Destiny" by Dr. M. M. Coady, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1939, Special Cooperative League Edition $1.00. March, 1940 trails and produces wealth. We can imag ine weary representatives of labor unions, on their way back from strenuous meet ings with corporation executives, passing through miles of city streets that are lined with consumer institutions, owned and operated solely for profit. The op erators of these are glad when the indus trial worker succeeds in getting higher wages. It means more business for them. They will get every last cent of the wages in any case. How strange it is that up to our time the workers of North America have never given attention to this phase of our economic system. Each little worker has an economic hose through which he sprays his earn ings. It may be a very small tube, but through it passes his annual wage. In the past, he has been spraying the lawns of those who service him in the consumer field. Their lawns are green and their flowers are fresh while the worker's own yard is an ash-heap. If he only realized it he could spray his own lawn for a while and what is left over he could put into reservoirs for the dry seasons. These reservoirs are consumer institutions, such as cooperative stores and credit unions. If all the people did this, they would in one generation loosen the hold that a great army of people who live off them now have in society. No one group of the masses of our people is able to tackle successfully the problem of getting control of the eco nomic processes of society. It takes united action of both industrial workers and pri mary producers. Cooperative activity in the consumer field is the common inter est of all classes. According to their voca tions, people are vitally interested in a given commodity but in the last analysis they are all consumers. They all need food and clothing, housing, and a multi tude of services. If they unite their efforts as consumers they have a powerful instru ment for the control of society. 41 Building an Urban Cooperative THE contributions of Cooperative Ser vices of Minneapolis to the annals of present cooperative progress are the methods it is utilizing in the development of Consumer Cooperation in a large urban center. Organized six years ago with only a thousand dollars of capital, this coopera tive today has a net worth of more than $60,000, and its original 200 members have grown to more than 3,000. It op erates a wide variety of cooperative enter prises: five gasoline service stations, a food store, a fuel oil department, credit union, and acts as the Minneapolis agency for Minnesota's cooperatively organized life and auto insurance organizations. Its sales in 1939 were $313,000; it's savings, $12,640. Factors Which Make or Break an Urban Co-op Cooperative Services—CS is its abbrevi ated title—has found that there are sev eral factors favorable to the development of co-ops in a big American city, and sev eral unfavorable factors. It has endeav ored to take advantage of the favorable factors and to avoid the unfavorable ones. Among the former is the large market for a consumer enterprise. Within the large population of Minneapolis and the part of St. Paul in which CS operates are over 600,000 consumers, and it was not difficult to find sufficient consumers with a cooperative philosophy to form the nu cleus of a business supplying them with their everyday needs. Another factor which CS has found can contribute to the growth of the co-op movement is the number of union, civic, and church groups whose forums may be used to enlist more members in the cooperative. Among the unfavorable factors, in contrast to rural co-ops, are the lack of 42 Stanley Erickson, Sales Manager Cooperative Services, Minneapolis neighborliness among city dwellers, the wide variety of other conflicting interests —espe'cially amusements, the high cost of business operation in a city, and the stress of competition that means lower gross margins. Serving a Large Potential Market Cooperative Services took advantage of the first favorable factor, a large poten tial market, by opening as its first activity a gasoline station only four blocks from the center of the Minneapolis loop on a large lot owned by Minneapolis labor unions. There is a motor car for every family in Minneapolis, many of them find it necessary to go through the loop frequently and the station soon found its operations netting earnings for the members. The second venture of Cooperative Services was a fuel oil department, inau gurated five months later. Fuel oil is used for heating purposes by many Min neapolis consumers, the average oil heated five-room home consuming more than 1,300 gallons yearly. It was not diffi cult to find the first 100 consumers to lend their buying power to the coopera tive pool, nor was it difficult to profitably handle such a staple standardized prod uct as fuel oil, and the co-op has made sizeable earnings and savings for its mem bers in this department. The Reefs of Non-Participation Within the next twelve months the cooperative had opened two more service stations in residential districts which the members believed would support the sta tions. Their optimism was short-lived, however; lack of patronage and an un foreseen price war forced the closing of one of these stations before the losses dragged the young co-op into the pit of bankruptcy. Consumers' Cooperation From this experience, and from the fact that the directors found it difficult, even though sales and membership were showing a constant growth, to obtain par ticipation by the members in the affairs of the co-op, came a system of districting and a division of responsibility among the shareholders that today is developing intelligent member participation, fast growth, and sound expansion in Coopera tive Services. The city was divided into five districts, each district surrounding one of the Co operative's existing business enterprises or projected activities. Creating Effective District Organization Today the members within a district look upon their local activity as their own separate co-op. The members of each dis trict meet at least four times yearly. At the meeting preceding the CS annual meeting each district elects its district committee, seven or more members who might be called a district board of direc tors. At this same meeting one person is nominated to represent the district on the Board of Directors, nomination being tantamount to election at the annual meeting. The district committee watches the operations of the district's co-op busi ness activities, examines its financial state ment, reports and makes recommenda tions to die Board of Directors, and car ries on the educational work within the district. Thus the board has at least one repre sentative from each district who keeps the board informed of the sentiments and desires of the members within his dis trict. If the members in one district de sire a new activity they petition the board through their district chairman and the board member. The Board lays down the requirements in terms of capital and patronage before the activity will be es tablished and the members go to work to raise the necessary quotas. One dis trict decided it wanted a gasoline sta tion; the board laid down a quota of March, 1940 $3,000 of the co-op's ten dollar shares and subscriptions for 6,000 gallons of gasoline monthly. Funds were furnished the committee for literature and pledge cards; the committee members went to work, raised the money, and the co-op built the district a gasoline station after the quotas were raised. This same pro cedure is now being duplicated by an other district in another part of the city. Committees that Really Work The educational committee of CS co ordinates the educational work of the dis tricts and is composed of two delegates from each district, chaired by one of the directors, elected by the board. The committee operates on a budget of one-half of one per cent of the sales, last year $1,400, puts out a monthly paper, The Twin City Cooperator, and promotes a variety of educational and so cial activities among members and non- members, including discussion circles and a speakers bureau. There are other committees each made up of one delegate from each district and a board member as chairman: An inspec tion committee makes periodic inspec tions and checkups of the co-op's proper ties, services and personnel, reports its findings and recommendations to the board and to the district committees. A grocery committee concentrates on the co-op's food store; a quality and stand ards committee checks up on quality; a rules committee considers and recom mends changes in the articles and by-laws, and keeps the machinery of districting moving smoothly. The result of all this activity is a co op in which responsibility is being dele gated among a large number of con sumers. Members and district commit tees are coming to fully understand the affairs and problems of the co-op and when a member steps into a board direc torship he does so competently and with knowledge of the problems and policies of the cooperative that he might other wise not have. 43 Cooperation with Organized Labor With organized labor, Cooperative Services operates on close and friendly terms. It has found that its policy since its inception, that of operating under union conditions with its employees all unionized, is a sound one. Moreover, with 15 other local cooperative organiza tions and 50 local unions, it is a part of the Twin City League of Unions and Co-ops. A year old, this organization has for its purpose a better understanding of the principles and possibilities of coop erative enterprise among unionists, and likewise a fuller understanding among co- The Hiram Co-op Folk School operators regarding the necessity of la bor organization. During the fall months of 1939 the speakers bureau of the league sent speakers to 35 unions, in forming more than 5,000 unionists about cooperation and the extent of local co operative activities. Needless to say this activity has been building the volume and raising the membership of Co-op Ser vices. By such methods of education and such planned distribution of participation and responsibility among the members, Min neapolis cooperators are demonstrating the tremendous possibilities of consumer cooperation in an urban center. THE letter inviting me to help out with dramatics at the Northeast Ohio Cooperative Folk School the week of De cember 26-31, said: "Bring a cot and ten blankets. We will eat, sleep, play and have classes in the church." That stopped me. Having heard some thing about "As poor as a church mouse," I wondered what one could find to eat around a church. And ten blankets ! More than fifty young folks crowded the church basement that first morning after Christmas. That was fine, except that accommodations fitted thirty-five nicely. Nobody showed any inclination to go home, though, so the housing com mittee knuckled down and made the best of it. The front vestibule upstairs became a dormitory for girls. Boys bunked in class rooms. The hour before breakfast was a congested period, but everybody managed to get scrubbed in time to eat. The days' schedules were full and varied. Each morning, those who had had no previous education in cooperation, spent three hours in comprehensive classes on history, organization, and philosophy of the movement. James 44 Madge Howarth Cooper La Rue, Ohio Wyker, minister of the Federated Church at North Jackson, who looks himself, very much like a grown-up boy, taught the classes in history. Being an advocate of the Danish Folk Schools and Kagawa's Peasant Gospel Schools, and well in formed on all phases of the movement, he is admirably fitted for the job. Not less thoroughly does Dan S. Beardsley, State Grange executive in Northeast Ohio, help the beginners to grasp the methods and principles of consumer co-operation. In the five days the students covered England. Sweden, Denmark, Nova Scotia, and Kagawa's efforts in Japan. Ambitious? It is meat and drink to these folks. While all this is going on, the ad vanced students are having their own meeting in an upstairs classroom. Here, guest speakers present new facts on the alternatives of war, relationships of de mocracies to the totalitarian states, tech niques of cooperative education, and credit unions. The personnel included Carl Hutchinson, Ohio Farm Bureau; Louise McCarren, Ohio Credit Union League; Rev. William Stauffer, in Europe during the Polish crisis last fall ; and Rev. Brunelle, former professor of political science at Hiram College. Consumers' Cooperation Following the presentation by the guest speaker came a question period, and af terward, a free for all discussion which often lasted past the dinner bell until the hungry primaries stormed the stair and dragged the students, still unwill ing, away to table. After dinner and dishes, the whole school met in session with the guest of the day. Then the students followed their own interests to recreation leadership, dramatics, or the village post office. The post office proved least popular. Evenings saw the group migrating through the snowy streets where Christ mas lights glowed in windows and holly wreaths with scarlet bows hung on chaste white doors, to the high school gym for an evening of recreation. All this is very factual and might be duplicated anywhere. But there is more than this to the school, and the rest isn't so easy to get down on paper. There are, for instance, the people who first conceived the school, and brought it to life. Seven years ago, before there was any real co-operative education in Ohio, a group of ministers in the north east counties, headed by James Wyker, decided they needed to pass on their own belief in the co-operative movement. They called in some FERA teachers, got together a little group of students and held the first school. Next, the educa tional department of the Ohio Farm Bureau took up the idea, and with the aid of these ministers held a school at Camp Manitoc, with forty-three students enrolled. In the Hiram school, co-operation and democracy are not only taught, they are practiced. The group makes its own rules. Discipline is determined by the wishes of the majority, and mostly enforced in the same way. As Jim Wyker said, "This is their school. They know it is going to be whatever they make it." The school had only one paid employee —the cook. Everybody else contributed his time for the good of something he March, 1940 believed in. The students themselves did the housekeeping. Officially, big, genial Dan Beardsley was recreation leader. Actually, for a good part of the period each night, he stepped back to let one of the students take the. reins. It was mighty good practice for those who would be responsible for recreation in their groups back home. Parliamentary drill at the school is swift and effective. For each session a new chairman is elected, who presides for that meeting. Sometimes there is little for him to do, except to introduce the speaker for the session. At other times, things come up which call for quick thinking, and a sure knowledge of the rules of order. And with half a dozen alert young parliamentarians in the crowd, woe to the chairman who slips up. The result is that meetings are at all times well handled, and the group prides itself on being able to negotiate the whole maze of procedure without bogging down. Would that more adults could do as well. Another score on which Hiram is unique is the really beautiful vesper ser vice. At seven o'clock lights were turned down and candles lit. There was group singing, sometimes a special song by a quartet or trio, choric reading of scrip tures. Then Fred Helffer, minister to the church at Hiram, gave short talks which were partly religious, partly a broad interpretation of what we mean when we say "Co-operation, a way of life." A week at Hiram builds associations too strong to be lightly cast aside. That is why the alumni have formed a fellow ship which meets quarterly. It helps bridge the gap between schools. Since that first small beginning there has been a school every year. Students have come and gone, but a surprisingly large number keep coming back. Some have gone out to work in co-ops. Nearly all find in the co-operative ideal, a new and satisfying way of life. 45 What's News with the Co-ops THE Cooperative Publishing Associa tion, publishers of the Cooperative Builder and the Finnish Cooperative Weekly at Superior, Wisconsin moved into its own $25,000 printing plant, Feb ruary 17. This marked the fifth step into production for the cooperatives in the Lake Superior area which had earlier es tablished a cooperative bakery, coopera tive coffee roastery, and two cooperative feed mills. Midland Cooperative Wholesale, serv ing 200 member owners of cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin did the rec ord breaking business of $3,762,000 in 1939. This total does not include grocery sales of $239,900, handled by Midland's new grocery department, bringing Mid land's total volume to $4,001,000. The Ohio Farm Bureau cooperatives at their annual meeting, February 13 re ceived reports that the business of their co-op wholesale jumped to $7,057,000 in 1939, an increase of 4.8% over its 1938 business. Earnings for the year totaled $211,000 and assets rose to $1,098,000 at the close of 1939- Ohio cooperatives took credit for con trolling the price of commercial fertilizer, holding the Ohio prices down to three to four dollars less per ton than last fall, in spite of an increase of $1 per ton in cost of materials. These savings were made possible when the cooperatives went directly into the production of com mercial fertilizers. The Associated Cooperatives of North ern California, meeting in Berkeley, Feb ruary 18 reported that 18 retail co-ops are now purchasing regularly through the recently reorganized cooperative regional association. An unusual feature of the meeting was that it was held in the din ing hall of the University of California Student Cooperative Association, one of the largest campus co-ops in the country. Two weeks earlier, Consumer Cooperative 46 Gas Stations, which are members of As sociated Cooperatives reported a fully- paid membership of 140 with 1,000 ad ditional partly-paid members. The co op which operates three service stations did a gross business of $84,000 last year. The Group Health Federation of America, a national clearing house for cooperative and group health organizations was created in Chicago, February 3 at the close of the Second Annual Conven tion of Group Health Plans. Represented on the Board of Directors of the new Fourth Annual Tour of Nova Scotia Cooperatives The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. will hold its Fourth Annual Tour of the Nova Scotia Coopera tives this year in spite of Canadian participation in the war, and in vites churchmen, educators, farm, labor, and cooperative leaders to take advantage of this unusual op portunity to make a first-hand study of adult education and cooperatives in the Maritimes. The conference tour will begin with the Rural and Industrial Con ference in Antigonish, August 12- 14. This will be followed by three days of intimate conferences with leaders of the Nova Scotia move ment. During the following week, tour members will go into fishing villages, farm areas and industrial sections to visit cooperative stores, credit unions, lobster and fish pro cessing plants, housing projects and other cooperative undertakings. Complete information about the tour can be secured by writing to Dr. J. Henry Carpenter, chairman, Cooperative League Tour Commit tee, 167 West 12th Street, New York City. Consumers' Cooperation Federation are the Milwaukee Medical Center; the Cooperative Hospital Asso ciation, Elk City, Oklahoma; Group Health Association of Washington, D.C. ; Trinity Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas; Group Health Association of New York ; Wage Earners Health Association of St. Louis; Greenbelt Cooperative Health As sociation, Greenbelt, Maryland; Civic Medical Center, Chicago; the Ross-Loos Medical Group, Los Angeles; and the Bureau of Cooperative Medicine. Two hundred churchmen and coopera tive leaders met at Drew University, Mad ison, New Jersey for the second confer ence on Religion and Consumer Coop eration, February 12. Harold Fey, secre tary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation declared in an address at the conference banquet that "the first thing to which co operatives must turn their attention is to keep America out of war. For if war comes, all of the constructive factors building a new economic democracy are likely to be destroyed." Representatives of all faiths participated in the confer ence. Among the speakers were Rabbi Jacob Shankman of New Rochelle, Father Henry J. Palmer of Brooklyn, and the Rev. Dr. James Myers of the Federal Council of Churches. Eighty prospective leaders of coopera tives and credit unions in the Maritimes attended the eighth annual short course for cooperative leaders at Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school is conducted by the Extension Department of St. Francis Xavier University. Anders Hedberg, foreign secretary of Kooperativa Forbundet of Sweden, said on his arrival in New York, for a short business trip, that "the cooperatives in Finland are a source of strength to that nation in her battle against Russian ag gression." Mr. Hedberg also pointed out that the Swedish cooperatives are grow ing rapidly and that Sweden has a fifty- fifty chance of staying out of the war. "To March, 1940 Co-op Recreation School To Be At Tiffin, Ohio, June 14-26 The fifth annual National Coop erative Recreation School will be held June 14 to 26 at Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio. The program of the school is designed to provide training for recreation leadership and will include folk dancing, dra matics, instrumental music, crafts, games, group singing and puppetry as well as lectures on the principles of organization and leadership in the field of recreation, and a semi nar on the cooperative movement. Among the staff are Miss Neva Boyd, Department of Sociology and Division of Social Work, North western University; Augustus D. Zanzig, Director, Music Service, National Recreation Association ; Marion Skean, Homeplace, Ken tucky ; Alice Schwiebert, Northwest ern University; and Ruth Chorpen- ning and James Norris of the pro fessional theater. The total cost of the school, which includes tuition and living expenses, is $35 per per son. All inquiries about the School and applications for admission should be sent to Frank Shilston, Midland Cooperative Wholesale, 739 Johnson Street, Minneapolis. enter the war in an attempt to help de fend Finland would be futile," he said, "for the nations now involved in the war would turn Sweden into a battlefield al most over night and the Swedish people would not even be able to continue the important economic aid they are giving Finland today." The Group Health Mutual and Group Health Association, sister cooperatives providing hospital care insurance, and ed ucation and promotion for the formation of local health cooperatives celebrated their first birthday with a membership of 2,774 families representing 6,000 indi viduals. 47 BOOK REVIEWS CO-OP LITERATURE * »tr MANIFESTO ON RURAL LIFE, National Catholic _ c. , Rural Life Conference, The Bruce Publish- * 5""/en' :ng Company, Milwaukee, Wis., 1939, Co-ops on the Campus, Bertram B. l owler .0., 222 pages, Cloth, $1.50; paper, $1.00 Camp,us Co-op». William Moore ........ .05 , >i-i->-r Handbook on .Student Co-ops, Based on This nook sums up Catholic social teacning the Findings of the I'aciuc Coast Con in regard to agriculture and rural life. Most ference of Student Cooperatives .............. .10 non-Catholics are still unaware of the com- • Novels and Biography prehensiveness of the social teaching of the rresll Furrow: Bun-is Jenkins (Special) .50 greatest church in Christendom. The document The Brave Years: Wm. jleyliger .................. 1.5(1 is divided into two parts: First is the Mam- My story, by Paddy the Cope, Co-ops in festo and the second is labelled "Annotations" Ireland .................................................................. 2.75 and consists of compilations of available data. • Textbooks on Cooperation In the Manifesto will be found statements in- Consumers, (Cooperatives, Julia E. Jolm- dicatmg how natural it is for Catholic social son, Debate Handbook .................................. JXl teaching to approve the principles and methods when You Buy, Trilling, Eberhart and of the cooperative movement. Also will be Nicholas, High school and college, two found the Catholic idea of the wide diffusion chapters 0,1 consumer cooperatives ...... 1.80 of the ownership of private property as ap- "SS^A ^l.^'^...™ 3.0. plied to the land. For Catholics the goal IS The Consllmers Cooperative as a Distrlbu- tarm ownership rather than tenancy. Exceed- tive Agency, Orin E. Burley ...................... 3.00 ingly enlightening is the foreword written by windows on the World, Kenneth Gould, Aloisius J. Muench, the Catholic Bishop of the high school text, one chapter on coop- Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, who displays eratlves ................................................................ 3.0» an awareness of the dynamic factors in agrarian • Cooperative Recreation life that can be matched by few churches in The Consumer Consumed, Josephine the United States. Johnson, a Puppet Play ................................ .05 BENSON Y LANDIS Cooperative Recreation, Carl Hutchinson, Research Secretary reprinted from The Annals.. ...................... .05 Federal Council of Churches Two One Act piays' Ellis C(>wli"K ----- •« The Answer, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling ...... .2(1 10TH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM, Northern States The Spider Web, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling .25 Women's Cooperative Guild, 46 pages; Education Through Recreation, L. P. 30 cents. Available through The Coopéra- Jacks •-—-———---—-———------•• 1-50 tive League Ijist °* recreational materials, songs, dances. ° " games, available from Cooperative Recreation Though probably no great shakes as liter- Service, Delaware, Ohio, ature, this booklet is a valuable memento of FILMS another milestone in the path of Cooperative ,.Tlle tord Uelps Those —Who Help Em* America. The Album" is just what its name other," « new 3 reel, 16 mm. film of the Novii implies, a picture album of the CCW area's Scotia ndiilt education and cooperative pro- women's organizations, with a simple and brief ^^lÄÄ S^ÄISi account of each Guild's activities, written by addition»! showings, $13.50 per week. the members themselves. -A House Without a Landlord," a new 2% Reprinting as its frontispiece the by now ^^^"^în^^o^^^ well known and meaningful drawing, The ..clas.tinK ,,„„„„„ ln mm. sllellt. two rt,el m,„ Woman With the Basket, the booklet shows, sliowins how cooperation is taught in Hie time and again, that it is indeed the fairer sex schools of France. Won the Grand Prize :i( whose support is vital to the success of a con- the International Exposition. Paris. 1837. sumers' co-op. The Guildswomen have circula- "When Mankind is willing:," a 10 mm slleni , j j -,. - • i i three-reel film. with English titles, or coop ted co-op papers, nursed ailing societies back erative smras. wholesales and factories in to health, sponsored cooperative education of France. themselves, their children, and their men- A Day With Kagawa, 3 reel, silent, 16 mm. folk and, in a thousand and one other ways, Kagawa and his co-ops In Japan, done their best to build the movement and keep *™acfa^Äht^Ä ^r wS it conscious or its social and economic arms. TT. AIL , 1 , ^ -I 1 POSTERS The Album shows that the Guilds are more o Iae cooperatives, 19"X28" ot an advance guard or the most interested Green, 5 for SI ................................................ .211 (the always faithful few) than a great mass Cooperative Principles, 10"x28" movement. Membership in the locals seems to Blue, a for $1 .................................................... .20 range from 10 to 50, but these 10 to 50 often Cooperative Ownership, 19"x28" are the mainsprings that keep the clock of Co- Mulberry. r> for $1 .......................................... .2d operative Education ticking in the locality. Consumer Ownership—Of, By and For fe ' the People, 10"x28", Red White-and- —ERICK KENDALL Blue. 5 fur $1 .................................................... .2» 48 Consumers' Cooperation i A What to Die For and How Editorial What to Do With Cooperative Savings A. J. Smaby Central Co-op Wholesale's Education Program fc. A. Whitney Who Does America's Saving? E. R. Bower The People's Yearbook: A Review George Tichenor Cooperation and Nationality: A Review Hedberg Tells Senators About Swedish Co-ops April 1940 * 41 ill CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS Annual Meeting, Central Cooperative Wholesale, Superior, Wisconsin, April 15-16. Fourteenth Annual Congress, Central States Cooperative League, and Third Annual Meeting of the Cooperative Wholesale, Inc., Fenway Hall Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio, April 27-29. Dedication of first co-op oil refinery in the United States, Phillipsburg, Kansas, May 4. Southeastern Conference on Adult Edu cation and Cooperatives, Piedmont Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, May 8-11. Regional Conference on Consumer Edu cation, George Peabody College, Nash ville, Tenn., May 17-18. Fifth Annual National Cooperative Rec reation School, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, June 14-26. Board of Directors of the Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Morrison, Chicago, Illinois, June 17- 18. Board of Directors of National Co operatives, Inc., Hotel Morrison, Chi- ! cage, June 19. (Annual Conference on Cooperative Edu cation and Publicity, Heidelberg Col- 1 lege, Tiffin, Ohio, June 25-28. Fourth Annual Tour of the Nova Scotia (' Cooperatives beginning with the Rural and Industrial Conference, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, August 12-14, and continuing with tour of cooperatives through August 24. Twelfth Annual Congress of the Co operative League of the U.S.A., Chi cago, Illinois, October 16-18. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C. Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. - Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES - - - r\ i Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n —_..„„_, _ _ Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Services Lans^ng, Michigan Farmers'Union Central Exchange " "' ' ":-- Grange Cooperative Wholesale - I'-.-- T7-.._ tl.. ———., !-„„„ Ac, Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. 118E. 28St.,N.Y. 116E. 16St.,N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington \jraIlgC VAAJ^CAttl.AV»_ vv »1U»_.JU»^ ___, , _ ^ Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Indianapolis, Ind. Midland Cooperative Wholesale *T~~~""—1:- A*;" National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative T* _ I__ ._ •_ T7_ ___ J3m,***„,, I Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. i*acnii. ouppiy VAA^«-*HI.IVV, .. ___. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n Harrisburg, Penn. "• - • f-J:—————i:- T~J United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT Central States Cooperative League Eastern Cooperative League Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild FRATERNAL Credit Union National Association LEAGUES 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 7218 So. Hoover St., Los Angeles, Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. Box 2000, Superior, Wisconsin MEMBERS Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY- DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. 4 APRIL. 1940 Ten Cents WANTED—A Free Price System We talk about a free enterprise system as the ideal. It would be still better- to talk of a free price system. What we have today is a controlled price system— an administered price system, as the economists say—insofar as private profit business can make it so—exactly the opposite of what the apologists for profit business orate about. Willis J. Ballinger, Economic Adviser to the Federal Trade Commission, thus indicts controlled prices before the Temporary National Economic Com mittee: "The failure of controlled prices to follow the falling market in 1930 was apparently a factor in prolonging and deepening the collapse of production and employment. Artificially high prices appear to have been a factor in the unwholesome lack of buying power that has so long interfered with recovery. "The fact appears to be established that price and production controls, set up in the hope of obtaining larger profits at the expense of the business system as a whole, have succeeded in so poisoning the whole system as to defeat even their own purpose. A cancer may live successfully at the expense of the body of its victim until it kills the body and dies with it." Lower prices are the key to prosperity for ALL. Lower prices distribute purchasing power widely. Lower prices prevent excess savings in the hands of the few. The Federal Trade Commission calls for lower prices. Fortune maga zine calls for lower prices. The National Resources Committee shows that high prices cause two-thirds of the consumer units to go in the hole and only 7% to do all the net saving. An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S.A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City. E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. i'l The moral is—non-profit cooperatives are the only means of bringing about lower prices—profit business will not lower prices voluntarily—a democratic government cannot lower prices. Organize cooperatives, which are the only free price system! WHAT TO DIE FOR AND HOW Easter Day brings thoughts to all of the meaning of life and death. These are some thoughts for cooperators written on Easter Day. The main question for all of us, according to John Ruskin, is "What is a man's due occasion of death? For, truly, the man who does not know when to die, does not know how to live." , • Men die blindly. The classic example was celebrated by the poem describing the battlefield "with cannons to the left, of them, cannons to the right of them, cannons in front of them." Yet in the face of certain death "theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die." And they died because of the blind orders of a blundering leader. Men die for mistaken causes. On a simple stone in a wall at the Lexington bridge appears this tragic memorial to the Hessians, "They came 3,000 miles and died to keep the past upon the throne." Many a man has died for a lost cause. Men die for truth. Freedom has always been the great battle cry which has lured men on. The French have phrased the world's greatest battle slogan "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity." Others live for truth and die in part daily, as well as risking sudden death. The world is thinking more and more of following the example of the man whose name is remembered with high honor on Easter Day. Some early American immigrants like William Penn proved that they could deal with native American Indians by peaceful methods far better than others could and did by violence. Eamon de Valera, Ireland's Prime Minister of Freedom, "thinks it wiser when dealing with the English to plant ideas rather than bombs," so Time says. Inspired by the great Russian writer Tolstoi, the Indian leader Gandhi has demon strated that the power of non-violence is greater than that of violence. More and more men are saying today "I may not be able to keep from being killed, but I can and will keep myself from killing another" as the man did whose life is honored on Easter. War today has even lost its primary bravery as well as its effectiveness in finally settling anything. Men who are grown and are responsible for the wars do not go to war themselves but cowardly send their sons to die for them and then parade with gold star badges and weep maudlin tears over their sacrifices, when it is their sons who have done the sacrificing while their fathers saved their skins. (There are no political implications in the following quotation—it is simply the best recent illustration we have heard) : The Country Gentleman in cluded in a story about John N. Garner that, after voting to declare war, he -went home and called in his boy and "this was the substance of the conversation that followed : 'Son, how do you feel about this war we declared today ?' 