Co-operation .

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 December 1913, Page 2

Co-operation .

Tiiii LtUCIIJUALL I.\STANCE. 0\ ritten lor the llorowhenua Daily Chronicle). In the primordial stages of the earth s history, when certain of the dwellers in the tree-tops discovered that an apparently' inexhaustible supply of food, in the way ol tuberous roots, was to be found just under the surface of .the rich, warm soil, and were thus led to give up climbing trees for nuts and berries, individualism reigned supreme. If when a family of simians following the line of least, resistance was busy extracting the more easily obtained supply of food from the surface of the earth the head of an SO feet long dinosaur appeared round the bole of a tree it was every simian for himself and the hindmost for the dinosaur's breakfast. Many a meal of simian did Hie dinosaur and other giant primaeval reptiles have before the slowly-evolving psychological and physical changes in the s'imian had advanced far enough to enable him to perceive, and take advantage of tiie fact that if he stood up j with his ' fellows co-operated- - against his numerous foes he could meet them on niucu better terms; and by the time he had reached this stage he was no longer simian—ho was early man. The dinosaur and his brother reptiles by this time had probably ceased to be of much trouble, and man's progress was comparatively rapid, increasing its speed as each s?eneration profited by the experience of the preceding one. And when

some early genius discovered that a weighty piece of . rock tied to the end of a long pole, or a sharp piece of bone fastened thereto made a more efficient weapon of offence and defence, tliau teeth and hands, man's rule over the rest of the animal kingdom was definitely and irrevocably established. Henceforth his more formidable enemies were those of his own kind. lhe use of weapons and co-op-eration for defence naturally led to the same lines being followed in attack, and under this further pressure families wore driven into 'communities and communities into nations. In tiiese early nations the ruler of the tribal or family units composing the nation maintained the large" squads of lighting men which went to make up the national army. These rulers, united against outside fnes were often at Litter enmity with each other and always greviously oppressed the peasants at'd craftsmen of those (lays. 111 England the people co-operated in political action and gradually established a Parliament which took over the whole means and business of war and the power of taxation. The powers of these petty tyrants became less with the increasing strength of Parliament and the growing consciousness by the people of their power. But by retaining the ownership of the. bulk of the land and by exerting pressure on Parliament the landlords relieved themselves of the obligations which obtained under the feudal system, and sef out to get rich as quickly as possible. Thousands of people were turned oft flic land in order to make room for live stock and wandered about (lie country and thousands of them were hanged for begging. About, the same time tiie wage system in connection with trades and manufactures was gradually established, the action of fae landlords in turning out the people who formerly made a living off' the land made it a choice of working for others or the gibI ' i( ! As yet, however, the means of supply and manufacture and distribution were fairly distributed among a large number of small manufacturers.. Jhit with, the discovery of the power of steam things suddenly changed. The possession of a steam power plant gave such an advantage to its possessor that less-favoured rivals either threw in their lot with its owner or were blotted out. Where perhaps a dozen small factories (employing seven or eight hands) obtained before, there was now 011ly one, and the workers were compelled to huddle together in large towns that they might be near their employment. All the aU tendant evils of over-crowding (jtiickly followed, and tu a generation such was the change brought about by the new conditions that the state of the great bulk of the common people was inlinilely worse that what obtained under the old-time slavery. Many and various are the ways and means suggested for remedying this state of affairs from a I eyersion to the old time trade guilds to modern dynamite. One oi the most interesting movements ii) this connection is the Kochdalc Co-operative movement, about " hich little is known and less understood. JJiis system is (juite different from the ordinary evervday co-operation, where merchants or dealers co-operate to Heece the public or burglars cooperate to rob a bank. The ftochdalc Co-operative Stores were started by twenty-eight members who put up capital on the basis of paying only five per cent, interest 011 it, selling at market rates, and distributing all profits not as dividend on capital, but as bonus on purchases. Many concerns have been start eel which promise, after paying ten per cent. 011 capital, to distribute the remainder as a bonus. This is only done to draw custom, for it the promoters can do sufficient trade to pay ten. per cent, on their capital they double the value of that capital*, f hey get the cream and the public gets the skim milk. Tlie idealism and altruistic purpose tunning through, the itochdalo system prevents it paying more than <3 per cent, interest on capital _ and share values always remain at par. After paying this interest, the whole of the profits ire returned to the shareholders II proportion not to their shares jut to their purchases. This dea was first started in 18(4, and he first store had a turnover of t'2 weekly. Not until thirteen ■ears elapsed could its twentypromoters. pay a. shopman.' n ].<SSB it had a membership of with a library of 11 ,(i(K) •olumes, and in 1.911 its sales aggregated ,£75,000,000. ft is a wonderful story of progress and hows what people might do in he way of helping themselves, .'he most noteworthy feature of lie scheme is the establishment f Jibi •aries in connection with it, nd the annual vote towards eriuatiori. So successful has the lo'vement been in England that lie principle has been applied to u-operative housing with great access. Its success is so proounced that it is a wonder 00peration does not make more rogress in this dominion : there i plcntv of room for it, espee* illy among producers. It is tiown that co-operative stores ave failed, but so have 'stores rivatelv owned.