Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-03-25
THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
FOR NEIGHBORHOOD PATRIOTIEM
Continued from Page II

man of the 10 other committees. This
central body is to direct the general
policy of the organization, raise al
funds and control their expenditures
The committees that are to deal With,
the business interests of the commun
ity are as follows:
1. Committee On farm production.
2. Committee on marketing.
3. Committee on securing farm sup
plies.
4. Committee on farm finance and
accounting.
s.. Committee on communication
n transportation.
Similarly, the five committees that
attend to the community's social in
~terests will deal with:
1. Education.
2. Sanitation.
g. Recreation.
4. Beautihcation.
B.. Household economics.
The work of most of these commit
tees is indicated sufficiently clearly
by their titles. For example, the
committee on production can do much
good by improving the breeds of live
stock in a community through coop
~erative purchases of pure-bred males.
1t can encourage the formation of
corn, poultry, pig, cattle, canning. and
gardening clubs, which have already
demonstrated their value in the sec.
tons where they have been establish
ed, and it a carry on useful studies
of the, type of agriculture best fitted
to local conditions.
i In the ca mo UoU tho ooO1poiffoo nan
secure the standardization of the COM
munltys products, and thus obtain
better prices than are possible when
nondescript. goods are dumped upon
the market. The committee can also
search out the best markets, make
contracts on q large scale which will
be more favorable than any individ-
ual can secure for himself, and in
many other ways economic in the
selling Of the community's goods. Even
II cooperative marketing is not &C
tually re5orted to, the information
which the committee collects can
hardly fail to be of great assistance to
the individual shippers.
Just as the committee on market
ing can facilitate selling, the commit
tee on farm supplies can economic in
buying. Farmers are warned, how
ever, not to underestimate the cost of
running a store commercial agency.
and not to overestimate the saving
which this can effect. The co-opers,
tive society, of course, does away with
the necessity of the stores making a
profit, but somebody must manage the
store and that somebody must be paid
for his time. His salary, therefore,
corresponds in a way to the ordinary
stores profit, and it is not always
possible to secure a good man for
less than he would be able to make in
business for himself. There are,
however, several methods of purchas-
ing farm supplies comparatively which
will be found to be of advantage. The
simplest is the joint order, in which
O. group of farmers can buy a given
article in large quantities, thereby
effecting a considerable saving in the
expense of handling, commissions, etc
Sometimes when this method is adopt.
ed a warehouse is added, which is
owned or rented comparatively, 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 =
cooperative store which renders tho
same service to its customers that a
private enterprise would. This. how
ever, inevitably leads to complica-
tions and should only be undertaken
after some experience with simpler
methods of cooperation.
With the committee on farm finance
and accounting the first duty is to
ascertain what enterprise 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 fnanc-
ing proper and sound enterprises.
This is frequently not difficult If the
committee has thoroughly mastered
the subject and able to put 1t clear
ly before local bankers. Where the
local bankers are unwilling to finance
genuinely productive enterprises at a
reasonable rate of interest, the COM
mittee must consider other ways OF
securing capital. One Of the simplest
plans for accomplishing this is a
credit union or cooperative credit
association. The essential features
of this plan are that a group of farm
ers organize themselves to receive de-
posts and make loans. By keeping
the N~expenses down to a minimum It
has been possible in some cases for
such associations to pay interest on
deposits tina is within 1 per cent OF
the interest it charges on loans.
The committee on communication
and transportation should deal prl-
marily with the roads and telephones.
The KEYNOTE of the work should be