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Co-Operative Farm Products Marketing How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done in America to the Profit of HotU Farmer and Consumer *??* By MATTH?W 8. DUPOEON. (< <>l>y right. 1914. Wi|i?rn N.'*ipupi i llnlmi i Where Fifty Thousand Belgian Peaaanta Co-operate. EUROPE'S CO-OPERATIVE MESSAGE . P?Per>hag?n, Denmark. ? Co-oper* vo enterprises have revolutionized agricultural Europe and now dominate the rurai life Qf the entire continent, without co-operation the Helgian would not be the efficient agricultur ist which he is; dermany would not have developed its agricultural possi bilities to the point where its home grown food aupply is bo nearly self Hufllclent: Denmark would not bo ex Porting sixty million dollars worth of the best dairy products In the world; Ireland would not be facing the future with a hopefulness to which she has been a stranger ever since her lands . were confiscated as a result of the early wars. Belgium has 2300 rural organlza rluw?n/1repre8Hnl,I1K H membership of fiOO.OOO. At Luvalne we saw h single federation of co-operative farmers' league which represented a member Bl"p of over 50,000 and did a business mounting into the millions, in (Ger many it is estimated that there .are thlr y odd thousand, cooperative so cieties of various kinds sad every so ciety, with true German thoroughness of organization federated, affiliated and associated until together they form an Industrial unit with a mem bershlp of over five million." in I>en wark one out or every four inhabi tants belongs to a society engaged in some co-operative activity. One man will belong to eight or ten different co-operative societies, each society performing some necesHary function in the economic life of the Individual. Permeatea Danish Life. To illustrate how co-operation per meates Danish rural life: At Freder ickHsund while visiting the co-opera tive bacon factory we came In con ac with a little group of farmers and f n? wlv"H who Inapectlng the factory? tho factory of which they ? comv ' rt ??r"' Upon 'heo. at Hr8 ?n WW that, in that little group of 12 persons, 12 dif ferent co-operative organizations were represented^ These were a co-opera tive bacon- factory, a cooperative egg * 0,Kanl/atlon. a co-operative _8tore, nn orKaulzatlon for the cooper Purchase of for tili.-.ers a eo o > eratlvo flre insurance society? a eo. operative l|f? insurance society, a slt (ioty for the insurance of animals another society for the Insurance of members against sickness, a co-opera tive credit society. a farmers' water works company and an electrical sup Ply company. All of these men and women were from the farm and were of the ordinary type of farmer,*, neith er rich nor poor hut a thoroughly ren ZIT1'? " '? JudfcliiK from our Inquiries, th;it In any group of h almllar number would ,aVf, been fo""11 r*l>re?onlattvea of a similar number of cooperative enter prises. In Ireland wo found, that co-opera ?on, under the leadership of Sir Hor at'o riunket t ably seconded by R?v Thomas A. Flulay, George W. Rus sell and R. a Anderson. has revolu lionized rural Ireland. In fact co-oper ation and the ^opportunities which have come from the new land tenure jaws have well nigh remoulded the ra<-? !t?^- It l? evident that in many sections his economic wolfnro has been ho well served that the Irish man is even losing his pugnacity. He is no longer incessantly "agin the government- hut Is becoming a well contented citizen more Intent upon his economic situation than upon his po litical surroundings, lie is losing his Interest in politics and we talked to man) who seemed loath even to dis cuss so Important a Question as tho home rule bill which was then pending and over which the politicians were becoming excited. The land tenure law has made It possible for him to secure a home; o^operation has made it possible for him to secure a home; co-operation has made it possible for ,hlm to feed and clothe his family No one can make such a trip of In* vestigatlon aa we have made without becoming convinced that into Ameri can rural life must come some form of co-operative enterprise. If it cos(9 as much to take the farm produce from the farm to the. city consumer as It does to produce It (and this Is an ad mitted fact) it necessarily follows that our distributive system Is wonderfully wasteful. How long will the intelli gent American farmer tolerate a sys tem jvhich nets him 25 to 60 per cent of the retail price of his farm product after he knows that the Danish