The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-09-24

nSD, III WHICH, a man
er his neighbours Interest as he does
his own, is a pleasant dream. YIN
der the stimulus of religious enthu-
siasm it seems to be somethingireal-
lied on small scale, ard for a Inn,
tied time; but so far as the worio
has gone yet, experience has NOT
been favorable to such attempts
Their success so far as they have
succeeded at all, has greatly de-
pended on the personal influence OF
one or two men, and has ceased
when thatinfuence was withdrawn.
[ have no wish to discourage peo-
pie to look forward with confidence
to the operation of influences which
will profoundly ameliorate human
character. | only contend that IN
the meantime and for the present
we must deal with men as we IND
them, and remember that changes
which are lasting are generally OF
slow growth.
THE HONESTY OF COOPERATIVE
WORK.
Well, then, you ask, why do /
say that co Operative work is pretty
sure to be honest work? For this
reason-that under the system you
have adopted you put duty and in
terest on the same side; or, at any
rate. YOU do not put them in opposi-
ton to one another. Your object,
as I understand it, where dlstribu
ton is concerned, is to make the in
terest of the buyer and seller iden-
teal; in fact, they are the same PEG
pie. You get rid of the otherwise
inevitable antagonism. Whether
nominal profits are large or small,
whether prices are high or low, is
a matter of no moment where the
money only comes out of one pocket
to get into the other. Nobody wants
to cheat himself, and the temptation
to dishonest practices is withdrawn.
They die out, as the habit of SNUG
Cling disappears with free trade, or
as drunkenness disappears when
liquor can not be got at. And in
this way. without fuss or parade,
or pretensions to superior virtue,
you put an end, so far as you are
concerned, to a class of evils against
which moralists have been preach
| ing from the earliest days of civil
zation-with about the measure OF
success which preaching usually ac-
complishcs. All that is necessary
to add on this head is that the good
you do is not limited to your own
members; YOU set an example which
the outside public in its own inter
est will take care is not lost. Where
stores have led the way, shops must
| follow.
THE CREDIT SYSTEM.
In the neHt place ] suppose. we
may take it for granted that where
cooperation comes in the system
Of dealing on credit dies out, and ]
think it is hardly possible to over.
rate the Economical and social gain
by that result alone. Debt is the
universal plague of this country
Very possibly others may be as bad
but we know our own faults best
The State is in debt, as we know, tc
the tune of about nine years of its
income. The great towns have
started later in the race, but they are
making up for lost time, and Dor,
rowing largely-I will not say reck
lessly. You will not find one land
owner in ten Who is free from mort
cages, and you will find, | an afraid
good many who are only collect
ing rent for the benefit of their cred
TORS. A banker would be though
to be disebiigirg if he objected to {
solvent customer overdrawing hi:
account, and we all know that (
tradesman of the good old sort i:
content to wait almost indefinitely
for his bill to be paid as long as hi
can charge interest on the amount
| do not speak of the extent t.
which mercantile and n1anufaetur
ing business is done with borrowed
money, partly because that it is
matter of which | know very little
partly because there may be reason
to urge in defense of that arrange
ment which do not apply to tn,
other cases | have cited. But, t.
add further illustration, hav,
been often told, and | think it i
very likely to be true, that the dis
tress among farmers, both in Eng
land :and Ireland, has been largel,
increased by their habit of borrow
ing in prosperous times, and, whel
the leaders are alarmed by success
sive bad seasons and call in thei
advances, there is naturally a col
lapse. Now, l do not enter int
the difficult question of how far an,
under what circumstances bushes
may fairly be done on the basis O
credit instead of cash, but conten,
that in the ordinary affairs of lif
the very best service which can b
rendered to any man would be t
make it possible for him to buy any
thing-necessaries excepted--unt
he had got the money in hand t
pay for it; and this is PRACTICAL
the result that would ensue in ever
community exclusively supplied o
cooperative principles. You ca
not, of course, prevent indebtedness
altogether-that would be Utopi
an idea-but you can cut off the eS
listing temptations ard facultiaS +