The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed in the DjVu format at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/HD2951xC776/co30 or http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/ugafax/HD2951xC776/co30 240 COOPERATION PUBLICATIONS *t —OF— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE V COOPERATION HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 1 3. Story of Cooperation. ............$ .10 7. British Cooperative Movement..... .10 38. Consumers' Cooperative Movement in U. S., 1926................... .10 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe.. .05 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States . . .................... .05 69. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... , .05 $6.00 6.00 6.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 2.50 l.flO TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ .10 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society....... .05 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Denned.. .10 9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale ........................ .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild. .................... .10 15. How to Organize a District Coopera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson)................... .50 43. Cooperative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C of Cooperative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law........... .10 46. Producers' Cooperative Industries.. .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement . 10 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store. .05 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............. .25 34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish).. .02 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ............. .06 66. International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations ............. .60 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless .10 49. A Way Out .................... .02 55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... .02 •62. Buttons (League emblem), 54 inch diameter . . . . . ............... •63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. . 25 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. 68. To Mothers ..................... .02 70. Farmers Marketing and Consumers Cooperation: An address by J. P. Warbasse.................. .10 71. International Cooperation: An ad dress by H. J. May. ........... .10 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS i (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 506; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; {20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime 1.7S 1.2S .75 ,60 2.00 15.00 1.00 »f Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A F ( (26) Factory Workers Cooperate!; (28) Do' Y™ v • About Cooperation in Europe?; (40) Have V °* Committee on Education and Recreation?- (4S-\ a5* ,a and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job °°!s MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per huudmll Subscription, per year.................... tj „'.; (Pub. by $1.65 if paid by check. ion, per year. ............... tl „'„ F INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION :?1.L _£JH ••••-•••••• Per Year, $1.50 $2.50 .15 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 .60 1.00 3.00 .75 BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Cooperative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia . . . . ........................... Brightwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book—For Children . . . . ......................... Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers..................... Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 . . . . ................... Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth.. Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... Harris, Emerson P.: Cooperation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Paper bound........ Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers................. Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............. Mears and Tobriner: Principles and Practices of Cooperative Marketing................ Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems Owen, Robert: Autobiography................ Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic........ Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain . . . . . ......................... Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S.... Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................ Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918........................ Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark . . . . ......................... Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920...................... Sonnichsen, A.: Consumers' Cooperation. Paper bound . . . . . ....... .................. Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish). . . . .:....,.............--... Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy, 1927). . . . . ........................... Warbasse, J. P.: What Is Cooperation, 1927... Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Cooperative Move ment in IlUijois ...................-•••- Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, 71921. Board, $2.00; cloth..... Webb, CatheruV: Industrial Cooperation, 1917.. COOPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1928 inclusive, :ach ................••••..••• Report of the American Cooperative Congresses, 1920, 19^', 1924, 1926, each. ........-••• Northern Stat s Year Book, 1928. Paper. The People's "Year Book, 1929. Cloth, $1.25; paper boind ..................-•-•••••• 3.20 .25 1.25 .50 1.75 1.00 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.50 .75 1.00 1.50 .50 3.50 5.00 1.50 1 1.25 1.00 .60 .n (Ten cent postage should be added for all books.) OFFICIAL ORGAN OF The Cooperative League of U. S. A. VOLUME XVI January— December 1930 Published by The Cooperative League of U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City INDEX PAGE INDEX Accord Farmers Cooperative Association. Auditing ............................. Accounting Bureau ....................................... Advertising, Prof. Gide on .................................. Alanne, V. S. ............................................. Alexander, A. V. ......................................... Amalgamated Construction Corporation ........................................... Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments ....................................... 62, 73 Amalgamated Cooperator ......................................................... Analyzing Betail Selling Time ....;................................................ Anthology of Eevolutionary Poetry, An ............................................. Antsif erov, A. N. ................................................................ Argentina Cooperation in ....................................................... .95 Arnold, Mary E. ............................................................. .43, Australia, Cooperation in ......................................................... PAGE ................ 69j 146 ................ 73> 223 .................. 214 ................. 65 29, 87, 89, 126, 185, 226 gg gy 92 gg 97 ^5 -[$% 233 igs 150 Baker, Everett ............................................................... 107, 138 Baker, J. W. .................................................................107, 128 Bakeries ..............................................................22, 38, 89, 150 Bankers Advise the Farmers...................................................... 134 Banking ....................................................................... 7, 67 Barnes, Alfred .................................................................. 132 Belgium, Cooperation in ....................................................... 51, 94 Berea Credit Union .. .\.......................................................... 128 Bihar Cooperation ............................................................... 153 Bittner, G. E. ................................................................... 97 Bloomington Cooperative Society .................................................. 190 Book Reviews ..........................................15, 34, 55, 76, 97, 136, 152, 235 Borodaewsky S. ............................................................... 32, 93 Bowman, L. E. ................................................................. 236 Boycott Attempt Fails ........................................................... 167 Brookhart, Senator Smith W....................................................... 7 Budget of The League............................................................ 18 Cafeterias ....................................................................... Calendars ................................................................ 38, 117, Can Capitalism Promise More ..................................................... Canada, Cooperation in .............................9, 12, 32, 52, 71, 112, 145, 196, Central States Cooperative League........................26, 31, 74, 78, 90, 129, 148, Certificate of Merit..................................................129, 165, 172, Certificate of Merit, Requirements. ................................................. Charity via Corporations .......................................................... College^ Cooperative ............................................................. Chain Stores ...................................................7, 27, 56, 107, 116, Chain Stores and No Chains ....................................................... Chicago Cooperative District League ............................................... China, Cooperation in .................................................^•••••••••• Cloquet Cooperative Society ....................................................... Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank. .............................................. Communism ..................................................................... 42 230 145 236 211 215 58 148 228 129 96 37 235 107 67 104 Communist Party ................................................................ 26 Communists, Cooperators versus ................................................... 86 Community Chests ............................................................... 148 Community Cooperative Oil Association, Faribault, Minn. ............................ 193 Congress, Seventh, of The Cooperative League..................... 106, 182, 188, 202, 226 Consumers Cooperation in United States............................................ 153 Consumers Cooperative, What is a................................................. 206 Consumers Cooperative Services .........................................42, 66, 76, 169 Contrast, An Interesting ......................................................... 89 COOPERATION Circulation ... .................................................. 215 Cooperative Automobile Service, Brooklyn........................................... 169 Cooperative Bakery of Brownsville & East New York................................. 22 Cooperative Boarding House, Cleveland, Ohio....................................... 127 Cooperative Central Exch., Superior, Wis.26, 28, 104, 111, 130, 146, 149, 181, 192, 217, 230 Cooperative Consumers League, Los Angeles, Cal. ......"............................. 38 "Cooperative Control" .......................................................... 125 Cooperative Education ........................................................... 76 Cooperative Month ............................................................... 149 Cooperatwe Oil News ............................................................ 28 Cooperative Trading Association, Brooklyn, N. Y. .........................46, 81, 82, 83 Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, 111. ................9, 48, 49, 88, 110, 168, 208 Cooperators Day ................................................................. 148 Correspondence School .........................................................38, 126 Creameries, Cooperative, Compete.................................................. 208 Credit ............................ ............................................ 7 Credit Extension & Business Failures............................................... 153 Credit Unions ............................................9, 87, 110, 128, 207, 233, 235 Credit Union Extension .......................................................... 68 Credit Unions Without State Law.................................................. 237 Credits for the People............................................................. 233 Czecho Slovakia, Cooperation in.................................................32, 93 Dairy Farmers Cut Out Some Exploiters............................................ 46 Denmark, Cooperation in ......................................................... 93 Destroying the Peoples' Food..................................................... 145 Directors, The League ........................................................ 215, 228 Eastern States Cooperative League ................. 11, 30, 49, 73, 91, 148, 172, 211, 231 Eastern States Farmers Exchange ................................................ 91 Education, Cooperative ...........................................76, 168, 202, 217, 224 Educational Meetings for Employees..... r...................................... 188, 217 Electricity in Czecho Slovakia..................................................... 32 Electric Power Lines ............................................................. 171 Employees, Cooperative ....................................................... 188, 217 Endorsements ..............................................................8, 69, 169 England, Cooperation in. .12, 31, 32, 50, 72, 93, 113, 134, 150, 151, 177, 196, 212, 231, 232 Equity Union, Nebraska ......................................................... 208 Exploitation, Spirit of ........................................................... 44 Farm Board, Federal .............................................36, 76, 124, 190, 229 Farm Loan, Federal ............................................................. 78 Farmer, Why be a............................................................ -33, 54 Farmers Cooperation ..................................................46, 48, 152, 236 Farmers Cooperative Buying and Selling Organizations in Michigan....,,,,.,,,,,,.... 76 INDEX PAGE Farmers Cooperative Mercantile Association, Kettle Eiver, Minii. .................. 7., Farmers Cooperative Mercantile Company, Wellman, Iowa.......................... ^g. Farmers Cooperative Purchasing Associations in Pennsylvania..................... OQK Farmers Marketing Act ........................................................ ogq Farmers in New England ....................................................... jo Farmers Keep the Speculators Out, How........................................... 4g Farmers Union Cooperative Creamery, Nebraska.............................46, 128, 208 Farmers Union, Nebraska ................................................. 48, 152, 208 Farmers Union, National ........................................................ n Farmers Union, Washington .................................................. 105 JQO Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Association, Nebraska..............................8, 109 Farmers Union State Exchange, Nebraska............................... 26, 69, 147, 153 Fascist!, Destruction of Cooperation by.........................................150, 216 Field Work of The League........................................................ 314 Finland, Cooperation in .......................................................... 72 Financial Statements, How to Make and Use. ...................................... 235 Forward South, The ................................................'............. n$ Fox, E. L. ...................................................................... 73 France, Cooperation in ........................................................... 232 Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association, Minneapolis, Minii. ................ 69, 110, 192 Freedom of the Air............................................................... 217 Free Trade ..................................................................... 154 G Gary Workers Cooperative Restaurant.............................................. 128 Germany, Cooperation in ................................... 13, 71, 92, 94, 113, 136, 177 Give Them a Vacation............................................................ 63 Gide, Prof. Charles .............................................................. 65 Goss, A. S. ...................................................................24, 125 Government Extension in Cooperation............................................... 8 Government, Nature of ........................................................... 197 Graham, Marcus ................................................................. 15 Grange Cooperative Wholesale .................................................. 68, 105 Grange Opposed to Chain Stores................................................... 27 Grange Warehouse, Cooperative, Port Angeles, Washington. .......................... 171 Green, Joel H. ................................................................... 198 H Haloiien, Arne ................................................................... 166 Halonen, George ................................................ .26, 149, 185, 203, 220 Hard Times an Aid to Cooperative Movement....................................143, 146 Hayes, A. J. ..................................................................63, 202 Hayes, Helen .................................................................... 112 Hedberg, Anders ................................................................. 231 Heiskaiien, A. F., Fund........................................................... H Herron, L. S. ................................................ .36, 77, 78, 185, 202, 228 Hillsboro Cooperative Association ................................................. 88 Hoan, Daniel W. ................................................................. 187 Holland, Cooperation in ....................................................... 51, 232 Honesty, An Asset of Cooperation. ................................................. 45 Housing ............................................................3, 42, 62, 66, 67 Housing, Cooperative Principles ................................................... 3 Huelle, J. W. ................................................................... s3 Hull, I. H. ...................................................................... 209 Hull, J. T. ...................................................................... 76 Hungary, Cooperation in ...................................................... -51) 227 Hyde, Wm. A. ,,,,.,..,,,................................................... -211, 215 INDEX I PAGE Ideal Movement Needs Practical Program and Able Executives........................ 24 Idrott Cooperative Temperance Cafe, Chicago, 111. ................................... 168 India, Cooperation in .........................................................153, 196 Industrial Arts Cooperative Service, New York City................................. 38 Institutes ...............................................70, 90, 108, 149, 164, 172, 225 Insurance .......................................................28, 166, 202, 211, 217 Integral Cooperation ..........................................................55, 118 International Cooperation, Thoughts on............................................. 212 International Cooperative Alliance ......................................... 112, 135, 222 International Cooperative Alliance Congress..................................... 189, 204 International Cooperative School .................................................. 92 International Labour Office ................................................... 176, 196 International Wholesale .......................................................... 233 Italian-American Cooperatives, An Appeal to........................................ 192 Italy, Cooperation in ...................................................... 95, 150, 211 Japan, Cooperation in ............................................................ 158 Jugo-Slavia, Cooperation in ...................................................... 13 Kaufman, W. H. ................................................................ 37 Kayden, Eugene M. .............................................................. 152 Keen, George .......................~............................................ 78 Kazan, A. E. .................................................................... 62 Labor and Internationalism ....................................................... 97 Lane, H. A. ..................................................................... 238 Lare, Raymond T. ............................................................... 38 Larseii, John .................................................................... 138 Lasserre, Henri ............................................................... 55, 118 Laundry, Farmers Cooperative, Eiver Falls, Wis. .................................... 207 Laws Covering Consumers Cooperation.............................................. 208 "Live Wire" Buys Out the Cooperative; a......................................... 105 Long, C. 2, 6, 16, 35, 42, 45, 55, 64, 76, 84, 85, 97, 102, 105, 124, 136, 142, 183, 206, 222, 227 Lorwin, L. I/. ................................................................... 97 M McCarthy, C. ................................................................... 185 MacDonald, Prime Minister ...................................................... 64 Marketing, Benefits of Cooperative................................................. 9 Martin, Everett Dean .................. ......................................... 188 May, H. J. ..............................................................92, 187, 227 Membership of The League ............................................... 17, 214, 224 Membership Trade for Cooperatives ............................................... 144 Mercer, T. W., Aphorisms...................................................... 18, 236 Midland Cooperative Oil Association, Mora, Minn. ............................... 132, 193 Milk Distributed Free .........................................................48, 74 Milk Prices in England .......................................................... 31 Minnesota Daily Star ........................:................................... 9 Model Store Plan ...................................................'............. 53 Moore, U. G. .................................................................... 237 Mohl, J. G. ..................................................................... 57 Municipalities and Cooperatives in Partnership...................................... 134 Mutual Telephone Services .....................................................83, 150 INDEX N PAGE Nebraska Farmers Union State Exchange............................26, 27, 88, 109, 147 Negro Labor Conference, National................................................. gg Neri, Eaymond E. ................................................................ igg New Cooperative Company, Dillonvale, Ohio..................................... 147, 237 New Era Life Association ........................................... 110, 132, 166, 209 New Year and a New Decade, The ..........................-•••••••••••••-........ 2 Nicotri, Gaspare ................................................................. 192 Nordby, H. I. ................................................................... 183 Northern States Cooperative League... .10, 28, 30, 72, 90, 111, 130, 131, 162, 192, 210, 230 North Star Cooperative Store Company, Fairport Harbor, Ohio.................... 147, 190 Norway, Cooperation in .......................................................... 177 Novak, Josef A. .............................................••••••••••••••...... 37 Ohio Societies Working Together.................................................. 211 Omaha Farmers Union Cooperative Credit Association................................ 207 Oil, Cooperative, Companies .......8, 27, 28, 68, 88, 109, 126, 127, 132, 167, 170, 193, 228 Our Economic Morality .......................................................... 34 Our Impartiality Challenged ...................................................... 237 Over-Production or Under-Consumption ............................................ 64 Overstocked Grocers .............................................................. 230 Pacific Coast Cooperative Organizations............................................. 215 Palestine, Cooperation in ......................................................... 32 Paradise Cooperative Society ..................................................... 93 Patrick, Sara L. ................................................................. 38 Peace Conferences in a Warring World............................................. 84 Petersburgh Coal Co. ............................................................ 128 Plans and Program of The League................................................. 222 Point of View, My...............14, 33, 54, 74, 96, 114, 133, 154, 174, 194, 211, 233, 237 Poland, Cooperation in .....................................................32, 71, 232 Politics ........................................................ -64, 136, 210, 215, 227 Political, Auti- .................................................................. 57 Politico-Economic Situation, The .................................................. 14 Powell, Whitou .................................................................. 235 Prasad, S. ...................................................................... 153 Press, International Conference ..................................••••••••••••••••• 1S9 Prize Contest ................................................................ -16, 230 Producers and Consumers ......................................................... 19* Propaganda Leaflets .............................................-•••••-••••••••• i78 Prosperity ................................-............••••••••••••••••••••••••• ^8 Purity Cooperative Society, Paterson, N. J. ........................................ 89 Q Quality First 74 Eaiffeisen Among Chinese Farmers, Herr. .......................................... 235 Eaise Wages or Eedueing Living Costs. ...................................••••••••• Eecreation .............................................................. -94, 141, 1« Eed Star Chorus Girls. ...............................•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Eelations with Other Cooperative Movements ................................-••••••• Restaurants .........................................................-89, 128, 168,229 Eestaurant for State Employees. .................................................. Eesolutions Passed at Seventh Congress. .................................-•••••••••• INDEX PAGE ^evolutionary Poetry, an, Anthology................................................ 15 Beholds, Quentin ........................................................91, 116, 229 Richardson, J. B. .............................................................57, 156 Rochdale, England, Tood Lane Shop............................................... 232 Roek Cooperative Company, Michigan............................................48, 190 Ronn, Eskel ..............................................................26, 185, 202 Rosenthal, E. A. ................................................................. 42 Rubinson, Meyer ................................................................. 22 Rudyard Cooperative Company, Michigan........................................... 230 Eussia, Cooperation in ...................................31, 95, 151, 152, 196, 213, 232 Russia During the War, Cooperative Movement in................................... 152 Russian Workers Cooperative Meat and Grocery Stores, Brooklyn...................9, 149 Russian Workers Coopertive Association, Chicago, 111. ............................... 28 Russian Workers Cooperative Eestaurant, Chicago, HI. .............................. 89 Ruusuuen, T. .................................................................... 215 8 Secretary's Report to 7th Congress of C. L. U. S. A. ................................ 214 Schools, Cooperative .................................. .147, 149, 172, 203, 224, 230, 231 Scotland, Cooperation in .......................................................65, 114 Shaw, George Bernard .........................................................64, 116 Shoemaker, E. L. ................................................................ 152 Simpson, S. W. .................................................................. 4 Sixty-three Years of the C. W. S................................................... 136 Skliaroff, N. .................................................................... 56 Slovenian Cooperative Store Co., Cleveland, Ohio..................................... 146 Social Work and Legislation in Sweden............................................. 55 Snowdeu, Philip ................................................................. 64 Soo Cooperative Mercantile Assoc., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich............................ 4~8 Stamp Exchange ................................................................ 98 Starr, Mark ..................................................................... 116 Starvation in a Land of Plenty.................................................... 85 Statistics .......................9, 12, 17, 32, 47, 58, 72, 92, 122, 127, 135, 176, 196, 231 Stem, J. K. ..................................................................... 236 Stewart, Eobert ................................................................. 236 Stocks, Should Workers Invest in.................................................. 6 Suttou, H. J. .................................................................... 138 Sweden, Cooperation in ..........................................55, 150, 177, 195, 232 Switzerland, Cooperation in .................................................... 72, 93 Tariff ...............................................................92, 133, 154, 195 Tax, Special for Chain Stores..................................................... 107 Telephones, Cooperative ........................................................ 83, 150 Tenhunen, M. ................................................................... 229 Teuhunen, Toivo ................................................................ 210 Trade Unionists in Credit Unions.................................................. 9 Trade Unions, Cooperatives and the Labor Party.................................... 64 Trade Unions, Beneficial Activities of ............................................. 235 Training Schools ..................................................... 10, 225, 230, 231 Trico Cooperative Oil Association, Floodwood, Cloquet, Minn. ........................ 170 Tsipou, H. ...................................................................... 38 Tuva Eepublic, Asia, Cooperation in................................................ 232 Twin City Workers Cooperative................................................193, 210 Tyomies ......................................................................... 26 Tyovaeu Osuustoimiuta-Lehti ... .................................................. 26 o INDEX U PAGE Under-consumption, Proposals for Curing..... ................................... , . Union Supply & Fuel Co., Staunton, 111. ..... £................................... United Cooperative Farmers of Fitchburg, Mass. ................................ United Cooperative Society, Mtchburg, Mass. .............................. 102, I4g 191 United Cooperative Society, Quincy, Mass. ...................................... .„ United States Government Cooperative. Extension.................................. „ Utica Cooperative Society ..................................................... n .„ Utopian Cooperators, a Program for............................................. . V Virginia Workpeople's Trading Company, Minnesota ................................ ^g W Walker, Mayor of New York City.................................................. gg Warbasse, J. P. .........14, 16, 33, 38, 54, 55, 74, 92, 96, 97, 114, 133, 154, 174, 183, 185, 194, 204, 211, 233 Ward, Gordon H. ............................................................. 36, 77 Ward, Harry F. ................................................................. 34 Warring Industries Exploit the Consumers.......................................... 125 Warinner, A. W. ..........................................................44, 54, 185 Warne, C. E. .................................................................... 126 Washington, Cooperation in ...................................................... 171 Washington Farmers Union ....................................................... 109 Washington State Grange, Seattle, Wash. .......................................... 105 Whitnall, C. B. ...............................................................67, 197 Wholesale, Eastern Cooperative .......................................... 11, 29, 50, 91 Wholesaling .........................................11, 69, 91, 112, 122, 211, 223, 233 Wholesale Grocers' Problems ..................................................... 16 Why Stores Fail ................................................................. 173 Wilderness of American Prosperity................................................ 236 Wolff, Henry W. ................................................................ 50 Women's Cooperative Guilds ....................................112, 113, 163, 189, 217 Woodmen of the World Protect Their Mutual....................................... 28 Woodcock, L. E. ................................................................ 43 Workmen's Furniture Fire Insurance Society....................................... 88 Workingmen 's Cooperative Bakery of Lynn, Mass. .................................. 49 Workingmen 's Cooperative Company, Cleveland, Ohio ....................... 141, 142, 191 Workmen's Mercantile Association, Chicago, 111. .................................... 107 Y Year Book of Cooperative Central Exchange........................................ 191 Year Book of C. L. U. S. A. .......................................29, 49, 93, 210, 224 Year Book, The Peoples .......................................................... 35 Youth League ...........................'................................... .210, 230 OTCMION A magazine to spread the knowledge 3f the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S.A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City CEDRIC LONG, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 o year. VOL. XVI, No. 1 JANUARY, 1930 10 CENTS IN THIS ISSUE The New Year and A New Decade J. P. Warbasse on the Politico-Economic Situa tion Essential Principles for Cooperative Housing Senator Brookhart on Our Financial System Another Training School Completed Cooperative Conference in New England I mi 2_ COOPERATION COOPERATION 4 « The New Year and A New Decade The New Year is upon us, 1930, beginning of another decade. How shal] it be greeted? Our right to look forward with hope and courage to the next ten years depends in no small measure upon our achievements during the past ten years. What are they ? At the opening of 1920 The Cooperative League was a babe in swaddling clothes. The First Congress had been held in 1918, in Springfield, Illinois, and another was in prospect for Cincinnati. There was no affiliated membership of cooperative societies, if such membership is to be measured in terms of per capita dues. There was a mere enrollment of societies interested in the purposes of The League. Between that January ten years ago and today there has been built up a national union of consumers' cooperative societies, conscious of its strength and its purpose, and capable of speaking in behalf of the entire consumers movement in the United States. It is the sole member of the Inter national Cooperative Alliance in this whole country. There are three district leagues now where there were none before. There are four wholesales, only two of which were in business before 1920. Our officers have visited and fra ternized with the leaders of the movement in all the countries of Europe, and our President is recognized the world around as one of the foremost authorities on the philosophy of consumers' cooperation. We have, thanks chiefly to the work of Dr. Warbasse, carried information concerning cooperation into hundreds of the schools and colleges of the country so that thousands of the young men and women of the decade before us are to begin their work in life with an understanding of these important economic facts. Of cooperative training schools there have been almost a score; we close the decade with the publication of our first Cooperative Year Book. A certain amount of factionalism which had persisted, more or less, from 1918 down to 1928 has been quite entirely eliminated, and we enter 1930 with a membership better united in cooperative understanding and true fraternity than ever before. And what of the years that lie ahead ? Prophecies are uncertain. Instead we should like to make an appeal and present a challenge. The appeal is that each society in membership with The League shall give earnest support to three phases of our work: Financial support for the central office; the magazine COOPERATION; our Training Schools, Institutes and Corre spondence Courses. Our challenge is directed to the various district leagues now in existence or to be formed in the future. Can they multiply their memberships seven times before 1940? It is not enough to seek to double or quadruple the membership of the League; we must do more. Have we not in the past ten years grown from a membership of zero to more than 140 societies? To urge for 1,000 societies before the New Year bells ring in January 1, 1940, is not too much. Some would set the figure at 2,500 or 5,000. But we cannot here indulge in fantasy. If we achieve 1,000 societies we shall be doing extremely well. This will call forth the utmost efforts of the staff and membership of the district leagues now in the field. A greater support for The League! A campaign to increase our consumer- strength sevenfold! Appeal and challenge that will not go unanswered—if the past ten years are any measure of the decade which lies ahead. C. L. Special Articles COOPEEATIVE HOUSING PRINCIPLES York City has many hundreds of apartment houses popularly known as cooperative. Less than 50 of these, how ever, have ever been given any recog nition by the cooperative movement as being cooperative in the Eochdale sense. Within the past few years, the officers of The League have had great difficulty in deciding just how many of these few were really cooperative; many of them apparently are permitting their mem bers to sell or sublet their apartments at a profit. If all such houses are to be excluded from the list of genuine coop eratives, there are scarcely half a dozen left. One of the causes for this indefinite situation is to be found in the fact that The League itself has never set forth in clear cut and final form the require ments necessary for genuine non-profit cooperative housing. Therefore, late in the autumn, the Executive Staff of the National League, in conjunction with directors of the Eastern League, ap pointed a sub-committee to make a com plete study of this question and bring in a report. At a meeting in November of officers of The League and of the Eastern League, the following were adopted as the essential cooperative principles and the essential business principles under which any apartment house must operate, if it is to receive recognition from The League. ESSENTIAL COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLES IN HOUSING I. There should be no profit to the members individually or collectively from the oper ation, leasing or sale of any of the asso ciation's property. This means that: A. The interest on the members' invest ments is to be at not more than the current legal rate. B. If there is any distribution of net savings or earnings (after interest charges, which are to be considered as operating expenses), it is to be made as patronage rebates (in the form of either cash or reduction of rents). C. There should be no profits from rent ing to non-members. (1) As a general rule, all apartments should be occupied .in person by tenant-members'. Furthermore, they should be used only by such members and their immediate families; they should not be used in part as rooming houses for revenue. (2) Where sub-leasing by a tenant- member is necessary, the rental charged to the sub-lessee should be based on actual costs of opera tion to the member (with due and conservative allowance for inter est on his investment, cost of decoration, depreciation of furni ture, etc.). There should be a definite time limit set to the duration of such sub-letting. (3) Where the sub-leasing of vacant apartments to non-members is temporarily and of necessity un dertaken by the association as a whole, the rentals charged are to be based on actual cost of opera tions, not at an exorbitant market rate. The "cost of operation," in this instance, may mean actual upkeep plus a reasonable safety margin to cover possible losses to the association from vacancies or other unforeseen emergencies. If a profit develops from such a safety margin it should not be used to reduce members' rents, but either for cooperative educa tion and expansion or as patron age rebates to the non-members in the form of credits to assist them in financing the purchase of stock which shall make them full members. (4) A house shall be considered coop erative when the majority of its occupants shall have become mem bers, and when, under strictly cooperative rules, it shows that its whole .purpose and policy is con sciously and definitely moving toward full cooperative develop ment. II. There should be complete consumer-control. Voting should be based on membership interest, not on investment interest. III. Besident-ownership should be a funda mental policy—for social reasons: A. So that there shall not be several dif ferent classes of tenants in buildings. B. To insure that the consumers shall be interested and effective in exercising control. IV. Provision should be made for the per manence of the cooperative features of the association. COOPERATION COOPERATION •i. ESSENTIAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLES IN HOUSING (They are peculiarly necessary in a demo cratically organized institution.) I. Tenant-members should elect a Board of Directors or Executive Committee which, in turn, should appoint a definitely re sponsible executive. II. Tenant-members should make a regular and careful check-up both of the execu tion of the general policies they have adopted for the association and of the financial soundness of its operations. This means: A. Regular audits by the Accounting Bureau of The Cooperative League or by some Certified Public Accountant; and B. Regular reports by the Executive in charge both to the Board of Directors and to the tenant-members. III. The technical ownership of the property should remain with a cooperative asso ciation (or possibly with more than one such association) ; and the tenant-mem bers should receive leases to their apart ments. IV. Officers and employees entrusted with funds or property of the association should be adequately bonded. V. Adequate allowances should be made for depreciation on all buildings and equip ment. VI. The plan of organization and tire finan cial set-up should be such as to give to the tenant-members every possible assur ance of the security of their investment and the permanence of their occupancy. VII. A very conservative attitude should be be maintained toward the assets of the association. Increases in land values or increases in current building costs should not be capitalized except under the most extraordinary circumstances. In other words, the value of the property should never be appraised according to the mod ern theory of "Reproduction Cost." A PROGRAM FOR UTOPIAN COOPERATORS By S. W. SIMPSON Though Cooperators profess no idea of an ultimate state of man they may dream a proximate Utopia that is realiz able and that indeed must be realized as a condition of continuing human progress. Our Utopia is simply the highest civilization we can envisage. To sustain our hope of achieving it we must rely on the cumulative power of progress. To define our Utopia: it is a con dition in which liberty and justice are synonymous, and all men clearly that civilization is cooperation. Jj 6e it cannot be encompassed by violet revolution nor will any political stat or legislative assembly lead us into it Rather we must strive to be let alone t conquer it; for it must be conquered How may we approach it? The open road seems to be through the worldwide Cooperative Movement "allied with or aided by that for the emancipa tion of childhood through freedom in education (as yet hardly known) and such work as that of the American Civil Liberties Union to recover and preserve the rights we lost by the Great War The conditions of our Utopia will be preserved, extended, and intensified by the emancipation of education. Our responsibility for our children imposes the duty of providing for their happi ness and well-being; and the last Utopian hope rests in their being reared with open