Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1920-11-26
FARMERS AND WORKERS
COMBINE N ONTARIO
TO GUST TIE CRATER


TIE food spectators. utadlemea.
and other p7oilteerlng parasites are
getting some hard iOlts up In the
Province q Ontario. Canada. The city
workers and the farmers hare al lAst
come . reslize their Identical inter
.ess in the common struggle for free
dom from exploitation Their weapon
is cooperation. the enc sure method
Of eliminating the graft which hlecds
both the producer and the consumer.
The United Farmers Cooperative
Company Of Ontario BEGAN BY cutting
onf the middleman in the meat huSi.
ness They sold live stock direct from
he farmer with such success that
they nov control one-third of the bus.
mess Of the bis. Toronto stock Yards.
with a turnover thai viii total 5.nte..
oea. e0A for 1899 Such an achievement
caused the farmers 20 ask themselves:
Since the farmer produces the food
which the town worker must eat. aud
the town worker produces articles
essential 10 life on the farm, why can
they not be brought together through
consumers, cooperative stores in the
larger cities and towns OF ontariog
So the farmers secured an expert man.
aver. bought ont a large wholesale
house in Toronto, and are now oper.
ailng a string Of stores that are piliag
up a business Of $4,000. 0oo year.
Their ultimate goal Is 10 put con
sumers' cooperative store into every
town and village in the province as
= binding link between the farmer and
The town worker This viii soon put
an end TO the extortion of monopoly
prices from the producing classes for
the necessities of life which they
themselves have produced
A significant result of the farmer.
labor cooperative movement in On
tario has been to draw these workers
into close political alliance Once
two groups recognize that they have
common economic interests. II Is not
a long step TO political solidarity. The
farmer-lahor group has 45 candidates
IN the field for the coming provincial
election. with splendid prospects for
victory in a majority of the districts.
Not only in Ontario, but In every
European country where the produce
Ing classes have come into political
power, economic cooperation pre-.
ceded unity at the polls. When men
learn TO cooperate as producers aud
consumers, they soon come to vote
together for the common welfare.
The Wall Street Journal very
kindly advises the workers that they
should not attempt TO lower the cost
of living by cooperative merchandis.
ing trade" which II brands as a sig.
nal failure"
II the Wall Street Journal can stop
listening to the stock exchange ticker
long enough to write to the Bureau
Of Markets of the Department of Agri
culture, II viii learn that there are
more than 10000 cooperative societies
in the United States, besides several
hundred thousand in Europe. success.
fully doing a business running into
billions of dollars every year. III the
principle of cooperation Is such a
signal failure" we wonder why the
Wall Street bankers work so nicely
as a unit in fixing money rates, or CO.
operate with foreign financiers in drag
ging China. Mexico. and other weak
nations under their economic control
for exploitation through dollar di.
plomaey." Our own guess is that the
International of Finance has every
Labor International beat mile when
Il comes TO close-knit cooperation and
united action.
We hope you get the idea: If the
workers and farmers cooperate and
establish direct exchange between
producers and consumers, II means
signal failure" for the gang OF specu-
lators, exploiters. and middlemen
around Wall Street who fatten off
the wealth created by the producing
classes.
Up in Utica. New York, 90 working
men got together in 1915 with an aver
age capital of less than SIS each.
purchased an old bakery, and remod-
eled II into a cooperative institution.
The first year their sales were 0,000,
out of which cash rebate of 5 per
cent was paid TO members in addition
to expanding the business and laying
aside a reserve fund. BY the end of
1919 the Utica Cooperative Society
had over 300 members, was doing a
business of more than $4,000 a year.
and besides paying rebates of from
per cent to 10 per cent to members.
had banked a surplus of $4,000,
bought new quarters, and built a mod
ern bakery in conjunction with hand
some grocery store. Since Jan 1.
1920. the membership has increased
nearly 80 per cent, business has dou,
bled. and a paid-up capital of ST.,
10000 was established
The manager of this very success
full bakery gives some sound advice
for other groups who are planning
similar enterprises:
1.-THE most important thing in start
ing a cooperative bakery is that the
bakers working in the coop bakery
are co-operators at heart, so that
they have q sense Of working for
themselves and not far boss. They
will then of their own accord see to
1t that nothing is wasted and that the
baked goods are as good as can be
made. And with quality and right
prices, you cannot help but get the
trade and good will of your members
and others.
Whenever conditions permit, coop
bakeries should be established and
conducted in connection with gro
cery store Both will help each other
! 81. of4J