lublishe'J oncp a v'eek In lalmer, Alaska, for the lAat
anuska Valley Farmers’ Co-operating Association, for
the purpose of flvln~ news of the Associations v'ork,
problems ancl accomplishments.
OUR CO-OPERATIVE UflDER UJORTimE COnOITIOOS
With the announcement that price controls wtll'b'e established with
in a week or ten , arid the close tab bein^ placed on many of our
yourio men by the Selective Service, it behooves .us to believe that
bur nation 1f.re°lly in a floht'nc* war. This is no lonerer a local
ized police action, as that wouldn't require full mobilization of
military an-1 industrial forces. True, it hasn't affected us verv
much yet , but it can't be lon^ unt 11 it will. \ lot of those luxury
items' that we have taken for granted v/ill be mis s1ny, and when we ^et
our tax bills it will be even more serious.
This is no time for fear and trembling, but it should be met with
serious, thought and action. We can't kid ourselves throuoh a bi^ war.
We have to f*ce it. Despite the fact that, some of %ur citizens think
we shouldn't be in this war, we are in it, and whatever the majority
of o,ur lawmakers and administrators decide to do, we are bound to sup
port them. For, in International affairs, no individual can stand a
lcne. V’e must all work together, and, if in the meantime we feel
that our public offici°ls are wron^, we should,elect others .as soon
as the occasion arises. ;
How will the war affect Co-operative members .as individuals? Well,
just about the s*me as it dres anyone else. There will be shortages
of supplies, machinery and equipment. kt the same time, farmers us
ually c ""me rut pretty well in wartime, as food i3 one of the most im
portant items. The old saying that, "armies travel on their stomachs"
is still pretty true. Workers v.’h- supply arms and equipment must be
better fed in wartime than in peacetime. .The morale of both military
and civilians must be kept at top level, and food and clothing has a
lot to do wbth the matter of keeping them happy.
The averse farmer usually comes through a war with mope money than
he can save in peacetime, because he can't vu^ as mam- things that he
usually wo>uld, and because he can ^et m^re frr his products.durin?
wartime. In same respects, war is a v,onderful thin" if ."'ne doesn't
think ab^ut the dead and wounded, and.the ruined -countries. When the
present war in K'-rea is aver, there will be thousands 'of homeless peo
ple, ruined factories and transportation lines. ‘When you balance the
mood against, the bad it mi^ht be very difficult to see where anyone
rained anythin^ by the war.
Frice controls will not affect the Cooperative's operations adver
sely, because we will knov.< just what we have to pay-for merchandise
and how much we can sell it f~r. The spread will be ab'-'Ut the same,
and the chisle'r will be the only one wh" will not. like c’ontrrls. For
tunately our Co-operative has lar^e contracts with the U.S. Army, and
we already have a mood priority '•■n scarce materials. As lone; as we
produce food for- the army we should be able to. yet most of the thinys
that we really need. This was true in the last war, anyway.
One of the worst things that could happen to us would he to lose
some of our best trained employees to the draft. Whether any consid
eration. will be riven .to a request for the exemption of these employ
ees from service' has not been determined. Our organization has so
many ex-service men of draft aye, that it would be very bad for us if
they should be called.to active service now. We don't have time to
train new employees, and the y-reat increase in the number of employ
ees that will be needed in the cominy year will be a hard problem t~
meet.
There is no present need for y-reat anxiety, nor is there arvr ex
cuse for o.pt,prMsm either. We will just have to work the thino ''ut in
the best manner that we can, and take the bad with the yood. Always
h^piny that we have a just -cause-and that our efforts will be success