Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 8969, 7 November 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

ALTHOUGH co-operative methods are in common ass in the dairying industry it is noticeable that they have hitherto made little progress in Neve Zealand in the supply of goods such as are commonly kept by storekeepers. Speaking generally \vc may say that though co-operation in production has proved very Successful here, co-operation in distribution !uts been only partially successful, as the stores which go under Lie name of co-operative are in most

cases private businesses iu whu h purchasers have only a limited interest. In England co-operative distribution has proved a very great success and flic working classes, especially iu Hie North of England, obtain ell heir goods at co-operative stores fVv which all the capital lias been pr tiled by the workers themselves. The business done by these

coueev on an enormous scale, but it . been almost entirely rest ficred to retail trade and the articles sold have been bought in the open market. It was long recognised that the production of the goods was a nrach more difficult task than their sale and co-operators wore slow to enter upon the business of manufacture. To-day, however, there are a number of co-operative' factories iu existence which provide the goods sold iu the co-operative stores. New Zealand scorns to have developed iu the opposite direction and co-opera’ tivo production has t.d; a first place instead of being a later growth. The proposal of the Glen Orou.i Dairy Company to undertake the sale of goods is a now departure win. h will bo watched with interest. The foundation of the success of co-oper-ative stores in Britain is the system of cash payments and wo suppose that this will bo adhered to by the Orona Company. The avoidance of book-keeping and of bad debts added to the power of buying iu the best market for cash goes far to ensure the success of a business, and there is no reason why co-oporalive distribution should not prove as groat a success iu New Zealand as elsewhere, provided the management is in competent bands and the shareholders in the company exfefid their patronage to their own store.

THE much-droadcd sleeping sickness has depopulated whole districts iu Uganda and other portions of Central Africa and therefore it is satisfactory to find that the researches of Professor Koch and others arc throwing some light on the cause of a disease, which is practically incurable' oueo it iias been contracted.

For some time it has been suspected that the infection was convoyed by a fly of the same species as tire tsetse, which proves so fatal to cattle and horses. According to Professor Koch I he insect known as glossiua papalis, a near relative of glossiua morsitaus, the common tso-tso, sucks the blood of crocodiles and thence spreads the gorins of sleeping sicknos; in the human beings who arc bitten by it. The remedy suggested is the extermination of crocodiles and of the. scrub ou the river banks that provides them with cover. It is curious that a small insect should be responsible for sleeping sickness, just as malaria has been traced to the bite of a species of mosquito. Prcvontion’in. both diseases appears to bo far more easy than euro. In the case of malaria proper mosquito netting and the drainage of pools where the insects breed have proved very effective and have enabled Europeans to live in tropical climates without suffering from what was regarded as a universal accompaniment of residence iu certain districts. Similarly it appears that sleeping sickness may he avoided by living on high ground which is not a usual habitat of the tly. One point remains unexplained. Malaria- has always existed and wo can understand why this lias boon the case where the mosquito gives rise to the disease has flourished, but sleeping sickness is a comparatively novel disease,

though tho fly which causes it has not suddenly been created. Why then lias the glossina palpalis suddenly become so objectionably energetic? To this question there appears to be no satisfactory answer unless it bo that tho improved means (if locomotion among the native population, owing to the peace following on British rule and thcr construction of tho Uganda ic.ilway, have served to spread tho infection over widely separated districts.