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THE GRADY COUNTY PROGRESS, CAIRO. GEORGIA.
Co-Operative Farm
Products Marketing
How It Is Done in Europe and May Be Done
in America to the Profit of Both
Farmer and Consumer
By MATHEW S. DUDGEON
(Copyright. 1911. Western Newspaper Union.)
THE "GOMBEEN MAN.”
1—Where the Gombeen Man Flourishes Among the Flocks.
2—Paddy Gallagher Tells the American Visitors How the Gombeen Man
Charged Him 144. Per Cent. Interest.
Dunglow, County Donegal, Ireland.—
This Is the old haunt—the habitat—
ot the “gombeen plan.” He Is our
American city “loan shark" trans
planted with all his blood-sucking
propensities and hlB starvation In
ducing qualities Into rural Ireland.
Here conditions are right for his activ
ities. Where the need for money is
greatest he prospers best. The poorer
the country, the richer he grows. And
poor enough this country certainly is.
Wide, low-lying peat bogs stretch be
tween great slopes of rising hillsides
where the soil shows only between
masses of outcropping rocks. No
fields are tjiere here large enough to
offer opportunity for work with horses
even if plowing and cultivating were
not made impossible by the huge half-
buried rocks. Every enclosure de
mands fertilizers as a condition prece
dent to production. Nature is stingy
and hesitates to let go of any product
of value to humans. Yet here and
there is a cottage upon a barren hill
side; around it we see children that
are not starving nor insufficiently
clothed.
“Gombeen Man" Passing.
Here was the haunt of the gombeen
man. But as relative prosperity comeB
in ho goes out. They tell us that co
operation has numbered the days of
the gombeen man and that he is pass
ing. As he formerly operated his
business here he was the worst enemy
to rural prosperity to be found upon
• the Island. “The gombeen nlan is
worse than the non-resident landlord."
says . Paddy Gallagher of Dunglow,
which is an extreme statement when
made by one whose father and family
have suffered cruelly from many evic
tions.
Seldom was the gombeen man ad
mittedly in tfie loan business. Fre
quently he was a trader or shop keep
er. Generally he kept a public house.
Often he was a dominating Influence
politically, and held some office. In
variably he was an.economic scourge
and made rural prosperity impossible.
We have spokeh of him In the past
tense, not because he has altogether
ceased to exist but because co-opera
tion Beems to be developing a plan
for rural credit which will eventually
■put him out of business.
Patrick Gallagher’s Story.
Patrick Gallagher, now the man-
- ager of the local co-operative society,
probably knows as much about the
trials, of the poor farmer in Ireland as
any one. He was born In a little one-
room farm cottage and was at nine
years of age forced to leave home and
hire himself out as a farm laborer re
ceiving the wage of three pounds for
six months’ work. •' From these begin
nings he has risen to be a rural finan
cier in County Donegal and has raised
the condition of the poor farmers from
abject poverty to comparative comfort
thrJugh hlB co-operative enterprises.
Here is what Paddy Gallagher says of
the gombeen men, speaking from his
personal experiences and verifying
much that he sayB from documents
and account books:
"Here is one transaction of my own
with the gombeen man. On the 28th
of May, 1906, my father and I bought
seven stone ot flour and one hundred
weight of Indian meal, ehch. My
father paid for his $4.26. I was not in
a position to pay for mine until the
11th of July, 1906, forty-four days
later. The gombeen man then pre
sented me with a bill for $6.31. I dis
puted his right to charge me $1.06' in
terest on $4.26 for only forty-four days
and pointed out to him that my father
bought the same goods on the same
date for $4.25. The gombeen man ar
gued that my father paid $4.50 and
that he was only charging me eighty-
one cents extra, or 144 per cent in
terest per annum. During the twenty
years my father was bringing up his
family, he paid interest at this rate.
“Here is a writ that was issued
against a poor farmer. The amount
is $37.75, and here Is the pass book
which proves that $18.25 of that Is in
terest. You will also note that the
gombeen man charges this customer
$3.37 for seven stone of flour; on the
same date the co-operative society's
price was $2.25.”
‘So the gombeen man was robbing
everybody as he tried to rob Paddy
Gallagher and his friends.
An Old Man’s Story.
The 'ptory that we get in Dun
glow tallies with the account which
Sir Horace Plunkett and his col
leagues in Dublin gave us-of the situa
tion. But as scientific investigators
we are anxious to get as much mate
rial from original sources as possible.
So on Sunday afternoon “it is us" for
a jaunting car and a ride into the
country in search of fundamental
facts. We hear of a patriarchal citi
zen five miles out who they say is as
honest as the day is long. We find
Donald O'Boyle (otherwise Shane
O'ge) In, a habitation which from out
ward appearances hardly merits the
name of cottage. But when wrirm
hearted Irish hospitality invites us
inside we find a neat, clean, com
fortable place, that is Indeed home to
the family which has been for genera
tions the tenants of a line of non-
evicting landlords. Shane O'ge, with
his son, his daughter-in-law, and some
shy, blue-eyed little grandchildren,
welcomes us warmly. The mother iB
feeding the children mashed potatoes
and milk from a bowl (about all many
Irish children get to eat). To them
this is much more interesting than a
discussion of the gombeen man.
