The Lexington Leader (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 23, No. 37, Ed. 1 Friday, May 29, 1914 Page: 7 of 8
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LEXINGTON. OKLA., LEADER
>
II
1 USEFUL
CITIZEN" 01
JACOB A. RIIS WAS WIDELY
KNOWN AS SETTLEMENT
WORKER AND WRITER.
BEGAN LIFE AS IMMIGRANT BOY
Served as a Carpenter's Apprentice,
Brickmaker, Coal Miner and Ped-
dler—Achieved Fame as Author
and Settlement Worker
Barre, Mass.—Jacob August RHs,
widely known as an author and settle-
ment worker, died here after a long
illness. He was better known in New
York than elsewhere, as that city was
the scene of his lifework.
Riis was the thirteenth child of a
Latin teacher in Rlbe, Jutland, Den-
mark. He was born in 1849. Young
Riis decided to work with his hands
and became a carpenter's apprentice.
The vocation he had chosen did not
prevent him from falling in love with
Elizabeth Nielson, daughter of one of
the richest men in his native town.
But she refused him, and when Riis
was 21 years old, having learned his
trade, he embarked for New York with
■only $40 in his pocket. He spent half
the sum for a heavy navy pistol as
soon as he landed "to fight Indians
and desperadoes."
Riis led a varied career during the
following six years. He built miners'
•huts in a Pennsylvania construction
Co-Operative Farm
Products Marketing
How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done
in America to the Profit of Both
Farmer and Consumer
By MATTHEW S. DUDGEON.
(Copyuright. 1J>14. Western Newapuper Union.;
I u
III
jfcjfcW- A.I
{Courtesy of P. W. Wozenoraft.)
Inspection of a Danish Creamery.
WHY CO-OPERATION SOMETIMES FA LS
Jacob A. Rtls
camp, mined coal, made bricks, drove
a team and peddled flatirons and
books. At 27 he spent his last cent in
reaching New York, hoping to enlist
through the French consul in the
French army against Germany for the
Franco-Prussian war, but his services
were refused, and Riis was forced to
accept a beginner's place as a report-
er for a New York news bureau.
He returned to Denmark and mar-
ried the wirl who had refused him
when he was a carpenter's apprentice.
This first wife died in 1905 and two
years later Riis married Mary Phil-
lips of St. Louis.
As a reporter on the New York Tri-
bune and later on the New York Sun,
Riis took up his real work in slum
fighting. One of the first of his cam-
paigns "was against the impurity of the
city water, and it was his fight which
finally led to the purchase of the Cro-
ton watershed to assure safe drinking
water for New York.
HUERTA HAS AMERICAN CODE
Secret Books Kept by Mexicans When
Silliman Was Released.
Vera Cruz.—John R. Silliman. United
States vice consul at Saltillo, who ar-
rived here, stated that he was confin-
ed in the penitentiaiy at Saltillo for
three weeks under orders of the feder-
al general, Maas. Mr. Silliman declin-
ed to discuss the taking of the state
department code from his office by
General Maas, but it is learned from
other sources that the books were not
rturned to him when he was released.
Earlier, Mr. Silliman refused to dis-
cuss incidents in connection with his
detention. Tuesday night he issued a
brief statement in which he describied
his journey from Saltillo and paid tri-
bute to H. L. Lecener, who escorted
him from Saltillo as the fepre^enta-
tive of the British vice consul there.
He also thanked the Brazilian minis-
ter for his efforts which eventually
brought about Mr. Silliman's release.
Describing briefly his trip from Sal-
tillo to Mexico City, the vice consul
said:
"The journey from Saltillo to San
Luis Potosi, which ordinarily requires
twelve hours, took seven days,I, on ac-
count of frequent interruptions by the
constitutionalists. The railroad and
telegraph lines were badly damaged
and there were three engagements in
which a number on both sides were
Itllled or wounded.
"The intention of the constitutional-
ists appeared to be to isolate Saltillo
by cutting the only line of communi-
cation aud forcing the evacuation of
the city. When I left Saltillo May 14
It was reported that General Jocquin
Maas had 10,000 or 12,000 men in or
near the city. The constitutionalists
did not seem prepared for an attack."
Copenhagen, Denmark. — Co-opera-
tion is not foolproof, consequently it
does not always succeed. Inexperi-
ence, incompetence, and dishonesty
will wreck any private business and
i they will, of course, wreck any co-
| operative business. It is necessary
I therefore, for enthusiasts to remem-
ber that there is no mystic virtue in
co-operation which enables it to tri-
umph at all times. Those of us who
are trying to record what we have
| #een of co-operative business at home
j and in Europe, would not be treating
J the public fairly if we left the im-
| pression that there are no failures
| among co-operative enterprises.
| Both it home and abroad there have
j been many failures. Certainly those
! Interested are entitled to know as
| much about its failures as about Its
j successes. They are entitled to know
j also what causes have led to co-opera-
I tive failure.
