The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1914-02-06

ANEW YORK-What would you do If
~ you had S10,00O,00O? The ques-
ton was thrown at Ernest K.
Coulter, former clerk of the childrens
court and founder of the Big Brother
movement, by representative of the
New York World.
"Umph!" said Mr.. Coulter, laying
aside the legal paper from which he
had been debating, that's about what
1t costs to build a first-class dread
nought.
You're asking me to answer off,
hand a question which a good many
men seem to be unable to answer In
q lifetime Then they die and the
lawyers answer it their way. But
there is one thing sure; we could do
something better with it than build
a dreadnought. What's the one big
need In New York city," Mr.. Coult-
er paused a few seconds before an
swering his own question.
Its food" he said.
No. Ne. coulter wasn't thinking of
buying $1O,000000 worth of food. He
was thinking of the lives that are
wasted in the struggle to get food,
and how much of this waste it would
be possible to stop.
i wonder how much cooperation"
he said, could be, brought about with
Produce raised near New York city
often passes through 10 different
hands before it reaches the consumer.
The poor farmers can't raise food on
the prices they get, and the poor folks
cant buy it at the prices they have to
pay-the original cost and six or eight
or ten profits besides
item No. lone Cooperative Food
Supply Association, $750,000.
We've talked good DEAL" said
Mr.. Coulter, about the producer get
ting his goods to the consumer. Sup
pose we begin at the other end and
get the consumer to take over the
production. 1t seems as though city
could provide itself with food in the
same way 1t provides itself with wa
ter. But the city won't do that until
1t learns how. This little cooperative
experiment might help to point the
way Mr.. Coulter figured that
model retail store capable Of supply
ing $4,000 people would cost, all told,
between 100000 and 100000. This
would include land, building, stock
and working capital. He threw in
the balance for a special experiment
with accessible farms.
1.-THE co-operatives of England" he
said, ARE raising grain in other lands
and carrying 1t to their own country In
their own cooperative ships 1t should
be worth 100000 or so to see wheth-
or an organization Of New York con-
sumers would have intelligence
enough to operate a few good farms
They can't do it unless they Sc
cure expert management. For that
matter, the whole scheme will fail
unless 1t Is managed well. The p ople
will have to learn how by experience.
That seems to be the only way WI can
learn anything. | think, though that
one store Is hardly a sufficient lest"
Item No. 2.-Another Cooperative
Food Supply Association, $4,000.
Details of how to capitalize a CO.
operative association, where the CO.
operators are without capital, Mr..
Coulter could not give eff-hand. He
wanted to be sure of large member
ship and he wanted 1t to be really CO.
operative. Perhaps, he thought, ho
would stake 10000 or so people in
each Of the districts with five dollars
each on longtime credit with no Sc
curity. The new state law limits the
amount of any single stockholders
and no one, not even the man
who furnishes all the capital, can
have more than one vote But Mr..
Coulter sew no reason why he couldn't
lend the co-operatiVes the balance of
the capital, with the understanding
that stock to that amount should re-
main In the treasury until sold to in
coming members.
But food is only one of the prob
lens OF the city-the city which Mr..
Coulter has painted as an institution
for the wasting of human life.
Most people need a place to eat
and sleep; and it is the housing
conditions which are cost easily con-
aaGted with this awful waste.