The Coconino sun., 1924-08-01

men pooling their resources and
through organization, study and cent
rallied management, producing re-
suits never accomplished before.
The corporations are cooperative as
sociations of millions of people pooling
their money or labors for the purpose
of financial gain.
Abuses OF Corporate Action
The sudden development and suc-I
cess of corporation led to some abuses.
The Capitalization of great power
given the managementS with huge
sums to distribute without the dew
elopment of service to the public
created a despotic attitude similar to
/ that of kings during the development
of cooperative government.
Some unscrupulous managers used
their powers to control or pervert
government officials to gain special
i privileges for themselves. Others
used unfair methods to ruin compet-
tive business. Political parties at
tacted the great octupus with pro-
| paganda in hope for gaining votes
from an uneducated public.
The net result of the failure to rec
! ognize the rights of all individuals led
/ to strict regulation of corporation by
! the government. The disregard of
1 labor led to the rapid growth of trade
unions by which the laborers hoped
to protect their rights.
Since 1900 these huge cooperative
business organizations with hundreds
| of thousands of members have passed
| into a new stage in which public opin-
| ion plays a major part. The members
or stockholders in American corpora
tions have laid down a standard of
| business ethics based on service:
/ First, to the members or stockholders;
| second, to the employees; third, to the
communities where business is estab-
llished; and, fourth, to the state and
| country.
If this stand of responsibility had
not been taken the corporation would
/ have vanished as failure.
A study of the two greatest coop
erative movements, republican govern
ment and corporation business, shows
that both depend for existence on sim
liar principles.
1st, Recognition Of the rights of the
| individual citizen or member.
End, Capitalization of management
under elective control of the individ-
/ ual,
3rd, Privileges, benefits which tres
pass in no way on the rights or lib
critics of those outside the group or
association.
4th, A fair and equitable division
of costs or gains by every citizen or
member.
5th, Assured permanence of the
! organization.
The Position of Agriculture
During the period when government
and business were developing along
cooperative lines agriculture moved
| slowly due to sluggish advance of
general education. Those tilleEs of
| the soil who became wealthy or better
| than their fellows Immediately joined
the governing or business class keep
/ ing the ranks of toilers at a low aver
age Of mentality. With the advent
| of republican government study of
| agriculture as a science began to-
gether with compulsory public edu-
cation. For the past two hundred
years the major portion of the science
/ Oh agriculture IldS UEGu dppllCu NY
cooperative governmental and busi-
ness organizations in which the farmer
had little part
It was only natural that business
organized and cooperative should ex-
tend to agriculture the means of dis
posing of and distributing the product.
i Business, organized for profit, selec-
ted only those operations in agricul-
i ture which held the minimum risk and
maximum gain leaving the balance
Il to the farmer. In this way banks
/ loaned the money on mortgages.
Business dictated the price to grower,
refusing to take the growing risk,
marketing the product through stages
Of wholesaler and retailer to the con-
sumer with no regard to the cost OF
4 production to the farmer.
The wholesaler, transporter, and re-
taller, all being cooperative business
with no source of production, were re-
quired to make a profit or die. The
j laws of supply and demand were In