VALLEY SETTLER
Published* every Friday at Primer,
Alaska, by the Matanuska Valley
Farmer's Cooperating £ssocirtion
for the purpose of givin& news of
the Association's work, problems,
accomplishments and news of local
and eeneral interest.
BY-:>-“C. R. Rasmussen. _
Yer rly.
$1.00
$ 1.75
. 10
COOPERATIVES...KINDS . YD TYPES
Cooperatives the World over are
very much alike. The same basic,
principles have been applied in
every land with -much the same re
sults. China, India, Japan, Russia
Germany, France, Sweden and Rutland
as well as the U. S. and most other
countries have established Cooper
atives, that have been v^ry success
ful. The most common type of Coop
eratives are those run on the Roch
dale plan. This system was worked
out by a collection of factory
workers at Rochdale, England over a
hundred years a&o, and so well was
the plan organized, no basic change
has been made since that time in
most Cooperative organizations.
Fundamently the rules for control
under this plan ere:
1st. Only one vote for each mem
ber, regardless of shares purchased
or financial contribution. (A few
Cooperativos icllow voting according
to number oi shares held, but gen
erally this plan has not been suc
cessful) . The one vote regardless
of shares held, has proven success
ful because it provides democratic
control of the Management, by the
Election of a Board of Directors,
responsible to the votin._ members.
2nd. The management is vested
in the Directors, who employ a Man
ager to direct the policy, the
Boatfd has supervisory power, but
the actual management is done by
the Manager, who receives compen
sation for his services, while the
Subscription rates:
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Directors, as such, work gratis.
3rd. The business of the Coop
erative is conducted the same as
any other of a similar nature. The
commodities, services or products
sold are Ooverned by the customary
prices in that community. This
means that business is not disturb
ed to any great extent and economic
stability is assured.
4th. The cooperative member re
ceives a remuneration in the form
of dividends in cash at the end of
certain set periods, or certificat
es of Equity in the business, pay
able when agreed upon by the Board
in compliance with Articles of
Incorporation. The interest of the
member is determined by profits
made as the result of a successful
business campaign, or the addition
of capital assets, by repaying
loans, adding to physical equipment
nnd various other means.
So it will be readily understood
that any Cooperative must be a
financial success or everything
will Oo by the Borr^. Keep this
in mint® when thinking about your
Cooperative. V,'recked Cooperatives
are falling by the wayside every
year, mainly for this reason.
One ba.Qic principle that all stu
dents of Cooperatives aferee upon,
ris that the control of the organ
ization must be held by the members
any outside control or interference
will eventually destroy any Coop
erative regardless of eood inten
tions on the part of those who
would interfere or try to control
it’s policies, a majority of the
Board of Lirectors of our Cooper
ative has stood for this principle
consistently and sometime we will
tell about the struggle that en
sued. One thing now a fact is that
your Cooperative has no such re
strictions. In the Totalitarian
Countries, the Oovernments have
seized and assumed control of the
Cooperatives; when this happens
GOOL-BYE COOPERATIVE, for the in
terests of the individual members
no longer count and the people
lose interest and gradually drift
away.