Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1914-05-28

ton is not foolproof, consequently 1t
does not always succeed. lneXperl-
ence, incompetence, and dishonesty
will wreck any private business ana
they will, of course, wreck any Co
operative business. 1t is necessary
therefore, for enthusiasts to remem-
Der that there is no mystic virtue IN
cooperation which enables 1t to trl-
umph at all times. Those of us who
are trying to record what we have
seen of cooperative business at home
and in Europe, would not be treating
the public fairly If we left the i'm
preston that there are no failures
among cooperative enterprises.
Both at home and abroad there have
been many failures. Certainly those
interested are entitled Ito know as
much about it's failures as about its
successes. They are entitled to know
also what causes have led to co-opera-
tive failure>
Failures in America.
Many cooperative stores organized
with much promise have failed. Gen
orally speaking gross incompetence
has wrecked them. They are like
other mercantile establishments IN
that they demand, as a condition
precedent to success, skilled manage
ment. good business methods, good &C
counting. cautious extension of credit,
as well as some special knowledge Oh
the goods dealt in. If these QUANTITIES
are absent failure is inevitable. AS
the average cooperative store III
America is organized it's members are
seldom bound by any agreement TO
do all their trading at the cooperative
concern They patronize it when 1t is
tn their interest so to do. If the goods
offered are poor, or If bad manage
ment advances the price unduly, or II
freoue1t minor mistakes occur, the
members abandon the venture ike
sinking ship.
AS | have said, cooperative stores
In order to succeed must have skilled
management, good business methoos'
good accounting systems, and must eA-
tend credit cautiously, all in addition
tn the special knowledge essential IN
every such enterprise. So far as can
discover, however, the stores which
have failed have not only lacked one
or two of these essentials OF success
hut they seem often to have Lacked all
of them. More than once IL mas nap
uened that a cooperative store CON-
many is formed because some store
keeper has lost all his money III an
unsuccessful mercantile venture ana
can secure capital for new venture
only in this way. Sometimes an am
bitious farmer has organized a com
pany in order that a son who has been
away to business college and feels
above farming may have chance 10
earn a living without working upon
the farm. 1t is characteristic also OF
cooperative American stores-and OF
other cooperative concerns in Amerl'
ca also-that they have seldom been
willing to pay salary suff1clent 10
secure men of experience and skill as
managers.
When a cooperative store managed
by a man who has history OF noth-
ing but business failures behind MIN,
or by a youthful and inexperienced
business college graduate, or by any
other man of the low grade implied IN
the low salaries paid, comes into com
petition with q competent, up-to-date
American storekeeper of the aggres'
sive vigorous type often found IN even
the smaller towns, the mere word Co
operative" upon the sign in front OF
the store is not going to avert failure
It isn't fair to expect too much OF co
operation.
Cooperative Fruit Failures.
Seldom, too, have so-called Ameri
can cooperative companies been co
lucrative in the true sense OF the
word. have In mind one cooperative
fruit marketing society which falieo
largely because it was organized or
the Joint stock basis and administered
as are other homeopathic corpora
tions. A few of the larger sharehold
ers controlled II. The interests OF the
minority were ignored. They became
Jealous and suspicious and accused
those In control of dishonesty. Finally
they demanded that the officers give
n full report OF all their financial
transactions and that an auditing com