The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-10-01
COOPERATION"

the nineteenth century IS rapidly al.
vancing, and almost nineteen hum
dred years ago the lowly Saviour
walked the earth and preached the in
finite truth of co operation; or, peace
on earth, good will to men. And
ever since that time the sacred truth
of these sweet words have slowly but
surely been moulding the human mind
and developing it into its present con-
dition. Then on this occasion | have
selected for my theme u excellent
motto: United we stand, divided we
fall; or, In union there is strength.
By this we see that our order is built
on the foundation of truth and as our
Lecturer tells us, we thus see the
necessity of acting in cooperation
with another.
If we would be free we must be up
and doing, Already we are well nigh
tied hand and foot, and the despots
r ready to crush us. Is there no
legerdemain by which we can unbind
these letters and avert this yoke that
is about to be fastened upon US? l
answer, there is if we will only get
about it in the right way. Trust in
God and do the right and we know
that the God who rewards the faith
full will also crown our labor with
success. Let US take two neighbor-
hoods which [ think a good illustra-
ton. One which is welded with
Christian love exhibited in kindness,
moral intelligence, industry, economy
and Omm education, there you
will see a neighborhood in prosperity
and in a ense independent. Then
notice, on the other hand, a neighbor-
hood that is full of selfshness, envy,
Incidence and superstition (if we
must call it superstition) and there
you will see, to its own shame,
poverty and degradation. Does not
this make u souls long for co-opera-
ton? Is not this sufficient to make
our flesh tremble ? Oh :! for a stronger
chord to unite us-yes, stronger than
the chord that bound the even
sticks. May I relate a little incident
which, perhaps all have not heard :?
There was once a man who had seven
sons and they did not agree among
themselves. To teach them a lesson
he took seven sticks and bound them
together and offered a prize to the
one that could break them as they
were. AL tried and all failed. He
then united them and broke them one
by one. Had not this chord been
severed could these sticks have been
broken by any reasonable power :?
The lesson was to teach them that if
they would stick together and be
united that they could not easily be
broken up, but if they split up and
did not agree, that they would soon
find themselves at the foot of the
ladder, looking and longing to join
those who are vending their way on
ward and upward.
Then if we, of the Alliance, were
bound together as we should be,
could our cooperation be broken up
by the $1,000 reward that are being
offered to break us up? What can
separate us if we are hand to hand
and heart to heart :? I answer, MOTH
ing, with an All-Wise Ones help. /
fear, brothers and sisters, that we are
coming short of our duty in this par
t~icular, or our bylaws would not be
broken so often and news would not
fly so rapidly from this hall to the
--.11Sn - ~1 q 4l1 -o~1I Dlon1o - H.
nothing 1 say as personal, for I speak
in love and kindness, but we must be
on our watch, keep eyes and ears
open and our mouths closed more if
would accomplish the benefits of this
life and reach the standard of our
order. Large towns have been built
by cooperation. Fire insurance com.
panies, Patrons of Husbandry and the
Masons and many others [ could men,
ton are cooperative societies, yet we
are told by some that the Farmers
Cooperative Alliance must and will
fail, and that the people are entirely
wrong in joining them; that they do
not know what they r going into,
etc. But if cooperation succeeds
there and in SC many other places,
why not here? And it will succeed,
in my opinion if we stick to the right
and push forward, never pulling
backward but keep trying to get
higher. Let watch word be, On
ward and upward. I fear we have
some in our order who joined expect
ing to be benefited as soon as they
were initiated. To such (if there be
any we will say, you SOW your wheat
and cotton, plant your corn, etc., cul-
tivate and wait the result. So it is
with our order. They are planting
and are not done planting yet and
cultivating and by and by we hope to
reap the fruits of our labor. But
unlike crops of corn, cotton, etc.,