The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-06-03
Inspection of a Danish Creamery.
WHY COOPERATION SOMETIMES FAILS

I cited as that of a cooperative concern
which did not succeed in the best
sense Of the term.
The small shareholders of this So
ciety later formed another co-opera-
tive society, organizing and admins
tering it, you may be sure, upon a
purely cooperative basis, adopting the
n man vote plan, and providing that
no dividends be declared upon shares
but that all the profits go to those who
grew the fruit In proportion to the
amount furnished to thhe company by
each.
Greed Causes Another Failure.
The experience of a Minnesota CO.
operative warehouse elevator was
somewhat different. AS originally or
gained and managed by the farmers
it was a success, all the profits were
distributed back to the producers as
an additional price upon the grain de-
livered and the farmers Loyalty sup
ported it. Later, however, the shares
Of stock became centered In a few
business men who were not grain
growers. These men held a major
contrc!. They began squeezing down
the prices to the producer until they
were paying him no more than the
privately owned elevator companies
paid.
The trustful farmers continued to
deliver their grain for a time and the
business men in control received a
forty per cent dividend. At the end
Of the year, however, the farmers real
lied that they were being imposed
upon and the next year abandoned the
project, and hauled their grain else
where. AS a result this cooperative
effort which had been at first IN ex-
ceedingly profitable venture became
so absolute a failure that 1t was with
difficulty that the shareholders dis
posed of their building and equipment.
What Unfair Competition viii Do.
In another section of the Northwest
the farmers a short time ago were re-
| ceiving from four to eight cents below
the Minneapolis market for all grain
delivered. Moreover they could get
no more for the finest grain than for
the low grade. The grain was han
died by a line Of fifteen or twenty pri-
vately owned warehouses operated by
a company which had practically a
monopoly Of the grain buying business
over a considerable extent of territory.
The farmers at one shipping point be-
came dissatisfied, organized a cooper.
alive company, got together a little
capital, and built an elevator. Immed-
lately the old company offered those
delivering grain at that n point
Minneapolis prices for their grain
while at other shipping points the
prices remained the same. Prices
were repeatedly advanced until they
were so high that it was evident that
the privately owned elevator COM
panies were taking a loss, %recouping
themselves, however, by continuing
to pay unreasonably low prices at the
other shipping points at which were
owned by them. The farmers had
entered into no contract to furnish
their product exclusively in the CO.
operative warehouse. Each individual
member exercised his right to sell his
grain to the rival concern. The CO.
operative warehouse was deserted, the
company had no business, and soon
disbanded. The sequel was, however,
that as soon as the cooperative con
J Germ failed the privately owned eleva-
tors again dropped the price paid at
that point for grain and the farmers
were again at their mercy.
European Failures.
There have been failures in Euro
pean cooperation also. You cannot
talk cooperation in Germany long
with anyone familiar with the general
situation without having your atten-
ton called to the fact that co-opera-
ton has received one black eye. Years
ago b government, anxious to aid in
the marketing Of grain, devoted a
considerable amount of money to the
erection Of elevators or corn houses"
~loaning the money to local co-opera-
tive concerns whose organization 1t
fostered and supervising the erection
In each case Of a rather imposing
structure. 1t would seem that the
government generously tempted the
promoters to unreasoning extrava-
gance. How could you expect OUT
people to calculate closely when they
had this heap of unearned money
forced upon them" one man re-
marked. Everything was done on a
costly scale. The storehouses we're
too big. They were not carefully To-
Gated. Into these concerns crept, also
a desire to speculate, to corner the
grain supply, to do in Germany what
Letter was reported to have done in
A~merica,-to capture the grain mar
ket.
Everyone persuaded himself, it Is
said, that he was going to grow rich
by appropriating by degrees the
wealth thus to be gained. They had