Failures In America.
Many co-operative stores organized
with much promise have failed. Gen-
erally speaking gross incoihpetence
has wrecked them. They are like
other mercantile establishments in
that they demand, as a condition
precedent to success, skilled manage-
ment, good business methods, good ac-
counting, cautious extension of credit,
as well as some special knowledge of
the goods dealt in. If these qualities
are absent failure is inevitable. As
the average co-operative store in
America is organized its members are
seldom bound by any agreement to
do all their trading at the co-operative
concern. They patronize it when it is
to their interest so to do. If the goods
offered are poor, or if bad manage-
ment advances the price unduly, or if
frequent minor mistakes occur, the
members abandon the venture like a
sinking ship.
As I have said, co-operative stores
In order to succeed must have skilled
management, good business methods,
good accounting systems, and must ex-
tend credit cautiously, all in addition
to the special knowledge essential in
every such enterprise. So far as I can
discover, however, the stores which
have failed have not only lacked one
or two of these essentials of success
but they seem often to have lacked all
of them. More than once it has hap-
pened that a co-operative store com-
pany is formed because some store-
keeper has lost all his money In an
unsuccessful mercantile venture and
can secure capital for a new venture
only in this way. Sometimes an am-
bitious farmer has organized a com-
pany in order that a son who has been
away to business college and feels
above farming may have a chance to
earn a living without working upon
the farm. It is characteristic also of
co-operative American stores—and of
other co-operative concerns in Ameri-
ca also—that they have seldom been
willing to pay a salary sufficient to
secure men of experience and skill as
managers.
When a co-operative store managed
by a man who has a history of noth-
ing but business failures behind him,
or by a youthful and inexperienced
business college graduate, or by any
other man of the low grade implied in
the low salaries paid, comes into com-
petition with a competent, up-to-date,
American storekeeper of the aggres-
sive vigorous type often found in even
the smaller towns, the mere word "co-
operative" upon ths sign in front of
the store is not going to avert failure.
It Isn't fair to expect too much of co-
operation.
Co-operative Fruit Failures.
Seldom, too, have ao-called Ameri-
can co-operative companies been co-
operative in the true sense of the
word. I have in mind one co-operative
fruit marketing society which failed
largely because It was organized on
the joint stock basis and administered
as are other non-co-operatlve corpora-
tions. A few of the larger sharehold-
ers controlled it. The interests of the
minority were ignored. They became
jealous and suspicious and accused
those in control of dishonesty. Finally
they demanded that the officers give
a full report of all their financial
transactions and that an auditing com-
mittee be appointed. The officers fool-
ishly and arbitrarily refused to con-
cede even an audit unless they them-
selves selected the committee. Then
these smaller storekeepers demanded
that the one man vote principle be
applied so that for the future they
might protect their own interests.
This also was denied them. The only
course possible seemed to be a separa-
tion and the smaller stockholders
withdrew, the larger stockholders
buying out those who did not care to
stay in the concern. While this socie-
ty did not fail from a financial stand-
point, its record is of course to be
cited as that of a co-operative concern
which did not1 succeed in the best
sense of the term.
The small shareholders of this so-
ciety later formed another co-opera-
tive society, organizing and adminis-
tering it, you may be sure, upon a
purely co-operative basis, adopting the
one man vote plan, and providing that
no dividends be declared upon shares
but that all the profits go to those who
grew the fruit in proportion to the
amount furnished to thhe company by
each.
Greed Causes Another Failure.
The experience of a Minnesota co-
operative warehouse elevator was
somewhat different. As originally or-
ganized and managed by the farmers
It was a success, all the profits were
distributed back to the producers as
an additional price upon the grain de-
livered and the farmers loyally sup-
ported it. Later, however, the shares
of stock became centered in a few
business men who were not grain
growers. These men held a major-
ity of the stock and were in full
control. They began squeezing down
the prices to the producer until they
were paying him no more than the
privately owned elevator companies
paid.
The trustful farmers continued to
deliver their grain for a time a«id the
business men in control received a
forty per cent dividend. At the end
of the year, however, the farmers real-
ized that they were being imposed
upon and the next year abandoned the
project, and hauled their grain else-
where. As a result this co-operative
effort which had been at first an ex-
ceedingly profitable venture became
so absolute a failure that it was with
difficulty that the shareholders dis-
posed of their building and equipment.
