The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-07-31
Commercial 90 operation.

enJolned TO DO, by inc sweat VI 'iie
brow. AS the country has grown,
and competition has been sharpen
ed, the difficulties of obtaining an
equitable share of the comforts and
necessities of life have been increas-
ed to the many. Wealth in an or
| ganized capacity, and with greed
natural to riches, steps in to grasp
the lions share of whatever labor
produces. Everywhere it resists
wholesome regulations, evades its
just share of the public burdens,
multiplies its profits by fictitious
representations of expenditure, and
sacrifices the claims of labor to the
increase of dividends. Great cor
porations and manufacturing estab
lishments too often treat men, with
their wants and feelings, with the
same consideration they bestow up
on raw material and machinery:
The tendency of all this is to
create unrest in the country, to pro-
woke struggle which from time to
time brings disastrous consequences
to individuals and communities.
The great railroad strike which &C
Cured in 1877 cost the country, in
its several interests, not less than
ninety millions of dollars; and this,
perhaps, is a low estimate. To la
Dor, the result of strike is simply
disastrous. If workingmen should
now come to the belief that a strike
for the next three months would
! end in securing an advance of
tw enty per cent on their wages, the
whole body of labor would be ready
to cooperate. But here comes IN
this important fact: They would be
obliged to work nearly one year be
fore the increase could make good
the amount of money lost during
the continuance of the strike.
Angry contention now, and revo-
luton and bIoodshed in the future,
will not bring about more equitable
distribution of wealth. The solution
of that question must come through
peaceful methods and practical
means. Those who seek to i'm
prove their condition must respect
the invested rights of property, for
it is only by the enforcement of
those rights that they hold the little
wealth they now have, or may ex-
pect to gain in the future.
Capital alone is incompetent to
the production of wealth. To be
of use, it requires the assistance of
both labor and consumption. To
carry on wealth-producing opera
tons there must necessarily be an in
vestment of capital, the employment
of labor, and the demand of con-
sumner. Each needs the assistance
of the other, and each is entitled to
an equitable share of the profit arts
ing from the transactions in which
they have mutual interests.
Commercial cooperation offers
itself as an agent to secure even
handed Justice. 1t says to capital
lists, You shall have employment
and receive a stipulated price for
the use of your wealth; to laborers,
You shall have work and be paid
an agreed-upon price for your ser
vices, whether rendered by the
strength of muscle or intelligence;
to consumers, You shall have all
articles or goods at market price
and without Misrepresentation If
there be profit after capital has
received its wages-and interest:has
been paid-and losses divided as
agreed, it shall be fairly divided be-
tween the three-capital, labor and
custom. 1t is the policy of com
mercial cooperation that all parties
assisting in production shall partici-
pate in the distribution of profits
they have jointly helped to create.
In this it does no injustice to indi-
viduals or communities.
Commercial cooperation is no
untried experiment. Pioneered by
the Englishmen of Rochdale, it has,
in that country, for the past forty
years, been engaged in solving the
vital problem of the age. The Roch-
dale store on the cooperative plan,
was opened in 1874 with capital
of only $93.97. The purchases for
two weeks from the opening
amounted to $I2364. This was, to
be sure, an humble beginning. But
mark the growth of the enterprise
in the course of twenty-five years:
WEEKLY SALES, 1874.
Butter so lbs; sugar 40 lbs; flour
3 sacks; soap 50 lbs.
WEEKLY SALES, 1866.
go frkins, or I5,4oo lbs; 40
cwts,, or 1000 lbs; 4oo sacks; 2
tons, 70 cwt., or $3.50 lbs.
The weekly receipts during the
first fortnight of the society's oper-
atoms did not average $50. In 1866
the average weekly sales amounted
to S24,IIo, and the total for the year
to SI,2o3,72o.
UnheraIded by pomp or show,
unsupported by titled names or by
men of commercial or social dis
tlnctlon, cooperation has gone far
toward effecting radical changes in
the condition of England's working
classes. That a just idea may be
formed of the magnitude to which
commercial cooperation has attain