'I want to go, Dad.' 'Hell, it isn't a matter of wanting to go. You're going.' " We will never forget the reporter's description of brushing the snow off the 50 Consumers' Cooperation agonizing face and twisted body of a Russian lad frozen to death doubled up with his hands clasped around his fractured knee. "The soldier's trade, verily and essentially, is not slaying, but being slain," says Ruskin in "Unto This Last," which every cooperator should own and read and reread. We honor the soldier because of this ultimate fact that "put him in a fortress breach, with all the pleasures of the world behind him, and only death and duty in front of him, he will keep his face to the front." Perhaps it is true that "the dead do not die in vain" under any circumstances. It may be true that they "will not sleep while poppies grow." It may well be that the dead do stir the consciences of oncoming generations to greater action. If this be so, then may the dead the world over respond to the Irish poet's appeal, "Arise ye dead of Ireland and rouse her living men." For the physically living men of the world are yet largely spiritually and mentally dead to the causes and remedies of the poverty around them and need badly to be aroused to far greater efforts. Building cooperatives is a matter of life and death today—death to all the precious heritages of liberty and equality, in so far as they have been realized, if we do not build a cooperative economy—life to a far greater degree if we do. Let's live and die at this job, rather than in some futile fight for world domi nation. TO THE MEN WHO BUILT THE FIRST COOPERATIVE REFINERY IN THE U.S.A. c D R E. R. Bowen (Inspired by reading the "Special Refinery Issue of Cooperative Consumer" and the folder "Factories Are Free" published by Consumers Cooperative Association, North Kansas City, M.o. Copies of both will be mailed free to anyone who writes for them direct.) My father was born near the Western terminus of the Erie canal in New York. That was as far West as his father ever lived. Seeming lack of opportunity from overcrowding and Horace Greeley's advice "Go West, Young Man, Go West" induced my father and one of his brothers to emigrate Westward. Like Herbert Quick's story of Vandermark's Folly, they drove ox or cow teams Westward and "found the trail they wanted or cut it with an axe." Their Westward trek ended in Iowa, where I was born in a log house on a farm half forest and half prairie. My father traveled farther West only to invest in new land when he sold his Iowa farm. That investment, I might add, while returning interest during the war years, has had to be underwritten in recent years and the constant question is whether or not it would not be better to "let the insurance company take the farm for the mortgage". It is only a deep hatred of the ultimate results of such an outcome and not practical business sense which has prevented our family answering the question in the affirmative. I chose as the subject of my graduation oration "Go West, Young Man, Go West", and still feel that it was surprisingly prophetic that I then declared that there was no longer the need and opportunity of going West in physical develop ment, but that there was need and opportunity of going West in social organi zation. Yet while I have not had a home farther West than my father did, I did go farther West in the sense that I spent a quarter century of my life building and selling 40-horse-power steam engines and gas tractors which pulled behind them April, 1940 51 10 gang plows and broke up the prairies of the Southwest and Northwest by thousands and ten thousands of acres. Then came the "dawn of the cold grey morning after". Never had I realized except vaguely that I was a party to a great sin, both physical and social. Physic ally we know now that much Western land never should have felt the sharp edge of the rolling coulter and the cold steel of the share and moldboard that lay the sod over in ribbons a mile long as straight as an arrow. Socially I began to awaken to the fact that the sons and grandsons of the two brothers who had harkened to the siren call of the West were being beaten financially—on the farm, in retail business, in wholesaling and in manufacturing, for we had spread out into every walk of farming and business life. It has been your fault as well as mine, and thé fault of society as a whole, that we have blindly given away our heritage for a mess of pottage in the gamble of private-profits. The financial fellows in the LaSalle streets and the Wall streets, who took Barney Baruch's advice to "get into the profit side of business", rather than Horace Greeley's advice to "Go West", held all the winning cards and we never even won temporarily. Cooperators ought to know by heart the poem of Charlotte Perkins Oilman "The Lost Game." The opening and closing verses read: "Came the big children to the little ones, And unto them full pleasantly did say, 'Lo! we have spread for you a merry game, And ye shall all be winners at the same. Come now and play!" "But those rich players grew so very few, So many grew the poor ones, that one day They rose up from that table—they rose and cried In one great voice that shook the heavens wide, 'WE WILL NOT PLAY!' " You who have built the first co-op refinery have served notice on the U.S.A. and the World that you will not play the losing game of private-profits in petro leum products any longer. For the first time in history the farmers and workers of the Missouri Valley have determined to garner all the oily fruits of their labors for themselves and their families—the retail fruits, the wholesale fruits and now the processing and transportation fruits. May you go on in your pioneering to also garner together cooperatively for yourselves and your children, and not for the enrichment and ruination of a few other people and their children to the last generation, the final fruits of petroleum production, as well as of transporta tion, processing and distribution. The greatest conservation program needed on the prairies of the West is the concentration in your own pockets by cooperative organization of the golden wealth which grows above the ground and the liquid wealth below the ground which the prairies produce. Thus you will honor your selves and your generation; you will help to finally absolve the two great social sins of poverty and war for which our generation is so deeply responsible; and, when you are gathered to your physically pioneering fathers, your children and grandchildren will forever remember you and declare in story and song that you were equally as great cooperative organization pioneers as your fathers before you were great physical development pioneers. 52 Consumers' Cooperation WHAT TO DO WITH COOPERATIVE SAVINGS EACH year cooperative directors, man agers, and members are asked to de cide this question: "What shall we do with the savings?" This is probably the most important decision to be made all year as it has a decided effect on the financial soundness and stability of a cooperative. Before an intelligent de cision can be made it is necessary that those who are asked to make the de cision understand thoroughly the financial needs of a cooperative. What are these financial needs? The Organization of a Co-op Let us go back to the organization of a co-op and see what usually happens. We find many people who are willing to patronize a cooperative, but who are not willing, or in a position, to invest money to provide the necessary capital so that the cooperative can operate properly. In organizing a cooperative it is difficult for the average group to sell enough stock, although they have been told how much capital is necessary. They find after con siderable effort that it is going to take too long to raise the amount needed to provide them with even the minimum amount of capital to carry on their routine activities over and above their investment in necessary facilities. They are apt to get impatient and want to start their co operative before they have raised the amount necessary. As a result the co operative is under-capitalized from the beginning. How Much Capital Is Necessary? First consider how much capital is necessary. To make easy figuring let us put the par value of a share of stock at $10. Many people seem to think that if they purchase one share of stock they have done their bit, and have provided their proportionate share of facilities, in- April, 1940 A. J. Smaby Midland Cooperative Wholesale ventory, etc. necessary in order that they may be served properly by the association. But in order to have only the minimum amount of capital needed, a cooperative should have sufficient paid-in capital to pay for its fixed assets and its current requirements for the low period of the year. By current requirements is meant the Accounts Receivable and Inventory. This, of course, is by no means sufficient as it does not provide for the additional receivables and inventory that will be carried during the peak season of the year. Let us take as an illustration a co operative which has just begun, such as the average cooperative oil association. You will find the investment at the start is approximately $4,000 in Fixed Assets, $2,000 in Inventory, and there is perhaps $1,000 in Accounts Receivable, after a month or two of operations. These fig ures are conservative, and make a total of $7,000. The average cooperative asso ciation rarely gets more than 200 mem bers at the beginning. If each of these members invests only $10 they will have a paid-in capital stock of $2,000. The minimum requirements total $7,000 which makes it necessary for this co operative to get credit in some form in the amount of $5,000. By accepting this credit the ownership of the cooperative passes from the hands of those who should have it, and with the passing of the ownership also passes the control. This simple illustration shows why it is so important that earnings be properly disposed of. It also shows that instead of investing $10, each member should have invested $35 in order to give his cooperative the minimum amount of capital needed. A Condensed Balance Sheet Helpful Since cooperatives are usually under financed at the time of organization, it 53 becomes very important that proper dis position be made of earnings. As already pointed out, it is necessary for those people who decide what disposition is to be made to understand a balance sheet thoroughly, and from that balance sheet to be able to determine the financial needs. It should always be remembered that in building capital there are only two possible sources from which capital can be derived: from savings, and from the sale of shares of stock. The average member of a cooperative is not well enough versed in accounting to be able to analyze the balance sheets which are presented to him. For this reason it is important that simplified WHAT WE OWN. 1. CASH ...................................................... $ 300 2. (a) Receivables ...... $1,000 ] (b) Inventory ............ 3,000 [ (c) Investments ...... 500 J 3. FACILITIES .................................... 4,000 $8,800 You will notice immediately that this simplified balance sheet is unorthodox as compared with the accepted form of balance sheet. It is divided into three parts, each of these parts being numbered, and each having a direct relation to the others. The balance sheet should be read: Cash equal to Payables and Savings; Re serves equal to Receivables, Inventory and Investments; Capital and Mortgages equal to Facilities. • Presenting the Condensed Balance Sheet In studying this condensed balance sheet, keep in mind, first, that its main purpose is to show how much capital is needed and to show the folly of attempt- 54 balance sheets be presented to members and that they be thoroughly explained so that the members will understand the condition of their cooperative. The simplified balance sheet shown below is not only easily understood, but it sets up definite requirements and a goal that every cooperative should strive to reach. This condensed balance sheet is the re sult of the combined efforts of Mr. E. R. Bowen, Secretary of the Cooperative League of the U.S.A., Mr. Hans Lahti, Manager of the Cooperative Auditing Service, Minneapolis, and the writer. If this pattern is followed no cooperative will pay out savings in the form of a cash patronage dividend until it is in a position to do so. WHAT WE OWE. Equal to 1. { * Payables $2,500 ^ I b. Savings 2,000 4,500 Equal to 2. Reserves.. $4,500 300 Equal to 3. | f- CaPital $2'°°° ^ | b. Mortgages 2,000 4,000 $8,800 ing to pay cash patronage dividends be fore an association is in a position to do so. Why do we say that Cash should equal first of all Payables and secondly Savings before a cooperative is adequately financed? In order to be adequately financed, a cooperative should have suffi cient cash on hand to pay off, first, all of its Payables, and, secondly, its Earnings. If a cooperative does not have sufficient cash on hand to pay what it owes it cer tainly is in no position to pay out a cash patronage dividend. However, entirely too often we find cooperatives doing this very thing, and as a result the financial condition of the cooperative is not improved as quickly .' Consumers' Cooperation as it should be. If a cooperative intends to pay out its savings in cash before it has the actual cash to do so it is simply borrowing money in order to pay a cash patronage dividend, and that is the most idiotic thing any cooperative can do. Secondly, we say that the Reserves should equal the Receivables, the Inven tories and the Investments. Again you may ask the question, "Why do we set up such a requirement?" First of all, What are Reserves? Reserves are funds taken from the earnings and set aside for possible losses or contingencies which may arise in the future, also for the pur chase or replacement of equipment which is worn out or obsolete. However, we want you to keep in mind one other point in regard to Reserves in connection with this simplified balance sheet. Reserves are usually interest-free capital, and that is our main purpose for saying that Re serves should be built up to equal Ac counts Receivable, Inventories and In vestments. We believe that the asset items mentioned should be covered by interest-free capital as these items cer tainly on the whole are not interest pay ing items, and do not bring a return to the patrons. On the contrary, Receiv ables and Inventories which are the two big items in this group are expense items. It costs a great deal of money to do a credit business, and we feel that when members desire to do a credit busi ness they should be willing to furnish the cooperative with sufficient interest- free capital to carry their own Receiv ables. Statistics show that it costs from 12 to 32% a year to carry an inventory, depending on the number of turn-overs during the year. Since this inventory belongs to all the members, we feel that it is only logical to ask the members to furnish interest-free capital to carry their own inventories. Thirdly, we say that Capital should be equal to Facilities. You may wonder why we have included^ Mortgages with Capital. Many cooperatives have mort gages, and we feel that they should be April, 1940 shown but should not be shown with current payables. Perhaps it is asking too much for a cooperative to have suffi cient cash on hand, always, to pay off all its obligations. We want to show it as a definite obligation that should be met, but first of all the current payables should be paid. As long as we have mortgages, therefore, we could handle this in either of two ways. When a mortgage is given, the cooperative giving the mortgage gives away equity in its facilities equal to the amount of the mortgage. If we show the Facilities at the full amount, and there is a mortgage against those Facili ties, we must include Mortgages with Capital. To get rid of all mortgages and have Capital equal to Facilities should be the goal. In other words, we should have enough Capital to pay for what we invest in the Facilities, or Fixed Assets, as they are more commonly called. How Would You Vote? If, as a member of a local cooperative, you were presented with the above analysis of a balance sheet, what would you vote to do with the savings? There is only one logical thing to do, and that is to dispose of the savings by issuing Capital Stock to the members for their particular part of the savings, and putting part of it, at least, into Reserves. As al ready mentioned, many cooperatives with a balance sheet such as the one shown above are attempting to pay out cash patronage dividends. We believe the main reason they are doing so is because they do not know any better. Another reason, perhaps, is because Cooperation has been sold on the dividend idea, rather than on the ownership and control idea. The savings of a cooperative should be used first to get that cooperative out of debt so that its members will have complete ownership and complete control of their organization. Should Savings be used for expansion into other commodities? The answer to that is definitely "Yes". In order to grow and prosper, a cooperative should 55 continually expand, but it should not stock, or they refuse to leave their Sav- expand until it has the money to do so. ings. Expansion on this basis means 11 '-- --•—--- r J -----—*-'—— ——•-'—- that the association will find itself under- Many times we find cooperatives starting out handling one or two commodities, with sufficient capital to carry on their business, and pay cash patronage divi dends. The members become so divi dend-minded that it is almost impossible to get them to leave the Savings from their current purchases to provide them selves with other services. Therefore, if this cooperative program is to grow financed, for it cannot hope to do a larger business on the same amount of capital. Let us use this slogan, "Use cooperative Savings for expansion, and do not ex pand until you have the money with which to do it. Over-expansion is just as bad, and possibly worse than under- When a cooperative dollar _ _ expansion. and prosper, the members must be willing js Spread too thin, the "movement is to leave their Savings in the cooperative jeopardized. to provide themselves with additional services. As a cooperative takes on ad ditional commodities and provides addi tional services, the financial requirements increase. The history of cooperatives shows that once they begin operation they usually discontinue selling shares of stock. Be cause of this, only one other possible source of capital remains, and that is Savings. Many times we find a co operative that wishes to expand, but at the same time the members refuse to In conclusion, let us summarize: First, cooperative Savings should be used to build the financial structure of the co operative movement in order to regain ownership and control of business. Sec ondly, cooperative Savings should be used for expansion in order to provide the additional services which are needed. (EDITOR'S NOTE: To make this article most effective get a copy of the balance sheet of your cooperative association and reread the article using your balance sheet as an illustration. What should be done with the savings of your Cooperative ? ) furnish additional Capital by purchasing A Complete Program of Cooperative Education HIGHLIGHTS OF CENTRAL COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE'S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM E. A. Whitney, Educational Director Central Cooperative Wholesale AN educational department has been least, the junior groups for our little maintained by the Central Coop- tots. They are the tools that we work erative ' Wholesale since 1920, three with. years after its inception. It now consists of a nine man department, five in the home office and four resident educational fieldmen. The latter were hired in 1939- We have found that our educational program will function only to the ex tent that there is an active local group in each community, ready to carry out the plans. For this reason we place much importance on our co-operative auxiliary the educational commit- The guilds and clubs, consisting of 78 local groups, have a total membership of 2,000. The youth league organization increased its membership over 100 per cent during the last year, from 430 to 1,100. Educational committees now function in most of the member and patron societies. Minute books have been furnished them, with instructions to for ward carbon copies to our office each month. This improves meeting regularity organizations. tees, the women's guilds, co-operative and keeps us posted on the local projects. clubs, youth leagues, and last but not Usually composed of delegates from the 56 Consumers' Cooperation Board, membership, employees, guild or club, youth league, etc., they constitute an excellent planning committee for all local educational and publicity work. Our co-operative press is doing a con sistent job of hammering away at co operative education 52 weeks in the year. All these factors make up the machinery for moving our- educational program ahead. Our School Program Development of a school program was one of the first functions of the educa tional department, today it is our most complete branch of activity. Our biggest school project each year is the Ten-week Management. Training School. This was initiated in 1918, with a one-week book keeping institute. The following year a four-week management school was held with 40 students in attendance. It is now estimated that in the twenty-one years about 600 students have had this training. Another annual school event of much importance is the four-week Youth Courses, for young people 18 years of age and up. About 45 students are ac commodated each year at the Northern Wisconsin Co-operative Park, located on the famous Brule River about 35 miles from Superior. Intensive training is given in economics and social theory, co-opera tive history and principles, organization and administration, public speaking, par liamentary practice, organized recreation, sports, and discussion group work. These schools have been invaluable in training our youth for co-operative work. Most of our present day functionaries have re ceived their early training at these Youth Courses. Summer Institutes of one and two-week duration, are arranged by the district fed erations each year. These are a combina tion of recreation and study, having sometimes as many as 68 students at one school. Many are adults, usually co-oper ative employees, but each year these in stitutes have become more popular with the youth. The Children's Summer Camps, for the Junior groups, often April, 1940 have as many as 125 youngsters at a two-week school. About 900 attended such a camp in 1939. The latest developments in our school program are the Directors' Classes and Employees' Circuit Schools. Lectures on problems of Board members are arranged for about three evenings in each com munity to prospective as well as present Board members, with actual test papers passed out after lectures are completed. These classes have become very popular with the membership. Special emphasis should be placed on well-planned employee training. Consid er the difference in results between an employee who is just another clerk, and one who considers his security and suc cess a result of how well he can do a CO-OPERATIVE JOB in his community. In order to get more of the latter type, the Central Co-operative Wholesale ini tiated employees' circuit schools in the year of 1938. Department heads quali fied to lecture on merchandising, product information, Co-op label program, gov ernment grading, meet with the employ ees from several co-operatives at a central point in each district. About 500 em ployees have been contacted each year. Correspondence Courses to prepare students for our Management Training Schools are being discussed. As a supple ment to the National Recreational School, a short Institute on Recreational Leadership is planned for 1940. Neighborhood Discussion Groups The outstanding project during 1939 was initiating "group study for action" through the organization of Neighbor hood Discussion Groups. At the quar terly planning meeting with our auxiliary groups, we resolved to organize 250 neighborhood discussion groups by April 1, 1940. We had seen that guilds, clubs, and youth leagues draw the most active co-operators into their ranks, but the rest of the membership is often for gotten. Through neighborhood discussion groups, however, the whole membership can be brought into actual participation 57 in cô-operative education. After a year or two of discussion group practice, it should not be a difficult task to get these people interested in our permanent auxil iary groups. Thus the discussion group program can be used for a two-fold pur pose, to get participation of the general membership in educational activity, and to increase the membership of our regu lar co-operative auxiliary organizations. In this program we have used our dis trict educational fieldmen, our education al committees, guilds, clubs and youth leagues, with the result that we now have about 308 groups receiving materials monthly and reporting back to our of fice. The guilds, clubs, and youth leagues have registered under the plan, so actually we are sending out materials to over 400 groups. They use the out lines at their monthly meetings, by breaking up into study groups, and re porting back into general meeting for a review of their findings. Reports from them indicate that this plan is adding lively interest to educational meetings. Spring conferences will be held in each district for discussion groups where materials will be reviewed, technique discussed, and plans made for summer activity. Groups will be encouraged to meet through the summer months, either in recreational work, outings, or picnics. Well over the top before April 1st, and more groups being organized each week, the success of the discussion group pro gram has been entirely satisfactory. Miscellaneous Projects Educational committees will not func tion unless they learn what their tasks are and how they can carry them out. In order to accomplish this, we initiated Educational Committee Conferences two years ago, with such success that they will be an annual affair. In an effort to reach the general pub lic through the radio, weekly Radio Pro grams have been sponsored since 1936, usually a 15-minute broadcast for 26 consecutive weeks. At present, we are dis cussing a daily five minute broadcast of 58 world news and consumer information, with short commercials. Recordings have been made of model programs, which are being "sampled" at meetings of lo cal societies and district federations. If the reaction is favorable, we may be on the air five days a week next year. In our trading area we have an average radio audience of two million. Surely it is well to approach this army of unorganized consumers through a consistent reminder of the advantages possible through co operative trading. Regarding publicity work, we cannot overlook our "Co-op Month" activities. Several years ago the Cooperative League set aside October of each year as Co operative Month. We have made use of this from the beginning to good advan tage through large public meetings and entertainments of an educational nature. During last October, we supplied Co-op Month committees with 14,000 special leaflets which were distributed at these affairs in addition to other general litera ture. It is the highspot of the year among our member and patron societies in re spect to well-planned educational and publicity work. The use of visual education has in creased each year with the growth of a library of Co-operative Films. The film, "The Lord Helps Those" has met with success and created a definite demand for more material. At present we are placing the finishing touches on our own film of the "CCW Family" which we expect to have cut and titled in time for a premier showing at our forthcoming annual meeting, April 15, and 16. This film will be a travelogue picture of mem ber and patron societies, personnel, shots of CCW buildings, departments, and activities. Background scenes consist of the mines, harvest fields, fishing, lumber ing, and other industries from which the membership of our area makes its liv ing. Why not learn from ourselves, by dramatizing the work that we are doing? This can be done effectively by films and it does not necessarily require expert Consumers' Cooperation workmanship either. If the subject mat ter is near and dear, it will sell itself in the rough. District Meetings called by the CCW for discussing our current projects are held annually and looked forward to by local Boards of Directors, employees, and educational committees. Total attendance, which keeps increasing each year, was over 800 at the last group of meetings, held in December, 1939- When June, July, and August make their appearance, you will meet most of our educational functionaries in their best oratorical air at Summer Festivals or Picnics. These festivals have a tremendous social and cultural value, with attendance often reaching six or seven thousand at a single affair. People learn about co-op eration between hot dogs and ice cream. It works ! ! Just a word about Quarterly Planning Conferences. The educational department calls in the editors of our co-operative press, sales department representatives, guild, youth league and junior group secretaries and executive committees to discuss annual educational plans. The re sult is a joint program worked out in conference, and an enthusiastic group to carry it out. Everyone helps to push a program of which they feel themselves to be a definite part. Organizational Work The Organization of New Co-opera- t'tves is an essential part of our educa tional program. We furnish them with the proper forms for share subscriptions, articles and by-laws, etc. However, they must solicit the share capital • themselves. Because of this work the CCW family is growing each year. During 1939 there were 10 new member organizations that earned a full share. At present approxi mately 50 organizations are earning shares through patronage. In addition to organizational work, advice is given in store arrangement, re modeling, and building, estimates, and architectural plans. A Uniform Store Front Design was approved last year, April, 1940 which appeared in the September 2nd issue of the Cooperative Builder. This has already been used by many co-opera tives that remodeled or constructed new buildings in 1939. District Educational Fieldmen The latest addition to our educational machinery is the' Resident Educational Fieldmen. Our trading area is divided in to four educational districts, with a full- time man for each. The estimated annual budget for this work is about $12,000, to be paid for by the CCW and the mem ber societies on a 50-50 basis. The men were hired jointly by the CCW and the district federations; their program has been worked out in a like manner. This teamwork between the wholesale and the federations should make the project work able. Worked out at a recent conference with them, the main functions of the resident educational fieldmen include circulation of our Co-op press and litera ture; attendance at membership meet ings; success of neighborhood discussion groups; keep educational committees functioning; guilds, clubs, and youth leagues functioning; work with credit unions; stimulation of federation activi ties; general organizational progress; CCW patronage loyalty from local so cieties; employees' meetings, managers' meetings, etc. Some Other General Services Speaking engagements and officiating at educational functions of member and patron societies are unusually heavy. A check-up revealed that 487 such affairs had been attended by the CCW educa tional staff during 1939. This is almost two engagements for each work day, which means that two men from the CCW home office staff (mostly Educa tional Department) are out in the dis trict every day of the year at some co operative affair. Translation of Materials is a consider able task with us, as much of our edu cational work is still in the Finnish lan- 59 guage. This means two sets of materials, correspondence, and even actual plans, in some respect. Legal and Legislative Work are a part of our dudes. We prepare articles and by-laws for newly organized societies, as well as amendments for established or ganizations. Legislation is watched, and strategy planned together with other co operatives in the Northwest. Other rou tine matters and services, not important enough to mention, are numerous, and go a long way in helping to bring about a well-rounded program of co-operative educational service. And What of the Future? An educational program that is alive to the needs of its membership will con tinue to expand. Each year we shall find that some new service is necessary. As a co-operative structure grows, its re sponsibility towards its membership and the community is increased a hundred fold. It means living a co-operative life not only in buying and selling goods, but in our civic and cultural life as well. This is already evident in many com munities where larger co-operatives are located. It is up to us to provide our communities not only with a better meth od of distribution and production, but with a sane and sound ideological lead ership as well. If cooperative educational work continues to expand, never seeming to be quite as complete as it should, it is only because co-operators are called upon to do that work which will seme day unite all men together in common effort for their mutual good. WHO DOES AMERICA'S SAVING? E. R. Bowen CONSUMER EXPENDITURES IN THE UNITED STATES, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 50c. A number of years ago Justice Bran- deis indicated in one of his famous dissenting opinions, in which he was usually only ahead of the thinking of the times, that the concentration of cor porate dividends and individual sav ings were both going on rapidly to gether. We have recently reviewed "Divi dends to Pay" by E. D. Kennedy, which is based on the U. S. Treasury Statistics of Income, and shows graphically the increasing concentration of corporate dividends. This new statistical study by the industrial committee of the National Resources Committee now shows graph ically the concentration of individual sav ings. They are two companion publica tions which should be in every coopera tive leader's and every cooperative asso ciation's library. The statistics cover the year 1935-36. The lower one-third of American con sumers had an income of $6,000,000,- 60 000; the middle one-third, $14,000,000,- 000; 26% of the upper one-third, $20,- 000,000,000 and the top 7%, $18,000,- 000,000. The lower one-third of Ameri can consumers, or those receiving incomes under $780 per year, went in the hole to the tune of $1,207,000,000. The mid dle third, or those with incomes from $780 to $1,450, went in the hole by $252,000,000. The lower and middle thirds together, or 66.6% of all consumer units, did not break even by $1,459,- 000,000. 