Palmer, Alaska ■$ \ Dorothy M. Dell, Editor
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Published every Friday at Palmer, Alaska, for the Mntanuska Valley >
Farmers ' Cooperating Association far the purpose of giving nev<s of tire
Associations work, problemsand accomplishments. S
SUBSCRIPTION BY MAIL #1.75- , BOX #1.00 SINGLE COPY 10i
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C Or OPERATIVES
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For many years the state organization of the Farmers,Unioh has been
wc king incessantly trying to build understanding ^of the co-operative
me omen t, teaching the members the general princt ,pLes-' of brganizijmg
a ' operating co-operative business enterprises of various types.■■ *"■. V
In general, and specifically, it has been pointed out repeatedly
that only by marketing their products and purchasing their supplies co
operatively, thereby furnishing themselves these services on a wholesale
pr actual cost basis, cculd the farmers expect to remain in the business
nf farming in competition with monopoly business and corporation firms.
Through the years the Farmers Union has had to break down the usual
opposition to change of methods of transacting business among our own
people, and in addition, meet and overcome the opposition'of the well
organized and well financed special privilege groups who have made it
their business through the years to exploit the. farmers.
The 1; aders in the co-operative movement, by uncea.sing effort, were
able to stablish and protect the co-operative business enterprises by
state i nd federal laws. These-laws define carefully what a co-operative
may do, how It may operate, and what its status will be in the matter
of taxation.
to r :pent, ail oi these points are wen established in law and the
regulations of the Internal Revenue Department, but—nfiLong comes the
N.T.FI.A. with a program to disrupt and destroy the life work of a great
number f people, to destroy the one mechanism the farmer has which
enables him to remain on his farm, a self respecting, self supporting
citizen in his community*
The question comes to us daily from the membership, "What do we d
about it?' It seems to me the answer is very simple. Inform yourself
complet ly as to what your co-operative movement is, what it is doing,
and what it hopes to do in the future* Then terll your neighbors and be
sure that he understands this 'womerrbnt and what it means to him* Te 1
; ur small town business and professional men that the co-operative
m; /ement means as much to them ns it does to you. See that ople are
elected to the state legislature and congress who believe in counting
in the common people, in building a Democracy.
Taken fr'm the.State President's Column-Farmers Union
News of Montana.
"LET GEORGE DO IT*'
In almost every community in every state there has to be someone who
will trice the responsibility to see that the community carries cm meet
ings. Unless that somone does "take hold," and sees that meetings are
held, committees functiqning, harmony kept,, the community soon becomes
one of those "dead communities."
Ther : has to be someone who will “take the lead,” or "go ahead,H in
every organization if that organization is to function. The peculiar
part at ut it all is that when there is such a person, and there must b*
then there are all too many other who ore willing to let that individ
ual do nil the work. The next peculiar point is that, after that person
has worked hard to keep the community alive and active, there are all
too many who will say, "Seems like he is trying to run it all."
This excerpt was taken from the"Mnntana Farmers Union News". It givi
an an6lc of human nature with which we are all familiar. Isn't it all
too true? But, c-s the writer says in ending,—"If you live In that ty
•of a c. •nmunity, and you have been'"letting George do the work", why m l
get in and pitch for awhile yourself. George might get tired."