Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-01-06
THE COOPERATIVE STORE IDEA
'EDERIC }. HASIkIN

WASHINGTON. January 5.-onc OF
the leading weapons .rssiiinst the high
cost OF living, and one from which
many people hope for great things in
the United States. is the cooperative
store. Such "a store is. in !; word u
store run solely for the benefit of its
patrons. The people who deal in the
store own the store. and the profit
that the store earns is distributed
among them In proportion to the
amount Of their trade. thus coming
back in the form of rebate and MAX :
ing the net cost Of their purchases
Just large enough TO cover running
expenses. Nobody makes II profit out
OF the cooperative store: its sole OBJ
Jcct IL to reduce the cost of living.
Such stores are firmly established on
an immense scale in many parts Of
Europe. They work in Denmark and
Switzerland: the Rochdale to-Opcru
tive store in Great Britain is known
All over the world The latter is !.
financial success. and Il means OF great
saving To the people in poor and mod
crate circumstances. who make up it's
cooperative membership The retail
store. whether cooperative or run on
the usual private plan. is the distrib-
utlhG agency. and many recent inves-
legations into the high cost Of living
have put Il large share Of the blame on
iauit% distribution. Hence many Amer
leans. seeing the success Of the co.
operative plan in Europe and having
III NINA the result Of these invests
cations. have cnthusia stically advo-
Gated the establishment Of co-opera-
tive stores all over the United States
IN" establishment OF such "A store does
not call for aid from any wealthy
people II calls simply for interest
ahd cooperation on the part of enough
p'oP'c III moderate circumstances, OF
cNc" poor people. There arc CO.
operative stores where the unit sub
scrtption is only $40
The cooperative store idea ha.
taken hold IN tho United States. until
now there are about 400 such storcs
IN operation in this country. Th, pc
phrtmcnt OF Agriculture has just com
pictcd an elaborate and detailed S,udy
81 sixty of these. selecting stores as
tar az possible representative Of All
N'S.ihS types. ~ order IL lind gu, just
what The cooperative store scheme
may hold for the United states I'M the
iihhcdlat" future. The conclusion Of
~" Investigators may be stated at
once. broadly speaking. that con,.lu-
SON -. mat the cooperative store in
IN" United states Is not !, success
Conclusion Not Fully Justified
rus conclusion r1ean. that the ma
J"rl'E OF The cooperative stores in
NcStiEaicd did not succeed in their
main ohjcct-thc reduction az the hirh
cost Of living for their members II,
Y
INC '"-"r"raiiN" store so uncorn-
montou*iN. however IN some loc.tt
ties. aud under some conditions il IL
" Snr",SS. and saves much money for
inc p"opI" who form tho organization
" IS ais" iruo. though IL may anu.ar
somewhat p"radoNi"al ;t first glance
mat IN" cooperative store IL often
successful even when il goes bankrupt
Suth stores are successful IN rct.uctny
W" NIGH cost II living hccais. ,hcv
put the local merchant on his efficiency
m"tii", II" has TO come down on uri..e
AMI M On quality III order To STAY in
the game. The manager of a succo.s
ibI "o-np"ratir" store believes that
every town ought I" have one ius, for
this purpose. Even If IL does no, sel
nhit" - "hcarlS a. some branch or !,
hati"n-w'dc retailing chain. IL would
always l." an effective prcvcn,i,c
against exploitation Of the public by
amy private parties
The fact that til" co-npcra,ivc store
- not on tho whole. successful seems
!" hc duo 10 tho superiority ~ Amori.
can enterprise aud talent FOR organiza-
iion ~ tho other extreme from tho
cooperative store, with its small pri-
vat" "lcntcl" puttinc up the capital
aud moro or loss strictly pledged Ia
patroniz" il. have in America tho
great national chain-storc systems
with their immense private capital
their highly efficient organizations and
above sll. their tremendously large
scale business The chain-s,orc beats
tho cooperative store idea is or the
pay big salaries to experts IN every
dctaii OF efficient operation. because IL
can conmaud the output or entire fac
tories. and can ship by tho carload
instead ~ BY III" packing ease
.arEc-sraic business intelliccntly