The Opunake Times TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1896. CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION.

Opunake Times, Volume IV, Issue 170, 18 February 1896, Page 2

The Opunake Times TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1896. CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION.

In our last issue we referred to the Cooperative Dairy Association which it is proposed to establish on the southwestern side of the mountain. The chief objections to single factories being turned into Co-operative Associations are: Firstly, the heavy cost of floating them, then the greater cost of working them, and having such a small quantity of produce to deal with it cannot be done to the best advantage. Again, the management and control being local, is open to objection. The manager depends on the good graces of his own suppliers for the permanency of his billet, and is therefore compelled to endeavor to conciliate all. Very often the men who would have most to say in a manager’s retention or removal would be the ones who would need the most watching in their transactions with the Company, and unless the manager was a remarkably free lance the Company would suffer. By means of an association of factories these weak points would be avoided. The Association would have a nominal capital o of, say, £25,000. It would e mbrace a number of creameries wit’', centralbutter factories. Each dis ;‘:t that would join in the first irnffomce, or which would hereafter wish to affiliate with it, would have to take up shares requisite to provide plant for itself and also cover proportionate share of central factories. It would not be necessary to pay up the shares at once, as money is already offered from two financial institutions on the security of the uncalled capital and plant to put the whole concern in worl mg order. There would be a Central Board of Directors, consisting of two from each creamery or factory elected by the suppliers at each place. This Central Board would have the power of appointing or dismissing managers or other officers of the Association, and hearing and determining all complaints by suppliers against managers or other officers, and also all complaints against suppliers made by managers or others. Thus the more extensive the Association, the more satisfactory would this part of the business be. If any supplier became absent minded prior to milking time and omitted removing the cooling water from the milk cans, the manager would know, in putting a stopper on him, that he would have an independent tribunal to der 1 . with, and the honest supplier would then be satisfied that they were not suffering through being used to maintain an average. All the produce of the Association would be turned out under one brand, and provided the article were good it would soon-establish a name for itself and top price be got. By a number of creameries or factories being associated they could afford to get the most up-to-date appliauces, which would go a long way towards ensuring a first-class article. We are quite convinced that the establishment of the Association will infuse new life into the dairying industry, and induce dairymen to put their utmost energies into improving their herds and producing good results. At present every other one you meet is dissatisfied and making up his mind to hold a clearing sale. Clearing sales are usually remarkable for consumption of whisky and sensational prices, but when you consider the years of care and culling it has taken to get a herd together there is very little in them, and starting to build up another dairy is very uphill work.