26.4% of the upper third, or those with incomes from $1,450 to $3,000 saved $1,531,000,000, or only a little more than the lower and middle 66.6% lost. These are so nearly the same amounts that we can cross the sav ings off against the losses and add the total number of consumer units together and say that 93% of all American con sumer units, or those -with incomes under $3,000, only broke even in 1935-36 The total amount of savings was $5,- 978,000,000, of which the upper 7% saved $5,906,000,000, or practically all. Consumers' Cooperation Each L This was also nearly the same amount as the total income which the lower one-third received. Almost half of the total savings, or $2,833,000,000 were saved by one-half of one per cent of the consumer units, or those receiving incomes of over $15,000. An American mis sionary to India, Sam Higginbotham, says that every American should ask himself or herself the ques tion, "What am I doing to help the poor?" Since 93% of the people do not save anything at all as a whole, it would seem even more applicable for the 93% to ask themselves the question, "What am I doing to help myself and others to keep from being poor?" Since so many of the people are poor, it is high time we should take up our beds and walk. We haven't been able to pull ourselves up out of poverty by organizing as producers. We are unable FAMILY INCOMES, LOSS &. SAVINGS #1,000,000,000 THEIR LOSS + THEIR LOSS = THEIR SAVINGS to do so as political citizens, even with all our efforts to establish a national minimum. Why then not try organizing as consumers? The degree to which we exert ourselves in consumer cooperative organizations is likewise the degree to which we determine not to be poor any more. The government is doing a good job in furnishing us with the statistics to arouse ourselves, but it is up to us as consumers in a democracy to act in or ganizing ourselves for self-help, rather than depending upon state-help. HEDBERG TELLS SENATORS SECRETS OF SUCCESS OF SWEDISH CO-OPS ANDERS HEDBERG, secretary for •**- International Questions of Koop- erativa Forbundet, self-styled "Inter national Errand Boy" of cooperatives in Sweden, has earned the title of educator extraordinaire for the American coop erative movement during his brief so journ here. Mr. Hedberg is in the United States to act as official, representative of the Swedish cooperatives in the event the war in Europe should spread to the April, 1940 Scandinavian Peninsula or cut off the Swedish cooperatives from direct contact with their American sources of supply. As Mr. Hedberg has phrased his mission, "I was sent here with the hope that I should have nothing at all to do." While normal contacts with Sweden are being maintained, Mr. Hedberg is studying American methods of distribu tion and acting as "good neighbor of the American cooperatives." 61 On March 12, Mr. Hedberg appearing before the Senate sub-committee hearings on the Norris Bill revealed a new aspect of the battle between the Swedish co operatives and the trusts. He told how Kooperativa Forbundet entered the trusti fied electric light bulb field and lowered prices of 60 watt bulbs from 37 to 22 cents. Asked by Senator George W. Norris, "Why did the trusts not under cut the cooperatives?" Mr. Hedberg re plied, "Because we have 49 diversified departments which include home supplies, such as food and clothing, and farm sup plies such as implements. Closing one department would not seriously affect Kooperativa Forbundet." One of the key points at issue in regard to the Norris Amendments to the Farm Credit Acts, is the practicability of the cooperatives han dling both home and farm supplies. The present act limits the field of activity of cooperatives borrowing through the Farm Credit Administration. Later in that same week, Anders Hed berg told a group of Senators and Repre sentatives gathered at the Unemployment Conference of Congressmen that one of the reasons for the success of the Swedish cooperatives is that "the last illiterate in Sweden died several generations ago." Mr. Hedberg pointed out that the success of the Swedish cooperatives stem med from the introduction of the Folk School method of the Danish people, which was eventually supplemented by a nation-wide system of study clubs. "If you had educational groups established on a comparable basis in the United States," Mr. Hedberg said, "there would be 240,000 study circles in constant oper ation and more than two million of your people would be participating in them." "There is no magic in what the Swed ish people have done," Mr. Hedberg de clared, "and there is no obstacle in Amer ica which prevents you from attacking unemployment and other problems with the unfailing weapon of training and en couraging people to think. We developed 62 the most important economic attack on unemployment through the cooperatives which now act as a positive barrier against monopolies and their extortionate prices," Mr. Hedberg told the Congressmen. Mr. Hedberg was guest at a spedal luncheon arranged in his honor by the executive committee of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce while he was in Washing ton. Mr. Hedberg represents the Swed ish cooperatives on the Permanent Com mittee on , Distribution of the Interna tional Chamber of Commerce. He also spoke before a special lunch eon of the alumni of the Harvard Grad uate School of Business Administration in New York City. When executives of the American co operatives gathered in Chicago for the quarterly meetings of the Board of Di rectors of the Cooperative League of the U.S.A., and National Cooperatives, Inc.; and for the Publicity and Education Com mittee of the Cooperative League, Mr. Hedberg participated in the meetings, commenting from time to time on the Swedish methods of dealing with the particular problems under discussion. Mr. Hedberg told the editors and educational directors that the discussion group method of education was the most important of the many educational under takings now being conducted by the Swedish cooperatives and that he felt that the present growth of discussion groups in the American cooperative move ment to be an important guarantor of the success of the movement. "Traveling the Middle Way in Sweden" Harmon Foundation, in cooperation with The Cooperative League, has just completed a 16 mm. silent motion pic ture with the above title. Two of its six reels are devoted to life in Sweden; two to consumer co-ops; and two to marketing cooperatives. Rental: $1.50 per reel, black and white; $2.50 per reel in color. For in formation write The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York City. Consumers' Cooperation CO-OP DIRECTORS APPROVE WASHINGTON OFFICE- SET DATES FOR BIENNIAL CONGRESS /COOPERATIVE executives, meeting >^> in Chicago for a full week of con ferences, March 18-22, made several im portant decisions affecting the policy of the American cooperative movement. The Board of Directors of the Coop erative 'League formally authorized its executive committee to employ the per sonnel necessary to establish a research and information office in Washington. A special committee was appointed to survey the possibilities of a program of national cooperative life insurance. The Board also set the dates for the 12th Biennial Congress of the Coop erative League of the USA which will be held in Chicago, October 16-17-18. The Central States Cooperative League and Wholesale, and the Cooperative Union of Chicago will act as hosts to the Congress. Since Congresses are held only once every two years, the Chicago Congress will also serve as a 25th anniversary celebration commemorating the founding of the Cooperative League in March, 1916. National Cooperatives, Inc., at its quarterly meeting immediately following the meetings of the Board of the Coop erative League, established itself as an in ternational business federation of coopera tives by ratifying the membership of its second Canadian co-op wholesale, Sas katchewan Cooperative Wholesale of Saskatoon, Canada. The United Farmers Cooperative, Ontario, Canada was ad mitted to membership a year earlier. Howard A. Cowden, secretary-treasurer of National Cooperatives reported that the co-op wholesale associations affiliated with National Cooperatives handled $48,- 708,823 worth of business for member co-ops last year. These- regional federa tions serve 2,050 retail cooperative asso ciations with 744,562 patron members. April, 1940 The total membership figures are some what higher since membership statistics were not then available for Eastern Co operative Wholesale, Indiana Farm Bu reau Cooperative Association or the Saskatchewan Cooperative Wholesale which together serve another 100,000 members. Officers of National Cooperatives elected for the coming year are: I. H. Hull, of the Indiana Farm Bureau Co operative Association, president; A. J. Hayes, of Central Co-op Wholesale, chairman of the Board; Joe Nolan, of the Farmers Union Central Exchange, vice president; Howard A. Cowden of Consumers Cooperative Association, secretary-treasurer; and Stanley Colburn manager of National Cooperatives, assist ant secretary-treasurer. Editors and educational directors of the regional cooperatives affiliated with the Cooperative League held a two-day ses sion March 21 and 22, discussing edu cation and publicity methods. Particular attention was devoted to the growth of discussion groups, motion pictures, syndi cated news services, and publicity policy affecting public questions outside of the cooperative movement. The Publicity and Education Commit tee also drew up plans for the June con ference to be held at Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, June 25-28. A full-day • session of the conference will consider the question "What can we do to bring the farm and city together through eco nomic cooperation?" Other sessions wiil be devoted to the most effective methods of publicity and adult education for the cooperative movement. The conference will be open to teachers and college pro fessors, religious, farm, labor, and gen eral adult education leaders interested in methods of cooperative education. 63 I BOOK REVIEWS THE PEOPLE'S YEAR BOOK, 1940, published by the Cooperative Wholesale Society, Manchester, England, Cloth $1 ; Paper 65c. Available thru The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th Street, New York City "The People's Year Book" is probably the only authoritative and comprehensive "world almanac" of the cooperative movement, and therefore indispensable for any international picture. Also, are included social statistics with particular reference to trade unionism, employ ment, and this year, a number of valuable chapters on economics and the war. Particularly interesting is a succinct chronological outline of events of the year leading up to the struggle. Wallace J. Campbell, assistant secretary of the Cooperative League of the U.S.A., heads the section on "Cooperation Overseas" with a report of outstanding progress in the United States. Among the gains described are the tre mendous increases in cooperative grocery trade, particularly by Central Cooperative Wholesale of Superior, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale in New York. Midland Cooperative Wholesale's grocery chain is described, and the uniform coopera tive label; Consumers Cooperative Associa tion's first oil refinery erected at a cost of $700,000; the farm supply increases; member ship growth to a conservative estimate of 2 million members; opening of joint executive offices of the National Cooperatives and the Cooperative League of the U.S.A. ; develop ment of advisory councils, meetings of small groups of cooperators within societies—the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association having about 5,000 such families engaged, Midland about 2,000, and a start made by the Eastern Cooperative League. The grocery train ing course under the auspices of the Council for Cooperative Business Training comprised of the Rochdale Institute, Consumer Distribu tion Corporation and the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, is explained and its method of pro viding both academic and field training for needed cooperative personnel. The chapter on the social consequences of war encourages democrats by this outspoken statement: The Cooperative Movement main tains "at all times need for watchfulness in safeguarding essential rights and privileges. Times of crisis, such as these through which we are now passing, accentuate that need. In the fight for people to live their own lives, for freedom and for democracy, with minds on the struggle of armed forces and the necessity for military success, there is a danger that while victory may be won abroad freedom may be lost at home. Vigilance is necessary if the control of public affairs is to remain in 64 the hands of the people during and after the war. It is easy to acquiesce in short cuts to an end, but it is often dangerous to do so." —GEORGE TICHENOR, Editor The Cooperator COOPERATION AND NATIONALITY, by George W. Russell (K). Republished by the Co operative League, 167 W. 12th Street, New York. Price 25c. Recently we had occasion to ask a man about another and were answered, "Well, you must remember he is our friend and we are prob ably prejudiced in his favor." It is somewhat the same in writing a review of George Russell's book. We cannot, unfor tunately, say that he was our friend when he was living as we would have wished. For we only spent a couple of hours, memorable as they are, with him. But his writings, thought fully read and practiced, will make all the peoples of the world friends of his and of one another. George Russell was a cooperative individual in fine deed as well as fine word. Karl Walter, of the Horace Plunkett Foundation, says that no one in Great Britain has ever equaled his beauty of cooperative expression—only Charles Gide of France is to be compared with him. Some have read his later book, "The National Being." But it is indeed strange that his earlier and to many, still better, book has been al lowed to be out of print for long years after it was written in 1912. It is one of the classics of cooperative literature and we hope never will again be allowed to go out of circulation. How many times we have read it we could not count since we first learned of it from quotations by Henry A. Wallace. In this book Russell predicted a quarter century ago that Cooperation would be the fourth alternative to Capitalism, Corporatism (Fascism) and Communism. We will only give you a taste of two quo tations which are most applicable today: "When a man becomes imbecile his friends place him in an asylum; when a people grow decadent and imbecile, they place themselves in the hands of the State." "I dislike the little groups who meet a couple of times a year and call themselves cooperators because they have got their fertilizers more cheaply and have done nothing else." Take our word and read it. Then order it by the hundreds and sell or give them away as cooperative seed. We do not know of any literature which will bear more fruit. This book should sell by the tens of thousands at this low price made possible only by consumer cooperative purchasing. It ought to be re quired reading for every cooperative employee and director and for as many members as possible. Consumers' Cooperation RS1 SPECIAL and SPRING BOOK NUMBER May 1940 CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS Dedication of first co-op oil refinery in the United States, Phillipsburg, Kan sas, May 4. Southeastern Conference on Adult Edu cation and Cooperatives, Piedmont Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, May 8-11. Regional Conference on Consumer Edu cation, George Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee, May 17-18. Fifth Annual National Cooperative Rec reation School, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, June 14-26. Board of Directors of The Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Morrison, Chicago, June 17-18. • Board of Directors of National Coopera tives, Inc., Hotel Morrison, Chicago, June 19. Annual Conference on Cooperative Edu cation and Publicity, Heidelberg Col lege, Tiffin, Ohio, June 25-28. Co-op Summer Camp and Institute, Camp Sierra, California, July 13-20. Cooperative Vacation Conference, Shaw- nee Lake Country Club, New Jersey, July 13-21. Annual Cooperative Institute, Massa chusetts State College, Amherst, Mass., July 29-August 10. Fourth Annual Tour of the Nova Scotia Cooperatives, beginning with the Rural and Industrial Conference, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, August 12-14, and continuing with tour of cooperatives through August 24. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C- Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C. Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Farm Bureau Services Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. USE. 28 St., N. Y. 116E. 16 St., N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer- Readers Observer- Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer- Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT LEAGUES Central States Cooperative League Eastern Cooperative League Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild 2301 South Millärd Ave., Chicago, Illinois 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 7218 So. Hoover St., Los Angeles, Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. Box 2000, Superior, Wisconsin FRATERNAL MEMBERS Credit Union National Association Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. 5 MAY, 1940 Ten Cents THERE IS COOPERATIVE STRENGTH, SAYS HEDBERG (1) In Diversification Since the Cooperative Purchasing Movement in America is in its early stages, we need badly to be open-minded so that we may learn from the experience of other countries. We are extremely fortunate in now having Mr. Anders Hedberg, International Secretary of Kooperativa Forbundet of Sweden, with us for the third time in recent years. Arrangements were made with the Senate Subcom mittee, holding hearings on the Norris Bill S2605, to invite Mr. Hedberg to testify as to the development of cooperatives in European countries. The following is r)ted from the (as yet) unpublished hearings. The point under discussion was success of the Luma cooperative lamp factory in lowering the prices of lamp bulbs and its battle with the trust: SENATOR NORRIS: "I would like to have you explain that point a little, because it is one that at various times has come up before this committee, that where a cooperative starts, some trust will lower the price way below the cost of production and put them out of business and then, of course, the price goes up." MR. HEDBERG: "It cannot happen when one organization has such a large number of activities as K. F.; different factories and 49 different departments handling different kinds of commodities." K.F.'s 49 diversified departments include so many we can list but a few of the most important ones: groceries, meats, building materials, dairy products, grain, feed, fertilizer, fruits, vegetables, dry goods, pottery, household utensils, hardware, implements, tires, radio appliances, electrical supplies. An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the peopl-e, 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.", N. Y. Citv E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contribuf'ng Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Of ice at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. K.F.'s diversified membership included in 1935 the following percentages of members by occupational groups: Type of Member Per cent Industrial workers .......................................... 27.7 Farmers and farm laborers ........................ 18.9 Other workers .................................................. 15.0 Clerical and office workers ..................... 11.6 Master tradesmen and artisans ............ 8.4 Private traders and manufacturers ...... 4.2 Professional ......................................................... 2.5 Others ..................................................................... • 11.7 There is no argument in Sweden about a cooperative handling both home and farm supplies and serving both rural and urban members, as we are having here in America. (2) In Education Asked by Senator Smith the reason for the greater progress of cooperatives in Sweden than the United States, Mr. Hedberg finally answered, after being urged to reply frankly: "One of the main reasons for the success of cooperatives for both farmers and urban people in Scandinavia is the fact that, if you will let me put it that way, the level of ignorance is not so low as it is in some parts of your country." MR. NOLT'S WINNING "BUYING TALK" That men engaged in any occupation respect one of their number who wins over them in a contest was abundantly proved again at the annual meeting of the Farm Bureau Cooperative Insurance Services at Columbus on April 4-5. The winner in highest life insurance production was Elmer Nolt of Pennsylvania. He was asked to tell how he did it and simply and modestly outlined his "buying talk" so that others could, if possible, exceed his record another year. What is normally called a "sales talk" in private business should always be called a "buying talk" in cooperative business. For cooperative representatives are the employees of their prospective patron-members. Their job is not to "sell" them but to help them "buy." Their job is to help patrons determine why to buy, where to buy, when to buy and what to buy, or even not to buy at all. Two foundations of a "cooperative buying talk" were laid before his fellow representatives by Mr. Nolt. First, he diagnoses for his patron, from his own and others experience, the present economic maladjustments which produce pov erty, unemployment and tenancy. Second, he carries cooperative literature in his pockets from which he reads and discusses with his patron the cooperative solution. When these foundations are laid for "buying" he outlines the details of cooperative insurance policies to the extent necessary until the patron says "It's a buy." Simple, isn't it? Yes, so simple many of us do not realize and follow these methods of persuasion in presenting whatever we have to offer to others. A medical doctor always follows this method. He diagnoses the condition first. Then he discusses in general terms what the remedy is. Third, he prescribes specifically for the patient's particular needs. It goes without saying that Mr. Nolt must be reading cooperative and other literature, as well as newspapers, to present his "buying talk" so effectively. 66 Consumers' Cooperation THE CONSUMER is THE BASE OF A PLENTY ECONOMY— OF all cooperative writers, Professor Charles Gide of France was the most emphatic about the consumer being the base of a future economy of plenty when he said, "What is the consumer? Nothing! What must he be? Every- thing!" In more academic terms, Beatrice Webb of Great Britain wrote, "The most essential element in the creation of value in the economic sense is neither labor nor capital (production), but the cor respondence of the application of labor with some actually felt desire (consump tion)." "I am inclined to predict," she said, "that a century hence school text books and learned treatises will give more :e to Consumers' Cooperation, its con stitution and ramifications, than to the rise and fall of political parties or the personalities of successive Prime Minis ters." She summed up her conclusions by saying that "organizing as producers is organizing the servant side of our lives; organizing as consumers is organizing the master side of our lives." The Irish poet-cooperator, George W. Russell, uses the illustration that "when we organize 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 the week." We Are Born Consumers America's cooperative interpreter, Dr. Horace M. Kallen, philosophises that "Heaven is a place of sheer consumption" -that "we are born consumers and only become producers." In the book "Profits or Prosperity," Dr. Henry Pratt Fairchild, who also wrote the famous article "The Fallacy of Profits," says "we have been trained to think of ourselves as producers in stead of as consumers—one of the most remarkable instances of inverted logic on a large scale that mankind has ever displayed." May, 1940 Fortune Magazine makes the striking statements that "The future belongs to the consumer"—"In the consumer lies the frontier." Long ago John Stuart Mill concluded that "the end and purpose of production is consumption." A labor leader of Great Britain saw the consumer clearly when he declared in an address, "Organizing as producers only is like fighting with one hand tied behind your back." One of the simplest and clearest dec larations is by Dr. LeRoy Bowman, "When the problem was production in an age of scarcity we had to organize as producers to solve it; now the problem is consumption in an age of plenty and we have to organize as consumers to solve it." President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a significant suggestion in an address to Congress when he said, "We would save and encourage the slowly growing im pulse among consumers to enter the mar ket place equipped with sufficient organ ization to insist upon fair prices and honest sales." It should be added that the only consumers' organizations which can effectively and permanently do this are Consumers' Cooperatives. The Consumer Has the Supreme Right of Decision The most recent declaration that the consumer is the base of economics today is by Anders Gerne of Sweden, former Secretary of Kooperativa Forbundet, "Consumers' Cooperation alone regards the human being and his needs as the basis of the whole economic system, its driving force and goal. It therefore in vests the individual, in his capacity as a consumer, with the supreme right of de cision." The simple fact is that the consumer in cludes everybody—the youth, the middle- aged and the aged—all are consumers. Con- 67 sümers are not only everybody but should organized separately into vocational and will all be organized together since groups with conflicting interests. Today their interests are common. Producers in an age of plenty the consumer is the include largely the middle-aged who are base of economics. THE CONSUMER ERA IS HERE SAYS "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE "r I^HE real purpose of industrializa- A tion," says Fortune Magazine in its Tenth Anniversary issue of February 1940, "may be defined as an increase in the power to consume." "The index of civilization is the indi vidual's power to consume—to make use of—the resources of nature." "If a decline in the net absorption of matter is accompanied by a rise in the consumption of energy, industrialization is proceeding in a healthy and vigorous manner—that is to say, the system is ex panding. Moreover, this latter trend over any considerable period of time would mark a clear transition from a crude producers' economy to an advanced or highly evolved consumers' economy." "The important fact is not that an old era has passed, but that a new era has been born. And in the last analysis the central economic problem of the new era is a simple one. The central economic problem is not a revival in the producers' industry, although that would help. Nor can it be a revival in 'investment' in the old sense of the word. The central eco nomic problem is simply the conversion of a high potential power to consume into an actual power to consume; a wider distribution of progress." "It is manifestly impossible to review here the various stimulants and antidotes that have been administered to revive the supposedly sick industrial system. They have not revived the system chiefly be- riuse they have failed to put the empha- ris where the emphasis belongs." "The great differential that links po tential and actual consuming power is firice; and what the new era cries for is a drastic decline in many lines of indus- 68 trial prices." "A lower pricç in one article saves the consumer money that he can then use to buy another article thus increasing the volume of the latter and creating a new demand for labor. Industrial price cut ting, in other words, actually increases the purchasing power; and a high pur chasing power must result in a hign rate of consumption and an improved labor de mand. Whether this principle is capa ble of sustaining an indefinite advance without any assistance from an expan.sion in the producers' industry is a matter for debate. But it would patently be capa ble of starting an advance; and if an advance were started the next steps would become far more obvious than they are today." "It cannot be argued, of cour.se, that the situation can be solved by a cut in the rate of savings of the avti?.ge con sumer. The bulk of the savings comej from the upper brackets; and the upper, upper brackets, at any rate, have presumably almost reached the limit of their power to consume. Nevertheless— again—a start could be made. The re lease of one or two or maybe even three billions a year from the unfruitful pur chase of insurance policies, "safe" bonds, or just plain cash accumulation may be that very pump primer that we have been needing all along." "In the consumer lies the frontier. . . By industrialization we built a new civili zation. And during the last fifteen or twenty years, by further industrialization we have created the possibility of an entiiely new era for mankind. It is time now to get to work to make that era a reality." Consumers' Cooperation PRINCIPLES OF A COOPERATIVE ECONOMY A WRITER says in an article that Communism has never really been defined. Surely this is also true about Capitalism. And no one quite knows what Corporatism (Fascism) is as an or ganized movement. Cooperation cannot suffer under a similar indictment. Every cooperator should be able to speak up immediately and state clearly what Cooperation means and what it does not. To clear up any uncertainty we are here denning the "Principles of A Cooperative Economy" as they are generally accepted. (1) A Voluntary System Cooperation is the opposite of dicta tion. Cooperation grows by education and not by compulsion. No one is re quired to join a cooperative and no one is prevented from joining. In a genuine Rochdale cooperative there are no restric tions on membership as regards race, sex, religion, education, politics, occupation, residence or anything else. Open member ship is a fundamental principle of Coop eration. (2) A Democratic System Democracy means that persons vote and not property. Just as persons vote in a political, religious or educational demo cratic organization, so each person has one vote in a democratic economic co operative, irrespective of share ownership. (3) A Private-Property System Each member supplies a part of the capital in a cooperative, whether share capital or reserve capital. Shares are al ways worth 100 cents on the dollar in a successful cooperative and no more. In terest is limited and as a result shares are non-speculative. Cooperatives restore widespread ownership of private property. May, 1940 (4) A Non-Profit System An article by an officer of the Central Bank for Cooperatives says truly, "If your books show a profit they're wrong." Any margin of price over cost in a coop erative is simply an overcharge to the members, and any margin of cost over price is simply an undercharge. John T. W. Mitchell clearly expressed the non-profit principle of cooperatives when he said, "Those who pay the savings in get them back in proportion to their purchases." (5) A Free Price System Far too little attention has been paid to this vital principle of cooperatives. We accept theoretically that free competition in the market place should be the auto matic regulator of prices, and then set out under the private-profit system to en deavor to control prices by agreement, by government regulation, by monopoly ownership and in every other devious way and thus belie our basic beliefs. True free enterprise requires a free-price sys tem. Only under a non-profit cooperative system are prices really free. The simple reason is that cooperatives are based on doing business at cost. The price in a cooperative is automatically free and fol lows the cost up or down. Cooperation is the only self-contained and automatically self-controlled economic system. No price agreements are made and no futile gov ernment regulation is needed for the low est price to be automatically established. Anders Gerne of Sweden says, "Con sumers' Cooperation has become a dy namic factor in social development and, at the same time, an almost faultless, au tomatically working apparatus whose ex istence and activity cost the community nothing." (6) A Cash Trading System Credit was invented only because of the failure of the private-profit system 69 co distribute earnings equitably to all in cash. The Rochdale Pioneers rightly called credit "The invention of the Devil." No doubt they meant the devil of man's greed and ignorance. Credit means waste and only maximizes rather than minimizes the spread between con sumers prices and producers pay, which is the vital economic evil of the private- profit system. If one can finally pay more for an article bought on credit, he can far better save the money in advance and buy for less for cash, rather than mort gaging future earnings. Only income- earning articles can be rightly bought on deferred payments, such as a home where the rent pays the cost, or a machine which earns an income to pay for itself, as it is used. Yet even in the case of such ar ticles, a cooperative finance agency should extend the credit at normal interest rates without penalty for deferred payment, rather than a commodity or service coop erative. The only real exception to these statements are cases of emergencies such as sickness or schooling which cannot be postponed. Every family should be on a cash budget system, as well as local and wholesale cooperatives. The Biblical in junction "Owe no man anything" has in it a real germ of truth. As a practical illustration and proof of the possibility of cash trading the cooperatives in Swe den do not owe the banks, the govern ment or even private manufacturers. The reason is that members pay cash to local cooperatives for what they purchase. (7) An Individual Liberty System Cooperation is the economic realization of freedom under social rules. These rules are not compulsory laws but voluntarily accepted agreements among the members. Individual initiative is released from the restraints of private-profit and functions at its highest and best. (8) An Equality System Cooperation Is the practical realization of the principle of equality to which we have so long given lip service and belied by our institution and continuation of a 70 private-profit system, under which equal ity is gradually being destroyed and wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few individuals and a few corporations. When profits or savings are paid back to each purchaser in pro portion to their purchases and when sal aries are fixed by a democratically elected Board of Directors and are publicly known to all the members, economic equality will, be increasingly realized. In turn, this will also contribute to educa tional equality, racial equality, political equality and even religious equality. (9) A Public Service System Cooperation is the