Palmer,Alaska
Editor limn.Dorothy M. Bell
Advertlslng..Harri et Z. Bell
Published once a week at Palmer
ating r.ssociatlon for the purpose
blems and accomplishments.
SUBSCRIPTION RATE $1.75
Alaska, for the Matanuska Valley Farmers' Cooper
of giving news'of thet Association's^ work, pro
$1.00 for six months
10^ a copy
GROWTH Of : COOPEPRTIVtS 111 , PH ILI,PPI 11LS
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Again we turn to'the Philippine Islands for Information;cn the growth of the Cooper
ative movement In ether parts cf £he world. ..Ttye.,enthusiasm with which the Co-oper
atives are accepted In other lands is indeed ar) Inspiration. Following Is a •
Report by 0y NC.. ..dninlstMthr de 'cKstf o’ tcVtfner ILO's 1st-Aslan Regional Conference
at Ceylon on the Philippine Co-op Wovenent.
n • the many problems that c .nfr .nt the Philippines today, those cf our rur' 1 pop**
ulvtl .n n urb- n w risers’- th, ;..or^• f • r-reachlng : n' ur ont. Thv. Government, fully
c nvlnced ;f the benefits that the cooperative system of business can give to primary
producers and factory workers, has sponsored the cooperative novenent since 1915.
The history of the cooperative novenent all over the world reveals that cooperatives
were organized voluntarily by groups of private persons. Especially In *ngT..nd, In
Europe and In North America, this trend, more or less, Is the pattern. As found in
this hundred years' history of the c.operative novenent, especially In advanced
countries in Europe, cooperative laws, labor laws and .ther social feggislations are
initiate' and pushed through by the agitation of the masses. On the other hand, In
the Philippines, similar to Latin American countries, almost all soclo-econ ,mlc leg
ls latlcns has been ennete*' with ut the necessity of pressure from organized groups
but : re adopted out cf a desire to put the Philippines In tunc- with the historic
movement which Is considered the highest ec nomlc achievement cf modern civilization.
As can be seen, enabling acts'on cooperatives are merely starting points, stepping
stones for the people to rise up.
It Is the ala cf the government tc draw the nesses of our people, ccnnon farmers,
labors and factory workers, towards the cooperative novenent as an Integral part of
an overall agrarian and social refc-ra to elevate the deplorable condition of the
underprivileged and to remove once and for all the causes of social unrest. We foil
that we cannot abandon to private Initiative the development of this scclc-ec nonlc
movement that gives great pr nlse for the salvatl n cf Air pc pic from tholr present
-economic plight. No. private group cf pars ns whether civic, rell *1 ous or patriotic,
has the necessary fund, time and personnel to promote this movement. It Is because
of these reasons that cur government has sponsored the promotion and organization of
C' operatives In the Philippines.
In 1915, due to drought and the spree. of rinderpest that killed countless work ani
mals, production of rice and corn, the-staple f~od of the Filipinos, was :rcatly re
duced. .as a measure to solve the problem, the government, by a special law, appro
priated one million pesos to be leaned out to farmers tc buy work animals and to be
utilized to meet the- expenses for the production of rice and corn. Cut cf this fund
loans tc farmers were to be granted through the agricultural credit cooperative assoe.
claticns ns provided for In Acts passed by the government, with a membership cf al
most lOOnOOO farmers were organized, and through these ;r ganlzati ns the farmers were
able tr get leans frem this 1 million pes-.s appropriation.
In the middle of 1930, our then President Llanuel L. Quezon, in his travels in Europe
was -'eeply Impressed by the possibllltes rf the Cooperative movement and requested
that r;..mecno from the United States be sent to advise the government on the promotion
cf Cooperatives. Dr. Frederic C. Howe, authority on c- operatives and the author of
the valuable book entitled "Denmark, the Cooperative Way," came tc the Philippines
late In 1937 to conduct extensive stu ics.
President Manuel L. Quezon planned to organize cooperatives in all parts of the Phil
ippines among farmers, The plans of President Quezon were rudely Interrupted by the
Second World War.
Up< n the re-establlshnent of the Commonwealth Government In 1945, the loose threads
of the pre-war plan were slowly gathered and new effort exerted by the government
along the sane line. Before the National Cooperatives Administration was recreated
on January 6,1946, there were 747 cooperative associations. The total number an
June 30,1949 the total number was If367. Continued on pp. 3