The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-12

must inevitably result In ruin to the
business OF the nation and in the end
In revolution
The Consumers' Complaint.
This question more than any pure
~ domestic question now engages the
public mind. The complaint comes
now chiefly from the consumer, but
! the question is one in which the pro-
ducer also has a vital interest In that
unnecessarily high prices are curtail-
! ing consumption and therefore cur
failing demand. thereby limiting and
narrowing the outlet for all products
1t is high time that the thoughtful
people of the country. both producers
and consumers should be considering
what their relationship to each other
i Is to be- not only In 1915, but in those
/ days which are to come when domestic
and International reconstruction must
. follow the ending of the European
! war.
The remedy is not destruction of or
ganization. We can never go back
: 70 indivduajism.
! Cooperation Is the remedy. The aver
age men of the country must get to-
/ gether and solve the problem of dis
/ tribution---a solution made easier year
/ by year as means of communication
/ by ran ana wire multiply.
! We must rid ourselves of the feel
! ing of rivalry that was natural in the
DAYS of more primitive business. We
must learn to be fellow workers.
/ Cooperate In Marketing.
We must cooperate In marketing.
Some localities do it now. to a rather
limited extent Localized associations
cannot work successfully as perma
ment proposition. for the overhead
cost Is to great and they can never
compete with enormous aggregations
/ of capital Then, too. we are still
such children OF human nature that
local jealousies creep In and mar the
i task. Divisions must be organized,
and must be in charge of men who
will have an interest that will make
own business.
We can cooperate in production, so
that over large areas tho products
of the soil and the factory may be
adapted to the public need. As rule
manufacturers and dealers figure UP
the amount of capital invested in bus
mess. the cost of production Including
all costs of doing business, then add
what they themselves fix as their
reasonable profit and sell at prac-
tlcaily uniform price to the trade The
man on the soil produces a crop, and
instead Of fixing a price which will
I represent reasonable return. asks
the customer what he will give. At
most times in the life OF the farmer
the price of his product is fixed not
by himself. but by his customer. and
without direct regard to cost OF pro
duction or even TO the law of supply
and demand. but from considerations
! OF how much he should contribute
/ along with the ultimate consumer to
an inordinate profit going to COM
/ bination standing between both
N~lxhborhood Center-.
| We must have neighborhood CEN
! tiers, where all the people may gather
| and discuss the problems of life and
of business and OF education That
makes for cooperation. A co-opera
! tive creamery In community will do
| far more for community spirit than
any profits In money It may bring in.
! One of the most striking signs of
/ the times is found In the enactment
/ of the law for the establishment OF
| farm loan banks. The very foundation
, of these proposed Institutions is in
! local cooperation. First the farmers
| OF a community get together and work
! together and learn together, The
farmers OF the United States borrow ed
two billion dollars last year for which
they paid the banks a rate of AT least
| eight per cent. when all Is accounted
for-perhaps more In Europe under
the system of rural credits, they
would have paid not to exceed four
per cent. With such a system here
our farmers could have saved $50. -
900 IN a single year in interest. This
relief TO our people. soon to be APP
piled at least In part is not alone &C
complished by cooperation in the
sense that the demands OF the peo-
pie caused Congress to act. nor Yet
in the sense that the government rep
resents all the people cooperating
but In the broader sense that the
farmers OF n community may no long
err act as individual units in their eff
forts to secure capital for their OPP
erations, but must, II they want cheap
er money. enter into a community or
ganzation with their friends and
neighbors, and thus duplicate the sys-
TEN under which other industries have
for many years commanded better
credit and lower interest rates. And
here let me say that there is no deer
mystery. about the operation of the
farm loan act--it is simply horse sense
and simple business methods and
nothing else.
VIII Grow With Use
Cooperation. like muscle. Will grow
with use. 1t will not work ali by it.
self. 1t must have motive power I,
must have leadership. In an address
on the subject OF community efforts
that have met with wonderful sue
cess in a limited way in Western
community. the speaker said that the
good results were to be attributed tc
two things--"Co- operation and Cald
we'll" naming the man who had beer
the leader. From every communit,
and every country and every division
and every State and every branch oil
production and every branch OF distri-
hutton. there Is a call for leaders tc
voice and supply the need of the
times lis there In our time more
worthy call for service7
In all of your deliberations ! wish
you we'll You are welcome to our
convention halls. to our places OF bus
mess and our places of amusement
10 our public buildings and to our
srenes ~ historic interaat. n our fire