exact opposite of private-profit. It is. the realization of public service. Employees serve their fel low members—not themselves or a few private owners—members share equitably in every benefit of their cooperative ef forts. Cooperatives realize their motto of "Each for all and all for each." They are the practical application of Brotherhood in Business. "They are," as Toyohiko Kagawa says, "the love principle applied to industry" ; and as Dr. Horace M. Kal- len says, "the realization of the American Dream." Professor Harold M. Groves of the University of Wisconsin says, "The cooperative movement breathes the very spirit of Thomas Jefferson, the Declara tion of Independence and the Constitu tion of the United States." (10) A Kingdom-Come-on-Earth System Cooperatives are the building of a practical Utopia which countless millions have visioned. George W. Russell says, "The present system is anarchic and in human and the world is hurrying from it in disgust." Sidney and Beatrice Webb say, "Capitalism is dissolving before our • very eyes." "There should be a feeling of shame," says Russell, "that anyone should be poor in the national household." Trotsky has accurately said of America "It is not possible to possess with im punity the greatest industry, two-thirds of the gold and 10,000,000 unem- Consumers' Cooperation ployed." The handwriting of the coming of dictatorship and the destruction of democracy is on the pages of every news paper in America in the stories of pov erty, unemployment, tenancy, disease, crime and war. Unless and only if we de velop the spirit of cooperation rapidly enough and apply democracy to our eco nomic system will we prevent dictator ship. These Principles Are Practical That these principles are prerequisite to and practical in the building of an economic democracy is proven by the results of their application in the Scan dinavian countries. These countries have preserved re ligious, educational and political democ racy. They are a demonstration to the world of the fact that the application of these principles will result in building an economic democracy, as well. These countries are building a con sumer, producer and public cooperative economy and have largely eliminated poverty, unemployment and tenancy. In Scandinavia liberty, equality and fraternity are being realized by the prac tical application of these principles. NATIONAL VS. REGIONAL INSURANCE HOW the Cooperative Purchasing Movement should be organized for greatest efficiency and economy in the United States is a most vital question. It requires careful thought and first hand observation both at home and abroad to reach sound conclusions, and then courage of conviction in the face of opposite practice and opinion. But only thereby will progress be made. Let no cooperative leader in America ever fail to be recorded for the right, lest suc cessors condemn him, as some Euro pean leaders have reason to do. Ineffec tive forms of organization which were not changed in their earlier stages of development by their predecessors have become fossilized and are preserved by entrenched positions, only to hamper the progress of the Movement. It has become .generally accepted, after lengthy democratic discussion based on experience, that regional and national commodity and educational activities should be organized as departments of unit organizations. While in some cases the process of amalgamation has not been completed it is apparently on the way. There has a«; -yet, however, been no full discussion and no clear conclusion as to the relationship of insurance and finance to commodities and education. May, 1940 The time is ripe for such discussion. There are two general methods of or ganization of cooperative insurance com panies. One is regional and the other is national. Some argue that regional in surance cooperatives should organize within political State boundaries and should confine their membership to cer tain residential and/or vocational groups. Others argue that insurance cooperatives should be organized nationally with no ' residential or vocational limitation on membership. Advantages of Regional Organization Regional cooperative insurance advo cates argue efficiency and economy, sense of ownership and pride of operation, in formed membership and democratic con trol. Strangely enough national coopera tive insurance advocates use exactly the same words to present their case. Appar ently it is not generalized words which will finally determine the issue between regional and national organization, but practical results. Reasons for National Organization National cooperative organization ad vocates argue that the experience of stock and mutual insurance companies favors the national method. They also argue 71 that the early beginnings of cooperative insurance associations which reach beyond State bounds and which have adopted the Rochdale "Open Membership" prin ciple is even more favorable than that of associations which have confined their membership to political State lines and which limit their membership. National advocates argue specifically that there is greater efficiency and econ omy in operation with a national diversi fied membership. They say that national size increases pride of ownership. They believe that the membership can be better informed through a uniform national edu cational program and that democratic control can be achieved equally as well or better by regional agency sponsorship and nomination of directors. Our own opinion, based on careful NEW TRAILS IN COOPERATIVE RECREATION reading and first-hand study of European cooperative insurance developments, leads us to favor national as compared with regional insurance organization in Amer ica. In Britain, after trying out a separate insurance organization which failed, they allied their insurance associations with their national commodity association un der the control of the same Board of Directors through an insurance commit tee of the Board. In Sweden, while their organizational method differs somewhat, they have adopted national control of insurance through the same Directorate as their national commodity organization. This subject is a pertinent one today and should be democratically discussed and the best conclusion reached and adopted, before fossilization of less ef ficient organization takes place. Ellen Edwards "Over hill, Over dale. . ." I 'HIS year thousands of young people -*- (six to sixty) will be following the "call of the open road"—by bicycle, by foot, by horseback or boat, discovering for themselves new aspects of this coun try of ours, experiencing the fun of "roughing it" and gaining the pleasure of new companions, new vistas, new vision. This new trend in travel has its stimu lus in the American Youth Hostels, now in its fifth year of operation in this country. There are about 210 hostels, supervised overnight shelters, for wander ers to stop for the economical sum of twenty-five cents a night. In addition new shelters are being opened constantly and "rolling hostels", special railroad cars, provide opportunities for summer travel not only in this country, but Canada, Mexico and abroad. Like hostelers in the twenty other member countries of the International 72 Association of Youth Hostels, American hostelers travel under their own power. Bicycling is the most popular method of travel, with hiking considered by some as f the only true way of seeing the land. A small minority paddle canoes or falt- boats along water routes while others ride horseback from one shelter to the < next. American youth homes are located at distances of fifteen to twenty miles so that it is possible to travel this way with- * out tiring. Hostels may be remodeled farm houses, made-over barns, rural schoolhouses or college dorms. A local tl sponsoring committee, composed of inter ested people in the community, and an AYH field worker select the local he use parents for the hostel. The hoste'crs i themselves often have a hand in fitting up hostels, hauling stones to build an outdoor fireplace, sewing and stuffing ticks with straw for mattresses. ' Rules and regulations for hostelers are few and simple—the rewards rich and satisfying. The customs and traditions f Consumers' Cooperation of hosteling are based on thoughtfulness of others and consideration of the group. Early rising gives the fullest use of day light hours for the day's trek. Hostelers clean the hostel before receiving their passes from the house parents. There is no drinking and in most countries there is no smoking in the Youth Hostels. Early hours for retiring come naturally after days spent in the open. Heavy cooking utensils and food are found at the hostel (each hosteler carries his own eating utensils). Hostelers get their own meals upon arriving at the hostel. Every one pitches in, makes the fire, helps in the cooking, (generally out of doors), cleans up afterwards and tries to leave the hostel cleaner than it was, for the next group. In the evenings they sing, folk dance, play games and tell stories until "lights out" at t'en o'clock. Of course there's always time for a friendly, healthy discussion of world problems. Mornings they are up and off again bright and early, with new found friends, new trails to explore. Equipped with a knapsack and an AYH pass, the countryside is yours! An AYH pass (good for one year) is $1 for persons under 21 ; $2 for those over. These can be secured from the AYH headquarters at Northfield, Mass. The very barest of essentials go into the knap sack, for hostelers have found that if you travel under "your own steam" you travel light. Since blankets are furnished at the hostel, the only sleeping equip ment needed is a sleeping sack made by sewing sheets half way up the sides. Suggestions on the best type of hiking equipment to get can be secured from the AYH headquarters. The spirit of hosteling is the spirit of cooperation. Hostelers learn to do things for themselves—making beds, cooking meals, repairing, bicycle tires, simple things but they tend to develop responsi bility? A youthful hosteler discovers the fun of sharing work and play, of making May, 1940 new friends, of being part of a group which is creating its own recreation. Cooperative youth groups are finding that hosteling fits into the type of pro gram they want to develop. The co-op young people in the Chicago area have a hostel group. The Co-op Council at the University of Wisconsin has a co-op pass so that members of the co-op houses on the campus can take advantage of hostel week-end trips. In fact, one of the co-op houses is a youth hostel. At the University of Washington, the Stud ent Cooperative Association has turned one of its dorms into a youth hostel for the summer months. In other sections of the country, cooperative youth groups are likewise discovering that healthy weeks hiking or bicycling through the out of doors at little expense, via the hostels, is not only a grand vacation but real train ing in the development of a cooperative way of living. RECREATION ACTIVITIES More than one hundred people at tended a week-end recreation conference at Pendle Hill, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Federation, April 20-21.'The program included crafts, simple puppets, singing games, American and European folk dances, simple dramatic forms such as charades and pantomimes and informal group discussions. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the place of recreation in a cooperative program and to provide leadership training. - Two one-act plays, produced by mem bers of the Play Co-op, were given for members of the Cooperative Ticket Ser vice, in New York, April 6. Following a brief business meeting in which plans for enlarging the ticket service were discussed, there was an informal hour of folk dancing. 73 WHAT'S NEWS WITH THE CO-OPS Walla Walla, Wash.—The Pacific Sup ply Cooperative, at the end of its first 51/2 years of operations reported its high est sales volume for the business year 1939- Record sales were $2,500,000. Pa cific Supply is now serving 81 member cooperatives and 32 associated coopera tives with a total of 36,000 patron-mem bers in three Northwestern states. During the year, Pacific Supply added new ware houses at Pocatello, Idaho, and Ontario, Oregon. Amarillo, Texas—Two hundred repre sentatives of 50 local cooperatives affili ated with Consumers Cooperatives Asso ciated, met here March 5 for their tenth annual meeting. F. E. Hobgood, manager of the co-op wholesale, reported increased volume and savings and a stronger finan cial position than ever before. During the year, Consumers Cooperatives Associated made a drive to introduce co-op label goods to its 13,300 patron members. Cambridge, Mass. — Streamlined and moved to Main Street, the first complete co-op self-service food store in the metro politan area of Boston increased its sales 554 per cent in three months. Six months ago, when the Board of Central Con sumers Cooperative of Cambridge met to plan for a modernized store, the busi ness volume of the co-op was $340 per week. The new store which was opened December 20 has received phenomenal support from enthusiastic members and non-member consumers, and sales, March 23 reached the record total of $2,396. The modernized store was established with the assistance of Consumer Distribu tion Corporation when the local co-op completed a drive for 140 new members and raised $2,500 in capital which was matched by a loan from CDC. Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association, the 74 first suburban co-op housing project in the state, has completed its first 20 houses and 20 -more are being built this year. There are already 89 members in the or ganization which is developing the Crest- wood area, "five miles and ten automo bile minutes from the center of Madison." Architectural 'Forum has praised the co-op project for its sound financing and modern and harmonious architectural , pattern. North Kansas City, Missouri—Lubricat ing oil, blended in the co-op compound- , ing plant of the Consumers Cooperative Association here is being shipped to co operatives in Europe in spite of the war. Recent shipments have been made to the Swedish Cooperative Wholesale Society, Kooperativa Forbundet, and to the Neth erlands Cooperative Society at Rotterdam. Chicago, Illinois—The Cooperative Wholesale, Inc., organized three years ago to serve urban co-ops in Illinois, In diana, Ohio and lower Michigan, showed a 26 per cent increase in business during 1939. The volume for the year was $187,- 468.00. Officials hope to pass the quarter million mark in 1940. Hugh Bogardus, field man for the wholesale during the past year has been appointed manager to succeed Milan McAllister who accepted a position as manager of the Greenhills Cooperative in the new model federal housing project just outside of Cincin nati. Halifax, Nova Scotia — Beginnin™ in 1936 with a handful of enthusiastic pi oneers, consumers in the Nova Scotia capital began organizing study clubs and credit unions along the pattern suggested by St. Francis Xavier University. These grew rapidly until today there are 24 credit unions, a credit union chapter, a city-wide cooperative council and a full- fledged cooperative store which grew out of the earlier cooperative organizations. Born after long months of work and study, the Halifax Consumers Society store got off to a good start in November 1939 with a $1,700 a week business and 275 members. The weekly business of the co-op had grown to $2,500 by the first of the year and the membership is now nearing 400. Superior, Wisconsin—The education de partment of the Central Cooperative Wholesale set as its goal the organiza tion of 250 study clubs, by April 1. By the beginning of March, the program had met with such an enthusiastic response that 308 discussion clubs with 3,100 in dividual members were already in opera tion and plans were made to continue the drive for more study clubs. Regina, Saskatchewan—The Consumers Cooperative Refineries, Ltd., which be gan operation of the first consumer- owned oil refinery in the world in May, 1935 has started construction work on the cracking plant of its new refinery. The plant is being built at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars, and will be ready for operation, June 1. Spokane, Washington—The Grange Co operative Wholesale, at its 21st annual meeting here reported its biggest gain in earnings in 1939 and the inauguration of a new transport service to cut the costs of transportation of gas and oil to mem ber co-ops in the Pacific Northwest. At a special meeting of the Grange Milling Company, the only cooperative mill in the Northwest, plans were made to rebuild the $30,000 mill which was destroyed by fire last fall. Brooklyn, New York—The Eastern Co operative Wholesale which broke the million-dollar-a-year volume for the first time in its history last year voted to pay patronage dividends of 1% Per cent of the year's purchases to its local retail so cieties. This will add $13,391 to the savings already made by the 200 coopera tives which own and control the whole sale. Consumers' Cooperation May, 1940 Lancaster, Pennsylvania—Without a dis senting vote, the Penna. Farm Bureau Cooperative Association endorsed a reso lution declaring, "We believe the fore most imperative of the cooperative move ment in America is a broadening of its base so that urban people may share with farmer-folk in its benefits." Other resolutions included endorse ment of Senate Bill No. 2605, sponsored by Senator George W. Norris to broaden the definition of a cooperative in the Farm Credit Act; endorsing back-to- production manufacturing on the part of cooperatives; calling on the Cooperative League of the U.S.A. to provide an agency "to organize, advise, audit, and in emergency, exercise special supervisory powers over all newly formed co-ops un til such are formally included in the established and recognized co-op whole sales"; and calling upon cooperators to support their co-ops by patronage to the fullest possible extent. The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop erative Association reported a total sales volume for 1939 of $1,711,780, an in crease of 33-7 per cent over 1938. Chicago, Illinois—More than 40 repre sentatives from the Universities of Michi gan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin; Purdue University, Chicago University and Albion College met on the campus of the University of Chicago here, March 16 and 17 for the second annual con vention of the Midwest Federation of Campus Co-ops. Among additional visi tors were students from Milwaukee State Teachers College. Major topics for consideration at the meeting were a inter-campus news ser vice, cooperative wholesale buying, the Federation's relation to other co-op groups, and a strengthening of the or ganization of the Midwest Federation. Erv Bruner, of the University of Wiscon sin was elected president of the federa tion for the coming year. 75 II BOOK REVIEWS CO-OPERATION TO THE FINNISH. By Henry H. Bakken. Madison, Wisconsin: Mimir, 1939, $2.50. Order from The Cooperative League. What a title! It .apparently means that if the Finns are defeated in their present defen sive war, the co-operative movement will con tinue with them until the end. The book gives a clear-cut picture of the development of co operatives in Finland since Pellervo, the parent society, was founded there in 1899 by Hannes Gebhard, one of the outstanding leaders of the co-operative movement. A fascinating story is told of Elanto, the noteworthy consumer co operative of Helsinki, and of its leadership by another outstanding co-operative leader, namely, Vaino Tanner, president of the Inter nationa] Cooperative Alliance, and now for eign minister for Finland in the present cab inet. EJanto's program includes slightly higher- wages than the prevailing rate, longer vaca tions with pay than the law requires, life in surance for all regular employees, retirement pensions, clubroom facilities, co-operative fes tivals, social services for members of families of regular patrons including an insurance for 500 Finmarks for each member. In spite of all these services, Elanto is able to return a two per cent patronage dividend regularly. The author also cites special facts in the develop ment of SDK and YOL, of DTK and KK, and of the other national economic and educational societies. In Finland the co-operatives have reached the point of development where they compete both helpfully and harmfully with one another, but through the good auspices of Pellervo and other societies some progress in adjustment has been made. Moreover, the co operatives have reached the point where they are beginning to dominate finance, production, and distribution. Their problem is becoming that of deciding whether to be industrious and produce more necessities and comforts for themselves, or to let up on industry for a time and give attention to other stimulating phases of life. —DR. E. S. BOGARDUS "NEW HOMES FOR OLD: Public Housing in Europe and America," William V. Reed and Elizabeth Ogg, Headline Book No. 22 of the Foreign Policy Association. Illus trated with 79 photographs and 16 draw ings. Selected bibliography. 112 pages. Available through The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th Street, New York, 25c. This is one of the most attractive and in formative of the "Headline Books" which have done so much to make clear the facts 76 and issues in one field after another. It pro vides inexpensively and in brief space the es sentials of housing in America as well as in England and France, Austria and Germany, Sweden and Holland. The style and material is for the layman, the drawings and the pho tographs bring out the most significant fea tures of the problem and are excellently done. Why the public must take responsibility to see that 10,000,000 families or 31% of the Ameri can people are decently housed, is explained and what the costs would be if it did not. The history. of government housing in each country mentioned is covered, especially dur ing the present century, and a criticism offered of programs conducted by state and city au thorities. Sweden is given high rank because of gov ernment action and because of the phenomenal accomplishments of cooperatives in the hous ing field. The "HSB," (Tenants' Savings and Building Society) the foremost housing co-op in Sweden, is described briefly, and the man ner in which it operates in collaboration with the government, especially in furnishing homes subsidized in proportion to the number of children in a family—"whatever the type of apartment the cooperatives build, they invari ably apply high standards of design and equip ment." The authors go on to show the numer ous community social facilities cooperative building supplies. "Rents of cooperative apart ments in Sweden are about 30 to 40 per cent lower than the rents of private dwellings," they say. "Who footed the bill for this great development in building? Chiefly the coopéra- tors themselves." The Dutch, crowded as a nation for space, "have demonstrated what a lot of housing progress can be made," especially through tiic plan, recently advocated in this countty, of 100 per cent loans to coopérative management societies by the state. The future is glanced at, city planning loom ing large in the picture. The machinery is here for the solution of America's housing problem in the Federal, state and municipal housing bodies (the latter two to be developed greatly in number and effectiveness), the authors conclude, if public opinion will provide the dynamic force necessary to see that the authori ties are supported with sufficient funds. The pamphlet is excellent, despite the led- ing any cooperator would have, that coopera tive housing is not mentioned in the measures for solution here in this country, along with public and private enterprise. Especially is this omission noteworthy in view of the glowing account of Sweden's housing cooperatives. LEROY E. BOWMAN, Secretmj New York City Cooperative Housing Federation Consumers' Cooperation THE CHURCH AND CHRISTIAN SOCIETY, by Wade Crawford Barclay. Abingdon Press, 1940, $3.50. Available through The Coop erative League. The latest book written by Wade Crawford Barclay entitled "The Church and Christian Society" is essentially a treatise for the Christi an educator. It outlines the "aims, content and method of Christian Education." The book, however, is of great interest to the stu dent of cooperation for it is the first book of its kind to take more fully into account the "new social factors in today's life," the most significant of which is the cooperative ideal. Dr. Barclay contends "the church is one of the bulwarks of the present economic order"— yet—"Education and religion together have failed to develop in the mass of the people ap preciation of the extent and seriousness of the injustice and inhumanity involved in the social order, and to prepare them to deal with the great social problems of the day in an intelli gent, conscientious manner." In fact, he later- places the present social and economic diffi culties at the door of the church when he says "Religious Education cannot escape con demnation for failure in making plain to re ligiously earnest men and women the essen tially unchristian nature and effect on charac ter, of the dominant forces working within our economic life." The whole drive of the book is upon an attempt to make religious educators realize this appalling lack in their aims and content. But, Dr. Barclay goes further—he fills the gap with the cooperative ideal. "The Christian principle of the brotherhood of man finds its concrete application in .a cooperative society in contrast to the profit economy dominated by the method of competition." We must teach our people how to substitute "production for use in place of production for private profit" —"There is no lack of reason therefore, for the Christian conscience to demand equal rights, equal opportunities and equal privi leges for all as marks of a Christian society" — 'Cooperatives offer a peaceful democratic means by which the masses may gradually re gain the property that has been filched from them by economic overlords and greedy cor porations"—"There is no longer excuse for ihe assertion that cooperation is a beautiful ideal that will not work. There is far more justification for the claim that, under modern lechnological conditions and power produc tion, cooperation is the only economic system thai will work"—"Let men and women en gage in organizing, developing and maintain ing a consumers' cooperative, and they find in the undertaking a means both of self-educa tion and of contribution to the reconstruction of the economic order." Dr. Barclay pleads that the church should May, 1940 recognize its opportunity and responsibility lot- an adult education program commensurate with the needs of our times so that the church may produce the leadership which will play its rightful "part in the social reconstruction the times demand." The book contains many "pointers" for co operative educational directors in education: "through social participation," "through coop erative discussion" or "through creative leisure." A chapter is devoted to each of these subjects. The cooperative leader would do well to read this book and then place copies in the hands of pastors and church and de nominational leaders, suggesting that they fol low its ideas and method in their own adult education procedures. Dr. Barclay has made as significant a con tribution to cooperative education as he has to Christian literature. —J. HENRY CARPENTER MANUAL ON THE CHURCH AND COOPERA TIVES. Compiled by Benson Y. Landis for The Committee on the Church and Co operatives, Industrial Division, the Fed eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Available through The Coopera tive League, 167 West 12th Street, New York, single copies 10 cents each. This Manual contains useful information and practical guidance for ministers, laywork- ers, church groups, or church boards, inter ested in some aspect of the economic coopera tive movement and gives specific illustrations of what many church people have been doing in many places, by various methods, to assist cooperatives and credit unions. Dr. Landis has done an excellent and ad mirable job in compiling the Manual and has ably answered, under the following sub-head ings, the many inquiries which have come in to the Committee from ministers and lay people: Why the Church Interest in Cooperatives? Types of Cooperatives; Activities of Ministers, Church Groups, Congregations; Questions Often Asked About Cooperatives. The Manual lists "Things an Individual Can Do" and contains a Directory of Agen cies, a selected reference list of books and pamphlets and a collection of important reso lutions of church assemblies, conferences, and seminars, and expressions of periodicals and individuals throughout the country in regard to the cooperative movement. The Manual brings together valuable in formation not available in any other form and meets a long felt need for a comprehensive document of this nature. In order to promote wide distribution, the Committee on the Church and Cooperatives is making quantity orders available at cost of printing. —JAMES MYERS, Industrial Secretary Federal Council of Churches 77 "COOPERATION BETWEEN PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS," E. R. Bowen and "Producer- Consumer Relations," by Murray D. Lin coln, The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th Street, New York, 16 pages, lOc. A brochure, under two names, that "cuts across field" in economic thinking and re affirms in stream-lined version the discovery by the Webbs of "Mr. Consumer: Common De nominator." Mr. Bowen points the "way" ; Mr. Lincoln restates the "truth"—and together they envision the "life" that to them a com plete consumer economy might produce. The essence of both treatises is that the manifest destiny of cooperative economics can only be achieved through the recognition of ALL people as consumers. On this premise the authors come to virtually the same con clusion—that cooperation can truly be effective only "as a self-contained economic society of producers and consumers dealing directly with one another as organized groups" that will bargain with each other from the consumptive point of view in which "real wages" rather than "absolute price" will be the motivating ideal. By dissecting the status and problems of the farmer, the urban worker and white collar classes as producers, Messrs. Bowen and Lin coln admit what everyone knows—that their clashing activities and viewpoints as producers , make men conscious- of a class interest rather •• i than a common interest. Neither one negates the necessity of the marketing cooperative for the farmer; the labor union for the worker; the trade association for the white-collar man. In fact, they are accepted as an indispensable development of our modern complex civiliza tion. But, as Mr. Lincoln contends, "producer interests are basically divisive; consumer in terests, on the other hand, are all-inclusive. . . consumer action ALONE can include all the people." Thus they point to the solution—"the only way to reform our economic system is to mobilize our buying through cooperative chan nels, and thus remove this tribute and support from those who exploit us with our own money"—the vested commercial and financial institutions. This premise of consumer cooperation is neither entirely empirical nor entirely theoreti cal. Consumer cooperation has worked, and is working, in an ever-growing area. —T. WARREN METZGER, Editor Pennsylvania Co-op Review SWEDISH ADULT EDUCATION, by Ragnar Lund, Swedish Royal Commission, available from The Cooperative League, 167 W. 12th Street, New York, 15c. In "Swedish Adult Education," Ragnar Lund presents a brief picture of the origin, development and philosophy of the adult edu- 78 cation movement in his homeland. Those who have wanted a more satisfactory orientation to Swedish efforts and successes in this move ment will find pleasure in reading this booklet. With a growing interest and acceptance among U. S. cooperators of the study circle, advisory council, neighborhood night, fireside forum, Kitchen Klub, discussion group method this pamphlet is timely as it opens the case and examines the mainsprings of the whole idea; why it started, how it has developed and where it is going. You will be struck by the Swede's compre hensive definition of adult education. "It is more than a program of instruction or study arranged for and carried on by adult persons. It is a program that does not consist exclusive ly of an intellectual study, but a program that aims to cultivate, to form the character of those who participate. Ellen Key, a famous adult educator in Sweden, once propounded the paradox: 'adult education is what remains when you have forgotten what you have learnt'." After this statement of the nature of adult education Mr. Lund describes the means by which this movement is being carried for ward. Libraries have been available to the people since 1800. Now supported by state aid and working with other phases of the general educational program they are playing a more important part than ever before. Lec tures have brought information and knowledge to vast numbers of people. Lecture societies have arranged attractive series programs and under the leadership of the Central Board of Education are awakening an interest for a con tinued study of the lecture subject. Folk schools, though begun in Denmark, have been an integral part of the move for en lightenment. There has been a closer associa tion with the universities than in Denmark and this has made them more of a citizen's school for the whole people without emphasis on sect with respect to social, religious or political groups. Study Circles—groups of 10 to 15 people who meet for study and discussion—are essen tially a Swedish creation. U. S. readers will be surprised at Mr. Lund's statement; "efforts to transplant the study circle in the soil of other countries outside Scandinavia have come to naught, or else the experimental plans have grown into something which only by a strain ing of the word can be called a study circle." Those who have had to do with the develop ment of this idea in the U. S. will likely take exception. These varied adult education methods are promoted by many organizations; Workers Education Association, International Order of Good Templars, Swedish Christian Education Association, Young Farmers Association, Consumers' Cooperation Swedish Rural Education Association and the Cooperative Union. The booklet ends by emphasizing the inter relationship of adult education and democracy. "The free and unrestrained manner in which adult education has been able to grow in a democracy has constituted the strength of the movement in Sweden." Sadly, Mr. Lund adds, "This may seem to be a queer ideal at a time when such things as freedom, fairness and truth are hard pressed in many parts of the world." But faith remains unshaken, "It is a surer way to stability to teach the individual to think for himself, to stand on his own legs, than to stuff the correct opinions into him." The final hope is that democracy and adult education may continue to go forward hand in hand, that they will in no wise be inter fered with, for neither can exist without the other. —JACK MCLANAHAN MY STORY — Paddy the Cope (Patrick Gal- lagher), Jonathan Cape, London and Toronto, 288 pages, $2.75. Order through The Cooperative League. What can a reviewer say of a book like this? On first impulse, on laying the voraciously de voured volume down, I am tempted to "go Hollywood" and shout, "Colossal ! Magnificent ! Superb!" But, after some reflection, the words seem too artificial