minds. Institutions keep the world in darkness; and our institutions are fostered first and most of all in our elementary schools. Among the impor tant jobs for Utopians, therefore, is the promotion of libertarian, non-institu tional schools; such as eschew fiagwav- ing and every form of indoctrination. Children coming from such schools will have the uncommon faculty called com mon sense and will be able to discrimi nate truth from falsehood. The cooperative movement will be fostered by these preliminaries. Then in itself it can achieve our peaceful revolution; for it is the most inclusive of essentials for a decent civilization, the most radical and the most peaceful of all movements. And it not only moves, it is achieving at every step. A glance at its origin and its growth may give us a measure of the expectation included in our hopes. The movement now dates its beginning from the end of 1844 when the little store of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was opened with a total capital of £28 that took a year for collection from the 28 poor weavers who organized the society. The poor workmen were driven to this organiza tion to relieve their suffering in conse quence of repeated reductions in their wages. That they were men of vision. • shown by this article from their original "Laws and Objects": "That as soon as practicable, this society hall proceed to arrange the powers of pro duction, distribution, education, and govern- eJ1t or in other words to establish a self- upporting home colony of united interests, or Assist other societies in establishing such colonies." Quite probably such an ideal is hardly seen by most present-day members of cooperatives, but its vision remains with the leaders of the movement; and that it will be pursued to fruition, we must believe when we contemplate the ac complishments of 83 years. The Cooper ative Wholesale Society of Great Britain has grown to be perhaps the largest mercantile establishment in the world; and there are similar concerns in Ger many and other European countries, and some lesser ones in the U. S. A. The societies in many lands are grouped into regional and national federations, like the few district leagues in this country and the national Cooperative League of the U. S. A.; and the most important of these are united in the International Cooperative Alliance, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 1925. In this alliance, 38 nations are represented by 103 national unions and federations, eight regional unions, and 485 local con sumers' societies. The societies consti tuting the unions and federations number 100,000, and their individual membership 50,,000,000. The president of the Alliance, Vaino Tanner, has also been the head of the government of Fin land. In his call on behalf of the I. C. A. for the celebration of the Interna tional Cooperative Festival, July 7th this year, he termed the 50,000,000 "mostly heads of families," who there fore may "claim to represent an army of peaceful evolution of not less than 200,000,000 people.'' But these are only a part of this great movement. Here in the U. S., for instance, but a few hundred of the 3,000 or more local co operative societies known to exist are as yet members of our National League, which is the sole American member of the I. C. A. So of the rest of the world. Leaving out of account the 10,000 con sumers' societies and as many more of producers' in Italy destroyed by Fas cism, it seems safe to estimate no fewer than 500,000,000 people interested in some degree in the cooperative move ment. In this fact we can see an ap proach toward a decent civilization. The mere fact of the I. C. A. with its Inter national Summer School and Festival, its interest in free trade and interna tional banking and insurance, indicates the intent to renounce nationalism and promote world-unity. Perhaps the interest in "dividends" among half-baked cooperators (which I sadly fear names a very large number who use this word and "profit" where only the word "savings" should ap pear), obscures a full vision of truly cooperative banking. I think it likely that the great mass of producers might be rallied to an almost immediately effec tive demand for such a reform of cur rency and banking as would at once reduce and finally abolish interest for money and ultimately all profit to cap ital purely as such. The need to this end is the repeal of all laws creating monopolies in banking—and most co- operators will agree that the only good laws are repealers. Already our Fed eral Reserve banking system has partly dethroned the gold fetish. With this starter we should see how to go on to a realization of Proudhon's Bank of the People. Freed of restrictive laws busi ness men and producers would join together in setting up mutual or coop erative banks to issue currency based on pledges of the wealth of the members and loaned to the members on these pledges; of course, on a safe margin, say to half or three-quarters of the well certified value of the security. Such banks would need no capital beyond the trivial amount required for their print ing or at most for conductins their business, they being merely the distrib utors of the credit of their members. Their notes would be as good as gold or better. This would show the world what interest for money is—a mere bonus to financiers—and how profit on capital throttles production. Borrowers from these banks would be charged at a tenta tive rate, say 2 per cent, all but cost being rebated at settlement or at fixed l! 6 COOPERATION COOPERATION periods. Close students of the matter have estimated that less than half of 1 per cent would cover all cost of insur ance and administration. How shall we escape from economic rent, ground rent? A cooperative civil ization must provide an answer to this question, though in a purely economic sense it can hardly matter in such a civilization fully consummated. Can we find the answer without the compulsion of the political state, which must be abolished before we can become truly civilized ? There are students of money and banking who think they see the equivalent of the single tax in the aboli tion of interest, and I am not sure they are wrong; but so far I have not been able to envisage it to my own satisfac tion. Mr. Hugo Bilgram in his great book "The Cause of Business Depres sions" (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.) undertakes to show that with inter est abolished the price of land would be bid up to an equivalent of the capital ization of its tax instead of its rent as now. Mr. Bilgram's book is a truly scientific exposition of economics, espe cially of money and credit. Its argu ment for the mutual or cooperative banking that would abolish interest is similar to Proudhon's and Greene's, briefly suggested above, but is even more rigorously logical. Col. Greene's pam phlet "Mutual Banks," long out of print, is now again available together with Proudhon's arguments in a volume entitled "Proudhon's Solution of the Social Problem" published by the Van. guard Press, New York. With the proscription of profiteers pulpiteers, patrioteers, and politicians will go most if not all of the police and all the lawyers and whatever other loafers there may be, with of course all the soldiers of every stripe. What a world of joy a cooperative civilization will bring! Even the ridiculous Daugh ters of a violent Revolution that brought only a change of governments (who so fear any connection with a peaceful evo lution that they have proscribed the Cooperative League), might be helped in such a world. A cooperative world means a world without fears. In a so ciety from which acquisitiveness has been banished human intercourse will be all candor and sincerity; there can be no suspicions of axes to be ground. I am trying to offer a program only to such Utopians as ask hardly more than the right to mind their own busi ness. That, we think, is the true defini tion of justice, as it is also of liberty. Politicians spout loudly of these without the most elementary notion of what they mean. Liberty or justice can come only with such a civilization as will renounce institutions that foster inhibitions and contradictions of common sense. News and Comment Editorial SHOULD WORKERS INVEST IN STOCKS? According to William Green, Presi dent of the American Federation of Labor, who spoke recently over the na tional broadcasting chain, the workers of the country, if they are well paid and secure in the enjoyment of continuous employment, will buy goods and invest in securities. He went on, according to the statement of the Federated Press, to advise workers to make only safe invest ments through reliable firms. This speech, according to the Labor Press Service, was made on time paid for by Halsey, Stuart & Co., well-known brokers of stocks and bonds. The workers of the country will bring no permanent benefit to themselves or to the cause to which they should be devoting their energies, by playing the stock market in search of comparatively "safe" investments. Capitalism is already well supplied with billions of dollars of workers' savings, and the leaders of the labor movement, if they wish to offer financial advice of any kind, should be pointing out where union members may safely place their funds at the disposal of the cooperative or the labor movement. It is the height of irony that labor leaders should be instructing the rank and file in ways of strengthening the capitalist system. C. L. IN THE PECULIAR TRENDS OP CHAIN STORE COMPETITION The National Bank of Commerce has recently made a survey of chain grocery stores and the latest developments in that field of merchandising. Some of their conclusions are very interesting for students of the cooperative move ment. In the highly developed centers of the East, it is believed that chain groceries have almost reached their saturation point, and in some neighborhoods have actually been losing ground to the inde pendent stores. Competition today in many centers is not so keen between chain stores and independent stores as between chain store systems themselves.' Where dif ferent chains are engaged in a life and death struggle, cut prices are not of much value since all the chains have the same purchasing power. Thus, without the advantage of cut prices, competition takes the place of cutting down margins of profit. Therefore, many of the chains are gradually eliminating the cut price leaders which are sold below cost. This business of selling leaders not only de stroys its own effectiveness when it is overdone, but it brings into the stores customers who are not profitable. Another recent development is the ex cursion of the chain, store into the field of perishable products like fruit, vegeta bles and meat. A third development is the increasing dependence upon nationally advertised products rather than private brands. It is found that the chains which have the highest stock turnover, that is the chains which turn their stock of goods from fifteen to twenty-five times a year, are the ones handling a large proportion of nationally advertised goods. BROOKHART AT LEAGUE DINNER Seventy-five delegates from thirteen cooperative societies attended the dinner to Senator Brookhart held at "Our Co operative Cafeteria," N. Y. C., on December 3 under the auspices of the Joint Educational Committee of Greater New York. It was one of the few occa sions when Cooperators have had an opportunity to hear an outstanding po litical leader of the country display a thorough knowledge of cooperative principles.- It appeared that the Senator's main interest lay in the extension of coopera tive credit. Naturally enough he was concerned chiefly with the legal obstruc tions that capitalistic business has inter posed. So rigid are the present banking laws that consumer and labor institu tions are practically compelled to act as ordinary profit banks. Senator Brook- hart described in detail the amendments he has set before Congress with the view of introducing the cooperative principle into existing banking law. Briefly, he would reorganize the present Intermediate Credit Bank as a Federal Reserve Bank for Cooperators, in effect ive competition with the Federal Re serve System of bankers' banks. But the Senator had enough facts and figures to gladden the hearts of Coop erators of all varieties. He referred to the fact that 92 per cent of private business ventures in America end in failure; whereas in most European countries the percentage of cooperative failures is practically nil. He deplored the spread between the $9,000,000 that goes to the farmer and the $30,000,000, that the consumer leaves when he buys the farmer's products. He explained how the farmers have been forced to pay for the over-valuation of the railroads, and how their troubles have been merely aggravated by the operations of the Federal Reserve Board, by tariff in creases, and by the patent laws. Again he stressed the need of meeting the attack on consumers and workers by injecting cooperative provisions into our existing legal structure. It was a startling revelation of the efficiency of cooperative business when Senator Brookhart told the story of the agent of the British Wholesale who pur chased flour in the United States, paid freight on it to the coast and across the COOPERATION COOPERATION 9 ocean, milled it, baked it, and distrib uted the bread among the members of several societies at a price a little less than half what the same commodity sold for in the American city at which he bought the flour. Everyone was glad to know that there was at least a ghost of a chance of the newly-created farm board learning something about genuine cooperation, for the speaker revealed that, in answer to Senator McNary's request, he has framed a cooperative code for the use of the farm board in the future. In commenting on the recent stock debacle, Brookhart attrib uted the extraordinary evenness of fluctuations in the English market to the fact that 30 per cent of English com mercial business is in cooperative hands. Dr. Warbasse, as chairman, intro duced Senator Brookhart and conducted the question period that followed the address. ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT FOR CONSUMERS' COOPERATION The following is in part a resolution presented and passed unanimously at the convention of the National Farmers Union held in Omaha, November 19 to 21. CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES The economic problem of the farmer is dual in nature. As a producer he is being exploited by those who handle and process the crops and speculate on their value during their journey to the ultimate market. As a consumer he is also being exploited by those who profit on the things he must buy to operate his farm and supply his family with the things necessary to the largest measure of life and living. Any gains made by successful cooperative marketing of his crops are often lost in the failure like wise to buy cooperatively the things he needs as s consumer. Therefore, we urge the following: 1. That we endorse the policy of consumers' cooperation based upon the well known Koch- dale plan as of equal importance with pro ducers cooperation in the solution of the farm economic problem. 2. That the National Farmers Union en courage and assist in the promotion of con sumers' cooperation by persistently disseminat ing information about cooperation, its history, its principles, its accomplishments, and its effectiveness, at the same time warning of the mistakes which cooperatives sometimes make. 3. That the National Farmers Union use its good offices in trying to promote a more unified system of organization and buying among tl cooperatives we now have to the end that tlT buying power of the members of our great organization be not scattered but rather united into a tremendous force when we go into th markets to purchase the supplies the farmer uses. . . . 4. We urge that wherever possible and prac ticable our cooperatives should federate for more effective bargaining power. 5. We recommend that every encouragement possible be given by the Farmers Union to all workingmen's efforts at consumers' coopera tion, recognizing that at some time these cooperatives may be of great assistance to our producers' cooperatives in affording an outlet for our own products, to the mutual benefit of both. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION BY THE GOVERNMENT The Secretary of Agriculture in his report at the close of 1929 states that almost $23,000,000 was used for coop erative extension work during the pre vious fiscal year, 39 per cent of this amount coming from the federal gov ernment, 33 per cent from county ap propriations, and 28 per cent from state agencies. The field staff, located in the various states to carry on this work, numbered 5,691, the majority of them employed for county agent, home admin istration, or boys and girls club work. Among the many activities of the cooperative department are its motion picture laboratories from which 3,500 shipments of films were made during the year. COOPERATIVE EARNS 146 PER CENT ON CAPITAL A net gain or surplus saving of $4,969.69 on a share capital of $3,390.00, equivalent to 146 per cent on the capital, was the excellent showing made by the Farmers Union Co-Operative Oil Asso ciation of Wisner, Nebr., in its first year of operation, ending October 31, 1929. After providing for a share dividend of 5 per cent, and setting up 5 per cent of the net earnings as surplus reserve, the remainder available for patronage divi dends was $4,568.00, equal to 12 per cent of the sales of gasoline, kerosene, lubri cating oils, and greases, amounting to a total of $37,772.22. A very remarkable part of this excellent showing was the fact that at the close of the year the nncollected accounts of the association amounted to only $219.26, and none of these were of more than a few days' standing. This association does not operate a public filling station, but de livers the products to patrons by motor trucks. STOCKHOLDERS OF FORMER LABOR PAPER CAUGHT There were upward of 5,000 labor organizations and individuals who held stock in the Northwest Publishing Co., which launched the Minnesota Daily Star, mistakenly known as a "coopera tive labor paper" to thousands of work ers of the Northwest. The labor press of Chicago now reports that these 5,000 stockholders are being forced to pay an assessment of 100 per cent on their in vestment to the receivers of the Com pany. A previous 25 per cent assess ment on the part of 3,000 of these stock holders failed by $60,000. to clear up the obligations of the company: 2,000 of the holders of stock refused at that time to pay any assessment, claiming that the whole scheme was merely a vindic tive attack upon a farmer-labor enter prise. The receivers now claim that all of the original owners are legally liable for the full 100 per cent assessment. THE BENEFITS OF COOPERATIVE MARKETING A very large proportion of the wheat grown in Canada is marketed through the cooperative wheat pools. In the United States an insignificant percentage of the wheat is handled cooperatively. Last summer along the international boundary line, farmers were sending their wheat into Canada, paying a duty of 12c a bushel and still getting a higher price than was offered them in the States, simply because the wheat pools have raised the price for all wheat in Canada whether it is the cooperatives or private firms that buy it. NEW RECORD AT WAUKEGAN Sales for the Cooperative Trading Company set a new high mark in Octo ber, when they reached a total of $73,181 and a total for the ten-month period of almost $647,OjOO. It is now evident that the sales for the year will reach $800,- 000, or $50,000 more than the quota established a year ago. The membership was 1,547 at the close of the summer of 1929. TRADE UNIONISTS IN CREDIT UNIONS According to the U. S. Department of Labor, more than 150 credit unions had been organized by trade union locals up to the end of 1927, the initiative in this work being taken by a few central labor unions in New England. The total membership exceeded 25,000 and the capital and reserves one and a half mil lion dollars. Following is the list pre sented by the department: Date of Number of organization Credit Unions of first Central labor unions. . 3 1915 Cigar makers ....... 1 1916 Telephone workers .. 4 1917 Lithographers ...... 1 1919 Carpenters ......... 1 1920 Amalgamated Clothing Workers ......... 3 1920 Various unions ..... 1 1921 Postal employees* ... 83 1923 Headgear workers ... 2 1924 Textile workers ..... 1 1925 Fur workers ........ 1 1926 Railway clerks ...... 41 1926 Teachers .......... 4 1926 Expressmen ........ 1 1927 Machinists ......... 1 1927 Street railway em ployees .... .... 2 1926 Total .......... 150 * Not strictly union. TWO NEW STORES FOR BROOKLYN SOCIETY The R. W. Cooperative Meat and Gro cery Stores Association of Brooklyn, N. Y., on December 14th opened its seventh store on Lorimer Street, Brook lyn, and on December 19th its eighth store at Hastings-on-Hudson. This ex pansion program started five years ago and has carried the society from Maz- peth, Long Island, to Hastings, a terri tory more than 25 miles long. No other society in the East has made such phenomenal progress as this. 10 COOPERATION COOPERATION 11 i Northern States Cooperative League 2100 WASHINGTON AVE. No. MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. ANOTHER SESSION OP TRAINING SCHOOL COMPLETED Thirty-one students of the Northern States' Coop. League Training School com pleted a stiff six-weeks course in various cooperative subjects, which covered both the theoretical and the practical field. The school closed Saturday evening, December 7, with commencement exercises held in the school rooms, 242 West Broadway, Minne apolis, Minn. At the close of the school the students unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Northern States' Cooperative League to extend the period of the school in the future to 8 weeks. They felt the strain of the intensive training to such an extent that every one of them realized the need of more time to absorb the subjects cov ered. It is to be hoped that the board of directors of the League will add another two weeks to the curriculum of the school next year. Also for the first time in the history of the League's Training School various cooperative societies had donated money into a general scholarship fund from which the League was able to. give scholarships to the students at the school. Each of the 31 students were given $15 from this fund and 8 students were given special scholar ships in addition. Altogether $610 were distributed among the students, and besides this they were given cooperative literature to a total value of about $75. Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association alone donated $500 to this scholarship fund, Coop erative Central Exchange donated $50, the Cooperative Trading Company of Wauke- gan, HI., $50, and 7 other cooperative or ganizations donated a total of $85. Besides these scholarships given from the general scholarship fund four students re ceived scholarships directly from their local societies, these four scholarships totaling a little better than one hundred dollars. All of this goes to prove that the coop erative societies affiliated with the Northern States' Cooperative League are beginning to appreciate the value of the school and are willing to appropriate money to make it financially easier for the young men and women in the movement to attend and get this important training. The average age of the 31 students in the class this year was about twenty and one-half years which is somewhat lower than the average age at any of the previous sessions of the school. The percentage of those in the class who had had practical experience in the cooperative stores before attending the school was also somewhat lower than at the previous schools. This is another factor which makes it necessary to extend the time of the school, as younger students lacking practical experience in the cooperative work require more time to ab sorb the knowledge given them. Besides the 4 regular instructors (H. V. Nurmi, Walter Jacobson, Eskel Ronn, and V. S. Alanne, principal of the school) the following cooperators talked to the class about some cooperative or technical sub ject : E. E. Branch, president, New Era Life Association, Grand Rapids, Mich.; E. Gr. Cort, manager, Minnesota Co-op Oil Com pany, Minneapolis, Minn.; A. J. McGuire, general manager, Land 0 'Lakes Creameries, Minneapolis, Minn.; H. I. Nordby, presi dent, Franklin Cooperative Creamery Asso ciation, Minneapolis, Minn.; H. L. Brown, treasurer, Franklin Cooperative Credit Union; W. TJ. Ahlstrom, head of the chem ical laboratory of the Franklin Cooperative Creamery; E. J. Holmers, plant superin tendent of the Franklin Cooperative Cream ery Association, and S. A. Stockwell, well-known legislator, and director of the Franklin Cooperative Credit Union. The plants of the Franklin Cooperative Cream ery and the Land 0 'Lakes Creameries were visited by the class under the guidance of the instructors. All through the school the students main tained a student club, which met once a week and discussed matters pertaining to the student body and the school. They elected a student council which acted as the executive committee, representing the students' interests. A library of a large number of cooperative books was main tained, being in charge of one of the stu dents assigned to the job of librarian by the student body. In spite of the stiff curriculum, the stu dents found time to arrange an entertain ment at the close of the fourth week to which friends of the school in Minneapolis were invited and for which the students furnished practically all the program them selves. At the close of the school a banquet was given by the Educational Committee of the Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association to about one hundred people including the students and all alumni resid ing in Minneapolis. Another District Conference Georgeville is a small village located about 100 miles Northwest of Minneapolis. Several years ago the farmers there or ganized a cooperative store. In 1926 the store organization joined the Northern States' Cooperative League. A year ago they engaged a manager who had attended the training school of the Northern States' Cooperative League. This manager, J. D. Dahlstrom, naturally was interested in bringing the store into contact with other cooperative stores in the vicinity. So it was planned to call these stores into a district conference. The Northern States' Cooperative League took care of the invi tations to 15 cooperatives, none located farther than 60 miles from Georgeville. The meeting was held Sunday afternoon, No vember 24. To the great disappointment of those who had arranged the conference, only three cooperative stores took part. The others stayed away—for what reasons, we don't know. However, about 15 cooperators gath ered at the meeting hall in the two-story brick building owned by the Cooperative Farmers' Company of Georgeville. The three store organizations represented were: the Belgrade Farmers' Cooperative Com pany, Belgrade, Minn.; the New London Farmers' Cooperative Store Company, New London, Minn.; Cooperative Farmers' Com pany, Georgeville, Minn. The Northern States' Cooperative League was represented by Gideon Edberg, one of its directors, and V. S. Alanne, its executive secretary. In spite of the small number of cooper ators present, there was a fruitful discus sion about the best methods which might be pursued in building up cooperation be tween the various isolated local cooperative groups. On account of so few cooperative stores being represented at this meeting it was unanimously agreed that another at tempt should be made in the near future to call a district conference of the coopera tive stores, and each delegate present pledged himself to work for a larger at tendance at the next meeting. An interesting fact brought out during the discussions at the meeting was that each of the three stores represented al though located within 10 miles of each other had connected up with a different wholesale organization, none of which was cooperative. One, with the so-called Red and White Stores, another with the Inde pendent Grocer's Alliance and one with the Fairway Stores. This was a good illustra tion that cooperative forces become split up unless they understand how to build their own cooperative wholesale. The coop eratives in other countries have learned that the only right thing for them to do in the commercial field is to form their own wholesale organization and give it a hundred per cent patronage. A. F. Heiskanen Benefit Fund (Final accounting) Previously reported.............. $584.49 Northern Farmers' Cooperative So ciety, Angora, Minn., (Collec tion). ....................... 26.65 Cloquet Cooperative Society, Clo- quet, Minn.................... 7.35 Lawler Farmers' Cooperative As sociation, Lawler, Minn......... 5.00 Total. . . $623.49 Our attention has been called to a mis take in the accounting of last number of this magazine. $12.60 credited to New Era Life Association should have been listed as coming from Workers Cooperative Society of Marquette, Mich. We wish to thank once more all those cooperative societies and individual coop erators who have so liberally responded to our appeal in behalf of our fellow cooper- ator Heiskanen. Minneapolis, Dec. 12, 1929. Northern States' Cooperative League, V. S. Alanne, Executive Secretary. Eastern States Cooperative League DISTRICT CONFERENCE FOR EASTERN WHOLESALE A district conference was held in Bos ton, December 15, 1929, by the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, Inc. Forty-one men assembled, representing 14 local so cieties in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, the Eastern League and the Eastern Wholesale. John Suominen, Treasurer of the Workers Credit Union of Fitchburg, acted as chairman, Cedric Long as Secretary. After interesting and lively reports by delegates of the work of their respec tive local societies the meeting plunged 12' COOPERATION COOPERATION 13 u Ii i into a discussion of the work of the wholsale. Secretary Long led off with a brief history of Joint Buying by several of the Eastern societies during the past three years, the incorporation of the wholesale in the summer of 1928, and the employment of a full time manager in March, 1929. He told of the gradual development of the cooperative label products, the efforts now being made to get agreement among the various whole sales on a uniform cooperative label for the whole country; of the coal business being conducted by the Wholesale in Greater New York and tentative plans for inaugurating a milk service. He reported that more than 30 societies were giving some support to the whole sale, though only ten are shareholders. Manager Wirkkula gave the financial report showing sales for nine months to be in excess of $200,000, an excellent figure for the first year of business. Attention was given to various products handled by the wholesale, par ticularly dairy products, flour and feed, and the ten commodities already packed under the cooperative label. Most of the afternoon was devoted to a further discussion of affiliations of cooperatives with chains of independent grocers, and the delegates enjoyed some considerable display of fireworks at times, for this is a very live subject, especially among the Finnish cooper- ators. Unfortunately the matter . has during the past couple of months been made a subject of debate between the opposition political papers in the Fin nish language and the high emotions engendered have not since then been conducive to a rational discussion of the subject. Two of the Finnish an(j one of the Italian societies have thus affiliated themselves; two of the Finnish and one Italian society appear to be vigorously opposed to such affiliation as a matter of principle; and most of the others are watching developments and waiting for further enlightenment. The manager of the Stafford cooperative store, which has made the remarkable gain of nearly 100 per cent increase in sales in the last 12 months, showed how they were competing most successfully with the chain stores all about them by a judicious use of leaders, careful buy ing, and economizing on all expenses Milford (N. H.)i store has been ap proached by two large chains but as yet sees no advantage to be gained from joining either. Plainfield (Conn.) and Norwood refuse to join any such chain, believing that such affiliation is a vio lation of cooperative principle and an injury to our own wholesale and to the movement itself. The first district conference of the Eastern Wholesale closed early in the evening, a forerunner, it is to be hoped, of many others to come. Eleven of the fourteen societies represented were mem bers of the Eastern League; four of the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale. Three were not affiliated with either central organization; they were the bakery of Worcester and the stores of Milford, N. H., and Quincy, Mass. Cooperation Abroad From Canada comes the interesting news that the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society has joined the Coop erative Union of Canada. This Whole sale has had offices in Canada, chiefly for purchase of grains and other Canadian products, for 23 years, and recently has been on most friendly terms with the consumers' movement, but this is the first direct affiliation of the consumers' movement in the two countries. Membership of the ten largest coop erative societies in England at the begin ning of 1929 was as follows: London ...................... Royal Arsenal ................. Birmingham . . . ............... Liverpool . . .................. Leeds ........................ Barnsley ..................... St. Cuthbert's (Edinburgh)..... Plymouth . . .................. South Suburban ............... Newcastle-on-Tyne ............ Manchester & Salf ord........... Bolton ....................... Derby . . . .................... Leicester ..................... 295.678 217,671 135,077 118,552 105,638 82,452 69,817 68,341 61,674 61,303 57,632 53,749 52,132 51,942 The 1928 statistics of the Cooperative Tlnion show the essential soundness and nrogressiveness of the British move ment. There are 5,885,135 cooperators divided among 1,245 retail societies ffhich have an annual trade of nearly $1,047,0.00,000, yielding a surplus of 4123800,000. Share and loan capital amount to just under $600,000,000. The number of workers in these societies increased 9,633 to a total of 167,576. The educational activities of these or ganizations were allotted over a million dollars. The distributive federations have in creased in number and amount of busi ness, but they are so well organized that there are only 52 employees in the whole of the eleven federations. The total trade of the English Wholesale was $438,600,QQp, and this represented 50.81 per cent of the retail cooperative trade in England, Wales, and Ireland. The Department of Education and Publicity of the Manitoba Wheat Pool is dissatisfied with the present uncer tain financial arrangements which pro vide for the appropriation of one- twentieth of a cent per bushel of grain handled by the Pool, and recommends that the Department be placed on a budget. The budget prepared for 1929-30 calls for $24,000 which, for one province alone, compares most favorably (from the Canadian point of view!) with the $4,000, allotted to the Coopera tive League of the U. S. A. by its affiliated societies. Despite the antagonism of the au thorities in Jugo-Slavia, the cooperative socities managed to stage their celebra tions for International Cooperative Day. Fees were demanded for permission to hold meetings, speeches had to be cen sored beforehand, processions were very unwillingly allowed, and the display of the rainbow banner was prohibited. But in spite of these obstacles many meetings were successfully held in all parts of the country. by states and municipalities and half as many as those built by private con tractors. The cooperatives are most active in the largest cities. In the smaller towns the private contractors reign supreme. In Berlin the coopera tives built more than 68 per cent of the new apartments and in all of the cities having a population of more than 100,- 000, they are responsible for the erection of 51 per cent of all apartment buildings. The German Central Union has a special pension fund for employees of the local societies and the Central Union and Wholesale. In 1928 there Were nearly 27,000 employees insured in this fund or more than half of the total employees of the whole union and- all its affiliated societies. The largest pay ments are being made to widows of employees and the second largest ex penditure is for sick benefits. Smaller amounts are paid out each year in old age pensions and as benefits to orphans of employees. Prom Germany come reports of 78,425 cooperative apartments built in 1927, more than twice as many as those erected The Food Council in Great Britain has rendered a report on its study of the retail meat trade. Its findings are as follows: The retail butcher in Britain is more prosperous than before the war. In 72 towns the number of retail butcher shops increased from 14,044 in 1923 to 16,176 in 1928. Bankruptcies of butchers axe remarkably fewer than before the war. An examination of the balance sheets and operating statements of 96 private butchers, 17 meat corporations, 18 chain store firms and 21 cooperative societies gives the following comparative figures on expenses and net profits in relation to gross sales. Private Corpora- Chain Cooperative' Traders tions Stores Societies Expenses.. 14.4% 17.7% 20.6% 13.5% Net Profits. 4.5 4.7 3.6 11.7 Rates of profit on capital for the three non- cooperative types of business were respectively 51, 27 and 28 per cent, Private butchers are using these fig ures on profits to show that the co operatives are profiteering. They do not mention the cooperative rebates — nor the low expense item for the co operatives. Ml H i. COOPERATION COOPERATION 15 My Point of View By J. P. WAEBASSE THE POLITICO-ECONOMIC SITUATION The total yearly income of all the people of the United States is 90 billion dollars. The total income per capita is $750. The wage workers receive about 33 billion dollars a year. The business people receive in salaries, rents, interest, and dividends some 35 billions. About 10 per cent of the population get one-third of the national income. The talk about the workers owning stock in the industries has not much in it. Of the 100 billion of corporate stock outstanding, employees, including high- salaried executives, own about one bil lion. That leaves the workers with less than one per cent of the stock. Of the total national income, each of the 12,000,000 farmers, on 6,000.,000 farms, gets $700; the 20,000,000 indus trial workers and employees get $1,200 each. The farmers last year got 9 billion dollars for their produce; the consumers paid 30 billion dollars for the same produce. One reason for this difference is the railroads. They are permitted to make their freight rates according to the valuation of the roads as fixed by the Esch-Cummins law. The valuation so fixed is $18,900,000,000. Still, even before the big November slump in stocks, all of their securities could have been bought in the open market in Wall Street for $11,750,000,000. That means that with that amount of money, all of the stocks, bonds and notes of the roads could have been purchased and the roads owned free and clear by the purchaser. Thus the railroads are collecting freight rates on over 7 billion dollars of capitalization which does not exist. As a result of this over-capitalization the roads are taking two or three hundred million dollars a year excess charges from the consumers. If the people owned the roads and ran them for their service, at least this would be saved The big slump in the security market when the small investors lost their money, is characteristic of our industrial system. The Federal Eeserve Bank was created ostensibly to prevent such crises Instead of preventing panic, it is one of the causes of panic. The Federal Eeserve Bank caused the deflation panic of 1920. It did it pur posefully and deliberately, deflating small business and the farmers. It borrows from its member banks and pays them no interest. It lends to its members at a small rate of interest. As a result of this practice, brokers' loans for gambling purposes have increased 90,0 per cent. Senator Brookhart has offered an amendment providing that the Federal Reserve Bank shall pay 2 per cent on deposits and charge 3 per cent for loans to its member banks, no bank to charge more than 5 per cent interest. He favors a Cooperative Reserve Bank. To prevent stock speculation, a 5 per cent sales tax on all stocks sold within sixty days is proposed. If this plan had been in operation during the past twelve months, it would have yielded enough money to pay all of the running expenses of the Government with some left over to pay off the national debt. The outstanding political affair is the tariff. The discussions in Congress of the tariff bill reveal the real character of the Government. The tariff is a scheme to extort tribute from the consumers for the benefit of private interests already rolling in a wealth of profits. No decent man can go to Washington and witness this exhibition of framing a tariff law without a sense of humiliation for the depths of degradation to which his coun try's Government has sunk. The tariff is no longer "for revenue" nor "to protect infant industries." It is purely an instrument of loot. In the end it will prove to be one of the causes of our commercial decay, for we can not hope to export on friendly terms to Tieighb°rs against whom we erect tariff This welter of politics confuses the people- They take it seriously and per- jnjt it to influence their affairs. Behind it all are the real forces which dominate the situation. They are the bankers, the manufacturers, the merchants, the trans portation heads, and the other influences which control and guide the economic affairs of the country. The real life is outside of politics. The bankers', manufacturers', and mer chants' associations are the great syn dicates for the exploitation of the consumers. The consumers are not yet organized adequately for their own protection. They are united as citizens in political parties to get better conditions for them selves. But through these agencies the people work and hope in the midst of futility and disillusionment. They are organized as consumers in cooperative societies, clubs, churches and societies of every sort, in which they get some of the things they want. It remains for them to awaken to a realization of their common needs and common dependability as consumers and as consumers to expand their organiza tions to get all things. If the people were effectively so united they could do for themselves di rectly all of the good things which their political representatives promise to ac complish for them. The great mass of wealth created in this country each year, and inequitably distributed, might be theirs. Its fair distribution might be secured. No law is necessary to do anything provided enough people unite to demand its accomplishment. And despite the law, the people can do anything they want if enough unite to bring it about. The law is for the protection of the privileges of the minority. The major ity need no law if they are united. Book Reviews AN ANTHOLOGY OF REVOLU TIONARY POETRY Compiled by Marcus Graham, New York, 1929. Since nobody knows what revolution is nobody knows what poetry is revolu tionary. This book is a well printed volume of poetic expressions of discon tent, interspersed with a considerable amount of discontent that is not poetry. The general idea prevails throughout the volume that things are pretty bad, some of the versifiers go so far as to intimate that things are rotten. The capitalist comes in for a lot of blackguarding, al though the very excellent paper on which the book is printed, the ink, the lino types, and the presses, involved in the process, were all capitalistic produc tions. One also gets the idea from these verses that the workers are terribly abused, that if they could have their way the world would be much nicer, and that on the whole there is some superior quality about the exploited workers which the leisure class do not possess. The excellent thing about this book is that it is a collection of indictments of the present economic system. It is a gallery of pictures showing the unwhole some spots in our civilization. "The golf links are so near the mill That almost every day The laboring children can look out And see the men at play.'' Here with a few strokes of the pen is flashed a contrast picture. The im portant thing is that the golf links are not bad nor are people wicked for play ing golf. The basic thing is that little children are working in the mill who would like to play, who would be bene fited by play, who ought to play, but who can not. As to where the respon sibility rests, the poets do not tell. If any poet has told, his verses have not been collected info this anthology. Blam ing the capitalists for the bad situation does not suffice, when the workers would 16 COOPERATION COOPERATION 17 like to be capitalists and when the work ers become capitalists whenever they can. While these verses express discontent with things as they are, it is really the discontent of poets and not of the poor, for the poor, as a matter of fact, are not so discontented after all. If poets could only arouse the disinherited into being discontented with dirt and lack of beauty and want of culture, then poetry would rise to a new dignity. The strength of these songs is their call for freedom and for justice. The oppressions of the many by the few is the dominant text. But there are poems which even hint of the oppression of the few by the many. The insanity of war is declared. The State is sung as a folly of men. This collection contains many of the world's great poems. The best are from the old poets—Shakespeare, Shelly, Blake, Browning, Byron, Emerson, Gar rison, Goldsmith, Longfellow, Lowell, Morris, Poe, Euskin, Stevenson, Swift, Tennyson, Thoreau, Whitman, and Wilde. The recent poets have some con tributions that are good. It is encour aging to find the verses of a United States senator in this company, closing- a poem on war with: '' The bankers in the counting house Are busy multiplying; The common people at the front Are doing all the dying." This volume is a real contribution to the literature of discontent, and there fore constructive. J. p. \y The Wholesale Grocer's Problems United States Department of Com merce, Bulletin 4. In these twenty-eight pages are many interesting statistical tables, drafts and studies. Two pages are devoted to an analysis of the changes in wholesaling brought about by mass production5. There are comparisons of the number of brands carried by general store ware houses and wholesalers' warehouses- analysis of sales and inventories and warehouse and delivery costs; instruc tions for estimating quickly the weight and volume of bulk commodities in warehouses; tables of average operating expenses; an analysis of the situation affecting the "small order," and a sur vey of many other perplexities which keep wholesale managers awake nip'nts. C. L. From The League Office WHY NOT BUY YOUR BOOKS AND MAGAZINES COOPERATIVELY? Send your orders to The Cooperative League and they will receive prompt atten tion. Discounts given whenever possible. Pool Your Purchases With Those of Other Cooperators Lend Your Support to the Movement THE COOPERATIVE1 LEAGUE, 167 West 12th Street, New York City WHICH COOPEEATOR GETS THIS PRIZE? Fifty dollars is offered by The Co operative League for the best picture for the League Calendar next year. The 1929 and the 1930 calendars have been designed by Henry Askeli, Chairman of the Joint Education Committee of the Cooperative Societies of Greater New York, and known as one of the foremost artists in the cooperative movement. The painting must be of genuine artistic value, and yet must be symbolic of cooperation in such a way that it also has some propaganda value. It may be in as many colors as the artist cares to use. All paintings submitted in this contest must be sent to The Coopera tive League before March 1,1930. N. E., N. Y., N. J. & Pa. 33 28 29 Central & E. Central 20 19 17 North Central 78 88 90 S. Atlantic N. W. &S. W. 5 7 4 Canada & Misc. 0 0 0 Totals 136 142 140 KEPORT OF CONSTITUENT AND FRATERNAL MEMBERSHIP OF THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S. A., AT THE CLOSE OF CALENDAR YEARS 1926, 1927, and 1928 Total No. of Affiliated Societies Paid Up to EM of 1926 1927 1928 Number of Societies Paying Full Per Capita Dues 1926 1927 1928 Number of Societies Paying Only $1.00 Registration Fee 1926 1927 1928 Number of Indirect Memberships Through District Leagues 1926 1927 1928 Fraternal Memberships 1926 1927 1928 Number of Societies in Arrears Less Than 12 Months 1926 1927 1928 Total Cash Income from Dues Paid During the Tear (Special Contribu- bution Not Inclusive) 1926 1927 1928 15 10 4 11 18 25 13 10 5 $520.84 637.37 852.2.6 10 13 14 72 86 12. 