The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1914-12-03
has 6eo0 on1ullod IN some form a.
cooperative sooisGy.


cooperative soeisty.
Buying and Selling Done Jointly.
The most general form Of coopera-
ton 10 the dairy society. OF these
societies there are now more than
four hundred. Next in number are
the rural banks. which number more
than two hundred. Other cooperative
organizations make joint purchases for
farmers. breed cattle, promote local in
dustries. particularly ce-making. sell
poultry and eggs. grow bees and mar
ket honey. sell butter and transact
wholesale business for the country so.
cieties. The central society and some
others are aided financially by the
government department of agriculture,
agricultural committees and county
councils.
Cooperation Stopping Emigration.
The result shows in economic bet
terment and in a more wholesome
rural life. A single instance of tho
first result is that the yield of butter
per gallon Of milk has constantly in
creased during the last ten years and
that Irish butter now sells readily in
London In competition with its great
rival, butter from Denmark. From
certain counties where the cooperative
societies have done their best work
emigration has almost ceased. Much
has been done toward improving the
condition of the cottages and by es-
tablishing Libraries, sane amusements
and helpful recreation in the villages
The Gaelic league has done good serv.
ice here. Better be Quarreling than
be lonesome" runs the Irish proverb
The new village conditions would ban.
ish quarreling without substituting
solitude, accomplishing this result b,
discouraging drunkenness and pre-
venting emigration, the two giant evils
of the Ireland of yesterday.
Another happy result is the mora,
discipline already making itself felt
This has strengthened individual en-
ergy and the wise use of cooperation
has stimulated individual effort, devel
oping taste for work by increasing
the produce of labor. However great
the material advantages of coopera-
ton, particularly the cooperative
credit system-by which money is
lent at low rates for reproductive
work-the educational results are vet
more important.
Technical Education Bearing Fruit.
Close akin to the efforts of the
cooperative societies has been the pro-
motion of technical education by the
state. This work, carried on by the
governments Department of Agricul-
ture and Technical Instruction for Ire
land, is, in a way, similar to the work
of the American Agricultural colleges
and Experiment stations, except that
it is broader, not confining itself to
agriculture and the mechanic arts"
1t teaches the farmer and laborer, it
trains in its schools for business, CON-
merce, agriculture and technical pur.
suits. 1t goes further and seeks an
industrial revival by encouragement
of new local factories. The depart
ment's work, also beset by difficulties, /
shows considerable progress. Com =,
mercial enterprises and an industrial |
spirit are appearing in the smaller
towns as we'll as developing in the
larger centers, Dublin, Belfast and
Cork. The manufacture of bacon. of |
wooden goods. Of laces. has begun in
villages where ten years ago surplus
labor, unemployed was driven to for.
eign lands.
Dear Transportation Heavy Handicap.
With created or revived local indus.
tries comes consideration of better
Farm produce and in.
dustrial products pay three per cent of
their value to reach q market in Can.
ada and fifteen per cent in Ireland. 1t
costs four dollars ton to get eggs
from France to London. six dollars a
ton from Denmark, and twenty-five
dollars ton from Galway, Ireland.
This condition an Irish parliament
may be expected to seek to remedy.
lust now 1t blocks economic develop.
nent.
ireland is thinking now in terms Of
woolens and linens, poultry and fat
cattle. eggs and butter, banks and rail.
ways" said the brilliant T. M. Kettle,
professor of economics in the new
university at Dublin,
"Sociai and Moral uplift."
Nor are the Irish at home forget
ul of the higher things in life. They
re creating new literature, they are
developing social life. gracious as al
ways in the veriest villages-for you,
IRISH peasant is born a gentleman
nd promoting higher standards of
morality. In all the constructive
movements in Ireland the religious
uestion looms large. For religion to
ne real 1rishman, Protestant or Cath
lie, is not an argument, but an in !
titution. Quoting again professor,
lettle: 1T seems to us as reason.
BILE to prepare children for their
loral life by excluding religion as to
repare them for their physical life by :
the most important lobe of /
heir brains" =
Self Help by Mutual Help. 6
With this material and in this wise is !
le new Ireland in the making. To
le Englishman home" means his own