The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1915-03-12

which this can effect. The coopera-
tive society, of course, does away with
the necessity of the stores making
a profit, but somebody must be paid
for his time. His salary, therefore,
corresponds in way to the ordinary
stores profit, and it is not always pos
sible to secure a good man Tor less
than he would be cable to make in a
business for himself. There are, how
ever, several methods of purchasing
farm supplies comparatively which will
be found to be of advantage. The
simplest is the joint order, in which
group OF farmers can buy given
article in large quantities, thereby
effecting d considerable saving in the
expense OF handling, commissions,
etc. Sometimes when this method IS
adopted 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 a
cooperative store which renders the
same service to its customers that
private enterprise would. This, how
ever, inevitably leads to complications
and should only be undertaken after
some experience with simpler method
OF cooperation.
The committee on farm finance and
accounting the first duty is to ascer
tain 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 tinanc-
ing proper and sound enterprises.
This is frequently not difficult if the
committee has thoroughly mastered
the subject and is able to put it clear
ly before local bankers. Where the
local bankers are unwilling to finance
genuinely productive enterprises at
reasonable rate of interest, the COM
mittee must consider other ways of
securing capital. One of the simplest
plans for accomplishing this is a Gre
dit union or cooperative credit assoc
iation. The essential features of this
plan are that a group of farmers or
ganize themselves to receive deposits
and make loans. By keeping the ex-
penses down to a minimum it has been
possible in some cases for such assoc
iations to pay interest on deposits
that is within one per cent of the in
tereSt 1t charges on loans.
The committee on communication
and transportation should deal prim-
arily with the roads and telephones
The keynote of the work should be
organized self-help, not appeals to
get government help.
Just as the FIVE business committees
are to grapple with the fundamental
problems Of producing and selling in
their various forms, the five social
committees should direct their efforts
to the Improvement of living condi-
tions i'll the country.
To increase the farmers income is
not the only thing needed to make
rural life what it should be. AS a
matter of fact, says this article, it is
the prosperous farmer who is more
inclined to move to town than his less
fortunate neighbor. Having accumu-
lated a competence he wishes to en-
JOY it, and there are five principal
reasons which lead him to believe
that he can do this better in the city:
first, there are usually better facilities