American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1914-08-06

power that has made cooperation pos
lble in the island. Ii is q r.g.d g..a
u this organization society that no
local society belonging to IL can under
say circumstances pay to exceed dive
per cent per annum upon It's shares OF
stock. The moment the shareholders
conceive the organization is one
which is to arm large dividends, that
moment its usefulness fnds. More
than one American cooperative enter
prise has been wrecked upon these
rocks.
Following some bitter experiences,
u has been found necessa.y TO adhere
rigidly TO the principle that no matter
what a mans investment may be. he
may have only one vote In the man.
agement OF the concern. Experience
has shown that this avoids j~ealousies.
and suspicion. and discord, aau pre-
vents mismanagement.
D~isloyalty Of Members.
One OF the great stumbling blocks
in cooperative success in America has
been the d%isloyalty Of ths members
themselves. AS 0 0 as a cooperative
marketing concern Is org nized 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 1t is difficult for
the farmer to see why he should sacri-
nee FIVE cents a bushsl upon his grain
out OF a mere sentiment Of loyalty 10
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 mex 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
lie that he should sacrifice a limited
amount of present profit in order to
demonstrate his loyalty to the con
Germ and to secur 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 1t insists upon the highest
quality and in order TO get II exercises
absolute control over the acts of its
members SO far as these acts contrib.
ute to the quality OF the product. Such
a 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
rot be mingled with those which
have; milk must be cooled within one
hour after it is MIXED in order that
meteorological 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 Triforum
dairy.
Central Association Needed.
Experience in these foreign coun-
tries has also demonstrated that no
local cooperative concern is sufficient
unto Itself. The OF a Co
operative egg marketing institution in
northwestern Ireland may know all
about poultry raising and egg d
ton. may be skilled in the art OF pack.
ing his eggs. and know something in
general about marketing. II is impos-
slble for him, isolated as he is, to
know from day to day where there is a
demand for his product. As a result il
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
a The necessity OF federation is
recognized. however. In all countries
although the way In which the local
organizations are afiliated into a cen
trail organization varies under the con-
ditions Of the various countries.
Europe's Unanimous Verdict
Europe's c~o-operztfve maaaaga A..