Palmer, Alaska
Dorothy RUUell
Harriet Z.Bell
JjU ± • • • • •
Advertising
Published once a week at Palmer, Alaska, for the I atanuska Vglley Farm
ers’ Cooperating Association for the purpose of giving news of the
Association’s work, problems,and accomplishments.
SUBSCRIPTION RATS yl.75
yl.00 for six months
10# a conv
nOTHinG UJROUG ujith co-ops THAT mORE
COOPERATIpn JjlllTT CURE., ' .
Jerry Voorhis, Executive Secretary of the Co-Operative League, says that
"There is nothing Wrong with Co-operatives that LORE cooperation won’t
chrc." Mr. Voorhis goes on to say that Co-ops from the outside and co
ops from the inside are two, different things. Outside they look either
white, if you car& about people,'or black if you care primarily about
y.ours.elf. From the inside cooperatives and their works, are varying •
shades—from just off-white to 'a fairly dark gray. The job, he'says,
is to make them as nearly white as possible.
Lr. Voorhis in his work has had a good chance to, look at co-ops from the
inside. He says that he has seen thousands of people owning and con
. trolling. their own businesses, making .American democracy work in econ
. omics as well or better than it works in politics.
(In other Co-ops Ur. Voorhis says that he has been members who care more
about proving thomsulves right in an argument over policy than they did
about the success of their enterprise. He points out that——‘"'Argument is
not a substitute for cooperation, and cooperation means each person doin
his part, rather‘than trying to do the other follows job. The Manager’s
job is to manage; the director’s job is to lay down general policy and
to hire and if necessary fire, the manager; the members’ job is to build
patronage, to increase membership, to develop and carry on -an educations:
program, to elect and sometimes not re-elect the Board of Directors."
.another typo of Co-op member described by Mr. Voorhis is the self-satis
fied membir of a highly successful co-op who curls up in a hard shell
of smug self-satisfaction' and shows no interest ".'hr t soever in the co
operative movement as a whole.
But-Mr. Voorhis does not classify the foregoing as the moot serious
faults of cooperatives. lost serious of all Mr. Voorhis says arc
"personal jealousies, dislikes, and prejudices sufficiently strong
among som6 cooperators to render them almost incapable of real Coopera
tive action."
HE [FiO OF fill OTHER CHAPTER
C. R. RASMUSSEN
On Tuesday March 21, another chapter in the Look of the Matanuska Valley
Co-op was finished. For several years a little group of members of thr*
Co-op.- who have blur, dissatisfied with the or 3 if.iz; tion over natters of
policy ahdrperoonalitics, had their memberships terminated at their own
request* About fifteen percent of the members of the Association have
been active in this group, but some have changed their minds and evident:
ly decided to remain in the ^ssociotion so thnt actually about ten per—
cent have decided to make the break.
lost of those withdrawing are :nrties in the 1945 and 1946 lawsuits
v/hich are still before the courts and are expected to be tried some
tome in the noar future. Two members were tormina tod who followed the
terms of the By-Laws and thus .no penalties were assessed against them.
>-cvon others had.been restrained by an injunction in the Third District
curt for violation of the Marketing Contract. These members wore fined
ten percent of the proceeds from the. sale of their milk to a dairy com
pany in ^nchorage. All together fines, . Attorney’s fees and court
costs amounting to nearly three thousand dollars wore paid to the Co-op
v °f, th° said violations of contracts. A mutual agreement was signed by
bot_i parties agreeing to settle all' claims, real or fancied, up to the
timo of the release with the exception of the two law suits now being
processed in the courts. So from how on there should be no dispute of
importance except the enumerated lawsuits.
Cont. on pp; 3 _ _ _