Evening star., 1923-07-21
Consumers Cooperative Associa
tions Hardly the Proper Remedy.

| When President Harding returns
| from Alaska and gets an opportu-
nifty to study the "refiexes to his trial
balloon" suggesting somewhat haziIy
the organization of consumers CO.
! operative associations to lessen the
cost Of living. he will find few warm
| advocates of the innovation. Feeble
! efforts to initiate such n movement
seem to have failed everywhere, and
editors. commenting on this fact. sug-
! sest that the chief reason for this is
| that past results have demonstrated
/ that they are costly experiments, as
| has been demonstrated in the past.
! Experience has shown that con-
sumerS in cooperative buying as
sociations," the Oklahoma City Okla
! homan points out. often, if not not
generally. are left holding the bag.
/ Instead of urging the consumers to
| protect themselves against high
| prices by forming cooperative aSso-
ictatfons of an uncertain nature. Presi-
( dent Harding should do all he can to
help them by using his power to re-
/ duce the high tariffs which his ad-
ministration has imposed The fact
! that the President Is concerned with
| the cost of living is encouraging"
as the Topeka Capital sees it. and
I; reduced taxes and lowered costs of
distribution are. as the President de-
! scribes them, the true line to pursue
| in dealing with the 'eXorbitant cost
Of living" But talk is cheap, in the
opinion of the Norfolk Ledger-Dis-
/ patch, which insists, I'VE know and
have long known these things Mr..
| Harding is telling us. If the Presi-
\ dent wants to make real hit with
\ ha Ia hA do hat far
! than tell them that methods must be
| found to remedy these conditions"
It makes all the difference in the
! world where such suggestions origi-
! nate, the Duluth Herald says, be-
| cause ''in point of fact if this sug-
/ gestion had come from some radical
| senator, it would have been greeted
| by loud expostulations. But 1T comes
| from a man who would like to see
\ the masses Of the people happier and
! more comfortable, and who in all
f. sincerity would like to contribute to
[ that end. Therefore, it deserves rea-
sonable consideration and will get it
| from most people. Pointing out that
| the new Nebraska constitution en-
| courages cooperative organizations,
| the Lincoln State Journal adds: THE
1 city of Lincoln now contains no oc-
| operative store. The operation of
eo.operative stores involves INV Ives respons1- nd
| ingly, on having our lower cost of
living handed down to us. If one must
| be had, through the less safe and
| sound method of politics. munic-
| ipal coal yard-for instance. Because
| the American temperament and habit
! are so the Presidents suggestion is
\ not likely to play great part In the
| wrestling of the immediate future
| with the H. c. L.
! Absolute agreement with the Presi-
/ dent is voiced by the Columbus Ohio
| state Journal, which insists "the CO.
| operatiye system thus far developed
! may be incomplete, there may have
| been unwise ventures and poor man.
| agement in places, but when well
| handled It has far more than justified
| it's introduction and use and 1t holds
out large promise, as 1t may be per
fected and given better adminfstra-
tion. Both sides will be Ill interested eres.s
! government to simplify and aid dis
/, tribution of products. Yet while CO.
| operation of this character has work
i ed out in the west the Springfield
| Union doubts its value in the east.
where competition is most acute.