Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1921-10-20
COOPERATION AND
HUMAN NATURE
Bv G. ]. HoIyoake

AlEC ulOlol I'LL oSlS PSAlOAAAS0 ~
our co-operators at RochdaIe is that
they had the good sense to differ with
out disagreeing; to dissent with each
other without separating; to hate at
times, and yet always hold together.
In the working classes. and, indeed,
in most public societies of all classes.
a number of curious persons are found
who appear to have been born under
a disagreeable star. They breathe
hostility. distrust, and dissension. Their
tones are always harsh. Ii is no fault
of theirs; they cannot help it. Their
organs of speech are cracked and no
melodious sound can come out them
and their native note is a moral squeak.
They are never cordial and never sat
isfied. The restless convolutions Of
their skin denote difference of opin-
ion"; their very lips hang in the form
of carp; the muscles of their fac
es are drawn up" in the shape of an
amendment, and their wrinkled brows
frown with an entirely new principle
of action. " They are a species of So
cial porcupine whose quilts eternally
stick out. Their vision is inverted; they
see everything upside down. They
place every subject in water to inspect
it = where the straightest rod appears
hopelessly bent. They know that ev-
cry word has two meanings and they
always take the one you do not intend.
They know that no statement can in
clude everything and they always fix
upon whatever you omit and ignore
whatever you assert.
These people join a society ostensi-
ly to cooperate with it, but really to
nothing but criticize it, without attemp-
ting patiently to improve that of which
they complain. Instead of seeking
strength to use it in mutual defense,
they look for weakness to expose it to
the common enemy. They make every
associate sensible of perpetual dissat-
isfaction until membership with them
becomes a penal infliction and you feel
that you are more sure of peace and
respect among your opponents than
among your friends. They predict to
everybody that the thing must fail -
until they make it impossible that it
can succeed and then take credit
for their treacherous foresight and ask
your gratitude and respect for the very
thing that hampered you. They are
friends who act as the fire brigade of
the party; they always carry a wa
ter engine with them and, under the
suspicion that your cause is in con-
slant conflagration. splash and drench
you from morning till night until ev-
cry member is in an everlasting state
Of drip. They believe that co-opera-
ton is another word for organized IT.
ritation, and, instead of showing the
blind the way, helping the lame along,
giving the weak lift, imparting cour-
age to the timid and confidence to
the desPalrmg, they spend their time
in sticking pins into the tender, tread
ing on the toes of the equity, pushing
the lame down stairs, leaving those in
the dark behind, telling the fearful
that they may well be afraid, and as
surfing the despairing that it is all up.
Whoever joins a cooperative soci-
ETY. ought to be made aware of this
curious species of colleague whom we
have described. You can get on with
them very we'll if they do not take you
by surprise. Indeed, they are useful
in their way; they are. the dead
weights with which the social archi-
tect tries the strength of his new build
ing. We mention them because they
existed in RochdaIe, and that fact
serves to show that the piopeer coop
orators enjoyed no favor from nature
Or accident. They were tried like 9TH
er men. and had to combat the ordin-