and cheap, so I will simply say that the volume is a moving human docu ment of the "cope" man's fight for economic democracy for his neighbors, and, further, that if you can lay Paddy The Cope's chronicle down unfinished, you're a better man than I am, "Gunga Din." Such a description is more in keeping with this warmly glowing, human document of a common man's adventure in Cooperation. Every feature of the lively, cheerful, pugna cious and altogether lovable Irish character is impressed on the reader in this work, even to the traditional superstition of this land of lighting and singing "Paddies." This real-life drama reads like a fairy tale of the first water. Despair reigns in the dismal bog-lands of northern Ireland—a land dominated by the ogre of "gombeenism" (trustified private bus iness that owns the very souls of the inhabi tants). A little plot of tenanted bog, a cow or two, a few chickens, and a flock of children comprises the possessions of the averageman of Donegal. He lives in debt to, and constant fear of, his Lord and Master, the storekeeper, an unscrupulous tyrant who can, if he so chooses, break the home of his slave at the least "offense." The children go to slave-market early, being appraised like cattle, by the more well-to-do farmers of the homeland, or of Scot land, and faithfully bringing home their hard- earned pennies so as to help the folks keep body and soul together. May, 1940 Then conies the hero, Cooperation, guided from neighboring Scotland by pugnacious and adventurous Paddy the Cope—no well-to-do philanthropist, mind you, but a man of the people who merely finished his "first book" in school. The pugnacious Paddy introduces the hero to the hard-bitten men of Donegal, and is promptly nicknamed "Paddy the Cope" ("cope" being an abbreviation by the vigorous Irish of "Cooperation"). Follows a no-holds-barred struggle with the gombeenmen—murder charges, accusations of swindle, unjust jail sentences, and what have you—which only serve to weld Paddy's pugnacious people closer to him and to the "cope." Then there's the happy ending, re alistic because it is real. There is the freed and happier man of Donegal, working out his destinies through mutual self-help, held out as a shining example to the rest of Eire by the great Geo. Russell (A.E.) and others. Did you say that there is no romance to Con sumers' Cooperation? Did you say that a co-op is only a store, lacking the imaginative appeal of the political quick-change movements? If you think that, by all means read the autobiography of Paddy the Cope. Every American cooperator should read it, for it is fascinating real life ad venture that inevitably fills the reader with new faith in our movement's destiny. —ERICK KENDALL THE FOLLY OF INSTALLMENT BUYING, Roger W. Babson, Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, $1.50. Babson knows business from the inside. He has a splendid command of language. Rather than to summarize this book we will give you a taste in a few quotations: "Who wants you to buy on the installment plan? Practically everyone who cares less for you than for your dollar. . . . Buying on the installment plan is little more than paying for being misled into believing it proper to con sume now what one has not yet earned. . . . Once having bought the item, will you not have to save enough money to cover the full cash price plus the charges? Then why not beat the game? Save first. Buy for cash, getting a good discount. You would thus avoid the installment surcharge and have some money left to buy more of the things so appealingly placed before you. . . . The purchaser of con sumer goods under an installment contract is in a similar position to the speculator who sells the stock market short. ... In many ways the most promising agency whereby pur chasers can protect themselves against being drawn into a tanglefoot of debt is the pub lic's own organization. This is the growing Consumers' Cooperative Societies, now reach ing into all three divisions of Retailing, Wholesaling and Producing. . . . My claims 79 ; are: (1) installment selling is inflationary; (2) installment selling raises prices of goods for everybody; (3) installment selling is a chief cause of radicalism; and (4) installment selling undermines the character of the people." We do not know what more he might have said except to tell this story: "Cheer up! You'll soon forget all about that girl and be happy again. Oh, no, I won't. I've bought too many things for her on the installment plan." Installment selling, with foreign and domestic borrowing and gold buying are the principal reasons for the peaks and valleys of the busi ness cycle. Help to iron them out. You will determine to do so, we predict, after you have read this book. New Recreation Material ALL JOIN HANDS, First Steps for Recrea tion Leaders, by Jacqueline Plauche and Ellen Edwards. Eastern Cooperative League. Available from The Coopera tive League, 15c. Designed as an aid for recreation lead ers or recreation committees in coopera tives, "All Join Hands" meets a real need. Suggestions for planning an eve ning, hints on teaching singing games, and square dances as well as music and words, the importance of good, coop erative leadership, how to do charades, and an excellent bibliography are some of the features which make this little booklet very useful. Every educational committee or co-op member planning a party will want a copy. LET'S PLAY, a Handbook of Games, by Frank Shilston, The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. Available from The Cooperative League, 20c. This valuable collection of games was originally compiled for use by neighbor hood councils in the Midland territory. The demand for games suitable for use by co-op groups, large and small, has been so great that Mr. Shilston has added to the collection and made it generally available. All types of games are included —get acquainted, manual, mental, relays and rotators. No group will be caught dead on its feet when its members ask "what shall we play?" if it has this val uable handbook in its library. 80 CO-OP LITERATURE • Student Cooperatives Co-ops on the Campus, Bertram B. Fowler .03 Campus Co-ops, William Moore .................... .05 Handbook on Student Co-ops, Based on the Findings of the Pacific Coast Con ference of Student Cooperatives .............. .10 • Novels and Biography Fresh Furrow: Burris Jenkins (Special) .50 The Brave Years: Wm. Hey liger .................. 1.50 My Story, by Paddy the Cope, Co-ops in Ireland .................................................................. 2.75 • Textbooks on- Cooperation Consumers' Cooperatives, Julia E. John son, Debate Handbook .................................. .90 When Yon Buy, Trilling, Eberhart and Nicholas, High school and college, two chapters on consumer cooperatives ........ 1.80 Cooperation, Hall and Watkins, Official British Textbook .............................................. 3.00 The Consumers Cooperative as a Distribu tive Agency, Orin E. Burley ...................... 3.00 Windows on the World, Kenneth Gould, high school text, one chapter on coop eratives ................................................................ 3.00 • Cooperative Recreation The Consumer Consumed, Josephine Johnson, a Puppet Play ................................ .05 Cooperative Recreation, Carl Hutchinson, reprinted from The Annals.. ...................... .05 Two One Act Plays, Ellis Cowling .............. .15 The Answer, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling ...... .20 The Spider Web, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling .25 Education Through Recreation, L. P. Jacks .................................................................... 1.50 List of recreational materials, songs, dances, games, available from Cooperative Recreation Service, Delaware, Ohio. FIIMS "The Lord Helps Those — Who Help Each Other," a new 3 reel, 16 mm. film of the Nova Scotia adult education and cooperative pro gram, produced by the Harmon Foundation. Excellent photography. $4.50 per day, $2.25 additional showings, $13.50 per week. "A Hoiiue Without a Landlord," a new 2% reel, 10 mm. silent film on the Amalgamated Cooperative Houses in New York City. "Clasping Hands," Ifi mm. silent, two reel film, showing how cooperation is taught in the schools of France. Won the Grand Prize nt the International Exposition, Paris, 1837. •When Mankind ts Willing," a 1G mm. silent three-reel film, with English titles, of coop erative stores, wholesales and factories i« France. A Day With Kagawa, 3 reel, silent, 16 mm. Ivagawa and his co-ops in Japan. Kental: Each of three above $3 per day, $1.50 for each additional showing or $10 per week. POSTERS Organize Cooperatives, 10"x28" Green, 5 for $1 ......................................... Cooperative Principles, M"x28" Blue, 5 for $1 ......._................................. Cooperative Ownership, 10"x28" Mulberry, 5 for $1 ................................... Consumer Ownership—Of, By and For Io"x28". Ked-White-and- the People, Blue. 5 for $1 ..... .2(1 .20 .20 .20 Consumers' Cooperation À Prepare for Peace - E. R. Bowen Learning Economic Responsibility in Junior High School S. R. Logon From Gettysburg to Phillipsburg W. J. Campbell A Decade of Co-op Youth Progress Miriam Sanda Co-ops at Play Ellen Edwards The March of Fascism: A Review Roy Hoffman June 1940 NATIONAL MAGA7INE FOR COOPERATIVE LEADERS I I) CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS Fifth Annual National Cooperative Rec- Cooperative Vacation Conference, Shaw- reation School, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, June 14-26. Board of Directors of The Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Morrison, Chicago, June 17-18. Board of Directors of National Coopera tives, Inc., Hotel Morrison, Chicago, June 19. Annual Conference on Cooperative Edu cation and Publicity, Heidelberg Col lege, Tiffin, Ohio, June 25-28. Co-op Summer Camp and Institute, Camp Sierra, California, July 13-20. nee Lake Country Club, New Jersey, July 13-21. Annual Cooperative Institute, Massa chusetts State College, Amherst, Mass., July 29-August 10. Fourth Annual Tour of the Nova Scotia Cooperatives, beginning with the Rural and Industrial Conference, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, August 12-14, and continuing with tour of cooperatives through August 24. Twelfth Biennial Congress and 25th An niversary Celebration, The Cooperative League of the U.S.A., Chicago, 111., October 16, 17 and 18. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. ' Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C. Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES • « « n I Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. 118E. 28 St., N.Y. 116E. l6St.,N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau L-ooperauivc n=a u —^.„...^_, „_. Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Columbus, Ohio T nncinn T^Atrt-ltO' Farm Bureau Services Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer- Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT Central States Cooperatives Eastern Cooperative League Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild FRATERNAL Credit Union National Association LEAGUES 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 7218 So. Hoover St., Los Angeles, Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. Box 2000, Superior, Wisconsin MEMBERS Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL Of THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. 6 JUNE. 1940 Ten Cents COOPERATIVE PLANKS FOR POLITICAL PLATFORMS It's one thing for the Consumers' Cooperative Movement to be neutral in politics—it's entirely another thing for individual Cooperators to ignore politics. These are planks which Cooperators would consider as among the most important to be included in political platforms: On Domestic Affairs Tax as We Spend. We are only fooling ourselves in trying to achieve tem porary prosperity by borrowing from the few rich and dividing among the many poor. What is now borrowed might better be taxed today than to be taxed or repudiated tomorrow. Organize Cooperatives for Self-Help. Heavy taxation and relief are necessary as emergency public measures, but permanent prosperity is dependent upon the voluntary reorganization of the present monopolistic profit system over into a cooperative non-profit economy. In a democracy, the people must develop self-help cooperatives of producers and consumers, rather than depending upon State-help. On Foreign Affairs Trade Goods For Goods. Buying gold to balance excess exports over im ports is only another means of deceiving ourselves, as we have previously done by foreign public and private loans. Developing a cooperative economy, which will distribute so-called domestic surpluses, will make free international trading of goods for goods possible. Prepare For Peace. Instead of helping to arm potential opponents and then arming ourselves, and inciting war by antagonistic statements, we should lead the world toward peace by clear thinking, by friendly attitudes and help, by relieving economic strains at home, and by practical peace proposals. An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S.A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. PREPARE FOR PEACE E. R. Hitler says that Germany is entering a struggle which will shape its future for a thousand years. The whole world's future is in the process of reshaping. This may well be the greatest turning point of the ages. What is the War For? There have been wars of races. There have been wars of religions. There have been wars of governments. Racial, religious and political factors enter into the present war to a limited extent. But the primary cause of the present war is economic. Each economic opponent uses the government, the church and the school, in so far as possible, to bolster its cause. This is a war of economic rivalries for profits. Seventy-five years ago Ruskin indicted the prevailing economic systems of the past and present more incisively than any other writer before or since has ever done when he declared that "Profit is legal theft." Theft of profits is prac ticed legally both by individuals and by nations. The principal way of national theft for profits has been by war. "In the last analysis, war is stealing and murder on the part of somebody." National theft by war is still being practiced, as it has been for hundreds of years. It will continue to be practiced until the world is reorganized on an international cooperative economic basis. World Evolving From Profit Economy to Cooperation There have been three organized economic systems in the world's history since barbarism. They are slavery, serfdom and monopolism. All are based on exploitation of the masses by the few. Under slavery and serfdom the few ex ploited the masses by being owners of their physical bodies. Under monopolism the few exploit the many by being owners of the physical resources. All are private- profit systems in different forms. George W. Russell said a quarter century ago that "Our present system is anarchic and inhuman and the world is hurrying from it with disgust." He fore saw that the State might win under Communism, or Capital might win under Fascism, with dictatorships eliminating democracy in every field of social organ ization in either case. The Cooperative Commonwealth, he said, was the fourth alternative, which alone allowed individual freedom and developed social solidar ity. Henry A. Wallace says that "Capitalism, Communism and Fascism all act as though there were no other end of man than materialistic advancement." Russia revolted from the feudalistic system and is experimenting with a non-profit system of communistic ownership. In so doing they also rejected re ligious, educational and political democracy by setting up a dictatorship. Germany is experimenting with an economic system whose outlines are still uncertain but which operates under dictatorship. They likewise have also rejected religious, educational and political democracy as all dictatorships must do. The Scandinavian countries are the outstanding examples of the develop ment of a non-profit system of Cooperation. By evolutionary methods Coopera tion has been gradually growing in those countries. In Finland, where Coopera tion has had its greatest development, 36% of the business is done by coopera tives which are increasing their percentage by 1% per year. This non-profit system of Cooperation achieves ownership and control of physical resources by the many, rather than by the few, and thus eliminates exploitation for profit. Cooperation extends democratic ownership and control into economics, and preserves and strengthens democracy in religion, education and government. The trend in America is toward a Cooperative non-profit system. Religious, 82 Consumers' Cooperation educational and political organizations have been organized in America on a non-profit, democratically controlled basis after great struggle. Our economic system must be reorganized on a corresponding non-profit cooperative basis. De mocracy must be extended through cooperatives into the economic organization of America if democratic forms of religious, educational and political organiza tion are to be maintained. What Should We in America Do? There are many people in America who yet blindly desire to preserve the present monopolistic profit system. There will be plenty who will shout "Prepare for War." Democracy will be raised as the battle slogan, when the underlying purpose will be to preserve private-profits, or the power of exploita tion of the many by the few. Cooperators should shout "Prepare for Peace." They should be specific about advocating steps leading toward peace, rather than toward war. They should advocate "Cooperative Preparedness for Plenty and Peace." First, by keeping a clear perspective towards the European war. If it were a war for democracy then the small European democratic nations would have volun tarily entered, for they are more all-around democratic than any of the larger na tions. Americans must develop the will to stay out of the economic struggles of other large nations. Only by so doing can we best help to preserve democracy. Second, by not advocating steps leading toward war. This means by not threatening other nations and being truly helpful in word and deed. It means by developing sympathy for other people of every nationality and through neutral agencies helping the victims of both sides crushed by the juggernaut of war. Third, by working harder to solve the problems of poverty, unemployment and tenancy at home through developing cooperatives faster. This will eliminate economic unrest, as well as help to break down racial, religious, vocational and other barriers which separate people and lead to conflicts. It's a case of profits or democracy—we cannot have both—either one or the other must go in the end— both cannot be preserved. Fourth, by helping to make peace. Cooperators should be peace-makers. Just how the Cooperators of America can act with the Cooperators of other countries today to make peace is most difficult to determine. Political leaders have been unable to organize the world for peace through a World Court or League of Nations. Religious leaders have been unable to organize the world for peace through International Church Councils. Farm and labor leaders have been unable to organize the world for peace through producer-economic groups. Even the International Cooperative Alliance representing consumers seems largely help less today. Yet there is a way to make peace if the will is strong enough. The will must be developed and the way must be found, weak as we feel ourselves to be. It may be that as consumer-cooperators we have even more obligation to develop the will and find the way than any other group in which people are organized—political, religious or producer. Should the Consumers' Cooperative Movement of the U.S.A. call a conference on world peace and help to set up a Permanent Joint Committee to initiate and propose measures leading toward peace ? Fifth, by preparing for action after the-war. An article in "La Cooperation" published in Switzerland and written by Prof. Georges Lasserre points out that "since capitalism will be unable to satisfy the demands of economic reconstruction after the war" the Cooperative Movement should be prepared to make its con tribution. This the Cooperative Movement hopes to be able to do. June, 1940 83 LEARNING ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITY AT SKOKIE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL S. R. Logan, Associate Supt. of Schools, and Principal, Skokie Junior High School, Winnetka, Illinois I— . ., - , ,- ., il,- no overhead charges, and it was able to T is the lob of the school to give every , . °. ' , , , ,, i -u ./ . -. . j t j buy equipment which the school would child the opportunity to understand i /ï r • , u j -ru u, * i«* ., - ... ,- ", , . J . • . i not otherwise have had. Then the sales the institutions of his time not just by d necessitating more reading and talking about them, but ^^ nroan^,Hnn ^nH rpmrH k^nine through actual practice in creating and using them, with stress upon democratic Different types of ownership and op- spirit and method. In the'atmosphere of eration were discussed in advisory groups the school he may acquire a sense of re- and arithmetic classes. The cooperative sponsibility for the use of social tools type appealed more strongly to the chil- which are so powerful in adult hands dren because everyone could have an that their irresponsible use is a constant equal vore> and perhaps fifteen per cent menace to the general welfare. of the children of the school, sixth, sev- ^ LI -j -, ,r enth and eiehth grades, wanted to take Our school considers itself a com- . .,. 6 P, c' , , -,, ., - -. • , - , r i., j. , part. After a period of study with their munity in which are found the rudiments £ i. jt-iii^ r .i7 -,.,,. j i , r ,, faculty sponsor, and a trip to a local co ot the institutions and problems of the /• • u c u tu j T ., - , . r j r- ,- , ., operative in a nearby suburb, they drew times. In this brief description only the r ., . , , } ,. ,' } , , r ., f ,. .-} -,- up their by-laws according to approved economic phases of the schools activities _r . , J. , ° . rr will be discussed. However this does not Roch Jle Pépies, and have since been imply that corporations, whether they call oP^atmg as a genuine cooperative. • Shares are 25c. The members elect a manager to serve for a semester and six clerks to serve for a period of six weeks. Two open the store for fifteen minutes before school, two during fifteen minutes of the first lunch period, and two for an equal time during the second lunch peri od. This arrangement enables almost themselves public, cooperative, or private, are not to be considered inseparably po litical and economic. Store Evolves from Private to Public to Cooperative One of the first economic needs of children is for school supplies. Some of the children wished to own and operate every child who wants it to have the a store. The group interested in promot- experience of clerking. Meetings of the ing the store obtained a charter from the staff are held twice monthly, alternating School Council, collected share capital, with the board of directors, at the regular purchased a small stock of pencils, paper, period scheduled for school enterprises, erasers and notebooks and opened up Meetings of the whole membership are shop in a large storage "closet. The closet held less frequently. was located on a main school corridor At present the inventory amounts to and was equipped with a dutch door, about $275. It consists of pencils (three making a convenient counter. Profits went grades), a few automatic pencils, pens, to the private owners. penpoints and a few inexpensive foun At a later period the store was op- fain pens, erasers, rulers, protractors, crated under public ownership, all pro- notebook covers of one standard size, ceeds being set aside for the school, notebook paper (ruled and unruled), Since local merchants had asked the store tablets, spiral notebooks, paints, crayons to sell at market prices these proceeds and compasses. The store also sells cer- were considerable in proportion to the tain publications of the School Council, volume of sales, because the store had such as Rules of Order and the Skokie 84 Consumers' Cooperation Law Book. Purchases amount, to about $16 a week on the average. A record is made of each purchase, using the buyer's library number instead of his name to save time and avoid error. Sales tickets are sorted weekly and credited to the buyers in the sales book. Bookkeeping is simple. Three books are used: a share capital book, a record of inventory purchases and a sales book. With occasional bookkeeping supplies and sales tax the only expenses involved in selling, the entries are simple and usu ally no difficulty is experienced in bal ancing the books. Should any arise the sponsor, an arithmetic teacher, could make use of the opportunity provided by the very real need for mastery of sub ject matter. At present the store is pay ing 4% interest on share capital, and a purchase return of 10% annually to members. Returns to non-members are credited toward purchase of stock but may not be drawn in cash. Private Livestock Corporation Has Checquered Career In order that the children may become familiar with common forms of owner ship and operation, both private and public 'ownership corporations are en couraged as well as cooperatives. One of the first was the Livestock Corporation. Many children want pets, but not all parents welcome pets or can provide proper facilities for them at home. A group therefore obtained a charter from the School Council for a private profit corporation and started to raise rabbits. This company has had a checquered career. Rabbits are notably prolific, feed is high, and the market for baby rabbits as pets speedily reaches the saturation point. (Selling them to the butcher was unthinkable). At one time the Livestock Company actually went bankrupt, neces sitating the writing of bankruptcy laws by the School Council to meet the situa-. tion. It has since reorganized and is pros pering, having diversified with chickens and white rats. It is now contemplating the addition of lizards or horned toads. June, 1940 Fish Partnership Liquidated A Tropical Fish Firm was also organ ized as a profit corporation and later was reorganized on a partnership basis. It liquidated without loss when the par ticular boys interested in raising tropical fish graduated from the school. Bureau of Bees Publicly Owned The Bureau of Bees of the Biology Department, known as the B.B.B.'s is publicly owned and operated, marketing its product and turning over the pro ceeds to the Biology Department for equipment. Skokie X-Press The Printing Department publishes books of verse and prose, and prints all sorts of forms, bills and letterheads. The Skokie Express is a free news service to keep parents, students and teachers in formed on matters of interest to all. Every spring a torrent of journalistic en thusiasm breaks forth in the form of mimeographed newspapers, some pro duced at home and others at school by individual entrepreneurs or partnerships. Few of them are long lived. Credit Union Fills Banking Needs As the number of business enterprises grew, the need for banking facilities be came apparent. A school bank was started as a depository for the funds of the various organizations and advisories. At present it is run entirely by girls, but this has not always been the case. This did not satisfy a small group who wished to have complete banking service, includ ing personal and commercial loans. The father of one of the boys in this group, a vice-president of a large bank in Chi cago, invited them to take a field trip to visit the bank. After they had been shown through all its departments he met with them to discuss their problem and advised a credit union as simpler and more practical from the standpoint of their needs. After considerable study they decided that he was right, though even the simple procedures of a credit union had to be modified. The amounts 85 I ' of money children need are small and the period of time before repayment short. Anyone may forget his lunch mon ey and be ready to repay the loan the next day. He should not be penalized by too high a rate of interest. With charac teristic directness of approach they wrote their own regulations. A loan repaid the next day carries no interest. After a week the interest mounts steeply. The maxi mum loan is $1.50. Loans are made on a character basis only. The first loan made was for the maxi mum amount, and it was slow in repay ment. This was probably a good thing. It made the credit committee careful. They now inquire fully into the pur poses for which loans are required and into the character of the borrower. As a result there have been no losses, though there is sometimes difficulty in making collections. Most of the larger amounts are for purchase of fountain pens and are repaid out of weekly allowances. The average number of loans per week is 24. There are 110 members. Mutual Insurance Company A recent addition to the list of school enterprises is an insurance company. Oc casional breakage of dishes in the cafe teria is a hazard no one can avoid. After thorough study of the annual breakage it was decided that the risk was an in- surable one. A group applied to Council for a charter as a mutual insurance company which is now writing policies for both students and faculty. Conservation Authority Latest addition to the list of school enterprises is the Skokie Conservation Authority. It has been organized for the purpose of establishing a nursery as a source of supply for trees and shrubs for planting school grounds, promoting knowledge of soils and plants and pro tecting birds and wild life. When there is surplus nursery stock it is to be sold and the proceeds turned over to the School Council for the general welfare. It is an organization of organizations in cluding at present: the School Council, 86 in substantial control; the Nature Study classes; one Social Studies class; the Council's Building and Grounds Com mittee. Inclusion of the Winnetka Gar den Club, an adult organization, is also authorized if it desires membership. Fun In Economic Activities There is a lot of fun in these activi ties. Games with corporate forms which embody the principles of representative government appeal to children of our day as did the bow and arrow in primi tive Indian life. As the bow and arrow games had significance for survival of individual and tribes, these games may be said to relate to the survival of the free citizen in our time. They have the thrill of reality and adventure. Perhaps they promise some advance in self-gov ernment in industry. The fun of such toys of democracy in the hands of our children differs dramatically from the fun of guns and tricks of treachery in which multitudes of children are known to be encouraged where dictatorship rules. Even the routine of record keeping is not altogether humdrum. Take for ex ample the case of the Nine Dead Rabbits. At a membership meeting the Treasurer of the Livestock Company undertook to put on the blackboard a financial state ment. Under Assets he listed such items as: 3 hutches, 20 live rabbits. Under Li abilities he wrote at the end of the list 9 dead rabbits. This produced such a storm of debate that the teacher-sponsor rushed in to learn the cause of disorder. When his eye fell upon the item in the statement "9 dead rabbits" he demanded sternly: "Who put those dead rabbits in there? Take them out at once." The Treasurer conscientiously and stoutly demurred. The rabbits were where they belonged, the live rabbits on the asset side and the dead rabbits on the liability side. The dead rabbits were as much liabilities as the live rabbits were assets. They had to be put somewhere, and there was no other place for them. Finally both sides Consumers' Cooperation agreed to call in the school bookkeeper, a graduate accountant, to analyze and arbitrate and direct proper interment. It must be confessed, however, that even she could not find a satisfactory resting place for the 9 dead rabbits. Her magic was not sufficient to dispel the faint odor of dead rabbits which persisted for days like a fog of doubt and discouragement wherever members discussed the unpros- perous year and the present financial status of their business. Some Indications of Results What are the results of this effort to teach representative government in the economic area? It is too soon to give any definite answer, and it will be a diffi cult question to answer at all in the test and measurement terms on which school men have come to rely. But there are in dications : Raffles have been looked upon askance in the Village since the time of the Live stock Corporation considered the feasi bility of raffling off a rabbit during its period of financial stress. It was forbid den to do so by the School Council after a week-end of home and school discus sions and delving into Illinois statutes, in spite of the examples of previous church raffles cited by the proponents of the idea. An important matter was up for dis cussion in an annual meeting of the Tropical Fish Firm. One boy, the son of a family of wealth, had invested $5 in capital stock. Most of the others held one or two shares of a par value of 25c. When it came to a vote the boy who held the controlling majority demanded: "Why should I have more votes than Joel? He knows more about fish than I do." The rule of one vote per member was thereupon adopted. One of the charter members of the credit union is now in high school. He is trying to start a credit union there and reports that the Student Council is favor ably disposed toward % the idea, though he is having some trouble in finding a faculty member to sponsor it. Perhaps best indication of all—many June, 1940 of the citizens of Skokie (teachers and children alike are citizens), are actively interested in one or another of these economic enterprises. Each is striving to have the venture in which he is engaged a success, but with the help of the School Council he sees it also in relation to its effect upon the general welfare of the school community. Theoretically and legally business cor porations as well as such forms of cor porations known as cities and school dis tricts are governed according to the forms and principles of representative govern ment. Sovereignty is in the electorate, and each component should be operated as a harmonious part of our federal demo cratic system. Let us have more minia ture corporations within the school, more children's games of collective business for the general welfare. They may help business corporations to become in fact as well as theory "of, by and for the people." Just Published ABC OF COOPERATION A Handbook for Consumers and Producers 0 By GERALD RICHARDSON Director, Division of Cooperatives, Commission of Government Newfoundland 0 An Introduction to Cooperation that tells HOW to organize a study club, credit union, buying club, store and producers or marketing associations. Regular Edition ----- $2 Special Co-op Edition - - $1 0 Order through The Cooperative League 167 WEST 12TH STREET NEW YORK CITY 87 FROM GETTYSBURG TO PHILLIPSBURG NINETY-SIX years ago the Rochdale Pioneers established a type of busi ness conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that democracy is as im portant in business as it is in politics and that the consumers of goods and services have an inalienable right to produce and distribute those goods and services for themselves. We are now engaged in a world-wide