Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-05-07

mas no connection with the NOnpar-
tisan league Whatsoever, but that it
operates under the Rochdale plan.
There are said to be about 80 Roch-
dale stores in this state and probably
100 in Minnesota.
Most of the possibilities for failure
are eliminated from the Rochdale
plan which now has been in operation
in many countries for a number of
years. Some of the features, briefly
summed up, are rs follows:
A store is never started in a town
unless a store already in operation
can be purchased, and all stores must
organize under the laws Of the state
in which they are located. Capital
scribed by the consumer members
each taking one or more shares of
stock, but no member has more than
one vote even though he may be the
owner of many shares; voting must
be in person and not by proxy.
The earnings of capital are limited
to a rate which does not exceed the
prevailing rate of interest on money,
and the selling price is just about on
a level with that obtaining in other
stores. The surplus above the cost of
the business is used for reserves, divi-
dend or interest on stock holdings,
and for returning to the members in
proportion to the purchases they
make during the year.
Elect Own Directors
Stockholders in Rochdale societies
elect their own board of directors who
store; it will be recalled that in the
Consumers United Stores Co. the
farmers do not v have the right to
select managers of the stores which
are, established by the investment Of
the farmers own money: Managers
are selected by the man above, ac-
cording to a statement made by one
who is familiar with tn details of the
Socialistic scheme.
In his .''story Of the Cooperative
Wholesale Society,"" Percy Redfern
emphasizes one of the important ele-
ments of cooperative business when
he says:
Insisting upon cash payment, the
lows to break the almost universal
letters of debt"
Cash, then, is the rule in corpora
tive stores. All goods are sold for
cash, and the method of buying on
credit is wholly eliminated.
But
1t is we'll to keep in mind the a
ing of c. E. Bassett, U. S. department
of agriculture specialist in co-opera-
tive organization, when he says:
THE chances for success in on
Quoting cooperative stores are not as
numerous or as great as many mag
inc. They should be attempted only
after a most careful survey of local
conditions and then only when suffi-
cient capital and high-grade manage
ment are available"
In the preceding article on cooper
alton the principal reasons for the
failure Of some stores were pointed
out by way of approaching the subject
of how to make a cooperative enter
! prise a success.
Causes for success in cooperation
are practically the same as in any
stances under which they operate are
somewhat different. One fact to keep
in mind is that the members Of q
cooperative consumers store but
rarely are trained business men, and
even though they employ managers
who have the necessary commercial
skill. they are not in a position to
exercise the needful control of the
business unless they provide for prop
er safeguards. $780,
w. H. Kerr. investigator in market
business practice. and G. A. Nahstoll,
assistant in cooperative organization
accounting. have outlined some of the
methods which produce success, I'M
bodying the results Of their observa-
ton n experience in one Of the bull
letins issued by the United States de-
partment of agriculture.
First of all, they point out, it is
necessary to make use Of accurate rec
ords inc accounts In the naEeme
of a cooperative store. whether it
be large or small. The system adopt
ed should be rigidly and literally adj
hered to as the most insignificant in
attention may pave the way for bus
mess ruin.
Personal Efficiency.
Now it is all right to formulate a
system, write so, and so many para
graphs and sections. But that is only
the frame of the whole thing. The life
OF the business really is the individ-
uality of hose who run it, and, for
this reason it is Of the utmost import
m to engage men Of tested efficien-
cy who not only know all about
prices and quality of goods, but who
also are able to judge people and To-
cal conditions from a psychological
point of view.
Comprehensive bookkeeping. is, of
course, necessary for the success of
the store. and attention has been
called to the fact that the adoption
Of single entry q-lite frequently has
cooperative store. Experts insist