The record-union., 1897-01-29
Cooperation.

say a little more on the subject of CO.
operation, with your permission. We
have heard corporations and trusts
abused under the term of monopoly.
These combines are nothing more than
the organization of capital on a CO.
operative basis Men combine to eS-
cape the cruel war of competition; to
save waste, panics and trade depres-
sionS which a market beyond the con-
troll of men involves, and by which la
Dor suffers as much as capital Go to
a modern meat-packing house, sugar re-
finery, flour or saWmill, and you will
see what cooperation means.
Do you suppose if our sugar, oil,
lumber, ETC., was produced in hun
dreds of small concerns, who could
not put up the perfectly equipped plant
for lack of capital, you could buy these
things as cheap as you do, despite the
cry of monopoly?
Let us cast our eyes over the enor-
NOUS waste that large or combined
capital saves. The channels of waste
through competition are advertising,
account keeping and bartering. Con-
slider the number of cashiers, book
keepers, clerks. statesmen, shopmen,
commercial travellers, agents and ad-
VertiSing canvaSSerS that it necess:-
tates. In advertising alone there are
draughtsmen, papermakers, printers,
bill-posters, painters, carpenters, gild-
ers and perfect army of mechanics
and other people engaged in making
advertising bills, pictures and board
ings, to enable one competitor to get
more custom than another-and who
pays the bills? The consumer has to
foot them all. Millions are spent in
advertising medicines, soaps. baking
powders. clothing, etc. If sugar had to
be advertised like these articles you'd
pay twice the price you do now; the
more an article is advertised the higher
it's price, regardless of its real value
The superficial man will object and
say that the waste of all this unproduc-
tive labor makes more work. True; but
il don't give you more in return. We
have the proof in countries where this
commercial waste is greater than here
There is more work, but no more COM
fort, and less wages in proportion to the
inefficiency of productive facilities Bear
in mind that the possession of things
is what gives the comfort, not the max
ing alone.
Waste in production and exchange
where unnecessary, is digging wells for
the pleasure of filling them up again.
Why do We prefer to work for large
firms Uncle Sam is the most preferred)
to small ones? Because the work, as
a rule, is made easier employment more
regular and steady and payment more
secure. The fact is we are behind the
spirit of the time, and it seems too great
an effort for men who have spent all
their leisure time at the card table or
other follies to bestir and adjust them
selves to the requirements of our eco
nomic development. Our thinking ap-
paratus got rusty, and it's painful eff
fort to follow those who are used to
mental activity. And it is these do
little, think-nothing' sort of men who
are the brake on the wheels of progress
and keep those who have left the old
rutS from reaching a higher ideal of
life.
Combinations in industrial pursuits
have taught US the most useful lessons
in political economy, and to oppose
them is equal to trying to stop the earth
from revolving on its axis or the water
going backwards, back to the hand
plow and OK train. What we should do,
and the only thing we can do. is to
learn from them and follow suit CO.
operation in production on the largest
scale possible has come to stay, and We
must adjust our affairs to conditions
until we can master the latter. Those
who have dragged the world onward
and upward have always been decried
as Missionaries, cranks and often monop-
olists.
With a country of unparalleled re-
sources, with a people peerless in in
genuity and industry, We should be
able to cope with any difficulty that
may present itself. The economic prob
lens are working themselves out
whether we will it or not. The golden
age is not behind us but before US, and
the only question is: Shall We retard or
hasten it's arrival? Z. LUX.