The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 1915. THE CO-OPERATION QUESTION.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 185, 14 April 1915, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 1915. THE CO-OPERATION QUESTION.

wfeieb- is incorporated The Tni."'ltape Post : AJii Waimarinp Newß.) m ' ■■■■:■ ■ ,-■.■■■■■■ ■■--■-' :;

/In|ycsterday 's issue of this journal we »*'J|e favoured with.- a-;eonimunicai>iori -fr<Hn Mr. L. Daws, the secretary of the Taljbape branehaf the "Farmers'Union, orii|the subject. :of eo-operativc storekeeping, buying and selling of produce sn<| other commodities as applied to Taihape.- • In'Mr." Daws' 'letter 'there r.see&.s ,'tctf be isbme .spirit' o¥*opp.ositia' to'%hat ; was'expressed ifl" v Sri edi'tori'il we published" i on'" , the-s\ibject' y about n fortnight ago, the day following" Mr. Leigh ject to a. meeting fit the local Farmers * Union branch; but,;-.although we -have read the letter twiee -we. cgn find nothing which "is opposed tb-what we-have stated and.-no. objection"? is raised .to what we expressed; except.'an unimportant selection of .terms which Mr. Daws refers to in a few closing lines. .. An a correspondent Mr. Daws -is heartily \relcomed and -whatever '-we- mav s:iy iii teply we want him, and ;aU, other ccrtespondents,, to. uiidordtfi.ad. -< to use •• 'vulgarism, there will- be- r no effort to "sit upon hrm." '"'We'fry to avoid ? didactic attitude in'all' discussions, a iid we think;': we Jiaye -ihfy experience that.: makes us realise that the very best interests of our readers and the • most rapid and lasting progress of our territory can only be achieve! by the most earnest' and honest deliberations on allquestions by which we are materially affected. We: have urged our readers to make free use of our correspondence columns because we realise that the 'mission of a newspaper is only half performed unless it is the medium for exchanges of thought and opinio* o» sail questions affecting mankind, but more cpec/ially on matters that closely pertain to oar own political, social, and commercial welfare, and ,m> are plessew to note that our editorials arc- cr--. :ncuc:r.g to have the desired e<rVov. Our correspondent's letter is r.ot "quite understandable; it seems to resume that v.c are opposed to the principle of co-operation, or that we hav? vary imperfect notions respecting it, .He be right 5,) the latier ense, b"* strong].' lv, support (?. co-pporr.tk-:: r>« inc of (.: :-3.:!o"ence that c: :, l not ap*-c-?.v ia our vepo;t cf Mr: IL.niiTi a-Mrcy;?. rv' ia our cob.:iin:s. Ej-giis!' '/. - tIo".iOf" '■;{■: ' cw.tApu '"Y us; the Cr.r. 1 . :■ j jT)".' /!£!:"dr.l.\y] 5'.-'[i3 hi 01"..;* j

report, and there was no occasion for repetition in our leader. The writer of our article had the favour of this society’s annual report and balance-sheet for several years; therefore he is fairly well informed with respect to its operations, Anyway, we cannot find that Mr. Daws has any valid complaint against us for not going i.ito details about that society. Indeed, ii is difficult to understand the object of his letter unless it is that we did not undeservedly urge our farmers to take up shares in a Wellington co-operative concern, which would have no business branch in our town and would have lirtlo co>Jnection with our district beyond trie share capital that might be invested, it is not long ago that co-operation was tried here, and it was fully realised then that the town was not large enough of itself for successful operations; but Mr. Daws agrees with us on this point, he admits, and Mr. Hunt practically admitted in answer to ques- | lions that it would not pay to establish a branch here, and that his Association had no intention of starting such a branch. As a matter af fact, we did not take exception to anything Mr. Hunt said with respect to co-operation. We did express disappointment at what he failed to say; we thought he should have come very much closer to his subect, and we still think; so, by furnish - ' ing such figures and evidence that would entirely remove all speculative \ elements of an experimental nature from the minds of those he wanted to take up Shares. In generalities a very ■ glowing picture of co-operation can be painted, "but most businessmen know' of | the pitfalls, if they have not actually | experienced them, and, unfortunately i for some in Taihape, they have experii enced the loss and disappointment tha* lies behind investing in co-operation in ■ this • district. Co-operation seems to us | to be the Ideal method of buying and : selling, but it can only'be so when the field and all circumstances, are ripe for its institution. With respect to farmers or other men with money taking shares in the Wellington concern we are mot concerned; men may invest tblir money in any venture they please and for us to interfere w r ould be inpertisenee. What w r e emphasised w r as, that farmers had already started a co-opera-tive freeing works thatis capable of same!! further development in the utilK sation of all by-products and the Institution of a canning department, : The ; latter may not furnish large profits at rfirst but the w r orld’s demand for meat, the war aside, is growing altogether beyond the present supply. The only ease in wdiich Mr. Daw's differs from us is in the choice of some half-a-dozen words. Those w r ords v"--used thoughtfully, and certainly not in an offensive way. We desired to pnr the position as forcibly as possible without any suggestion of imptming Mr> Hunt’s intentions, and w r e believe .wre achieved our object. Mr. Hunt was here on a mission and he very naturally and properly painted as glowing a word-picture of what co-operation is capable of as he possibly could. Like .mankind in general, he was swayed by igcif-interest, involuntarily or subconsciously; it is something w r e cannot avoid however much we try to place , ourselves in the opposite position, and •if Mr. Daws can separate in his mind Mr. Hunt’s intentions from the effects his word-pictures actually convoyed, he will realise that it was not Mr. Hunt’s intentions but the conditions ■ they set up that we referred to.. The glownng, rosy aspect of co-operation as portrayed by Mr. Hunt established * false view in the minds, it seems, of some of his heavers, inasmuch as it overshadowed the true position wdien details are considered. There is one thing our correspondent may be assured of and thatis, if Mr. Hunt had tried deliberately and designedly to mislead men in this district to their detrimen? there would have been no mistake about the terras wc would have used to denounce him. We are glad to have Mr. Daws’ letter and it is our desire that when any of our readers believe* he or she has anything helpful to say, our correspondence columns will be made use .of.