European Failures.
There have been failures in Euro-
pean co-operation also. You cannot
talk co-operation in Germany long
with anyone familiar with the general
situation without having your atten-
tion called to the fact that co-opera-
tion has received one black eye. Years
ago the government, anxious to aid in
the marketing of grain, devoted a
considerable amount of money to the
erection of elevators or "corn houses,"
loaning the money to local co-opera-
tive concerns whose organization it
fostered and supervising the erection
in each case of a rather imposing
structure. It would seem that the
government generously tempted the
promoters to unreasoning extrava-
gance. "How could you expect our
people to calculate closely when they
had this heap of unearned money
forced upon them?" one man re-
marked. Everything was done on a
costly scale. The storehouses were
too big. They were not carefully lo-
cated. Into these concerns crept, also
a desire to speculate, to corner the
grain supply, to do in Germany what
Eelter was reported to have done in
America,—to capture the grain mar-
ket.
Everyone persuaded himself, it Is
said, that he was going to grow rich
by appropriating by degrees the
wealth thus to be gained. They had
heard that there were great corners
In the United States, and by buying
and storing grain men had made enor-
mous fortunes. There was to be gold
for everyone who wanted it. A careful
study of the situation has revealed the
absurdity of the situation. Those who
controlled the warehouses could not
control to exceed one-twentieth of the
supply of grain grown In Germany
alone.
The general concensus of German
opinion seems to have been that two
caases contributed to the failure; flrsL
state aid, which seldom really helps
a co-operative society, ruined these
projects by encouraging the construc-
tion of warehouses which were either
not needed or which were bigger than
needed; second, the members sought
to mak* money out of them instead of
using them simply to prevent waste
in shipping.
Bank at Nleder Mabau.
In 1874 at a German village of some
620 Inhabitants local tradesmen
formed a loan and savings bank. From
the very first they forgot that co-oper-
ative credit banks are primarily |
formed to lend money only to those lo- |
cal members who will use it for lo-
cal purposes. They were too anxious
to get rich quick. By a promise of ex-
ceedingly high rates of interest they
attracted patrons from the most re-
mote points until there was on de-
posit in this little village co-operative
bank almost $1,000,000. Such an
amount of money was of course far In
excess of any needs which the mem-
bers themselves might have as bor-
rowers. Consequently the bank be-
gan to do business with outsiders.
Funds were so plentiful and the de-
mands relatively so small that it grant-
ed to its debtors extensive credits. It
became known that credit could easily
be obtained at that village bank and
speculators far and near flocked to it.
It risked Its money In financial
schemes outside the limits of the vil-
lage.
The cashier, who had no particular
fitness for the position, also had charge
of church funds and other publio
funds. Besides this, he was conduct-
ing a large business in a hotel. There
seems to have been no one on the
board of managers of any particular
business Judgment or ability. Even
integrity was not present, for the cash-
ier ended his year with forgery and
was sent to prison, it was not sur-
prising, therefore, that in December,
1911, the Nleder Mabau I ans and
Savings bank was declared insolvent,
the natural results of undue greed, of
the spirit of speculation, of incompe-
tence, and of dishonesty.
Co-operative Bank at Darmsted.
More recently the co-operative ag-
ricultural bank at Darmsted, formed
in 1882, reached a point where It was
unable to meet Its obligations. Its
situation was almost the same as
that of the Nleder Mabau bank, al-
though it operated upon a much larger
scale. In connection with this bank
there was also either gross iiicompe-
tency or dishonesty. In one case, for
example, over a million dollars was
Invested in a mine that could not be
worked. Other equally hazardous en-
terprises were financed by this con-
cern contrary to all principles of co-
operative credit and equally contrary
to all rules of sound finance. "Co-
operative banks are not foolproof,"
and of course the co-operative bank
at Darmsted failed.
Co-operation may fail even in Den-
mark, the country in all Europe most
completely organized for rural busi-
ness. There a brilliant public man
got In the good graces of those inter-
ested in co-operation and promoted a
scheme for uniting many co-operative
societies in one big concern. Here
there was not so much incompetcnce
as dishonesty, and the venture ended
in financial failure for the members—■
and in imprisonment for the dishon-
est promoter.
Causes of Failures In America.
Co operative failures so far as Amer-
ica is concerned are traceable large-
ly to these causes;
In the first place it has always been
difficult for the American to compre-
hend the fact that co-operative con-
cerns are not money making, divi-
dend declaring, profit producing con-
cerns. They do not seem to realize
that the sole excuse for the existence
of the co-operative organization as a
middleman is in order that a middle-
man's function may be performed
without waste and without profit.
