South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-03-13

all about the same, being painted
alike and uniformly equipped. They
are all neat and clean and carry a
full line OF standard groceries. One
feature OF the management OF these
stores Is that in the different sec
tons OF the city the race or national
ity predominating in that section
manages the store. For instance, in
the Bohemian section there Ia a Bo-
hemian manager in the store: in the
negro section there is a store at 6l3
East 39th st. and the manager here
was a negro. We found this rule
operates very satisfactorily. All
these places we visited and looked
over for ourselves.
"Other property owned by the So
ciety is a large creamery at Troy,
Wis., which supplies the stores with
a part OF their butter and milk pro-
ducts. This concern is valued at
S240, 600 as was shown by the rec
ords OF the company.
THE stock in this creamery is
owned Jointly by the employees, the
farmers who supply the milk and
the Cooperative Society. The farm
ers hold % percent Of the stock. the
employees "a percent and the Society
| 81 percent thus giving the Society
control OF this plant
| They also own an interest IN the
Amboy Products Co. of Chicago. and
| IL, 600 acres Of land In Muskegou.
county, Mich, formerly owned by
! the FTuitvalers Society.
"The FT7uitvalers Society was the
! subject of an article by o. G. Phillips
in which he claimed that the share
| holders in the Fruitvalers were beat
out OF their money, that the land in
Michigan was no good. etc, etc.
say Stock Redeemed.
| Evidence was submitted to US to
show that the investors in this pro-
! jet never lost a cent. Every share Of
/ this stock was taken up at 100 cents
on the dollar. After going through
! the courts for three months the
Fruitvalers had SITS, 900 each, cash
which amount was reinvested in the
Cooperative Society Of America. IN
fact the F'ruitvalers gave birth TO
this Society.
while in Mr.. Tobeys once we
had the pleasure Of going through
a number OF letters and records.
] proving beyond a doubt that q large
number of responsible business men
are members Of this Society.
For instance, Mr.. NJ Loveridge OF
42s Main ST., Peoria, Ill, director
OF the Home Savings and Building
Bank OF Peoria, holds 200 member
ships between himself and family,
for which he paid $4,000 cash.
Thomas Carney, the president OF
the Building Trade Council Of Chi
cago holds in his family so member
ships. 20 for his wife, 20 for his
daughter, and 20 for himself No one
person can hold more than 20 mem
berships,
1--WE find that the Society has met
with strong opposition wherever Il
| has tried to open stores, this oppos1-
ton coming mostly from Chambers
| OF Comm cree. At Wheaton, H..
such fight was waged against the
Society, that Harrison Parker was
indicted by the grand jury OF Du-
! Page county OF which Wheaton is
the county seat. The charge was
! that they had not compiled with the
blue sky law. 1t has been IA months
since this Indictment was returned,
and the case has never been brought
into court. The Society has opened
seven stores in this county since that
! time Mr.. Parker has made repeat
| ed efforts 70 get this case disposed
Of, but without results.
Society Made Defendant
Three attempts have been made
I 70 put this Society in the hands OF
receivers in Chicago. but all such
attempts have failed. One OF these
cases was filed in the Superior court
! Of Cook county, and Judge Mcdonald
| dismissed the case and compelled
| the bOndsmen OF the petitioners 20
! paw all costs which amounted 10
over $4,000. This is all matter OF
| record.
THE deed Of trust. as we under
stand IL, gives 10 the trustees unliIn-
tied power OF control, with the ex-
| ceptfon that the members receive IN
/ return for their money a beneficial
1 debenture interest. or in other words
/ a first mortgage on everything the
Soc8 ETY. owns, and figuring from that
| point OF view we cannot see how the
| trustees could legally dispose Of any
| Of the property without first con-
sulting the wishes OF the first mort
gage or beneficial debenture share
/ holders, which is done in the meet
! ings OF the directors who are elect
ed BY the members Of each store.
and who meet periodically in Chi
| cago.
I'VE further wish 70 state that fl
our opinion o. c. Phillips was never
in Chicago on this mission OF inves-
/ tiEation. At least he was never at
/ the Offices OF this Society. or az any
| Of its places Of business. as We made
careful investigation OF this point
.'RespectfuIy submitted,
g. 2. MUSS ELAfAN.
sscTn pANN~E-Tg 90