The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-21
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER q, 1900.
The COOPERATIVE PLAN.

Mr. Ci1;rrles r. Flint. president Of the
United States Rubber Co.. and one Of the
most successful business men in this coun-
try. has a sensible ard instructive article
n the last issue of the Saturday Evening
Post on the business methods of the twen-
.ieth celtury Mr. Flint says that this
Is an age OF organization and cooperation.
an age Of intsr-dependence. He asserts
that inter-dependence is q, distinguishing
rhara cteristic of modern civilization; that
the only truly independent man is the
savage who roalns the FOREST and looks
put for himself without having any re-
ciprocal relations with other men, But
in civilization no man liveth unto himself.
Civilization is cooperative reciprocal,
He contends also, as tbs paper has long
rorteI:dsd, that cooperative concerns gen
arai;zed as trusts are the natural result
Of conditions in an age Of steam ana
electricity. These have brought the peo-
ole CT the world closer together, and as
a consequence into more definite relation
d inter-d dependence.
.culd no more abolish such combinations
and go back to methods ;tlat were IN
rogue fifty years ago than we could abol-
sh the electric car or the steam car and
20 back 20 the old fashioned stage coach.
II would be distinct step backwards
for US to do so. and civilization is pro-
gaessNe These modern combinations are
more or less in the formative state just
now and there is always confusion in
revolution. whether il be in The political
Horld or in The business world. But the
people have learned the great advantage
Of combination and cooperation and inter
5ependence, and with the principle estab-
lished the details wiil be worked out in due
season, and the crooked things MADE
straight. Our steamboats, and our loco
motives and our railroad cars were crude
affairs in the beginning. but we have been
Improving them from time to time until
re have the great floating palaces of the
pecan. tina ironeiad ships of war, the
heavy. smooth steel rail- the giant loco-
motive and the pa1atial cars which are
pulled over The track at the rate Of forty
and fifty and sixty miles an hour. The
discovery of steam as a motive power
was the beginning OF st,ese reforms in
transportation The discovery Of electricity
xas the beginning of the telegraph. These
discoveries having been made it was a
comparatively simple matter 10 work out
The details and make steam and cleo
.ricity mast effective in rapid transit and
rapid communication OF thought We have
now d ttcorered the great principle of COM
hinai[cn and cooperation, and be. sure
that We shall no more abandon it than
We shah abandon steam and electricity,
put We Will work out the details by and
oy and bring il TO perfection.
Mr. Flint scouts The idea that this prin-
,ipie of cooperation is gong TO prove a
curse 10 the young me-, Of the land and
deprive ihe1n Of the means CT accommodating
money and making tileir influence felt in
The world. So far from decreasing the
number of 7-oi,r:etors he says that these |
corporations viii largely increase them.
BE tells us ttat IN his younger days he |
mad one partner and these two were the |
Seie i,ropIieters OF the establishment which |
they conducted all the rest being salar.ed |
people without any proprietary interest |
N the concern. Bat he now has many
partners in ihe large company of which |
ne is president, young men and old men
Eiia have purchased stock and VINO. :n
addition TO thsar salaries. get their fair
share OF the profits that are made He
calls attention 10 the fact also that Mr.
Carnegie. the steel king. has three hun
Aired young men as partners in his busl-
ness. More significant still. he says that !
this could not be under the old partner
ship syseem. as no rich man would con-
sent to have three hundred partners where
he was responsible for the entire oblIga-
Hons Of The concern But nfaere the com
pany Is responsible for the obligations and
where each stakeholder IS responsible only
70 The extent Of his unpaid stock. this