The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1914-03-05
Cooperative
Continued from page -

cal traders if they could give him any
guaranty of analysis of the manures
sold by them. He was informed that
they never got such a thing, knew
nothing about it and could give no
guaranty He wrote to the agricul-
tural department about it. They re-
ferred him to the Irish Agricultural
Wholesale society. From them he
learned that this society at that time
dealt only with local cooperative
concerns.
So this farm boy, with surprising
persistence, gathered together the
small farmers and pointed out to them
the advantages to be gained as to
quality and price by purchasing guar
anteed manures direct from the CO.
operative wholesale society. The re-
suit was that the farmers ordered
cotton lot of fertilizer through little
cooperative society in an adjoining
village They found that they saved
5000 on the manures and besides Sc
cured super-phosphate of 80 per cent.
instead of % per cent. strength, and
dissolved bone instead of worthless
compounds The battle for co-opera-
ton was already half won, for there
was no further question as to the ad-
yantages to be gained through CO.
operation.
The "Gombeen Man.
"The old methods of buying and sell
ing we're the cause of much poverty in
this district" said Mr.. Gallagher.
"The traders have generally kept the
public houses. They were gombeen
men-money lenders. Poor farmers
here could not pay cash for what they
bought They had to get goods on
credit. Once a farmer got into debt
to these retail dealers he seldom got
free from the big mans clutches.
While he was in this state he was no
better than a slave. He was charged |
tremendous prices and had to pay big |
interest. I myself have been charged |
interest on what I bought on credit |
at the rate of IA per cent. per annum.
My father had this sort of interest to
pay while he was bringing up his fam
lily. That is where the three pounds
went that it took me six months to
earn when l started to work
What Cooperation Is Doing.
But Notwithstanding the smallness
of the holdings, and the poor soil, con-
ditions in Dunglow are improving. l
never knew an organization to do so
much for community as the Temple
crone Cooperative Agricultural soci-
ETY. is doing for Dunglow. The So
ciety started in a little one-room cot
tage on a farm where 1 lived. We be-
gan by buying manures and later a
few groceries. We had fierce opposi-
ton at first from the gombeen man
and traders, as fierce as any communi-
ty ever had. Some of the members
were in debt to the gombeen men and
had to come into the cooperative quar-
ters at night and over the back walks
in order to conceal from the gombeen
man that they were members. If
The gombeen men found out that any /
one trading with them was trading
with us they refused him credit and
ssued a writ if he owed them"
A Little Democracy. t
1--WE wish no one any ILL., We do
lot do business that way. We have |
simply demanded the right to attend
o our own little affairs. We meet in |
,ur little parliament here to discuss
,ur business. We have given some I
which have brought q
he people nearer together and given S
hem a good time. This year we or S
anized an industrial show in which /
We exhibited everything which we pro- S
uced here, including lace and knit t
GODS, as well as some of our farm e
We did this to encourage G
theirs to make these things. Now
re are looking around to get some a
tile local industry started. We need t.
of the kind badly so that S
lore money can come into the COM n
unity. Lace making, knitting and fl
ork of that kind is important, too, If
II every little helps here. We are s.
illing to work when we can. q
On the UPGRADE. t.
'The boys are learning to farm bet II
II than their fathers farmed. We io
Re raising better COWS, and pigs and Il
lickens, and producing better eggs, g
)ultry and meat than we ever did
sfore. Through our little co-opera-
We society we have steady market st
good prices for all we can raise. in
e are not rich, for klis is not a by
Oh country, and never can be. There SO
e too many stones and boys in Don sa
al for that. But we are doing our tn
st, and we are going to reach a ca
int soon where every man can go oh
and down Dunglow and say that en-
owes no man anything. Co-opera- is
IN has brought us together, and we Es
e all good friends. We are not so
hting with each other any more. on
Q are helping each other. We are So
II doing business on a very small ma
ile, of course. We are poor people, WI
d we must always be that There an
no chance for wealth in a five or to
acre farm. We raise little patch SCI
oats for oatmeal for our family. In
st of us get enough potatoes off COZ
: little places to last us through the sa'
IT. We couldn't live without pota-
e Won know the great famine of Ga