The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-06-04
Co-operator, New York
CORPORATIONS.
cooperative and Joint stock
What They Are-Their Spirit
and Meaning COntrasfed.
DEFINITIONS.


to act as single person.
J. COOPERATION: Organized action,
controlled by individual representation
Humanity.
Z. Io1Nr SrocK CoMBINATIoN: Cen
tralized capital. controlled by money rep
entation-Mammon.
Corporations are bodies polite,
formed by law to act as a single
person. They are an enlarged man.
Joining a number of men together
in one person, has in some degree
the same effect as that Of enlarging
one person to a size many times
greater than his natural proportions.
Such an enlargement would make
every line and trace of beauty more
grand, every flaw and defect more
apparent This would be the phys
ical effect; it is the moral effect also.
The tpirit of man is divine and
unseen Therefore, that act of law
which binds men together as body
polite to act as one person, being
powetieSs to bind them together
bodily, or to create an enlarged
physical man, does create an en-
larged unseen power, and invests it
with the dominant spirit of the men
who Combine in forming if.
WHAT KIND OF POWERS ARE THEY
AS they are created by law, this
may be accepted as pr # that All
their objects are lawful
AS they are created FOR multi
tued of objects, this may be accep-
ted as proof that man is seeking to
gain his objects through association
AS their objects are peaceful, this
may be accepted as proof that man
has learned that he can gain his OBJ
jects by peaceful methods.
AS the law which creates then
rest their claim to authority upor
the consent of the governed, this
may be accepted as proof that the
people of ION they are created
as we'll as tn ,se among whom they
exist, believe them to be rightly or
ganiEed.
AS our government, under whose
authorities they act IS organized fof
the purpose of securing ''the great
est good for the largest number
of the people who constitute it; anc
as a method Of doing this formu
lates into laws the expressed will o
the people, accepting as such. tn
will Of the majority: this may b
accepted as proof that in the opin
ion Of the majority to-day, they ar,
rightly organized and are good 70
the people.
AS they are created by the vii
Of the majority In the belief tia
they are rightly organized and are
good fer the people, this may be &C
copied as proof that the 7ViU of III
majority has the p .1ver 70 dfSSolO
them, whenever il is satisfied tina
they are not properly organized, o
are hurtful to the people.
AS they are the embodiment o
the majority's understanding of pro
per organization, and of what i
good for the people, they may b
accepted as a true index to the un
| derstanding of the mass of men o
the proper limitations of power
and what attributes of the human
character it is good for humanity t.
develop by comforting upon then
greater power than one man pos
Sesses.
All this is proof that corporation
the enlarged man-are created t
give fuller expression to mans dom
inant powers; and that they ar
good or hurtful in proportion a
they develop his higher spiritua
life, or his lower material life.
WHAT ATTRIBUTES OF HUMA7
CHARACTER DO THEY DEVELOP?
This is a question of the deepes
importance to humanity. What
the spirit and meaning of the pow
ers being created by our laws
From the foregoing it is plainly evi
dent that these inquiries should re
ceive the most searching irvestiga
ton and answer.
AS many cooperative corpora
tons are organized for purpose
other than that of money making
and as joint-stock corporations ar
organized exclusively for that pur
pose, this inquiry must be Unite:
to that class of enterprises. Desir
ing to reach the vital point at once
it will be admitted that money MAX
ing in itself is desirable. Both classe
of corporations make money, AM
distribute it to their stockholders i,
the manner agreed upon by thei
rules. Therefore they stimulate an,
enlarge the desire for gain. Th
affairs of the organizations are ad
ministered by executive officers
which positions in some degre,
gives the persons holding them dis
tinction; therefore they stimulate
and enlarge the desire for power
These desjres-the desire for gain
wealth, and the desire for power
fame--are the strongest factors il
the human character To them i
attributed all the wrongs from
which humanity suffers. 1t is tru,
as Holy Writ that 'the love o
money is the root of all evil
There are many forms Of power
Consideration can only be giver
now, to that form which finds en-
larged sway through the methods O
organized action-the power to di
rect, the power to rule.
Humanity suffers most from man..
| inius tiCe to man. iniustica orrouy;r,