The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1915-10-22

Marketing of farm produce to the
best advantage through cooperative
enterprises requires thorough know
ledge Of the essential principles of co
operation.
Theodore Macklin,. Instructor in ru
raj economics at the Kansas Agricul
tural College, has given much thought
to this subject, and In recent issue
of the Kansas Industrialist gives
some OF the results Of his observations
and studies:
"The principles Of cooperation are
guide as to when and how to coop
crate" says Mr. Macklin. "They must
become universally known by farmers
if the failures In cooperative con-
Germs are no longer to occur.
1.-The farmers are daily making
greater efforts to market their pro-
duce more efficiently. To accomplish
this object cooperation has been
found to be the greatest single help.
frequently, however, we hear of fail
ures among farmer concerns. These
failures raise a very serious question
What good reason sis there for sue
failures? The answer Is simple. Nine
out of every ten farmers. companies
that go to the wall do 70 because the
co-operators are ignorant of,the fun
damental principles of cooperation it.
self. The failures are largely due to
ignorance.
Six Groups Of Essentials
There are six groups Of essentials,
/. knowledge of which on the part OF
co-operators would soon eliminate
most of the trouble These fundament-
ais are: The essential prerequisites
to successful cooperation; the char
acter of, the business; the character
of the co-operators; organization of
the cooperative enterprise; manage
ment Of the co-opsratsve enterprise;
federation of cooperative enterprises.
'If farmer enterprise is to sue
ceed 1t must have an abundance of
raw material before the business is
started, the prospective patrons must
feel a very urgent need for co-operat-
ing, and there must be enthusiastic
and competent leadership. The great
majority Of farmer concerns have
failed because some one Of these es-
sential conditions was lacking at the
time organization was effected.
IA business to be successfully run
ON a,co-operatiye. plan must be simple
In character and easily understood by
each of the farmers. Thiseliminates
a large percentage of the possible
causes for Misunderstanding and
tendency to knock on the undertake
ing.
More important still, the business
must be of such vital consequence to
the co-operators that they will { be
more less forced into line, because
of the pecuniary advantage to be thus
gained.
Farmers are particularly suspici-
GUS of any speculative risks and this
feature should be at the minimum or
trouble is likely tos arise.
There are two personal qualities
that cannot be too well developed on
the part of-each co-operator, and there
is one which should be absent The
first two are loyalty and enthusiastic
cooperative spirit
There must not be the common
tendency to nag the manager and
knock on this and that. By loyalty
is meant the necessity Of every mem
ber's patronizing his company regard
less of outside offers, no matter how
favorable they may be. The cooper
ative, spirit calls for enthusiasm In the
united action and general "pun-to-
gether feeling. One Of the greatest
causes for the loss Of good managers,
on the other hand, Is the manner IN
which they are treated by the pa
.vons. Authority must be solely vest
I'd in the manager so far as the busi
ness management is concerned. There
must be an atmosphere Of boosting
and not of criticism and knocking,
such as frequently exists.
Save Money for Producer
I'm order to effect savings for the
oducers instead of merely interest
the investors of capital, the en-
. -rrise must be organized on a |
strictly cooperative basis.
Membership should be unlimited.
Il persons who arc desirable should
eligible-only trouble-makers
lould be kept out
s-rhe amount of capital t. - cwn-
ed by one man should be limited.
"A nominal and fixed rate Of inter