The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-06-10

operative enterprise, be no antagonis-
tic interests. The interests of all are
identical. Each is seeking to accom-
plish the same purpose.
The richer member does lot feel
himself disfranchised. What Is good
for him is good for the poorer member
and he seems to have been always
able to make the poorer member see
it and vote with him. Everywhere it
is one man one vote. There is abso-
lutely no dissent from the principle
Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, and Ger
many, all agree that this is absolutely
the only method or management.
DisIoyaIty Of Members.
One of the great stumbling blocks
in cooperative success in America has
been the ~disloyalty of the members
themselves. AS soon as a 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 n
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 a bushel upon his grain
out of a 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 oncer 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
lie 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.
In the very beginning Of the organi'
cation a frank statement is made and
prospective members are informed
that the competition Of privately
owned buyers will be such that they
will be offered larger profits than the
. cooperative concern can offer them
and that unless they are ready to go
into the cooperative enterprises and
to agree to bring all their products to
it irrespective of the price which 1t Is
offering no organization car be sue
cessful. The fact that the high prices
which will be offered them in compe-
tition are but temporary Is fully ex.
planned and experience shows that
when the farmer understands what
the situation is likely to be lie is very
ready to enter into an agreement to
market all of his produce through the
cooperative concern.
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
nee it insists upon the highest
quality and in order to get it exercises
absolute control over the acts Of it's
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 20 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
not be mingled with those which
have; milk must be cooled within one
hour after it is MIXED in order that
archaeological 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 Trifolium
dairy.
Central Association Needed.
Experience in these foreign coun-
tries has also demonstrated that no
local cooperative oncer is sufficient
unto itself. The manager Of a CO.
operative egg marketing institution in
northwestern Ireland may know all
about poultry raising and egg produc-
ton, may be skilled in the art of pack
ing his eggs, and know something IN
general about marketing. 1t is impos-
sible for him, isolated as he Is, to
know from day to day where there is a
demand for his product. AS a result it
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
way. The necessity Of federation is
,oooa,i,od bourovor in all countries