Church Cooperation in Community LifeVogt, Paul L. (Paul Leroy)
Religion
Church Cooperation in Community Life
Vogt, Paul L. (Paul Leroy)
Rural churches
In this country cooperation has been an agricultural rather than an
urban development, primarily because economic conditions have made it
more necessary in agriculture than elsewhere. Farmers' elevators,
live-stock shipping associations, insurance companies, fruit-and
produce-marketing organizations have all gained a sound footing and
each year shows an increase in their numbers. The movement has been
consistently fought by competitive profit-seeking interests but
without avail further than to delay the movement. In the early days
discrimination in furnishing cars, underbidding, misrepresentation,
adverse legislation all had to be overcome, in addition to the fact
that ignorance of business principles often led to failure. Even now,
within the past five years, agricultural colleges have been prevented
from adding advisers on cooperative organization to their extension
staffs, retail merchants' associations have prevented cooperative
organization legislation, and insidious attempts have been made to
prevent popular education with reference to the movement.
The cooperative movement offers the greatest opportunity for the
country minister for definite service in the farmers' economic
progress. The principle underlying the movement is "Each for all, and
all for each." Instead of the capitalist and laborer being in opposite
camps under the necessity for bargaining, and each doing as little as
possible and getting as much as possible for their respective shares
of the product of the industry, the cooperative movement brings them
into harmony for production of goods, in the belief that all are to
share fairly in what is produced. The storekeeper and the buyer no
longer haggle over the price because both will share in the returns of
the business done. The cooperative movement bids fair to solve many of
the problems of open and closed shop, collective bargaining, labor
organization, and of relations between producer and consumer. Its
steady growth is bringing about industrial peace and since it
represents the true spirit of Christianity the minister is justified
in encouraging its development wherever he may be.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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