The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1914-06-12


sible in the island. 1t is a rigid rule
of this organization society that no
local society belonging to 1t can under
any circumstances pay to exceed five
per cent per annum upon it's shares Of
stock. The moment the shareholders
conceive the organization Is one
which is to earn large dividends, that
moment its usefulness ends. More
than one American cooperative enter
prise has been wrecked upon these
rocks.
Following some bitter experiences,
1t has been found necessary to adhere
rigidly to the principle that no matter
what mans investment may be, he
may have only one vote In the man
agement of the concern Experience
has shown that this avoids jealousies,
and suspicion, and discord, and pre-
vents mismanagement.
DisloyaIty of Members.
| One of the great stumbling blocks |
in cooperative success in America has |
| been the disloyalty of the members |
themselves. As soon as 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 bushel upon his grain
out of 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 a 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.
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
Trifo1ium 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; 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
J ness, handling of milk and milk cans
= must be observed; the milk of COWS
= which have not been inspected mus
! not be mingled with those which
) have; milk must be cooled within one
hour after 1t is MIXED In order thai
meteorological growth may cease
cans must be cleaned in a certain
!, way; In fact everything is done which
9 can be done to improve the quality o
y the milk and the butter and othe
Is products handled by the Trifoliun
4 dairy.
Central Association Needed.
Experience in these foreign coun
tries has also demonstrated that nj
local cooperative concern is sufficien
!. unto itself. The manager of a &C
= operative egg marketing institution IL
northwestern Ireland may know al
!, about poultry raising and egg produc
!; ton, may be skilled in the art of pack
: ing his eggs, and know something il
: general about marketing. 1t is impos
= sible for him, isolated as he Is, h
: know from day to day where there is
demand for his product. AS a result
!, is found necessary in Ireland to hav
: these cooperative concerns affiliate'
! with the Irish Wholesale Society, witt
headquarters at Dublin.
= The same principle exists in Gel
- many but is worked out in anothe
way. The necessity of federation /
4 recognized, however, in all countrie
= although the way in which the loca
organizations are affiliated into a Ger
n trail organization varies under the cor
:; ditions of the various countries.
n Europe's Unanimous Verdict.
IN Europe's cooperative message /
ze briefly to this effect:
C. l. Cooperative societies cannot b
dividend paying concerns. All profit
80 must go to the producers as additions