The patron of husbandry., 1881-06-25


it does is practically demonstrated
wherever it is conducted upon its
own proper rules. To insure its
perpetuation it is only necessary
that its teachings be followed
The first and most important is to
decide each for himself or herself to
practice it.
Then do not cavil over prices.
| Yon are buying from yourself;
never ask for credit; and never buy
an article from any other place of
of supply but from a cooperative
source of supply,-no matter what
the present inducements may be,
be determined.
no other source will supply and
continue to do so at actual cost and
expenses. And whenever the sup
ply is offered from any other source
at less than that, it is only to decoy,
mislead, disorganize and prevent
cooperation. Don't be decoyed.
1t can safely be asserted that
those who have worked to intro
duce its principles and disseminate
them and establish it in the United
States have not worked with view
of gain to self, else they would have
been at other work. Their object
is cooperation. And as safely may
it be asserted that those who are
working for it are in position and
in business relations with commerce
to serve the people who entrust
them, and more to the interest of
those to be served than any will
serve them who are working to
build up their own fortunes in the
usual style of competitive business,
Cooperation has placed them there.
n this city, St. Louis, as proof,
we who are in cooperative work,
can furnish the consumers of barbed
fence wire, cheaper than the manu-
facturers dare sell it to the con-
sumner, and cheaper than the regular
jobber will. And cheaper than the
retail man ever furnishes, or than
he can, and make money himself.
We can do this and still sustain the
cooperative business and make a
dividend to the consumers beside,
if they will give us large enough
business in that and other lines.
Send individually or collectively, or,
better still, start your retail cooper
ative stores and let them order in
car load lots, such things as the
neighborhood needs in sufficient
quantities that give advantage in
freights, and all that is saved, no
matter how, is gain to the business;
and whatever is gain to the business
of cooperation is gain to the indi
vidual customers.
To learn such facts as these is
part of business education. Men
learn them, and having learned
them are benefited by the knowl-
edge in ordinary competitive busi
| ness.
The people, the consuming part
of the world, must learn them, and
having learned them must practice
upon that knowledge, if they would
be benefited.
The whole mass can not however
occupy their time in each going into
business circles where such facts
are to be obtained. But they can
have representatives in the places
where it can be learned. and these
representative, who are to learn for
them when they have been taught,
can practice upon that information
for the same people for whom they
have been learning and give the
consuming masses the same benefit
of that information as if they had
each learned it for themselves, pro
vided the people, the consumers,
will delegate to them to be their
representatives in business in place
of each trying to do business for
| himself; let him who has been
taught for them do their business.
This is the way to get the benefit,
for though they may each know all
he has learned, they can not individ-
ually get the trade benefit that he or
a single man can, who represents
them in their collective capacity or
in their aggregated business. 1t
must be concentrated. No manu-
facturer or dealer can afford to sell
a man shoes for himself, or for his
family only, as cheap as he can or
will sell to the same man if he will
buy for thousand families; but
when it comes to be known to the
manufacturers or dealers, jobbers
| mean, that the man is an estab-
lished buyer for thousand families,
he can then buy one pair as cheaply
as if he were to buy thousand.
Cooperation is established and
conducted in the light of these posi-
tive truths. These are not truths in
theory merely, they are truths sus.
tanned in practice We bought pair
of shoes for $3.50, single pair; had
we bought thousand the price
would have been the same. Had
we not been known to be a buyer
on a large scale the man would not
have sold them to us at any price;
the retail man will not sell the same
shoe for less than $500, cash. See
prints, A, s. to 7 cents is the price
by the quantity. That at s. cents
is such as is furnished rgely