In the second place the spirit of
the American farmer is not sufficient-
ly unselfish. He has been operating
for so long on the competitive basis
that it is difficult for him to acquire
a spirit of unselfish loyalty to the !
spirit of the organization to which he
belongs. If an opportunity presents it- |
self under which he can net a profit {
by abandoning the co-operative soci-
ety and dealing with a private dealer, j
he embraces it at once, without realiz-
ing that in the end this will ruin his
co-operative concern and leave him
in the hands of the privately owned
dealer who has been for generations j
working him for large profits.
In the third place, practically all
the American concerns which have
failed have been organized on the Joint
stock plan. With' the voting power j
distributed in proportion to the cap
ital invested It has often occurred
that the interests of those who were
in control of the majority of the stock
were antagonistic to the interests oi
the smaller stockholders, who con
tributed to the success by bringing
in a large part of the produce handled
by the concern. As a result the pol-
icy of the co-operative concern has
often ignored the interests of the
producer if the concern was a market-
ing one. or the Interests of the dis-
tributee if the concern wa3 a distrib-
uting organization.
In the fourth place, the American
farmers have not yet had a sufficiently
far-seeing vision to realize that It often
pays to invest a considerable salary
in a skilled maanger. They hesitate
to pay a salary wblch would demand
the attention of anyone who had suffi
cient experience and skill successfully
to manage the business. As a result,
co-operation has suffered from lgnop
aoce and mismanagement
KILLS 500 BEARS
Otoko Yama's Skill in Handling
Ancient Weapon Is Shown
Government Officials.
SEE HIM SLAY A BEAR
Americans Pay Visit to Nimrod Up In
Mountains and Learn of His Queer
System of Chronological Com-
putation.
Yokohama, Japan.—There Ib In Jap-
an a man who is popularly believed
to have killed 500 bears with a bow
and arrow. A short time ago some
Americans visited him in his wild
mountain home oa the Island of Hok-
kaido.
This island belongs to the group
north of Japan. Otoko Yama is the
name of the bear hunter. He prefers
his bow to modern weapons. Recent-
ly he tried an old muzzle-loading gun.
and while he had some success with
it, he liked his bow and arrow better.
Otoko Yama is an Alno, a member
of one of the aboriginal tribes of
Japan. Some years ago when the Jap-
anese began to pay more attention to
the government of Hokkaido and its
other island possessions in the north
they Btarted to register or make a
census of the inhabitants. This was
by no means easy, because these long
bearded and half wild people had no
names, and so the Japanese authori-
ties had to name every man as best
they could.
High up in the mountains they came
across a man who seemed to be lead-
er amonj the people in that vicinity.
He was a great hunter and much ad-
mired by the natives because of his
prowess. When the Japanese officials
learned that he had killed many bears
with a small bow and arrow they
could scarcely believe it, but he took
them Into the forest with him and
soon proved it by killing a bear with
a poisoned arrow sent with accurate
aim into bruin's body just below the
fifth rib.
Hecause this man seemed to be
head of the people in the mountain dis-
trict they called him Otoko Yama.
Otoko means "man" and Yama means
"mountain."
Not long ago Major Wlgmore, for-
mer American attache at Tokyo, and
C. J. Arnell, Japanese secretary of the
FAILS TO SECURE
RECOGNITION
Lady'i Own Friendi Assert Could
Not Recognize Her When
Brought Face to Face.
Axritts, Va.—Mrs. D. J. Bowen, oi
this town, makes the following stat*
ment: "For 20 years I suffered with
womanly troubles, and although I
tried different treatments, I did noi
get any relief.
I was unable to look after any oi
my work, and my friends thought I
j could not get well.
Finally, I began to take Cardul, the
woman's tonic, and I hadn't taken
one-third of the flrat bottle, before I
| could notice its good effects.
Now I can do all my work, feel Ilk*
| I'm not more than 16 years old, but
am really 49. My own friends say I
look so well, they don't recognize me
when we meet In the road.
My daughter Is using Cardul. and
she says it Is a tins medicine. I also
j hare a number of lady friends taking
It, since they found out how It helped
me.
Whenever I feel a little fatigued
after a day's extra hard work, I Just
take a dose of Cardul and am all
right
I can't say too much for Cardul."
Thousands of women who now suffer
from womanly troubles, could be r -
lleved and benefited, by following Mrs.
Bowen's example.
Are you of this numberT
If so, try Cardul today. It oannot
harm you, and la almost sure to da
yo* good.
At the nearest drag store.—A4r.