11 10 0 0 0* 23 23 13 20 2 0* 93 117 127 16 13 10 24 15 15 $138.94 339.27 181.18 $302.43 846.04 811.10 $10.00 71.00 73.00 $972.21 1,893.68 1,917.54 * All income from societies paying- loss than full clues has this year boon transferred to account " Special Contribution to League Budget." REPORT ON INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP OF THE LEAGUE (at $1 or more each) 1925 Direct membership paid up................................. 289 Direct membership not more than 12 months in arrears...... 174 Direct membership in district leagues. ...................... 338 At End of 1936 1927 1928 253 235 213 149 26 22 421 487 597 Total. 801 823 748 832 !i 18 COOPERATION COOPERATION 19 REPORT OF SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BUDGET OF THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD* Contributions Name of Society 1926-27 Cooperative Central Exchange, Superior, Wis... . $750 Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association, Miu- napolis, Minn............................... 100 Consumers Cooperative Services, New York City, N. Y...................................... 200 Cooperative Trading Ass 'n, Brooklyn, N. Y.. ... 200 Cooperative Trading Co., Waukegan, 111......... 150 United Workers Cooperative Association, New York City, N. Y............................ 300 United Cooperative Society, Maynard, Mass..... 100 United Cooperative Society, Norwood, Mass..... 50 Bock Cooperative Company, Rock, Michigan.... .... Workers Cooperative Union, Stafford Springs, Conn..................................... .... Hussian Workers Cooperative Stores, Brooklyn, N. Y................... .................... .... Soo Cooperative Mercantile Association, Sault Ste. Marie, Mieh................................ .... Cloquet Cooperative Society, Cloquet, Minn..... .... A. C. W. Services, New York City, N, Y......... .... United Cooperative Society, Fitchburg, Mass..... .... Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank, Milwaukee, Wis...................................... .... Workers Credit Union, Fitchburg, Mass......... .... •Cooperative Bakeries of Brownsville, Brooklyn, N. Y....................................... New Cooperative Company, Dillonvale, Ohio.... .... Progressive Credit Union, Maiden, Mass......... .... Contributions 1927-28 $600 300 300 200 150 100 100 25 50 20 15 Contributions 1928-29 $600 600 300 200 150 100 25 50 15 100 100 100 50 50 25 25 15 10 $1,850 $1,960 $2,515 * The societies listed pay regular dues to The League in accordance with the Constitution. These are additional contributions to help The League office meet its overhead expenses. Total abstainers who oppose the sale of in toxicants in cooperative stores boast of their own society's butchery sales: is it more ad mirable to spill the blood of animals than the blood of grapes? The MONTHLY PROPAGANDA POSTER SERVICE issued by the CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE enables you to utilize the display space around the cooperative's premises for the most effective sort of cooperative propaganda, at a very moderate cost. For samples, prices and information, address: CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 1303 N. Park St., Bloomington, 111. The Cooperative Commonwealth must le established in the mind and imagination first; it is not lilcely that it will ever be established elsewhere. The temples of the spirit are not built with hands. ip_ w> MBECEB FARMERS IN NEW ENGLAND More than half of all the 160,000 farms in the six New England states are within 5 miles of shopping centers, and 88 per cent of the farmers own -automobiles. Probably the prev alence of electric and bus lines accounts for the fact that there are fewer automobiles for farmers here than anywhere else in the country. On the other hand, more than half of the farms have electric service, and 25 per cent have electric lighting equipment; 3 per cent cook with electricity, 1% per cent have electric refrigerators, 36 per cent have electric sewing machines, 24% per cent have electric vacuum cleaners, 213 per cent have electric washing machines, 39 per cent haive electric irons. As regards radios, phonographs and pianos, New England farmers lead all others: 51 per cent have the first, 48 per cent the second and 61 per cent the third. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE president of The Cooperative League of the United States of America ilember of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance A Di»cu»»ion ef the Consumers' Cooperative Movement In It» Relation to the Political gtate, to the Profit 8y«tem. t» Labor, to Agriculture and te the Art* and Science* The Macmillan Co., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, TT. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German EJdition: Verlagsgesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 57 years old It has 53,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced eooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 2. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation 6. Organization and Administration of Cooperatives. For full particulars write THE! COOPERATIVE LEAG¥B 167 West l'2ith Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada Tbe organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and eon- ducted under the auaplceft ef Th« Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annym ''The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name. .................................... Address.................................. $1.00 a year 20 COOPERATION Mil PUBLICATIONS —OF— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 160 3. Story of Cooperation. ............$ .10 $6.00 7. British Cooperative Movement..... .10 6.00 38. Consumers' Cooperative Movement in U. S., 1926................... .10 6.00 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe.. .05 4.00 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States ...................... .05 4.00 69. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... .05 4.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ .10 4.00 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society....... .05 2.50 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined.. .10 i 9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale .... .................... .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 1.00 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild..................... .10 15. How to Organize a District Coopera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). .................. .50 43. Cooperative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C of Cooperative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law........... .10 46. Producers* Cooperative Industries.. .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement .10 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store. .05 1.75 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............. .25 34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish).. .02 l.aS 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ............. .06 •66. International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations ............. .60 •41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 •42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless . 10 •49. A Way Out .................... .02 .75 .55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 .57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... .02 .6,0 •62. Buttons (League emblem), y$ inch diameter .................... 2.00 (63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .25 15.OP r67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. •68. To Mothers ..................... .02 1.00 70. Farmers Marketing and Consumers Cooperation: An address by J. P. Warbasse.................. .10 71. International Cooperation: An ad dress by H. J. May............ .10 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; <20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime »f Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A (26) Factory Workers Cooperate!; (28) r>"' About Cooperation in Europe?; (40) Committee on Education and Recreation?, ,. and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job. ^ r stores, and children's rooms in restau rants are all being maintained by the educational department. MILK PRICES IN ENGLAND The Food Council appointed by the Government to investigate the high cost of milk studied a number of private firms and two London cooperative so cieties. In reporting that the private firms are charging too much, the Council states: "Both gross and net profits of the two cooperative societies are much higher than those of ordinary trading concerns. The total net profits of 63,784 pounds represent 10.8 per cent of sales. Both these societies charged a retail price of seven pence per quart in the six win ter months and six pence in the six sum mer months." This government report is a strong argument for cooperative 19 •' 32 COOPERATION COOPERATION 33 supply of milk. It neglects to state that the cooperatives are returning purchase dividends to their members and there fore supply milk at prices much below those quoted. ELECTRICITY IN CZECHO SLOVAKIA By S. BOEODZBWSKY The country electrification in Czecho slovakia is making good progress. The electrification aims not only at utilizing of electricity for the lighting purposes of the rural population, but also to the facilitation of various industrial plants. The good success attained so far should he ascribed quite as much to the ener getic activity of special Electricity Con sumption Cooperative Societies as to the remarkable support given by the govern ment. Nowadays there are nearly 1,200 such Cooperative Societies in Czecho slovakia. With their aid and owing to Kc 50 millions, granted by the legisla tive authorities—which amount was in the course of 3 years divided among these Cooperatives on long term loans— there are already about 5,000 communi ties out of 15,000 electrified. According to a recently passed law there was granted another amount of Kc 175 mil lions for electrification purposes, the consequence of which will be that an other 3,000 communities will be able in the coming years to be electrified. Membership in the London Coopera tive Society has increased to a total of 336,366 and sales for the past 12 months were almost $40,000,000, an increase of $7,500,000 over the previous year, or of $150,000 for each of the 52 weeks. The capital contributed by the membership of this society is now almost $20,000,000. The Central Cooperative Supply g^ ciety of the Zionist Colony in Palestine, "Hamashbir," has just made an agree^ ment with the English Cooperative Wholesale by which the latter will take all of its orange crop and in return send to Palestine dry goods, tools, household articles and artificial fertilizer. The Scoop Shovel, published by the Manitoba Wheat Pool, has come to be recognized as the official organ of all the cooperative societies in the province. Foreign and home circulation totals nearly 33,000. ____ The bill now before the English Par liament which would amend the Cooper ative Act so that 6 per cent shall be the maximum interest to be paid on capital stock is being opposed by the cooperative productive societies. The latter claim that they should be permitted to pay more than 6 per cent, otherwise they are not at all times able to attract enough capital. ____ By a vote of 2,493 to 25 the dairymen of British Columbia, Canada, have established a compulsory cooperative pooling system in their industry. Non- member farmers who try to benefit from the improved prices gained for the pool members are to be compelled to take their share of the loss sustained when milk is held off the market. The Polish Union of Consumers Co operative Societies reports much educa tional and propaganda activity during the past year. Six-weeks training schools for employees were organized in various centers and 547 students enrolled in the Correspondence School. The weekly propaganda paper has a circulation of 368,000. Lecturers of the propaganda department attended 300 meetings. The following shows the growth in recent years of England's second largest cooperative, the Woolwich Arsenal Cooperative Society: 1929 231.700 $24,000,000 $11,000,000 $63,000 $6,595,000 5,420 1908 1921 Members ...................... 26,900 92,400 Sales .............. $2,400,000 $16,750,000 Share capital .................. $1,350,000 $5,000,000, Educational grant .............. $3,400 $18,000 Value real estate and fixtures..... $515,000 $1,535,000 Number of employees............ 800 2,410 My Point of View By J. P. WARBASSE WHY BE A FARMER? Husbandry is the oldest industry. It was originally carried on for the purpose of producing or harvesting the foods essential for the sustenance of the husbandman and his family. Once it was the universal oc cupation; everybody was engaged in getting his own food, clothing and housing from the earth. Then specialization, trades, and the arts came upon the scene, and some people pro duced other things which the farmer wanted. The farmer bought them with his produce. Then came the machine age and the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 19th century. Since that time a steadily increasing proportion of the popu lation have engaged in other occupations than farming. Still there remains on the farms a goodly number of people. And there always will. It is an interesting fact that the natural tendency of human beings is to gravitate toward the centers of denser population. The human current has always been from the country to the towns. Ail of the talk of "Back to the land" is talk against human nature. Back to the land is not the natural direction. Saying that it ought to be does not make it so. There is another human fact we have to face. The tendency has always been for many of the brighter, the more aggressive and intelligent of the rural youth to move toward the city. The cities are the intel lectual centers. This tendency has left those of the opposite qualities to stay on the farm. This has had much to do with the backwardness of agricultural communi ties. Such a process of natural selection, going on for generations, plays havoc with the quality of rural population. It pro duces a large disadvantage for the farm. I do not say this is a rule; it is a tendency. I am indulging in honest thinking and not in sentiment. On the other hand there is another fact of equal importance. Farming appeals to certain superior individuals. There are men of calm, deliberative, philosophical tempera ment who love the peace and the oppor tunities for solitude which the country offers. The gambling game of the jostling crowds of the cities does not appeal to them. They like constructive productive work. I have heard a very able man say: "I would rather be a poor farmer than a rich man in the city at an office desk," and he knew just what he was talking about. There are highly capable men staying on the farm because they enjoy the broad variety of interests which farming offers. A successful farmer must be something of a scientist. He must be a specialist in the botany of the particular plants which constitute his crops. He must know the chemistry of the soil. He must be an ex pert in animal culture and a veterinarian. He has to be a good mechanic and con stantly is called upon to exercise his talent in this field of engineering. He must be a good deal of an economist, or he will plant, harvest, and' sell to poor advantage. Farm ing is by far the most rounded of all occupations, and calls out the greatest versatility. This rounding of life appeals to men of high quality. They defy the urge to move cityward, and as a pure in tellectual act cast their lot with the country. The farmer is in the best position of all citizens to develop his individuality. A highly thoughtful man is the intelligent farmer alone following the plow or splitting rails in the woods. He is actually using his mind. He is building character. The town dweller has become mechanized. He thinks and acts in herds. His opinions are ready made for him. It is true that an individualistic person is harder to bring into line to act with his neighbors than a man who has always done what somebody else has told him to think and do. But still when the intelligent in dividualistic farmer decides to cooperate with his neighbors in some enterprise for their mutual advantage his decision is based upon actual thought. And that is the reason he is the most substantial cooperator in the world. There is another reason- for the appeal of the farm to the intelligent man. This world is a very uncertain place in which to live. It is always getting into trouble. There are wars, famines, panics, and revolutions. In these constantly recurring " periods of turmoil and depression the farmer occupies the strategic position. He produces the food. And in all great crises food is the key to the situation. At least the farmer can protect his family and himself. He stands on the ground, his hand on the food production of the soil. 34 COOPERATION COOPERATION 35 Book Reviews OUR ECONOMIC MORALITY By HARRY F. WARD The Macmillan Company, $2.50. New York, 1929. Professor Ward, teacher in a theo logical seminary, Chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union, soap boxer for radical causes innumerable, is a powerful speaker, an excellent writer, and a puzzling personality. He is much more than a mere economist. He is a fighter for a radically different social and economic order than the one we live under. It would be futile to attempt here to follow his arguments in detail, but we can take from the text a few of the more significant statements and thus let Mr. Ward speak for himself. First, does capitalism work to-day? By way of answer he points to our ex tremes of wealth and poverty, our tech nological unemployment, the conditions among tens of thousands of our children, the insane housing situation in our cities, the internal and external friction in which this country continually finds itself, the obstacles which are constantly thrown in the way of those who try to improve conditions, the sabotage and interference with industrial production, the bankruptcy or agriculture, the fail ure of our corporations to raise wages to a living standard, the inability of the 120 million consumers to consume what is produced. Does capitalism work? Is capitalism ethical ? is the next ques tion. A few of the quotations picked at random give the trend of his arguments. "We have sown the dragons' teeth of conflict in the peaceful fields of work." "Some Americans have considered it a disgrace to die rich. Russia teaches its children it is a disgrace to live rich." "Income without working is power to commandeer labor of others—long since denied to emperors and slave owners " "The economic virtues of industry thrift and honesty have positive value' Used for comfort and self-aggrandize ment they develop a class interest -with its class morality and its final class con flict." "We have a double standard for owners and workers; the worker is not supposed to yield to the economic stimu lus of profit, to seek the greatest gain for the least effort, the very things which are held out to the property owners as the reward of risks taken and the stimu lator of initiative." "Revolution should not be contrasted with evolution; revolution is but one stage in the evolu tionary process." "Capitalism seems determined to drive to the hilt the theory that no privileged class ever has or ever will yield power without a des perate struggle." Folks who do not know much about the organized church will wonder whether a man can very long get away with such strong doctrine as this inside an institution supported chiefly by and catering to the well-to-do, the middle or upper classes, the merchants and the bankers. "Will the church," lie asks, "call effectually upon the comfortable to share in the sufferings of the de prived, in order that together they may work out a way of salvation for society and for persons by transforming the economic order from one of power and privilege to one of sharing and develop ing, or will Protestantism now repeat the futile role of the Greek Orthodox church in Russia by becoming, along with the other institutions of privilege, first the creator of the revolution, then its represser, and finally its victim.' Surely the case for the present-day church cannot be stated more forcefully nor more succinctly than that. There are weaknesses in the book. With all these warnings against the use of property for power, he never men tions another great danger, that of those are learning to acquire power with out having any property. Mussolini, the julers of Russia, the police of the larger American cities, innumerable other men or groups of men holding political posi tions wield enormous power which de pends not a bit upon the ownership of property. There is too easy an accept ance of the premises of the State Social ist in this book. Has the work any value to cooper- ators? We need give no other answer than to point out the hundreds of men and women who are now giving support to the cooperative movement without any understanding whatever of the nature of the system it intends to sup plant. Though Rochdale cooperation is barely mentioned anywhere within these 325 pages, there are few books which have greater educational value for members and directors of cooperative so cieties who want to acquire some under standing of good economic theory. He presents some very practical illustra tions of present trends, for instance. The pressure being used in the commer cial world to decrease sales resistance runs up selling costs till they exceed pro duction costs, and meanwhile quality continues to deteriorate. Had he been acquainted with the significance of con sumers' cooperation the author might have gone on to show the tremendous advantages of cooperative distribution of cooperation's own productions. It is right here that the cooperative move ment discovers one of the weakest links in the chain of capitalist economics. Or, again, Ward points out that nearly half of our four hundred billions of national wealth is "good will," a claim by Privi lege to income from the labor and needs of others. Does not the consumers' own economic movement, built upon the solid ground of conservative financing, with out any of this mythical "good will," stand a remarkable chance of out-com peting its capitalist neighbors, once it gets over the initial hurdles and gathers strength and speed of its own? In Great Britain, for instance, the Coopera tive Wholesale, largest handler of tea in the empire, distributes about 85 million pounds annually and has gone way ahead of Lipton. The latter corporation in 1929 was forced to reorganize its financial structure and write off nine million dollars of the (real or mythical) capital belonging to the stockholders. Here is one more breach in the wall of capitalism which cooperators in Amer ica will sometime enter. It is unfortu nate that the writer of such an excellent book as this was not thoroughly acquainted with these phases of coopera tive philosophy and economics. Yet, great though these few short comings may be in themselves, they can not detract from the value of such a work as Our Economic Morality. We heartily commend it to all our readers. C. L. i " THE PEOPLE'S YEAR BOOK " (1930) "The People's Year Book " for 1930, whose pages throughout reveal the inter national spirit is the annual publication of the great Cooperative Movement of Great Britain. The special features in this new num ber, for instance, include authoritative contributions on Unemployment in France, Germany, Belgium, and the United States of America, as well as Great Britain; on "The Progress of In dustrial Combination," and "The Mul tiple Shop Movement"; on "Education for Industry,'' and '' The Housing Prob lem ''; besides which Art, Literature, Science, Drama, and Cinema of the past year are well reviewed. Naturally, every phase of the wonder ful Cooperative Movement in all coun tries comes into interesting presentation. It is astonishing to learn from "The People's Year Book" that there are close on 6,000,OOjO organized members of coop erative societies in Great Britain alone, whose business transactions total over $1,665,000,000, who share a surplus of $140,000,000,, and who pay in wages $152,500,000 a year. C. L. fill 36 CO OPERATION CO OPERATION 37 I i i U The Reader Writes A REPLY TO ME. WARD Editor COOPEEATION: Knowing Gordon H. Ward as an investi gator and student of cooperation, I am quite astounded at some of the statements in his article on the Federal Farm Board in the December number of COOPEKATION. He assumes, apparently, that the central corporations set up by the Farm Board will be controlled by the constituent farmers' associations. Control of the Farmers' National Grain Corporation, he says, will be "in a board of directors selected by the different groups of grain associations.'' On the contrary, Section 3 of Article VIII of the articles of incorporation of the Farmers' National Grain Corporation provides that "As long as this corporation shall be indebted to the Federal Farm Board created under said Agricultural Marketing Act, the General Man ager and the business policies of this corpora tion shall be such as are satisfactory to said board." Since the purpose of setting up the corporation is to borrow funds through the Farm Board for "price stabilization," this section definitely determines where control will rest. Section 8 of the "Application for Loan," which cooperative associations must sign before they can obtain Farm-Board loans, stipulates that the applicant "agrees to follow the recommendations and directions of Board" in relation to "management, business methods, and policies." Section 9 of the Application puts "teeth" into the contract by giving the Farm Board power to foreclose at auy time if the applicant fails to perform any of its promises, including, of course, the promise to submit to the board's recommendations and directions. These provisions for Farm Board control of everything the Farm Board touches are au thorized in the agricultural marketing act it self. In section 9 of the law, under which the board finds authority for setting up such cor porations as the Farmers' National Grain Cor poration, paragraph (4) provides that the corporation shall agree with the board "to adopt such by-laws as the board may from time to time require." Paragraph (e) of the same section gives the F'arm Board authority to exercise supervision over the "financial con dition and business methods of the corpora tion." Further, the Farm Board control to which borrowing associations must submit under the terms of the loan contract is clearly authorized in paragraph (b) of section 7 of the act. Supporters of the Agricultural Marketing Act and the Farm Board have been very fond of quoting from section 1 of the act that it is the declared policy of Congress to promote "the establishment and financing of a farm marketing system of producer-owned and pro ducer-controlled cooperative associations and other agencies." But producer control is re pudiated by all the rest of the Marketing Act This "farmer-owned and farmer-controlled'' shibboleth, which has been sounded from one end of the country to the other, is pure and unadulterated fiapdoodle. Naturally we expect an investigator to in vestigate before he announces conclusions. This Mr. Ward seems not to have done. Surely he had not read the Agricultural Marketing Act or the articles and by-laws of this famous or infamous, Delaware corporation before ' he wrote. And even though he had not read the documents, we would expect anyone who has studied the history of cooperation and under stands its philosophy to realize that govern- mentalism and cooperation do not mix-—to the benefit of cooperation. The danger that farmers and their coopera tives will toe .betrayed into the hands of Big Business is very great, in spite of Mr. Ward's statement that '' There is more danger that the leaders of existing associations will not be able to work together than that they will be betrayed into the hands of Big Business." Sooner or later the Farm Board will be con trolled by Big Business, if, indeed, it is not already, just as the F'arm Loan Board and every other governmental board and commis sion in Washington is now so controlled. Then the cooperatives that have .been thrown into the Farm Board corporations will be sub ject to the domination of the enemies of cooperation. Mr. Ward closes by saying that whether the potentialities of the Farm Board for helpful ness to farmers and their cooperatives will be come actualities depends upon the "amomit of education in the philosophy of cooperation the board carries on." If any member of the F'arm Board has any conception of the philos ophy of cooperation, it has not been revealed in the acts, statements, or speeches of the board members up to this time. How can men who themselves have no grasp of the philosophy of cooperation teach th.'it philosophy to others? L. S. HEKRON, Omaha, Nebr. A PROGRAM FOR ORGANIZATION Editor Cooperation: Your letter received. The program which I have developed depends on several truths. Permit me to state and explain them in order. 1. Cooperation exerts a strong and steady "pull" toward kindness; toward brotherhood; toward thinking "we—onr" instead of "I— mine''; toward honesty; toward peace. Prof iteering, on the other hand, exerts a constant and steady "pull" toward selfishness; toward cheating; toward lying; toward adulteration; toward indifference (cruelty); toward war. These tendencies or "pulls" are inherent; inescapable. It is true that many men are so inherently noble that they do not yield to the anti-social "pull" of profiteering business; hut the "pull" is always there and weaker men yield. Cooperation is essentially ennobling. Prof iteering is essentially degrading. Hence, we must think of cooperation as UNIVERSALLY NECESSARY, and not as a mere means of getting certain commodities at slightly less cost. WE MUST ABOLISH A1J, PROFITEERING. WE MUST MAKE ALL BUSINESS COOPERATIVE. This truth makes us crusaders; not mere penny-chasers. 2. Experience proves that those forms of cooperation are most successful which are least mixed up with profiteering. For instance insurance ,is purely cooperative; and is uni formly successful. Stores, on the other hand, are largely mixed up with profiteering and so usually stop within ten years. The manager of a cooperative store has to buy goods from profiteering manufacturers; has- to ship over profiteering railways; has to do business through profiteering banks—much profiteering and very little cooperation. Next to insurance, undertaking is almost wholly cooperative (lumber and casket trimmings must be bought from profiteers). Bakeries are largely coopera tive, though fiour must be bought from prof iteers until there are either very large 'or very many bakeries. Cooperative brick and tile work's need to buy nothing but machinery from profiteers; and so are very successful. 3. The third truth is that cooperation suc ceeds best where an entire neighborhood, county or state or nation becomes cooperative. Therefore, instead of scattering cooperative enterprises here and there, far apart, we should make a county cooperative. This would furnish an illustration of what cooperation will do for humanity. The good work'would spread to other adjoining counties and so, in a short time, a state would become cooperative. 4. I am, therefore, calling on cooperators to subscribe say $5 per month for four months; so that The Cooperative League may send out three or four organizers to a selected county. Three to six months should win a county with say, 50,000 population. A cooperative state insurance company; a cooperative undertaking parlor; a cooperative bakery, etc., etc., should be on a paying basis in three to six months. 5. The last, but not least important prin ciple is that one-third of net savings should be set aside for education and organization. Following established Rochdale lines, we will keep to current prices; one member one vote; strictly cash dealings; we will add a division of net savings into three equal parts; one- third will go as cash rebates to members on business done with the society; one-third to reserve, and one-third to education and organi zation TO ABOLISH ALL PROFITEERING BUSINESS THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD. I will be greatly pleased to hear from all who are cooperators, and not merely penny- chasers still imbued with the profiteering spirit. Of course, cooperation will save us some pennies. But the essential truth is that co operation will save us from perdition. W. H. KAUFMAN. Bellingham, Wash. SOME FOLKS SAY COOPERATIVE OFFICIALS ARE NOT HONEST AND EFFICIENT The Chicago Cooperative District League which had its last meeting March 25, 1033, and which failed to meet again after that, although I tried my best to call meeting after meeting with nobody present besides myself and a delegate from the Gloveworkers, has since then gone out of business. To my knowl edge, Roseland Co-op., the only other member organization, also went out of business. I felt it my duty to close and liquidate this League. I laid the whole matter before the last meeting of the Workmen's Co-op. Ass'n and upon motion made and carried, I was instructed to write to you for instruction as to the disposal of funds which amount by the last report in the minutes of the Co-op. District League of Chicago, to $26.82 minus expenditure of post age since then amounting to about $2.00. There is also a small amount of stationery, a Minute book and a Treasury book on hand. Therefore I pray you to inform rne as to what course I should take to get this property off of my hands, and to somebody who has the proper authority to receive same. JOSEF A. NOVAK Ex-Secretary-Treasurer Co-operative District League of Chicago, 111. WHY NOT BUY YOUR BOOKS AND MAGAZINES COOPERATIVELY? Send your orders to The Cooperative League and they will receive prompt atten tion. Discounts given whenever possible. Pool Your Purchases With Those of Other Cooperators Lend Your Support to the Movement THE COOPERATIVE' LEAGUE, 167 West 12th Street, New York City 38 CO OPERATION CO OPERATION 39 1 WE BLUSH Editor COOPERATION: Enclosed please find a check for $75, for accounting services through September. I couldn't let the old year go by without some appreciation of what the League has done for us. Mr. Begli'g assistance has been of in estimable value. He has given us sound council, a real understanding of our problem, and has shown imagination for the possible develop ment of our organization. While it is still a struggle, we are beginning the new year with much to encourage us. You will be interested to know that in our January news sheet to members we are be ginning a little educational work on co operation. SARA L. PATRICK, President Industrial Arts Cooperative Service, New York City. THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT Editor COOPERATION: We received the certificate of merit. The Board of Directors were very pleased with the award. We will surely do our utmost to live up to the standard. We realize the responsi bility and are imbued with the spirit to build a greater cooperative movement in the interest of the toiling masses. H. TSIPON, Secretary Cooperative Consumers' League of Los Angeles. ANOTHER WILLING WORKER Cooperation seems to me to represent the economic salvation of the World, affording as it does a solution for the problems of dis tribution that is likely, when understood, to be reasonably acceptable to nearly everyone. I am for it, but so far as I know there is no movement of that kind here except a library. I should be glad to have information in regard to your work, and, if something could be done locally along that line, I should be more than pleased to lend my personal support. BAYMOND T. LAKE Kansas City, Mo. From The League Office COOPERATIVE LEAGUE CORRE SPONDENCE SCHOOL Organization and Administration of Cooperatives This course of instruction is practical. It gives the information that is neces sary for success. While reading cannot take the place of actual experience, here is a course of reading that can supplement to a very large extent the essentials of cooperative business practice. This course can go a long way toward taking the place of experience. The MONTHLY PROPAGANDA POSTER SERVICE issued by the CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE enables you to utilize the display space around the cooperative's premises for the most effective sort of cooperative propaganda, at a very moderate cost. For samples, prices and information, address: CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 1303 N. Park St., Bloomington, 111. One thing is certain. The practice of cooperative administration is not always sound; business methods are not always successful. But here is advice and instruction which is sound and which, if applied to cooperative business, would give the best guarantees of success. I have read this course through and have been delighted by the fullness with which the subjects are covered, and deeply impressed by its value to practi cal cooperation. J. P. WARBASSE. WHICH COOPERATOR GETS THIS PRIZE? Fifty dollars is offered by The Co operative League for the best picture for the League Calendar next year. The 1929 and the 1930 calendars have been designed by Henry Askeli, Chairman of the Joint Education Committee of the Cooperative Societies of Greater New York, and known as one of the foremost artists in the cooperative movement. The painting must be of genuine artistic value, and yet must be symbolic of cooperation in such a way that it also has some propaganda value. It may be in as many colors as the artist cares to use. All paintings submitted in this contest must be sent to The Coopera tive League before March 1,1930. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE President of The Cooperative League of the United States of America Member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliimce A Discussion of" the Consumers' Cooperative Movement In Its Relation to the 1'olitlcal State, to the Profit System, t* Labor, to Agriculture and to the Arts and Sciences The Macmillan Co., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, U. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition: Verlagsgesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 57 years old It has 53,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced eooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 2. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation 6. Organization and Administration of Cooperatives. For full particulars write THE COOPEEATIVE LEAG¥E 167 West) ISith Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under tue ansplces »f Th» Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name. .................................... Address.................................. $1.00 a year '• 40 CO OPERATION PUBLICATIONS THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 .10 $6.00 3. Story of Cooperation............. 7. British Cooperative Movement..... .10 38. Consumers' Cooperative Movement in U. S., 1926................... .10 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe.. .05 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States . . .................... .05 £9. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... .05 :•*. TECHNICAL 6.00 6.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 2.50 1.00 4. 'How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ .10 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society....... .05 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Denned.. .10 9. How to Start a'" Cooperative Whole- . .sale'. ...a.................. .10 27. Wny Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 14. Hqw"., to Start and Run a Women's seu'ila,~: ^.................. .10 15. How to Organize a District Coopera- , five L'eague ................... .10 29. Gretjfe-Uriion Primer (By Ham and •RoEinson). .................. .50 -.43. Cooperative Housing ............. .10 60. A B C of .Cooperative Housing.... .10 i51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law.........:. .10 46. Producers' Cooperative Industries.. .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement . 10 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store. .05 1.75 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............. .25 34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish).. .02 1.25 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, • by Bruce Calyert) ............. .06 International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations ............. .60 Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 •42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless .10 •49. A Way Out .................... .02 .75 •55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... .02 .60 •62. Buttons (League emblem), 54 inch diameter . . . . . ............... 2.00 •63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. .Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .25 15.00 •67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. 68. To Mothers ..................... .02 1.00 70. Farmers Marketing and Consumers Cooperation: An address by J. P. Warbasse.................. .10 71. International Cooperation: An ad dress by H. J. May............ .10 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; •$4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; <20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime »f Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A F of I Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, 1921 ........................ J • Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917.. 1 COOPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1928 inclusive, each ....................-•••• * Report of the American Cooperative Congresses, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, each............. 1 Northern States Year Book, 1928. Paper...... The People's Year. Book, 1930. Cloth, $1.25; paper bound ....................-.