Yes, he and his father knew well
the gombeen man. “We'd buy of the
trader but we’d not know the price at
all,” he said. "It would do us no
good. We’d have to pay in the end
what he’d ask us anyway when he
had the money. It was hard to get it
round here—we mostly had to go over
and work In the Scottish harvests to
get any at all. When we had the
money we would ask what we owed
and the trader would tell us what it
was. We never knew what the items
were. We never darecj to ask. He
would say, ‘How dare you dispute my
books?' And it’s more than one poor
man I’ve seen kicked out for asking
a civil question. But everybody says
they charged the highest price the
stuff had been from the time it was
bought until we paid for It and I gueBS
that’s the truth, and of course the
added Interest, though I don’t know
how much. And so of course, we' paid
what they .asked—and enough it was—
though we never knew much about it.
They let us get meal or anything else
on credit without money for they
knew it meant more to them in a high
price besides interest. Things are dif
ferent now; they’re‘a lot better.”
Co-operative Credit Conquering.
Things are different in Ireland now.
The farmers themselves are driving
out the gombeen man. Co-operative
credit associations have changed ail
thiB. As that eminent Irishman, Sir
Horace Plunkett, says in his book on
Ireland in the New Century: “The
exact purpose of th&e organizations
1b to create credit as a means of intro
ducing capital into the agricultural in
dustry. They perform the apparent
miracle ot giving solvency to a com
munity composed almost entirely of
Insolvent Individuals."
Paddy Gallagher In telling us how
the association operates here at Dun
glow, says: “A credit society in Dun
glow was organized and established in
October, 1903, by the. Irish Agricul
tural Organization society and had
been rogularly audited* and inspected
by that body over, since. Although
we had at Brat only. £220 of working
capital', we have now a'.reserve of
£26, 16s. The members are equally
responsible for the success or failure,
of the society. Each mptt has otto
vote’, no matter how muchi or how
little his Investment in the concern Is.
They take such keen * interest in it
that during, its nine years workltigN
there has not been an over due loan at
the end ot the* year. The society is
undoubtedly ot great assistance to the
people In the district. Wo want the
time to come when every man can
walk up the street in Dunglow and
Bay he owes nothing.”
Capitalizing Character.
These co-operative banks have, as
It were, capitalized character. Tho
early organizers of co-operative credit
associations held, and experience has
confirmed tho opinion, that In the
poorest communities there is a per
fectly safe basis of security in the
honesty and industry of its members.
This security is not valuable in the
ordinary commercial sense. The or
dinary banker has no intimnte knowl
edge of the character of those who
apply for a loan. Neither haB he any
way of testing whether or not those
who borrow “for productive purposes"
actually aryjly the loan to such pur
poses. Tho borrower mUBt bring two
sureties, who like tho borrower him
self, must bo men of approved char
acter and capacity. The character ot
these three men is the sole basis of
credit.
The rules provide—and this is the
characteristic feature of the 6ystem—
that a loan shall be made for a "pro
ductive purpose” only. That is, the
borrowed money must be used for a
purpose which, in the judgment of
tho committee, will enable the bor
rower to repay the loan out of tho
results of the use made of the money.
The farmer buys a sow to raise pigs;
ke must have fertilizers; ho needs
some high-grade seeds; he want3 to
build better shelter for his cow—all
these are productive purposes. In one
case money to Send the borrower’s
boy to school for eight months so as
to Increase his earning capacity was
considered a productive purpose justi
fying a loan, as it proved to be when
the boy himself repaid the loan. The
rules of the co-operative society pro
vide for the expulsion of a member
who doeB not apply the money to the
agreed purpose. It is said, however,
to the credit of the Irish members of
these societies, that there has never
been the necessity of putting this rule
in force in a single instance anywhere
throughout the entire island. Social
and moral influences seem to be quite
sufficient to secure obedience to the
rules arid regulations of the society.
Co-operative predit Is Good.
There are other advantages. The
regular bank is generally miles away.
It'costs money for tile borrower to go
amd take his sureties, paying par fare,
meals and maybe drinks, while the co
operative association Is right at hand.
The bank will" loan for only 90-days,
while the co-operative society will
make it up to, a year. And a 90-day
loan gives the fa'rmer no chance to
realize on Beed or fertilizer or stock
bought with the money borrowed. But
here in the local credit bank if a man
is honest he can get the loan he needs.
He must bring two sureties, but co
operation breeds and develops neigh
borly helpfulness and they say no
honest man, ever fails because he can
get no sureties.
Neither the association nor Its mem
bers have any considerable capital,
When they organize they begin by bor<
rowing a sum of money on the joint
and several liability of the members.
Deposits are received from both mem
bers and non-members. The society
usually borrows at four or five per
cent, and lends at five or six per cent.
In some capes government funds have
been loaned to them at three per cent.,
thus enabling them to make / a very
low loan to their members. The ex
pense of administration is almost noth
ing.
Lesson for Rural America.