farmer gets a little over ninety per cent of what the consumer pays for his prod uct. Ah we investigate what Is done abroad and what could bo done in America In the way of efficient dis tribution tho wonder grows that the American farmer with his intelligence and independence and initiative haB consented to be a victim of a distribu tive ^system which has put him abso lutely in the hands of tho commercial forces that intervene between himself and the consumer. It is no less as tonishing that the more businesslike and more commercialized city consum er should have so long consented to pay a price to the distributor of farm products which Is over 100 per cent above tho producer's price, Co-operation is coming to America, Whether it will come in the exact form in which it evidences itself in foreign lands or in some other differ ent form is immaterial. It may not come immediately but eventually and inevitably the Idea of co-operation will prevail in the future agricultural and commercial organizations of the Unit . ed States. Co-operative Lessons. It is safe to assume that Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark have learned Borne lessons from their many years of co-operative endeavor. It is safe to assume that if certain princi ples have been found to apply through out all these countries, then these prin ciples are at least worthy of care ful consideration for future use in America. There are some points as to which all co-operative societies abroad are tho same. There are somo aa to which they difTer, as is but natural when we consider the varying condi tions under which the various socie ties operate In tho different countries. Wo are of courso primarily interested In (hose fundamental characteristics which are common to all. Whenever a number of American farmers gather together to consider . an organization which has to do with mercantile or other financial enter prise. it is but natural to talk about profits and dividends. Their idea of organization is a Joint stock corpora tion in which each man invests such money as he can spare, in which each votes in proportion to tho shares pur chased, and tho. main purpose of which is to earn money and declare divi dends. It is difficult for him to con ceive of a commercial organization w hose chief function is not to squeeze all the profit there is out of every ac tivity True co-operation is impossible so long as this idea of organization is retained. The purpose of the eo-operativo en terprise la to handle tho product with economy and efficiency so that there will be no waste and no profits di verted from th?? producer's pocket. If such a concern pays n large dividend to shareholders it is not evidence of success but a clear indication that money which should have gone to the . producer has been taken from him and given to tho investor. This con ception has not yet reached the con sciousness of the American farmer who still expects a co-operative con cern to pay dividends. The Irjth Way. In Ireland we found that nearly all of the effective co-operative organl&a Hons were affiliated with the Irtsb Agricultural Organization Society ! which frou, the first has b??u lb? j pOWff lb?t haw i ii ;i tl < ? CO operation pO* bible In tint Island. It in a rigid rule of this organisation society that no local society belonging to it can under any circumstances pay to exceed Ave per cent per annum upon Us shares of stock. The moment the shareholders conceive the organization Is one which is to ?arn large dividends, that moiiH'itt its usefulness ends. More ilian one American cooperative enter prise has been reeked upon these rocks. Following some bitter experiences, It has been found necessary to a^ere ' rigidly to the principle that no master ?what a man's investment may be, he I may have only one vq,te In the man agement of the concern. Experience has shown that this avoids Jealousies, and suspicion, and discord, and pre* vents mismanagement. . Disloyalty of Members. One of the great stumbling blocks , lu co-operative success in America baa been the disloyalty of the members themselves. As soon us a co-operative marketing concern is organized a pri vately owned company Is likely to of fer an advanced price? one consider ably above that which the co-operative concern Is offering and possibly one much higher than the condition of the market will Justify, In America hu man nature, like human nature in general, Is selfish and It is difficult for the farmer to see why he should sacri fice Ave cants a bushel upon his grain out of a mere