BACON CO.'S GUARANTEE.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 15319, 21 August 1923, Page 6

BACON CO.'S GUARANTEE.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —May I ask the hospitality of your -columns for a suggestion in connection with the Bacon Co.'s guarantee? It is easy to point out, on the one hand, that 'the N.Z. Dairy Co. is not a charitable institution, and on the other that the guarantors of a farmers' co-operative should not be left in the lurch to face ruin; but I have seen no practical suggestion for dealing with •the situation so as to satisfy both those who regard it from the one point or view and those who see it from the other. Not all dairy farmers are interested in the Bacon Company, and comparatively few of them benefited by the beef operations which caused its downfall; but probably all farmers—certainly all dairy farmers —are interested in the co-operative movement, and the whole community is concerned in upholding the principles of justice and equity. The latter would bo violated either by permitting the ruin of the Bacon Co.'s guarantors or by paying their debts at the expense of suppliers to dairy companies, and the co-operative movement would suffer a setback in either case. The remedy I suggest is to give co-opera-tion one big united shove along its appointed course by establishing without further delay a co-operative association of farmers' co-op.'s. This would be managed by a boai'd or committee appointed by the various cooperative limited companies affiliated with it, who would pay an annual subscription based on a uniform rate of so much in the £ on the amount of their outstanding guarantees or a minimum subscription in cases where, for the lime being, there were no outstanding guarantees, and in return would have their guarantees underwritten by the whole of the co-operative suppliers of. say, the North Island. The actual yearly contribution of any one supplier to their subscription would be imperceptible, particularly after the first few vears during which a reserve fund would have to be established to meet possible emergencies, and the machinery for collecting from individual suppliers is already in existence. The association should have power to turn down applications for affiliation in cases where the board did not consider the applicant sound, and new co-op. companies would have to submit themselves to the scrutiny of the board before being admitted and having their guarantees underwritten. The case of the Bacon Company could be met by making the relief of its guarantors one of the specific objects of the incorporation of the association. Their relief under such circumstances would not bo an act of ill-considered and inequitable charity, but the concrete expression of the faith of the farmers of the country in the co-operative movement. That movement is now hampered—some might say disgraced—by the present iniquitous system of finance, under which the few who have the vision to see possibilities of new enterprises, the faith to create them and the public spirit to give their lime and ability (usually free) to directing them on behalf of the many, are rewarded by being compelled to shoulder the whole burden of financial'risk as well. I should be very pleased to hear from the boards of any co-operative dairy companies who think the above a feasible suggestion. —1 am, etc., L. SHELFORD BIDWELL. Ngalca, August 20, 1923.