Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1906-06-22


COOPERATIVE STORES IN
ENGLAND.
The growth of the cooperative |
stores In England has been something !
marvellous Starting with practically |
nothing In the way Of capital In !
comparatively few years they have |
built up n business aggregatlng mil |
lions OF dollars a year.
But they began right.
They began mt the small end.
They began with the acorn and they
gradually developed the tree until 1t
has become n great strong oak.
II they had begun at the big end,
and subscribed capital stock as large
as their present capital, and gone out
into the highways anC byways to hire
men to transact their business, form
ing a great organization In which no
man was trained to his duties, they
would have failed hopelessly and
rnlserably failed.
And so would any great business
enterprise started in that way.
Cooperation can be no exception to
the law Of evolution.
You must begin with the seed and
let 1t grow gradually, as they did In
England with their cooperative stores
THE MAKING OF MEN.
The great central thought which
should be the pillar of fire by night
and the pillar of cloud by day to lead
the American people out Of the wilder
ness Of the cOrruptiOns and dangers
Of accumulated and aggregated wealth
should be a great public movement In
the line Of making men" rather than
making money"
Our government is upheld upon the
shoulders Of It's own people.
And as our citizenship is maintained
at high standard of moral and physl-
cal strength on the part Of our mCn
and our women, just to that extent
win the strength of our nation be
maintained.
If we would be sure Of this, we
must keep our young men from flock
ing to the cities.
The way to do it Is to train them
through a system of education which
viii equip them to solve the problems
of the country, and plant the Idea in
their minds that the country after all
offers a greater stimulus for mental
activity than the city.
| PROBLEMS OF THE COUNTRY.
The most attractive problems Of
this generation are In the country.
The building Of good roads, the build
ing Of better farm homes, the engineer
ing problems of the farm, the applica-
ton of power to the needs Of the farm
and the farm home, the lessening of
domestic burdens through better
domestic arrangements, the cOnsruc-
ton of rural electric railways and
rural telephones and farm irrigation
systems and the application Of machin-
cry to all the uses of the farm, offer
a field for effort and invention and the
application of energy to the farmers
boy which no city can offer to him,
provided he has had the opportunities
Of education to qualify him to solve
these problems.
There should be in every county in
this country a school where every
farmers boy could, without going any
farther from home than the county
seat, learn to do all the things which
have mentioned.
AGRICULTURE AND MANUAL
TRAINING.
We have schools where a part OF
this training may be obtained. The
Throop Polytechnic Institute at Pas.
adena, California, and the Stout Man
ual Training School at Menominee
Wisconsin, are of this class. But
coupled with them should be the agri
cultural training which boy gets al
, the DOylestown National Farm School
=, or in part at the summer school of the
! Wisconsin State University at Mad
3 ison.
And every girl should have an equa
opportunity to fit herself for her duties
as the mistress of farm home.
> Out of such homes will come gen
J Grafton of strong, conservative and in
' telligent men who will solve the grea
!, problems of this people, and will solv,
: them so gradually and steadily that M
Y radical methods will ever need to b.
:, adopted.
e They will put out Of business tn
/ politician who wants to ride in bloc
: up to his bride bits, like an erstwhil
governor of Colorado, or the present
# day politician who seeks to ride int
o public Office on wave of prelude
h and champion the peoples rights wit
IS his voice, while his hand, like as no
y is in the pocket of some corporation
II "Put not your faith in princes
e nor in politicians.
e "The Lord helps those who bel
u themselves"
So long as the people depend for r
lief upon politics, just that long wi
they be disappointed.
1t THE LARK IN THE MEADOW.
: When they learn the lesson of Il
1t fable of the lark in the meadow, al
ID go to work to do things for theI
re selves, talk politics less, and ira
u themselves to do things by cooper
e ton more, they will be surprised 9
u the progress they will make in Il
right direction.
p Politics, and a dependence on Il
part of the people upon politics, a.
III the hope and the salvation of the co
ruptionists and the trusts, and :
=, every combination of capital Whit
=, lives by skimming the cream fro
% the industries of the people.
u. If you want the cream yourself "
~ must do your own skimming.
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