••-•• (Ten cents postage should be added for all books.) OTCMIO A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby (he people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City CEDRIC LONG, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XVI, No. 3 MARCH, 1930 10 CENTS IMOL8ICBEL* 433 ilh r A i! 42 COOPERATION B. A. ROSENTHAL, President of Consumers Cooperative Services. Also one of the organ izers of The Coopera tive League in 1916. Consumers Cooperative Services How does it happen that a group of middle class, white- collared native bourgeois Americans have organized th cooperative society which is the largest both in membership and annual sales to be found anywhere in the Eastern part of the country? Is there any particular reason why this should be the first general distributive society to expand from an established food business into cooperative housing? Such are two of the several questions that observing coopl erative leaders ask themselves when they visit New York A bit of history helps to explain in some measure the- uniqueness of the best known cooperative on Manhattan Back in 1919 two women already experienced in the cafeteria business came to New York and opened up an eating place on Bast 25th Street. Such an event was certainly nothing out of the ordinary; nor was the eating place itself so radically different from many other first class cafeterias in the city. But the women were different, and hence the reason for this story. Within less than twelve months they had demonstrated that they could make money; but making money is somewhat of a bore to persons who have vital interests and initiative in social problems and the spirit of pioneer ing. Therefore they talked the matter over with a few of their friends and cus tomers, hit on the idea of cooperation, and within a few weeks had incorporated under the cooperative law of the state and were selling out their interest in the business to their patrons. For ten years now the patrons have been the owners and the ultimate bosses of the organization, and the two original founders have been serving as two of the chief executives in charge. Within two years the rapidly growing membership of "Our Cooperative Cafeteria," the first name selected, voted to open a second venture, this time on Irving Place near 17th Street. Within another two years two more cafeterias were opened, one on Thames Street, a stone's throw from Wall Street, the other in the Tribune Building within the shadow of Brooklyn Bridge. By this time the membership had passed the thousand mark and the sales and patronage had multiplied many times. But an endless chain of cafeterias, even though they are cooperative, becomes a rather monotonous picture to a group of people accustomed to testing their mettle with new experiments. "We can make cafeterias succeed and it is becoming a bit too easy; let's try something else." So started the first Food Shop on West 10th Street, a place much smaller than the cafeterias, the back part for the serving of meals, the front part for the selling of cooked food in containers, baked goods, dairy products and a limited line of groceries. Success again; in fact, a larger margin of net gain than in the cafeterias. So came the second Food Shop on Bast 46th Street, the third on Bast 33d Street and then the fourth on West 36th Street, on the edge of Fifth Avenue. They all proved popular and they all proved financially remunerative, though the original idea of enlarging the grocery end of the business had to be given up through lack of demand for the canned goods, soaps and cereals. So today there are four cafeterias and four foodshops in the chain. Another department directly related to the cafeterias and food shops is the Bakery, located in the same building with the Thames Street Cafeteria. The Bakery makes both direct sales to the public and indirect sales through the cafeterias and food shops of bread, cakes, pies, and puddings. Meanwhile other experiments had been made. About 1923 the Village Coop erative Laundry, being on the point of failure, appealed for help to the Cafeteria group, with the ultimate result that the latter took over the little laundry COOPERATION 43 4 MAKY E. AKXOLD, General Manat/er. Miss Arnold is also Treasurer of the Na tional Leaf/lie and President of tlie Eastern States League. business and the smaller laun dry plant, moved it up to West 53d Street, and set out to prove that cooperative washing could be made as suc cessful as cooperative cooking and serving of meals. The ex periment was not a happy one. For about two years the strug gle continued and the mem bership meeting then voted to give up the attempt and charge off the loss of several thousand dollars to Experi ence and Education. Other experiments were also made. About 1925 a little circulating- library was installed in the 25th Street Cafeteria, where members (and members only) ..—J8 L. B. WOODCOCK, Secretary for the past eight years and member of the Staff. Also Treasurer of the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale. might rent books at prices prevailing in such circulating libraries in the city. Though never a big money-maker, the library has shown that it can pay its own way and that it is popular with many of the members; therefore libraries have gradually been installed in the three other cafeterias. Two or three insistent members began to agitate five years ago in behalf of a credit union, and again the result of persistence was a sure enough, live successful credit union opened in April, 1926, to accommodate members of the central organization who wished to place deposits in or get loans from their own banking institution. And now the Apartment House at 433 West 21st Street: thirteen stories fire proof ; sixty-six apartments; two automatic elevators; a club dining room on the first floor. Cost to be $666,000, tenant members making an investment for which they receive third mortgage bonds instead of stock (the voting stock is all in the control of the parent organization). Land was purchased in December, 1929, and the old buildings are being torn down in March and April, 1930, to prepare the ground for the new apartments. Here are a few of the actual figures of financial standing. Income from cafeteria, store and library departments (credit union is separately incorporated) for the past year was just about $610,000, and the net gain or "profit" $38,000. Of course the larger part of the business is always with non-members or tran sients, and only members get rebates, so the larger share of this annual surplus goes into the Reserve Fund, and only some $7,000 goes back to the member- patrons. This accounts for the fact that with a capital of $60,000 paid in by shareholders, there is a Eeserve Fund or social capital of nearly $1401;000 additional, to which no individuals have any claim whatever, and upon which no annual interest has to be paid. Rebates are paid quarterly on the patronage of members and average about 6, per cent. Another contrast which may interest the reader who follows financial reports carefully is that between Current Assets and Current Liabilities. The former come to $152,000 and the latter to only $7,000. Membership increases at the rate of several hundred each year and stands 3,400 at the close of 1929. Employees number 150. The social and educational activities are many. Workers' clubs for the chefs, kitchen help and bus boys are organized in each branch and a sick benefit fund maintained. The best singers among the colored workers have choruses which sing spirituals and thus make themselves very popular at membership meetings. The social and educational activities among the members are varied. From the beginning small discussion groups have been organized each winter 44 COOPERATION COOPERATION I' I and meet regularly to mull over cooperative theory and practical problems. This year a special group of new members meets each week. From four to eight general membership meetings are held every winter. There has been one hilarious meeting at which consumers and workers aired to one another their respective grievances. Last winter there was staged a prize song contest in which many of the workers told what they knew about consumers cooperation in verse. This winter the consumers are entering just as wholeheartedly into a prize poem contest, the subject of each bit of verse being some particular criticism of the versifyer with regard to food or service. The Theater Group organized in 1926, has given creditable little performances each winter; the players are members and employees. During the past two winters an informal Folk Dance Group has been learning the old English folk dances. There are many ways of reaching the general consuming public. Large bulletin boards prominently displayed, directly in the line of march of customers waiting to be served, get the attention of the hundreds of non-member patrons each day. At the largest branch cafeterias contact workers are on duty every noon to distribute literature, answer questions, and otherwise serve in a useful and educational capacity. Consumers Cooperative Services is not merely a successful cooperative institution; it is a most active and energetic support for the Cooperative Move ment in the United States. It has had delegates at every national congress since 1919, and has usually had one of its people on the Board of Directors of The Cooperative League. The general manager, Mary Arnold, has been Treasurer of The League since 1926 and is President of the Eastern States Cooperative League. Leslie E. Woodcock is Treasurer of the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale. C. LONG. Editorial THE SPIRIT OF EXPLOITATION Fostered and promoted by appealing to a mawkish sentimentality and kept artificially stimulated by every conceiv able means, the good old German custom of giving gifts to children at Christmas time has been extended to include the entire adult population. The result is an annual "grand Swap"—a feverish and indiscriminate exchange of more or less expensive and useless gifts, pyra miding itself toward greater proportions each year and all at the expense of the consumers, and for the further enrich ment of those who live by exploiting them. We have never seen a more perfect demonstration of the way this kind of propaganda gets in its work, or the ease with which people swallow it and shell out their money as a result, than was staged right here in the little city of Bloomington in December. Finding themselves faced with a sudden and un expected deflation in the stock market and a general industrial depression and with their shelves loaded to the limit with holiday goods, the local merchants decided that something had to be done. They realized that the consumers in general were becoming somewhat pan icky and were showing a tendency to hold onto their money until they could tell more definitely what was going to happen. This would never do at all, for holiday goods are mostly of such an impractical and generally useless nature that there is no sale for them outside the holiday season. It was therefore necessary to do something to make the consumers loosen up and that something had to be drastic. Without the slightest warning the lo cal papers informed us one evening that the Chamber of Commerce had suddenly become big hearted and had decided that it wanted to give the people of the com munity, for whom it had developed a sudden and unaccountable affection, a real treat. They were going to put on a wonder ful pageant (which is just a fancy name for the old fashioned '' street parade'' of Our childhood days) which would in- include, we forget how many bands, and oodles and oodles of wonderfully beauti ful floats, all symbolizing the spirit of Christmas and they wanted everybody in the whole country, for miles around, to come to Bloomington on the date and be their guests and enjoy this wonderful treat which had been prepared for them out of the fullness of the hearts of the members of the Chamber of Commerce. Was this Christmas-spirit-producer to be staged on Christmas day? Oh no, not even on the day before Christmas. It was to be three weeks before Christ mas. And you should have seen the poor unsuspecting consumers fall for this cheap, tawdry fraud. For miles and miles around they came by the thousands (and with all the cash they could get their hands on). Eesult: everybody was happy. The merchants unloaded thousands of dollars worth of trash, the people had loads and loads of useless junk with which to contribute to the great annual swap and thus dis pense Christmas cheer and gladness; and after a few more days of frantic selling these happy and prosperous merchants started planning for the next plucking of the innocents. Why can't the whole mass of con sumers see their helpless plight and or ganize to protect themselves? Search us. The fact that they don't is one of the eternal mysteries of life in this crazy, topsy turvy world. A. W. W. HONESTY: AN ASSET OF COOPERATION At a recent meeting of agents of the Alherta Wheat Pool, men who deal directly with the 38,000 members of that great organization heard some nota ble addresses on the subject of Honesty and Fair Dealing within the cooperative association. Grain trade practices of exacting profits by hidden methods will not go among cooperators. The private trade places a premium upon dishonesty, cooperation puts a premium upon open records and honest reports. In the co operative movement surplus earnings and rebates to members are secondary in importance to complete justice to patrons. This is a message which is all too often forgotten by very many coopera tive employees and officials. In a re cent article by Dr. Warbasse under the department My Point of View in this magazine, the statement was made that whereas on the farms of the Coopera tive Society of Basel, Switzerland, an employee would be discharged for pass ing impure milk, on many of the farms in New York State an employee would be discharged who objected to passing impure milk. Doubtless many readers took that statement as a mere witticism, but it is serious and sober fact in thousands of instances. The Franklin Cooperative Creamery from its very start published periodically the butter-fat test and the bacteria count of the milk it sold, thus forcing its competitors to clean up, raising the standards for the entire city, reducing the infant mortality rate, and so win ning the confidence of the public. The Purity Cooperative Bakery of Paterson during the war was ordered by the Food Controller to sell bread at the exorbitant profit price fixed for the benefit of the private bakers, and when it refused, got into trouble with the authorities but won the esteem of the consumers. The Fitchburg society, instead of meeting the trick pricing scheme of the newly established chain store which sold lead ers below cost, took its customers into its confidence, told them the secret of these bargains, advised them to buy all they could get of the goods sold by the chain at less than wholesale cost, and as a result forced the competitor to close up and move to a healthier location. Another society nearby got into financial difficulties. The directors at once called a membership meeting, placed the entire situation before them, met some very severe and well merited criticism, but finally got from those members addi tional capital and greater patronage than ever before. These instances could be multiplied indefinitely. Not only is 46 COOPERATION honesty a prime essential for the co operative society; it can and does actually win new supporters and greater loyalty from old members. Unfortunately there are hundreds of men and women prominent in our co operative societies who have received their business training in profit making concerns. They believe they are best serving the cooperative movement when they sell inferior products to the public and thus make a larger profit for the store. They think it is often necessary to conceal the true financial condition of the organization in the interests of "keeping the confidence of the public." They are so much concerned about busi ness success that they utterly neglect the more important element of frank ness and honesty. And they wonder why the members are not "loyal"! "We could write down here the names of dozens of societies where such shadv business is being carried on at this very moment; we could even name the managers, directors, clerks who are thus tricking the cooperators and congratulat ing themselves on their shrewdness. Cooperation is a method of running business in the interest of the consumers rather than for the profit of proprietors A cooperative society is a fraternity of equals, and both the fraternal element and the equality fly out the window when trickery enters in at the door. These principles are well recognized, and their practical application too often for gotten by those who have most need for just that kind of a long memory. C.L. News and Comment DAIRY FARMERS CUT OUT SOME EXPLOITERS The Farmers Union Creamery Com pany, operating creameries of the re gional cooperative type at Superior, Aurora, and Norfolk, Nebr., manufac tured approximately five and three- fourths million pounds of butter in 1929, with a net profit, or saving, above expenses and interest on shares, of over $140,000. This saving will be distri buted as patronage dividends, and will amount to about 3 cents per pound of butterfat delivered by farmers (a pound of butterfat makes about 1.24 pounds of butter), or approximately 7 per cent of the original purchase price. These creameries paid the going mar ket prices for butterfat throughout the year, and sold their butter in eastern cities at going market prices there. Hence, the 3 cents a pound the patrons are getting back does not come at the expense of consumers, but is a. saving made in protecting themselves against exploitation by profit-seeking creamery corporations. This patronage dividend does not rep resent all of the saving made by coopera tion in churning cream and marketing butter, for these cooperative creameries have caused a rise of 2 to 4 cents a pound in the going market price of butterfat, compared with the wholesale price of butter. Here, too, the saving is at the expense of exploiters, rather than consumers. LIVELY MEETING IN BROOKLYN • The Cooperative Trading Association held its annual meeting on February llth, with 1,000 people packed into the public school auditorium and others unable to gain admittance. The occa sion for such a large turnout was the bitter political "feeling between the com munists and the non-communists, and the attempt of the former to recapture the control which they lost one year asro. Due to the continual uproar which lasted until the meeting adjourned at midnight, almost no constructive work was done. On the resolution upholding the work of the present board, the non-commu nists won by a. bare majority, their votes numbering 532. Election to fill the three vacancies of the Board of Directors was hotly contested, and the results an nounced after two days of counting were as follows: highest vote for non- communist candidate 510; highest for communist candidate 428. All three non-communist candidates were elected. COOPERATION 47 COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR A FEW OF THE LARGER COOPERATIVES Name Farmers' Union State Exchange, Omaha, Nebr. (Wholesale) Cooperative Central Exchange, Superior, Wise. (Wholesale) Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, 111. goo Cooperative Mercantile Association, Sault Ste. Marie, Midi. Consumers' Cooperative Services, New York City. Cooperative Trading Association, Brooklyn, N. Y. Work People's Trading Co., Virginia, Minn. Cooperative Bakeries of Brooklyn and East New York, Brooklyn, N. Y. United Cooperative Society, Maynard, Mass. United Cooperative Society, Fitchburg, Mass. Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments, New York City. New Cooperative Company, Dillonvale, Ohio. Grange Warehouse Co., Kent, Wash. Crystal Falls Cooperative Society, Crystal Falls, Midi. Waukegan & No. Chicago Coop. Ass'n, North Chicago, 111. Eben Farmers' Co-op Store Co., Eben Junction, Midi. Eussian Workers' Cooperative Stores, Brooklyn, N. Y. Rock Cooperative Company, Rock, Midi. Farmers' Cooperative Trading Co., Hancock, Midi. Fort Bragg Cooperative Merc. Company, Tort Bragg, Calif. Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, New York City. Grange Cooperative Wholesale, Seattle, Wash. f I f 1 ! ! 1 I ! { $ I ! j I j I { 1 I j 1 1 I j 1 ! j 1 I 1 ! Year 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 1928 1929 Income 1,775,849 2,001,725 1,517,813 1,775,569 679,198 797,567 645,862 686,585 611,044 608,959 451,070 471,523 373,477 422,404 371,312 369,782 350,000 348,593 319,322 372,955 152,74711 343,378§ 218,756 274,528 223,290 225,305 * 221,873 * 235,421 214,245 221,726 185,191 214,385 175,593*** 195,684*** 145,121 182,434 175,252 166,875 Net Gain 37,930 59,173 23,894 vr 24,170 41,984 37,011 43,600 34,056 38,330 1,733 8,912 11,875 12,746 1,815 5,044 13,395 12,675 10,425 17,885 3,722H 6,041 § 1,460 2,384 3,293 3,358 * 4,173 * 2,614 * 6,797 2,313 4,678 16,175*** 16,207*** 6,685 8,894 9,330 2,005 Members 6,300 vr 84 1 90t 1,350 1,527 585 605 3,152 3,397 2,114 2,600 961 1,040 1,100 1,100 686 • 624 600 600 1501 503§ 350 273 250 311 * 420 423 423 * 412 138 210 395 422 772 763 290 304 { 1928 | 1929 J 1928 ) 1929 203,7561 109,862 116,720 1,3651 1,321 1,074 lOt •lot 15t * Figures not available. t Shareholders are societies rather than individuals. i Ten months only. Started business March 4, 1929. t Store department only. § Both stores and houses. ** Not in business in 1928. *** Store department only. Total income from store, forest products, and cream sales for 1929 was $444,533, and total net gain $22,828. 48 COOPERATION COOPERATION 49 FREE MILK DISTRIBUTED The Cooperative Trading Company of Waukegan has decided to distribute 2,500 quarts of milk free to the needy families of the city, so that the children need not suffer so much from the unem ployment and the resulting destitution which always selects the boys and girls as its first victims. A committee is in charge of the campaign and has drawn up a list of the members most in need of this assistance. UNITED COOPERATIVE OF QUINCY This Finnish Society in Eastern Massachusetts, at the annual membership meeting on February 3d, voted unani mously to join the Eastern States Cooperative League. The report for the year shows sales from the store of $92,600 which is a substantial increase over sales for 1928. The net gain was $2,897, somewhat less than that for the previous year. It was impossible to take action on the proposal to erect a new building for lack of at tendance of 55 per cent of the members as required by the constitution before such expenditure can be authorized. UNITED COOPERATIVE FARMERS This organization, with headquarters in Fitchburg, Mass., is a federation of some twelve social clubs of Finnish farmers in as many communities in northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Organized about two years ago, it has had a full time manager only since June, 1929, this manager be ing Frank Aaltonen. At the annual meeting held in Fitchburg on February 3d, Secretary Long and Director Gran- dahl of the Eastern League were both present. The central federation is' buy ing feed- containers and miscellaneous equipment used by these farmers in their business. The gross income from purchases of members' requirements and sales of blueberries marketed for the members of the various clubs, was $67,166. Due to 'heavy expenses incident to fitting up a warehouse, there is shown on the books a net loss of $689. There are approxi mately 700 members in the twelve clubs The federation is not yet affiliated with the League. SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN As usual, the Soo Cooperative Mercan tile Association beat all its previous rec ords in 1929 with sales totalling $686,585 and additional income from the sale of real estate of $25,225, making a grand total of $711,810. The net gain was $54.600 but not all of it from merchan dise sales, because the association netted $11,000 of the amount on the real estate transaction; $46,153 was rebated to patrons. This gain on a capital of only $50,000 certainly looks very good, for in private business it would constitute more than 100 per cent return to the stockholders. Combined capital stock and reserve fund come to $88.102, so there is an actual gain amounting to about 60 per cent of the total working capital. W. H. Closser, the vice-president, is authority for the statement that for the past sixteen years, the return to stockholders, customers, and employees comes to five times the original invested capital. The Soo Association follows the un usual practice of returning part of each year's profits in the form of a bonus to employees. Last year the bonus given to o5 workers was $6,260. ROCK, MICHIGAN The Rock Cooperative Company is one of those which continues to plough ahead so rapidly and so consistently year after year that there seems to be absolutely no power that could stop it. The store business last year went to $195,684; a gain of $17,000 over the previous year. The sale of forest products went to $212,- 321 a gain of almost $31,000 over the year previous. The cream sales of $36,- 527 was slightly less than cream sales for 1928 thus the total business for the companv of $444,533 is a jump of $48,- 000 in one vear. The total net gain was $22.828. The membership of 422 share holders includes most of the farm fami lies in the territory; private business in the vicinity of Rock is almost at a stand still. WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS The Cooperative Trading Company continues to hold first place among all the store societies in the country with sales in 1929 of $797,574. The 1929 fio-ures mark an increase of $118,375 over those of 1928, a gain of 17y2 per cent. The Franklin Cooperative Cream ery Association is the only Consumers Cooperative to go ahead of it. Meanwhile, educational and social work continue to flourish. A Women's Guild is now being organized. In De cember, a monster educational mass meeting was held in the Slovenian National Home with at least 1,500 present, and besides, there is that distribution of free milk recorded on another page. HOW FARMERS KEEP THE SPECULATORS OUT The Constitution of the Farmers Coop erative and Educational Union of Ne braska contains the following clause: Persons engaging in banking, merchandising, practicing law, or belonging to any trust or combine or commercial club, or engaged in any kind of speculation, shaH not be eligible to membership in the Union. Provided, that ownership of bank stock, or holding the office of director, shall not be construed to mean banking. A vigorous effort to remove this pro vision from the Constitution was made in the annual convention of the Union in January but the farmers by an over whelming majority took the stand that letting in the speculators, the merchants and the bankers and lawyers had been fatal to the cooperative activities of both the Grange and the old Farmers Alli ance, and this provision must be retained. FIRST YEAR BOOK The Year Book of The Cooperative League for 1930 is just off the press. A review of this book appeared in COOP ERATION for February, but final informa tion was not then available. There are in all 376 pages, 24 of which are illustra tions. The book sells for one dollar in cloth and seventy-five cents in paper binding. V. S. Alanne, the Editor, has done an excellent piece of work. VIRGINIA, MINNESOTA The Virginia Workpeople's Trading Company continues to hold second place among store societies in the state with sales last year of $422,404, an increase of $49,000 over sales for the previous year. The net gain for the period was $12,746 which is about $1,000 larger than the year previous. The Virginia society continues to run only the main store, the one branch store and the warehouse, but so long as these three continue to attract new members and business, there would seem to be little need for new branches. The membership increased by nearly 100 and now is more than 1,000,. WORKINGMEN'S BAKERY OF LYNN, MASS. This substantial little bakery society of Jewish cooperators turns in a very satisfactory report for 1929. Income from the bakery business was $82,374 and from rentals and clubhouse $7,462, making a total of more than $90,000. The net gain on both departments was $3,860. All this in spite of a 3c slash in the price of bread and 2c in the price of rolls early in the year. This drastic cut forced all competing bakeries to reduce prices correspondingly and therefore the Jewish bread consumers in Lynn and all the surrounding towns, benefiting from cooperative service, saved a substantial sum regardless of where they bought their goods. Due to good management and careful' supervision over a number of years, the bakery now shows a surplus of $21,650 and special reserves of $4,000, all in ad dition to the capital stock of -|8,010. District Leagues DIRECTORS' MEETING OF EASTERN LEAGUE At the regular quarterly meeting of the Eastern States Cooperative League on February 16th, several important deci sions were made, and the secretary's and the treasurer's financial reports ren dered. The date of the Annual Conven tion was set for April 19th and 20th, with the Eastern Wholesale's annual meeting 50 COOPERATION COOPERATION 51 i •of stockholders for the 21st. The Conven tion will take place in New York City; most of the sessions to be held in the auditorium of the Amalgamated Houses. This year, for the first time, the Eastern League will enroll individuals as well as cooperative societies in its member ship. The secretary reported 24 socie ties paid up and in good standing as of January 1st. Of the four societies whose membership has lapsed, the Pro- let Cooperative Eestaurant went into the hands of receivers in December, and the Unica Cooperative Stores in February. The United Cooperative Society of Quincy, and the Purity Cooperative Bakery of Paterson, have both voted to affiliate. The financial report showed expenditures of $140 in excess of re ceipts, but a substantial reserve fund still on hand. Mr. Eegli, the auditor, made an interesting report on the condi tion of the various societies whose books he has been auditing. The Wholesale manager also rendered a report, a digest of which follows. Mr. Eubinson told of- an attempt tinder way to organize a cooperative bus line for the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, and Mr. Long, of efforts being made in Brownsville to start a Cooperative Laundry. The question of affiliation by Coopera tive Stores with associations of private merchants for more economical buying again received prolonged attention, the final outcome of which was the following resolution: "In the opinion of the di rectors of the Eastern States League, there is no violation of cooperative prin ciples in a contract to purchase from private wholesales provided that such a contract does not prevent the coopera tive from patronizing the Cooperative Wholesale." Ve EASTERN COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE Sales of $203,756 in the first ten months of its life is the figure of which the members of the Eastern Wholesale are very proud at the close of the fiscal year. Of this amount $148,137 is for foodstuffs and $55,619 for coal sales A small net gain was realized each month so that the total at the end of the year was $1,365 which will doubtless be added to the reserve fund with which the Wholesale started business. There are ten shareholding societies whose invest ment is $1,700 only, five of them located in Greater New York and five of them in New England and up-state New York. Thirty-six Cooperative or other non profit organizations have purchased from the wholesale during the year, thirty of them more or less regularly. Flour and feed account for a large volume of business, the sales of these commodi ties amounting to $64,000. Land O'Lakes Butter comes second with $27.000 and coffee third with $23,000. Slightly more than 5,100 tons of coal were purchased for organizations and individuals in New York. The Cooperative Trading Association of Brooklyn is far in the lead of all societies patronizing the wholesale with total purchases of $56,- 70Q. The Brownsville Bakery is second with $18.000; Consumers Cooperative Services third with $16,500. Seven com modities are being packed and distrib uted under the cooperative label. There is yet no warehousing of stocks. Cooperation Abroad December 30, 1929, marked the 90th birthday of Henry W. Wolff, the Grand Old Man of British Cooperation. Born of well-to-do parents and well educated, he early became interested in the movement, was one of the founders of the Inter national Cooperative Alliance and at one time its President. His later years have been devoted chiefly to cooperative banking, on which he is one of the fore most authorities, having1 written two books on the subject. He is the father of the great cooperative credit movement in India. ____ The Editor of The Cooperative News of England makes an interesting pro posal with regard to dividends or rebates on purchases from the Cooperative Wholesale Society. Today some socie ties are giving the most loyal support to the cooperative items which are pro duced in the Wholesale's own factories; others are turning to private factories for their goods. It is suggested that a special bonus, over and above the regu lar dividend, be granted on purchases of Cooperative Brands of goods. The Workers Cooperatives of Belgium now have 342 People's Houses, the most active centers of instruction and educa tion to be found in that country. These Houses contain large halls where con ventions, festivals and congresses are held regularly; libraries, restaurants, wine shops, meeting rooms for the use of political and trade union organizations, art and study circles, young people's clubs. During the last few years many of them have established holiday homes for members and their children. The General Consumers Society of Budapest, Hungary, issues annually, free of charge, to all purchasing mem bers a life insurance policy to the value of 25 per cent of their purchases for the previous year. There are 63,000 mem bers in the society. Organized in 1904 with one little shop in a poor quarter of the city, the society now celebrates its twenty-fifth birthday, reporting 102 stores in Budapest and suburbs, eight productive works, three coal yards, many small workshops, a bank and an insur ance society. ____ Late in 1929 a conference of repre sentatives of Provincial cooperative organizations in India was held at Simla under the presidency of Sir Lalubhai Smaladas the purpose of which was to make plans for an independent coopera tive movement and to organize an All- India Cooperative Federation. The president referred to the lack of national impulse in the movement to-day because of its control by the government and made a plea for its de-officialization by transferring control from the govern ment appointees to the cooperatives themselves. The conference approved of these proposals and all institutes in the country will be consulted on the whole proposition. During six months the joint English and Scottish Cooperative Wholesale So ciety has sold 44,000,000 pounds of tea. When the government recently abolished the duty on imported tea, the cooperative wholesale society reduced its price to re tail stores by an amount even greater than the amount of the duty, thus con ceding to the retailers within six months about $850,000 over and above the amount realized on the abolition of taxes. The Cooperative Medical Society of The Hague in Holland, known as The Volharding Society, now has a member ship of 15,664 with capital of $275,000 and savings bank deposits from members totalling $5,565,000. Fifty thousand participate in the sick fund of the or ganization, which employs 26 doctors and six dentists. The infirmary has thirty beds, operating rooms, lying-in room. Eight of the doctors are special ists, and only the specialists are allowed to engage in any private practice. The society also has a store department do ing an annual trade of $1,650,000. A rebate of 15 per cent was paid on bread and bakery purchases, 7 per cent on groceries, 4 per cent on dry goods. Four years ago, according to K. de Boer of the Dutch Cooperative Union, one-half of the aldermen of Amsterdam were Socialists and a municipal meat scheme was inaugurated. The city itself did not open stores, but it made agree ments with private butchers and fixed prices for them. As a result of the profits that these butchers immediately began to make, the number of private meat shops in the city increased from 400 to 700 within four years. Compari son of prices here with prices in The Hague and in Hamburg where there was no municipal control showed that meat costs were so much higher for the con sumers of Amsterdam that the scheme had to be abandoned because of the pres sure brought to bear by the citizens. Mr. de Boer believed this was one of the best arguments to be found anywhere in favor of cooperative as against mu nicipal control of food distribution. 52 COOPERATION The Eoyal Arsenal Society of Wool wich, a suburb of London, reports a membership of 250,000, and 5,000 em ployees. During the last half year, its bakery has produced more than 10,000,- 000 loaves of bread. Sales for 26 weeks reach the record figure of $16,935,000. The U. P. A., semi-monthly paper of the farmers of Alberta, calls for more intensive cooperative education in both private and public schools of the Prov ince, particularly pointing to the neces sity for emphasis upon cooperative principles as well as upon technical prob lems. The editorial says in part: "The lectures, it may be expected, must tend to deal largely with the technique of the pooling system. It is still more important however, that the underlying ideas, the ethira of cooperation should be thoroughly under stood. Principles should come first; for unle they are understood, sooner or later the real driving force of cooperation will be weakened "No doubt the present courses do find a place for the presentation of principles but do they go far enough? The most perfect mastery of technique will in the long run prove a barren acquisition unless the spirit of the cooperative movement remains vital T0 conceive of cooperation merely as a means of getting the producer a larger monetary return on the products he has to sell or of obtaining goods for the consumer a little more cheaply than under the old system, would be to miss a great part of the significance of the move ment in behalf of which many thousands of Alberta farmers in the pioneer days of our movement and since have made very real sacrifices.'' Russia publishes the following figures on the membership of its consumer societies: Town Consumers' Cooperative and Central Workers' Cooperative Societies........... Transport Cooperatives ........... Village Cooperatives October 1st, 1927 5,475,000 827,000 9,760,000 Total ............. .................. 16.062,000 An increase of 11,000,000 in one year! October 1st, 1928 7,777,000 1,159,000 13,730,000 22,666,000 October 1st, 1929 11,320,000 1,639,000 20,573,000 33,522,000 Directors' Page FITTING UP A GROCERY STORE The Model Store shown on the oppo site page was fitted out as an exhibit for the conference of grocers recently held at Louisville, Ky. The following is a table of outlay for store fixtures and accessories as pre sented to the conference: COST or FIXTURES AND EQUIPMENT—MODEL GROCERY STORE Fixtures Low Average High Grocery Department. $777 $1,066 $1,308 Meat 'Department... 808 888 1,332 $1,580 $1,948 $2,640 Accessory Equipment (Scales, etc.) Grocery Department. Meat Department.. . $670 505 $1,010 728 $1,825 1,055 $1,175 $1,798 $2,880 There are only two short counters in this model store, and the side shelving is left open so that customers may serve themselves, reducing the expense of clerical hire. Customers are expected to come in by one aisle to the right of the center show cases and display tables and leave by the other aisle. This plan leaves 75 per cent of the stock exposed to the customers as they walk around. A careful survey of 662 stores found that average overhead expense was 14.7 per cent of the sales volume. Credit sales made up 44% per cent of the total of all sales in these stores. Several interesting findings were re ported to this conference. Eighty-two per cent of the business of these 662 stores was found to come from 39 per cent of the customers. These better cus tomers averaged annual purchases in ex cess of $100 each. The largest number of sales, 37 per cent of the total, were for orders between $25 and $50 each. Analysis of coffee sales showed 28 dif ferent brands carried but only 16 differ ent blends under these brand names. Eighty-five per cent of the coffee sales were of five brands under 17 different labels. 