Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1908-01-23
WHOLE IDEA is A fALLAcY.
Systems of Cooperation Weak Theo-
reticaIly and in Practice.

One of the spirits of the age is or
ganization and cooperation of those
who are engaged in the same lines of
trade, industry or profession. 1t has
been proved beyond eavil that men
have a right to thus organize and pu--
sue any system in business, or in
their special fields that they desire as
long as their methods are not unjust
toward others. From many organize
tons comes much good. From others
things that are harmful.
1t must be remembered that there
are fundamentals in al. systems that
cannot be ignored. Thore are princi.
pies which must be Observed, or fail
ure will be sure to resuls. Within the
past dozen years numerous alleged CO.
operative organizations have been
formed within the United States.
These organizations have been of a
kind that involves certain benefits to
MEMBERSHIP elimination Of profits
to middlemen, the distribution of earn
ings to members, etc. Not one in fifty
of these organizations has been sue
cessful, and the reason for failure is
that the systems followed were not in
harmony with economic laws.
In the world of commerce there are
three important factors-production,
distribution and consumption. Were
there no consumption there would be
no need of production or distribution.
But civilized people must be fed and
clothed and their other wants sup
piled, and as long as intelligent man
exists there will be need and methods
to supply his wants. Thus we find
the producers, the distributors, and
the latter class divide into groups
known as factors or jobbers, their
agents and the so-called retailers who
directly supply the consumers.
The common cooperative plans deal
with cutting out the distributors, the
elimination of that cost in products
which represents the compensation of
merchants whether they be whole
salers or retailers. The present sys-
TEN Of distribution has evolved from
an experience covering some thou
sands of years. 1t is based upon
equity and upon the soundest princi.
pies of economy. The system cannot
well be changed unless the whole field
of human endeavor be modified. Peo-
pie must be employed in gainful occu-
p~ations, or they become burdens upon
the classes who are earners All can
not be producers, but all can perform
an important part in production, in
manufacture and in distribution. The
cooperative system that means the
elimination of the factors in COM
merCe excepting the manufacturer
means the robbing of a large class Of
a mean of earning subsistence and
an encroachment upon other fields Of
labor that are now we'll equalized.
The present system of distribution is
the most economical that can be de-
vised. No manufacturer of food prod
ucts, unless he have a monopoly, can
maintain exclusive distributing ware
houses. Thus we find the jobber
a co-operator merely, working in
harmony with a multitude of manu-
facturers and for them conducting a
general warehouse, guaranteeing the
collection and payment of bills due
them and for his services receiving a
small commission. His agent or tray
eler sells a hundred kinds of goods in
stead of one particular kind. Here
again we find cooperation in its high
est type. The retailer carries a vari.
ETY. of goods, representative of per
,haps 200 or 300 manufacturers; here
again is cooperation, and it may be
said that the earnings of all engaged
in distribution represent a small
commission for performing a service,
and the aggregate of the earnings of
any one of them-the jobber, his
agent and the retailer-is dependent
upon his labor and his business sagac.
ity. When these three factors in dis.
tribution be cut out just as expensive
a system must be substituted. In case
Of the manufacturer who sells his
products direct to the consumer, he
! has large advertising bills to pay, and
!, a hundred little expenses which the
manufacturer who sells his products
: through regular established channels
does not have to bear.
When a cooperative store is estab
| lished with a few hundred stockhold
: ers as its patrons it is generally found
: that it cannot be operated at lower
} expense than if conducted by an indi
| vidual, and it soon ceases to exist.