The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-11-17
FoR COOPERATION
HOW IT WOULD BENEFTT THE
WORKERS OF THE COUNTRY.

No More Millionaires Created by
Special Privi1eses-Some Examples
of Cooperative Enterprise That
Already EXist-CO-Operation the
Magician of the Closing days Of til g
Century.
Cooperation is very broad term
, and one which is not fully understood.
It means helping each other-working
together to common end. AS a, term
! of political economy it is fraught with
the utmost significance. In it's last
! analysis it comprehends not only the
,, public ownership of public utilities, but
! also the public ownership of all the
| means of production and distribution.
The. postal system of the United
| States is a gigantic cooperative enter
prise. 1t is cooperation on a national
scale. The people of the United States
are the co-operators, and they have
undertaken to manage their own busi-
ness in their own way. They did not
care to intrust it to private capitalists
and permit them to make millions out
, Of their necessities. The capitalists
would have been only too willing to
get the chance, and it was owing in
tirely to the wisdom of our ancestors
| that they were balked of their prey
! If the capitalist had succeed in get
ting control of the postal system of the
United States that would have been the
consequence? Does any one suppose
! that a. letter would have been carried
as cheaply as it is now? It is more
likely that the policy of the expresE
companies would have beeen adopted
and in that case we would now be pay
ing postage according to distance. In
order to mail a letter, every one would
have to call at the office to ascertain
the amount of the postage, and he
! would probably have to pay from 5
cents to S1.00, or even more, according
to the distance in would have to be
carried
! If private ownership of the postal
! system had obtained, we would now
have distinct class of millionaires.
and in addition to those already in ex-
istence, a hundred castled crags-the
homes of 'postal kings''-would DOM
! mate the cottages of the poor from the
Hudson to the Rio Grande.
! The people of the United States NAV
congratulate themselves on having OBJ
tanned the benefits of cooperation in
the public ownership of the postal sys-
tenn. In their wise discretion thew
have decreed that a, letter may be, sent
from rom St. Augustine to Olympia, ana ii
ssa bsaf q
the sender tlfstance &of fully {, 900
imiles-for the insignificant sum Of two
cents. Verify, cooperation is the ma :
gician of the closing days of the nine
teenth century.
! IT the government were to take
! charge of the railroads, the express
business and the telegraph system, it
would signify cooperation on the part
OF all the people of the United States.
and if they should manage these en-
terprses as economically and as sue
cessfully as they have the postal busi-
ness it would result in saving over
81 900, 600, 900 per annum and would put
an effectual stop to the manufacture of
nlillionaires.
The insurance business as conducted
by private capitalism is the NOSE gi-
gantic swindle ever perpetrated on any
people. 1t is safe to say that not less
than $5,000,000 is taken out of the state
of Georgia every year by foreign insur-
| ance companies. Very little of that
money ever returns. It goes to swell
the Golfers of northern milllionaires
who are busiy engaged in gobbling up
the public franchises of the country
and in building castles on the Hudson.
The officers of the insurance companies
are paid enormous salaries. It is a
Well-known fact that many of them
receive $4,000 per annum, and it is be-
lieved that some receive as much as
s50,000 if not more.
If the state We're in the insurance
business, at least $5,000,00O could be
saved annually. The rate could be re-
duced so per cent, and even then, after
paying all losses, there would be a fair
margin of profit, which could be used
to liquidate the public debt.
There is no doubt that it would pay
the people of Georgia to conduct an in
surance business of their own Tn
many instances private individuals who
own great deal of property are doing
a profitable business by carrying their
own insurance. and surely what one
man can do single handed and alone.
lean be done a great deal better and far
more profitably by the cooperation of
the entire people Of the state.
The South Carolina legislature at it's
last session passed a law compelling
the state to insure it's own public build
|ings. which include the capitol at Co.
lumbia and the courthouses in the sew
leral counties. Insurance is also carried
on all the county dispensaries and also
on the state dispensary.
That is a step in the right direction,
but it does not go far enough. The law
should be amended and made to apply
to all buildings whatsoever. including
the property of all the people. Life in
surance should also be included. The
state could we'll afford to insure the
life, the health and the limbs of every
man, woman and child within it's bor-
ders.
In the last few years South Carolina
has made rapid strides as co-opera,-
tive commonwealth. The people have
taken charge of the liquor business and
are conducting it as a public institu-
l1N l.