1 Vf "t t\> r T" 0 R- 1 £ | f triable ro 6 -yr- 82" 54 COOPERATION COOPERATION 55 1, My Point of View By J. P. WARBASSE Book Reviews ON BEING A FARMER Every thoughtful man, with responsibility for wife and children, who knows history, has wished that he might be the possessor of enough ground to produce food to save his family in the presence of a crisis. On the farms are men of vision who enjoy this sense of security, and who would not want to hazard their families to the uncertain ties of urban life. As bad as are the economic circumstances of farming, still the dangers in commerce and trade in the towns are even greater. Most businesses in the United States fail. And when a crisis comes the most success ful denizen of the city is within a few days of starvation at the best. It is an interesting fact that when Wall Street has a panic, when failures are numerous, when business is bad, and when times are hard, the farmers are compara tively prosperous. Mr. Hoover has asked everybody to do all he can to help make business good. He has also proposed to "elevate agriculture to the position of business." Nice sentiment but mostly non sense. The farmers are the one class who need not be concerned, because their pros perity has nothing to do with good business. Indeed, if there is any relation at all, the farmers' interests are diametrically op posite to those of the general business of the country. Or as Babson's Reports show: Wall Street's plight is the farmers' delight. When an industrial depression Comes, men leave the cities and seek the farms, thus giving the farmers plenty of help at low wages. When business is bad the prices of manu factured goods go down. Depression in business stimulates competition which lowers prices. This enables the farmers to buy cheaper. Agricultural prices on the other hand are not so much influenced by competition, and can be kept up. In prosperous times, when the public has money to spend, the people buy more fancy foods. In hard times they eat more of the simple and substantial things. This means that the domestic consumption of wheat, oats, rye, and corn is increased as pros perity declines. Hard times drive the people to the more wholesome foods. And all the while this is going on the farmers' children remain on the farm. Hard times keep the farmer's family to gether and separate the city man's family. In the event of grave crises, when the wheels stop revolving, the farmer's family survives while the city people starve. History is full of illustrations of these facts. They are shown by what happened in Germany, Russia and other countries during the last war and the peace of Ver sailles which was worse than war. The underfed population of cities died of de generative diseases. Those that did not starve fell easy victims to tuberculosis anemia, rickets, and the maladies of under nourishment. The farmers had potatoes wheat, barley, corn, and pigs—always enough to last the family through the winter and to the next harvest. The dis eases of undernourishment were of the cities not of the country. The city destroys men. The Romans had a saying: Urbs edax rerum, "the citv is the eater of things." And by that they meant that it ate up men, too. Ever since there have been cities they have been sup plied their human material from the country. The family decays and disappears in the city. Human beings do not breed so well in the dense centers of population. The country is characterized by wives and mothers, the city by prostitutes and kept women called wives. It may be said of any land: with the decay of its agriculture goes the decay of its civilization. So long as this condition continues there will be wise and far seeing men who will be found on the farms. In some parts of the country there are so many of these that agriculture is lifted to a high plane, and the cooperative organization of the countryside is always possible Let no one entertain the notion that co operation is for industrial workers espe cially. It is for everybody, but the world furnishes no better examples of substantial cooperation than are to be found in the rural communities. And if cooperation is the hope of the world, the hope of the world is very closely bound up with the success of agriculture. Everything that makes farming more at tractive to intelligent human beings moves forward the hands of human progress and lifts civilization to a higher plane. The cooperative movement is the housewife's union. It is the only movement through which she can express her economic power or protect her interests as the spender of most of the family income. A. W. WARINNER Social Work and Legislation in Sweden. Stockholm, 1928. P. A. Norstedt & Soner. This book, published by the Swedish Government, shows the enlightened state of a poltical government. Or, more properly speaking, it shows the enlight ened state of the Swedish people. It shows that the people have turned the course of government into channels to serve a large proportion of the people. There is, perhaps, not a government in the world which is less the servant of a privileged minority than that of Sweden. This little book shows the Government concerned with the problems of labor, its interest in the prevention of unemploy ment, the protection of workers, social insurance, and public hygiene. The Swedish Government actually carries on organized education for tem perance, and gets results. Swedes are not humbugged by their government in this field. They have real temperance. And the alcohol traffic is not a business for enriching politicians, cajoling decent citizens, and uniting the bootleggers and parsons in the debauching of decency. The treatment of social offenders is so much more enlightened than it is in the United States that the Swedes would be justified in sending missionaries to us to dissuade us from our savage ways. Free legal assistance is a reality in Sweden; in the United States, the man with money wins in the courts. The land allotment movement is dis cussed in this land where every man may have a garden. The cooperative movement of Sweden is described. Here is a sound growth. The National Union, organized in 1899, represents its beginning. It has con tinued to develop steadily since then. This Swedish cooperative movement is most significant. Every country in the world can learn something from it. It is largely in the hands of young men and men of young spirit. When the world gets enough of folly we need not be surprised if civilization breaks out first in Sweden. J. P. W. The Integral Cooperative Form of Association. By Henri Lasserre, Vic toria College, Toronto, Canada. This treatise, .mimeographed on 36 pages of legal size paper, is the most careful and scholarly treatment of In tegral Cooperation I have yet seen. '' In tegral Cooperation," it should be said for the benefit of those to whom the term is not familiar, is the form of colony in which the colonists aim to produce all that they need. The paper contains a brief statement of the virtues of Integral Cooperation, a proposed Constitution for an Integral Cooperative Society, the constitution of the "Foun dation for the Establishment of In tegral Cooperative Societies" already organized with headquarters in Basle, Switzerland (having an initial fund of $30,000 contributed by Professor Las serre), and a proposed lease to be drawn up between a newly organized local so ciety and this particular or some other foundation of the same general char acter. Professor Lasserre is well qualified to write on this subject. For many years he was a lawyer in Switzerland, charged with the duty of drawing up constitu tions for various of the Swiss coopera tive societies and even of advising them on matters of organization or adminis tration. It was here that he got his first cooperative enthusiasm for starting a cooperative colony in 1918. Here he met the leaders of the Swiss consumers cooperative movement. In fact, he has made two of the latter, Bernhard Jaeggi and William Grandj'ean, members of * the initial board of three trustees to administer the funds of the foundation. The scheme proposed bjy Professor Lasserre is one calling for the creation of such central foundations which shall own the land to be leased to local colony groups (thus preventing speculation in 56 COOPERATION COOPERATION 57 fl nil land values by the local society). The foundation likewise acts as a clearing house of information, it settles disputes arising between colonies, it helps new groups to organize. It is financed by donations, sale of bonds, funds con tributed by the various colonies them selves. The details of the plan for the local colony are carefully worked out to pre vent scores of such organizational diffi culties as have afflicted other cooperative societies. To those who are. committed to the idea of cooperative colonies we commend this treatise. But we cannot refrain from again editorializing on the subject. It is an acknowledged fact that most of these colony experiments fail as economic or ganizations. While they last they may make real contributions to the physical, intellectual or spiritual development of their members; but as constructive aids to the creation of a new economic order they have played a pretty meager role' Why then do men continue to present new plans for colonies rather than care ful analyses of the old ones? We should be delighted to see some such enterpris ing person as Professor Lasserre write a good book on Failures of Cooperative Colonies. The man who, in a truly scientific spirit, makes that study, and presents it to the world is contributing to all of us valuable information 011 cooperation. And the colony form of cooperation will never be a real success until it is built upon the solid foundation of such a study. Meanwhile, we feel we are justified in suspecting the value of all such Utopian schemes founded upon nothing more substantial than a grudge against the capitalist system and an ardent enthusiasm for a short-cut route to the Cooperative Commonwealth, C. L. The Reader Writes LEARNING FROM THE CHAINS About three or four years ago all the leading grocery chains and many other progressive grocers in New York became very much in terested in the fruit and vegetable business. Though they have mostly small stores in the metropolitan area, yet they found enough space for convenient fruit stands. It was not the actual profit that induced the chains to sell the greens, but the fact that women like to buy all their food supplies in one place. For the game reason one can find, more and more frequently, meat departments in chain grocery stores. Nine years ago the Russian Workers Co operative opened its first meat market, and it has grown into a moderate size chain of eight stores. Groceries were considered a side line, and greens were sold only in one store. Within the last few months the management of the Russian Workers Cooperative began to re organize their grocery line, and their last store, which was opened just before Christmas in Hastings-on-Hudson, represents a food market with a complete line of meat, groceries, dairy products, fruits' and vegetables. t It is a mistake to conclude that the chain stores are forcing the small merchant to the wall, because they cut down the prices. On the average their prices are about the same. But chain stores have led the way in eliminat ing economic waste, keeping their stores clean, making effective window displays that bring in the customers, and cutting down the high cost of distribution. There are people who think that there is nothing to know about grocery business—just open a store, put some stuff on the shelves and sell it—that's all. Yet there is a difference between the grocer who knows his onions and the one who does not. Roughly, the difference is just this: the first one is making money, and the other is losing it. R. W. Cooperative is not blindly imitating the chain stores, yet it finds it very profitable • to learn from them something about business. Suppose you display in your window good, fresh meat at very low prices. Naturally, a woman passing by will think that there is something wrong with your meat. On the other hand, if you offer in your window some well known brand of peaches or soap powder in cans or in packages at very low prices the woman will not have any doubt about its quality, because she knows that that can is the same everywhere. You will not make much profit on the can, but you will have a chance to show her your meat, and sell it to her if your are a salesman. Here is another one. A customer wants a pound of good coffee. If you give her a package of some well known brand, you make a sale, but you don't make a customer, because if she likes that brand she can find it in any other store. In a case like this R. W. Cooperative sales men always offer our own cooperative brands of coffee, soups and other products. There are many chances that the customer will like them, and she will come back to buy not only our coffee, but something else besides, for she cannot find cooperative brands elsewhere. N. SKLIAROFF, R. W. Cooperative Stores, Brooklyn, N. Y. OBITUARY, SELF-WRITTEN Fditor COOPERATION: When this letter drops on your desk, The rijiion Supply & Fuel Company, Cooperative, hich is over fifteen years old, is no more, and belongs to history. We are going into voluntary bankruptcy. We have such bad work in the mines as our city has not seen in the fifty years that the writer has lived here. We have no com- nlaints to make about our demise; we left no stone unturned to go through this crisis, but it availed nothing, and we had to bow down to the bitter curse of unemployment. The United Mine Workers of America, the most powerful Union in our country, is all but wiped out and the Cooperative Movement based on this Union could not survive. We wish to thank you for the assistance you have so willingly given us, and hope that the Cooperative Movement in this country will go on and develop so the workers may win their long earned freedom. With best wishes we remain, UNION SUPPLY & FUEL CO. . KOENIGKRAEMER, "Mgr. MEETING CHAIN STORE COMPETITION* As I had hoped, our board of directors de clined the invitation to join the "Marquis Chain Stores." In order to meet competition of all sorts in the grocery field, we have organ ized, and opened, on Oct. 7th, a Cash Groce teria. Goods in this department are marked up 12 per cent, and when weighed out, 15 per cent. The resultant prices enable us to meet Regina as well as mail order house com petition, and have already attracted a good many new patrons. The feature we like best, however, is that our regular grocery depart ment, which we still keep open for those who find it impossible to deal on the cash basis, is doing less than 10 per cent of the total • Extracts from a letter sent to Cooperative Union of Canada, copy of which was forwarded to offices of The Cooperative League. Reprinted for benefit of cooperators in the U. S. who are interested in seeing how some of the Canadian societies are meeting the chain stores. NEW CO-OP APARTMENTS Group forming to build on Hudson River site %-hour Grand Central Station. Low Rent and Commutation— Modest Investment Members wanted. Address S. W. Simpson 167 W. 12th St., New York City c/o Cooperative League grocery sales, and will some day in the near future be closed altogether. Selling for cash will provide us with the funds to buy for cash at rock bottom prices. Here lies the salvation of the independent dis tributor, be he a private trader or a cooperative society. In the groceteria we insist on spot cash; no monthly or weekly or even daily accounts are allowed. The difference in prices between the regular department and the groceteria teaches a good object lesson, and people seem to find the money to finance their grocery purchases, whereas formerly nobody appeared to have any money. Since opening the groceteria we are looking forward with more confidence to a future of usefulness and really effective service. J. G. Mohl, Manager, Edenwold Cooperative Association, Edenwold, Sask., Canada. ANTI-POLITICAL Editor COOPERATION: Have been away from home over a month and missed no opportunity to get folks to read Dr. Warbasse's article in August COOPERATION, and the enclosed—Denmark's Antipolitical Union. . . . Changing world conditions and all humanity are loudly crying for something along this line to remove the cause of the vast amount of competitive injustice. Many thinkers and writers of the social sciences are evolving to this cooperative remedy. When you learn of anything new concerning Danish activities or elsewhere along this line of divorcing politics and economics, I hope you will pass it on to me. J. B. RICHARDSON, Lakeside, Wash. WHY NOT BUY YOUR BOOKS AND MAGAZINES COOPERATIVELY? Send your orders to The Cooperative League and they will receive prompt atten tion. Discounts given whenever possible. Pool Your Purchases With Those of Other Cooperators Lend Your Support to the Movement THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE, 167 West 12th Street, .- New York City U 58 COOPERATION COOPERATION 59 From The League Office REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFI CATE OF MERIT The following are the requirements as amended at the beginning of 1930 by the Committee. All societies seek ing to qualify for the Certificate this year will be judged upon these amended conditions, rather than upon those in force in 1929. Requirement Number 6 is a new one; and changes have been made in 7C and 7D. 1. That the fundamental principles of Roch dale cooperation be observed. 2. That semi-annual financial reports be rendered to District or National League. 3. That audits be made at least annually, and by accountants acceptable to the Directors of The League. 4. That educational activities be carried on— nature and extent of which to be acceptable to the Directors of The League. PROSPERITY Citizens whose income during the twelve months of 1928 exceeded $1,000,000—patri otic citizens, they were 496 in number; nearly twice as many as during the previ ous year. Two dozen of them had an in come of at least $5,000,000 each. Here they are. 241 received from $1,000,000 to $1,600,000 105 received from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 89 received from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 20 received from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 17 received from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 24 received from $5,000,000 and over The MONTHLY PROPAGANDA POSTER SERVICE issued by the CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE enables you to utilize the display space around the cooperative's premises for the most effective sort of cooperative propaganda, at a very moderate cost. For samples, prices and information, •„ address: CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 1303 N. Park St., Bloomington, 111. 5. That preference be given Cooperativ Wholesales where such Wholesales exist. 6. That the premises of the society in nues tion shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of The Cooperative League (or in the opinion of secretary of district league which is recom mending said society for the certificate') bp neat and attractive. ' 7. That the following business principles and financial conditions be met: A. There must be shown a net gain (be fore distribution of rebates) for the previous fiscal year. B. There must be an excess of assets over liabilities (latter to include capital stock) • and of current assets over current liabilities' C. Accounts receivable from patronage of members at time of audit must not exceed one-twenty-fourth of gross income from sales for the fiscal year just closed. D. Credit granted individual members must not run beyond fourteen days; and non-members shall be given no credit what ever. PLEASE PAGE THE SECRETARY OF WAR OF THE U. S.! ' 'A man from the London Cooperative Society calls at my house every morning, and anything I require from that great establishment at Admiralty House I am getting from the London Society. When I hear cooperators trying to excuse them selves for their failure to deal with the society because of not being able to get this and that article I tell them that I can get what I require, and that I have proved it." EIGHT HON. A. V. ALEXANDER, First Lord of the 'British Admiralty. WANTED—COPIES OP " Co-operative Democracy " By JAMES PETER WARBASSE 1923 Issue Published by Macmillan Company Please communicate with Capt. Henry H. Scott, Pres., Association of Army & Navy Stores, Inc., 469 Fifth Avenue, New York City, or Phone Lexington 1347. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE President of The Cooperative League of the United, States of America Member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance A Discussion of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement In Its Relatien to the Political State, to the Profit System, te Labor, to Agriculture and to the Artft and Sciences The Macmillan Co., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, TJ. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition: Verlagsgesellsehaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 57 years old It has 53,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced cooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English *, 2. Commercial Arithmetic :• 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation 6. Organization and Administration of Cooperatives. For full particulars write THE! COOPEEATIVE LEAG¥E 167 West) l'2th Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and eon- ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live -cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name. .................................... Address.................................. $1.00 a year 60 COOPERATION i PUBLICATIONS ? —OF— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 3. Story of Cooperation.............$ .10 $6.00 7. British Cooperative Movement..... .10 6.00 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe.. .05 4.00 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States . . .................... .05 4.00 69. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... .05 4.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ .10 4.00 €. A Mode] Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society....... .05 2.50 .8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined.. .10 "9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale . . . ..................... .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 1.00 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild..................... .10 15. How to Organize a District Coopera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). . . . . .............. .50 43. Cooperative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C of Cooperative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law........... .10 46. Producers' Cooperative Industries.. .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement . 10 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store .05 1.75 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............. .25 .34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish)... .02 1.25 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert).. ............ .06 66. International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations ............. .60 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis).................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless . 10 49. A Way Out .................... .02 .75 55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... .02 .60 62. Buttons (League emblem), 34 inch diameter .................... 2.00 •63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .25 15.00 '67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. •68. To Mothers ..................... .02 1.00 !70. Farmers Marketing and Consumers Cooperation: An address by J. P. Warbasse.................. .10 71. International Cooperation: An ad dress by H. J. May............ .10 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime .of Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; (26) Factory Workers Cooperate!; (28) Do You Knn«, About Cooperation in Europe?; (40) Have You Committee on Education and Recreation?: (45} a and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation — (In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred} Subscription, per year. ............ .i » / •''* TE IT; = * Architect's Drawing of House Being Built ~by Consumers' Cooperative Services A HIGH GRADE COOPERATIVE INVESTMENT Consumers' Cooperative Services, in financing its new cooperative apartment house, is giving its members and other cooperators a chance to invest in the protected end of the bond issue. Its purpose is twofold: In the first place it will be able to pay a full 6 per cent interest on amounts as small as $100 with safety, and that is something very difficult for a person with $100 to get in our capitalist world. The man with $50,000 can get 6 per cent easily, but the small investor must iise the savings bank at 4% per cent; that is unless he wants to gamble in stocks and every so often get wiped out! The second reason for these bonds is the necessity of the cooperative move ment's building up its own banking facilities. The first step in that direction is the provision of safe cooperative investments. Cooperators must provide their own capital. This can only be done if cooperative executives so arrange the finances of cooperative ventures that members are given a chance to buy well protected bonds for investment in their cooperatives at the same time that they are asked to support the society by taking capital stock. In every single instance that comes to our attention our cooperatives have given the capitalist banks all the cream of our borrowings—those which were fully pro tected by real estate—and offered only the risk-bearing stock to members! If cooperatives are ever to do their own banking, members must learn to look to them with trust and confidence in purely financial transactions—as the source of sound investments. This can be done in the beginning by so handling our societies' financing as to give mem bers a safe place to put their life's sav ings. From that to banking on a larger scale is a natural step. These are the reasons Consumers' Cooperative Services has arranged the financing of its new venture the way it has. The house and land together will cost about $660,000. This is how it is being raised: 1st mortgage—Savings Bank .. $300,000 "1 2nd mortgage Bonds to Coop- r % erators .. ................ 134,000 J 3rd mortgage Bonds to Tenant- 1 membefs?................. 184,000^ 4th mortgage Bonds to O. C. S.. 42,000 J $660,000 This means, as far as the second mort gage sold to cooperators is concerned, that $226,000 in the third and fourth mortgages stand between the second mortgage holder and any possibility of loss! Further, it is agreed that the first and second mortgages taken to- gether, shall never be allowed to exceed 66 2/3 per cent of the cost of land and building. This makes the second mort gage smaller than it could otherwise be, but keeps it within the range of risk permitted savings banks in New York. The mortgage bonds are issued in two groups, one payable between the fifth and tenth year, and the other between the tenth and fifteenth year. Con sumers' Cooperative Services, Inc., will set aside a revolving fund of $10,000 with which to keep a market for those who may suddenly need to sell, whether they have chosen the shorter or longer term bonds. Within a very short time after this program was announced to the members and friends of Consumers' Cooperative Services, $70,000 had been pledged and over half of it paid in. More is coming in daily. COMMONWEALTH MUTUAL SAVINGS BANK As usual the annual report of C. W. Whitnall, secretary and treasurer of the finest cooperative bank in the country is a veritable textbook on cooperative eco nomics, compressed within the space of 10 pages. If the young people of Amer ica could read and digest each year these brief articles by Mr. Whitnall, they would on reaching maturity, find them selves possessed of that very Tare thing, a genuine education in economics. The report appears in a booklet of 24 pages, nearly one-half of which is given over to an explanation of the life insurance fund organized last year by the State of Wisconsin. The Savings Bank in 1929 paid 4 per cent to depositors, returning to them al together $50,342, whereas in an ordinary Milwaukee bank they would have re ceived only 3 per cent or $41,757. Bor rowers on the other hand paid a lower rate of interest than would have been exacted from them by any other bank, effecting a combined savings of $10,133; thus depositors and borrowers together benefited from cooperative banking to the amount of $22,718. Deposits in creased during the year by $77,565 and the guaranty fund by $7,582. Total assets at the bank are now one and one- half million dollars. Although deposits in savings banks of the United States receded by nearly $200,000,000 in 1929, the Milwaukee Mutual made a substan tial gain. This bank at all times seeks to protect itself from exploitation by profit seek ing interests. It does not make loans to people who desire money for speculative purposes, nor even to those who place their savings at higher interest rates with building and loan associations; neither does it make loans to landlords or others profiteering from control of real estate values. Nor can money lend ers borrow from this bank. MORE HOUSING IN NEW YORK The March number of COOPERATION told of the new apartment house to be built during the spring and summer on the west side of Manhattan by Con sumers Cooperative Services. Old build ings that occupy the site are now being demolished. The Amalgamated Construction Cor poration which is responsible for the building of the colony in the Bronx dur ing the past two years has already be gun the erection of a block of buildings on the lower east side on land formerly occupied by the Hoe Printing Machinery plant. The new buildings will cover the entire block bounded by Grand, Broome, Columbia and Sheriff Streets. There will be 225 apartments, with elevator service, electric refrigerators, incinerat ors and other modern improvements. Rents will average $12.50 per room per 68 COOPERATION COOPERATION 69 I'J month, a figure barely half of the pre vailing rentals in Manhattan for new buildings. Plans call for completion of the building next autumn. A. E. Kazan, President of the uptown association, is also at the head of the new development, which however will be entirely separate from the older or ganization and will bear the name Amal gamated Dwellings. Ben Raymond will be in actual charge of construction. The required down payment of $500 per room for the uptown apartments proved to be a heavy burden upon many of the prospective tenants and the Amal gamated Bank, the Amalgamated Credit Union and the Jewish Daily Forward made it possible for these tenants to bor row one-half of this initial payment. On the downtown building Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Lehman of New York State, and Aaron Rabinowitz of the New York State Housing Board, have advanced a large sum of money from which loans may be made to the prospective tenants in the new apartments so that as little as $150 per room may be paid down in advance. CREDIT UNION EXTENSION The Credit Union National Extension Bureau announces significant progress at the beginning of 1930. Its depart ment of the Middle West is to be opened under the jurisdiction of Thomas W. Doig who will be in charge of organiza tion work in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota. A New York office of the bureau is also to be opened under the supervision of Edward A. Norman, formerly associated with the Cooperative League of the TJ. S. A. and now treasurer of the New York Credit Union League. A paid secretary will be placed in charge of this office as soon as the right man can be found. The National Bureau was organized in 1921 by Edward A. Filene of Boston, and has made remarkable progress, espe cially since Roy F. Bergengren became its secretary six or seven years ago. There are now credit union laws in 32 states and 1,100 credit unions actually in existence. Their combined assets are $45,000,000 and their combined member ship 250,000 people. The next item on the program of the bureau is the organ ization of 15 state leagues of credit unions which in turn are expected to form a National Association of Credit Union Leagues. When such a national association has been attained, the present bureau, financed by private individuals will go out of existence. ' QUITE LOGICAL Ten of the largest oil companies of the country, according to the New York Times, have started suit to prevent the State of Connecticut from enforcing its new act requiring quality guarantees for all gasoline sold in the state. The law makes it mandatory for the companies to present written guarantee that all oil sold is at least as good in quality as that required by government specifications. The companies say that the new act does not promote the public health or morals! They do not publicly say that the law interferes with their own profits. GRANGE COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE The figure of $116,721 for net sales for the Wholesale located in Seattle in 1929 is somewhat misleading, for the organization is responsible for selling large quantities of feed under contract directly from a feed mill. These addi tional feed sales last year amounted to $222,326. There is likewise an income of $3,266 from the bookkeeping service and $7,500 more from miscellaneous com missions; thus Grange Wholesale actu ally ranks higher than the comparative table of statistics in March COOPERATION would indicate. Fred Nelson is again President of the Wholesale and W. 0. Dickinson is mana ger for the fourth year. When Mr, Dickinson took charge there was a very large deficit on the books. This deficit has now been reduced to $2,459, and the $30,,000 of capital stock is again ap proaching par. ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR FRANKLIN COOPERATIVE CREAMERY It is encouraging to all American co- operators to learn that the past year, 1929, was a very good one for the Franklin Cooperative Creamery of Min neapolis. The creamery not only in creased its sales by nearly $32,000 over those of 1928, but it showed even a bigger increase in its net gain. While for 1928 the net gain was $95,521.30, for 1929 it was nearly $35,000, more, or $130,- 156.77. The ratio of current assets to current liabilities, which in December, 1929, was a little better than 3 to 1, indicates a very satisfactory financial condition. The Franklin has been able to reduce its funded debt, consisting of first mortgage bonds, from $290,000, as of December 31, 1927, to $75,000, as of December 31, 1929. The only unsatisfactory feature in the development of the creamery is the fact that the number of its shareholding members continued to decrease during 1929, a condition which has prevailed for the last five or six years. The mem bership figure is now 4,473. The per centage of decrease last year was still slightly larger than that in 1928, but considerably less than that in 1927. WHOLESALE ADDS 60 SOCIETIES Sixty additional cooperative associa tions have become shareholders in the Farmers Union State Exchange, Omaha, Nebr., through patronage dividends for the year 1929. This makes a total of 165 associations that are now share holders in the Exchange, all but 30 of which have received their shares through patronage dividends. About 150 other associations have patronage dividends to their credit, each of which will receive a share as soon as its credit reaches $12.50, the face value of a share. This record in adding shareholders through credited savings has been made in two years, for 1928 was the first year for which the exchange made patronage dividends. The experience of the Ne braska Exchange shows conclusively that any cooperative on a patronage-dividend basis can prevent dry-rot and bring about shareholder renewal if it will credit surplus savings to all patrons and retain those of non-shareholders in pay ment for shares. The exchange has also found that each shareholder added through dividends, in creases the patronage, and thus helps to insure further patronage dividends. ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT At the National Negro Labor Confer ence late in January, attended by negro delegates from all parts of the United States and from labor unions, women's clubs, civic organizations and many other progressive bodies, the following reso lution was unanimously adopted. Consumers and Producers Cooperatives:— Whereas, Under the present organization of the business market, middlemen appropriate a share of the value of commodities dispropor tionate to the service they render which oper ates to exploit the farmers and the wage- earner consumers; Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the National Negro Labor Conference in conclave assembled does herewith go on record as favoring pro ducers' and consumers' cooperatives for the protection of the goods of the farmers and the increase of the purchasing power of the consumers. ACCORD FARMERS' COOPERATIVE One of the most successful farmers' cooperatives in New York State is that having its headquarters at Accord and with branch stores in Ellenville and Kerhonkson. Sales of merchandise, coal, cement, oil and automobile parts in 1929 amounted to $363,793 on which there was a net profit of $10,603. The society now has a paid-in capital of $54,000; an accumulated reserve of $9,250, and a surplus account of $6,600. Current assets are $55,000 as against current lia bilities of $2,000. The Cooperative owns its store buildings in all three towns. AN EXCELLENT LOCAL PAPER Of the many publications put out by the various local societies in the country, one of the best both from the viewpoint of make-up and contents is, the "Amal gamated Cooperator." The paper ap pears twice a month and is of 8 pages. Five or six pages are printed in English and the remainder in Yiddish. The busi ness manager, Bessie Blumberg, succeeds in getting a great deal of local adver tising which pays most of the printer's bill. There are good photographs, one or two longer articles and many brief items in each number. The paper not only carries local news, but also some of the general Cooperative Movement. 70 COOPERATION COOPERATION 71 Have a Real Vacation at a Cooperative Institute For the summer of 1930, two districts of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. are arranging one-week Institutes in Consumers Cooperation— combinations of vacation and study at country resorts, away from the cares of the daily job, in company with congenial cooperators from other parts of the country. A new kind of vacation—different from the one which costs you the savings of a whole year and which is so jazzed up that you need a month of real rest after you get home. The morning classes will study both cooperative theory and practical problems of organization, administration and service in the cooperative store or restaurant or bakery. The afternoons will for the most part be left free for games, hikes, swimming, or other recreation. The evenings will be reserved for more formal lectures by visiting leaders from the cooperative, labor or political movements, or for informal debates or talks among the cooperators themselves. Some of the foremost cooperative workers of the country will be present at both Institutes to give lectures and take part in the discussions and the other good times. THE MID-WESTERN SUMMER SCHOOL July 14th to 20th at McCann 's Park, 6 miles south of Waukegan, Illinois, one hour's ride North of Chicago. This beautiful little park, situated on the Des Plaines River, has facilities for all kinds of out-door recreation and also permanent buildings for shelter, sleeping, eating and meeting rooms. Ten dollars covers entire cost of meals, lodgings and the school course. Special provision will be made for those who can attend for only one or two days, and rates adjusted accordingly. Thirty-five pupils is the largest num ber that can be accommodated, so early enrollment is urged. Registration begins April 1st. No pupils under the age of 16 can be enrolled. For complete information write Central States Cooperative League, 1313 North Park Street, Bloomington, Illinois. THE EASTERN INSTITUTE July 20th to 26th at Brookwood Labor College, Katonah, New York. Katonah is in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, 40 miles north of New York City. Not only are there facilities for all kinds of outdoor sport, but the Brookwood Labor College itself is a remarkable institution, equipped with an excellent workers library, fine dormitories, both outdoor and indoor class rooms. Members of the Brookwood faculty will also be present part of the time. Twenty dollars covers the entire cost of tuition, room and board. A very few scholarships are available for applicants who rank highest. Reservations should be made before June 15th. Five dollars must accom pany each registration. For complete information, write Eastern States Cooperative League, 167 West 12th Street, New York City. MEN OE WOMEN, YOUNG OE OLD, FEOM ANY PAET OF THE COUNTEY, COOPEEATIVE OFFICIAL, OEDINAEY SHAEEHOLDER, UNATTACHED ENTHUSIAST—ALL AEE WELCOME—THE ONLY EEQUIEEMENT IS A GENUINE INTEEEST IN THE COOPEEATIVE MOVEMENT. Cooperation Abroad THE COOPEEATIVE MOVEMENT IN GEEMANY Consumers' cooperation, as it appears among the societies affiliated with the Central Union of German Consumers' Cooperative Societies, differs in several respects from the movement in the United States. Every society joining the Central Union must adhere to the principles of one vote only per member, no interest on share capital, surplus distributed in pro portion to purchases, business for cash only, strict neutrality in all matters re ligious or political. Every society is also required to have its auditing done by a cooperative auditor and if expelled from the Union, is refused the benefit of a cooperative audit. The general meeting of each society must elect a Supervisory Council, which acts without pay and controls the ad ministration of affairs. This Council corresponds to the supervisory commit tee of our credit unions. The actual administration of the society is vested in a Board of Management similar to our Board of Directors. In the small so cieties this Board of Management serves without salary; and in the very large societies, the Board of Management is a salaried body. Often the Board of Management has only two members, rarely more than five. Local societies are members of the Central Union and most of them also own stock in the Wholesale Society and in the Publishing Society. Stock in the last two cannot be owned by societies not affiliated with the iiniori. Each local society may send delegates to the annual Congress, the number of such delegates calculated in proportion to the member ship except that no society may send more than six delegates. Their repre sentation at general meetings of the Wholesale Society and the Publishing Society is in proportion to the amount of business done with these concerns. Dues paid to the Central Union are cal culated in proportion to the business turnover of the local society. The two principal publications of the union, in addition to the Year Book, which appears annually in three large volumes, are the weekly technical jour nal, " Konsumgenossenschaftliche Rund schau, '' with a circulation of 31,000 and the popular weekly journal, "Konsum genossenschaf tliches Volksblatt,'' with a circulation of 1,515,000. NEUTEALITY IN POLAND In 1929, the Supervisory Council of the Union of Consumers Societies of Poland, failed to observe the rules of political neutrality, as a result of which two of the three directors of the Union offered their resignations. A special Congress of the Union to consider the subject was called for January 12, 1930, and 660 -delegates were in attendance. By-a large majority, the Congress sup ported the principle of neutrality and elected a new Supervisory Council whose president is S. Wojciechowski, one of the pioneers and founders of the coopera tive movement in Poland, and a few years ago president of the Polish Republic. ITEMS The Annual Convention of the United Farmers of Alberta went on record em phatically in favor of supplementing the present very effective cooperative mar keting program of the Province by an equally effective program of consumers* cooperation. ' In the lengthy report on the subject of consumers' cooperation presented to the convention, the speakers stated that locals throughout the Prov ince had in many instances adopted resolutions asking the U. F. A. Coopera tive Committee to take such action as seemed necessary to this end. "Coopera tive marketing: is not enough." says the report; "it is essential to supplement the work of the pools by cooperation in buying". Consumers Cooperation is on the eve of a new phase of expansion in rural Alberta." "Unless we accept cooperation as a phil osophy, then all we are doing is to use it as a patch on the present profit system. Instead of being two distinct and separate things, pro- .1 i I.," 72 COOPERATION ducers' cooperation and consumers' coopera tion are merely parts of the same thing." A strike was called on February 6th by the agents of the Cooperative Insur ance Society of England, banded to gether in the National Union of Distribu tive and Allied Workers. More than 90 per cent of the 3,000 workers are still out at this writing. The workers claim that the Directors of the Society refused to arbitrate a dispute over the question of commissions paid to the agents. The Directors say they have confidence in the Conciliation Board, but believe it is equipped only to handle disputes in the grocery trade and that it does not understand the technical problems of insurance. As a result of the activities of the great Wheat Pools of Canada the ordinary grain trade now markets less than half of Canada's grain harvest. Dealers on the Winnipeg Exchange who formerly made fortunes out of the farmers' grain consigned to them now have no more business than can be handled by a skele ton staff. Mergers among the grain mer chants and private elevator companies have been widespread during the au tumn of 1929. In effect, the old indi vidualistic business of grain dealing, with its speculation, panics, corners and general disorder, is being starved to death. Such is the report sent out by the International Cooperative Alliance. A study of production and consump tion of agricultural products in England shows that milk consumption by the or ganized cooperative movement is equiva lent to one-half of the entire milk production of the country, that the coop- erators' consumption of meat is equiva lent to two-thirds of all meat produced by the farmers of England, and that the eggs consumed by the organized coop- erators is way in excess of the actual eggs laid by all the hens of the country. To be sure, a large part of all these products consumed in the movement are imported, but the study attempts to show what might be done if organized pro ducers and consumers could ever get together. The Journal of Commerce reports that chain store competition in England has caused a falling off in grocery sales by cooperatives, the decline being as much as 120,000,000 in 1926. Meanwhile, sales in all other departments have increased. Sales of groceries per member have fallen off correspondingly. Professor Hall, of the Cooperative Union, ascribes this loss to the high selling prices demanded by those who want large purchase dividends. Switzerland now has 574 Sick and Burial societies, 423 Water Supply societies, 363 Electricity and Gas Sup ply societies, and 254 Building and Housing societies. There are 11,635 co operatives of all kinds in this little mountain country. The following interesting table of •comparative figures for the two rival cooperative unions of Finland appear in the Review of International Coopera tion. S. O. K. is the older Union, more •conservative in character, whose mem bership is chiefly composed of consumers in the agricultural districts. K. K. is the younger union formed by the more socially aggressive city consumers who seceded from S. O. K. in 1916. Number of societies..................... Number of shops. ...................... Average number of shops per society. .... Number of members. ................... Average number of members per society.. Total turnover of societies............... Turnover per member................... Net surplus of the societies............. K.. S.. 112 1,347 12 225,537 2,014 1,358,200,000 Mks. 6,022 " 160,800,000 " S. 0. K. 419 2,004 4 207,707 496 1,823,600,000 Mks. 8.720 " 185,200,000 " COOPERATION 73 District Leagues WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE N. S. C. L. DISTRICT? The auditors of the Northern States' Cooperative League have been working hard all January and February to keep up with a stiff schedule of audits. From January 1st to March 5th the accounts of thirteen cooperative societies were audited; and seven more are called for in March. The N. S. C. L. auditing crew has consisted of Walter Jacobson, au ditor in charge, and K. S. Alanne, assistant. The latter is a graduate of the League's 1929 training school. Ellis L. Fox, a veteran cooperator, organizer and manager of the Cresco Cooperators, Cresco, Iowa, passed away in February, 1929. In spite of his ad vanced age, Mr. Fox followed the move ment with the enthusiasm of a youth. He attended several of our cooperative gatherings, kept up constant correspond ence with the League office, distributed cooperative literature in his locality and in every way was very active in the movement. His departure leaves a real gap in our ranks. * * * A peculiar situation has arisen at Kettle River, Minn. In last September the Farmers' Cooperative Mercantile Association (the local store society) held a special meeting attended by some 40 members, which authorized the board of directors to open a branch store at Den- ham, located about 12 miles from Kettle River, provided that certain conditions were fulfilled on the part of the Denliam people. The board opened a store at Denham the latter part of November, but to its great surprise the annual meet ing of the Farmers' Cooperative Mercan tile Association, held in February, refused, by a narrow majority, to ratify the action of the board. The meeting even went so far as to prohibit the Denham members a vote at the meeting, in spite of the fact that stock certificates had been issued to these members and they thus had been legally made share holders of the Association. A later attempt to rectify the situation by calling a special meeting of the Farmers' Cooperative Mercantile Asso ciation, also failed to bring any satis factory results. The meeting broke up in a pandemonium and nothing could be accomplished. All this simply goes to prove how big our educational problem is, and what persistent efforts it sometimes takes be fore people actually acquire a broad, liberal mind which will enable them to settle their problems at all times without bias and undue excitement. * * * In the 1930 Yearbook of The Coopera tive League, the Northern States' Coop erative League and its affiliated societies are prominently represented. The League's own section comprises 32 pages of which a report of the Proceedings of the League's Eighth Annual Convention alone takes 15 pages. More than 130 additional pages are taken up by the constituent and fraternal members of the League, some non-affiliated societies, and a few statistical tables and sum maries. Taking into consideration the illustrations and the advertisements in the Yearbook, the Northern States Coop erative League alone has more space in the Yearbook than all the other leagues together (including The Cooperative League of the U. S. A.). TWO DISTRICT LEAGUE CONVENTIONS The Eastern States Cooperative League holds its convention this year on April 19th and 20th