THE DAIRY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 433, 24 January 1912, Page 7

THE DAIRY.

THE CO-OPERATIVE FACTORY; MANAGER. There is an universal opinio"! against the conditions under which managers of co-operative creameries may be dismissed. There is little doubt that abuses have crept in, and one or two managers, at any rate, have been' hardly dealt with owing to the power which committees possess over their employees. Creamery committees in Ireland, while, on the whole, composed mainly of sensible, level-headed, and fair-minded men, can it has been shown, take such high-handed action at times as those whci are continually "prating" about our democratic people would never have given them credit for. The cases in mind are isolated, but they go.- to prove the undesirability of giving too much power to'an inexpert community wjho have not had an opportunity of studying the technical nature of the business which they are expected to supervise. The writer is a firm believer in the active participation of a creamery committee in the running of a creamery. A great deal of damage has been caused, however, by the unlimited power which the rules of co-operative societies have given to those committees. Unless the manager makes himself a '"pawn" in their hands his life becomes intolerable in certain instances These instances are rare ; but it is a disgrace at this stage of Irish dairying that they should exist at all among a people who are themselves for ever playing v with the word "freedom." Where is the use of a young man spending all the best years of hia life in studying the science and practice of dairying if his experience, judgement, and individuality must be sunk before the wisdom of a handful of men without any real experience in dairying ? Here is the solution of the problem : Give the manager—if he is to be a manager—more power, : if not, cease to call him a manager.