Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-05


serving club. The idea is that the
recipes and methods Of the members
shall be tried out, and the best ones
adopted and adhered to. SO that there
containers would be uniform and would
be purchased by the club in bulk direc
from the manufacturers: sugar would be
bought by the barrel and resold to men,
cry. 1t is intended that the preserving
club shall have its own organization,
keep Its own accounts and do business
with the cooperative selling association
as body.
To Trade With Each Other.
There was one proposal made at the
meeting that, so far as I know. has
never been tried by any Of the many CO.
operative associations that are In ex-
lstence throughout the country. The
plan is that In addition to buying and
selling in the open market. the associa-
ton be made an instrument through
which members might trade among
themselves. Here's the idea: Mr.. A. is
chicken farmer and ships his eggs and
dressed poultry to Washington. He
doesn't keep pigs or q COW, SO buys his
hams and bacon. milk and butter-large!y
from Washington. Chicken feed also has
to be bought. much Of it shipped to him
by freight Mr.. B.. who lives on the ad-
joining farm. doesn't keep chickens. but
has pigs and cows, and grows wheat and
corn. He ships his dairy and pork prod
ucts. his wheat and corn. away. and
buys his eggs and dressed table poultry.
The answer is as plain as the nose on
YOUR face Let A. and B. trade with each
other and with other neighbors. and on
the commodities involved all middlemen's
profits and all shipping charges would be
saved.
In order to work the thing out to Its
logical end therefore. there would need
to be a depot out here In the country as
well as store or other outlet in town.
To this depot member would deliver
ten barrels of potatoes. two barrels Of
apples and two cases Of eggs. and be-
sides taking home with him sugar. flour
and coffee, would leave an order Tor a
cord of wood and ton OF hay The
books to see who had wood and hay for
sale. and would telephone the order to
the would-be sellers living nearest the
would-be buyer. The wood and nay
would be delivered direct. and the clerk
would charge nominal commissions
against the accounts Of the sellers. In.
order to avoid disputes, there would have
to be adopted once week or SO oy
committee an arbitrary scale or prices 70
prevail as between members Of the as
sociation. The effort would be to make
these prices such that the saving enected
would be divided about equally between
the buyer and the seller. There would De
no attempt to compel member with
When the depot clerk telephoned an
order and quoted the price fixed by the
committee, the member could decline to
sell without any loss OF standing In the
association: but no more orders Wouio
be telephoned him SO long as other mem,
hers were willing to sell at the omclai
price.
To Provide Working Capital.
On such transactions as that described.
the commission would be very small,
probably not over per cent On all
products handled directly by the associa-
ton it is planned to charge 10 per cent
commission. Out Of the revenue thus oe-
rived all operating expenses OF the asso-
cfation would be paid. AS any surplus
arising would be divided pro rata among
members once a year or ofeenefs tne e.
feet would be to have the produce OF
members marketed at actual cost. and
the constant aim and endeavor woulo De
70 keen that cost down to the lowest pos
sible figure.
Committee on Marketing.
T am a member Of committee ap-
pointed to study and report on methods
Of marketing. Not only are We going to
study local conditions in Washington. but
we shall consult the bureau Of markets
| of the Department of Agriculture and
| enter into correspondence with farmers
| cooperative associations In all parts OF
| the country.
three main plans of placing our goods on
| the Washington market. The first and
least favored now, though in the end IT
may be found most practical. Is to DO
| business directly with select list OF re-
| tail merchants. A second Is to have a
store or depot of our own in the city.
| with our own selling and delivery serv-
| ice, supplemented by newspaper adverus-
| ing, at least in the beginning. The third
| plan is to do business direct Win orsahi-
! cations of housewives.
The third plan, on Its face. meets with
most favor. Direct dealing between the
| Individual producer and the individual
| consumer is being tried. and in most
| cases is not proving wholly SATISFACTORY
| to either party The chief trouble seems
to be that individual responsibility can
not be made as weighty as coordinate
responsibility, and that there 10 CORE
spending lack Of confidence
| Third Plans Advantages.
The plan of doing business with house
wives would seem to offer many advan-
tages over the project Of a store Of our
own II we had a store open, say, three
days a week. we never could know ex-
cept approximately what the market
would demand. For instance, on one
| market day there might be left over
twelve dozen eggs and twenty pounds OF
| butter, to dispose Of which would be diff
fcult. On the next market day we might
be short twelve dozen eggs and twenty
| pounds of butter, and customers would
| be disappointed and, very likely. dis
gruntled.
With housewives organizations we
could know in advance just what to send
| to town We will say, for example. that
shipments are to be made twice week,
| Wednesdays and Saturdays. On Monday
each housewife would be expected to
| leave with the secretary Of her organi-
cation a list of the things she wanted
| on Wednesday-so many eggs, SO much
| butter, so much Of fruit and vegetables
| in season. The secretary OF the house.
wives would notify the secretary or depot
clerk of our association on Tuesday to
deliver SO many dozen eggs. SO many
pounds of butter. 30 much fruit and
vegetables.
II there were three or six or twelve
such ORGANIZATIONS Of housewives With
whom we were doing business, there
| would be made up on Tuesday evening
for shipment early Wednesday mornins
| three or six or twelve lots Of goods. the
sale of all of which had been provided for
| IN advance. The goods for each house,
! wives organization would be shipped to
aft hn q ~ mr.