Norwich bulletin., 1914-03-21
COOPERATION: ITS BENEFITS AND
 OBSTACLES

(Written Specially for The Bulletin.)
 I don't know when I have seen a story of co-operation which told the whole thing completely, Which went into practical details so thor oughIys and which noted the obstacles in the way of success so outSpokeniy as one by Arthur c. Mutt of Worces- ter in 8 recent issue of The Friends IIlte1i4senCer.
 Tha eSamqte ~stsicts he describes is one being conducted in the factory of Reed and Prince. at Worcester II IS modest in its scope and attempt. but unusually practical in its operation: Thus far, its work has been confined wholly to the buying of domestic sup plies in quantities at wholesale prices, and their distribution to the inuiEiu- ual employees at cost including, of course, cost of freight, etc
 Sumn3arily stated. the management of the thing is in the charge of a committee of five, elected every SIX months by the employees The ord CTS are dropped into boxes placed con- venientiy in different parts of the shops These are collected weekly by the committee which aEsorts them, decides what to buy and at what prices and, when the goods arrive, distributes them acofdlng 10 the ord CTS
 l the way of storage, efc-. and its reg ular purchasing agent acts. also, as purchasing agent flor The c0-operaiors- doing the actual buying for them want to buy and what to pay The only expense is a TWO per cent com mission, paid to one manager who does all the clerical work
 The one actual monthly statement which Mir Nutt quotes, giving the asx TAGf@r5o21Ss- shows that during that month the CO., operators sold tc themselves SETH worth of groceries. for which they had paid s3se 45 leaving a balance for the for the month included butter at 34c: eggs al z5c- coffee aE 2ses tomatoes at Sc, and l1cs poultry, soap etc
 The club has been russsains less than two years- Its tonal accrued surplus is now about forty dollars. its puF- cI4ases have included all sorts of fraIits, fresh dried and canned smoked and SaiIe1i fish and meats; sausage, lard. spriRg lamb; coffees tea cocoa; bEoo1aas, soda naIcdless nGacaaaossd, soap, canned vegetables; batteez, eggs, potatoes, coal, flour, apples. dressed poultry. etc
 Some of tae sayings are indicated in the following hsac-Gn butter six cen1s a pound. on eggs seven cents a
 
 on coffee twelve cents a pound on yruaes four cents a poa1nds on br0oms fourteen cents each; on potatoes twelve cents a bIshes; on canned goods from two to four cents can.
 F3oE7T. cnal. potatoes and apples are delivered, at a charge exactly covering the csosz of delivery other goods are taken at the shop by the purchasers and carried home.
 There are six hundred employees, i1aiJa S-S-l fat as they please Of thess, sixty are girls, whose purchases are said to consist almost wholly of candy and three hun dred are unmarried men who buy only candy or tobacco- Oaa1y about a hun dred men are regular patrons
 Now, comes in the question why, in factory employing sec people, and these all worinaen of more than ordin- aIy skill and intelligence. only one out of slx-|or one out of three, if we ex- cla1de the unmarried employees regularly takes advantage of the op- portunity right at his hands to save considerable money- Right here is where the peculiar value of this par ticular experiment in cooperation comes in Those interested in it have taken special pains to search out the exact and practical reasons which keep two out three men with families 10 support from ecofom1zing in the cost of that support IneSe reasons are very enligh1ening- They will not be new to those who have ever joined in any cooperative attempt, but they are told more simply and frankly than usual and with less attempt at gloss ing them over Here are some of Ihem-
 The co operative, for example. fur nishes a certain grade of grapefruit at a certain price. Certain members, seeing later at some stand a cheaper grade displayed at d less price, have jumped to the inference that the CO operative was "stringing them on the sly" This, you will observe, is d manifestation of suspicion combined with ignorance of the facts, and fail ure to find out that there are differen: grades of goods at differing prices.