The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-25

employees share the profits with him, and
foundry at Bessemer. Ala. where 100
more work under the same plan. The
dividends from the profit-Sharing about
double the wages Of the operatives, max
ing the average pay about s. a day. Mr..
Nelson. who is deeply interested in the
whole subject Of cooperation. has organ
lied two cooperative stores among mis-
employes-one in St. Louis and one at
lie Claire. the suburban residence colony
OF workingmen established by him. Both
these stores are successful. the at LIE
Claire being small but very well managed,
with a membership of seventy, a weekly
trade OF $50. and a net profit OF 10 per
cent. on sales, which goes back TO the
members.
This is the only instance of the organ
ization of a cooperative store by a capt.
talist in America, although IL is a not in
frequent expression of public spirit in
England. One OF the Queerest little CO.
operative stores in the world was organ
Labrador by the Medical Nilsson. This is
an English and Canadian charity, which
has also many friends in America. and the
store was organized for the benefit of the
Eskimo natives. TO protect them from the
conscienceless fieecings of trading vessels.
RESULTS IN CALIFORNIA.
But in America the movement has uni
formly originated among those to be ben
Gifted by it, OF all cooperative enterprises
IN America the one which most nearly ap-
proaches the magnitude OF British CO.
operative dealings is the Southern Cali
fornia Fruit Exchange, which last year
did a business of s9,000,0o0. This Is not
buying, but a selling association, although
1t buys boxing and packing material for its
members. Organized under its present
system In 1895, 1t now controls 50 per cent
OF the citrus fruit market of California
and at the present rate of advance will In
Few years control II all. In the four
years previous t., to ood 1s s6 with aggregate
from bad accounts, defalcations and fail
ures amounted 70 one-fortieth of l per
cent. The average cost OF marketing the
fruit has for several years been per cent
The Exchange claims TO get more money
per box, on the average than is obtained
for any other large quantity of fruit of like
grade In the world. No one makes any
profit out of handling this vast amount Of
fruit. Its officers and directors receive no
salaries. They are themselves all fruit
growers. and profit only to the same ex-
tent as those who elect them. 1t is simply
an association of the orange and lemon
growers of California to keep their own
agents and market their own fruit In all
the important fruit markets The condition
of the growers before its Organization was
discouraging in the extreme. Isolated from
all the great markets. they were at the
mercy of the miGdlemen. and if there was
any profit in fruit growing in California
II was going into the pockets of the COM
mission merchants.
Of the exchange. is also one of the direct
ors of the Los Angeles co-operators, whose
store with sales of $4,000 a month within
eight months after its organization. has
been one OF the spectacular successes of
American cooperation A banquet given
by the association a few months ago in
honor OF Mr.. Nelson, OF ST. Louis, and
Professor Frank Parsons, the economist,
was probably one of the most curious in
the history of prandial functions; for
there were seated at the tables lawyers,
borers. all members of the association.
OH the same terms and for the same pur-
pose. to keep the profits of their pur-
chases in their own pockets.
COOPERATIVE TELEPHONE EX-
CHANGE.
Cooperation has been cropping up in
all sorts of odd ways and places In the
United States during the last few years.
For instance, a few years ago, certain
business men of Grand Rapids, Mich, be-
came convinced that they were being
held up by the local telephone company.
They organized a cooperative telephone
exchange, which has increased the number
of telephones in Grand Rapids from seven
ty to 800, and reduced the prices from 81 a
month in stores and 50 in residences TO
Sl.50 and rs cents, respectively. Through
their example cooperative telephony has
spread to several neighboring towns
over half the milk consumed in Spring.
field, Mass, is supplied by a cooperative
association OF dairy This collects the
milk from Its 159 members, retails part
OF It In Springfield and sells the rest to
wholesalers or makes it into butter.
On Samish island. away up In Puget
Sound, the inhabitants found themselves
cut of from commercial intercourse with
the rest Of the world by the accidental de-
struction of their dock. Steamers could
not call and produce could not be shipped.
Tney built new dock, capable of accom-
modating the largest sound steamers, on
cooperative principles: At the other end
OF the continent, on Mobile Bay, the little
community of Fairhope, Ala. did the same
thing not long ago. AS this side of the bay
has no railroad 1t is nearly as dependent
as an island upon boats, and, therefore.
upon wharves. Not q village on the bay
owns its own wharf. and wharf fees form
a daily tribute from the entire population
into the Golfers of private capital. Fair
hope has small, new colony of Northern
people. No capitalist offered to build them
a wharf. and they did not want to bur-
den the little village with bonds In the
dilemma they resorted to the historic ex-
pedient by which the people of the Island
of Guernsey built their famous market
detedness which they promised to receive
for wharf fees on the completion of the
wharf. As they would be as good as
money to the merchants Immediately on
the completion of the wharf. the latter
consented to take them for goods. Labor
ers, therefore, consented to receive them
lOr pay, anu the certl1lCdteS actually filled
most OF the functions of money In the
village during the building of the wharf
| which was triumphantly completed by
means of them.
PLAN POPULAR IN IOWA.
There are forty cooperative associa-
lions in Iowa. The stores of some of these
associations. catering to the farmers of
the country around about, are imposing
concerns Of the villages in which they
are located. For instance, the village of
Minburn. Ia, has had a cooperative
store for the last twelve years. 1t has 100
stockholders. all farmers: 5000 square feet
OF floor space, business of $4,000 year,
and sells everything from pins to steam
engines.
More than 100 Roachdale cooperative
societies dot the Pacific coast. bound to-
gether by wholesale society that does
the buying for all OF them. One of them,
at kingsburg. Cal. recently erected a
new store which contains auditorium,
parlor and free library and reading room
for the use of members There are CO.
operative creameries, laundries, fruit
| dryers and all sorts of concerns for the
handling and preparation of the fruit In
little places all over the West co-opera-
tive stores can be found. The little town
OF Cedar City, New, has had one for the
last thirty-four years. The Farmers CO.
operative Company. of Phoenix, Ariz, re-
Gently filed articles of INCORPORATION for