The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-12-21
COOPERATIVE MARKETING
CONTINUED from Page One)

operating successfully, 1t is still in
the experimental stage. Close OBJ
servation for a number of years has
shown that it is not the principle
that is wrong, but the method Of OPP
Grating. The primary reasons for
failure in the past have been for
the most part due to poor or loose
organization; inefficient manage
ment or misdirected effort; and in
many instances this misdirected ef-
fort has taken on the guise OF
radicalism. The cooperative organ
ization that will succeed today must
operate along the line of good sound
business principles. The farmers
who make up their membership
must not seek to wreck existing in
situations that are doing their share
toward financing and marketing the
products Of the farm but rather they
should work in harmony with them
in order to obtain the best results
working for the best interests of
both the buyer and the seller. In
recent address to operators of pri-
vately owned canneries and packing
houses, the head of one of the
largest Of the California growers Or
ganizations-and California organi-
cations have demonstrated that CO.
operative marketing can be made a
success-said, Cooperation must
be fair" Growers cooperation to
succeed permanently must be based
not on theories alone, but on ability
to serve the interests, fairly and ef-
ficiently, of not only the producer,
but of the manufacturer, distributor
and of the consumer" No group OF
farmers should have the right to op-
crate collectively, if it uses the
power of organization to restrict
production artificially; to lessen or
arbitrarily control the supply; to
permit avoidable wastes; to specu-
late nor to make profits that do not
reflect the law Of supply and de-
mand, except that by organized
effort, pooling their collective re-
sources and marketing as a unit in
an orderly and intelligent manner,
they are in position to increase the
demand for their product by judici-
GUS and extensive advertising; they
can eliminate the present waste in
assembling and shipping; they can
improve the standard and the
quality Of the commodity handled
and they can place their product on
the market to better advantage, all
Of which tend to make greater re-
turn to the producer.
Cooperation derives it's power
from it's strength in numbers and
the quantity of the commodity con-
trolled. One Of the most important
features then would be a thoroly
organized group controlling at least
so per cent of any one commodity,
and held together by an iron clad
business contract calling for 100 per
cent delivery from its members and
a provision for it's enforcement.
While the permanency of the or
ganization depends on the good will
of the members rather than the con-
tract, contracts Of this kind give the
organization a firmer financial foot
ing and protects the majority
against the enroachments of dis
satisfied few, which if permitted
would seriously handicap the or
ganization as an efficient marketing
agency and in time would disrupt it
completely, as it would be unable to
function properly and to best ad-
vantage if it could not control the
greater per cent of the commodity to
be marketed.
Organization should be on suf-
ficiently large enough scale so that
the overhead cost of operation will
not eat up all the profits. It costs
but very little more to market
100000 worth of a given commod-
ity than it does to market $4,000
worth and the cost per unit is rela-
lively smaller. This not only eff
fects direct saving, but gives the
organization control of greater
amount Of the product and permits
more extensive advertising in dis !
posing of it.
Operation should be as economi- |
cal as is consistent with good bust
ness policy. BY this l do not mean
to adopt penny wise and pound
foolish" policy, for cheap machin-
cry, cheap advertising and cheap
management are not only detrimen-
tai to the permanency of the organi-
zatoin, but is good money wasted.
One Of the most important phases of
your operations is the selection of
your executives. For your general
manager, sales manager or other
employees in the financial depart
ment Of the business select exper-
fenced business men, men who from
their previous experience and train
ing are especially qualified to con-
duct the affairs of your organization
successfully, and while managers
who are business specialists are not
available at field hand salaries their
salaries are of small moment COM
pared with the success or the failure
of the enterprise. I wish to en-
phasize at this time the necessity of
obtaining skilled executives to direct
the affairs of an organization of this
kind as most of the failures are
traceable to inefficient management.
Don't expect too much from your
organization the first year, "Big
oaks from little acorns grow" and
it takes time as we'll as enthusiasm
to build up any kind of business.
Many organizations have come peri
ously near the rocks because they
failod to cot tho would ofiro tho fce+