Year: 1879

George Jacob Holyoke, one OF the lore : :
most and best posted advocates OF coop
,ration In England, lectured on that suo
ect one afternoon this past week at P1kes
Onera House. Cincinnati. We give few
extracts from his excellent address:


uThe true definition of cooperation is, :
that the earning and savings of those con-
cerned in if. whether in the store or the
workshop. shall belong, in equitable pro-
nortions. to everybody associated IN the
enterprise. In the workshop or factory
each man, according to his capacity, would
he paid according to the wages he would
e,et anywhere else; but when the expen
ses Of the business for salaries, ma
terials, &C., are paid, then whatever re-
mains as profit would be divided IN equit-
able proportions to those who produced 1t,
taking into consideration the skill and wa.
oes each received. We have never yet
made much progress with cooperation IN
the workshops; our great success has been
in in the stores, as you Americans call them:


At first in our CO. operative stores, we
divided the profits among the sharehold-
ers: but we did not succeed well, for there
was but little interest excited among the
working people. Then we discovered
the plan Of giving the shareholders per
cent for the use of their capital, and dlvid-
ing all the profits made among the Pur-
chasers; so that every purchasers to the
extent of pound ($5) would receive
credit of say two shillings profit, by no
effort of his own. At once be became in
terested and talked oft to his tellowwork-
men, and o"r cooperative stores grew in
number and strength.


You may say that this is an humble way
of bettering the condition of the people,
but it alters the condition of the whole
world A few people not many years
ago assembled in a little wooden house in
Rochdale. They were poor and ignorant,
| but they were teetotalers, chartsts, trades
unionists &C., they had been everything
almost, and failed in all. The question be-
fore them was how to save money. They
adopted the cooperative plan, and their
| last annual report shows a yearly profit to
that company of poor men, now body
of ten thousand, of $4,000.


Our object was to reform the world, not
merely to increase our means. We want
ed to create capital, so that we could EN-.
igrate to this country, or engage in busi-
ness for ourselves. To talk about making
money would be small matter, if it did
not include the higher object of making
better men and women. And there is
not a town in England where there is a
co operative store that the poor men, the
laboring people, are not more honorable,
more disposed to Justice, than they were
before. We said to ourselves: If we are
going to improve the world it would not
be bad ide;. to begin with ourselves.
And we began by saying we will neither
beg nor borrow; every man must come
with his money in his hand to buy at our
stores. This was Utopian scheme But
we held to the idea that no man could be
a gentleman and be in debt, and we soon
succeeded. Among shopkeepers on the
old plan, you would frequently hear of
them taking the benefit of the bankrupt
act, and you would think they were ruin
ed, but they were only saving themselves.


Indeed many grew rich by becoming


bankrupts. Laughter.


Again, we taught men to be honest We
said that we would sell nothing but what


was pure in the way of food. We did not


know where to find it, but we persevered,


and it took years of effort to succeed. We


did it by combining all the cooperative


stores, or some 800 of them, and employ


ing capable agents to come to this country,


and purchase largely from from first hands
and pay for 1t at the time. And now the
|


about one thousand of these stores, go to


market with nearly So, ,ooo,o 900 of money in


their hands annually. The poor mechan-


les of that country are better supplied with


pure food than the best gentlemen,
} We said we would give good weight
and honest measure, and we have ever


done it, thus teaching the world by ex-


ample that fair dealing is the most profit
, able as well as the most inst


Working men thus coming in contact
with the conflict in trade, the rise and fall
: of prices, and the risk of business, become
more tolerant in regard to the risks re-
sponsibilites, and necessary restrictions of
their employers.


The fact that if man spends pound
week at q cooperative store, at the end
of year he has five pounds to his credit
as profit, is great satisfaction 1t is ra
ther pleasant feeling to a man with a
large family thac the more his wife and


children eat the more profit he gets.
laughter


Cooperation means good sense, good
will, good temper. Without these three


things, co operative stores are impossible;
good will TO your neighbor, good sense
to use the means at your disposal to the


best ADVANCE; good temper manifested


towards those you do not like. How easy


to look kindly upon those one likes; but


suppose you dislike person, how difficult


to treat him we'll But in cooperation it


is necessary to teach every body to treat


each other courteously and as friends.


Good temper was necessary to enable
everyone to bear with the views of those


with whom he might differ 1t was nee


essary for them to be imbucd with the


spirit at least of the Persian PRAYER:


Lord, have mercy on the wicked, for


Thou hast done everything for the good to


make them good"


What we claim for cooperation is, that


we have made morality pay. 1t is true


that honesty pays When you quote the


Maxim, Honesty is the best policy" to