VALLEY SETTLER
Publisher’ every Friday at Palmer,.
Alaska, by the Matanuska Valley
Farmers Cooperating Association,
for the purpose of giving news of
Association's work, problems, ac
complishments , and news of local
and general interest.
iiyr.r-miC..R-.Rasmussen
Subscription rates: Yearly.
Local $1.00
By Mail 1.75
Single copy .10
DUTIES OF THE MEMBERS
Some of our Ccopcrative members
seem to think that they have no re
sponsibility in their Cooperative,
except that of critics -~f the man
agement. It never seems to occur
to them that any uniust criticism
given in a spirit of revenge for
the purpose of retaliation because
the Board of Directors disagreed
with then on some point f policy,
may rebound on the whole membership
an^ cause unnecessary damage to all
the members, even to the critics
themselves. Surprising as it may
be there are plenty of grown people
who have never acquired afult minds
and on m-st occasions they will fly
into a rage and do and say things
that a child would ordinarily say
or do when peeked f- r some reason.
To give an example we miuht mention
the Cooperative member who said
that, ”he would rather see the
Hospital burned down than to see it
transfered to the Seventh Day Ad
ventists”. Yifhile we do not take
the statement too seriously, we do
mention it to illustrate the types
of minds that the Board has to ccn
tend with.
Then, wo have the type who are
’Pulling chestnuts' out of the fire
for someone else wh. desire the
power tc dictate to the Board for
the purpose of getting financial
favors for themselves and who wish
tc buil^ up political rings to pro
mote their interests. The "chest
nut puller" expects to receive some
favor when the act is accomplished
and even though it is a small jo*
of some kind it makes them feel im
portant and that they are a part of
the successful "machine". It does
n't matter what position it would
leave the Cooperative in when the
foolish member gets through, for
they can see only about a foot a
head of their faces.
Now, in order to protect the Coop
erative from the machinations of
such members, certain by-laws are
provided to restrain and suppress
the acts of these malcontents end,
looking at the matter in e. broad
way be would say that it is necess
ary for the Board to protect the
f oOisb members from their wn sets
by using remedies prescribed oy the
rules of the i.ss ■'elation. In. so
doing, they are preserving the
assets of the organization s :> that
it can nn^ will continue t funct
ion successfully.
Constructive criticism sh>uld be
enc uraged at all times, tut when
deliberate falsehoods are mr ’e that
cannot be proven, and the :> • icon
tents make charges and then, when
called upon to prove them, rot-nit
that these are not true, hut im
mediately make ether char^ s of a
similar nature that cannot be sub
stantiated either, then we think
that it is time to 'V- something a
bout it. So far in the history of
this Cooperative Board, th.re has
been great leniency in ret- rd to
things of this kin,J, The attitude
of the Board has been tc try and
seciire the good will cf ev; ryme
that it has been thought pc rsible
to get along with, however, the
recent rumpus reached a climax that
makes it imperative that the Beard
and the individual members decide
whether they want t, see to. Coop
erative safeguarded frea f e on
slaughts of the ab :vc menti ned
members.
The Editor believes that each cne
of us has at least a Thousand Dol
lars interest in the Cooperative
‘now, one1 that it is the m . t secure
investment that we Formers have in
the Matanuska Valley, Am1, while
we cannot cash in our intern at new,
we will still have this an more
too, when a future reckoning is
made in accordance with our Article
cf Incorporation. Must of us feel
that we have an equity in iir farms
but that is even m re intangible
than our interests in the 0 pera- >
tive, and unless certain changes
are made in the land policy, we may
not have anything at all within our
lifetime. However, cur C perntive
is a g^ing instituti >n and is being
conducted at a profit and there is
no reason tc think that it will
fail if we use a reasonable rm unt
of common sense in it's m'nrgement
and prefect it from it’s enemies
from without and from within.
Therefore, we believe that the
Board of Directors are acting for
the best interests of all concern
ed, when they demand proof f the
charges made by certain members who
have never submitted proof 1 sub
stantiate the charges that were
made, and that caused considerable
(continued on page 6)