and the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale holds its annual stockholders' meeting on April 21st. Every other convention of the Eastern League has been held in New England but this one will take place in New York, the various business sessions convening in the auditorium of the Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments. On Saturday morning the out of town delegates will be taken in the Amalgamated buses on a tour of inspection to some of the other 74 COOPERATION COOPERATION societies and will have lunch at one of the cafeterias of Consumers' Cooperative Services. The business of the convention proper will begin at 2 P.M. A social entertainment is planned for Saturday evening and a dinner for Sunday noon. The Central States Cooperative League is to hold its annual congress on May 25th and 26th in Bloomington. All pre vious Congresses of the Central States League have been held in this city. The local entertainment committee and the program committee are already at work with preparations. FRANKLIN HELPS NEW YORKERS For several months a subcommittee of the Board of Directors of the Eastern League has been considering the organ ization on a modest scale, of Cooperative Milk distribution in a few of the most promising districts of Greater New York, where cooperative stores, restaurants or apartment houses are already estab lished. In order to assist and encourage these efforts, the Franklin Creamery Association of Minneapolis has loaned the services of its President, Harold I. Nordby who in March spent more than a week in an intensive survey of possi bilities for starting such a Cooperative Creamery Association. NEW MEMBER FOR CENTRAL STATES LEAGUE The new Cooperative Company of Dil- lonvale, Ohio, which was, previous to the depression in the mining industry, the largest cooperative store society in the country, has recently voted to transfer its membership to the Central States Cooperative League. The Dilionvale so ciety has previously been directly affili ated with the National office. This Cooperative has come through the crisis of the past three years in a manner truly remarkable. The prolonged strike in all of the mines and the complete disintegra tion of the Miners Union took many of the members and customers away from the community, reduced salaries 60 per cent and ran accounts receivable up to more than $50,000. In spite of these set-backs which would have thrown almost any other Cooperative into bank ruptcy, the New Cooperative Company was skillfully guided through its diffi culties not only without any serious deficits, but with an actual gain shown for each of the critical years. To-day sales are mounting again. My Point of View By .1. P. WARBASSE QUALITY FIRST " There is hardly anything in this world that some men cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are legitimate prey." John Euskin. We are living in a period in which most industry requires overstimulation of the consumer to buy. The slightest let-up in purchasing on the part of the consuming public results in the piling up of goods in stores, warehouses, and on side tracks and a general state of alarm in the business world. The purchasing public vaguely has a no tion that it is buying beyond its means. Millions of men are busy working to pay the installments on labor-saving devices. Millions of women are hunting the shops to buy stockings that will make their legs look as though they had on no stockings. Shopping is the great American indoor sport. But in all this purchasing activity the price is the main consideration. That is the first thing the sales person mentions when he spreads out the goods. He knows it is what the customer wants to know. The price to the consumer is the great appeal. When the merchant wants to un load his stock he does not say "Great im provement in quality!" He cries out in big letters "Unprecedented slaughter of prices!'' "Compelled to Move; 25 Per Cent Slash in Prices." "Thirty Per Cent Reduction of Prices in Our Bargain Basement." "Fire Sale; Everything One-Half Price!" "Dis solving Partnership. Your Great Oppor tunity. Forty Per Cent Cut in Prices!' "Carry Me Home for $19.67!" "Look, Look, Look! Terrible Slaughter! Every thing 45 Per Cent Reduction!" These are the invitations to buy that meet the eye. Inasmuch as buying has gone beyond the needs of the individual and the ability to buy more than is needed has now become the main question, price naturally is the big factor. Now, since we live under the dominance of an economic system based upon profit- making, these circumstances are quite in evitable. Quality must be sacrified. Em phasis must be placed upon price. And the public must be made to think that it is getting bargains. This is without reference to that small minority who have ample means and who can, if they please, give attention to quality. •RTiat would become of the world, if it were not for them? They at least can and do, to a degree, hold up the ancient stand ards of excellence and make the creation of good and beautiful things possible. Golf balls, golf clubs, polo saddles, polo mallets,, tennis rackets, tennis balls, sum mer homes and Rolls-Royce cars average high in quality and beauty; while shoes, clothes, chromoes, coffee pots, tin pails and tenement houses average poor in quality. So far as the great mass of people are concerned, we live in a world of shoddy goods. No wonder that we must have so many laws against shoddy fabrication, mis- branding, adulteration, and poor construc tion. No wonder an army of officials must be employed to watch production and com merce, in order to protect the consumer from the most dreadful frauds and save his life from collapsing buildings. Alcoholic drinks become a menace where profit business has full sway, as in the United States. The profits are more deadly than the alcohol. The profit motive creates the menace. Prostitution and war are the direct products of profit domination. The punishments, fines, prohibitions, and official watchfulness save societv from living in a shambles of humbug. There is one other saving factor: It is not altogether' good business to carry fraud and poor quality too far. The goose that lays golden eggs must not be squeezed too hard. This is the reason we have the Better Business Bureau, the Honesty in Advertising movement, and the watchful chambers of commerce to see that no business man bleeds the consumer till he faints into unconscious ness—or into consciousness that he is being tied. One of the saddest pictures in American life is the home, cramped and meager and loaded full of slimsy and unbeautiful stuff. It is a prevalent picture. It is the artistry of the cheap buying psychology. The aesthetic school of John Ruskin and William Morris took the ground that mak ing, buying or using things of poor quality tended to cheapen the individual. They pointed to the working man who wanted and got a suit of broadcloth for his own satisfaction for spare occasions, as a man who was moving toward better things. When Polonius advised his son that the clothes oft proclaim the man, he was laying down a doctrine that exalted quality. "Costly thy raiment as thy purse can buy; rich but not gaudy" means consideration of excellence above consideration of price. If he had said "Look for bargains, my boy," he would not have furnished copy even for modern advertisers, for such talk would not have constituted living literature and never would have come down to our day. The good carpenter buys a good hammer; the cheap hammer fits the hand of the cheap artisan. Now education, custom and example, as well as economic necessity, are surrounding us with cheap goods, and consequently cheap people. The economic system under which we live by the force of material things, is cheapening society. And a cheapened pub lic tolerates and adopts cheap things. I see no way out so long as the profit- motive is the underlying principle in busi ness. When the consumers are organized to pro duce in their own factories things for their own use, then business is carried on for service. The cooperatively organized con sumers do not aim to buy the things they need from somebody who exploits them for his own profit. They aim to produce and distribute things for themselves. The thing produced in a factory owned by the coop erative consumers belongs to the consumers as soon as it is made. It is made for their use. Industry controlled by the consumers, to produce for them and serve them can save society from the present shabby state into which it has fallen. This, at least is a reasonable prospect. That everybody should become rich, as Mr. Ford and the Utopian capitalists dream, seems a fatuous hope. That the coopera tively organized consumers can do for them selves all that profit business says it will ultimately do for them is testified to by the steady growth and success of the cooperative movement. It is conceivable that in this movement lies the way to a better quality of commodi ties and a better quality of men. 76 CO OPE RAT 10y COOPER AT I 0N 11 II Book Reviews COOPERATIVE EDUCATION BY J. T. HULL This little pamphlet of 24 pages con tains the speech made by Mr. Hull, who is director of education and publicity for the Manitoba Wheat Pool, at the In ternational Pool Conference in Eegina last summer. In it he gives an excellent description of the philosophy behind the cooperative movement and the place of cooperation in a new social order. He also presents what he considers a sound educational program for the cooperative movement. This program contains the following four general subjects: (1) the history of the movement; (2) the eco nomics of cooperation and other move- , ments; (3) elements of good citizenship; (4) cooperative management and ad ministration. He also has some excel lent suggestions as to the best methods of carrying on cooperative education and studies the question of getting coopera tion into the public schools and colleges. , The latter half of the book contains a paper by Mr. Hull entitled "What to Read on Cooperation," which carries an excellent running commentary on the best literature of cooperative and allied movements. The Manitoba Wheat Pool has a good library from which books are mailed to the farmer members free of charge. C. L. FARMERS COOPERATIVE BUYING AND SELLING ORGANIZA TIONS IN MICHIGAN Bulletin No. 171 of the Michigan State College C. F. Claytoii and J. T. Horner are responsible for this pamphlet of 104 pages and have done an excellent job at analyzing the various cooperative asso ciations in Michigan. They find a total of 486 associations, 40 of which are store societies and the others either straight marketing societies or combined mar keting and buying organizations. Of the store cooperatives 39 are or ganized on the stock plan and one on the non-stock plan. Total capital paid in is $631,800, or an average of $16,200 for each. The membership is 9,046 or an average of 226 for each. In addition to these patrons there are non-member patrons to the number of 4,960. The total volume of business is $4,444,000 or an average of $111,100 for each of the 40 stores. The volume of business done with non-members averages more than that done with members. It is interesting to note that although the northern peninsula of Michigan is much smaller and more sparsely settled than the rest of the state, nevertheless 29 of the 40 store societies are located in that area. The study might well have given recognition to the Cooperative Central Exchange for this fact. Strange BUY A COOPERATIVE BOND Secured by a Mortgage on the Cooperative Apartment House projected by Consumers Cooperative Services, Inc., at 433 West 21st Street, New York City. $100 | $300 | $500 j $1,000 1 $1,500 | $2,000 | other amt. To CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE SERVICES, INC., 54 Irving Place, New York City: I would be willing to invest at 6%, the amount checked above in "Our Cooperative House." Please send me more information. Name ............................................ Address .......................................... to say that although the Cooperative Central Exchange is in large part re sponsible for the majority of the stores in the state, nothing seems to have been said about it throughout the entire study. Other sections cover such interesting subjects as Legal and Economic Aspects of Organization; Management Problems; The Board of Directors; Analyzing and Overcoming Difficulties; Outlook on In creasing the Volume of Business and the Number of Associations. The Reader Writes A REBUTTAL TO MR. HERRON Mr. Herron. in the February number of COOPERATION, takes issue with my statement in the December issue, that the control of the Farmers' National Grain Corporation rests' in the hands of a "board of directors selected by the different groups of grain associations." I used the word "control" in the sense that the board of directors of any cooperative or corporation controls, formulates, and directs the policies and activities of the business. MJT authority for making this statement is the Farm Board Act and the Articles of Incor-. poration and By-Laws of the Farmers' Na tional Grain Corporation. In my opinion (and that of many eminent authorities on coopera tive marketing) the sections of these docu ments cited by Mr. Herron give the Farm Board only veto power over the actions of the board of directors in certain matters only as long as tlie cooperative is in debt to tlie Farm Board. Section 9(a), (3) of the Federal Farm Board Act states "that all the outstanding voting stock or membership interests in the (stabilization) Corporation are and may be owned only by cooperative associations handling the commodity." Article V, Section ], of the Articles of Incorporation of the Farmers' Na tional Grain Corporation provides for 19 directors, one to be nominated by tlie Farm Bureau, and one by the Grange. Section 2 apportions the remaining 17 among farmer- owned grain elevator associations, grain sales agencies, and grain pools. Article V, Section 8, paragraph (i) states that the Board of Directors shall have power "to determine the business policies of this Corporation which, when the Corporation is indebted to the Fed eral Farm Board, shall be subject to the ap proval of said board." The question at issue is thus whether the requirement that the business policies, manage ment, and business methods of the Directors of the Corporation be satisfactory to the Farm Board, in effect places the control of the Farmers' National Grain Corporation in the hands of the Farm Board as long as1 the Cor poration is indebted to the Board. Mr. Herron believes that the control does lie with the Board. I believe that in practice the Directors will direct the affairs of the Corporation and that the Farm Board will act only when some action of the Corporation threatens the se curity of the funds loaned by the Board- Since the Board of Directors of the Corpora tion will not be permanently installed until April, it will take several months' experience to demonstrate whose judgment is the more- accurate. This veto power of the Farm Board is the kind which banks commonly wield over business organizations' indebted to them to assure as far as possible the repayment of the loans.. Tlie somewhat greater power in this respect given the Farm Board finds justification in the fact that the Board is advancing funds on commodities which are already pledged with the Federal Intermediate Credit Banks or private banks for loans up to 65 per cent of the market value of the commodities. (See report of the Farm Board, Jan. 15, 1930.) The Farm Board is advancing funds up to approximately the current market prices of cotton and wheat so that skillful handling of the situation is necessary in order to avoid losses. Sucli procedure is poor business and bad economics. It is likely that the experience of this year will lead the corporation to follow a' more conservative policy in making advances- to farmers in future vears when the farmer- WHY NOT BUY YOUR BOOKS AND MAGAZINES COOPERATIVELY? Send your orders to The Cooperative League and they will receive prompt atten tion. Discounts given whenever possible. Pool Your Purchases With Those of Other Cooperators Lend Your Support to the Movement THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE, 167 West 12th Street, New York City 78 COOPERATION COOPERATION 79 elected directors have charge of the policies' of the Corporation. The cooperatives appear to regard the limita tions on their independence of action imposed by the Farm Board loans as less onerous than the bankers' terms for loans. The Sun-Maid Baisin Growers axe trying to substitute a Farm Board loan for one obtained from Dillon, Beade and Co. several years ago. Co operatives handling cotton, wool and mohair, wheat, cheese, butter, milk products, rice, live stock, seeds, beans, fruit, and honey, have obtained loans from the Farm Board. Granting that a saving of about 2 per cent in the rate of interest on loans is a real inducement, my knowledge of the men at the head of these associations leads me to believe that they would not seek these cheaper loans if they thought the Board were going to exercise onerous con trol over the activities of the cooperatives. Even though Big Business were to gain control of the Farm Board, which is not likely because of the political power of tlie coopera tives and other farm organizations, I believe these enemies would not be able to dominate the coop, associations. The cooperatives can sever their connections with the Board by paying off the loans. They should be able to do this from the surplus which the charter requires the stabilization corporations to build up and which wise business policy requires to enable cooperatives to finance themselves. I agree with Mr. Herron that government subsidies are likely not to be beneficial to the development of real cooperation. But after much study and discussion with students and authorities on cooperative marketing, I have come to believe that the Farm Board is not the wolf of Big Business masquerading in sheep's clothing. I think the cooperative associations are following good business policy in taking advantage of what help the Farm Board has to offer them in the way of cheap funds and technical advice. I also believe these associations will be quick to sense any undue interference by the Farm Board and if this does occur will free themselves as quickly •as possible. GORDON H. WARD. The MONTHLY PROPAGANDA POSTER SERVICE issued by the CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE enables you to utilize the display space around the cooperative's premises for the most effective sort of cooperative propaganda, at a very moderate cost. For samples, prices and information, address: CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 1303 N. Park St., Bloomington, 111. MR. HERRON CONCLUDES THE DISCUSSION Mr. Ward has kindly sent me a copy of his reply to my letter in the February number of COOPERATION, criticizing his attitude on the Federal Farm Board. I think my letter cov ered the subject adequately, and contained the answer, from the standpoint of cooperative philosophy, to every point now raised by Mr Ward. Consequently, I shall confine myself here to brief reiteration. That the Farm Board will have only veto power over the corporations into which it is attempting to herd the farmers' marketing co operatives is Mr. Ward's contention. How anybody who understands the English language can read the Agricultural Marketing Act, the articles of incorporation of the corporations the Farm Board has already brought into be ing, and the provisions in the application for Farm Board loans—to say nothing of the speeches and statements of Farm Board mem bers—and still assert that the Farm Board will have only veto power is quite beyond my comprehension. But suppose Mr. Ward were right in his contention on this point, would it not be absurdly wrong from any cooperative stand point to defend giving a political board such veto power over cooperatives? Cooperation, in its very nature, must be free and independent, else it is not cooperation, but paternalism or bureaucracy. This is not merely academic. European experience proves conclusively that mixing governmentalism with cooperation al ways results disastrously to cooperation. Mr. Ward thinks the political power of the cooperatives will insure their control of the Farm Board. This hope is wholly unfounded, as careful students of government must agree. The cooperatives do not have sufficient political power to control the national government,- which they would have to do if they controlled the Farm Board and its actions. Our govern ment, like all others, is controlled by the dominant economic interests—and those in terests in the United States are not the farm ers or their cooperatives. The capture of the Federal Farm Loan Board by the farm-mortgage bankers within five or six years after the federal farm loan system was established is an example of what we may expect to happen to the Federal Farm Board. Can any cooperator view with equa nimity the prospect of a board controlled by the profit-seeking interests exercising even "veto" power over our marketing cooperatives? Omaha, Nebr. L. S. HERRON. A STOCK EXCHANGE, theoretically, is a place where securities may be bought and sold. To a great extent it is, in prac tice, a place where people sell what they do not own, and buy what they do not really want, and cannot pay for. GEORGE KEEN. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE President of The Cooperative League of the » United States of America Member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance A Discussion of the Consumers' Cooperative Movement In ItB Relation to the Political titate, to the Profit System, to Labor, to Agriculture and to the Arts and Sciences The Macmillan Co., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, U. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition: Verlagsgesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 58 years old Tt has 55,000 members Its rate* are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced cooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 8. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation 6. Organization and Administration of Cooperatives. For full 'particulars write THE COOPERATIVE LEAG¥E 167 West lath Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under tile auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe WOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name. .................................... Address .................. $1.00 a year 80 COOPERATION PUBLICATIONS —dp— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 $6.00 6.00- 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 2.50 1.00 3. Story of Cooperation.............$ .10 7. British Cooperative Movement,.... .10 59, Cooperative Movement in Europe., .05 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States . . .................... .05 69. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... .05 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ .10 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society....... .05 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined.. .10 9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale ........................ .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild..................... .10 15. How to Organize a District Coopera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). .................. .50 43. Cooperative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C G< Cooperative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law........... .10 46. Producers' Cooperative Industries.. .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement . 10 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store .05 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............. .25 34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish)... .02 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert).............. .06 66. International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations ............. .60 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis).................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless . 10 49. A Way Out .................... .02 55. A Better World to Live In......... .05 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... .02 62. Buttons (League emblem), 34 '"ch diameter . . . . . ............... 63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .25 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. 68. To Mothers ..................... .02 70. Farmers Marketing and Consumers Cooperation: An address by J. P. Warbasse.................. .10 71. International Cooperation: An ad dress by H. J. May............ .10 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500: $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; 1.75 1.25 .7£ .60 2.00 15.00 1.00 (26) Factory Workers Cooperate!; (28) Do You Know About Cooperation in Europe?; (40) Have You Committee on Education and Recreation?; (45) Schools and Stores, MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year................... *l nn REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (Pub. by the I. C. A.)........... Per Year, $1 50 $1.65 if paid by check. BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Cooperative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia . . . . ........................... Brightwill, L. R.: Animal " Co-op " Book—For Children . . . . ......................... Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers..................... Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 . . . . ................... Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth.. Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... Harris, Emerson P.: Cooperation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Paper bound........ Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers................. Indian Cooperation, Children's story.......... Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... Kayden, E. M., and Antsiferov, A.N.: Coopera tive Movement in Russia During the War. Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............. Mears and Tobriner: Principles and Practices of Cooperative Marketing................ Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems Owen, Robert: Autobiography................ Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic........ Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain . . . . . ......................... Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S.... Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................ Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918........................ Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark . . . . ......................... Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920...................... Sonnichsen, A.: Consumers' Cooperation. Paper bound . . . . . .......................... Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish). . . . ......................... Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy, 1927). ............................... Warbasse J. P.: What Is Cooperation, 1927... Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Cooperative Move ment in Illinois ........................ Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, 1921 ........................ Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917.. COOPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1928 inclusive, each ......................." Report of the American Cooperative Congresses, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, each............. Northern States Year Book, 1928. Paper...... The People's Year Book, 1930. Cloth, $1.25; paper bound ........................... Year Book of The Cooperative League, 1930. Until May 1st, $.75. Regular price........ $2.50 .15 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 .60 1.00 .15 3.00 4.00 .75 3.20 .25 1.25 .50 1.75 1.00 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.50 .75 1.00 1.50 .75 3.50 5.00 1.50 1.25 1.00 .60 .75 1.0(1 ,: (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; (Ten cents postage should be added for all books.) A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City CEDRIC LONG, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL.. XVI, No. 5 MAY, 1930 10 CENTS HEADQUAETEES BUILDING OF THE COOPEEATIVE TEADING ASSOCIATION of Brooklyn, New York. Tlie top floor is divided among offices, pool room and, part of the oakery plant. The entire second floor is bakery. On the first floor the grocery and, meat store may le seen on the right, the bakery store on the corner, and the restaurant on the left, beyond (to left) are two of the cooperative apartment houses for which the Finns are famous. 82 COOPERATION COOPERATION 83 I Jll Cooperative Trading Association This is the twelfth year in the life of the foremost cooperative in Brooklyn N. Y. While the first two small cooperative houses were being built in 1916 by groups of Finnish immigrants, the same people were beginning the agitation and educational work preparatory to organizing their own cooperative trading association. In 1918 a three story commercial block was put up, a bakery plant installed and the wheels set revolving. This was no mean accomplishment, for the land and the building alone cost $117,500, while the machinery and equip ment cost another $50,000. A very small part of this was raised in the form of share capital, the first mortgage covered much of the investment in real estate, and the well-known "Comrade Loans" did the rest. As soon as the bakery got under way, a retail bakery store was opened on the first floor and a meat and grocery store right next door to it. A year or two later, the top floor was opened up as a billiard and pool room for the benefit of the young fellows who otherwise might be lost to all contact with the coopera tive movement. In 1923, the restaurant department was opened in the same building. Within the past two years two other branch stores ,in south Brooklyn and one in the Harlem end of Manhattan were started for the benefit of members and friends living in the outlying districts. If we count in the business done directly with members by means of retail truck delivery and the out of town shipments to other cooperative stores and clubs, we find the association now operating nine different departments, as listed below. For the first five years the manager was Otto Arlund, directly from the advertising department of the newspaper "Tyomies" in Superior. For the next six years, Adolph Wirkkula, with a background of managerial practice in several societies, held the reins. When Mr. Wirkkula took charge of the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, in March 1929, the management of the Trading Association went to Vaino Linna, a young man who had his training under Manager Niemela of the United Cooperative Society of Maynard, Massachusetts. Politics has played no inconsequential part in the life of this interesting institution. When the great split took place in the socialist party ten years ago, the majority of the Finnish socialists in Brooklyn became communists and until the end of 1928 the control of the Trading Association lay chiefly with members of this Party, although socialists and others were to be counted among the active members and even on the Board of Directors. But early in 1929 a succession of irritating circumstances brought the socialist and communist fac tions into more direct disagreement and at the annual meeting in February in a hall packed to the window ledges, the two groups argued for many hours for supremacy. At the end of the fray, the non-communist cooperates were in control with an entire Board of their own choosing. Again at the annual meeting in 1930, the parliamentary battle was repeated with 1,000 members packed into the largest public school auditorium available and once more the non-communists came off the victors by a very few votes. These sharp political conflicts have been the cause of a great deal of ill feeling, some sabotage, some withdrawal of patronage; but by and large this fine consumers cooperative forges ahead supported by great numbers of ordinary working men and women who know that their interest in their daily bread is paramount to their interest in political shibboleths. It would be impossible to enumerate here the many and various educational activities promoted by this group of cooperators. An outdoor festival takes place regularly each May at Ulmer Park. Meetings are held throughout the year in different parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, New Jersey and Long Island, where groups of the members reside. For two years a full time educational secretary was employed and he edited a bi-monthly paper and directed organized group activities among the children and the youth. The association was the best supporter for the Cooperative Training School in 1927 and is actively behind the Cooperative Institute for 1930. Figures interest only the elect few who have learned to appreciate them, but some of the more important ones may be worth recording. Investments in land, buildings and equipment now come to $159,000, after all depreciation has been taken; and total assets are $211,000. The capital stock amounts to $43,660 and the loan capital to $91,765. The reserve fund is $38,400. Below is a birds-eye view of the sales and net gain or loss in each department in 1929: Bakery Truck Store Drivers Income from sales...... $39,091 $135,148 Net gain (loss)........ 6,803 (337) Store Store No. 10 No. 12 Income from sales...... $57,720 $20,324 Net gain (loss)........ 1,904 (415) Shipments Meat Store Out of Town Market Eestaurant No. 8 $8,173 $99,420 $67,540 $29,399 836 6,610 4,440 (1,016) Billiard Total All Eoom Departments $14,448 $471,523 5,467 24,294 (before admin, expenses) Gross Gain $202,106 195,172 203,118 Expenses $191,896 195,708 193,824 Other Income or Deductions $1,520 2,269 (381) Net Gain $11,730 1,733 8,912 The business continues to expand each year, due perhaps more to the opening of new branches than to the enlargement of the old ones. Total Sales 1927... ...... $428,121 1928......... 451,070 1929......... 471,523 All members of the Eastern States League are accorded an annual rating in regard to the support rendered the League in its work. By the prompt pay ment of dues, extra contribution to the budget of The League, support of the cooperative Wholesale, subscriptions to the magazine COOPERATION, purchase of books and pamphlets, and other cooperation with the League, the Trading Association has, for two successive years, won a rating of 100 per cent, a figure so far unattained by any other Eastern society. Nor does the Cooperative Trading Association forget other cooperatives within or outside of Brooklyn. It has on more than one occasion helped the Brownsville Cooperative Bakery over some tight place; it has invested $13,000 in the newly organized cooperative garage; it has $450 worth of stock in the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, and $400 in the Cooperative Central Exchange; additional sums in two Finnish dailies, an English language daily, and other trade union or cooperative organizations. Mutual Telephone Service Saves By J. W. HUELLE In southwestern Iowa, the farmers and townspeople own the telephone lines and switchboards, and either rent or own the central offices mutually. The cost of lines, switchboards and instru ments made the shares cost $35 to $40 «ach. The cost now would be more. Each neighborhood erected its own lines in the slack season of the year, or let the contract for the work to local men. Each party line had its own lineman, a young fellow close at hand who was paid by the hour for actual work per formed. Each line maintained its own property. Each patron bought his own batteries and made small repairs around the home, such as replacing wires when broken or torn down accidentally, etc., which anyone could do; or the patron could employ the local lineman and pay him. This makes people careful about their telephones. When the main lines needed atten tion, the lineman would attend to it. If 84 COOPERATION COOPERATION •f II the lines needed rebuilding, the owners would do this in slack times, unless storms or other conditions made imme diate attention necessary; in that case, everybody would lend a hand, and serv ice would go on with slight interruption. The cost of material and repairs, except batteries, is borne by the whole line. One or more central organizations em ploy a full-time trouble man, who takes care of difficult repairs and switchboards, and usually keeps the accounts, etc. He is under the authority of the directors, who are elected by the patrons of the several lines running into one central. All mutual centrals give each other free exchange, and have 24 hour service. This means that any patron has free-toll service as far as the mutual free-toll service system extends, and that is from 50 to 75 miles in some directions. In one or two directions where stock com panies got in before the rural people woke up, one has to pay toll; but farm ers could still buy the stock companies out or put in new rural mutual systems and save by cooperating with the established lines. The cost of service, maintenance, and for small reserve set aside is from $5 to $10 per year in southwestern Iowa. Renters who own no shares are charged low monthly rates. If an owner sells his farm, he sells his share to his suc cessor. The mutual telephone systems in east ern Kansas where I lived, were similar to those in Iowa. The one big difference was that stock companies owned the switchboards and hired the operators, then charged the rural patrons for switching—a fixed amount per year, per phone. But that was reasonable, $3 to $5 per year. You can call any central in a county, usually six to nine centrals. The upkeep of the property owned by the patrons was from $2 to $4 per year. In either place, one can make long-dis tance calls over the Bell from the home 'phone. Farmers can own and operate their own telephone systems successfully at a big saving. This has been proved by 30 years of experience. But it has to be, or ought to be, 100 per cent, or nearly that, to be successful. Just a small mutual system sticking in among stock-company systems doesn't work satisfactorily. An officer of the Bell system told me that they didn't make any money on farmers' 'phones, and would rather that farmers owned their own lines. Courtesy Nebraska Union Farmer. Editorial PEACE CONFERENCES IN A WARRING WORLD Why have all the church organiza tions, the charity societies, the pacifist groups, the liberal magazines and the progressive clubs nurtured in their hearts this past winter such ardent hopes that out of London would come disarmament or at least a reduction in the size of armies and navies? Do they all continue to harbor the comforting thought that wars are the result only of military preparedness and that the scrapping of battle ships or other engines of destruction will bring peace to the nations now locked in deadly economic combat? If so, their hopes must surely be shattered by this time when they read in the New Yark Times that present plans for naval parity with Great Britain call for an additional building program to cost us within the next five years $1,028,000,000. Great Britain at this moment, according to Philip Snowden, is spending $5,000 a minute to pay for past and future wars and the United States is spending $5,200 a minute for the same purpose. Thus does peace.come to us by way of increasing armanent on land and sea! Between 1914 and 1918 the Great War resulted in the outright killing of 9,743,914, the wounding of 20,927,458 and the loss of 3,000,000 listed as "miss ing." Four combatants were killed each minute during those 1,561 days of the war; 5,760 soldiers put to death daily. Statisticians have figured out that the human energy wasted in the world war was equal to 1,000,000 men working a 44 hour week for 3,000,000 years. Such statistics as these might be piled up here for page after page but if they are merely going to encourage people to think that wars originate in the minds and hearts of the war secre taries, admirals and generals of the world, then all such figures had better be obliterated at once. Military warfare between nations will not end while economic warfare continues. Those are the true pacifists, the true international ists, who dig into the real causes and conflicts between nations and leave the anti-militaristic crusades to the senti mentalists. For our part, we should much rather raze to the ground one section of the towering tariff wall, or place one more link in the world encir cling chain of a cooperative movement whose foundations are laid in service instead of profit, than lead a whole flock of governmental peace delegations with their attendant wives and pretty secretaries to such naval conferences as have overrun the poor city of London this Spring. C. L. STARVATION IN A LAND OP PLENTY "It seems too cold to rain; but it isn't. The drops come down in slanting lines, driven by a .bitter wind, and stand in pools upon the hardpacked, icy snow along the street. A bad night to be out, even if you are well shod and warmly clothed; and most of the men lounging along the Bowery, with the L trains rumbling overhead are neither. Their shoes are broken, their clothing is in the last stages of disrepute. Perhaps one in twenty has1 gloves, and perhaps two in five an overcoat of some sort, an over coat too large or too small, or with the but tons missing so that it has to be held together with one hand, as the fine ladies hold their fur wraps going into the opera. Misery does love company; these unhappy men move along the street, or stand huddled in doorways partly out of the rain, in twos and threes. . '. . For most of them are frightened, and fright ened men keep quiet. "You turn a corner, and here is a surprising spectacle. A line of men, three or sometimes four abreast, a block long, and wedged tightly together—so tightly that no passer-by can break through. For this compactness there is a reason: those at the head of this grey-black human snake will eat tonight; those farther back probably won't. Every few minutes, Someone tries to break in far enough toward the front to be enumerated among the blessed; and then, from those behind comes a chorus of hoots and jeers, the human equivalent of auto- mobilists blowing horns in stalled traffic, while he is roughly handled by those closest to him, until he turns away in hungry despair. It is too bad; but this is war. There are other hungry stomachs than his own, and starvation gives no quarter. "A block away, the line tails off around the corner; follow it, and there is another block's length, and beyond that, another. At one point, it crosses a street, and in order to keep traffic moving, two policemen are detailed there, who permit only a few men to cross at a time. This is a favorite spot for the gate crashers, but the bluecoat is vigilant. He sends them off with a few vigorous shoves with his club. Not unfriendly shoves; not half as rough as the Communists get in City Hall Park, but rough enough so that the victims do not try to come back. "At the very end is a pitiful spectacle. The charity on which this line depends is not un limited, and so, when about as many men have lined up as can be handled, two policemen stand behind them, facing the other way, and ward off the additional supplicants. Neces sarily, they are obdurate, but the late comers can never quite believe this, and so they line up anyhow, ten or twelve feet from the officers' clubs. There are several hundred men in this extra line, none of whom, it is certain, will get anything to eat. It so happens that at the moment we are making our inspection, the first two places in this extra line are held by a white-haired old man, and a boy of 'Sixteen. The old man looks seventy at least; he is stooped, hollow cheeked, but he stands with dignity, his sad, bovine eyes of the aged look ing at nothing. The boy is a straight young sapling, with curly brown hair under his cap. He is embarrassed—nearly all these men are as embarrased in their plight as so many children in a school play. He does not plead with the policemen as some of his fellows do; he merely stands there, looking ahead, scornful and ashamed. "What do they get, if they get it? They get food tickets worth a nickel each, and cash able only at the T. M.C. A. cafeteria nearby. . . . "This is but one line of several, on the Bowery. Indeed, it seems as though wherever you turn, there is the long gray black snake, waiting and waiting. "Standing behind the counter where the stew is passed out, you fancy you can tell these men in the hurried, shambling line before you. Here is one with a fine linen shirt, but no collar or tie; there is one whose clothes were obviously made for him toy a good tailor, a long time ago. . . . And while six out of eight faces are indifferent or sheepish—the faces of soldiers standing at ease, or of pick- and-shovel men at dinner time—there are others whose gaunt cheeks and staring eyes' portray a hell within. One of these men quietly fell forward and died last week, on the steps of an institution devoted to relief, not a hundred steps from the Bowery. He hadn't known where to go, or else he hadn't 86 COOPERATION COOPERATION 87 been willing to go there, until starvation and exhaustion had done their work. Attempts at suicide are not uncommon among the guests of these institutions; but those are mostly psycho pathic cases, the experts say. . . . "Before we say good night, Mr. Mannix of the Municipal Lodging House has something else to show us. We go down the street past the long line of waiting men, to the East Kiver; out on a wharf, and on board a small vessel tied up there for the night—an odd-job boat which runs errands for the city of New York in the daytime. She is loaned to Mr. Mannix at night, and he makes good use of her. For here in an enclosed deck space, lying on tar paulins spread on the hard boards, he puts Ms overflow customers, to the number of several hundred nightly. They sleep in their clothes of course; their toilet facilities are of the crudest; but it is better than walking the streets in the icy rain of early March. All of them, Mr. Mannix explains with a pride which his ingenuity well justifies, are "second- night men." They slept last night in the lodging house, and therefore have had a bath, and a medical inspection no more than twenty- four hours ago. "A hundred yards away, in the greasy 'black waters of the East Eiver, lies one of the biggest and handsomest yachts this yacht- student has ever set eyes on. She might well be Mr. Morgan's 'Corsair'; it is too dark to read her name. It is not too dark, however, to look through the glowing disks of her port holes at the busy, happy and presumably pros perous visitors on board. " 'That's an ironic contrast,' you suggest to Mr. Mannix. 