The Carlisle independent., 1909-11-18
COOPERATE IN SMALL THINGS
Practical Method Always Wins Vic. tories and Assures Farmers Union
 of Ultimate Success.

Theoretical cooperation is a good thing in that it contains the lessons that are necessary to placing the peo- pie upon the road to that practical CO operation. For practical cooperation in the end, always wins victories and assures those cooperating a sure and constant source through which the ills and worries of life are reduced to minimum. The Farmers Union has for months and years been theoretic- ally practicing cooperation, with here and there practical illustrations of it's workings, but as a whole the organiZa- ton has not progressed far from the theoretical lessons of the art of CO., l operating. In some states practical cooperation has been practiced to a much greater extent than in others and the lessons learned from this practical application of cooperation methods has resulted in an advance ment of the cause all along the line.
 In Texas the cooperation practiced | in relation to the selling of cotton and cotton seed has resulted in compara- tive victory, which cannot in the fu- ture but result in placing the farmers of the state upon a plane of equality with the other classes, who have made their businesses great successes through the practical adaptation of the theoretic ideas of cooperation. There can be no doubt now as to the result of the unions efforts to better their marketing conditions, for the recent advances both in the prices of cotton and of cotton and cotton seed alone be as based upon the usual ground of supply and demand.
 Lessons once learned as to the value of practical cooperation will never be unlearned, but upon these first lessons a sound system of CO., operation will be established that will never be disturbed in the future. Edu- cation is said to govern the world, not education from books alone, but practical education gained from ex- perience and application of knowl- edge gained through that experience, and as the farmers who are organized have gained the experience through cooperation and experience of the business way to win out, they will certainly apply them to their business in the future, adding knowledge, as time advances, which will further aid | them in the struggles of life.
 Small things often prove a lesson l that lead to larger ones and the appli- cation of neighborhood cooperation to the benefit of the persons cooper ating, will be lessons that will not alone help the people so cooperating, but will through the veritable sue cesses obtained by organization, com pei the outsider to join in the move ment, if for no other reason than his individual interest. Success means much to many people who not having the backbone to stand protracted struggle, only stand upright and fight when they see success attained through the efforts of others. Grad ually strength will be added to the or ganized efforts of the members of the union and in time almost all of the farmers with intelligence and minds above mediocre, will come into the
 
 the strength of the organization will compel the merchants who now con- trol the products of the farmers through mortgages, to change their policy, and cooperating with the farmers along business lines, bring about more general reciprocity which will be beneficial in business to both classes. When this takes place, and come it will, the clutch of the New York money changers will be loosened, and the strangle hold that they have had so long upon the finances and prosperity of the people who produce the raw material, will be broken, and the balance of money will be in the hands of the producer. Then the merchant will do business with the money of the producer, and being free from the throngs that now bind him to the New Yorker and others of his kind, will know the farmer as his friend and customer, and the true re- lation that should exist between two classes who come from the same race and often from the same neighbor- hood will not be as enemies in the broad light of day, but will abide to- gether as friends and comrades, with common purpose, and that the aid ing in building up and adding to the value of the life in their common country