The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, April 03, 1914, Image 3
< l?y courtovy of Senator CunnlnKhwm of Ohio.)
Irish Co-operative Creamery.
Co-Operative Farm
Products Marketing
How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done
in America to the Profit of Both
Farmer and Consumer
By MATTHEW 8. DUDGEON.
(Copyright, 1914, Western Newspaper Union. 7"*"* ~ T"T
CO-OPERATIVE LESSONS LEARNED IN IRELAND
, - , . ' ? . ? i ?. ' ?? - : ? ? *" ? :
Dublin, Ireland. ? There is no magic
in co operation. It is not a cure-all
for economic ills. Co-operative con
cerns succeed because they employ
Kood business methods. ? In fact c6
opcrative marketing is good business
and good sense and Intelligence ap
plied to farm marketing. This is the
biggest and most important lesson to
be learned in Ireland. As Rev. Fa
ther Finley, a great believer in co
operation, says in an article in the
(kniHtructive Quarterly, "That It has
been productive of much material
good to those who employed its meth
ods With intelligence and energy, is
beyond question; that It has been
barren of useful results where those
qualities were wanting is equally un
deniable."
Cooperative marketing succeeds in
Ireland because it etands for three
things: (l) Good business methods
and intelligent management; (2) A
uniformly high quality of product;
'3) justice, equality and loyalty
among members. Without these char
acteristics co-operation fails in Ire
land and fails everywhere. These are
the lessons that Ireland has to teach
America. No group which does not in
sist upon running its co-operative con
cern along these lines can succeed.
To tolerate poor business methods, lax
ity as to quality, or disloyalty and in
justice to each other -is to fail.
These are some things Americans
will not be required to experiment
upon, because the Irish have already
tried them out.
Simply Good Business.
Irish co-operation makes money for
farmer and city consumer alike. It
has succeeded in bringing the producer
and consumer nearer together. The
farm products go directly to the city
consumer. The product arrives in
good shape. It brings only a reason
able price. The result is that city
man and farmer profit by the more
economical method of distribution.
Hut co-operative marketing after all
is Bimply good, common sense and effi
cient business. There Is nothing mys
terious about it. As we have said,
there is in it no magic. The good
co-operative marketing concerns over
here succeed because they are well
organized, well managed, Intelligently
governed, carefully supervised; be
cause they are simply efficient busi
ness organizations In which 100 ofr
1.000 men with a common occupation
and a common interest get together
for a united, harmonious effort in
^hich every man does his full share.
Over here it is always "one man
<>n& vote." One lesson that Ireland
has (or America is that no man and
1)0 8T"all group of men can be permit
ted to control any co-operative organ
isation. The principal of one man one
;*'?te must prevail. The man who has
. nvestt d $1,000 must have no more
v'oting power than the man who has
nvested only $5. "Men, not prop
"r,y vote," is another expression
1J8?d here. Under this system no man
!<"an use the co-operative society for his
0%n selfish ends. The poorest farmers
[attend the meetings, and if they show
ability go upon committees and be
come officers. The organisation Is
roont essentially democratic.
All Profits to the Producer.
! The purpose back of co-operative
organization dlfTers from that back
j? a commercial enterprise. It seeks
D?l to make dividends for the man
*ho invests his money, but to pro
Y' that the producer shall receive
, f '!1 rgcst possible perc^ntAge of the
Prtco paid by the consumer. Ireland
as> found by experience that where
*rKf profits are paid to the investors
0 real purposes of co-operation are
ot served. One case is recorded
* "re American fruit growers organ
r a so-called co-operative concern
"Hon the joint stock plan. They In
ed into tho venture a large num
( r of smaller growers who had little
?ney to invest, but in the aggregate
N?r> considerable amount of fruit
The ODe* who
> were in control and proceed
? large profits for them
selves as investors, and Ignored the
interests of the fruit growers them
selves-. As a reoult the arnall growers
were forced out of business and out
of the country.
Here in Ireland bo well established
1b this principle that it ,is a definite
rule that no co-operative society can
pay more than 5 per cent per an
num upon the stock held by the share
holders.
Must Market Through the 8ociety.