'What do your guests think, looking at that yacht so near, while they sleep on the deck?' " 'I never heard one mention it,' says Mr. Mannix, and we button up our coats to face the rain." Faced with such a picture as this, and most of us have the picture in the back of our minds this last winter and spring in spite of our efforts to obliterate it, still our millions of workers and farmers contend by their words and actions that this is a prosperous country and that they are satisfied with an economic order where profits must be piled up at the cost of such suffering as is witnessed in every large center of population in the land. Individual grievances these men and women on the farms and in the factories and in the homes do have, but they cannot see over the top of the particular misfortunes which come to them individually. They cannot piece together the innumerable economic mis fortunes of their fellows to complete the picture puzzle that constitutes our capitalist system. In fact, it is a safe wager that nine out of every ten men standing in these very breadlines, have little if any conception of the economic causes for unemployment and - the foundations upon which our great alms giving agencies rest, "What does trade unionism or cooperation or socialism mean to these wretched souls, born, nur tured and educated in a civilization saturated through and through with the culture of capitalism? Charity societies may be necessary for immediate alleviation of distress. Mass revolt of the unemployed may provide an outlet for suppressed emotions and some reassertion of the spirit of man hood which unemployment and suffering have almost extinguished. Economic organization of the workers and the potential workers is the still greater pro gram that extends far into the future. But even beyond that and underneath it and before it is the need for ceaseless education—education in the meaning and significance of the social and econ omic order under which we live, educa tion bringing a vision of the more per fect order where business, schools, government itself are run for service rather than for profit. C. L. COQPERATORS VS. COMMUNISTS The readers of this magazine have been previously told about a controversy which developed last November be tween the Communist Party, as repre sented by its organ "Tyomies" (a Finnish daily published in Superior, Wis.), and the Cooperative Central Ex change, the wholesale of the Finnish cooperative societies in the Northwest. The Communist Party, through its "faction" formed among the directors and employees of the Exchange profess ing the Communist faith, sought to accomplish two things, but failed in both; (1) it sought to make the Central Exchange loan or otherwise donate to the Communist Party and its various sub-organizations several thousand dol lars which the board of directors of the Central Exchange refused to do without expressed authority from their own membership meeting; (2) infuriated with its failure in this attempt, the Party leaders tried to remove George Halonen as educational director of the Exchange, and evidently were also after the scalp of Eskel Bonn, the manager, blaming these two men for the opposi tion that developed in the Exchange against the demands of the Party. "Tyomies" has now for more than flve months unremittingly assailed the Exchange and particularly cooperators Halonen and Eonn, calling them "rene gades," "traitors -to the. "Working Class," "stool pigeons of the Steel Trust," "Social Fascists," and other edifying names, and trying to make its readers believe that these men are unfit to serve the cooperative movement and that they should be kicked out of the Exchange. However, in spite of the fact that Tyomies comes out six times a week •while the Exchange's own paper (estab lished last December) is published only once a week, the members of the affili ated societies of the Exchange by an overwhelming majority have so far en dorsed the stand taken by the manage ment, the educational department and the board of directors of the Exchange on this question. The annual meeting of the Central Exchange which is to be held April 21-22-23 is expected to show a 100 per cent attendance, for the first time in the history of the organization. It is believed that less than 20 per cent of the delegates will side with "Tyo mies" while an overwhelming majority is expected to give full endorsement to the Exchange board and management. Each cooperator in the Central Ex change group has been called to go through a test within the last few months: to prove his allegiance either to the cooperative movement or to the Communist Party. A small minority of the members of the Exchange coopera tives have put their party allegiance first, while an overwhelming majority have considered their first duty to be to their cooperative institutions. These people we hail as true cooperators. They know that the cooperative move ment is perfectly capable of standing on its own feet and of taking care of its own problems. Many of them do not believe that cooperation offers the only solution to the great social problem, but they have put in so much effort and have sacrificed so much to build the co operative movement that they absolutely refuse to hand over the control of these cooperatives to any other body than the constituted body of their own member ship. They wish to be friendly to other working class organizations but insist on being allowed to govern their own destinies. Let us hope that the Finnish coopera tive movement will be able to pass through this crisis with a minimum of loss and destruction, and that, after being liberated from the communist incubus, this movement will be capable of being more easily and rapidly assimi lated to the American movement and of attracting ever larger masses of workers and farmers into its fold. V. S. A. News and Comment CEEDIT UNIONS IN THE UNITED STATES Evans Clark, director of the Twen tieth Century Fund, which finances the National Credit Union Extension Bu reau, has recently compiled figures cov ering the membership and the assets for credit unions throughout the 31 states in which credit unions are now organ ized. Massachusetts leads off with 300 unions, having a total of 105,000 mem bers and gross assets of $16,000,000. New York is second with 130 credit unions which have 75,000 members and gross assets of $13,500,000. Illinois and Georgia come next with 51 credit unions each. Montana is at the tail of the list with one credit union only. There are in all 1,016 credit unions with a mem bership of 293,000 and assets of $40,- 910,000. COOPERATION COOPERATION 89 ANNUAL FOR WORKMEN'S FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY The 58th annual meeting of the Workmen's Furniture Fire Insurance Society in New York on April 3rd, was the most harmonious and constructive in several years. On recommendation of the Board of Directors, the member ship approved in principle the proposal that the society embark in the business of insuring real estate as soon as a plan can be worked out with the State Insur ance Department. Five thousand dol lars was appropriated for propaganda and educational work. A. Halonen has been engaged for a trial period of a few weeks to do promotion work among the Finns of Greater New York. All of the old officers who were eligible for re-election were returned to office. The report of the financial secretary, N. Marquer, shows at the end of 1929 a membership of 54,600, which is an increase of 2,400 within the year. Earnings of the society from its insur ance business were $65,974 and earnings from interest on investments were $40,465. The net gain for the year was $34,954. The society has now paid dues to The Cooperative League for its third successive year. GASOLINE FLOWS FASTER A gain of 70 per cent in the volume of gasoline, kerosene, and distillate shipped to local associations in the first quarter this year, compared with the corresponding period last year, was made by the Nebraska Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Association. First- quarter shipments totaled 329 cars, against 193 cars in the first three months of 1929. Shipments in March reached the new record for one month of 156 carsi, compared with 102 cars in March last year, and 136 cars in August, the high month in 1929. Thirty-one local associations were members of the state association at the beginning of 1929, and 44 at the beginning of 1930. About half of the increase in volume in the first quarter of this year was due to new associations, and about half to ex pansion of older associations. The Farmers Union State Exchange is purchasing agent for the State Oil Asso ciation. LAST YEAR IN WAUKEGAN Again in 1929, the Cooperative Trad ing Company equalled its achievement of the previous year by recording an increase over sales of 1928 in every one of its departments, and by showing a substantial net gain in all of them. °As previously reported in these pages, total sales were just short of $800,000 and net gain $42,000. The new Grand Avenue store is now on a paying basis after only three months of operation. Two hundred members were added to the lists during the year which means a good deal when consideration is given to the fact that a membership means ownership of $100 worth of stock. Pur chase rebates of 4 per cent were paid to all customers whether members or not. Beginning on May 1st, a discount of 2 per cent will be allowed on aE cash purchases. Credit accounts have been increasing at such an alarming rate that this special inducement has been offered to encourage cash trading. At the annual meeting the Board of Directors was authorized to go into the gasoline and oil business at the earliest oppor tunity. Educational work is going ahead as vigorously as ever. The success of the Women's Guild has been the cause for the organization of a Men's Guild. April was selected as: a special coopera tive month, for a drive to> recruit more members and customers. Two thousand five hundred quarts of free milk were distributed among the families of un employed members during the winter, 35 families receiving this milk regularly, over a period of many weeks. The supervisors of the City of Waukegan wrote a most appreciative letter to the cooperative in thanks for this help to the poor. HILLSBORO The Hillsboro Cooperative Association operating two stores, one in Hillsboro and one in Taylor Springs, Illinois, con tinued its excellent work during the latter half of 1929 in spite of hard times for the miners. Sales for the six months were just short of $22,000 on which a net gain of $1,750 was made. The members received an 8 per cent rebate. PURITY COOPERATIVE SOCIETY This institution at Paterson, N. J., •will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. Meanwhile, its report for 1929 shows that the oldest cooperative bakery society in the country continues to hold its own in the face of keen competition from the big bakery combines. On total sales of $250,400 of bread, rolls and cakes, a net gain of $1,442 was realized. The two newly opened butcher shops had sales of nearly $147,000 but showed a loss for the period. The Purity has the best bakery equipment to be found in any cooperative in the country. The three story bakery, land and other buildings have an original value of $76,500, and the machinery, vehicles and equipment $57,400 more, or a total of $133,000 in fixed assets, now depre ciated by $56,500. Paid in capital stock is only $6,500 and the reserve fund is $16,400. The bakery products are distributed by means of six wagons and trucks and three retail outlet stores. The society is one of the most recent members of the Eastern States Cooperative League. District Leagues AN INTERESTING CONTRAST How great differences there still may be in our young Consumers' Coopera tive Movement in the treatment of em ployees is illustrated by two cooperative store organizations in the Northern States' Cooperative League district. One is a Michigan organization doing nearly $700,000 worth of business a year and operating ten stores and a bakery. This organization has a manager who is said to be the highest paid manager employed by any consumers' coopera tive society in United States. The society is also remarkable for the fact that it pays a bonus to its employees in addition to their regular wages. The bonus on wages is in the same propor tion as: the patronage dividends to members. This year the members re ceived a ten per cent rebate on their purchases from the store during 1929. The employees also received a bonus of ten per cent on regular wages. The assistant manager proudly showed to the undersigned his bonus check for the last year amounting to well over $200. Another cooperative store society in Minnesota, doing last year about $550,- 000 worth of business, recently decided (through the action of its board) to reduce the manager's salary from $200 a month to $175 a month, in spite of the fact that its biisiness was so efficiently managed that its total operating ex penses amounted only to a little over ten per cent of sales; leaving a net gain of a little better than $23,000 (before deducting interest on the capital stock). The manager naturally considered such a reduction entirely unwarranted and promptly resigned his position. While the board of directors of this Society felt that they had authority to reduce the manager's salary without consulting the membership, they did not feel that they had authority to grant the employees: of the Society one week's vacation with full pay. This matter of vacation was- submitted by the board to the annual meeting, and by a rather narrow majority the meeting refused to allow the employees any wages during such a vacation. Just what the Michi gan society has done for its employees in regard to a vacation, we do not hap pen to know, but the bonus check alone to each of these employees last year paid for more than a month's vacation. These two instances evidently repre sent extremes in our movement in the Northwest, but there certainly is too wide a span between these two extremes. V. S. A. IN CmCAGO Mr. N. Kutzko, manager of the Rus sian Workers Cooperative Restaurant, 1628 W. Division St., reports that the worse-than-usual depression in the win ter's business is being overcome. The society's Grocery and Meat Market at 2051 W. Division St., under the manage ment of Frank Kimlik, has increased business rapidly during the past few weeks. The total sales for the week of 90 COOPERATION COOPERATION 91 March 24 were $1,160. The venture established last November with loan capital from the members has served the needs of those who had little occasion to patronize the restaurant. The inter-racial student fellowship group, under the auspices of the North western University Settlement House, dined at the Russian Workers Coopera tive restaurant, April 5. A Russian program in the society's hall was a feature of the event. Possibly this approach from the students will recom pense somewhat for the approach by the- Chicago police five weeks earlier with an anti-red raid of the society's hall. J. WESLEY BAKEK. . PERSONAL NEWS PROM THE N. S. C. L. DISTRICT Since the first of the year there have been quite a number of changes in the management of cooperative store socie ties in the N.S.C.L. district. At the end of last year Peter Kok- konen, who for ten years very success fully managed the business of the Cloquet Cooperative Society at Cloquet, Minn., resigned from his position and was later elected manager of the Farmers' Cooperative Merc. Ass'n, Kettle River, Minn. Ahti Tuohino, formerly bookkeeper for the Cloquet Cooperative Society, was promoted to manager in place of Mr. Kokkonen. Arnold Narvane, who resigned as manager of the Farmers' Coop. Merc. Ass'n, of Kettle River, is to devote all his time from now on to managing the C-A-P Coop. Oil Ass'n with its head quarters at Kettle River. Frank V. Saari has assumed the management of the Brantwood Coop. Supply Company, the business of which was formerly managed by T. R. Ranta. Since the first of February, J. D. Dahlstrom, a graduate of the N.S.C.L. training school, has managed the busi ness of the Union Mercantile Company of Isanti, succeeding 0. L. Olson. A. L. Gesme has resigned as manager of the State Line Farmers' Cooperative Company at Emmons, Minn. • We haven't yet learned the new manager's name. Walter Alt, another graduate of the N.S.C.L. training school has been elec ted manager of the Iron Belt Coopera tive Ass'n to succeed Frank V. Saari who now manages the cooperative store at Brantwood. Three other graduates of the last N.S.C.L. training school have recently found positions in the cooperative move ment. These are: Lila G. Pennala who is now working at the office of the Co operative Central Exchange; Charles Brown and Lila Kari, who are working for the Consumers' Cooperative Ass'n at Milwaukee, Wis. FOURTH CONGRESS OP THE CENTRAL STATES LEAGUE The Fourth Annual Congress of the societies in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, is to be held on May 25th and 26th in Cooperative Hall, Bloomington. Regu lar sessions will be held on Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon and Mon day morning for discussion of vital co operative subjects and the formulation of future policy. Monday afternoon will be devoted to a discussion of joint buying and plans for expansion of the merchandising activities. All societies in the central part of the country, whether members of the Cen tral States League or not, are invited and urged to send delegates to these important meetings. THE SUMMER INSTITUTES For the Institute or Summer School to be held at Waukegan in the middle of July, several speakers are already announced, among them H. I. Nordby, President of the Franklin Creamery; Charles B. Whitnall, Treasurer of the Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank, Milwaukee; E. G. Cort, Manager of the Minnesota Cooperative Oil Company; Joseph Martinek, President of the Workingmen's Cooperative Company of Cleveland; George Halonen, Educa tional Director of the Cooperative Central Exchange; John H. Walker, President of the Illinois Federation of Labor; Cedric Long, Executive Secre tary of The Cooperative League; W. E. Regli, Director of the Accounting Bu reau of The Cooperative League; Edw. Carlson and A. W. Warinner of the Educational Committee of the Central States League. Mr. Long will give one lecture each day in the series on Cooper ative Organization and Administration. Special lectures will be devoted to co operative accounting, banking, oil dis tribution, restaurants, housing, coopera tive milk distribution and various phases of the cooperative movement in Europe. The Educational Committee of the Eastern States League announces that even before the middle of April twenty students have been promised to the Co operative Institute at JBrookwood July 20~26. Two of these come on scholar ships from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and four on scholarships from Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Warbasse has promised to be one of the special lecturers at this Institute which takes place just on the eve of his sailing for'the International Cooperative Congress at Vienna. Prospective students for these two Institutes should enroll early for the facilities at both Brookwood and McCann's Park, Waukegan, restrict the number that can be accommodated. ANNUAL CONVENTION FOR EASTERN LEAGUE AND WHOLESALE The outstanding events of the three- day Convention of the Eastern League and Wholesale, which met in the Audi torium of the imposing Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments, New York City, April 19, 20 'and 21, were some good addresses and the discussion of several matters of policy affecting the future of the eastern cooperative move ment. Quentin Reynolds gave an excellent report of the work of the Eastern States Farmers' Exchange, a purchasing or ganization which now has a membership of 30,000 farmers within seven states, and which bought feed, seeds and fertil izer to the amount of $12,000,000 in 3929. Considerable controversy developed in the discussion of the relation of co operative stores to the chains of inde pendent grocers and the wisdom of establishing contractual relations with such organizations of private merchants. The Educational Committee reported that 20 students are already assured for the Cooperative Institute, which takes place July 20 to 26 and outlined the de velopment of the Eastern Cooperative News and the convening of joint educa tional conferences. Secretary Long and Accountant Regli gave a detailed analysis of each of the societies affili ated with the League. It covered not only the administration, business, and financial conditions of each society, but also the nature of its educational work, its support to the League, the factional or other problems affecting the member ship and the policies of its board of directors. The special committee on Cooperative extension told of its plans to promote and extend the eastern move ment in a systematic and careful man ner. A long discussion covered the possible employment of a field or ganizer to work among the Eastern societies and the directors were author ized to try to find the right person. At the Wholesale meeting the directors and manager were instructed to place less emphasis in the future upon selling of goods from the Wholesale and greater emphasis upon standardization of the products packed under the cooperative label and the education of the consumers to seek quality rather than low prices when they buy groceries. The Whole sale this year will (1) specialize on a restricted line of bulk commodities which can be sold throughout the east ern territory generally, such as flour, coffee, yeast and some canned goods, and (2) at the same time develop purchasing facilities to handle all of the buying for certain local societies. The selling of coal in 1929 and early 1930 was fairly effective with a total volume of 8,000 tons, but accounts receivable ran much too high; therefore the Wholesale next year will handle only the larger ac- 92 COOPERATION COOPERATION 93 counts for non-profit organizations where the credit risk is small and it will not attempt distribution to local house holders. The League Secretary's report showed 25 societies in good and regular stand ing with an individual membership of 14,000 and combined annual turnover of $5,000,000. The Certificate of Merit was awarded to six of these societies affiliated with the Eastern Cooperative League. Social events received greater atten tion than ever before in the history of the Eastern League. All of Saturday morning was devoted to a sight-seeing trip among the Cooperatives of Greater New York, in the bus belonging to the Amalgamated Apartments; and at the end of the trip the delegates were luncheon guests of Consumers' Coopera tive Services. The Amalgamated tend ered a dinner Saturday night and a banquet Sunday noon. On Saturday evening the Educational Committee of the Amalgamated Houses put on a fine concert and a one-act play, and mean while had on display around the walls of the auditorium examples of the paint ings, clay work, manual training and other artistic achievements of the ten ants and their children. Many of the delegates were guests over night in the apartments belonging to the Amalga mated members. Six directors were elected to vacancies on the Board of the -League; and at the subsequent Board meeting Miss Arnold was re-elected President, Mr. Long, Sec retary, and W. Niemela, Treasurer. At the Wholesale meeting Meyer Eubinson, Manager of the Brownsville Bakery, and Attilio Serafin, Manager of the Workers' Cooperative Union, Stafford, Conn., were elected to fill the two vacancies on the Board; and Mr. Eubinson was elected President for the coming year. The net gain or surplus for the ten months of Wholesaling in 1929 was $1,000. It was decided that 6 per cent should be paid on capital stock for last year and the balance of the surplus placed in the reserve fund; $200 was appropriated to pay for services ren dered by the Eastern States Cooperative League. Cooperation Abroad Henry J. May, Secretary of the Inter national Cooperative Alliance, is pro posing to the next Congress at Vienna that the rules of the International Co operative Alliance be amended to ex clude from membership in the future, cooperative societies doing more than 10 per cent of their total business with non-members. Dr. J. P. Warbasse, president of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., is scheduled to give two lectures at the International Cooperative School which takes place in Vienna, August 16 to 23. His first lecture will be "Consumers' Cooperation in U. S. of A." and his second "Cooperative Education and Propaganda in the U. S. of A." The tariff burden borne by the con sumers of Europe is graphically pictured by Sir Clive Morrison-Bell before the assembly of the League of Nations. In Spain the customs tariff adds 26 per cent to the cost of goods; in Poland 22 per cent; in Eumania 21 per cent; in Yugo slavia 20 per cent; in Hungary 19 per cent; in Czecho-Slovakia 18% per cent; in Bulgaria 17 per cent; in France 16% per cent; in Latvia and Italy 16 per cent; in Portugal, Estonia, Germany and Greece 15% per cent; in Albania and Lithuania 15 per cent; in Turkey 14% per cent; in Austria 14 per cent; in Finland and Sweden 13 per cent; in Nor way 12% per cent; in Ireland 12 per cent; in Switzerland 11% per cent; in Belgium 11 per cent; in Denmark 9 per cent. Only in Holland and Great Britain is the figure less than 8 per cent. "Where," asks Anders Hedberg in the Review of International Cooperation, "lies the explanation of the success of Danish cooperation, which has not been equalled in any other country?" And in answer to his own question, he says, "The main reason is the high standard of culture among the Danish farming classes. This has led to technical and organizatory questions being handled with extraordinary thoroughness and sound common sense. . . . It is the Danish farmers' belief in themselves and in one another, their capacity for united cooperation and willingness to work that have given them their present position in the European household!'' There were 10,000 insolvencies among private business corporations in Ger many in 1929. In the same year there were only 94 insolvencies among the 53,000 German cooperative societies. Claims of creditors among insolvent com panies of all kinds numbered 5,000, only 25 of which were claims against coopera tives. The arrangements made two years ago by the Czechoslovakian Cooperative So cieties for the development of direct business relations between the Agricul tural and Consumers' Cooperative or ganizations have been exceptionally successful. According to Mr. Lustig, President of the Central Union of Consumers' Co operative Societies, the Union as well as several local cooperative organiza tions purchased during 1929 agricul tural articles representing a total of 46,500 metric tons of which 27,100 metric tons or 60 per cent have been purchased directly from the Agricul tural Cooperative organizations. Independently of this action the Dis tributive Cooperative Societies pur chased during the same period milk to an amount exceeding four million Czechocrowns. All these purchases have been effectuated directly to farmers or to their cooperative organizations. S. BoRODAEWSKY. With about one-quarter of the popu lation of Switzerland engaged in agri culture it is significant that this little country can be surpassed only by Den mark in the extent of cooperative pro duction and marketing. It is computed that from the 657,082 members of 10,942 local cooperatives, an average of nine memberships is held by each farm in Switzerland. The Liverpool Cooperative Society has introduced a new scheme to its mem bers with the object of weaning them from the dubious methods of the Mu tuality Club plan of credit trading. Under this scheme 5 per cent bonus shares of one pound each are issued pay able over periods ranging from 5 to 20 weeks. Members must pay up their shares in full before goods can be ob tained, and can then buy 21 shillings' worth of goods for every fully paid one- pound (20 shillings) share. Simul taneously with the introduction of this scheme the Society had altered the con ditions of its Mutuality Club system by imposing an entrance fee of 6d. and increasing the deposit necessary before goods are obtainable from 10 to 20 per cent. The Paradise Cooperative Society of Coventry, England, is one of the oddest phenomena in the cooperative world. Not only does it bear the strange name "Paradise," but it is situated in Eden Street near the Adam and Eve Inn, and the secretary's name is W. H. Eden. Yet this society refused to join the Cooperative Union, it operates only one store, it buys its bread from a private baker, it has only seventy members, and its annual sales are about $20,000. It is one of three societies in the town and refuses to amalgamate with either of the other two. It has no branches and no deliveries. It lives chiefly on tradition, membership being handed down from father to son; in fact the secretaryship, held for 30 years by the elder Eden, now seems to have been passed on to the younger Eden. 94 COOPERATION COOPERATION 95 it Promotion of recreation by the coop erative societies of Germany is expand ing rapidly. In one year recently, 185,- 000 persons took part in 528 evening recreational programs organized by 83 societies; 78,500 women participated in more than 400 evening parties for women; 90,600 people attended stereop- ticon lectures and 561,700 attended coop erative movie shows; 57,000 children went to special stereopticon shows for juveniles and 126,000 were present at special movie shows for boys and girls. Similar work is done in France with libraries, lectures, moving pictures, mu sic schools, athletic societies, festivals, excursions, and visits to museums, fac tories, garden cities and technical schools. The consumers society of the^ Somme has its own theater seating 15,- 000 persons. No accurate statistics are available for this work in France. England is also providing recreation for cooperators. The London Society alone gave 31 concerts within six months last year and the Eoyal Arsenal Society maintains three young people's choral so- cities and four adult choral societies, three orchestras and sixteen dramatic groups. The joint dramatic groups of the various London societies this year gave a performance of "Cavalleria Rusticana.'' Germany has several cooperative so cieties organized for the particular pur pose of maintaining holiday hotels and homes at the seaside or in the forest and mountain districts. These societies are known as " Ferienheimgenossenschaft," the best known of which is that at Jena which has 5,000 members with 11 holiday homes. The chief consumers societies of France have also organized a national holiday colony society which maintains five colonies for cooperators, one in the mountains and four at the seaside. Dur ing 1928, 3,600 cooperators patronized these colonies. British societies also maintain holiday homes and two of the largest organize annual tours for visits to Germany, Denmark, Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland. In Finland two similar holiday col onies have been organized, one at the seaside for Helsingfors, another on an island in the lake at Tampere. From England comes the interesting proposal that the only permanent and satisfactory cure for the evil of highly commercialized football clubs is the or ganization and control of such clubs and matches between them by cooperative societies to be composed of the players and the fans. Propaganda against the professional spirit in a game so popular with the masses is all beside the point according to the sponsors for the new scheme. Any industry, whether for the production of radios or the staging of athletic contests, once it caters to mass consumption, becomes a huge business enterprise and the special concern of predatory financial interests. To at tempt to remove the element of large scale business from the sport is to try to turn back the hands of the clock. It is therefore suggested that the workers of England, lovers all of the game of football, reconcile themselves to the fact that the game is now a massive business, and that they must turn their attention to organizing it in the interest of the players and the onlookers rather than leaving its control entirely in the hands of the capitalists. Cooperative football societies would sell shares in small denominations to all who are in terested in the game in the local com munity. Shareholders would elect boards of directors and management committees who would hire the coaches and control the business arrangements. Profits would be rebated in proportion to patronage or be set aside so that entrance fees could be reduced the following season. Un like the cooperative store which tries to put its competitors out of business, the cooperative football club depends upon its rivals for its own success and each club would therefore be interested to promote the membership and financial success of the other clubs in the circuit. Maison du Peuple (People's Temple) of Brussels, Belgium, is the largest and best known of the Belgian cooperative societies. During the past fiscal year it increased its sales by more than six mil lion francs, to a total of 71 million francs. Two million francs were re turned as purchase rebates to members and 1% millions allotted to various social welfare schemes. In the past trading year the affiliated societies of the Association of Argentine Cooperative Societies increased from 11 to 35. This central purchase and sales agency increased its sales 57 per cent over the previous year, and purchases on behalf of member societies gained by over 100,000 Argentine dollars. The Accident, Hail, and Fire Insurance Departments all showed satisfactory profits. The Association carries on active publicity and propaganda work, supplying the national press with news items, conducting a poster advertising campaign, and sending speakers into the towns and countryside on special occasions. Recent elections in Russian coopera tive societies show that a large number of representatives of farm laborers and poor peasantry have been elected to the managing and directing bodies of con sumers' organizations. There is also an increase in the number of Com munists elected to responsible positions. In the village cooperatives Communist membership has increased 2.7 per cent over the past year; that of women has trebled. On auditing committees the Communists have gained 3.1 per cent, and women members have doubled. The Young Communist League has gained 4.5 per cent and 2 per cent on these respective bodies. THE SLAUGHTER OF COOPERATIVES IN ITALY According to Charles Edward Russell, it was Italian Big Business which drafted Mussolini and his Fascist! to make war upon the labor unions and the cooperatives. There was no campaign directed against communism, for communism had already died out. There were two great grievances which had hampered the bankers and indus trialists for years. "The first grievance was trade unionism. In the truly wonderful development of Italy which began to be noticeable about 1890, and continued to grow, labor unions had come to be a factor of overwhelming im portance. "The unions were large—if I remember correctly, there were 2,300,000 active mem bers of labor unions in Italy in 1913; which would be equivalent to at least 7,000,000 in the United States. . . . '' The other great grievance of Sig Busi ness in Italy was the cooperative movement. By 1913 or 1914, Italy had become the leading cooperative country of the world, and it looked as if, within a few years, the whole business of the kingdom would be on a cooperative basis. "To cite but one example. In Genoa, the whole vast business of stevedores was carried on by a cooperative society. The principal part of ship building and ship repairs was managed by another coopera tive. Still another 'co-op' carried on the biggest building and construction business in the city. There were cooperative depart ment stores, grocery stores, drug stores, taxicab concerns. In Milan rose the colossal structure of the greatest mercantile business in Italy—another cooperative. ... I think it was growing faster in Italy than elsewhere. Naturally, the established com mercial interests viewed this gain of coop eration with alarm. It was a deadly peril to them; and they looked around for means and a man with which to combat it. "The original Fascist organization con sisted of ex-soldiers, somewhat on the lines of our own American Legion. Its most famous member was Benito Mussolini, who formerly was one of the leaders and favor ite orators of the Left, that is the radical, wing of the Socialist party. At one time, he was editor of 'Avanti,' the Left wing Socialist paper; and was noted for the extreme character of his views and councils. "Reactionary Big Business picked Fas cism as the means and Mussolini as the man to 'save the country,' as they called it. What they meant was to crush the trade unions and smash the cooperatives. . . . "The conspiracy has1 worked—to date. The whole splendid structure of Italian labor unionism has been shattered. Workers in Italy now are at the mercy of their employers, and the 'Fascist unions' which Mussolini has set up are merely a ghastly joke. Cooperation has been annihilated. All Italy is prostrate before the Fascist army of Big Business; and one of the most attractive and progressive nations in the world is ruled by a despotism." 96 COOPERATION COOPERATION 97 I My Point of View By J. P. WAEBASSE CHAIN STORES AND NO CHAINS In one state in the United States, dur ing the past three years, 312 retail stores went out of business. During the same period 61 chain stores started busi ness in the same state. This is a fair picture of what is taking place throughout the whole country. It is said that the chain store is putting the private retailer out of business. The public accept these changes with complacency, if not satisfaction. The chain store is really a popular institu tion. The average household is happy to learn that a chain store is going to open its doors in the neighborhood. But there is always another side to the story. The 312 stores that closed paid local taxes averaging $500 each or $156,000. Of these stores 198 had oc- ' cupied their own store building, and 114 cancelled leases and left a building empty when they closed. These stores had been run by local citizens. In the small towns the local storekeeper is an important person. He pays a good share of the taxes. He is one of the prominent contributors to the funds which build the school houses, the public library, the park, and water sup ply. He is usually a home owner, and a factor in the social community. When the hat is passed around for charity or social welfare purposes he contributes. He carries on credit the man who is out of work or who has suffered some other economic disaster. We may say of the private merchant what we will, he occupies an important place in the community, and serves a useful purpose. For this service he takes a moderate pay; and, in the case of the 312 above referred to, not enough to make ends meet. When the chain store takes the place of the private merchant, the picture changes. The chain store is owned, con trolled, and directed from some other place. It is run by cheap, underpaid and overworked employees, who put in 70 to 84 or more hours a week. They have neither time, inclination, nor in terest for community matters. While the private merchant spends locally all the money he can, the chain store sends its money every day to the central office in New York or some other metropolis. The money goes out of the community just the same as the mail-order money! The chain store, in other words, is not a local but a foreign institution. It never becomes a part of the community like the old fashioned store. Furthermore the chain store has not a local conscience. It is notoriously given to tricks. A St. Louis paper has published 241 instances of shortweighing by chain stores. In 19 of these cases where the manager was arrested, found guilty, and fined, 17 of the guilty men were retained in their positions. It is shown that false adding is a common practice. An adding machine has actu ally been discovered in use with keys that do not print, permitting a figure to be added to the total without its ap pearance on the slip. There are some amusing stories told about the allurements of "leaders." The shopper, who saves eight cents on some "leader," is then overcharged ten cents for some inferiqr articles and uses a dollar's worth of automobile and time to carry home the goods, is not driving a sharp bargain. They say the chain store has come to stay and is destined to supplant the private shop. I am not so sure. The retail trade is thoroughly alive to the situation. It is carrying on extensive propaganda in its own interest. Gover nors, senators, attorneys-general, clergy men, broadcasting orators, and chambers of commerce are telling the public of the "chain store menace." All of the above arguments are pre sented to the public. In one community where such public agitation was carried on, the trade of the local merchants was distinctly increased and the chain store was put out of business. The Lieutenant-Governor of Wiscon- gin, discussing the chain stores, has re cently said: "Financial power in the hands of men living in distant cities knows no charity. It hears no cry of distress. It has no pity. It responds to no touch for community betterment. We must take from these monopolies the sinews of power or the dream of great communities may be shattered and the fine flower of distinctive community life will go to seed." I think of all of this sentiment against the chain stores not so much as a plea for the economic interest of the local merchants as an expression of resistance against the modern tendency toward centralized power, control, and domina tion. The desire on the part of the peo ple of local communities, so far as pos sible, to have in their own hands the affairs of the community is a good sign. It indicates that the spark of individual ism and personality has not utterly faded away. All of the arguments in favor of the local merchants, as against the chain stores, hold still more strongly in favor of stores owned and controlled by' the consumers of the community. Here is real local interest spread out among the people where it belongs and not cen tered on the merchant as the symbol of local interest. Community life is best served when the people serve themselves. This is better than the people serving the merchant, whose first concern is to serve himself. Community life is the life of all of the community, community economics unites the people in their own concerns. Book Reviews LABOR AND INTERNATIONALISM By LEWIS L. LOBWIN The Macmillan Company New York, 1929. This is an excellent and most fair- minded discussion of labor as an in ternational force. The international activities of trade unions and other workers' organizations are admirably presented. Mr. Lorwin is one of our most careful students of labor problems. This book perpetuates for him the excel lent reputation which his former works have won. It is interesting to note that the most significant international move ment among the working people is omitted from this book. Mr. Lorwin has seen fit not to classify the cooperative as something bigger than any class. He knows cooperation, he has seen it in many countries, and he is aware that it is something bigger than any class. Its omission from this book is not because the author is not familiar with coopera tion but rather because he understands much about it that prompts him to know that it is something greater than a labor movement. J. P. W. ANALYZING RETAIL SELLING TIME Pamphlet of the United States Department of Commerce This is a sixteen page mimeographed study made by G. B. Bittner, almost completely statistical in form and con taining many graphs which most vividly illustrate the author's findings. The study covers a multitude of business in stitutions in fourteen cities in the United States. How many of us realize for instance, that the average salesman in the cities of the country spends only 42 per cent of his actual time on selling? Twenty-five per cent of the time goes to care of stock and interviews with cus tomers. One-third of the entire time is idle. Since all items in a grocery store are not all the same price, it costs more to sell some items than others. Fourteen separate items have been studied by Mr. Bittner. More than sixteen cents out of every dollar income on one of these items goes to selling expense, whereas another item costs only three and a half cents out of the dollar for selling expense. Any manager or head salesman will find this study valuable. C. L. 98 COOPERATION COOPERATION 99 COOPERATIVE CHILDREN, ATTENTION! There are many children in the coopera tive societies of Germany who are collecting stamps. They would like to exchange duplicate stamps with young cooperators in the United States. If you want to do this, you should send your name and ad dress to Uncle Reinhard, c/o The Coopera tive League of the U. S. A., 167 West 12th Street, New York City. He will send it to some German boy or girl who will send stamps to you; and you should then send back American stamps in return. Do not hesitate because you cannot write to these children in the German language; you may answer them in English. ANNUAL LIFE INCOME SOME MEMBERS RECEIVE 40% ANNUAL DIVIDEND ON MONEY PAID IN Are you interested in increasing your annual income against old age? All members of the family eligible from baby to grandparents. Small Annual Dues Write for Circular of Plan BROTHERHOOD OP THE COMMONWEALTH (Under "Benevolent Orders Law" of the State of New York) 10 Gold Street NEW YORK CITY The MONTHLY PROPAGANDA POSTER SERVICE issued by the CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE enables you to utilize the display space around the cooperative's premises for the most effective sort of cooperative propaganda, at a very moderate cost. For samples, prices and information, address: CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 1303 N. Park St., Bloomington, 111. STATEMENT OF THE OWNEKSHIP, MANAGE MENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., KEQUIBED BY THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST JJ4 1912. of COOPERATION, published monthly at No™ York, N. Y., for April 1, 1930. ftew State of New York, County of New York, ss.: Before me, a notary public in and for the Statp and County aforesaid, personally appeared T N. Perkins, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that she is the businp«S manager of COOPERATION and that the follow ing is, to the best of her knowedge and belief a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation) etc of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, embodied in section 411, Postal Laws anfl Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form to wit: ' 1. That the names and addresses of the pub lisher, editor, managing editor, and business man ager are: Publisher, The Cooperative League of U: S. A., 167 West 12th Street, N. Y. C.; Editor Cedric Long, 167 West 12th Street, N. Y. C : Business Manager, J. N. Perkins, 167 West 1th Street, N. Y. C. 2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corpora tion, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other unincorporated con cern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) The Cooperative League of U. S. A.. 167 West 12th Street, N. Y. C.; President, J. P. Warbasse. 