The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-04-10
COOPERATIVE PLAN
ON LARGE SCALE TO
RECEIVE A TRYOUT
ESQ Families of Sect Battle in
District Under Direction
of Bishop
FARMERS RENT OWN LAND
System Is c d Christian
Stewardship But It Is
Not communistic
N RENT OWN LAND

xAVAlVA WAL ASASs AhPA"
A church-controled farm community,
housing $50 families and embracing
more than 700 acres Of fertile land In
the Missouri river bottoms north OF
here, has been established by the Re-
organized Church OF Latter Day
Saints, a division of Mormonism.
The Anterior Stewardship Com
munity, as the district is known, has
been set up as an experiment In CO.
operative farming on q large scale,
each farmer operating for himself, his
church and the community.
Under the direction of Bishop j. A.
Koehler, the $50 farm families have
started erecting a church. homes and
farm buildings, and already are getting
early summer crops in the ground.
The huge enterprise Is termed Chris
tian stewardship"
But stewardship does not reduce
our men to mere hirelings," Bishop
Koehler explains. Nor does it re-
duce them to the status where all arc
equal economically. Each man under
stewardship is between the two ex-
tremes, for he is free to develop as
his ability allows except when he
oyersteps and Injuries q fellow stew
ard"
Farmers Rent Own Land
In the community each steward is
both landlord and tenant. They
lease the land from the community
they help form and govern. They
till. plant and harvest with commun-
ity machinery, purchased from funds
furnished by them. Marketing is
done thu Tough a cooperative associa-
ton. which. after deducting q brok-
erage commission, turns the remain
der back to the stewards.
while the community has social
istic and communistic tendencies,
these tendencies arise through the
voluntary wishes of the individuals
themselves" Bishop Koehler says.
They cooperate voluntarily to make
the community a successful one"
The communistic tendencies In the
Anterior community are limited to
the following:
Group ownership Of all land and
improvements; group ownership OF
liquid capital acquired from gifts
from stewards, and the moral obi
CATION to care for members OF the
group in times of need arising from
sickness. accident, or old age and to
afford financial aid to business in
times Of depression.
All for Ono
Balanced against these commu-
nistic tendencies, Bishop Koehler
explains, are certain elements Of In
dividualism. Each business enter
prise. whether it be a farm or mer-
camille firm. is of a private character.
Each individual is responsible for the
success Of his business to accumu-
late private property.
Stewardship will mean the en-
ployment of mass productions prin-
ciples to farming and will enable
agriculture to be elevated to a higher
plane" is Bishop Koehler's opinion.
"A steward in our plan is his own
agent. at liberty to act in his own
behalf as long as he conforms to the
simple regulations we prescribe for
him. A maximum penalty for his
failure to comply with regulations Is
Punishment from the colony.
I~ndividualist Government
The government structure of the
community is based on three theories:
Every man is accountable for his
own actions; every man Is to retain
his personal liberty. and religion Is q
necessary economic stabilizer. A
board of nine directors, three elected
annually, has direct governmental
control of the community"
Home life or the community farm
promises to be on a level with any
In the country. The $50 homes being
erected in the residential section OF
the farm are attractive ones, built
after the tastes of those living in
them. These homes will have cleo
tricity, water and probably gas, and
plansanare being worked out for the
construction Of IN adequate sewage
system.
Health of the stewards and Their
families will be cared for IS syste-
m~atically as possible. Routine exam
nations will be made at regular In
tervals to determine the causes Of all.
ments and to allow for treatment be-
fore the Ills become chronic.
Insurance against. old age. sickness
death and other crises viii be carried
by the community from the amount
OF money paid in lease rentals BY
StwardS.
The annual lease rental for thu
land will be about four per cent o.
the total land value.