The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-12-27
COOPERATION IS IN THE AIR
Farmer Must Have Leadership, and
This Comes Only Through Better
knowledge of Neishbors.

Cooperation is in the air now. w
J are talking about it in almost ever
state in the Union. In some state
they have made rapid progress. Ii
others they have done nothing as yet
mainly because conditions are so cas-!
that they do not feel the necessity o
cooperation.
Where the subject has taken holC
OF the public mind, the people are in
terested In the formation of co-opera
tive organizations. The American
people have the idea that things car
be done by machinery; that they can
have cooperative machinery just as
they can have improved machinery on
the farm. Our suggestion is that you
do not put too much faith in cOopera-
tive schemes, and that you look pref
ty closely at schemes which work well
in other countries, and which are rep
resented as practical in this. says Wal
lace's Farmer
The one machine that moves the
world effectively is the human machine
man himself; not his bodily powers,
but his brain powers. Cooperation is
thing that must be learned; and the
object of this article is simply to tell
you how to get the knowledge, be-
cause all great movements which ben
efit men come from the people them
selves. The banker can't furnish
cooperative scheme for you; neither
can the merchant. You must develop
II yourself
The place to begin Is right in the
home. in the family. Are you cooper
ating In the ordinary work of your
farm in such a way as to bring the
best results? Have you taken your
boys into your confidence, and asked
their opinion about how to do this or
that or the other thing? how to handle
this field or the other? how to feed
your live stock? Are you cooperating
with your wife and getting the best
out of life? Are you cooperating with
your children in their studies, their
sports and recreation? Do you know
the heart of your child, or is he keep
ing something back which he does not
feel free to talk to you about? The
place to learn cooperation is right in
your own home
The uext place is in your neigh
borhood. Are you getting three or
four Of your neighbors that you like
best into your home in the evening?
Are you figuring with them how you
can cooperate? To cooperate means
simply to operate together; in plain
to work together to the best |
advantage; to work to each others |
hand. so that what one does will help /
the other fellow also. Are you look
ing upon your neighbors as competi- |
tors, working to see which can get the |
best of the others, or as men working
for the benefit of each other?
This involves an entirely different |
attitude toward your neighbor, toward
life. Competition is individualistic:
cooperation is altruistic. individual.
ism means working for yourself; al
trulsm means working for the com
munity, for your neighbors as we'll as
yourself. What is your attitude toward
life? When you get your family to
working together and your neighbors
10 working together, the rest is easy
The difficulty is in getting started and
getting started right, with the right
attitude toward life, toward the com.
nunity.
When neighbors get acquainted, it
develops leadership; for there will al
ways be a leader. The wild things,
wen the crows and prairie chickens,
lave a leader. You can't do anything
leadership. What the country
reeds more than anything else is lead
'rship, not the leadership of the bust
less man In town, nor the leadership
II the banker, nor even the leadership
II the preacher. Leadership must be
developed among the farmers them
elves. We must learn whom it is safe
follow, who is the wisest leader. The s
est is easy. 1t is surprising what an -,
mount OF good can be accomplished /
Vhen We once get acquainted with
ach other, with our neighbors. and
evelop leadership which the commu-
lily Will follow. Without this the {
armer cannot attain to the full mea- t
ure OF his prosperity. He must have
leadership; and this can come only t
trough better knowledge of the abiI-
y that is going to waste for want of
ecognfzed leadership. I