THE WALKATO TIMES With which is Incorporated The Waikato Arpus. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 12, 1929. MUTUAL HELP.

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17840, 12 October 1929, Page 6

THE WALKATO TIMES With which is Incorporated The Waikato Arpus. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 12, 1929. MUTUAL HELP.

“Co-operation means mutual help and entails mutual sacrifice," said the retiring chairman of the Farmers’ Cooperative Auctioneering Company, making his final appeal at the company's annual meeting to-day for loyalty on the part of members. He was able to exhort his fellow-members with good grace, having given devoted service to the company during its most difficult years till it was restored to full vitality and growth. He was not one who could be taunted with disregarding the importance of good management. He was able to say, without fear of dissent, "The prospects before the company were never brighter than j they are to-day; we have a sounder | financial position and a greater capa- ! city for service than we have had in | our history.” And on this attainment I he was able to base his appeal: “It | lies with us by unity among ourselves j and loyalty to the company to make j that service as effective as we want !it to be.” He did not g)oss over the i difficulties of co-operative trading but I actually analysed them in a very help- | ful way. Unlike proprietary concerns j the co-operatives were expected to i grant rebates to members, be.sides j earning a profit. They suffered, along ! with other large concerns, from the i form of taxation —the graduated taxes lon both Incomes and land Those j taxes operate in ways that were never j intended by their sponsors. The high i company tax is collected from all j shareholders alike, even from those j who may have lost more than they | have gained in total income during the I year and who may be actually in- ! solvent. Even from such is exacted | the same tax as from a man with i £IO,OOO a year. If the taxation were | on an individual basis, it would not j only be fairer to Individuals but would ! place the companies on a better footj ing in relation to small personallyj owned concerns. Another undue imj post is the graduated land-tax. Parj liaments have favoured higher taxation 1 for the more valuable landed estates j as a means to Induce owners of large j rural areas to subdivide their estates ! among numbers of farmers; but the steep rate also hits companies which, conducting several branches in different towns, necessarily have land holdings of a high aggregate value. Thus they are again placed at a disadvantage in competing with smaller concerns. In ! face of all these difficulties and the ! unfavourable state of business in gen--1 oral, the Farmers' Co-operative has J had a remarkably successful year, but | the need for pulling together is as I great as ever. The difficulty, of course, is to induce each one to do his part. Those who refuse to pull with the rest in a boat's crew are quickly dej tected and quickly replaced by others.

1 But in a business co-operative no one | is able to see whether the others are : doing their share and so each one is ! discouraged from making sacrifices ! for the common good. Recognising j this difficulty, Mr Hawkins suggests j that compulsion should be used to | make members “iOO-per-cent. loyal.” j We fail to see how a member could I be compelled to sell Lis cattle through i the company if he could get a better | price elsewhere, or to buy his bran | from the company if It was not the ■ cheapest and best offering, or to buy | a dinner set there if his wife preI ferred the pattern offered in another ! shop. But the advantages of co- | operation are so obvious that success ! should be assured without compulsion. I It is true that some ventures have | failed because their promoters trusted j too much to the co-operative spirit and I failed to realise that business ability j was also indispensable. But the fact j remains that, given equally good I management, the co-operative returns ! to its members whatever profit would be taken by the proprietary trader—- | probably more, since it also keeps a j check on prices. How then is this ! good management to be obtained? | Much depends on the executive ofli- | cers, but the loyal support of members i is a great help; and it is equally true | -that good management helps to win ! loyalty. Remembering the wonderful progress of tiie co-operatives in J England, Scotland and Europe, we may I reasonably hope for still greater things ! for this company. Meantime we dcJ sire to offer heartiest congratulations | to those, including the retiring chah- ! man and vice-chairman, who have brought it to its present position.