The Denison review., 1915-03-31

are, however, tSeVeFdl IlClHOuo VI Pui-
chasing farm supplies cooperativeiy
which will be found to be OF advan-
|tage. The simplest is the joint order,
lin which group OF farmers can buy
given article in large quantities,
thereby affecting a considerable saw
ing in the expense of handling, com
missions, etc. Sometimes when th'.
method is adopted, warehouse is ad-
|ded which is owned or rented cooper
atively and in which. the goods are
|stored until the associated purchasers
need them.
If these two methods have been
tried and found successful, it may be
desirable to carry them out to their
logical development and conduct a CO
operative store which renders the
same service to its customers that a
private enterprise would. This, how,
ever, inevitably leads to compiler
tions and should only be undertaken
latter some experience with simpler
methods OF cooperation.
With the committee on farm ii.
nance and accounting the first duty
lis to ascertain what farm enterprises
can safely be financed. This is only
possible when accurate accounts are
kept and carefully analysed. After
this has been done, the next step is
to secure the most favorable terms
for financing proper and sound ent-
|erprises. This is frequently not diff
cult ii the committee has thoroughly
mastered the subject and is able to
nj nj, hnf 1nnol n l-nrs
Where the local bankers are unwilling
to finance genuinely productive ent-
crprises at reasonable rate of i'll
terest, the committe must consider
other ways of securing capital. One
lof the simplest plans for accomplish
ing this is credit union or cooper
atiye credit association. The essen
tial features. of this plan are that a
group OF farmers organize themselves
to receive deposits and make loans.
I BY keeping the expenses down to a
minimum, it has been possible in some
cases for such associations to pay in
terest on deposits that is within one
percent of the interest it charges on
loans.
Committee on communication and
transportation shonld deal primarily
with the roads and telephones. The
keynote of the work should be organ
lied self help, not appeals to get Gov.
ernment help. ~ t
just as the five business commit
tees are to grapple with the fuadamen-
tai problems OF producing and selling
in their various forms. the five social
|c0mIuittees should direct their efforts
to the Improvement OF living condl
| tions in the country. N
TO increase tile farmers inc0rns
lis not the only thing needed to MAKE
rural life what it should be. As q
matter of fact, says this article, 1t is
the prosperous farmer WHO is more
inclined to move to town than his less
fortunate neighbor. Having accumu-
lated competence he wishes to ell.
JOY it. and there are five princlpal
reasons which lead him to beliey :,
that he can do this better in the city.
First, there are usually better facil-
tiles for educating his children: Sec
0nd, the sanitary conditions are fire.
1uently much better in towns. and
the time does not seem to be far dis
tant when the cities will be actually
more healthful than tho country.
Again, household conveniences such
as hot and cold water, heating and
lighting systems, etc, are more
abundant in the towns and add great
ly to the comfort of living. Finally,
there ishnore opportunity for recrea-
ton in the city, and frequently.
strange as it may appear, moro to
appeal to the sense of beauty that is
inherent in practically every man.
Cooperation on the part Of rural
communities can do as much to alter
these conditions as it can TO increase
the average cash income. The COM
.mittees that have these matters in
charge should, therefore. be regard
ed as quite as important as those
which deal with business questions,
and they should receive the same
support from the entire community
which they are endeavuring to bene-
fit. The result will be "a community
spirit which. iii its way. is capable of
producing as valuable results as the
national spirit. In fact. says the
article in closing. Patriotism. like
charity, begins at home; that is. in
the neighborhood'
AS an, appendix, the pamphlet con
.tains brief list OF suggested read
ipgs for the various committees.
Many of these are government pub.
lications which may be had free OF
charge by addressing the Division of
Publications of the Department of
Agriculture, or at nominal price
from the Superintendent of Public
Documents.
The city council Of Ida Grove arc
planning on paving twenty blocks at
that place some time this summer.
Prof. T. X. Agg, OF Ames, the foremost
paving expert in the state of Iowa. has
been secured to speak at mass meet
ing OF the citizens OF Ida Grove to give
them an idea, of the cost per square
yard and also tell OF the merits Of the
different kinds of pavement. 1t is
gratifying to see that our neighboring
towns are up and doing when it comes
to improvements Of this nature and
we trust that the time will come when
Denison will get busy along the same
lines.
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