The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-04-15
COLUMBUS, MISS.
GO.Operation.

The members of the Order should
observe with scrupulous fidelity not
only the principles of the Rochdale
cooperative system when they es-
tablish Cooperative Associations
and inaugurate co operative enter
prises but always keep in view the
purposes which the system was
designed to accomplish. Those
purposes are simply to secure pure,
unadulerated articles, where a store
is established and carried on, and
honest and fair dealings to all, re-
turning to every customer his
proper share of the profits on his
trade. Cooperation may be said
to be for the protection of the poor
and weak from oppression and ex-
tortion in trade; that it is to enable
those who patronize a CO cooperative
business to SAFE rather than to make
money; and especially that the dol
lar of the poor man should have
the same value as the dollar of the
rich man.
Whenever Manager under the
rulings Of the Board of Directors of
a cooperative store discriminates
in favor OF one customer and against
another, sells to a larger buyer at a
less price then to a small one, he
departs from the true system, and
IN violating the principles and aims
of cooperation invites disaster.
Indeed, no cooperative store that
sells on such terms and pays tie
same dividends to the large buyer
who gets his goods at a less price
that it does to the poor man who
has to pay several per cent. more
for his goods, is not cooperative
institution in the true sense of the
term, and ought to fail. This is
strong language; but wherever
there are gross violation of the clear
intent of the principles and pur-
poses of the cooperative system,
they should be exposed in the plain
est of terms, and there should be
spirit enough among the members
of every Cooperative Association
to ''cry aloud and spare not
The members of the Grange can
not afford to allow their grand CO.
operative system to be weakened at
any point by the mistaken zeal or
lack of judgment or stubborness of
any officers of their Cooperative
Associations. The struggle to build
up the system has cost them too
much to permit any one to put it in
jeopardy by intentional or uninten-
tional violations of it's aims and
principles; and we earnestly hope
that whenever regularly organized
cooperative enterprise is being
mismanaged there will be some Pa
irons bold and intelligent enough
to point out the mismanagement
and demand its correction.
No cooperative store that was
organized and conducted on the
true cooperative plan has yet fail
ed. Many so-called cooperative
stores have failed, but the causes O
such failure were traceable to vic
lations of the principles of tn,
system. With this well known fac
before the Order, it is simply Grim
inal that any Patron or Patrons en-
trusted with the management of
cooperative enterprise should b,
induced to depart single step from
the straight path; and it is a NOR
criminal step in the members of
cooperative Association to remain
passive spectators of a course tina
is at once unnecessary and suicidal
We say to all true Patrons who I'm
derstand cooperation, to see to
that it is not stricken down in tn
house of its friends. They shout,
chew to the mark, let the chips fal
where they will"