demonstration of the soundness of that concept as one hundred million consum ers carry on their day to day business on those principles. We are met today on a proving ground of economic democracy, at a plant which the people built with their dimes and dollars and which they control demo cratically as consumers. This first complete cooperative oil re finery in the United States marks an ex tension of consumer ownership into the field of production. Established as the world swung into its greatest depression, the Consumers Coop erative Association has drawn to itself one hundred and twenty thousand consumers who have demonstrated their faith in this principle as patron-members of the cen tral organization serving their 452 coop erative associations. No platoons nor regiments have died in battle to establish this refinery. Nor has any one man laid down his life to estab lish this principle. But consumers by the thousands, men, women and children, have died as victims of the economic war fare which has been waged to perpetuate a system of profit taking. Countless sacri fices have been made to the greed and ignorance which devastates these western plains. Hundreds of thousands have gone hungry as golden wealth above the ground and the black gold beneath have been exploited for private profit and siphoned away to centers of concentrated wealth. Victims of the dust bowl and the profit bowl alike have invested their funds in 88 Wallace J. Campbell this demonstration that business is better when consumers serve themselves. Al ready- a million dollars a year in savings, a hundred thousand dollar a year payroll at Phillipsburg, and a measure of pros perity in Northwestern Kansas are evi dence that they have not worked and saved in vain! Though none have given up their lives, thousands have dedicated their lives to the proposition that all consumers are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of cooperation. * * * These are the things "that man at Gettysburg" might have said had he spoken at Phillipsburg seventy-seven years later. Had he been there he would have seen twenty-five thousand cooperators pour into the little town of Phillipsburg from as far as 800 miles away. The largest crowd ever assembled in Northwestern Kansas gath ered not for a rodeo, fair or corn husking, but to dedicate their own refinery. In the annals of American cooperation there has been no larger gathering. More stockholders came together in Phillipsburg than for any other business enterprise at any other time. When Ralph Snyder, president of the Wichita Bank for Cooperatives, poured a vial of high octane gasoline produced in the co-op refinery into the horse drawn tank wagon used twenty-five years ago by the co-op at Kirwin, Kansas, he dedicated the biggest yardstick in the midwest. This modern 3,000-barrel-a-day refinery and its 70-mile pipe line to nearby oil fields was built at a total cost of $850,000. Because it serves a known demand with no speculation for a market and with three crews keeping it in operation 24 hours a day, it is a yardstick of efficiency in oil refining. Located in the heart of its market and near its source of supply it is a price yard stick, saving one cent a gallon on refined gasoline through cheaper transportation alone. Owned by the consumers it serves and giving them responsibility for the manage ment of the biggest industrial enterprise they ever owned, it provides a yardstick of democratic action in the economic field. As Howard Cowden, president of the Consumers Cooperative Association, said in accepting the refinery for its 120,000 consumer owners, the refinery is literally "a dream come true." But there are still many problems. The state of Kansas can produce 5,000,000 barrels of crude oil per day in its active wells. But because of the chaotic state of the industry there is a market for only 150,000 barrels a day. A proration law is freezing the output percentages at what ever the output was for any given month. With the producer's ratio down to less than four per cent of capacity, oil wells which can produce 1000 barrels a day are restricted to less than forty. This auto matically cuts the amount of crude oil A DECADE OF CO-OP YOUTH PROGRESS THE future of the Co-operative Move ment is inseparably bound up with youth—the young men and women of the present generation who are heirs of the past and the leaders of tomorrow. To them must go the responsibility of carry ing forward the work of the Co-operative Movement in years to come. Most adult co-operators realize that if the movement is to advance and be suc cessful, it must be assured of a van guard of youth—sincere, intelligent, and . trained. It is but natural that the men and women who have built the Co-opera tive Movement of the Central Co-opera tive Wholesale area, with its extensive available to the cooperatives and might eventually force the co-ops to buy from the major oil companies at a price disad vantage. The Consumers Cooperative Refinery has contracts with 37 wells in Northwest ern Kansas, but in order to get an ade quate supply of crude oil under the pro- ration law the board has been forced to authorize the construction of an additional 22 miles of pipe line to be built at a cost of $45,000 to tap three more oil pools in Ellis county. Faced with the necessity of guarantee ing a constant and assured source of sup ply of crude oil for the refinery, the board of directors of CCA, meeting in Phillips- burg just before the dedication of the re finery May 4, voted to establish a Coop erative Oil Producing Association with authority to take steps if and when neces sary to buy or drill oil wells to supply the cooperative refinery. On the fields of Phillipsburg 25,000 consumers met to dedicate themselves, as well as their refinery, to the proposition that the business of the people, by the people, for the people shall grow and flourish on this earth. Consumers' Cooperation June, 1940 Miriam Sanda, Secretary-Organizer Northern States Youth League and far-sighted educational program, should have seen the need for an organ ization of co-operative youth as well. They have provided for future co-opera tive leaders and workers thru their own youth organization—the Northern States Co-operative Youth League. Born In Depression In 1930, during turbulent depression- hit days, when in addition to the crisis which swept the entire nation, the Co operative Movement in this area had to gather its forces in a now famous and loyal struggle to preserve the Movement from political groups which sought to de stroy it, the Northern States Co-operative 89 Youth League was born. Young co-opera tors of the Central Co-operative Whole sale territory gathered in Superior, Wis. to organize the League. The purpose and program of the League, as adopted at this historical conference, was to concern itself with teaching the aims and prin ciples of the Co-operative Movement to youth and to prepare them for future leadership. In addition to this, they adopted as a part of their program— cultural, recreational, and social activities. Membership Doubles in Past Year From the beginning, the League grew very rapidly. Thru the years, its mem bers have grown up and graduated into adult activity, as is the case with the membership of any and every youth or ganization. New members have to be re cruited to take their place. During the past two years especially, the member ship of the Co-op Youth League has steadily increased. Youth have kept abreast of the increasingly extensive edu cational program of the Central Co-opera tive Wholesale. The League now has 40 local groups with a combined member ship of 1,100—more than double that of a year ago. Along with its own broad co-op youth program which includes every type of educational, cultural, and recreational ac tivity, and such district-wide projects as Play Festivals, Speakers' and Co-op Poster Contests, members of the Co-op Youth League engage in practical co-operative problems and activities in their respective communities. They assist the educational committees of local co-operative societies in their work; participate in subscription drives for the Co-op Press, and so on. Many of the League's active leaders and functionaries are graduates of the annual Co-op Youth League Courses. This school, which lasts for four weeks, is held at the Co-op Park, in Brule, Wis. It is sponsored by a joint committee of the Central Co-operative Wholesale, the Women's Co-op Guilds, and the Co-op Youth League. The school curriculum consists of a study of Co-operative Prin- 90 ciples and Aims, Economics, Public Speaking, Folk Recreation, and sports. Giving Youth Training for Service The League has, thru its various ac tivities, proven that youth, given an op portunity, can be of much service to the Co-operative Movement. It has inspired confidence in the ability of youth to ex press itself. Organized by youth, and for youth, it is a valuable training ground for those who aspire to practice democracy in its most effective form—through mem bership and participation in a Consumer Co-operative undertaking. It has suc ceeded in its task of training leaders for the Co-operative Movement. Hundreds of its former and present members oc cupy positions of responsibility in the various co-operative enterprises of CCW. Often referred to as the most active co-op youth organization in this country, the League receives requests for informa tion about its program and methods of organization from co-operative groups and individuals thruout the country. Among its host of friends is included Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the President, who in a personal message to the League a year ago, expressed her interest in the work we are doing. Nor has the League confined itself to national boundary lines. It has established contact with co-opera tive youth groups and movements in other lands. An example of this is the fine friendship which exists between the League and the British Federation of Co operative Youth—a friendship which the status of a "country at war" has not been able to destroy. On May 12 of this year, the Northern States Co-op Youth League met in its tenth annual convention, to commemorate a decade of co-op youth progress. Its ac tivities in the past have been numerous and worthwhile, yet they are only a slight indication of what can be accom plished in the years ahead. The youthful enthusiasm of its members, together with the interest and willing assistance of the adult movement, holds great promise for its future. Consumers' Cooperation CO-OPS AT PLAY UVV7HAT PRICE VERONICA," a W stirring melodrama, was presented recently by Group A of the Timmins Consumers Cooperative Society, Timmins, Ontario. The play was written by one of the members of the group, Paddy Quinn. Square dances, quadrilles and waltzes followed the play. Recreation plays an important part in all of the activities of the study and educational groups of the Timmins Society. Charades, games, dancing and singing are reported as part of the evening programs of the study groups. One of the groups is in vestigating the possibilities of acquiring an attractive vacation site. * * * A series of Cooperative Youth Con ferences designed to help young men and women seek a group solution to their common economic and social problems through experience in good study, dis cussion and play, will be held this sum mer under the direction of the Ohio Farm Bureau and the County Farm Bureaus. Four conferences will be held for those who have previously attended a Youth Conference and six for those who are interested in cooperation but have never attended a Youth Conference. The programs for these conferences have been built on the suggestions of the various Youth Councils and include: pro gram planning, lectures and discussions on cooperation and current economic facts, folk dancing, singing, crafts, and dramatics. The conferences are under the direction of Darwin Bryan of the Edu cation Department of the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association. * * * The Racine, Wisconsin, Cooperative Dramatics Club presented "Suitable for Charity," a one-act comedy by Paul Mc- Coy at the Annual One-Act Play Festival in Racine recently. The group, which meets every week, is planning a well- rounded program of productions. June, 1940 Ellen Edwards Folk dancing on a large scale made its bow at the Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments, New York City, April 26 and was greeted with a demand for more. About seventy-five persons took part un der the competent and friendly leader ship of the Play Co-op. The A. H. Con sumer lists as high spots of the evening: everyone had a good time; there was a fine group spirit, partly because folk dancing is primarily a group, not a couple activity; members of the older and younger generations had fun together, a rare sight at Amalgamated. Another suc cessful dance was held May 31. ^: ^: ^: An interesting feature of the Midland employees meeting at Princeton, Min nesota, was the presentation of the pup pet play, "The Consumer Consumed or Pure Applesauce" by Mrs. Ben Anderson and Mrs. John Bliss of Milaca, Min nesota. % $• ^! Cooperators on the Pacific Coast will be interested in the special Group Work Session which will be held at Mills Col lege, Oakland, California, July 1 to Au gust 3, under the direction of. Miss Neva Boyd and Mrs. Charlotte Chorpenning or Northwestern University. Both Miss Boyd and Mrs. Chorpenning have been on the staff of the National Cooperative Recreational School and Miss Boyd is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cooperative Society for Recreational Ed ucation. The theory and practical tech niques of recreation which they have de veloped is particularly applicable in con sumers' cooperatives. ^: ^: ^: The weekly folk dancing class spon sored by the Co-op Union Recreation Committee, which was established last September, continues to be a popular in stitution with cooperators in the Chicago area. It is designed primarily for those who wish to learn to lead folk dances or to establish a recreational program in a 91 I ! local society, or those who just love to dance. A week-end conference to discuss the philosophy and techniques of coop erative recreation is being planned to wind up the present series of classes. A one-week Cooperative Recreation School will be held at the Co-op Park, Brule, Wisconsin, July 14 to 20, under the direction of the Northern States Women's Co-op Guild, the Co-op Youth Course Committee and the District Executive Committee of the Youth League. Chester A. Graham, state supervisor of workers' services in Wisconsin, will be the main instructor of the school, which will spe cialize in folk dancing and dramatics. The purpose of the school is to stimulate interest in organized cooperative recrea tion in every local cooperative and to give preliminary training to leaders of recrea tion groups. The second annual Camp Co-op for young people in the District X area of the Midland Cooperative Wholesale will be held June 16 to 23 and June 23 to 30, at Lake Mendota about eight miles from Madison, Wisconsin. The program for the two one-week conferences will in clude sports, study in consumer coopera tion and general economics, folk danc ing, dramatics and handicrafts. Larry France, Midland Cooperative Wholesale, will be camp director. The staff will in clude Mrs. Marie J. Kellogg, community drama specialist of the College of Agri culture, Mrs. Rockwell Smith, instructor in drama at Madison; Mrs. Armin Kan tin of Mayville and Chester Graham of Madison. COOPERATION MOVES SOUTH THE South now has its own regional education association devoted specifi cally to the organization of cooperatives. The Southeastern Cooperative Education Association was born on May 11 when rep resentatives from most of the eleven states to be served by the new association adopted by-laws of association and elected officers with instructions to call a South- wide conference on cooperatives this fall. The organization meeting came at a final session of the four-day Southeastern Conference on Adult Education and Co operation at the Piedmont Hotel in At lanta, March 8-11. Growing out of a long unsatisfied need for a southern clearing house on coop eratives, the new Education Association drew its impetus from a southwide con ference on "Educating People to Help Themselves," which drew together 400 representatives of cooperatives, educa tional, labor, and farm groups in the south at Greenville, S. Carolina, last May. Dr. Lee M. Brooks of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was elected president of the new organization, 92 while Ellsworth Smith, director of the Adult Education Cooperative Project of the Conference of Southern Mountain Workers, Berea, Kentucky, was selected as executive secretary. Other officers of the organization include as Vice Presi dents: John Hope II, Atlanta Uni versity, Atlanta, Georgia; C. B. Loomis, executive secretary of the Greenville County Council for Community Devel opment; T. M. Campbell of Tuskeegee Institute, Tuskeegee, Alabama, and Ruth Morton, director of schools for the American Missionary Association. Ed Youmans of the Farm School, Ashville, North Carolina, will serve as treasurer. The Southeastern Cooperative Educa tion Association will serve the states of North and South Carolina, Virginia, Ken tucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida. Two representatives from each state will serve as members of the execu tive committee of the Association. The officers and executive committee were instructed to call a special confer ence on the organization of cooperatives Consumers' Cooperation to be held in the fall of 1940 at a date and place to be selected later. The Atlanta conference was under the sponsorship of the American Association for Adult Education, the Southeastern Conference for Adult Education, The Southeastern Regional Conference on Co operation and the Committee on the Church and Cooperatives of the Federal Council of Churches. PLAN YOUR CO-OP SUMMER A FULL summer of cooperative activi ties is planned by cooperatives in all sections of the country. They started off with a bang when 120 students gathered at Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, for the Fifth An nual National Cooperative Recreation School, June 14-26. The school, designed to train recreation leaders for the coop erative movement, is open to other in terested individuals. Cooperative editors and educational directors from regional and local coop eratives will meet at Heidelberg College for the National Conference on Coopera tive Education and Publicity, June 25-28. With the cooperative movement now playing a leading role in adult education in the U. S. invitations are being sent to prominent people in the fields of educa tion, adult education, labor, farm and credit union organizations who will meet with the cooperative leaders. Simultaneous summer institutes will be held at Camp Sierra in the heart of the Sierra Mountains of California and at Shawnee Lake near the Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey, July 13-21. The Cali fornia Conference will be jointly spon sored by the Associated Cooperatives of Northern and Southern California. The In stitute at Shawnee Lake will be under the direction of the New Jersey Federation of Consumer Cooperatives. At both insti tutes, those attending will be given ample time for a well-rounded vacation along with popular lectures on the cooperative movement, round table discussions, study circles and recreation. The Circle Pines Center, at Hastings, Michigan, in the heart* of the lake coun try, run by cooperatives in the Central States Cooperative League territory, will be in continuous session all summer. A June, 1940 program of eight or ten institutes is be ing worked out, covering various phases and aspects of the cooperative movement. Special institutes will range from one to two weeks in duration and members of co-ops may use the Circle Pines Center as a vacation spot for their families in addition to participation in the series of institutes. A special feature of the Circle Pines sessions this summer will be the presence in the camp of a Friends Ser vice Committee Work Group which will help build a new camp for the Circle Pines Center a few miles away. The Eastern Cooperative League will hold its Annual Cooperative Institute at Massachusetts State College, Amtierst, Mass., July 28 to August 10. Educational problems of the cooperatives, the testing of co-op commodities, recreation pro grams and background material on the history and philosophy of the coopera tive movement will feature the first week of the institute. The second week will be devoted specifically to technical training of cooperative managers. The highlight of all summer activities will be the Fourth Annual Conference Tour of Nova Scotia which will begin in Antigonish, August 12 and continue through August 24. The conference tour is under the auspices of The Cooperative League of the U.S.A. in cooperation with the Extension Department of St. Francis Xavier University. American visitors who will take part in the tour will attend sessions of the Rural and Industrial Con ference in Antigonish before visiting co operatives and credit unions established by miners, farmers and fishermen in east ern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. More detailed information about any of these summer activities may be secured from The Cooperative League. 93 WHAT'S NEWS WITH THE CO-OPS? New York—Why do consumers join cooperatives ? The business magazine Sales Manage ment, in a special article in its May 15 issue, reported on a survey for Sales Man agement by the Ross Federal Research Corporation. Heading the list of fifteen reasons reported by members of co-ops on the Atlantic Seaboard were: 1. Cooperatives can be depended upon to tell the whole truth about mer chandise. 2. Even where there is no money sav ing, the cooperative member may reasonably expect better quality. 3. The fact that more than 600 items are now available under a uniform co-op label contributes to the con- • venience and ease of purchasing. 4. Brand gradings and labeling are more explicit and understandable than in private stores. Washington, D. C.—Laying the cor nerstone of a modern $45,000 co-op filling station to serve the nation's capi tal, Donald Montgomery, Consumers Counsel of the Department of Agricul ture said, "This cornerstone is only one brick in the cornerstone of the whole cooperative movement." The land and building of the new Konsum co-op station are owned entirely by the cooperatives, financed through the newly organized Cooperates' Properties, in which members invested about $20,- 000. Further underwriting was financed by the Farm Bureau Co-op Insurance Services. Among other notables at the corner stone ceremony were John Carmody, head of the Federal Works Agency, Ja cob Baker, president of United Federal Workers, Howard R. Stinson, president of Konsum, and E. R. Bowen, general secretary of The Cooperative League. Cleveland, Ohio—Delegates to a joint annual meeting of the Central States Cooperative League and The Co-op Wholesale, Inc. of Chicago, meeting here April 27-29 voted unanimously for uni- 94 fkation of the two organizations, to take effect within the next three months. The Central States Cooperative League has served for many years as the educa tional federation of cooperatives for Il linois, Indiana, Ohio and Southern Michi gan. The Co-op Wholesale, Inc. was es tablished four years ago to act as put- chasing organization for urban co-ops in the same area. Indianapolis, Ind.—The second co-op oil refinery in the United States began production early in May, handling about 2,500 barrels of crude oil every 24 hours. The refinery, owned and operated by the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperatives reptc sents a total investment of $330,000 and includes the refinery proper, a 25-mile crude oil pipe line system, transport trucks and a truck base. This petroleum skimming plant is one of the most mod ern of its kind. Provision has been made for the addition of a cracking unit as the need develops. The co-op refinery is lo cated at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, near the newly discovered Gibson County oil field. BOOK REVIEWS THE MARCH OF FASCISM, Stephen Rauschen bush, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1940, $3. Available through The Coopera tive League. Mr. Rauschenbush here draws a parallel be tween social, political, and economic conditions existing in America today with conditions pre vailing in Germany, Italy, and Austria before the social revolution of totalitarianism took place there. The parallel he draws is so startling that it is difficult to realize how fertile we may have made American soil for the growth of Fascism here. In this respect it is a book that every cooperator should read. It presents a deep challenge to all of us to take action now—be fore action is restricted and freedom curtailed. Mr. Rauschenbush calls attention to many specific conditions which prevailed in the total itarian nations before democracy fell. Among these are: 1. A divided labor movement. 2. Low farm prices and income. 3. Ever-increasing unemployment and result ing humiliation. Consumers' Cooperation 4. Frustration of young people eager to work but unable to find jobs. 5. General public acceptance of the in evitability of unemployment. 6. Price-fixing and restriction of produc tion by industry, labor and agriculture. The point of this part of Mr. Rauschenbush's book is too obvious to be labored here, but it may well be true that these circumstances are pushing us toward a revolutionary change of one kind or another. In other nations the change has been in the direction of dictatorship—what it may be here is difficult to foresee. Dictator ship, it is true, is one alternative. But there are others. The writer believes that the rich tradi tion of idealistic America will enable her to work out some preferable alternative, to put to gether the advantages of individual liberty and group solidarity without sacrificing the princi pal benefits of either. Notable as this analysis of the American situ ation is, its suggestions in the way of some constructive alternative to Fascism are rather vague and nebulous. Granted, the job of posing a successful alternative is a tremendous one. But there are specific alternatives to which little attention has been paid. One of these—and we believe the most potent one—is the cooperative movement. After proving itself effective both as an instrument for solving many of America's economic problems and as a way of making democracy work, we feel that cooperation de serves more consideration than the casual refer ence Mr. Rauschenbush accords to it. ROY O. HOFFMAN BRICKBATS AND BOOMERANGS, a five-page leaf let by E. R. Bowen, 3 cents. The Coopera tive League. In this brief leaflet Mr. Bowen takes the insipid arguments of America's profit-insur ance men in their anti-co-op campaign for a short but very bumpy ride. It is excellent free-distribution material for co-ops whose patrons bother to take the dud- shooting campaign of the insurance people seriously. —ERIC KENDALL RECENT ARTICLES ON COOPERATIVES AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST, March, 1940, "Trade Union Plus Credit Union." April, 1940, "Cooperative Hospitalization Plans." May, 1940, "Cooperarives Enter the Dis mal Trade," Harold Maslow. The de velopment of cooperative burial asso ciations. ARCHITECTURAL FORUM, February, 1940, "Cooperative Subdividing," the Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association at Crest- wood, Madison, Wisconsin. CALIFORNIA LABORER, March 22, 1940, "Con sumer Cooperatives Commended by A. F. of L." THE CALL, Mardi 1940, "Greenbelt, 'D.C' ", Kingsley Leeds. April, 1940, "Business Attacks the Coop eratives," Kingsley Leeds. CHRISTIAN LEADER, May 25, 1940, "Christ's Apostle to Japan," Elsie Oakes Barber. Kagawa and his work in cooperatives in 1 Japan. COMMONWEAL, April 19, 1940, "Group Health Association Now," T. Swann Harding. The legal battle between the A.M.A. and coopera tive group practice goes on. May 24, 1940, "Granger Homesteads," Edward Skillin, Jr. The reconstruction of a mining camp under the leadership of Father Ligutti. COWBELL, May, 1940, "A Swedish Slant on Our Co-ops," an interview with Einar Lar- sson, Stockholm University of Commerce. June, 1940 CREATIVE WRITING, Spring, 1940, "Democracy Through Cooperation," David E. Sonquist. EPWORTH HERALD, December 2, 1939, "In Depressed Area, Youth Cooperates for Recreation," the story of the co-op at the Henry Street Settlement, New York. FISH AND OYSTER REPORTER, March, 1940, "Nova Scotia Fishermen Aided by Coopera tives," Ralph Russell. FORUM, April, 1940, "When 125,000 Buyers Cooperate," Webb Waldron. The develop ment of the Cooperative GLF. FREE AMERICA, March, 1940, "Maine Lobster Cooperative," E. M. Holmes. FRONTIERS OF DEMOCRACY, February 15, 1940, "The Scandinavian Folk Movements," Marius Hansome. INDEPENDENT WOMAN, April, 1940, "Build ing a Brave New World," George Tichenor. The role of women in the Cooperative Movement. LAND AND FREEDOM, March-April, 1940, "De mocracy in Denmark," Holger Lyngholm. MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, January, 1940, "Re cent Legislation Relating to Consumers Co operatives." "Taxation of Cooperatives." March, 1940, "Developments in Consum ers' Cooperation in 1939." NEW REPUBLIC, May 6, 1940, "Ganging Up on the Co-ops," Wallace J. Campbell. READER'S DIGEST, April, 1940, "When 125,000 Buyers Cooperate," Webb Waldron. Re printed from the Forum. 95 SALES MANAGEMENT, May 15, 1940, "What Attracts Members to the Cooperative Store Movement," Results of a survey by the Ross Federal Research Corp. SOCIAL FORUM, April, 1940, "Farm Co-ops Solve Rural Money Problems and Aid Inde pendence," Edgar Schmiedeier, OSB. SOCIAL JUSTICE REVIEW, March, 1940, "Our Goal Should Be Justice With Freedom," L. S, Herren. April, 1940, "Relationship of Coopera tion to Religion and Government," J. Elliott Ross. May, 1940, "Cooperation and Credit Unions." WORLD YOUTH, MARCH 2, 1940, "War Profits and Death," I. H. Hull, reprinted from Consumers Cooperation. YENCHING JOURNAL OF SOCIAL STUDIES, Feb ruary, 1940, "The Theory of Cooperation," J. B. Taylor. 1« "Stretching the Consumers Dollar," by John \' Carson appeared in the May issues of ] BOILERMAKERS JOURNAL r BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND I ENGINEMEN'S MAGAZINE 1 MACHINISTS MONTHLY JOURNAL RAILWAY CARMEN'S JOURNAL i I Newspapers THE CALL, May 25, 1940, "Finnish Farm Co operative Succeeds in Massachusetts," P. Wartiainen, Jr. 1 NEW LEADER, May 3, 1940, "Prices in Sweden Kept at Low Level As Co-ops Crack Whip on Trust Chiefs," Anders Hedberg. NEW YORK POST, February 14, 1940, W. L. White in his syndicated column, "Take a Look" reports on Finnish cooperatives. NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, February 9, 1940, "Cooperative Movement Faced by New Policies." February 27, 1940, "Hedberg Assails Pat- i man's Plan to Raise Taxes on Chain Stores." April 18, 1940, "Priest Tells How He ! Took Whole Town Off Relief." ! NEW YORK TIMES, March 31, 1940, "Food i Co-op Meets Competitive Test." l April 5, 1940, "Eastern Co-op Sales at 1 $1,071,000 in 1939-" PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, February 11, 1940, ' "Steering a 'Planned Community,' " by Louis Bessemer, first mayor of Greenbelt. SUNDAY NEWS, May 19, 1940, "Collegiate Goes Cooperative," the story of Falkirk House, married students co-op at the Uni versity of California at Los Angeles. 96 CO-OP LITERATURE • Student Cooperatives Co-ops on the Campus, Bertram B. Fowler .03 Campus Co-ops, William Moore .................... .05 Handbook on Student Co-ops, Based on the Findings of the Pacific Coast Con ference of Student Cooperatives .............. .10 • Novels and Biography Fresh Furrow: Burris Jenkins (Special) .50 The Brave Years: Wm. Heyliger .................. 1.51) My Story, by Paddy the Cope, Co-ops in Ireland .................................................................. 2.75 • Textbooks on Cooperation Consumers' Cooperatives, Julia B. John son, Debate Handbook .................................. .90 When You Buy, Trilling, Eberhart and Nicholas, High school and college, two chapters on consumer cooperatives ........ 1.80 Cooperation, Hall and Watkins, Official British Textbook .............................................. 3.011 The Consumers Cooperative as a Distribu tive Agency, Orin B. Burley ...................... 3.00 Windows on the World, Kenneth Gould, high school text, one chapter on coop eratives ................................................................ 3.00 • Cooperative Recreation The Consumer Consumed, Josephine Johnson, a Puppet Play ................................ .05 Cooperative Recreation, Carl Hutchlnson, reprinted from The Annals.. ................ _ .05 Two One Act Plays, Bills Cowling ......... _ .15 The Answer, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling ...... .20 The Spider Web, 3-act play, Bills Cowling .25 Education Through Recreation. L. P. Jacks .................................................................... 1.50 List of recreational materials, songs, dances, games, available from Cooperative Recreation Service, Delaware, Ohio. FILMS "The Lord Helps Tlione — Who Help Eaeli Other," a new 3 reel, 16 mm. film of the Nova Scotia adult education and cooperative pro gram, produced by the Harmou Foundation. Excellent photography. $4.50 per day, $2.28 addition«! showing«, $13.50 per week. "A House Without a Landlord," a new 2% reel, 10 mm. silent film on the Amalgamated Cooperative Houses in New York City. ••Clasping 1 hi mis." 1(1 nun. silent, two reel Him, showing liow cooperation is taught in the schools of France. Won the Grand Prize al the International Exposition, 1'ariB, 1937. "When Blank! nd Is Willing," a 16 mm. silelll three-reel Him. with English titles, of coop erative stiires. wholesales and factories in France. A Day With Kagawa, 3 reel, silent, 16 ram. Kagawa and his co-ops in Japan. Rental: Bach of tiiree above $3 per day. $1.50 for each additional showing or $10 per week. POSTERS Organize Cooperatives, 10"x28" Green, 5 for $1 _______ ..... ___ .... _ ... .20 Cooperative Principles, 18"x28" Blue, 5 for $1 ..... _ ........................................... .20 Cooperative Ownership, 10"x28" Mulberry, 5 for $1 .......................................... .20 Consumer Ownership — Of, By and For the People, 18"x28", Hed-White-and- Blue, 5 for $1 .................................................... À Economie Lessons of the War Cooperative Fertilizer Production Lowers Price Levé! Editorial Gilman Calkins CO-OP CONFERENCES: Cooperation, The Answer of Free Men Glenn Thompson Training for Cooperaîive Play Jacqueline Plauché Accountants Role in Cooperation REVIEWS: Housing in Scandinavia ABC of Cooperatives Laurie Lehtin LeRoy Bowman J. Henry Carpenter July 1940 Consumers' Cooperation CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS •', I 1 Eastern Cooperative League's Annual Cooperative Institute, Massachusetts State College, Amherst, Mass., July 29-August 10. Board of Directors of The Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Mor- rison, Chicago, October 14. Board of Directors of National Coopera-- tives, Inc., Hotel Morrison, Chicago, October 15. Interfaith Conference on the Cooperative Movement, sponsored by the Commit tee on the Church and Cooperatives of the Federal Council of Churches, Chi cago, October 15. Twelfth Biennial Congress and 25th An niversary Celebration, The Cooperative League of the U.S.A., Hotel Morrison, Chicago, 111., October 16, 17, and 18. National Conference on College Coop eratives, Hotel Morrison, Chicago, Oc tober 19- ' Regional Conference on Cooperatives and Labor, sponsored by the Committee on Organized Labor and Cooperatives of The Cooperative League, Chicago, Oc tober 19-20. THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C. Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Farm Bureau Services Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. USE. 28 St., N.Y. 116E. l6St.,N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 230 iS.Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT LEAGUES Central States Cooperatives 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois Eastern Cooperative League 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. 7218 So. Hoover St., Los Angeles, Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild Box 2000, Superior, Wisconsin FRATERNAL MEMBERS Credit Union National Association Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. 7 JULY, 1940 Ten Cents PLAY COOPERATIVELY TOO! A Consumers' Cooperative is a far broader organization to serve the needs of its members than is commonly thought. Generally cooperatives are thought of primarily as a means of buying commodities and services together. But buying to gether is only one cornerstone of a cooperative. Cooperatives are not only a means of buying together but of banking together. They are for finance as well as for business. And still more. A Cooperative should be a means of learning together. And finally it should be a means of playing together. In other words, as was strongly emphasized at the fifth annual National Co operative Recreation School recently held at Tiffin, Ohio, "Recreation is the fourth cornerstone of Cooperation," of which the others are Business, Finance and Educa tion. The cornerstones of Business and Finance might be called tLe "body," and the cornerstones of Education and Recreation the "soul" of Cooperation. A Co operative association should make it possible for its members to buy together, bank together, learn together and play together. We have begun to realize the great need of buying together cooperatively in America; we are increasingly realizing the need of banking together. "Pool your purchases cooperatively" and "mobilize your money cooperatively" are accepted slogans. But it is only recently that we have also begun to realize generally that we need to learn together cooperatively, and still more recently that we need to play together cooperatively. Miss Neva Boyd, of Northwestern University, who has been the philosophical interpreter at all of the five annual national recreation schools, rightly says, "Co- operators must realize that they not only have to organize their economic lives on a cooperative basis, but their social lives as well." An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S.A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace J. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. AMERICA'S STRONGEST DEFENSE- ORGANIZE COOPERATIVES FASTER! Peace does not depend primarily upon superiority of armaments on the borders of a country. Peace depends primarily upon superiority of economic justice within a country—upon the degree to which liberty and equality have been applied to eco nomic organizations—upon the degree of elimination of poverty, unemployment and tenancy. Economically contented nations have no cause to fight one another. To keep out of war, America's first job is to provide equitable incomes, employ ment and ownership for everyone within the nation. Our second job is to help other nations by peaceful means to achieve the same goal. We, in the Cooperative Movement, are committed to the cause of organizing cooperatives to achieve economic justice as the foundation for peace. We must take advantage of every opportunity to organize cooperatives faster. The world war and the depression of the 1920's was the primary cause of the rapid organization of rural Consumers' Cooperatives in America. The depression of the 1930's was the primary cause of the rapid organization of urban Consumers' Cooperatives in Amer ica. Now we have another great opportunity ahead of us in the 1940's. Today the time is ripe to break down rural and urban class lines and to develop genuine open- membership rural-urban Consumers' Cooperatives. This is the great need and the present war gives us another great opportunity to advance the movement more rapidly. The time is here for another great cooperative crusade. The question is—how shall we promote Consumers' Cooperatives faster today? First, what argument will make the most appeal ? Is it protection against the "high cost of living," which we are beginning to feel—with prices to consumers and pay to producers becoming farther apart? Second, what methods will be most effective? How shall we get more people to accept Cooperation as America's answer and to join and organize Cooperatives faster ? Third, how will we finance such a coopera tive drive? We have been urging cooperatives to transfer more of their savings to reserves rather than paying them out in dividends in order to build cooperatives stronger financially. Now should not cooperatives also use more of their savings for promotion rather than for dividends? For example, if a cooperative saves 5%, should it not divide its savings into 2% Dividends, 2% Reserves and 1% Pro motion ? Some cooperators would even go so far as to use all the savings for re serves and promotion in such a crisis as this. Wake Up Cooperators ! We are in a world crisis. We have a great opportunity and a great responsibility to prove that COOPERATION is the democratic eco nomic road ahead for America and to prevent the danger of this country turning to the right or left towards State dictatorship. WHY DISCUSSION GROUPS IN A COOPERATIVE The Fifth Annual Cooperative Publicity and Education Conference recently held at Tiffin, Ohio, spent a half day considering the subject of Discussion Groups. The need of such voluntary groups within a cooperative is now being quite generally and increasingly accepted. In fact, no one raised any question as to whether we should develop them — the consideration centered altogether around how to or ganize them, how to provide better discussion material and what their activities should be. We call them by various names—study clubs, fireside forums, neighborhood councils, advisory councils, etc. Sweden started with the name study-circles but has 98 Consumers' Cooperation now concluded that the name was not broad enough to cover their functions. In that country the name is now abbreviated to "Gruppen," or Groups. Our own conclusion, after several years of urging and watching their de velopment is that they represent a basic need in a cooperative which might be de scribed as that of "double democratic control." The first means of democratically controlling a cooperative is by the legal requirements of membership, shareholding and one-person-one-vote. Theoretically the legal obligations of being a member in a cooperative are enough. Practically, however, they have not proven to be sufficient to develop intelligent membership participation to the greatest degree. Voluntary discussion groups in a cooperative are needed to overcome this lack and to provide a second form of democratic control. The need of the development of small volun tary discussion groups within the membership of a cooperative is beyond theoretical consideration today—it is a basic requirement for intelligent and full membership participation. THE ECONOMIC LESSONS OF THE WAR MANKIND everywhere is more or less blindly struggling toward the ideal of A Free Society. To achieve that goal the people have set up four great social organizations: religious, education al, political and economic. A free society is the master—these four social organiza tions are the servants. Sometimes the church, school, government and business forget they are the servants and think they are the masters. Sometimes one organiza tion thinks it should control another. In the past the church and the state were in conflict tor control. Today business and the state are in conflict for control. Just as neither of the four social organizations can usurp the sovereign power of a free society, so can neither control the others. All are independent of one another but interdependent; all are dependent upon the will of a free people. The farthest advance in social organiza tion is brotherhood in religion, freedom in education, democracy in government and cooperation in economics. In America we have more nearly reached these goals in religion, education and government than we have in economics. We are indebted to our forefathers for applying the prin ciples of freedom and equality to the church, school and government—it re mains for us to apply these principles to economics. July, 1940 Production for Profit is Passing There are only two basic systems of economic organization —. production for profit and production for use. Three types of production for profit economic organizations have been set up —Slavery, Serfdom and Capitalism. To be accurate, Capitalism should be called Servilism—under this system the masses are servants to the few as before they were serfs and slaves. Slavery was based on the relation of mastership, Serfdom on pa ternalism, Capitalism on the theoretical competition of equals, which has, how ever, only resulted in the masses becoming servants. The natural reaction has come after century-long struggles—mankind is today revolting from production for profit in all of its forms. Production for profit has proven unable to apply the principle of equality to incomes, employment and ownership for the masses which is their inalienable right. Nor has it enabled them to realize their desires for freedom. Production for Use is Coming The revolt from production for profit to production for use is also finding ex pression in three forms of economic or ganization — Communism, Corporatism and Cooperation. Communism is being tried in Russia, Corporatism in Germany 99 and Italy, and Cooperation in Scandinavia and other countries. Dr. Horace M. Kallen, in his book "A Free Society," indicates that Communism and Corporatism are "psychologically a retrojection to paternalism," brought on by "a sort of failure of nerve, a fatigue of the individual will, and a blinding of the individual intelligence." "The new faith," he says, "relieves the inhabitants of the land of the burden of judgment, choice, and decision. It establishes the State as the captain of their souls, which they commit into its hand." George W. Russell, the poet-cooperator of Ireland, foresaw their coming and warned that "when a man be comes imbecile his friends place him in an asylum. When a people grow decadent and imbecile they place themselves in the hands of the State." As applied to the situation in Europe, the economic lesson, we believe, is that Capitalism cannot coordinate itself. Its failure to supply economic security to the masses brought on Communism in Russia and Corporatism in Germany as a result of economic pressure in those countries. The particular method of State control which was adopted in each country was a result of differing ideologies and conditions. However, the economic organizations are tending to be more and more similar. Both are attempts at production for use. This is more clearly seen in Russia where private ownership and profits were at once eliminated. However, while the economic pattern in Germany is not so clear, com petent observers report that individual ownership is only tolerated in name and profits are rigidly limited. The success of Germany indicates that a coordinated production for use economy is emerging and overcoming an uncoordinated econ omy of production for profit. However, Scandinavia also indicates that the Coop erative form of production for use can do a still better job of coordinating and achieving economic security than can Communism or Fascism, and at the same 100 time preserve freedom. While society is rejecting production for profit under Cap italism, it is not necessary to adopt Com munism or Corporatism to achieve coordi nation and security. Nor is it necessary, in adopting a production for use economy to achieve security, to give up the immeasur able advantages of freedom. The Application to America The traditions of America in its re ligious, educational and political organ izations should cause everyone to reject Communism and Corporatism and to ac cept production for use in the form of Cooperation. For Cooperation is not only the economic application of the principles of liberty and equality for which America stands, but their incorporation in our eco nomic organization will strengthen our religious, educational and political insti tutions as well. America is fortunate that we are not only becoming conscious of the shortcom ings of Capitalism, but that we can also see in the European countries the results of the experiments which are being made with Communism, Corporatism and Co operation. Scandinavia has demonstrated that Cooperation can both realize the in alienable rights of everyone to an income, employment and ownership, and also pre serve and strengthen free religion, educa tion and government as well. A summary of the economic lessons of the war, we believe, would be: (1) that production for profit in the form of Capitalism is rapidly passing, (2) that production for use in the form of Com munism or Corporatism is proving better able to coordinate an economy and pro vide a greater degree of security for the people, (3) that production for use in the form of Cooperation is far better than Communism or Corporatism in that it is more efficient economically and in that it also preserves the religious, educational and political organizations of freedom. Consumers' Cooperation COOPERATIVE FERTILIZER PRODUCTION LOWERS PRICE LEVEL Oilman Calkins, Asst. Editor Ohio Farm Bureau News truck transport service developed some headaches for a time. And the new 80- pound paper bag, introduced by the Farm Bureau as an added convenience and economy factor for the farmers, slowed up bagging operations. (In spite of this, however, because of the rapidly growing popularity of this new bag, it will be continued.) But the show went on—and was it a show! As the spring fertilizer season closed last month, nearly everyone of the 84 County Farm Bureau Cooperatives in the State had increased fertilizer vol ume over last spring; more than five- sixths of the counties exceeded quotas they had set for themselves — several made as high as 200 per cent. Farm Bu reau tonnage for the entire State was nearly 31,000 tons—more than 120 per cent of the demand anticipated at the beginning of the season. Price Level Lowered for Every Fertilizer Purchaser The biggest and most important achievement of this new Farm Bureau fertilizer program, however, is one that has affected every farmer in the State of Ohio—whether he bought Farm Bureau fertilizer or not—the reduced cost of fertilizer per ton experienced throughout the State as the result of the Farm Bureau production program. Some of the ingredients of fertilizer increased in cost this year—because of the war. Yet, because the Farm Bureau went into manufacturing, competing fer tilizer companies waited till the last minute, then reduced their prices an average of $4.00 per ton below those of last fall. The Farm Bureau product was immediately priced at the same reduced figure, of course, and the result is that the farmers of Ohio, purchasing about 175,- 000 tons of fertilizer this spring, saved approximately $700,000 — nearly three 101 " T3RICE control through cooperative •L ownership" was the rallying cry of farmers in Ohio recently as they backed their new Farm Bureau fertilizer fac tories to a man. "We'll manufacture as well as distribute our own Open Formula fertilizers," they said. Did they do it? The answer is another dramatic chapter in the history of cooperative purchasing. After advancing their cooperative dis tribution of fertilizer to approximately 15 per cent of the total in the State, it was with little surprise that the organized farmers in the Ohio Farm Bureau Coop eratives found that there were more sav ings to be garnered by taking hold of production than they had previously re alized. They learned it conclusively a year and a half ago when the Farm Bureau Cooperative Association joined with the G-L-F Cooperatives of New York in the purchase of a large fertilizer plant in Baltimore. A small mixing plant was built at Alli ance, Ohio, to supplement the service of the Baltimore factory, and Farm Bu reau manufactured fertilizer was supplied to part of the State last fall. These early operations proved satisfactory, and plans for more plants were soon under way. Early this year a large factory at Maumee, near Toledo, was completed by the Ohio Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, and another one, at Glendale, near Cin cinnati, owned jointly by the Ohio and Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Asso ciations, was ready to go soon afterward. Problems were anticipated, of course. They came! But the most heartening co operation of nearly everyone has rooted out most of them and promises the early demise of the rest. Many fascinating rumors popped up here and there and bothered a few; the large majority recog nized that they had some direct connec tion with practices known as "free com petition." A new and yet inadequate July, 1940 times the total expenditure to date for Farm Bureau fertilizer factories! At the same time farmers in neigh boring states have been paying much more for their fertilizer—another proof of the pudding resulting from coopera tive production. In Indiana, where Farm Bureau members also own one plant and part of one of the Ohio plants, a ton of 2-12-6 fertilizer, for example, sells for $25.65 per ton, while it costs Ohio far mers $23.75. In Pennsylvania, the same product costs $29.03; in West Virginia, $29.61 ; and in Wisconsin, $29-85. (These prices are average; will vary a few cents with transportation costs.) Still "Pounding Fertilizer" with a Grin Little more than a decade and a half ago, a small group of farmers compos ing the Ohio Farm Bureau, decided to save money by buying supplies as a group. Long before they knew anything about the national or international cooperative movement, they tried to purchase fer tilizer together, and were refused by all Ohio manufacturers and jobbers. They finally got some in the South, though, and it hardened on the way so that they had to pound it up to make it go through the drills. But how they pounded it with a grin in their determination to win the fight against niggardly net farm income! Since then, the number of organized Farm Bureau Cooperators in Ohio has multiplied many times; they have learned a lot about business, and prices, and costs, as they have continued to "pound fer tilizer" on one thing after another that they need for their farms and homes. They have learned what it takes to make good quality and how to maintain that quality with growing savings. They have learned this about feeds, seeds, paint, petroleum, twine, steel products; they are still learning. They have found some kinks in our distribution system—some of the "tricks of the trade" ; they have eliminated many of them, one by one, for their mutual benefit. They have found that their savings continue to in crease as they own and control and super vise more of the steps in production and distribution of the commodities they use. It has been said within Ohio that "we have a million dollars to put the Farm Bureau out of the fertilizer business!" The speaker need not be identified. The farmers of Ohio, with the power of their purchasing dollars, will, no doubt, have the last word in answer. THE NATIONAL COOPERATIVE Heidelberg College, Tiffin, 1. FOLK DANCING in the Commons—a "Grand Right and Left." 2. TIFFIN OR BUST. A group of coopera- tors from the east drive 600 miles in a 1926 Jalopi. Lionel Perkins, Ethel Beam, Ken Philp, Bert Fraade, and Leslie Hart. 3. PUPPETRY. Here a pair of fist puppets, performed by and for Recreation students. 4. MUSIC. Members of Recreation School participate in program of instrumental music and group singing. •j. THE POLKA-KOKETKA, HERE'S HOW. Jeanette Woods, school teachei at Ravena, g Ohio and Wilbur Leatherman, educational fieldman for Midland. 6. MAKING A BRACELET. Louise Devine industriously at work on a bracelet. 7. STAFF. Back row — Darwin Bryan, Ohio Farm Bureau, Columbus; John McGrosso, Winnetka, 111. ; Mrs. Bernice Evans, Chicago ; James Norris, New York City; Gwendolyn Fife, Toronto; 102 9. 10. ii. RECREATION SCHOOL Ohio, June 14-26 Mrs. Marian Skean, Homeplace, Ky.; Carl Hutchinson, President, Coopera tive Society for Recreational Education. Front Row—Mrs. Lois Landfear Epps, Geneva, Ohio; Alice Schweibert, North western U., Evanston, 111. ; Neva Boyd, Asst. Prof. Dept. of Sociology and Di vision of Social Work, Northwestern U., Evanston, 111. ; Ruth Chorpenning, New York City; Margaret Gardner, Chicago; Frank Shilston, Midland Education Dept., Minneapolis, Minn., and Director of Co operative Recreation School. SQUARE DANCE CALLER. "Eli" Whit- ney calling out "Swing Like Thunder." Interested spectators, in wrapped attention during rehearsal. STUDENT SEMINAR ON RELATION OF RECREATION TO COOPERATIVES. "SWING LIKE THUNDER," Square Dance, left to right—Gilbert Edgerton, Martha Royer, Richard Korns, Helen Gil- more. Consumers' Cooperation •'„•#•" Vi :? " - >. *"i, *" ' ^ ,l '-• t- ;"" '-' - W, • ,- " ••••;«* •*ïi •• ?* * ' •'** •£.< Kv^ •V July, 1940 103 National Cooperative Recreation School: TRAINING FOR COOPERATIVE PLAY Jacqueline Plauché, Eastern Cooperative League and Wholesale it i In in AN impressionistic picture of the Na tional Cooperative Recreation School would somehow bind song and dance, drama and handicraft into one intensive activity. But specialization along a num ber of lines was offered. A typical day began with an hour's seminar with Miss Neva Boyd, of Northwestern University, on philosophy and techniques of group activity, followed by an hour of group singing. Then a difficult choice among dramatics, folk dancing, song leadership, instrumental music, puppetry and crafts, including the making or shoes and fine gloves, pewter, silver and copper ware, felt work and shepherds pipes. The schedule was arranged according to the expressed wishes of the students, and included each evening an hour's dis cussion on some phase of the cooperative movement: discussion group techniques and materials, credit unions, cooperative medicine, recreation in the cooperative movement, etc., followed by dancing and presentations of the dramatics classes. Drama as a cooperative activity was par ticularly well demonstrated in an original play, which was never written down but actually developed by the cast as it was rehearsed. About 120 students from 13 states and Canada attended the National Coopera tive Recreation School which was held on the beautiful campus of Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, from June 14 to 26. The students were leaders of co-op youth groups, representatives of local and re gional cooperatives from all parts of the country, teachers and social workers. Many of them remained for the Na tional Cooperative Publicity and Educa tion Conference which overlapped the school session. Carl Hutchinson, president of the Co- 104 operative Society for Recreational Edu cation outlined the philosophy of the Recreational School when he told the students, "Cooperative education is pri marily training and experience in work ing together, and that kind of education must take place largely in groups and through spontaneous activity rather than coercion. Cooperative recreation is the most natural way to come together in groups, and it orients people emotionally in group activity." E. R. Bowen, general secretary of The Cooperative League, said during an in formal talk at one of the evening discus sion hours that "Recreation is the fourth cornerstone of Cooperation, of which the others are Business, Finance and Educa tion. A cooperative association should make it possible for its members to buy together, bank together, learn together and play together." This is the fifth year The Cooperative League has sponsored the school. It is held under the direction of the Coopera tive Society for Recreational Education which is composed of students attending each year's school. Directors elected at the close of this year's session will plan next year's session. Opportunity is given each year for the students to express their wishes regarding the staff and the courses offered. This makes it possible for the school to be of real value in meeting the needs of the various students who return to their communities to do recreational work. Directors elected for the coming year are: Carl Hutchinson, Ohio, presi dent; Gertrude Emerson, Pennsylvania, secretary; Roy Clifton, Ontario; Neva Boyd, Illinois; Darwin Bryan, Ohio; Frank Shilston, Minnesota and Wilbur Leatherman, Wisconsin. Consumers' Cooperation Heidelberg Conference Reaffirms: COOPERATION, THE ANSWER OF FREE MEN MORE than one hundred delegates reaffirmed their faith in Freedom as an international ideal at the Fifth Annual Cooperative Publicity and Edu cation Conference held June 25 to 28 at Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio. Nine states, two Canadian provinces, the Dis trict of Columbia and China sent dele gates representing twenty-two retail co operatives, eight wholesale cooperatives, seven social agencies, six service co-ops, four co-op leagues, two U. S. Govern ment Departments, two universities, and one each of a labor union, credit union national association and magazine. "Cooperation, The Answer of Free Men" was the theme of the 1940 confer ence. To realize a greater degree of free dom in a world rocked by the dying throes of a system shackled, racked and now being destroyed by master imperial ists, the delegates were unanimously agreed that economic democracy must be expanded and extended swiftly to larger sections of our daily lives. Con sumers Cooperation, synonymous with economic democracy, was re-interpreted by small group discussions which brought the thinking and experience of a wide range of functioning groups. The con ference can be described as a clearing house of cooperative experience of or ganized groups from ocean to ocean and from bay to gulf. Climaxing the confer ence were discussions on the relation of cooperatives to the great kindred social institutions: churches, schools, farm or ganizations, labor organizations and credit unions. An attempt to call the roll of the in dividuals who presented the problems to the groups for more intensive discussion would not adequately relate the signifi cance of the problems at hand. A restate ment of some of the principal questions July, 1940 Glenn Thompson, Educational Director Midland Cooperative Wholesale will indicate the job to be done. 1. How can members of a cooperative be made aware of their responsibili ties as owner-members? 2. Should employee pension plans be encouraged and developed? 3. How can we crystallize our think ing and mobilize our resources to extend to urban groups our experi ence in education, organization and operation ? 4. What opportunity does the inter national war situation offer the co operative movement to educate its members and the general public in the privileges and responsibilities of economic democracy? 5. What can cooperators do now in preparation for the economic col lapse that characterizes the peace after war ? The papers which posed the above questions and the answers or recommen dations for the questions as concluded by the many discussion groups will be available from The Cooperative League office. All those who registered at the conference will receive the complete pro ceedings. Other readers of Consumers' Co operation can secure the proceedings by writing for them and paying one dollar to cover costs of reproduction. As this report is written on the night of July 4th, coincidentally, I listen to a radio program, the theme of which is Freedom and Democracy. It so happens that the radio program is originating in the Municipal Stadium of Cleveland, Ohio, only one hundred miles from Heidelberg College. The degree of free dom for which cooperators must aspire is that state of society wherein "the rich must be relieved of their privileges and the poor of their irresponsibilities." 105 National Conference of Cooperative Accountants; THE ACCOUNTANTS ROLE IN COOPERATION THE largest group of cooperative auditors ever gathered in one spot in America was brought together by the fifth annual meeting of the National Society of Cooperative Accountants, in Minneapolis June 21-22. Members and visitors came from all parts of the country and from Canada to discuss the problems of their Laurie Lehtin, Secretary National Society of Cooperative Accountants tics was also decided on, to aid members in rendering a greater service to coop eratives. The use of a seal containing the name of the National Society of Coopera tive Accountants by each member on au dit reports' was considered. The secretary was instructed to get specimen seal forms, investigate copyrighting it and to send growing profession. The official delega- suggestions through the Bulletin, and the tion alone was close to 50, as against 20 at the previous meeting. Not only was this the biggest meeting of its kind, but it also brought out the most lively dis cussion. There was a definite feeling that the Society was a "going concern." The directors report showed that the membership of the society increased by almost one-fourth during the last year. Progress has also been made in getting more uniform accounting, particularly for cooperative wholesales, and the meeting chose a "Standardization Committee" to carry on this work. Plans for the coming year include ar rangements for the accounting program and exhibit at the Cooperative League Congress in Chicago next October, in corporation of the Society, the possible use of seals to identify cooperative ac countants' reports, and a greater utiliza tion of the monthly publication, the NSCA Bulletin. More research on prob lems of cooperative accounting, and a wider dissemination of important statis- board of directors was authorized to pur chase, register and let out the seal. The educational session of the confer ence June 21st considered several ques tions fundamental to the work of coop erative accountants. Among them were: How can cooperative accountants improve the operating results of cooperatives? How can cooperative accountants improve the financial condition of cooperatives? Are the audit reports of cooperative ac countants sufficiently clear and explanatory ? How can the understanding of financial statements be improved? What can accountants do about Income Tax Problems ? The new board of directors consists of E. F. Selvig, Minneapolis, (president) ; F. K. Wadsworth, Indianapolis, (vice- president) ; Laurie L. Lehtin, Superior, (secretary-treasurer) ; Walter Jacobson, Walla Walla, and W. O. Riddle, Des Moines, with Jules Englander of New York and E. W. Rector of Chicago, alternates. Come to the BIENNIAL CONGRESS and SILVER ANNIVERSARY •f * i THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U.S.A. October 16-17-18 Morrison Hotel Chicago 106 Consumers' Cooperation WHAT'S NEWS WITH THE CO-OPS As we go to press, the new quarter- million-dollar cracking plant and topping units of the Consumers Coopera tive Refineries in Regina, Saskatchewan, are operating at full capacity. But due to the pressure of the war and the fear of sabotage, there were no official opening ceremonies. So, without fanfare or parades, the third cooperative oil refinery in America start ed operation as the consumer coopera tives took another step into production and processing of the goods they distrib ute. The two other refineries are the $850,000 plant and 70-mile pipe line at Phillipsburg, Kansas, owned by the Con sumer Cooperative Association, and the Farm Bureau Cooperative Refinery at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, erected at a cost of $330,000. "The first cooperative oil refinery in the world," which was built in Regina by Consumers Cooperative Refineries five years ago, with an original capital in vestment of $33,000 will be maintained as an auxiliary and stand-by plant. The refinery paid back patronage dividends totaling $263,000 in five years besides serving as a price yardstick. The Phillipsburg Refinery emerged from what Business Week called, "the first crude oil squeeze play ever enacted with a co-op as the 'squeezee'." Shortly after 25,000 people gathered at Phillips- burg to dedicate the cooperative oil re finery, the plant was shut down for eight days because the co-op was unable to se cure adequate source of supply of crude oil. The "squeeze play" to cut off the co-op source of supply apparently was launched when amendments to the Kansas pro-ra tion law were forced through the legis lature with the backing of certain oil interests last year. The situation became more intense when Stanolind (Standard Oil of Indiana), extended its gathering pipe line into Ellis and Rooks Counties in competition with the cooperatives. The co-op refinery finally got its oil July, 1940 when independent oil companies serving the co-ops supplied the refinery with oil from adjoining oil wells; the co-op re finery association voted to extend its pipe, line 22 miles to serve 69 new wells; and when a large number of the 56,000 mem bers of co-ops in the state of Kansas wrote to Governor Payne Ratner, (who comes up for re-election in November) protesting against the inequalities of the pro-ration law. There are several dramatic incidents in this battle which only a co-op historian can tell. New York, N. Y.—War conditions in Canada were responsible for the cancella tion of the Fourth Annual Conference Tour of Nova Scotia Cooperatives. This tour was to have been sponsored jointly by St. Francis Xavier University and The Cooperative League. Chicago, 111.—The Board of Directors of The Cooperative League, meeting here June 16-17, adopted unanimously a reso lution declaring, "More than equal in im portance to military defense is the neces sity to increase our production in the do mestic interests of the people, relieve un employment, eliminate poverty, and re store and sustain the spiritual forces of democracy." The Board completed arrangements for the Twelfth Biennial Congress of The Cooperative League which will be held in Chicago, October 16-18. Washington, D. C.—On June 19, the President of the United States signed Senate Bill 2013, providing for the in corporation and regulation of cooperative associations in the District of Columbia. The bill was passed by the House, Mon day afternoon, June 10, after having passed the Senate, May 29- The new Act is a revised version of the model provisions drafted in 1937 by a committee of cooperative experts con ferring under the auspices of the Con sumers' Project of the Department of Labor. 107 New Kensington, Penna.