The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-03-05
community ORGANIZED FOR
NEIcnDORHOOD PATRIOTISM
Interesting Outline Of Msthod for So
curing Desperation In Business and
Social Affairs Among the Rural
Population

Washington, D. c., March 5.--A
scheme for the organization Of rural
communities for both business and So
cial purposes is worked out in an article
which is to appear in, the forthcoming
Yearbook Of the Department Of Agri-
culture, and which has already been
printed as pamphlet for the use of the
department Office Of markets and rural
organization.
The scheme calls for ten committees,
| FIVE of which are to deal with business
needs, and Ave with social needs. Every
member of the organization is to serve
on some one of these committees. In
addition, there is to be central or
executive committee composed of the
president of the organization, its Sec
! retary, its treasurer and the chairman
| Of the ten other committees. This CEN
tral body is to direct the general policy
of the organization, raise all funds and
control their expenditures. The COM,
mittees that are to deal with the busi-
ness interests Of the community are as
| follows:
Committee on farm production, com.
mittee on marketing, committee ON Sc
curing farm supplies, committee on farm
finance and accounting, committee on
communication and transportation.
Similarly, the five committees that
attend to the community g social inter
ests will deal with education, santa
tion, recreation, Identification, house
hold economies.
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 i'm
proving the breeds of live stock in a
community through cooperative pur-
chases of purebred males. 1t can en-
courage the formation of corn, poultry,
pig, cattle, canning and gardening clubs
which have already demonstrated their
value in the sections where they have
been established, and it can carry on
useful studies of the type of agricul-
| ture best fitted to local conditions.
In the same way, the committee on
marketing can secure the standardiza-
tion of the community s products and
thus obtain better prices than are pos
sible when nondescript goods are dump
ed upon the market. The committee can
| oAoV oUdlSh Out ING UCSt lfldThtbo, Iudht
contracts on a large scale which will
be more favorable than any individual
can secure for himself, and in many
other ways economize in the selling of
the community's goods. Even if CO.
operative marketing is not actually re-
sorted 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 economize in
buying. Farmers are warned, however,
not to underestimate the cost of run
ming store or commercial agency, and
not to overestimate the saving which
this can effect. The cooperative So
ciety, of course, does away with the
necessity of the store s 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 store IS profit,
and tits 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 purchasing farm supplies co-opera-
lively. which will be found to be of
advantage. The simplest is the joint or
der, in which group of farmers can
buy given article in large quantities,
thereby effecting considerable saving
In the expense of handling, commits.
sions, etc. Sometimes when this method
/ is adopted a warehouse is added which
is owned or rented o-operatively, and
in which the goods are stored until the
associated purchasers need them.
Ii these two methods have been tried
and found successful, it may be desir.
able to carry them out to their logical
development and conduct cooperative
store which renders the same service to
it's customers that a private enterprise
would. This, however, inevitably leads
to complications 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 as
certain what farm enterprises can safe
ly be financed. This is only possible
when accurate accounts are kept and
carefully analyzed. After this has been
done, the next step is to secure the
most favorable terms for financing
proper and sound enterprises. This is
frequently not difficult if the commit
tee has thoroughly mastered the sub
lect and is able to put it clearly before
local bankers. Where the local bank
ers are unwilling toe finance genuinely
productive enterprises at reasonable
rate of interest, the committee must
consider other ways OF securing capital
One of the simplest plans for accom-
Plishing this is credit union or eu-
operative credit association. The essen
tial features of this plan are that a
group Of farmers organize themselves
to receive deposits and make loans. By
keeping the expenses down to mini
mum, it has been possible in some cases
for such associations to pay interest on
deposits that is within one per cent.
of the interest it charges on loans.
! The committee on communication
and transportation should deal primar-
lily with theNroads and telephones. The
keynote of the work should be organ