Presence of mind in lovemaklng la
apt to indicate absence of heart.
Get It to the bottom of the affected
part. Adv.
Affinity—the first man to show uj
with a solitaire.
Red Cross Ball Blue makes the laundress
hap py, make* clothes whiter than snow.
All good grocers. Adv.
Some men make both ends meet by
•tinting their wives, and others by not
having any.
| I>r. Pierre's Pellets, small, sugaixjonted,
•nay to take oj candy, regulate and inrifp>
orate stomach, liver and Dowels and curs
eonatipation. Adv.
Naturally.
"That orator Is going on a comsV
like course of lecturing."
"Yes, and with a special train."
w.
Same Thing.
"So Julia came up to the scratoh
without a whimper. She's a duck of
girl."
"Yes, she's game."
Correct.
"Riches have wings," Quoted the
sage.
"But poverty gets to yon quicker,"
added the fool.—Cincinnati Enquirer.
Cynical.
"What I am, I owe to my wife."
"Well, take my advice and don't pay
the debt She made a mess of the
Job."
Once for All.
"Now, Freddie, once for all, will yoa
wash your face and hands?"
"Sure thing, If it's once for alL"—
Judge.
Sent Arrow With Accurate Aim.
embassy, accompanied Otoko Yama
on a bear hunt in the Hokkaido moun-
tains.
"How old are you?" asked Major
Wlgmore by means of an interpreter,
whereupon the old hunter commenced
to repeat "herring, salmon, herring,
salmon, herring," and so on. Majoi
Wigmore knew a little of the language
and he was puzzled. The Interpreter
laughed.
"He is counting up his years," he
said, "and the way he does It Is to
count the seasons. To him there are
only two seasons, when the herring
come and when the salmon come. Out
herring season and one salmon season
make a year." Otoko Yama Anally
pave it up. He could remember about
fifty herring and salmon seasons, bul
no more.
Cheese Industry.
One of the great milk markets Is the
cheese Industry, which Is concentrated
In New York and Wisconsin. These
states together make more than three-
fourths of the national product. Their
output is nearly equal, Wisconsin lead-
ing slightly. Michigan, Pennsylvania,
California, Oregon, Illinois and Minne-
sota are, in the order named, the other
principal cheese-making states. Near-
ly all the cheeBe Is made In small fao-
tories. Wisconsin makes 47 per cenl
of the total.
CHURCH SNOOZERS ARE MEN
After an Investigation Milwaukee
Preachers Think They Have Found
Out Why This Is So.
Milwaukee.—The mystery of the
church snoozer has been solved
After determining that the ratio of
women to men who fall asleep during
Bermons Is about one to two hundred
and thirtyjour, certain Wlwaukee
preachers have gone Into the secrets
of the phenomena and have sought out
the reasons therefor.
Contrary to the popular belief that
men's minds are slower and duller
than those of women, and that, there-
fore, tht-y are more difficult to hold
with the logic of a sermon, the inves-
tigating pastors say that the women
are not brighter, quicker to under-
stand, more self-controlled and that
their eyes and their minds are nat
more easily attached to the setiaoa.
DID THE WORK
Grew Strong on Right Food.
You can't grow strong by merely ex-
j erclslng. You must have food—the
kind you can digest and assimilate.
Unless the food you eat 1b digested
it adds to the burden the digestive or-
gans have naturally to carry. This
often means a nervous breakdown.
"About a year ago," writes a Mass.
lady, "I had quite a serious nervous
breakdown caused, aa I believed, by
i overwork and worry. I also suffered
untold misery from dyspepsia.
"First I gave up my position, then 1
tried to find a remedy for my troubles,
something that would make me well
and strong, something to rest my tired
stomach and build up my worn-out
nerves and brain.
"I tried one kind of medicine after
another, but nothing seemed to help
me.
"Finally a friend suggested change
of food and recommended Grape-Nuts.
With little or no faith in It. I tried •
package. That was eight months ago
and I have never been without II
since.
"Grape-Nuts did the work. It helped
me grow strong and well. Grape-Nuts
put new life Into me, built up my
whole system and made another wom-
an of me!"
Name given by Postum Co., BatO*
Creek, Mich. Read "The Road to
Wellvllle," In pkgs. "There's a Rea-
son."
Bv*v r*M4 tfc* Mt«rf A
ti, (ram iim to Him. Tfcvr
in (rny| <, ln^ mmd taM «Mt !■ ««
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The Lexington Leader (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 23, No. 37, Ed. 1 Friday, May 29, 1914, newspaper, May 29, 1914; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc110623/m1/7/: accessed May 2, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.