Every time that any group of Amer
ican farmers' have organized a co
operative marketing concern they~have
met sharp and often unfair competi
tion. The other established buyers
have offered prices which were higher
than the co-operativo society could
offer without taking a loss. Often they
succeed In coaxing the members of
the co-operative society from its sup
port. It 1b hard for a farmer who 1b
receiving only 35 cents per bushel
for his potatoes at a co operative ware
house to refuse 45 cents offered by
some independent buyer. Hut the un
varying subsequent history is, of
course, that as soon as the co-opera
tive concern is put out of business by
this sort of competition prices drop,
and the farmer is where he was be
fore, and helpless in the hands of the
independent buyers,
To obviate this difficulty in Ireland,
it has been found necessary to ex
plain the situation fully to the pros
pective members of the co-operative
organization; to state to them that un
less they are willing to agree to mar
ket all their product through the co
operative Bociety it is useless to be
gin. They are warned that they will
be approached by independent dealers
and offered higher prices. But thus
warned and informed upon the sub
ject, the organizers of Irish co-opera
tive Bocietiea have had little difficulty
in obtaining from the prospective mem
bers an agreement to market all of
their produce through the concern.
Importance of Quality.
As we have said, there 1b no magic
in co-operation. Co-operative market
ing simply means that the (arm pro
duce is to be marketed in a business
like way without undue waste dur
ing the process. Pioneers in Irls^i co
operation soon found that after they
Bad discovered the best market and
after they had organized the co-opera
tive society, and after tho members
had agreed to bring all their produce
to the company, co-operation was still
: an absolute failure whenever the mem
| berb of the society delivered even oc
; caslonally. Inferior goods and mingled
! them with the better goods. A cream
ery puts out 100 pounds of good but
[ ter; if the next pound ieT bad butter
the market for the butter of that
creamery is ruined. Without high uni
form quality co-operation cannot suq?
ceed. It becomes necessary therefore
for the members all to oo-operato in
producing cream that is of the highest
possible quality and reaches the
creamery in the best condition. But
Irish experience demonstrates that no
private concern can compete in qual
ity with a co-operative concern, for no
private concern can control the prod
uct from Its original source.
"Control" Is Requisite.
Quality can be produced by the co
j operative society, because these con
cerns reach out to the farm it
self. It is not enough that a cream
ery has the best and latest methods
of making butter and marketing it.
If the cream oomes in from the farm
in bad condition, the butter in bad.
To make good butter you must control
the cow, and h?r feed, and her care,
and the stables, and the milk pail,
and even the milk can used in deliv
ery. ?
Certain rigid rules and conditions
are laid down by the creameries them
selves, and approved by a central com
mittee. Each- creamery participating
in the scheme is requited to give free
access during the working hours to the
officers of the I. A. O. S. that they may
inspect the premises and books, check
the records, examine any butter in
stock, mod take for analysis samples
of cream and butter Each creamery
is bound to maiutain the most Im
maculate cleanliness, accept only milk
that is clean, fresh and uutaintod, pas
teurlze all milk and creain, churn the
cream at a temperature not to exceed
48 degree* F., and affix the control la
bel to no butter that exceoda the 16
per cent, limit of molBturo.
The enforcement of audi rules aa
this tending bp result In high grade
; products is what in meant by "con
trol." It Is another of the big lenaon*
that Ireland has to impart to proa
pective co operators. And remember
j'tjuia: No stock company or private
i creamery ever yet wan able to control
|. the quality of butter by controlling
every step back to the feed before the
cow eats it. Consequently, no private
ly owned creamery can make such but
ter at* cooperative butter.
Brand* Must Be Used.
It is not enough that the inherent
i quality 1b high. The quality must be
i evidenced in some way readily recog
nizable by the public. Consequently
a system of brands and labela haB
been devised for all products. By an
educational process covering years the
j public as well an deal'era have been
; taught that the brand of co-operation
stands for quality. Conaumera are
taught to demand thia brand as an
evidence of quality. Retailers find that
the brand sells the product without
advertising. It is therefore the pol
icy of Irish co-operation to have a
brand The affixing of tho brand cer
tilleB quality and makeB the article
transferable at a fixed figure, just aa
. the impress which the gold dink re
ceives in the mint makea It a sov- !
ereign which passes current from hand
to hand.
