The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1914-06-09

consumer There can, In truly CO.
operative enterprise, be no antagonis-
tic interests The interests of all are
identical Each is seeking to accom-
plish the same purpose.
The richer member does not feel
himself disfranchised What is good
fer him is good for the poorer member
and he seems to have been always
able to make the poorer member see
it and vote with him. Everywhere it
is one man one vote. There is abso-
luteIy no dissent from the principle
Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, and Ger
many, all agree that this is absolutely
the only method Of management
DisIoyaIty of Members.
One of the great stumbling blocks
in cooperative success in America has
been the disloyalty of the members
themselves AS soon as a cooperative
marketing concern is organized a pri-
vately owned company is likely to Of
fer an advanced price-one consider
ably above that which the cooperative
concern is offering and possibly one
much higher than the condition Of the
market will justify In America hui
man nature, like human nature in
general, is selfish and it is difficult for
the farmer to see why he should sacri-
flee five cents a bushel upon his grain
out of a mere sentiment of loyalty to
the cooperative enterprise. AS a re-
suit he almost inevitably takes his
grain to the privately owned concern.
His neighbors do the same and soon
the cooperative concern is on the
| rocks and is abandoned. No observer
of American commercial methods
needs to be told the next step. The
privately owned concern Immediately
| lowers the price, the farmer is where
he was before but by his own disloyal-
ty he has made it practically impossi-
BILE for any other cooperative con-
| Germ ever to be organized in the COM
munity
European cooperation has had the
| same experience. 1t was originally
| hard for the European farmer to real
| ize that he should sacrifice limited
amount of present profit In order to
! demonstrate his loyalty to the con-
Germ and to secure ultimate success.
| The situation, however, no longer
arises where cooperation has become
| fairly established
In the very beginning of the organi
cation frank statement is made and
| prospective members are informed
that the competition of privately
| owned buyers will be such that they
| will be offered larger profits than the
| cooperative concern can offer them
and that unless they are ready to go
into the cooperative enterprises and
! to agree to bring all their products to
| it irrespective of the price which it is
| offering no organization can be sue
| cessful The fact that the high prices
which will be offered them in compe
| tition are but temporary is fully ex-
| planned and experience shows that
! when the farmer understands what
! the situation is likely to be lie is very
ready to enter into an agreement to
market all of his produce through the
cooperative concern.
Quality and Control
Another characteristic common to
! all cooperative organizations which
we visited in these four countries is
that where the society is a marketing
/ concern it insists upon the highest
| quality and in order to get it exercises
! absolute control over the acts of its
| members SO far as these acts contrib
/ ute to the quality of the product Such
| successful dairying institution as the
| TrifOlium dairy of Denmark has most
rigid rules to which all members must
subscribe. There must be monthly
| inspection by the veterinarians repre-
! senting the society; a COW found to be
unhealthy or defective must be with
drawn; the slightest illness on the
/ part of the COW must be reported and
| the milk kept separate; detailed re-
quirements as to ventilation, cleanli
ness, handling of milk and milk cans
must be observed; the milk of COWS
which have not been Inspected must
not be mingled with those which
! have; milk must be cooled within one
| hour after it is MIXED in order that
archaeological growth may cease;
cans must be cleaned in a certain
way; In fact everything is done which
can be done to improve the quality Of
the milk and the butter and other
products handled by the Trifolium
dairy
Central Association Needed.
Experience in these foreign coun-
tries has also demonstrated that no
local cooperative concern is sufficient
unto itself The manager of a CO.
| operative egg marketing institution in
northwestern Ireland may know all
about poultry raising and egg produc-
ton, may be skilled in the art of pack
ing his eggs, and know something in
general about marketing 1t is impos-
sible for him, isolated as he is, to
llknow from day to day where there is a
| demand for his product AS result it
is found necessary in Ireland to have
these cooperative concerns affiliated
| with the Irish Wholesale Society, with
Headquarters at Dublin.
The same principle exists in Ger
many but is worked out in another
| way. The necessity of federation is
recognized, however, in all countries
i although the way in which the local
organizations are affiliated into a cen
troll oroanizatiOn varies under the CON