The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-03-13
The Patron of Husbandry.
w. woRTHINGToN, EDITOR.
COLUMBUS, MISS, MARCH 10. 1880.
ANGECO-OPERATIVE ENTER-
PRISES.@ d


position from outsiders or from farmers
who are interested in some established
business in the towns or cities. t'The far
mers have no money they can't under
take these enterprises ;;Sssthe farmers know
nothing of commercial affairs, they cannot
become merchants in a days 9slet them
attend to their own calling, to the i'm
provement of agriculture, and they will
find quite enough to engage their time
and attention." are objections that have
been continually rung in the ears of far
mers, and the uniformed accept them as
insurmountable barriers to cooperative
enterprises, and dismiss the matter from
their minds without giving it a moments
investigation. r-
We undertake to say that no intelligent
member of the Grange who will inform
himself of the principles and practice of
Cooperation as recommended by the Ma
dial support to the establishment of CO.
operative stores and factories, to be con-
Quoted under, Grange auspices.
To the assertion that the farmers have
no money, let it be replied that almost the
entire business ofsthis country is conduct
ed upon the proceeds of the farmers toll.
Our vast manufacturing, commercial and
railway enterprises have been mainly built
up and are conducted upon the profits
which other classes have realized from
the products of agriculture. The profits
from the cotton crop reaped by merchants,
manufacturers and the various middlemen,
alone saved the country from general
bankruptcy after the financial crash of
1873. , &c s3.A 1e'11a
The farmers indeed shave no money"
after the years transactions, but it is be-
cause they submit to business system
which robs them of their substance and
enriches other classes. 1t is to change this
system, to establish another more just and
equitable to the producers, that the Ma
tional Grange has perfected land present
ed to the farmers of America a plan of
Cooperation under which stores and all
needful establishments for the manage
ment of their business affairs may be sue
cessfully and cheaply conducted. "
If this change appears too extensive
and calls for the employment of an i'm,
mense sum of money in the aggregate, let
farmers consider these facts: The vast CO.
operative establishments in England, re-
tail and wholesale, had their origin in
the combined efforts of few very poor
mechanics. 1t takes comparatively but
small sum from a given number Of con-
tributors, when regularly added to and
judiciously managed, to build up large
business under the Grange Cooperative
plan. Indeed, the sum required from
each individual is SO small as to be scarcely
missed from the weekly earnings. And it
isa fact,which ought to be kept prominent.
ly in view, that the money which these CO.
operators contribute from their earnings
and which will return to them, at the
same time increasing their power and in
fluence as a class, is an absolute loss to
them under the present system. In a
word, this Grange Cooperative system
means simply a plan whereby the usua
profits paid by the producing classes fol
their supplies will be returned to and con
trolled by them for the promotion of thei
interests, instead of going into the pocket
of "middlemen."
The success which has attended the CO
operative stores established on the plan O
the National Grange in all of the North
western and Southwestern States, attest
the wisdom and practicability of the sys
tenn, and assures its speedy adoption b
Oranges in all the States And the sam
principle of cooperation will be apple,
in the establishment of factories, especial
ly in the cotton States for the manufactur
of seed cotton. Farmers who concentrat
their money, establish stores and emplo
men to conduct them, do not becom
merchants in the ordinary acceptation O
the term; but they retain control of thei
money and their agents, and thus avoi,
being robbed and oppressed by outsiders
In the same way, they will establish an
conduct factories without becoming man
facturers. They make the money neces
sary for the establishment of these enter
prises. They have simply to give tina
money intelligent, judicious direction an
management, to become the most power
full and prosperous class in America.
We asked a Patron few days sin9
what was the explanation of the success