1CT West 12th Street, N. Y. C.; Vice-President, H. I. Nordby. 2108 Washington Avenue, N-, Minneapolis, Minn.; Secretary, Cedric Long, 167 West 12th Street, N. Y. C. 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning' or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mort gages or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None. 4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and secur ity holders, if any, contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the per son or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given; also that the said two paragraphs con tain statements embracing affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any inter est, direct or indirect, in the said stock, bonds, 'for other securities than as so stated by her. 5. That the average number of copies of eacb issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid sub scribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is .......... (This information is required from daily publications only.) J. N. PERKINS, Business Manager. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 29th day of May, 1930. (Seal) SAMUEL BARAL. (My commission expires March 30, 1931.) COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE President of The Cooperative League of the United States of America • If ember of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance A DiHonftftion of the Consumers* Cooperative Morement In It* Relation to the Political Btatc, to the Front Syitem, to Labor, to Agriculture and to tho Art* and Sciences The Macmillan Co., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, U. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition: Verlagsgesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 58 years old It has 55,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and eon- ducted by experienced cooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 2. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles .and Theory of Cooperation 6. Organization and Administration of Cooperatives. For full particulars write THE COOPERATIVE LEAG¥B 167 West l!2th Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Branttord, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and eea- dncted under the aoHplce* of Th« CooperatiTe Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per «nmim "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wi». COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name..................................... Address.................................. $1.00 a year 100 COOPERATION PUBLICATIONS —OF— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 .10 $6.00 .10 6.00 4.00 4.00 3. Story of Cooperation............. 7. British Cooperative Movement..... 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe.. .05 4.00 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States . . .................... .05 69. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... .05 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ .10 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society....... .05 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined.. .10 9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale ........................ .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild. .................... .10 15. How to Organize a District Coopera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson)................... .50 43. Cooperative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C Of Cooperative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. .10 (26) Factory Workers Cooperate 1; (28) Do You Kirn™ About Cooperation in Europe?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (45) School and Stores. a MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year................ 41 rin REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (Pub. by the I. C. A.)........... Per Yea? $150 $1.65 if paid by check. ' *1'50 BOOKS 4.W) The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Cooperative Mov- « ". ' * *-."•>. ^ ; ..-'. ' ' '' -. '.• * -, '• ""'' "l-:^ -: " '•"W'''?>. *• "- '""-,• •'?«•- - ->v - • •:'-l - -,4 "COOPERATIVE SQUARE" YOUR COOPERATIVE ADDRESS Telephone Your City Background: A light colored cardboard, 20 x 11 inches, flexible so that it will roll. Printing: To be in grey or black. Each society is allowed three lines for Its own name, address, etc. Calendar Pad: 7x3 inches in size, printed in two colors, black and red. Painting: Done in seven colors, by Henry Askeli, the painting this year is to be larger than formerly,—13 x 10 inches, arfti even more beautiful in the display of brilliant colors. Prices: For lOO calendars.........................9 13.00 (Pi-eight or Exp. collect) For 500 calendars......................... 60.00 (Freight or E'xp. collect) For 1000 calendars......................... 110.00 (Freight or Exp. collect) 118 COOPERATION COOPERATION 119 I (Continued from page 116) with the chain store. Either solution is at the expense of the consumer who also is a member of the community. Retailers create no new wealth; they merely take toll from the con suming public and the fairness of their rate is measured by the value of the service rendered. If the individual retailers lived up to their own propaganda, consumers would have more sympathy for their local appeal—the trade-at- home slogan. Talking with a tailor in the same small New England town referred to above soon after a trade-at-home effusion had appeared in the local paper, I learned that the tailor pressed the suits of all the retailers who had signed the advertisement and not one of those suits was purchased in the local town where there were several men's furnishing stores, but every one of those suits was pur chased in Boston or New York. By and large, the community will gain most if those who compose it buy where their money will bring them the greatest value. Those of us who believe in cooperation are convinced that cooperative purchasing offers the ultimate solution for this important problem. Success ful cooperative purchasing, however, cannot be established on sentimentalities and it can only become influential and permanent when the cooperative purchasing organizations use the buying power their members give them to select the best values obtainable and distribute them at costs which compare favorably with those of the distributing agencies with which they compete. QUKNTIN REYNOLDS, General Manager, Eastern States Farmers Exchange, Springfield, Mass. ANNUAL LIFE INCOME SOME MEMBERS RECEIVE 40% ANNUAL DIVIDEND ON MONEY PAID IN Are you interested in increasing your annual income against old age? All members of the family eligible from baby to grandparents. Small Annual Dues Write for Circular of Plan BROTHERHOOD OF THE COMMONWEALTH (Under "Benevolent Orders Law" of the State of New York) 10 Gold Street NEW YORK CITY INTEGRAL COOPERATION Editor Cooperation: Thank you for copy of the March issue of COOPERATION containing review of my mimeo graphed pamphlet. I appreciated very much what you said about my efforts to treat care fully the various problems connected with the organization of an Integral Cooperative Society. I was interested also in your wish that somebody would write a good book on Failures of Cooperative Colonies, although there are already quite a few books on the matter. As for me, what amazes me still more is that some colonies have been successful, and have lasted for many years, in spite of a very deficient organization for all sorts of other causes of failure. I cannot help detecting, in this very fact, an evident sign of the vitality of the principle. This is enough, I believe, to justify my taking an affirmative rather than negative standpoint toward the movement for full community cooperation, also my trying to help it in becoming more methodical, more solidly founded, more of an integrant part of the cooperative movement at large. Not a "short-cut route to the cooperative common wealth," but one of the various constituents, the sum of which will result in the cooperative commonwealth. About your definition of Integral Coopera tion, "the form of colony in which the colo nists aim to produce all that they need," I confess that it is entirely new for me. "In tegral Cooperation" has not been understood and is not being understood generally so. Fourier and his school, Albert K. Owen, and the others who have made use of this term in its limited meaning, that is to say, with ref erence to colony schemes, never thought of im posing such an impossible purpose to their enterprises, and of course the form of co operative society that I am advocating has nothing to do with your definition. HKNRI LASSERRE. Victoria College, Toronto. The MONTHLY PROPAGANDA POSTER SERVICE issued by the CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE enables you to utilize the display space around the cooperative's premises for the most effective sort of cooperative propaganda, at a very moderate cost. For samples, prices and information, address: CENTRAL, STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 1303 N. Park St., Bloomington, 111. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE President of The Cooperative League of the United States of America Member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance A Discussion ef the Consumers' CooperatlTe MoTernent In Its Relation to the Political State, to the Profit System, to Labor, to Agriculture and te the Art* and Science* The Macmillan Co., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, TJ. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition: Verlagsgesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price^ 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 58 years old It has 55,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIEE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced cooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 2. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation 6. Organization and Administration of Cooperatives. For full particulars write THE COOPERATIVE LEAG¥E 167 West) l«ith Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the ausplcea of Tba Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name. .................................... Address.................................. $1.00 a year 120 COOPERATION PUBLICATIONS —OF— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 ..$ .10 $6.00 10 6.00 3. Story of Cooperation.............: 7. British Cooperative Movement..... 38. Consumers Cooperation in the United States (illus.), 1930............ .10 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe.. .OS 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States . . .................... .OS 69. Story of Toad Lane (By Stuart Chase). ..................... .OS TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............ 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society. 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined.. 9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale . . . . .................... 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild..................... 15. How to' Organize a District Coopera tive League ................... 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). . . . . .............. 43. Cooperative Housing ............. 50. A B C cJ Cooperative Housing.... 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................. MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law........... 46. Producers' Cooperative Industries.. 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............. 34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish)... 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert).............. •66. International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations ............. 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis).................... 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless 49. A Way Out .................... 55. A Better World to Live In........ 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business.... 62. Buttons (League emblem), 54 inch diameter . . . . . ............... •63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diarn.. 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. 68. To Mothers ..................... 70. Farmers Marketing and Consumers Cooperation: An address by J. P. Warbasse.................. 71. International Cooperation: An ad dress by H. J. May............ .10 .05 .10 .10 .02 .10 .10 .50 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .10 .05 .25 .02 .06 .60 .25 .10 .02 .05 .02 .25 .02 .10 .10 8.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 2.50 1.00 1.75 1.25 .75 .60 2.00 15.00 1.00 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; and Stores. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS Cooperation—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hundred) Subscription, per year................. $1 nn REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (Pub. by the I. C. A.)...........Per Year, $1 50 $1.65 if paid by check. BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Cooperative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia . , . . ........................... Brightwill, L. R.: Animal " Co-op " Book—For Children ............................. Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers..................... Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland, 1920 . . . . ................... Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth.. Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... Harris, Emerson P.: Cooperation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Paper bound........ Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers................. Indian Cooperation, Children's story.......... Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... Kayden, E. M., and Antsiferov, A.N.: Coopera tive Movement in Russia During the War. Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............. Mears and Tobriner: Principles and Practices of Cooperative Marketing................ Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals and Problems Owen, Robert: Autobiography................ Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic........ Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain . . . . . ......................... Redfera, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S.... Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................ Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918........................ Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark . . . . ......................... Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920...................... Sonnichsen, A.: Consumers' Cooperation. Paper bound . . . . . .......................... Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In iddis" ' P.: Cooperative Democracy, Yi Warbasse, 1927). ............................... Warbasse, J. P.: What Is Cooperation, 1927... Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Cooperative Move ment in Illinois ........................ Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, 1921 ........................ Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917.. COOPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1929 inclusive, each ......................... Report of the American Cooperative Congresses, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, each........ Northern States Year Book, 1928. Paper...... The People's Year Book, 1930. Cloth, $1.25; paper bound ........................... Year Bool: of The Cooperative League, 1930. Cloth, $1.50; paper bound.................. $2.50 .15 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 .60 1.00 .15 3.00 4.00 .75 3.20 .25 1.25 .50 1.75 1.00 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.50 .75 1.00 1.50 .75 3.50 5.00 1.50 1.25 1.00 .60 .75 1.00 A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at t, March 3, 1879. Price\1.60 JL year, VOL. XVI, No. 7 Published Monthly by IPEEATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S. A. Street, New York City ;, Editor under the Act of JULY, 195S -•"™—— - \ 10 CENTS IN THIS ISSUE THE TARIFF ' J. P. Warbasse THE BANKERS ADVISE THE FARMERS Editorial (Ten cet,ts postage should be added for all books.) PROGRESS OF SIX COOPERATIVE WHOLESALES IN THE UNITED STATES WHAT THE COOPERATIVE OIL ASSOCIATIONS ARE DOING REPORT OF FOURTH CONGRESS OF THE CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE CALL TO THE NINTH CONGRESS OF THE NORTH ERN STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE I II1 i 122 COOPERATION Progress of Cooperative Wholesaling in the United States in 1929 . (Extract from Report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, TJ. S. Department of Labor.) The year 1929 witnessed the starting of operations of two new cooperative wholesale organizations. One of these was the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, whose headquarters are in New York City and which began business in March. The other was the Union Oil Co., a cooperative wholesale organization which serves many of the farmers' cooperative oil associations of the Middle West, especially in Kansas. Its headquarters are in Kansas City, Mo., and it began operations in February, 1929. The Farmers' Union State Exchange in Omaha, Nebraska, has been in existence since 1914, the Cooperative Central Exchange since 1917, the Grange Cooperative Wholesale since 1919, and the Minnesota Co-op Oil Co. since January, 1927. TABLE 1.—DEVELOPMENT OP Six COOPERATIVE WHOLESALES IN 1929 Krserve fund $15,492 2,675 40,619 C1) Name and location of wholesale Cooperative Central Exchange, Su- Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, New York N Y Farmers' Union State Exchange, Grange Cooperative Wholesale, Seattle, Wash. ............... Minnesota Co-op Oil Co., Minne- Union Oil Co. (Cooperative), Total .................... Name and location of wholesale Cooperative Central Exchange, Suj Wis. ........................ Eastern Cooperative Wholesale, York N Y Num ber of affil iated socie ties 90 10 180 6 45 C1) 396 lerior, New Farmers' Union State Exchange, Omaha, Nebr. ............................ Grange Cooperative Wholesale, Seattle, Wash. ............................ Minnesota Co-op Oil Co., Minneapolis, Union Oil Co. (Cooperative), Kansas Citv Mo ... ...........----- Total ..................... ..... * TJnaffll- iated socie ties pur chasing- through whole sale 34 35 8 20 C1) 97 Sales $1,755,627 2 203,756 2,001,725 116,721 448,013 3 309,261 £22,501,963 Ectail branch es oper ated by whole sale 10 1 C1) Number of em ployees 55 2 38 3 5 C1) 32 206 Net profit $35,798 1,365 50,583 1,074 7,798 4,922 $416 ,591 Sharp capital $83,122 1,700 323,450 30,040 C1) $483,312 Patron age divi dends $28,088 22,068 C1) $297,036 $375,401 Interest on share capital $4,710 50 19,451 $26,864 i No data. 2 Nine months. 3 Ten months. The Cooperative Central Exchange handles groceries, flour, and certain farm supplies such as feed, paints, wire nails, fencing, roofing, etc., and is contemplating the introduction of clothing and footwear (shoes and rubbers). It operates a bakery whose output for 1929 was valued at $101,156. The COOPERATION 123 Eastern Cooperative Wholesale does as yet only a jobbing business, no ware housing being attempted. It handles orders of flour, feed, groceries, coal, and " anything needed by the stores " which are its members. The Farmers' Union State Exchange carries groceries, clothing, coal, gasoline, motor oils, auto mobile tires, and all kinds of farm supplies. The Grange Cooperative Whole sale does a jobbing business in groceries, feed, and hardware. The Cooperative Central Exchange and the Eastern Cooperative Wholesale are having goods packed for them under a special cooperative label. In that way they are building up a demand for cooperative goods, are able to control the quality of the goods sold, and are enabled to cut down the number of brands of goods carried. Table 2 shows the sales, profits, and returns to member societies (in interest and dividends) since 1920, of the three consumers' wholesales which have been in operation since that time. TABLE 2. — DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATIVE Year 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 Farmers' Union State Exchange.... 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 WHOLESALE SOCIETIES, 1920 TO Sales Net profit $409,591 $6,798 312,347 3,499 337,567 1,183 504,177 5,181 613,215 5,973 835,532 8,869 1,048,293 11,648 1,255,676 18,335 1,517,813 23,894 1,755,627 35,798 2,387,972 (l) 1,468,133 2 83,000 1,148,133 2 24,832 1,335,662 9,655 1,347,605 20,647 1,521,312 36,633 1,512,024 34,222 1,618,288 49,096 1,774,143 37,930 2,001,725 50,583 53,370 (i) 44,254 (1) 156,122 (1) 135,161 (1) 246,096 (i) 106,677 (1) (*) C1) 105,880 1,785 109,862 1,321 116,721 1.074 1929 Patronage dividends C1) C1) C1) C1) C1) $5,506 7,722 13,752 17,296 28,088 C1) 12,136 22,068 C1) (!) C1) C1) C1) C1) 1 No data. 2 Loss. It is seen from the above table that all three wholesales experienced a drop in sales from 1920 to 1921, probably due mainly to business conditions, including falling prices. The Cooperative Central Exchange sales, however, rose in 1922, beginning a steady increase which has continued without a break through 1929. The Exchange has shown a profit each year, and during the past five years has returned to its member societies $86,767 in interest and patronage dividends. The Farmers' Union State Exchange sales have shown considerable fluctuation from year to year, but have increased gradually, although they have not yet reached the figure attained in 1920. The Exchange was originally owned and controlled by the Farmers' Union of Nebraska, but was reorganized in 1919, at which time the whole basis of operation was changed. Four classes 124 COOPERATION COOPERATION 125 of memberships were created, all of which carried the right of stock owner ship in the organization: (1) Individual members of the Farmers' Union (2) local Farmers' Union cooperative associations, (3) locals of the Farmers' Union, and (4) any other State Farmers' Union. In 1925 the value of the shares was reduced from $25 to $12.50, and the so-called " cumulative divi dend " was dropped. Heavy losses had been sustained in 1921 and 1922, and although the operations of each succeeding year have shown a profit, it was some years before the deficit could be wiped out. The last two years, how ever, the Exchange has been paying both patronage dividends and interest on the share capital, to the amount of $73,226. The Grange Cooperative "Wholesale sales also fell in 1921, but increased remarkably in the next three years, exceeding $200,000 in 1924. A very serious drop occurred in 1925, but the sales have shown a gradual increase since 1927. The profits of the wholesale have had to go toward paying off the deficit incurred in the early years. Editorial BANKERS ADVISE THE FARMERS Mr. Legge of the Federal Farm Board is vigorously preaching the gospel of restricted production on the farms, urg ing the farmers to cut acreage to reduce the volume of wheat, cotton, dairy products, fruit and vegetables, so that prices may be held up or increased to higher levels. The reaction of intelligent farmers to this proposal is well stated by Arthur Mikalek, a farmer from Eolfe, Iowa, in a letter to Senator Brookhart: "I am a small farmer in Iowa. For years I have devoted my time and efforts to improve my methods so that I could raise more grain per acre, more milk per cow, more beef per steer, more eggs per hen. That is the only way I can earn my living, and lay something aside for my old age. We have a county agent who meets with us farmers to show us how we can do this better. Our agricultural school at Ames, supported by the taxes we pay, is teaching our boys to get more out of our farms. They are experimenting with crop rotation, soil culture, preventatives for disease and everything pertaining to the farm to find ways of raising more products. "We fight the weather, plant and animal disease, insects and weeds and pray that the Lord will reward our efforts and that we may produce more abundantly. Now Mr. Legge says that is all wrong. If we don't quit this, prices are going way down. . . . Why should I fertilize my soil? Why should I vaccinate my hogs? Why should I cultivate my corn? Why should I care for my live stock?" The Department of Agriculture is spending millions of dollars to aid the farmers in improving and increasing the agricultural production of the country. Mr. Legge is carrying on a counter offen sive, telling these farmers to disregard the advice of the Department and to follow the practice of trustified industry which maintains prices by restricting production. He doesn't even seem to understand that there is no method of control over several million individual owners of cropland, dairy herds or sheep ranches. And what is the reaction of the big Eastern bankers to such a proposal? The National City Bank is probably as highly esteemed as any institution of its kind in the country, perhaps in the whole world. Each month it publishes a bul letin. In that bulletin for April it offers its own program for curtailing produc tion of farm products. Here it is: "After all, then, what better method of regulating production, and of determining where production shall be curtailed, can there be than the natural process of elimination based on individual results? Why not allow the marginal lands and marginal farmers to drop out of production? ... In short, why not accept the law of the survival of the fittest, which, in business does not mean that anybody is exterminated, but simply that everybody must endeavor to find the place in which he will be most useful. This may be in Henry Ford's assembly line rather than in the management of a herd of dairy cows. . . - The theory of a solidarity of interest among farmers and of a situation calling for mass treatment by legislation is fundamentally in correct. The progress of the world has been accomplished by individualism, not com munism. '' The great industrial magnet, Mr. Legge, head of the International Har vester Company, tells the farmers to adopt the practice of the world's most powerful trusts and cartels; he seems to have fallen for the fallacious reason ing which says we suffer from overpro duction. One of the foremost banking houses of the country goes way to the other extreme, offering the farmers no better advice than to continue the pres ent method of unrestricted competition between individual growers with the in evitable crushing out of the less skillful or the less well-to-do; it fears coopera tion and wants to return to complete laissez faire. When will the farmers themselves, out of their own experience and the application of their intellects to their own problems, adopt a program which is specifically adapted to agricul tural conditions, regardless of whether it satisfies the bankers and machinery manufacturers, or not? Cooperative buying of their requirements and coop erative marketing of their products, organized on a country wide scale, but through local voluntary associations, with the best kind of cooperative educa tion as their guide, and economic neces sity supplying the motive power—this is the only effective and permanent solution to the agriculture problems of the farm ers in America. The bankers may not like it, the capitalists may not like it, there are some few millions of farmers who do not seem to like it, yet thanks to the untiring and loyal efforts of a handful of farseeing agricultural leaders, this is the solution that is ultimately going to be adopted. C. L. "COOPERATIVE CONTROL" Some people think that a one man board, controlling a cooperative, is bet ter than a board of five or seven. The one man board idea has resulted in the failure of many cooperatives which have discovered too late the fallacy of follow ing one man's advice. A cooperative operating in the mar keting of apples in the Wenatchee dis trict of the state of Washington has conducted an interesting experiment. The policy of marketing apples is deter mined by the board after a careful study of the estimated supply and the esti mated demand and the effect upon the price. It was early found that there were as many different ideas in regard to the price as there were directors, and this cooperative adopted a method of having each director make his estimate of the price which would prevail on the new crop, and an average was taken of the estimates of all the directors. The several estimates of each director have been preserved through a period of over a dozen years, and an examination of the result shows that the combined esti mates of the board have been very close to the actual prices over all this term of years, while there is not a single di rector whose estimates have averaged any where near as accurate as the combined estimates of the whole board. This interesting record constitutes a mathematical proof that the combined judgment of seven or nine interested men is more reliable and dependable than the judgment of any one of them singly—particularly in the marketing of a single commodity. The problems of a consumers' cooperative are much more complex, but the same general rule should hold there, also. If the boards of our cooperative associations take an ac tive interest in the work, we have little to fear from following their combined judgment when freely and honestly expressed. A. S. G. WARRING INDUSTRIES EXPLOIT THE CONSUMERS While the consumers of the United States look forward with little enjoy ment to the tax of several hundreds of millions which is being imposed upon them through the new tariff act, the consumers of Canada have prospects of similar rises in the cost of goods in their own market because of the re taliatory tariff recently imposed in that country. And producers of iron and steel products as well as growers of butter, potatoes, live stock, meats, eggs, oats, wheat, rye and cut flowers in the States find that they now will be un able to sell in Canada because of the new tariff on these items, just as other producers to the North of us will not be able to sell to our consumers because 126 COOPERATION of our tariff wall. Thus do the greed of certain industrial corporations and tries, increase the cost of living f0r all consumers, impede trade between COOPERATION 127 the shortsightedness of thousands of neighbors, and create ill will wher-p .C_ ___ ___ _1 _ _ _ I'__ *j__ A.! „__ „ __ ,i_ ,1 _!___£?„„ _•__.!___ . • , ^ 1 amity C.L. farmers place limitations upon the markets for the workers of both coun- there was before international News and Comment THE COOP. OIL MOVEMENT SPREADS E. G. Cort, manager of the Minnesota Co-op Oil Company of Minneapolis, Minn., and V. S. Alanne, secretary of the Northern States' Cooperative League, recently made an organization trip to Central and Northern Wisconsin, and to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in the interest of the cooperative oil movement, which resulted in starting three new regional cooperative oil asso ciations. One is the Northland Coopera tive Oil Association, at Eben Junction, Mich. Three cooperative store organiza tions, the Eben Farmers' Cooperative Store Company, the Rock Cooperative Company and the Trenary Farmers' Cooperative Store, formed this Organ ization, and put in a total of $6,000 as initial capital. The organization will erect at the start two bulk plants, one to be stationed at Eben Junction and the other at Rock. The H-O-B Cooperative Oil Associa tion was organized at a meeting held at Bruce Crossing, Mich., and will start with two cooperative store organizations (the Settlers' Cooperative Trading Com pany of Bruce Crossing and the Watton Cooperative Store of Watton) as share holders. The letters H, 0, and B are the initials of Houghton, Ontonagon, and Baraga counties which the associa tion expects to cover. The plan is to erect bulk stations also at Hancock and Pelkie as soon as the Farmers' Coopera tive Trading Company of Hancock, and the cooperative stores at Herman, Pelkie and Nisula have joined the new oil association. The third regional cooperative oil as sociation is being organized in the Gogebic district, taking in the coopera tive stores of Ironwood, Mich., Wake- field, Mich., Iron Belt, Wis., and Van Buskirk, Wis. This organization ex pects to erect a bulk plant at Ironwood. Other regional cooperative oil asso ciations of which cooperative stores will be shareholders, are under formation at Prentice and at Ashland, Wis. Geo. W. Jacobson, the fieldman of the Northern States' Cooperative League is now working for the Minnesota Co-op Oil Company, chiefly in Central and Northwestern Minnesota, helping to or ganize new cooperative oil associations in this section of the Northern States' League district. V. S. A. I CORRESPONDENCE COURSES IN COOPERATION The Correspondence School of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A. is now in the midst of its third successful year and has enrolled students in many sections of the United States, in three of the Canadian Provinces and even in China. The most popular courses are those in the History and Principles of Consumers' Cooperation, which uses as a text-book Dr. Warbasse's Cooperative Democracy; Elementary Cooperative Bookkeeping; and Organization and Administration of Cooperatives, a set of twenty lessons written by the Secre tary of The Cooperative League. Other courses are those in Business English for Foreigners; Business Arithmetic; and Advanced Bookkeeping. The Director of the School is Prof. Colston E. Warne, of the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, a well-known economist and active worker for civil liberties, labor unionism and other progressive causes. The school is ad ministered by a committee composed of leaders of the cooperative movement in various sections of the country. WHAT THE COOPERATIVE OIL ASSOCIATIONS ARE DOING The following figures, taken from the Co-op Oil News, published by the Minnesota Co-op Oil Company, display in graphic form the enormous success of cooperative oil distribution in at least one section of the country. Other states present figures which are equally startling. Apparently this is a good time for consumers' cooperatives to get into the oil distribution line; a few years from now the ordinary workings of competitive economic law may have reduced these margins to the near-vanishing point as it has in the grocery, tobacco or clothing business. ( Location Spooner, Wis . . . Wortliington . . . Kettle River. . . . Badger, Iowa . . . Hayfield ...... rVvf\fV Maple, Wis.. . . . Baruesville . - ... Spring Grove . . . Lake Crystal . . . Belgrade Waterloo, Iowa. Lake Mills, la. . Porter ........ Rock Kapids, la . Redwood Falls . . Mason City, la. Minneota. Year Organ ized 1929 1928 1926 1929 1929 1923 1924 1929 1926 1926 1925 1927 1929 1926 1926 1929 1927 1928 1929 1928 1929 1929 1926 1929 1928 1927 1926 1927 1927 1928 1926 1926 1926 1929 1928 1924 1927 1938 1926 1925 1926 1926 1929 Opera tion 31/2 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 5 Yr. 8 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 7 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 8 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 9 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 7 Mo. 1 Yr. 8 Mo. 6 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. ] Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 5 Mo. 7 Mo. 1 Yr. 6 Mo. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. 1 Yr. Sales 23,070.86 11,712.43 160,701.26 26,036.74 41,645.73 338,717.89 42,194.80 46,201.70 130,917.51 39,089.44 301,313.70 69,562.00 29,859.89 64,342.00 32,088.55 27,727.91 82,698.47 33,509.80 46,207.33 30,738.99 61,246.79 34,480.86 60,617.63 15,683.08 43,378.50 68,495.68 85,966.85 85,848.20 30,726.53 39,887.66 89,141.91 138,720.75 28,228.53 46,573.26 30,340.22 63,453.79 66,059.42 26,257.97 Net Profit 4,675.41 2,230.47 30,610.51 4,414.76 7,851.28 60,223.08 7,594.28 7,663.36 17,965.48 6,317.37 48,334.11 10,722.79 4,509.71 10,017.01 4,717.97 3,861.90 11,506.02 4,739.55 5,927.98 4,107.72 7,190.19 4,536.19 7,208.83 1,905.52 5,261.11 7,313.27 9,514.33 9,812.84 3,346.14 4405.69 9,264.22 13,602.80 2,808.24 4,473.21 2,815.74 5,292.44 5,531.43 1,815.18 5,843.12 38,625.69 10,960.12 11,256.41 Capital Stock 5,000.00 14,520.00 2,800.00 7,675.00 31,850.00 5,490.00 1,500.00 20,775.00 4,075.00 28,775.00 7,350.00 3,415.00 12,575.00 4,175.00 2,475.00 12,700.00 8,450.00 4,800.00 3,400.00 4,575.00 2,800.00 4,850.00 1,670.00 7,580.00 8,725.00 7,875.00 7,150.00 2,300.00 4,600.00 4,940.00 15,160.00 6,000.00 1,500.00 5,330.00 9,675.00 8,500.00 4,625.00 16,400.00 16,237.50 6,525.00 15,575.00 Per Cent Profit on Capital Stock 94% 211% 158% 323% 189% 138% 511% 87% 155% 167% 146% 132% 79% 113% 156% 92% 56% 123% 121% 157% 160% 149% 114% 69% 84% 131% 137% 145% 89% 187% 90% 47% 298% 53% 55% 65% 39% 36% 238% 168% 72% Per Cent Profit on Sales 20% 20% 19% 19% 19% 18% 18% 17% 16% 16% 16% 15% 15% 15% 15% 14% 14% 14% 13% 13% 12% 13% 12% 12% 12% 11% 11% 11% 11% 11% 10% 10% 10% 10% 9% 8% 8% 7% There are now 65 Cooperative Oil Associations operating 87 bulk plants in Minnesota. The above are the only ones on which we have received the figures for 1929. Total Gallons Gasoline Sold. Total Gallons Kerosene Sold 17,614,792 4,564,582 I 128 COOPERATION COOPERATION 129 DELEGATE REPRESENTATION FOR MEMBERS OF COOP ERATIVE CREAMERY The shareholders of the Farmers' Union Cooperative Creamery Company of Superior, Aurora, and Norfolk, Nebr., at the annual meeting of the company on May 27, 1930, instructed the board of directors to work out and present to the next annual meeting a plan for delegate representation in future annual meetings. The Superior plant of this associa tion was opened in 1920. A second plant, under the same company, was opened at Aurora in 1927. A third plant was added in October, 1929, by the amalgamation of the Farmers' Union Cooperative Creamery Company of Norfolk. The company now has over 5,000 shareholders, distributed from northern Kansas, on the south, to the southern counties of South Dakota, on the north. Manifestly, it is impossible for all these widely separated share holders to come together for an annual meeting. And if they could, the meet ing would be too large to be deliberative. Under the proposed delegate plan, it is contemplated that three sectional meetings of the shareholders will be held, one in the territory of each creamery. The directors and managers will make their reports at these meet ings, which will discuss and consider the reports and policies, and elect dele gates to a central meeting. This is after the manner of some of the large European societies, which, though they may not cover so large a territory, have the same problem in regard to numbers and reducing the central meeting to a deliberative size. There is no law in Nebraska provid ing for a delegate system within a cor poration, cooperative or otherwise, of individual shareholders. Is there such a law in any state? So far as any in vestigation has yet been made, it ap pears that a delegate system will have to be worked out on some kind of a voluntary proxy basis. The Nebraska folks will be glad to learn of any dele gate plan in operation in this country within a cooperative association or so ciety of individual shareholders. GARY, INDIANA The Gary Workers' Cooperative Res taurant, 1733 Broadway, Gary, Indiana reports a loss of $520.50 for 1929. The total income was approximately $37,800 as compared to $42,173.08 for 1928. Mr. V. Cherok, secretary, states that their support of workers' educational and so cial activities totals about $250 per month. The active membership of 47 pays monthly dues of $1 per member in support of the society's activities. Unemployment and part time work in the Gary Steel Mills is given as the main cause of the decline in business. The growing negro element in this section of the city and the consequent thinner white population upon which the restau rant has depended for its trade is partly responsible for the decline. However, Mr. Cherok reports a 20 per cent increase in the business of March and April over that of the previous two months. The service of the restaurant as managed by Mr. T. Wlasowetz and his co-workers is getting trade in spite of the handicaps. J. W. B. RECEIVERSHIP FOR CO-OP MINE The Petersburgh Coal Company for many years boasting that it was a co operative mining company, went into the hands of receivers a few weeks ago, 60 of the stockholder employees filing a petition in court asking for an accounting by the officials. Recently the men have been getting, only 25 cents on the dollar in their pay envelopes, the of ficials claiming that they have many bills to pay. BEREA CREDIT UNION The excellent little credit union at Berea College, Kentucky, reports marked progress in 1929 with earnings of more than $630 on total receipts of $25,590. Shareholders received a dividend of 5.4 per cent, and 20 per cent of the net earn ings was transferred to reserve fund. Outstanding shares are now $10,500 and deposits by members $2,400. Albert G. Weidler, one of the founders of this Credit Union, is spending a year in Europe studying the Cooperative Move ment. CERTIFICATE OF MERIT, 1930 Only six societies in the entire eastern part of the country have this year re ceived the special Certificate of Merit awarded by the Cooperative League. Four of these received the Certificate in 1929 and two others which won this coveted prize last year failed to qualify this time. On the other hand the Amal gamated Apartments and the society at Winchendon, Mass., which did not quite meet the test in 1929 are listed among this year's prize winners. The present list is: Consumers Cooperative Services, New York City; Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments, New York City; United Cooperative Society, Fitchburg, Mass.; Workers Credit Union, Fitchburg, Mass.; Cooperativa Italiana, Winchen don, Mass.; Spencer Cooperative Society, Spencer, N. Y. BILLION DOLLAR SALES FOR A. &P. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in its annual report for the fiscal year ending February 28, 1930, shows total sales of $1,0,53,700,000 on which it made a net profit of $26,220,000 or 2%^ on each dollar of sales. It is believed that this is the first retail or ganization to reach the billion dollar mark for one year's business. The execu tives report that decline in wholesale prices was rapidly passed on to the con sumer; for retail prices on April 15th of this year were 9% below those of October 15th, 1929, on a group of forty of the most important grocery items handled. District Leagues FOURTH ANNUAL CONGRESS OF CENTRAL STATES COOPERATIVE LEAGUE The Fourth Annual Congress of the Central States Cooperative League, held at Bloomington, Illinois, Sunday and Monday, May 25th and 26th, was by far the most constructive, the most enthusiastic and the best attended meeting yet held by this cooperative central educational organization, com prising the States of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. With a 50 per cent increase in mem bership during the year, practically all of the League's numerous activities show an equally gratifying increase. Its constituent membership now com prises 18 consumers' societies, having a total membership of nearly 7,000 indi vidual consumers and doing an annual business of approximately $2,500,000. These 18 societies are operating 28 grocery stores, 24 meat markets, 4 shoe stores, 4 dry goods stores, 3 restau rants, 2 clothing stores, 1 steam bath, 1 dairy plant and milk distributing system. 1 bakery, 2 sausage and meat curing plants and