sentiment of loyalty to the co-operative enterprise. As a re sult he almost Inevitably takes his grain to the privately owned concern. His neighbors do the same and soon , the co-operative concein is on the rocks and is abandoned. No observer of American commercial methods needs to be told the next step. The privately owned concern immediately lowers the price, the farmer is where he was before bilt by his own disloyal ty be has made it practically impossi ble for any other co-operative con cern ever to be organized in the com munity. European cooperation has had the. I name experience. It was originally | hard for the European farmer to real- ( ize that he should sacrifice a limited amount of present profit in order to , demonstrate his loyalty to the con- i cern and to secure ultimate success. The situation, however, no longer arises where co-operation has become fairly established. Quality and Control. Another ( characteristic common to all co-operative organizations which j we visited in these four countries is that where the society Is a marketing concern It insists upon the highest quality and in order to get it exercises abaolute control over the actB of Its I members so far as these acts contrib ute to the quality of the product. Such a successful dairying institution as the Trlfollum dairy of Denmark has most rigid rules to which all members must subscribe. There must be monthly inspection by the veterinarians repre senting the society ; a cow found to bo unhealthy or defective must be with drawn; the slightest Illness on the part of the cow must be reported and the milk kept separate; detailed re quirements as to ventilation, cleanli ness, handling of milk and milk cans must be. observed; the milk of cows which have not been inspected must not be mingled with those which have; milk must be cooled within on? hour after It Is milked In order that bacteriological growth may cease;, cans must be cleaned In a certain way; In fact everything Is done which can be done to Improve the quality fit the milk and the butter and other products handled by the Trlfollum dairy. Central Association Needed. Experience in \hese foreign coun tries has also demonstrated that no local co-operative concern Is sufficient unto Itself. The manager of a co operative egg marketing Institution In northwestern Ireland may know all about poultry raising and egg produc tion, may bo skilled in the art of pack ing his eggs, and know something in general about marketing. It is Impos sible for him. Isolated as he is, to. know from day to day where there Is a demand for his product. As a result It is found necessary in Ireland to have these co-operative concerns affiliated with the Irish Wholesale Society, wtth headquarters at Dublin. Tho Bame principle exists in Get* many but Is worked out In another way; The necessity of federation la recognized, however, in all countries although the way In which the local organizations are affiliated Into a cen tral organization varies under the con ditions of tho various countries. Europe's Unanimous Verdict. Europe's co-operative message to brletly to this effect: 1. Co-operative societies cannot b? dividend paying concerns. All profits i must go to the producers as additional price for goodB delivered. 2. Each member must vote onc^ and only once regardless of his finan cial investment. 3. Each member must make a con tract to deal exclusively with the co* operative concern and must refuse to ! lake advantage of unfnlr competition j on the part of the co-operative socie i ty's competitors. 4 All members must unite to pro I duce a product of tJv? highest posslbl* quality. The various local societies must, for stridency and self-protection, unite In one central federal association. 6. The man who manages a co operative concern must be a man of high ability and the directors must pay him a btg man's salary. Mutual Warehouse Co Bonded and Incorporated EXPECT to be ready to receive cotton for storage on or be fore OCTOBER FIRST. . 1 i1 ? f !'? ? ~ 1 . , '".i", 1 ? ' 1 1 1 .. 1 ?? ? 'f. ^ VI Wjj'Basaaa ;?* ?; . ; ' I* / ' _ ' - . ''? ??- ?. y ' & * V ' ?'*. . ? - V." . ?* Parties desiring storage room, please engage space. ' JOHN S UNDSAY, Pres. ?' ?? -v..' '? ? a ? ?? .? i.'.L.-:'.'. I.;.-. CAMDEN, S. C. (?. 5?. *Du3Bose ^ Q. SBoijkin ?Dut$ose dr t$oy?ca SPea/ Gstate and J' ire Snsurance ^ ?X . ? x i _ . INSURE YOUR COTTON Every farmer should insure his cotton against fire. We write polices in any amount to cover cotton on plantation or in warehouse. .*. .'. i ASK US FOR RATES