The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-03-13
THE ORGANIZED COMMUNITY.

| rural communities for both business
| and social purposes is worked out in
an article which is to appear in the
forthcoming yearbook of the depart
ment of agriculture, and which has
already been printed as a pamphlet
| for the use of the departments office
of markets and rural organization.
| The scheme calls for ten commit
tees, five of which are to deal with
business needs, and five with social
needs. Every member of the organi-
cation is to serve on some one of
these committees. In addition, there is
to be a central or executive committee
composed of the president of the or
ganization, its secretary, its treasurer
and the chairmen of the ten other
committees. This central body is to
direct the general policy of the organ
| ization, raise all funds and control
their expenditures. The committees
that are to deal with the business in
terests of the community are as fol-
lows: Committee on farm production;
committee on marketing; committee
on securing farm supplies; committee
on farm finance and accounting; COM
mittee on communication and trans
portation.
Similarly, the five committees that
attend to the community's social in
terests will deal with: Education,
sanitation, recreation, identification,
household economics.
The work of most of these commit
tees is indicated sufficiently clearly
by their titles; for example, the COM
mittee on production can do much
good by improving the breeds of live
stock in a community through CO.
operative purchases of pure bred
males. 1t can encourage the forma-
ton of corn, poultry, pig, cattle, can
ming and gardening clubs which have
already demonstrated their value in
the sections where they have been
established; and it can carry on use
full studies of the type of agriculture
best fitted to local conditions.
In the same way, the committee on
marketing can secure the standardized
ton of the communitys products and
thus obtain better prices than are
possible when nondescript goods are
dumped upon the market. The COM
mittee can also search out the best
markets, make contracts on a large
scale which will be more favorable
than any individual can secure for
himself, and in many other ways econ
omise in the selling of the communi-
tvs goods. Even if cooperation mar
keting is not actually resorted to, the
information which the committee
collects can hardly fail to be of great
assistance to the individual shippers.
Just as the committee on marketing
can facilitate selling, the committee
on farm supplies can economic in
buying. Farmers are warned, how
ever, not to underestimate the cost of
running a store or commercial agency, |
and not to overestimate the saving
which this can effect. The co-opera-
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, 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
a group of farmers can buy a given
article in large quantities, thereby |
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 CO.
operative store which renders the
same service to it's customers that a
private enterprise would. This, how
ever, inevitably leads to complications
and should only be undertaken after
some experience with simpler meth
eds of cooperation.
With the committee on farm finance
and accounting, the first duty is to
ascertain what farm enterprises can
safely be financed. This is only pos
sible when accurate accounts are kept
and carefully analysed After this has
been done, the next step is to secure
the most favorable terms for financ-
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 a
r asonable rate of interest, the COM
mittee must consider other ways of Sc
curing capital One of the simplest
plans for accomplishing this is a credit
union or cooperative credit associa-
ton. 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
association to pay interest on depos-