Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-04-21

what ditferentiates man from brute.
dom. IL has been his cruwnins glory
In all ages. Ii is the basis of civiii.
zation, of art, OF religion. of all that
has enriched and inspired the life Of
sumers' cooperation Is in reducing
the cost OF the physical and material
needs Of life. II is restricted and con-
ditioned ON every side by the mater
ial limitations upon man as a con.
sumner, Its ultimate goal ie social
order In which production and distr-
button would be controlled by n
gigantic consumers trust dominating
all industries and determining what
goods should be made and who should
make them. The aim Of producers
cooperation is 10 give control Of the
Industries and professions Ia the men
who actually do the work. who know
better than anyone else how TO oper~
ate them efficiently, and whose pur-
pose Is no; merely 10 turn out the
cheapest possible product for the com
sumer. but the creation OF the beat
and finest product that human In
genuity and devotion can devise. just
aa men find their souls not In what
they eat. but in what they create, as
will men find the long sought tra III
Brotherhood not In saving pennies on
their purchases. but In the dedica.
ton OF their highest abilities 10 the
satisfaction of the wants and needs
OF their fellow men, This IL the
essence of producers corporation,
In England and Wales there are nj
ready ~ thriving producers coop
erative societies with over 10000
members, share capital (falsed By
the workers themselves) exceeding
1000 900, and an annual trade Of
S2G, ,0O0, 900 These producers coop
Textile mills, boot and shoe factor.
les, the metal trades, woodwork and
building construction, and printing
establishments. Their report for vt2l
shows that after paying $s6, 6,7hb.60 as
interest ON The capital hired. they re-
funded to purchasers Of their bonds
$497 ,Iba, contributed $26.2bs to
charities and social improvement,
$4,000 for educational purposes, and
divided S290,000 among the workers
themselves as their cooperative share
In excess of union wages. The work
era In every cooperative productive
society In Britain are required 10 be
members of their respective trade un-
ions. Indeed, thousands OF dollars of
trade union funda are invested In
these co4operatives The trade union
itself Is In some cases directly repre-
sented on the committee of manage
ment. Thus, the workers not only
own their own jobs and assure them
selves Of q standard wage for their
trade, but share with the consumers
economies of production and savings
or profits in the operation OF the
business.
The French Workers Productive
Associations, according TO their 1871
report, are steadily growing and ex-
panding into new fields. Their record
shows a greater stability and length
Of life than either private enterprises
or consumers associations. OF the
1915 workerR productive societies ex-
isting in 1908, over one-half are still
! in business, despite the industrial
havoc caused by the war. One OF the
strongest forms OF producers asso-
Citations in France Is found In the
printing industry. Although many Of
the cooperative printing plants lost
all but their oldest members in the
war and were handicapped by tbs
dearth Of paper and type metal, YET
only four Of those associations exist
/ ing In 1908 were not successfully
operating in 1921.
To the Italian workers, however
I belongs the credit for the creates
achievements In cooperative produe
ton. There the producers own farms
and ships and factories. They hay'
constructed comparatively and nov
operate a successful railroad. The
are now building a great canal =
connect Milan, the capital Of Bonn
hardy, with the river Pc, providing
valuable outlet 10 the Adriatic Sea