—About 300 people took part in a two-day conference on Organized Labor and Consumer Co operation, held under the joint auspices of the New Kensington Consumers Co operative Association and the Committee on Organized Labor and Cooperatives of The Cooperative League at Aluminum Workers Hall, here May 17 and 18. Among the representatives were delegates IN from aluminum workers, glass workers, ,,' coal miners, utility and radio workers, ,''i professional people, ministers, and white collar workers. James Myers, chairman of the conference stressed the urgent need to "democratize America," and declared that "In order to preserve our political democracy and develop economic democ racy, we must stay out of war." New York—While private profit gro cery business showed an increase of less than five per cent in the first quarter of 1940, the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale reported a gain of 63 per cent for the first four months of this year. Delegates from 12 states took part in the annual meeting of the wholesale here Memorial Day, when L. E. Woodcock, manager, reported the possibility that volume may pass the $1,500,000 mark this year. Werner Regli, head of the Auditing Department of The Cooperative League, stressed the need for increasing invested capital in the wholesale and reminded the members "that we as consumers can not purchase a new economic society with one five dollar share of stock." Herbert Evans, vice president of the Consumer Distribution Corporation told the confer ence that the cooperatives must build ideal stores to match co-op ideals. j'f Regina, Sask.—Concrete evidence of h the "yardstick" effect of consumer owner ship was demonstrated when the prices of petroleum products went down for the third consecutive time since Septem ber first of last year. This is in the face of constantly rising prices of petroleum products in other parts of Canada. The reduction in petroleum prices coin cides exactly with the territory served by 108 the Consumers Cooperative Refineries and the Saskatchewan Cooperative Wholesale. New York—Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Mayor of New York City, praised 'the pioneering work in housing of the Amal gamated Cooperative Apartments be fore 1,000 delegates assembled at the twenty-fifth anniversary convention of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, here, May 15. "Today, the Amalgamated ' houses stand as a monu ment to what can be done by intelligent planning in the midst of slum districts," Secretary Perkins declared. Tenant owners of the Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments will pay them selves $27,000 in rebates during the next six weeks on the operation of their 635- family apartment houses and their own cooperative grocery store, electric gener ating plant, milk and laundry distribu tion, and bus. Salt Lake City, Utah—"There is no need for regulation of true cooperatives." This is the heart of the decision handed down by Justice J. Wolfe of the Utah Supreme Court in the case of Garkane Power Company, Inc. vs. the Public Ser vice Commission of Utah. "There is no conflict of producer and consumer interests. They are one and the same," Justice Wolfe found. "If rates are too high, the surplus collected is re turned to the consumers pro rata. If the rates are too low, the consumers must accept curtailed service or provide finan cial contribution to the corporation. If the service is not satisfactory, the con sumer members have it in their power to elect other directors and demand cer tain changes." Lincoln, Neb.—Frederick W. Doremus of Rockford, Illinois, manager of the western department of the American In surance Company told the Nebraska in surance agents at their 33rd annual convention, May 23, that the consumer cooperative movement is the "fifth column," undermining the economic foundations that made this nation the richest and greatest in the world. Consumers' Cooperation C. R. Hatten, manager of the Con sumers Cooperative Association of Lin coln, characterized the statement as "careless, loose talk," and declared that "such statements connecting cooperatives with subversive elements are started by selfish business interests and are spread by persons not informed." Washington, D. C.—Warning that a well-planned attack is being launched against cooperatives in the United States with a view to destroying them or reduc ing their constructive services to a mini mum, Dr. Edgar Schmiedeier, O.S.B., Director of the Rural Life Bureau, De partment of Social Action, National Catholic Welfare Conference, scored this attack as "a campaign of deliberate mis representation. All fair and well-mean ing persons may well be warned against this campaign." Virginia, Minn.—One hundred offi cial delegates and sixty-five fraternal delegates and visitors met in the Co-op Center here last month for the llth annual convention of the Northern States Women's Cooperative Guild. Ten new women's guilds joined the organization since the last convention, bringing the total number of guilds and clubs in the district to 78. For many years the guilds have been strong educational forces in the consumer cooperative movement in this area. Book Reviews EDUCATORS ENDORSE COOPERATIVES CONSUMER COOPERATIVES, Report of the Com mittee on Cooperatives, 1939 and 1940, of the National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, D. C. Price 25 cents. (Order from The Cooperative League.) Those who believe that, for the preservation and development of democracy, the agencies which democracy has set up in the form of the church, school and government should help to promote democracy in economics would have been encouraged to hear Dr. Herbert G. Lull, Chairman of the N.E.A. Committee on Cooperatives, present and discuss briefly the report of the Committee at the 1940 N.E.A. Convention at Milwaukee. In his alloted fif teen minutes Dr. Lull discussed the three di visions of the report which are: (l) An introductory general statement on Consumer Cooperatives and Democracy, (2) Four illus trative units for teaching and (3) A study guide on Consumer Cooperatives. The report was unanimously adopted by the delegates. The Committee went on record definitely as favoring two basic things. The first is the institutional economic bal ance theory as compared with the cooperative commonwealth theory. In advocating the insti tutional economic balance theory the report says: "The theory of institutional balance as con stituting the desirable economic framework of society is held, for the most part, by the Swedish cooperative leaders and by the younger generation of leaders in this country." "A democracy needs at least three types of July, 1940 industrial development—the profit type, the co operative type, and the governmental type to supplement the first two." The second recommendation of the Com mittee, which was also made in the 1938 re port, is "that cooperatives be studied in their natural setting, as an integral part of the so cial scene, and that this can be done more ef fectively by allocating the various aspects of cooperatives to the existing high-school de partments and subject fields than by setting up separate elective courses, or even prescribed courses, on cooperatives." As illustrations, four units are included in detail in the report show ing how the study of consumers' cooperation might be included in Home Economics by studying canned goods, in Chemistry by analyz ing soap, in English by studying advertising, and in Social Studies by studying the history and development of the Cooperative Move ment. In the section on Consumers Cooperatives and Democracy, the Committee says that: "The present industrial system permits a relatively small fraction of the common run of men to avail themselves of the profit mo tive." "The principle of competition is not only unduly emphasized in industry, but in the schools, in the churches, and in politics. Progress attained by the overemphasis upon competition is achieved at too great a cost, for progress itself is retarded because of the many competing individuals and groups who fall out of the unfair race and become die wards of the winners." "The cooperative organization is capitalism 109 11 ' democratized, for it places ownership in the hands of the consumers. It belongs to the sys tem of free enterprise—the free enterprise of consumer groups." "If permitted to develop, a cooperative econ omy will save capitalism for society and render both communism and fascism innocuous." The participation of the members in the ac tivities of a cooperative is stressed and de scribed in detail: 'The cooperative is, of course, fundamen tally a practical venture in democratic eco nomics and in hard-headed business. All mem bers should participate wholeheartedly in all of the economic disciplines and especially in one. Some should act as directors. Some should participate in the various phases of manage ment, perhaps as assistants to the manager in buying, selling, accounting, or studying the qualities of goods and the market. Others should engage in publicity, securing members and increasing patronage support of members. Some should participate in leading neighbor hood study-groups and others in committee work. Many should be active in securing co operative" literature and socially significant materials in the development and use of a co operative library. Others may engage in the social organization and entertainment features of the cosmopolitan membership. All should do everything possible to help the members become 100 per cent buying patrons of their own business, the cooperative. Is there any other institution that offers better opportunities for the social education of youth and adults?" The contribution of the Consumer Coopera tive Movement toward peace is strongly em phasized: "A society built in large part around con sumers' cooperatives would automatically dis pense with the basic economic causes of war. As soon as the consumers' interest is put fore most and society is organized for them, it be comes obvious that war can no longer further their interest as a group. It becomes just as obvious that the interest of the consumer is furthered by the economic cooperation of groups widely scattered over the world." "If cooperative groups, working in the in terest of consumers in all countries, could be formed they would do much to discourage the adoption of war as a solution of economic and prestige problems." "It is quite unthinkable how two or more nations, each predominantly using the con sumer-cooperative economy and organized in ternally and internationally on this basis, could go to war with one another." In concluding the introductory section on Consumer Cooperatives and Democracy the Committee report says: "Consumer cooperatives, serving all the people, are made necessary by the exclusive nature of corporations from which the masses 110 are debarred. They represent merely the next logical step in cooperative activity beyond the organization of labor groups, in achieving reasonable social control over the monopolistic and exclusive corporations. "Rugged individualism was the boast of business at the beginning of the modern era. First, there was individually-owned business, then the joint stock companies, and in recent times mammoth national and international monopolistic business. The corporation heads may say that the people are participating by stock owning, but it is evident that this is in no sense effective ownership. The doctrine of rugged individualism has arrived at the point where in order to have a few thousand rugged individualists in the United States, the individ ualism, initiative, and ownership of the rest of the people are destroyed. "Cooperation provides the means in our day thru which the people may participate in the economic processes. Thru cooperative ac tivity they can again make men of themselves. Modern business destroys their manhood as well as their ownership. The modern industrial worker on a beltline for eight hours a day is a robot-something, at least less than a man. He needs some new activity to offset the tendency to destroy him. When he comes out of the plant and can say to himself that he partici pates as an owner, at least in part, in a credit union, retail store, wholesale, gas and oil sta tion, or insurance, he is becoming a man again. "Cooperatives are essential instruments of education. Unless the people have a share in the economic processes, they will not long have a share in the educational institutions. They will become mere propaganda dispensers for those who run society. Then again, they will have less and less chance to express them selves. With ownership of basic economic in stitutions, they will assume the responsibility for their own destiny and have a new chance for self-expression. Cooperatives are essential for freedom. The present system is creating millions of proletarians and the route toward revolution is constantly opening either to the right or to the left." The basic emphasis in the report of the Com mittee is that Consumers' Cooperatives are democratic, educational—economic institutions serving the people through ownership and control. The report is concluded with "A Study Guide on Consumer Cooperatives" prepared by Maurice Wieting, Teachers College, Columbia University. It outlines something of the scope of cooperatives in the United States; suggests unit studies, curriculum sources, and problems for research; and finally sets up a brief but excellent bibliography." Your faith in the democratic processes will be renewed by reading this report. It should be a part of cooperators libraries generally. Consumers' Cooperation THE ABC OF COOPERATIVES, by Gerald Rich ardson, Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1940, 264 pages. Regular edition $2, Special Co-op Edition available through The Cooperative League, $1. This book is exactly what its title implies— the ABC of Cooperatives. It is written in con crete and understandable terms. Having visited Newfoundland and seen those simple yet sturdy fisher folk along the coast, it is plain to see that Gerald Richardson had these friends and fellow cooperators in mind as he was writing. It is addressed to these fundamental people and the millions of others like them through out the world. They are the ones who must understand cooperation if it is to work, and not alone the intellectuals. Therefore, Mr. Richardson has made a real contribution to the growing cooperative literature. There is nothing essentially new or striking in the material—it is rather, the style and the illustrations taken from the author's wide experience in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and his travels through the United States and the cooperative countries of Europe. The study club becomes real; the credit union a possi bility within the reach of all; the store a na tural outgrowth of the buying and study unit. But it does not stop there. Mr. Richardson has said, "The purpose and function of the study club is not ended when a cooperative store has been started. A discussion group is not merely a forerunner of a credit union or a marketing association. It must be continued through all the stages of cooperative develop ment no matter how large the society may be." The book envisions the whole cooperative de velopment through to national and interna tional organization and yet it is so logical and feasible, that the common man can do it all. Another feature of the book is that it is so arranged that it can easily be adapted to study groups. Many questions are included in the chapters and the appendix covers some 30 or more questions for study about each chapter. The appendix also gives other valuable helps in the form of a suggested constitution for credit unions, buying clubs and cooperatives. As a book to put into the hands of any beginner's group, it is most valuable. Many new study clubs should be started and new cooperators won on the basis of these pages. Cooperative educational leaders will therefore, find it a great asset and the special coopera tive edition at one dollar per copy, puts it within the reach of all. Mr. Richardson closes with these words: "Big corporative business may be able to fool many people into thinking that the depression which big business caused% can be ended by big business. But if it tries to do that it will only be creating a delusion." "What lies beyond the next depression? Can you face it? When that time comes you July, 1940 will welcome the cooperative solution. But before that time comes, you should prepare for it by working, with all your energy, for the hastening of the cooperative evolution." J. HENRY CARPENTER, Chairman Committee on the Church and Cooperatives Federal Council of Churches HOUSING IN SCANDINAVIA, Urban and Rural, by John Graham, Jr., University of North Carolina Press, 1940, $2.50. Available thru The Cooperative League. This is a good description of public and cooperative housing in Sweden, Norway, Den mark and Finland, given from the viewpoint of a traveler versed in the subject. The author is on the technical staff of the United States Housing Authority. He has served as Techni cal Advisor on Housing to the Pennsylvania State Board of Housing and as a member of the Executive Committee on Housing of the American Institute of Architects. The book is not in the least technical, however. In its straight and unlabored descriptions it is very good. There are, however, a large number of illustrations, pat sayings and inconsequential anecdotes lugged in, presumably to lighten and humanize the text. As many as thirty-nine photographs, three maps, and six diagrams help to give visual foundation to the reader's concepts. They might have been more complete and more comparable, one with another. The same criti cism applies in small measure to the outlines of the housing developments in the four coun tries. Under divisions of: 1. Land for Hous ing; 2. Municipal Housing; 3. Housing So cieties; 4. Rural Housing and Colonization, Mr. Graham follows through policies and pro grams of the four countries in question, fol lowed by a brief and inadequate concluding chapter on "Applied Philosophy." Hitler's barbarous conquests and Stalin's aggression were probably not foreseen when, in August 1939, Mr. Graham wrote this brief summary and key to the book: "In the journey toward a dynamic and mature democracy, Den mark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland have already entered the social stage. Here we see vigorous efforts being made to achieve a more satisfying life for all groups of society. Par ticularly is this true in the field of social housing for the lower and medium income groups. Here the term social housing is employed to include those forms of housing where the social motive functions alone, where it predominates, or where it is mixed with the profit motive in varying degrees. In the municipalities we find various types of social housing: municipal apartments for the lowest income group, 'self-help' housing for workers, cooperative and other public utility forms for the low and middle income groups, and in dustrial housing for the workers in industry. Ill And as a base for this diversified housing is the intelligent conception of social use of land." Of especial interest to cooperators will be chapter three on "Housing Societies." The cooperative is the most prevalent type of hous ing society. It is of two forms: 1. that in which members become owners of dwelling units and 2. that in which ownership remains in the hands of the organization. The latter form allows for more mobility of the tenants. Another type of public utility housing society is the limited-dividend, joint-stock company or ganized by persons, institutions, or industrial organizations for the purpose of providing low rent housing accommodations. Between the co operatives and limited dividend companies there is a wide range of social interest to be observed. In Denmark the government has made loans up to 90% of the building cost at 4% in terest. Subsidies of 10 to 20% bring with them government control over the renting and sell ing of the buildings. During the last twenty years a third of Copenhagen's housing has been of the cooperative type. Cooperatives ob tain credit largely through land credit asso ciations which grant first mortgage loans, and through second mortgage credit associations. Tenant members are usually workers, the aver age income of whom is $700 a year. The Workmens Cooperative Housing Society in Copenhagen is the largest such society in Den mark with 5,000 members, 50 apartment buildings, and 150 small single houses, in all, 4,200 dwelling units. Each apartment house forms a "daughter" of the society, and man ages its own enterprise through elected repre sentatives. In Stockholm no less than twenty thousand members occupy accommodations in coopera tive dwellings, either with permanent right of occupancy or with only renter's rights. The famous H.S.B. has built ten thousand dwelling units in Stockholm, 60% of them occupied by workers. Day nurseries, kindergartens, gymnas tic quarters, and playgrounds have helped at tract families to the four types of housing it furnishes, meeting four levels of family in come. Sweden has over 500 housing societies. The Scandinavian countries have included the problem of rural housing in a program to improve agricultural living as a whole. Gov ernment assistance is given over a long period of time. Cooperatives have not played much part in housing but have been a big factor in raising the standard of living for the farmers. In Denmark, for example, the three factors that have made the small holder movement a success are: state assistance in acquiring a small holding; the sustaining force of coop eration, and the folk high school. In the last chapter the author urges the United States to "go and do likewise." —LnRoY E. BOWMAN, Secretary Cooperative Housing Federation 112 CO-OP LITERATURE • Novels and Biography Fresh Furrow: Burris Jeiikins (Special) .50 The Brave Years: Wm. Hey.'iger .................. 1.5(1 My Story, by Paddy the Cope, Co-ops in 1 reland .................................................................. 2.73 • Textbooks on Cooperation Consumers' Cooperatives, Julia E. John son, Debate Handbook .................................. .1X1 When You Buy, Trilling, Eberhart and Nicholas, High school and college, two chapters on consumer cooperatives ........ l.feO Cooperation, Hall and Watkins, Official British Textbook .............................................. 3.011 The Consumers' Cooperative as a Distribu tive Agency, Orln E. Burley ...................... 3.00 Windows on the World, Kenneth Gould, high school text, one chapter on coop eratives ................................................................ 3.0(1 • Cooperative Recreation The Consumer Consumed, Josephine Johnson, a Puppet Play ................................ .05 Cooperative Recreation, Carl Hutchinson, reprinted from The Annals .......................... .05 Two One Act Plays, Ellis Cowling .............. .15 The Answer, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling ...... .20 The Spider Web, 3-act play, Ellis Cowling .25 Let's Play, Frank Shilston .............................. .20 All Join Hands, Edwards and Planché .... .15 Education Through Recreation, L. P. Jacks .................................................................... 1.60 List of recreational materials, songs, dances, games, available from Cooperative Eecreatiou Service, Delaware, Ohio. FILMS Traveling the Middle Way til Sweden, 3 G mm. silent, produced by the Hiirmon Foundation. Unit I, Land of Sweden, 2 reels. Unit II. Consumer Cooperation, 2 reels. Rental pei unit: color, $5; black and white. S3; addi tional showings, $2.50 color and $1.5(1, Mark and white. "The Lord Helps Those—Who Help Bach Other," a new 3 reel, 16 mm. film of the Novn Scotia adult education and cooperative pro gram, produced by the Harmon Foundation. Excellent photography. $4.50 per day, $2.25 additional showings, $13.50 per week. "A House Without a Landlord," a new 2J/2 reel. Iß nun. silent film on the Amalgamate!) Cooperative Houses in New York City. "Clasping llnmls," 10 mill, silent, two reel Blih. showing how cooperation is taught in tlie schools of France. "When Mankind Is Willing." a 1C mm. sileiil three-reel film, with English titles, of coop erattve stores, wholesales and factories in France. A Day With Kagawa, 3 reel, silent, 16 mm. Kagawa and his co-ops in Japan. Rental: Each of three above $3 per day. $1.50 for each additional showing or $10 per week. POSTERS Organize Cooperatives, 19"x28" Green, 5 for $1 ................................ Cooperative Principles, 19"x28" Blue, 5 for $1 .................................................... .211 Cooperative Ownership. 19"x28" Mulberry, 5 for $1 .......................................... .20 Consumer Ownership—Of, By and For the People, 19"x28", Eed-White-and- Blue. 5 for $1 .................................................... .20 Consumers' Cooperation A Let's Quit Starving the Cooperative Movement Editorial World Conditions and America's Relationship to Them Perry L. Green The Electric Cooperative Movement Udo Rail Another Year of Campus Co-op Progress Belle L. Halpern Co-ops at Play The Story of Tompkinsville: A Review Ellen Edwards Edward Skillin, Jr. What's News With the Co-ops August 1940 l CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS Board of Directors of The Cooperative League, Quarterly Meeting, Hotel Morrison, Chicago, October 14. Board of Directors of National Cooperatives, Inc., Hotel Morrison, Chicago, October 15. Interfaith Conference on the Cooperative Move ment, sponsored by the Committee on the Church and Cooperatives of the Federal Council of Churches, Chicago, October 15. Twelfth Biennial Congress and 25th Anniver sary Celebration, The Cooperative League of the U.S.A., Hotel Morrison, Chicago, 111, October 16, 17, and 18. National Conference on College Cooperatives, Hotel Morrison, Chicago, October 19- Regional Conference on Cooperatives and La bor, sponsored by the Committee on Organ ized Labor and Cooperatives of The Coop erative League, Chicago, October 19-20 Subscribe to CONSUMERS' COOPERATION National Magazine of the Consumers Cooperative Movement • $1 .... per year 27'months for $2 • order thru The Cooperative League 167 West 12th Street New York City THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City 608 South Dearborn, Chicago DIVISIONS: Auditing Bureau, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. • Medical Bureau, 5 E. 57 St., N. Y. C Design Service, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. Rochdale Institute, 167 West 12 St., N. Y. C. AFFILIATED REGIONAL COOPERATIVES Name Central Cooperative Wholesale Consumers' Cooperatives Associated Consumers Cooperative Association Consumers Book Cooperative Cooperative Distributors Cooperative Recreation Service Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale Farm Bureau Cooperative Ass'n Address Superior, Wisconsin Amarillo, Texas N. Kansas City, Mo. 118 E. 28 St, N. Y. 116E. 16 St., N.Y. Delaware, Ohio 2301 S. Millard, Chicago 135 Kent Ave., Bklyn Columbus, Ohio Farm Bureau Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Columbus, Ohio -r - •» r- , - Farm Bureau Services Farmers' Union Central Exchange Grange Cooperative Wholesale Indiana Farm Bureau Coop. Association Midland Cooperative Wholesale National Cooperatives, Inc. Pacific Supply Cooperative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Coop. Ass'n United Cooperatives, Inc. Workmen's Mutual Fire Ins. Society Lansing, Michigan St. Paul, Minn. Seattle, Washington Indianapolis, Ind. Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago, 111. Walla Walla, Wash. Harrisburg, Penn. Indianapolis, Ind. 227 E. 84th St., N. Y. Publication Cooperative Builder The Producer-Consumer Cooperative Consumer Readers Observer Consumers Defender The Recreation Kit E.C.L. Cooperator Ohio Farm Bureau News Ohio Farm Bureau News Michigan Farm News Farmers' Union Herald Grange Cooperative News Hoosier Farmer Midland Cooperator Pacific N.W. Cooperator Penn. Co-op Review DISTRICT LEAGUES Central States Cooperatives 2301 South Millard Ave., Chicago, Illinois Eastern Cooperative League 135 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. Associated Cooperatives, So. Cal. 7218 So. Hoover St., Los Angeles, Cal. Associated Cooperatives, N. Cal. 1715 University Ave., Berkeley, Cal. National Cooperative Women's Guild Box 2000, Superior, Wisconsin FRATERNAL MEMBERS Credit Union National Association Madison, Wisconsin The Bridge CONSUMERS' COOPERATION OFFICIAL NATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSUMERS1 COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT PEACE • PLENTY • DEMOCRACY Volume XXVI. No. 8 AUGUST, 1940 Ten Cents COME TO THE CONGRESS Once in two years the delegates to the Biennial Congress of the Cooperative League meet. This time the Congress will be held in Chicago on October 16, 17, 18 at the Morrison Hotel. It will be an unusual Congress in many ways: It will not only be a regular Biennial Congress but also the Silver Anni versary of The Cooperative League. It will be held in the midst of far more dangerous national and international conditions than any previous Congress, which should call forth the utmost of statesmanlike discussions on the part of cooperative leaders who address the Congress. It will record far greater progress in the Consumers' Cooperative Mbvement than in any two previous years. It will be preceded by an Interfaith Conference on the Church and Coop eratives on October 15th, and will be followed by a Conference on Labor and Cooperatives on October 19th. CO-OP WEEK will be celebrated in Chicago, which has been called "The Capital of Cooperation." Renew and develop your cooperative friendships; participate in the dis cussions on the four corner-stones of cooperation—business, finance, education and recreation; hear the official reports and help plan the next steps; take part in the group meetings; see the displays of cooperative products and activities. Come to the Congress. It will demonstrate that "Cooperation is the answer of free men." An organ to spread the knowledge of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, purchase and produce for their own use the things they need. Published monthly by The Cooperative League of the U. S.A., 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City E. R. Bowen, Editor, Wallace j. Campbell, Associate Editor. Contributing Editors: Editors of Cooperative Journals and Educational Directors of Regional Cooperative Associations. Entered as Second Class Matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. LET'S QUIT STARVING THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT The savings made by cooperative purchasing are really "velvet." Cooperators would have to pay at least the same prices for the same quality if they bought from private business. In fact, considering both price and quality, cooperators benefit themselves directly in their purchases, without considering the savings which are made by their cooperative which also indirectly benefit them. The annual meeting rolls around. Suppose 'the reports show savings of 5%. The question before the members is "what shall we do with the savings we have made by purchasing together cooperatively?" There are several possible answers: ( 1 ) Pay all of the savings out in Patronage Dividends for immediate benefits. (2) Transfer all of the savings to Reserves for future expansion. (3) Transfer part to Reserves and pay out the balance in Patronage Dividends. (4) Divide the savings into Education, Reserves and Dividends. The latter is what ordinarily should be done. The loyalty of old members and the interest of new members is developed by at least some evidence of im mediate benefits in the form of a Patronage Dividend. The future should also be provided for through Reserves and Education. "Half for today and half for tomorrow" might well be the slogan. A Cali fornia cooperative has led out in adopting this method. Half of their savings are allocated to Dividends for today, and the other half of the savings are equally divided between Reserves and Education—1^ for Dividends, l/4 for Reserves, y4 for Education. If the savings were 5%, this would mean a Dividend of 2y2%, Reserves of ll/4%, and an Education Fund of ll/4%. Yes, we are starving our Movement by lack of Reserves and Education. Let's provide for as much for tomorrow as for today. ONLY OWNERS WILL DEFEND DEMOCRACY The first line of defense is not a nation's possession of munitions, but of men who themselves possess something to defend. Political, educational and religious freedom, insofar as we have developed them, are precious possessions to us all. But they are not in themselves enough. How real, after all, are political, educational and religious freedom to transients and tenants, which we are increasingly becoming? The tangible foundation of intangible freedom is economic ownership. The right to an income, to employment and to ownership is at least as inalienable as the right to political, educational and religious liberty. Economic ownership is necessary to develop men who will defend democracy in time of need. The 1940 Report of the Committee on Cooperatives of the National Educa tion Association says that "modern business destroys manhood as well as owner ship. The modern industrial worker, on a beltline for eight hours a day is a robot- something, at least less than a man." This is no less true of agricultural workers. "The American farmer is, as a rule, ready to defend his home and country with his life, but the homes and country must be ours to defend and enjoy," says John Vesecky, president of the National Farmers Union. "If labor is to be conservative, then labor must be the owners of something to conserve," says James Myers, of the Federal Council of Churches. The men who will defend democracy to the death are common men who love liberty and who own and control their fair share of the nation's wealth. Liberty and equality must be made leal in economic life for men to defend them. What we need is a nation of owners—individual owners of homes and farms —cooperative owners of businesses and banks. Then the people will have both the tangible values of property and the intangible values of liberty to defend. 114 Consumers' Cooperation NEXT STEPS IN COOP-LABOR RELATIONS We have gotten a good start in Coop-Labor relations. The national Con gresses of the Cooperative League have passed resolutions supporting Labor Unions and the national conventions of the Labor Unions have passed resolu tions supporting Consumers' Cooperatives. Members of unions are organizing and joining consumers' cooperatives and employees of cooperatives are joining unions. Friendly personal relations are developing between cooperative and labor leaders. We should be ready for the next steps. Nationally, these steps should be: The Labor Committee of the Cooperative League, which is doing out standing work, should be matched by Cooperative Committees of the A. F. of L., C.I.O., and Railroad Brotherhoods. Joint meetings of Coop erative and Labor Committees might also be found desirable. Regionally, these steps should be: Regional Cooperatives should appoint Labor Committees and regional Unions should appoint Cooperative Committees. Locally, these steps should be: Local Coop-Union Federations should be organized which would bring the leaders and members of Cooperatives and Unions together. An ex ample is the Coop-Union League in Minneapolis and St. Paul. "The more we get together, the happier we will be," requires practical committee organization to get together, as well as sentiments and resolutions. Workers must learn to stretch their pay checks by lowering prices through Con sumers' Cooperation. Such committees are an effective and necessary part of the process of education to that end. FRIENDLY RELATIONS HELP BUILD A COOPERATIVE ECONOMY The efforts of every democratic social organization should be enlisted in building a Cooperative Economy faster. Here are some splendid illustrations: The Committee on the Church and Cooperatives of the Federal Council of Churches has issued a valuable "Manual on the Church and Cooperatives," com piled by the well-known cooperative writer, Dr. Benson Y. Landis. This manual is far more than a description of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement—it contains practical working illustrations of and suggestions for action. Price W