The Monticellonian., 1915-06-03
LOYAL SUPPORT IS LACKING
Farmers Make Failure of Cooperative Organizations Because They Do
 Not Stick Together.

Cooperative organizations fail for many reasons; one, because they are often not really cooperative in their character, but are in the nature of corporations, in which one man. or set of men, gets an underhold and finally strangles them.
 Another reason is that our people are not yet educated up to a point where they will hold together, if some opportunity for special profit is not offered. We are sorry to notice in one of our exchanges the failure of very prominent cooperative egg as- sociatien. As long as they stuck to- gether, the members as a class re ceived several cents a dozen more for their eggs than they had been in the habit of receiving, because they were always furnished fresh and clean, first class in every way, says Wallace's Farmer. As soon as the society was strong enough to affect the profits of the merchants of the town, these mer- chants began to offer higher prices to enough of the farmers to render tho cooperative organization ineffective, Just as soon as they get the cooper. ative enterprise out of business, they will begin to exact. and are in fact now exacting. the same profits as before, and the quality of eggs from that com munity will decline.
 This is the same plan that is worked by some of the centralized creamer- ies, for the purpose of breaking up the cooperative creameries i'll the state of Iowa. If the creamery organization is not very large or strong, and few men can be induced to leave it by being offered higher prices for cream, or higher test, which is only another way of cheating, sooner or later the or ganization will fail. Its operation be- comes more expensive. The fixed charges remain. but the output is not so large; hence is put out at a great CT expense.
 Why is this? Simply because farm CTS have not got the get-rich-qHiek microbe out of their systems. This microbe is worse than the germ of hog cholera or of foot-and mouth dis ease, because 1t does not affect ami mals but men. and affects them in the very vitals of their character Whenever farmers get ready to stand together and be loyal to their associ- ation that association will succeed, but until they are ready to do that. CO., operative associations will fail.
 When anyone enters into an organ ization, he is in duty bound to Loyalty support it, even in the face of tempta- tions to immediate temporary profit. Let us learn that character is infinitely more important than gain. The way to get rich quick is to get rich slow by helping each other to get rich. This helps to build up character. Dis loyalty to a cooperative organization, or any other enterprise we have agreed to support, but more especially a eo- operative enterprise, is destructive to character.
 Another way Of breaking down the cooperative enterprise is to SOW dis cord among brethren. That's an old, old story. Solomon, we remember, had something to say about the meanness of a man who sows discord among brethren, and he might have added, helps to SOW it by listening to insinu- ations against those with whom he is working. This is true in social life as well as in cooperative enterprises.