«*•
Palmer/ Alaska
Dorothy M. Beljl, Editor
Published every Friday at Palmer, Alaska, for the Jiat^nuska Valley
Farmers’ Cooperating;.;Association for the purpose of'giving news of ttfae
Associations Work, Problems, and Accomplishments
SUBSCRIPTION: BY MAIL ftl.75BOX $1.00SINGLE COPY 10fl
CLOQUET 'SETS THE FACE
Katherine May • (Concluded) December Progress Guide
That was in 1910, when most of the inhabitants of Cloquet were FinAish
immigrants working in the swwmills and eking out a miserable existence
with what was left to them after they paid the exorbitant prices charged
by local private stores. Many of them had become so'indebted to these
stores that they were losing their land and homes. There was little
happiness in Cloquet then.
But John Fartanen, and his friends Harmala, Niemi and Tuohino, were
not the men to accept eithfrwretchednoss or despair. America, to them,
in spite of their own pressing problems, was the'home of opportunity,
their promised land. Their way wasthe way of friendliness and coopera-•el
tion, not destructive competition and waste. This is the driving force
behind Ahti Tuohino, the Society’s general manager, and John Karmbla,.
member of the Boards of Central Co-op, Trico Oil Association and of the
Cloquet Society for about twenty-five years.
So,in 1910, led by these men, the first one hundred members of the
new society scraped together $2.0 apiece and started their* Co-op. Then
called the Cloquet Stock Mercantile, it started business in a modest
little store the members themselves had built. Actually it was little
more than a shaCk,-but it- was their own building, their oWn store, and
they swelled with pride and enthusiasm.
Too much nridc and enthusiasm, in fact- Thov had soent most of their
capital on the building and fixtures and found it necessary to borrow
money in order to fill their shelves with goods. By 1912 the Co-op had
accumulated accounts receivable of over $1000 more than their capital.
This was the first crisis they weathered by their determined effort
to work cooperatively. The members emptied the old cracked sugar pots
that held the family disaster funds, and together they pulled their
store out of debt. It was at this time that Mr. Niemi, as manager,built
their Co-op on the bedrock of business for cash only.
Nevertheless, -they again faced ruin. And this time it was real trag
edy. The roaring forest fire of 1918 swept through Cloquet,...leaving *»..L
little but charred foundations. Most of the Co-op’s property was de
stroyed—little evidence of their eight years of devoted work remained.
But by now they had learned the real power of cooperative effort.
There was no -doubt in their minds as to their strength* no hesitation
regarding their purpose. In less than a month after the fire they had
rebuilt and -reopened their store. Since then nothing has interferred
to retard their growth or hamper the multiplication of their achieve*
ments. • ,
Steady expansion in the kinds and amounts of goods and services
offered is a cardinal principle of the Cloquet Co-op. But with expansion
there has been no corresponding increase in the personal egotism of its
members or the personal profit of its Board of Directors. V/hilo the
'ages of the Co-op’s employees arc high, the president gets $1.^0 and
die Directors $1.00 per mooting attended. This amounts to a yearly sal
ary range of from $35. to $70 each for executives of tin Society,
Perhaps you arc v/cndering what kind of men arc these who willingly
diroct c. $1,270,000 r. year business for a bottom bracket income of j|35
c. year. They arc lien inspired by the hope of a bettor world, net solely .
by the desire to put a few extra dollars into their own pockets. Th<?y
£cli*vc that this better world will be born largely through the labors
of cooperative associations. To them cooperation is a.conservative move
ment which aims at destroying nothing that serves well. Quietly and with
out ostantation, Cooperation builds something which can succeed only if
it is better and more satisfactory than existing systems.
• This is the reason why cooperation has appealed to people of all • .r
classes, who wish well for humanity, and who ere.willing to put their
hands to a constructive task." Printed by permission of Progress Guide.