The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-03-13
COOPERATION.
.FTTER FROM PAST MASTER VIM. MAX I

~
,rrrER FROM PAST MASTER VIM. MAX
WELL, OF TENNESSEE.
Ea;toy Patron. At the late meeting of
The Tennessee State Grange there was
manifest desire to understand co-opera-
t;on. At no former period in the history
of the Order in the State was there as
much interest and enquiry on the subject.
| Members were present who had heard
much of its results, that its entire tendency
| Is to promote the financial and moral good
| of those who practice it, that any people
who paw for what they buy may introduce |
and practice it no matter how small their
means individually and that really there is
no mystery in il, notwithstanding it gives
| all of the dividends to the customers IN |
any business to which tits applied, whether
| distributive or productive. And, contrary
| to all other systems, the more custom one
owes to cooperative business the greater
will be his dividend; and no matter how
small the custom of each, if there be en-
ough in the aggregate to bring in an in
come that is greater than the expenses, all
the income above the expenses is returned
and distributed to the customers, each re-
ceiying in proportion to his individual Gus
tom: hence it is clear that the greater the
custom of an individual, the greater his in
dividual gain. 80 ba. ta
Members learning that these things are
. so, as was shown by report of retail
!, cooperative store at Gadsden, Tenn, and
bv statements made on the floor of the
Grange, and not having had opportunity
to learn how to start and conduct business
on the cooperative plan, ask earnestly that
the plan be clearly set forth in the columns
of THE PATRON OF HUsBANDRY, which
: all Patrons who have been reading know
and admit is the paper for the Grange
r cause, and which paper the State Grange
E did, as far it could under all the surround
ings, adopt as its official organ. ~
Though results of business on the CO.
S operative plan have been often reported
] from various places and at different times,
: and though the principles of the plan have
been often and foreibly presented by
S yourself as Editor and by numerous
e correspondents, and illustrated in numbers
: of ways, yet there are many who have not
been favored with that information, Oh,
S having it, have not sufficiently compre-
i hended it to appreciate it, or understood 1t
i in detail sufficiently to know how to be-
: gin and conduct cooperative business.
e Hence it requires line upon line and repe-
tition after repetition. Different minds do
}. not grasp the same idea from the same illus
trations, or are not all convinced from the
j. same course of reasoning, or do not have
b opportunity to see the same statements,
e therefore what would be repetition to one,
J. might be entirely new, interesting and IN
n structive to another.
s. A case in point: A brother in Texas
st stated, few weeks ago in The PATRON,
2, that cooperation is the remedy to relieve
e burdensome taxation, and gave his own
II experience to sustain his assertion. His
statement was about this: 1.-TWO years ago
h I invested $50 as stock in 1eighboring
lie retail cooperative store, where l made all
my purchases. At the end of the two
e, years, my aggregated income, on my GUS
D. tom and interest on the investment, was a
it little over $50, which will pay my taxes
for over two years." If he had given the
It, same amount of custom to merchant al
1t the same per cent profit, that $50 profit
k would have belonged to the merchant, and
lr he would have had to raise the money in
some other way to pay his taxes.
he Then, as there is demand for the plan
E. of cooperation, you will do a great service
p for the toiling masses by admitting into
the columns of THE PATRON the different
statements and various experiences and il
Illustrations of it, till it can be fully under.
stood by all who will read.
Every intelligent person knows that il
q
g. buys articles of merchandise to that
amount at wholesale prices, and then sells
them at retail prices that will pay, be
/. sides the $1,000, all the expenses and me-
g. profit of 20 per cent, that he will have
On made $500 in that one investment and turn
IT. of capital. If he adds to the $1,000 hi:
$500 profit, he will $1,000 to invest in the
by next stock, which increases his capacity
to supply the public wants. When he
of sells that stock at similar profits as the
ue first, he will have $40 profits to ado
of again to his $I,2oo, which increases hi
n purchasing capital to $I,44o. Let him turr
X it over as before and he will have $I,6SS
ng turn that again and his profit is 1897 90
he which gives him $2,o25 60; another turr
gives him $4o5 II, capital $2,43o u. an
". other turn, 1886 IA profits, capital 1916 II
NJ That gives the man total profit of $I,oIt
ID All of this is his; his customers paie
.ct it, and not one cent is returned to them
CHI His $2,oI6.i4 turned once more gives hin
B. a cash capital of $:3,4oo. 10, all of which hi
to customers have paid, and all but the 81 ,oot
he began with is gain to him and a clea
or loss to them, SO that not one dollar is APP
:. piled to the payment of their taxes
ed whereas, if it had been a co-operativ,
to store in which the customers had been tn,
lis benefciaries in the dividends, the $34oo a
which is the profit would have been re
tie tnrned to them, each getting the profit oil
ur his individual custom. And every cent O
Die that could and would have been returne,
to them save SO much as would have beer
in necessary to pay the man to attend to an.
w transact the business. The above numbe
Ter of turns of the capital and interest can b
made in one year or less time; some ar
en- making more turns than this in co>opera
nd tive associations or as ORANGES CONNIE
We tent men are attending to the business
y some for 5000 year, SOME for $500 SOM
for ST., 600 where the stock is larger: SOM