An attorney, whose busineas has
been largely to Investigate Americau
bankrupt concerns makes the state
ment that he never knew a bad com
! mercial failure where there was not
either dishonesty or lack of bookkeep
( ing methods- Had failures come only
where no one is fully informed as to
; the exact condition of the business.
, The Irish corporators fully recognize
I thiB principle. Certain standard forms
of bookkeeping have been worked out
and largely adopted; the best methods
! of keeping the booka, and of making
summaries and reports for audit,
have been also established, so that
the exact condition may be brought to
the attention of the members of the
concern at any time. Ab a result we
find everywhere throughout the co-op
erative enterprises of Ireland surpris
ingly efficient methods of accounting.
The I. A. O. S. and its supervisory sys
ter are largely responsible for this
situation.
One of the greatest difficulties en
countered was that of obtaining skill
ed managers for the various co-opera
tive concerns. But skilled and intel
ligent they must be in order to In
sure success. For example, it is
necessary that the man at the head
of a creamery must not only be a
I ? Cooperative Butter Label.
good butter maker, but he must be as
well a bookkeeper, a business man,
and a student of the markets. He
must understand something of trans
portation and of packing for trans
portation. He muBt be what we in
America would call a good mixer in
i order to establish the proper point
j of contact with customers and mem
j bers as well.
Combination of Concerns.
It has also been determined by ex
| perience that the separate little con
j cerns, some of which are necessarily
| managed by men of limited opportu
| nity, cannot succeed unless they are
federated and supervised and helped
by a central organization. They neod
assistance in organization, in finding
the best markets. The I. A. O. S.
has not only assisted in organizing the
j co-operative societies, but receives pe
, riodical reports from the, visits and in
spects them frequently, audits their
accounts, sees that their affairs are
properly conducted, makes sugges
tions as to markets and other business
problems, and gives council and ad
vice generally. Some such supervision
must come in America if co-operative
success Is to be general and last
ing.
Our Conclusion.
Co-ope?ation has undoubtedly suc
ceeded in Ireland. It deserves to suc
ceed because It stands for a uniformly
high quality of farm products, for fair
dealing, for Just returns to those fur
nishing the product, for justice to the
consumer, as well as producer, for
good, clean business methodu, for
skilled management, for Community
loyalty and - solidarity. Co-operation
will succeed in the United States
whenever it stands for these things.
If it does not, it will fail. Th<S soon
er the co-operative enthusiast learns
that co-operation, like every othor en
terprise, must succeed on its merits,
not on somk mysterious Inherent vir
tue. the better. Nothing could be
more unwise at this time than to
preach the doctrine that co-operation
In itself should be introduced any
where and everywhere. If It is intro
duced before orospective members are
ready to e6<operate lo a proper spirit
for Its suocees, it will Inevitably fall.
Valuable Farm
Property For Sale
fllO more in1 !??*??, km?\*n as t he Spencer I'lace, situated I *
miles Southwest of Camden on the i'oiiIut'h Ferry Road; 1 0i? acres <?l
open land, (wo borne farm under cultivation; land, lien well; good
.stream running water; plenty of wood and ?ood quantity of timber
011 thiK tract. Prlc6 $10.00 pop acre.
? Farm of W. K. l>e|,oachc, NtiuaUi 2 1-L' mllCs Southeast of fanulon,
containing 270 acres, 150 acres of open la^ul, part of t IiIh under eul
t (vat Ion; timber and wood enough for place; land producing well;, ad
Joining lan da bavo aold for $80.00 per acre, one five room dwelling,
a ?ood barn and woven te.. . houses. For Halt- at $116.00 per acre.
The 1 >< by place. containing 'r?0 acres :i ml(eH of Mlaney; 250 acres
open land, a part of this under cultivation; 100 acre* pasture land
under wire; some good open creek land, plenty of wood and soRie
timber on the place; good buildings; one overseers bouse; ti tenant
houses and two barns. Twenty-five mile creek run* through thin prop
erty. Price $7,500. Tertuu; 1-4 cash, balance In three yearn at the
usual rate of interest.
