The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-09-03
The Co-operator.
DO operation: what IL lis and
What It Has Done.
BY I. p. CRAWFORD.

j
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen. l
ask your attention while we briefly
consider
I. What Cooperation means.
II. What it has accomplished.
III. What may be expected to
grow out of it.
". How we may begin the work.
-FiySt--WHAT COOPERATION
MEANS.
lit means working together, or
helping each other; in contradis-
tinctfon to competition. which means
working against each other. The
eminent George Jacob Holyoake,
who has been called the Apostle of
Coop Grafton, gives its meaning in
more defnite sense, as "Ist. Concert,
regulated by honesty, with view
to profit by economy; I'd. Equitable
distribution of profits by all con-
cerned in creating them; and Sd.
Educated common sense in propa-
gandism."
Horace Greeley said: "Co-opera-
tion is the true goal of our industrial
progress, and the appointed means
of re scuing the laboring class from
Deepen dence, dissipation, prodigalitv
and n,eed, and establishing it on a
basis of forecast, calculation, sobrie-
ty and thrift, conducive at once to
its materia2 comfort, its intellectual
culture and moral elevation"
Thus it is plain that Cooperation
has lofty and beneficent aims.
It means economy in production,
exchange and distribution.
1t means an equitable distribution
of the wealth produced among all
who have contributed to the pro-
duction of IT, "Co-operation," saws
John Stuart Mill, ''is where the
whole of the produce is divided.
What is wanted is, that the whole
of the working class should partake
ofsthe profits Of labor
And lastly. Cooperation means
the improvement of all who labor.
ECONOMY, EQUITY, IMPROVE
MENT. are the watchwords of this
movement.
It's ultimate scope is far rea ching,
but its first steps must necessarily be
limited so a practical direction.
The three primal wants of men
are food, clothing and shelter. In
some form or other, these are neces-
sary to his existence. Our civilized
life has multiplied the, kinds and
qualities of the things that satisfy
these wants.sa nd imposes upon most
men the necessity of a great effort
to obtain them. Indeed, the main
struggle of life, for most men, is to
obtain enough food clothing and
shelter, and of a good enough quail
ity. A few men-one, perhaps, in
twentv-have wealth enough to
supply these wants in the quantity
and variety of the qualities they de-
sire, but it is probably true that 10
out of 20 of all the residents of New
York and Brooklyn do not earn
enough to enable them to satisfy
their wants or tastes as hey would
like to do. Nineteen out of twenty
of all the residents of these two cs-
ties would like better and more va
rious food; better. m ore comfortable
and richer clothing; more whole
some and pleasanter homes. 1t is
then TO the 10 out of 2O-the labor
err, the mechanic, the clerk, and all
men Of limited incomes-that Co
operation is presented as the best
means yet discovered to enable them
to make every dollar they earn pro-
cure for them its utmost value. eth
er in food, clothing, or the homes
in which they live. This is what
Cooperation will mean practically
for those who begin the work.
Second-WHAT Co-oPERAT1oN
HAS ACCOMPLISHED.
Between thirty and forty years
ago there began in England and
Philadelphia two movements,-in
| England, what is known as Coop
erative Stores, and in Philadelphia.
| Building Associations, both of which
have had the most remarkable sue
cess. They are both Cooperative.
ouC uuNSI tdhtS " procure ana OlS-
tribute ordinary family and personal
wants by buying at wholesale, and
as much as possible in the first mar
kets. at net cost, and to save the
profit to the consumer. The other
undertakes to help families to use
their rent, and little more, for the
purchase of their own homes. The
man of family, who earns from ST.
to So day, who lives from hand to
mouth, must buy his daily wants in
smallest quantities-tea by the
ounce, coal by the bushel, potatoes
by the small measure, and so on.
The poorer he is, the greater price
he has to pay for all he BUYS. He
who can afford to pay the least,
| must pay the most. This is a wretch
ed and shameful wrong, and it is
just here that the Cooperative Store
comes in with its benefcent propo-
sltlon, and says to one thousand or
ten thousand of these men: "Club
your dollar day together, and buy
your coal and your hour, your tea.
potatoes and bocon, your milk, fish
and meat, at wholesale, and thus
add ten to twenty per cent. to your
daily wages. Or what you could
do just as well, -save the ten or
twenty per cent. and live inst as