The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-01-03

ton, and if there is any practical diff.
erence between confiscstiOn and lar
ceny have not been able to discov-
er it.
Itwould be more fair and just and as
much in the interest of the city to or
ganize cooperative meat markets,
grocery stores, harness shops, dry
goods stores, in fact cooperate every
thing as to organize cooperative gas
companies. [ say more fair because
any other business could move to
some other town where it would re-
ceive proper encouragement, while
the Gas Company's property must re-
main where it is, whether it is used or
not.
The Cooperative company will new
er receive any encouragement if the
question of fairness is to be considered
Neither will it be encouraged if the
interest of the town is considered. No
town can thrive after it acquires the
reputation of repudiating its contracts
and of being unjust towards the in
dustries located there. Capital is not
roaming over the country looking for
a law suit. Some people profess to
believe in the doctrine of protection
for infant industries. The arguments
in favor of this doctrine are familiar.
If it is good thing for the nation, is
it bad thing for town? If so, why?
We do not demand favors, how
ever. We will be satisfied with jus
tice. The promoters of every enter
prise must be satisfied that town
will treat them fairly and encourage
them before they invest their capital
there. How does lola propose to sat-
isfy them? Surely not by playing
the "Spider and the Fly" game with
the only enterprise it has.
Cooperative companies always make
special appeal to the laboring men.
They are shown lot of figures on pa
per and everything looks very plain.
|
business knows how easy it is to un-
derestimate the costs, and Overesti-
mate the profits. Those who never
did, learn IS soon as they become
members of a cooperative company.
The IabOring man who invests his
money in cooperative company of
any kind, should fully satisfy him
self that the promoters and leaders of
it are true philanthrOpists, who are
in business for their health only.
But the principal reason why the la
boring men should oppose cooperative
companies is because they are never or
ganized in the interest of the town but
are always for the selfish interests of
their own members. This is especially
true of The Cooperative Gas Com
pany. 1t is not its intention to furn-
ish gas to anyone not member.
The City cannot become member
and therefore can never get gas from
that Company. The labOring men as
well as all other men, should be in
terested i'm the success of the present
Company for the reason that it will
be continually extending its plant
and is directly interested in doing all
in its power to bring new enterprises
to lola, and in promoting in every
way the growth and prosperity of
the city. LabOring men are specially
interested in building it up. They
should be opposed to all schemes
whose object is to tear it down.
LabOring men want work. The
way to get work is to encourage the
investment of capital. Where there
is a demand for labor wages are high
er and money is plenty. What does
it profit man that he can buy gas at
a dollar a stove if he hasn't the dol
lar? Again it is said that people
will be attracted to the town if they
can get gas at first cost.
In the first place they never will be
able to get it at that price from any
cooperative company, and in the
second place people do not ordinarily
move to a town merely to keep
warm.
The policy of all cooperative COM
panies is a short sighted one They
never look into the future. They sell
dom try to do so, and if they do try,
their sight is so blinded by the little
temporary advantage supposed to be
set before them, that they do not see
clearly. The word "failure" can be
truthfully written across the charter
of almost every cooperative corpora
tion ever organized in the state of
Kansas This is true because they
are not org anized upon business prin-
ciples. They have never benefited a
single honest member and have finan-
cially ruined hundreds. They never
did anything for town except re-
tard its growth. They usually die