:*(jl acres on Town t'reek, four miles Honth of Camden; tJO acre?
open land; two tenant ltousesi Will sell at a bargain. I'lat of name
can be seen at our office,
I #17 acres on Isockhart known as the Wheat I'lace; seventy
one acres under cultivation; .'1 tenant hotr.iey and one dwelling. Price
$22.00 per acre.
too aero* three miles I'iihii Camden between the Kershaw and
Liberty Hill ltoad; 50 acres under cult i vn t i< n ; one four room dwell
ing and barns. Price $.'15. Oo per acre.
7Ci acres adjoining City Limit*, known an Race Track i'lace of II. ?
(J. Garrison; one good over-seer's house, several tenant houses and
barns; improvements first class; lands in high state of cultivation.
Price Reasonable.
1 ,000 acre* eight mile* from Camden on Charleston Road, on
Southern Railway with siding and ware house; one new over - seer's
house, eight tenant houses, 1 large barn, 1 gin house and ijcjuipment
and 1 cotton house. 1,200 acres swamp land, excellent for cattle or
hay culture; 050 acres upland, .300 acres of the upland being of finest
land in the state and in the highest state of cultivation; Price $'21
an acre. Very e^sy terms. ' .
We also have listed with us R good selection of Clt-y ? property^ ?
C. P. DuBose & Company
Bank Stock
For Sale
I am offering for sale, within
30 days. Five Thousand
($5,000) Dollars worth of
stock of the Loan & Savings
Bank, of Camden, S. C.
L. L. CLYBURN
DeKALB. S. C.
BANK STOCK
WANTED
I hereby offer Five Thous
and Five Hundred Dollars
($530000) for the Five
Thousand Dollars of Loan
& Savings Bank Stock. (50
shares) advertised by L. L.
Clyburn, that is to say,
ten per cent, above par.
Henry Savage
CAMDEN, S. C. .
8p?nK-Hower Mo'or.
. A West Virginia schoolma'am has
inBtalled a small isolated plant in an
an'r.room of the achoolhouse. It ia
necessarily a heating plant because
it is an electjic "spanker." This en
gino delivers B s. b. p. s. (B sharp
blows per second). The lady engi
neer says that while the run Is short
It is long on efficiency. Central sta
tions might adopt the "Spanker," says
Power, as a means ot building Up a
?ay load.
Funerals Directed
We supply the best of burial goods, con
duct funerals and relieve families and
friends of many unpleasant duties ince
dent to death. We are always prepared
to serve those who need our service.
B. R. McCREIGHT, CAMDEN, S. C.
Profit By The Experience
of Others
\
Increase your yield by using the Fertilizers that gives beet
results. Wo are agents for Congaree Fertilizer Company. The
many satisfied customers will attest to the merits of the fer-.
tillzers that we handle. We have told you in our former ad
vertisements wherein the superiority of these goods lie.
Full stock on hand of Aminoniated goods, Acid Phosphate,
Kainit, Potash and Nitrate of Soda. See us before placing your
order.
Now is the time to plant your Garden. We have just ^re
ceived a largo shipment of Seed Potatoes:
IRISH COBBLERS, EARLY ROSE and BLISS SEED POTA
TOES. FULL STOCK OF GARDEN TOOLS.
We want your business and can make you close prices. Why?
because we buy in large quantities, Wholesale and Retail Gro
ceries and Heavy Goods.
Inspect our stock* of farm implements, Disc Harrows, Subsoil
Plows, Guano Distributors, Steel Beam Plows, Cotton and Corn
Planters. We nre agents for the Wiu. J7 Oliver Plow Co. A
full stock of Buggies, Wagons, Mules, Horses, and In fact any
thing that a farmer needs. _ ?.r ?
Agents for Atab Horse Feed, Larrow Cow Feed, also have
Just received a car load of Cotton Seed Hulls, car Oats, Car
Corn and Car of Piedmont Flour. Get prices and save money.
SPRINGS & SHANNON
Camden, S. C.
. ' . .