The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1915. FARMERS CO-OPERATING.

Taihape Daily Times, 1 April 1915, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1915. FARMERS CO-OPERATING.

(With which ia incorporated The Taj. hape Post '.na Waimarino News.)

Th pros and cons of co-operation have been exhaustively talk out, and the whole subject may now ije said to have passed altogether out of the region of polemics. it is now only a question of where sufficiently large business .centres, furnishing all the conditions for co-operative organisation, exist to render the establishment of a trading house.,,binder./absolutely reliable management, a profiteering /institution. For to ,be a success it «iu,st-be. conducted on a profit-earning: basis and not, as some seem inclined to think, on a wholesale price to a retail buyer footings -We were a litfh unpointed with" ; My, Leigh Hunt"\s address yesterday, ■ because we hoped that he would have kept quite close to his subject,, more especially in the instances-quoted of the success of other societies of a similar character, for it is one thing to form a co-operative organisation in the centre" of a beehive of industry and quite another where there are a very limited number of the class upon whom success is to mainly depend. The English society mentioned was obviously the immense industrin organisation which now has largebranches in many of Britain's large manufacturing centres,. in some places where the population equals, or is more than that of all New Zealand put together. This society is in no way connected with farming interests, any more than it sells to farmers equally with anybody else who has the money to pay cash for what he wants, ft is true that in England Agricultural Co-opera-tive Societies are registered under the same Act,., and they are chiefly promoted by limited liability companies, known as the Agricultural Organisation Society, Ltd. There arc some 160 such the largest of which is the Eastern Counties Farmers'Co* operative Association, whose gn'OSg sales per annum do not ex-

ceed £250,000. But most of those s'oiii h:s ?•" ver, -small affairs, «< small in 'V-t :. ■ 1.0 )'ender their value Cju.-.'ri'o: ■■.:!. 1... In New Zealand, farming i>: undoubtedly the satire of our golden egg, and whateve- | can be done to add to the size aii {quantity is of material concern 1 jus all. Co-operation is one of tin methods by which this can be ae'coinplished, but, to go to extremop for the purpose of illustrating our point in urging caution, wt may say that a co-operative buy ing and selling house at say, Taoroa, would not be likely to he beifeficial to anybody. II tooh the house in Wellington a lon» time to pay a dividend even, and. of what use to the farming com munity from a. co-operative point of view is the Wairarapa Farmers' Co-operative Association with its branches throughout the Wai rarapa f It sells no cheaper, and in Masterton private firms successfully compete with it in ever way. What we urge is that cooperation to be of service to farmers must be wholly a farm ers' institution, and in no sense a profit-earning concern for the city investor and capitalist. "The principle of co-operation is unassailable, but any argument ever so slightly tinctured with the suppressio veri or the suggestio falsi •ought not to be brought in with f view to share-placing. Mr. Leigl Hunt, perhaps necessarily, dealt almost wholly with generalities, while our farmers were undoubtedly, by the questions asked, desirous of learning something about details. The Taihape agricultural and pastoral community have demonstrated to al? New Zealand that they are in no way short of the business instinct, and that they possess keen business ability, by first deciding upon the form of co-operation that will unquestionably benefit them as no other form possibly can. They have found the money to erect freezing works that will bring them the highest prices for their stock, increase the value of their land, lessen the cost of their fertilisers, and, at the same time, earn them good interest on capital they have invested. We believe they will decide that the development and perfecting of their first great co-operative effort will appeal much more strongly than dabbling in any other form of a doubtfully beneficial character. While their first co-operative venture needs nursing, - and bringing to its highest possible earning capacity and usefulness, 'hey v

no doubt refrain from in any way dividing their co-operative interests. .

So far the coming municipal else-. tions, to be held this month, have evtfnoed little interest. In view of i niomientous questions to be considered it behoves the ratepayers to bestir themselves with a view of electing a Mayor a,nd Council which will preserve their interests and at the same time accord Taihape a position in the van of progress which this potentialities of the town and district merit. The present Mayor, Mr Arrowsmith, has intimated that he will not seek ita-election, so a now candidate for the position of Chief Magistrate will need to come forward.