The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1865-04-05

Al A)aclt4 anu lAArul l1t -
associations without loss and damage u
themselves.
The bin finally passed both Houses, and
1as become law. and il i now open Tor
Al 10 participate in Its advantages who
moose 10 do so. As this law PROCESSES 10
" for the special use OF those who get their
living by the labor Of their hands, It may
% well for them 10 consider whether they
an better their condition by organizing
lnder il. A cooperative store Is IN opera
ion in Detroit to the satisfaction Of lis
owners, as j. supposed; let u see no" The
plan would work IL carried Out Ia Lansing
Suppose. then, that one hundred Of u.
working people AMI poor people Of this +
city, put in a stock % 200 each. which /
will make d cash capital % so O0O-a SUN .
large enough 10 purchase a full assortment 4
Of goods. We meet auI choose directors. (
The next thing will be- the choice Of an |
agent 10 conduct the business, and on this /
the success of the enterprise will turn. The
directors will. probably have little 10 do
with the Affairs attertwo OI three meetings.
All will be- practically la the hands OF the
agent Who. then, shall 10 be Applca-
tom will be numerous enough. We shall
have broken down merchants, who have
failed repeatedly; knaves and swlndlers,
who have no reputation for integrity or
honor; men perfectly honest AMI upright,
who vet have not the slightest business
tact; mechanics and labOrers, who have DO
knowledge Of goods or prices; and spend
thrift proligals, who have run out their
own funds. and wish 10 recruit from those
OF the association. We shall De called o.
choose from these classes, and must almost
Of necessity select a second Or third rate
man, because men OF the very first class
abilities can do successfully vastly larger
business on their own individual account
Men like GOV. Grape, OF the State Treas-
urer, or his Deputy, unite practical knOW
edge, brains, integrity and perseverance
and with these four qualities any man viii
succeed boy his own energies In whatever
he undertakes. such men can do better
than % be agents for others. But SUPPOSE
we are fortunate enough Oh ret "a man Of
honesty and medium character and ability
even this man, is a. dy.,t, sill not Ice As
efficient and reliable a. he would be in his
own business. M agent has so deep an
interest in the success OF his business A.
principal would have. Everybody know
this; and hence 4 State or corporation can
not make any product as cheap as an indi-
vidual
But suppose our enterprise to be iu sue
cessful operation; what are the results
/. Il will cost our agent Is much for pur-
chase, transportation, insurance. store rent
and clerk hire, as it does The merchant Who
sells beside him. In these RESPECTS we see
nothing gained.
, We have invested 2O0 cash. which
would bring Us 10 per cent. per aunum.
Then there is the risk that We shall lose our
investment, which We will put NJ five per
cent more This is reckoning that every
twentieth association would bee total loss.
This, certainly, Is not an eXtrayagdut e~tl-
mate. Here, then we pay out thirty dol
lars year for the Jririi~ye of purchasing
our goods at this store. Vii that We are to
cain is the difference between the selling
price of the goods 10 us in our store. and
the selling price in the adjoining store.
And when We have reckoned this difference
on all the purchases OF our family fora Year.
and from these profits have deducted : 30
for interest on our Investment. how much
will he LETT Something perhaps. but not
enough 10 excite the Imagination of any
sensible person very much, or greatly rr-
plenish his pocket. By paving ont 80
cash, We get one-hundredth part of the net
profits OF the store for a year. That IS all
there is all Of the transaction.
But these calculations are based ON the
suppOsitiOn that our agent IS as sharp as
shrewd, as capable, and as close a buyer
and "a good manager a. the merchant
who has stand beside Us. But ID he Is
motif lac pays more Tor articles huys those
which are unsaleable, neslort- his business.
makes large expenses, or fails in any other
way. the cot OF all his failures will come
out of the stockholders ana diminish their
gains prOpOrtiOnately; and these g'ins ..r,a
so small al all times. that there viii bv bun
4 small margin left for losses.
The success Of this enterprise mA,lit be
Largely determined among othe' thlns>. by
the character Of the hundred stockholders
II each Of these was a sensible. Well elu-
Gated man, with some knowledge OF bust
ness matters the AGENT might be thor
oughly looked after. and his errors cor
rectcd; or ii no were found lncorrigible.
he would be removed. and better man APP
pointed. In this way the intelligence o.
the proprietOrs would tend TO secure the
establishment from destruction But if
none OF the stockholders could read or
write, or foot up column OF figures how
could il hold together long.
We see nothing in the nature of these
associations, or in their history in the past.
which would lead US TO doubt that with in
telligent stockholders. and an agent Of or
binary honesty and ability, they might be
carried on without loss for many years.
But without these requisites, We should
expect frequent failures. But as device
for making money. even under favorable
circumstances. We cannot see where any
considerable profits are 10 be obtained by
the owners. and We think those who enter
into these associations with large expecta-
tons of this kind will be disappointed. As
practical thing. il We had invested as sup
posed above. We should expect our goods
would cost u. on the whole, about the
usual prices OF other cash stores no more.
and not much less, and after trying the OK
pertinent several years, We should be entirely
willing To sell out our stock at par and
again take our chances with the outside
world.
Al the same time, had We been men,
Der OF the last Legislature, we should have
voted eheeriully for this law, beng Willing
that those DESTROYS OF trying 10 better their
n.lifiau ahoul1 hava a .La,o, o. ! .. -