It is such societies as thesp that are
putting the gombeen men out of busi
ness in Ireland. We have in rural
America gombeen men. They are not
so called, but American loan sharks
and credit men are first cousins to the
Irish gombeen men. .
The question tve Americans are try
ing to answer is this: Have Irish rural
credit methods a lesson for the rural
sections in our own land? Can our
loan shark, whether in city or country,
be fought and conquered by similar
American co-operative societies?
JThere are hundreds of poor farmers
who must ask credit either of mer
chants and dealers or must secure
loans from some source. Most of them
get credit of the local merchant. It Is,
of course, well recognized that any
dealer who extends credit not only
charges interest but charges a higher
price than when he gets cash payment.
Why cannot the American farmer
get a' loan at a nearby banking insti
tution for six months or ten months or
a year Instead of for'90 days? Why
cannot he capitalize his character as
does the Irishman? In some states
there are Tinder existing laws plenty
of small joint stock banks throughout
tho smaller towns and villages which
are accessible. The directors and of
ficers know the farmer’s needs. They
aro so 'intimately acquainted with
those who might become borrowers
that they could do as the Irish credit
banks do and arrange for capitalizing
character. But they don’t do it.
Rcmelouin
WHERE GERMAN CITIES EXCEL
Count von Bornatorff Toll* of the Pub
lic Spirit Which Has Brought ■
Them Advantages.
Count von Bernstorlff Gorman am
bassador to tho United Staten, recent
ly Spoke before the Women’s Civic
league ot Baltimore on “Government
of Gormnn Cities." ^
The usual form of government in a
German city, he said, was a council,
.which elected an obor burgomelstcr
and two assistant burgomeleters, or
city managers. The position of the
first was practically a life position if
he wore satisfactory, although he was
re-elected at long internals.
Speaking of tho old city of Frank
fort, County BoriiBtorft described how
It had grown. Streets, he said, aro not
laid out by private enterprise, but by
the action of tho city council. The
council also regulates buildings in the
various sections of the town and for
bids that there shall be more than a
certain proportion of tho land built
upon, so that there may be sufficient
open spaces.
Within the last ten years, ho de
clared, Frankfort had expended more
than $50,000,000 in the purchase of
land in the city and outside of it, so
that at present the city owns 16,650
acres, 3,S00 of which are outside of the
city limits. Owning this land, the
city regulates Its growth as seems
best, builds model homeB for workmen,
constructs parks and playgrounds, and
builds schools, colleges, museums and
the like.
"The workmen's insurance laws,"
said the speaker, '‘have had a great in
fluence on the German cities In getting
a strong impetus-whlch led to the cre
ation of many useful municipal institu
tions.”
Leipzig, he,said, was devoting come
of the land held by the city for build
ing suitable homes for the poor, and
the insurance companies were making
loans for building workingmen's cot
tages.
SIGNPOSTS ADORN THE ROAD
Real Works of Art Are THose to Be
Found Along the Principal High
ways In Silesia.
American Bign painters and adver
tisers using outdoor publicity may find
a lesson in the artistic signs along the
public highways of Silesia. In one,
a peasant, pipe in his mouth, leaning
on his scythe, gives direction and dis-
Carved Signposts on Silesian Highway.
tance to the next town; in the other,
a schoolboy, pointing, shows the way
to the famous hot springs of Warm-
brunn. Little objection could be
urged against such signposts even by
the most insistent advocates of bill
board abolition.—Popular Mechanics.
Street Trees in Minneapolis.
An official report on street trees in
Minneapolis shows the following rec
ords: Street trees replaced, 333; num
ber planted fall of 1912 and spring of
1913, 2,104; general pruning done on
4.370 trees; permits issued for pruning,
627; for tree planting, 339. Surely this
is a record to be proud of and presents
a strong contrast to the record of Los
Angeles during the same period, where
absolutely nothing was done. It is
also pathetic to contemplate the fact
that this inaction is still to be “the or
der of the day,"
Almost Invisible Microbes.
The smallest things are the microbes
that are found in the earth, the air,
water and our bodies. So tiny are
Borne rod-like microbes that it would
take 10,000,000, placed end to end, to
reach a yard, while 100,000,000 would
only cover a nickel, and it would take
640,000,000,000,000 to make a solid
cubic inch. Microbes .If nourished will
multiply more than a millionfold. an
hour. A'slnglo grain of earth will-con-
tain from 1,000 to 300,000 microbes.
Without them we would have neither
health nor disease.
Plan $5,000,000 Park.
Plane for tho transformation at an
enormous cost of 14,000-acre Palos
Verdes ranch, overlooking Los Angeles
harbor nnd the Catalina chunnol L iiito
one of the most magnificent residential
parks in the nation for American mil
lionaires, are being made. Frank A.
Vanderllp of the National City bank
of New York and his associates recent
ly purchased the tract for $1,750,000
for this purpose. The plans as they
now stand promise to involve an ex
penditure of $5,000,000.
A Doctor’s First
Question Is.
?
"How are Your BowelsT” A Sim
ple Remedy that Guarantees
Good Bowel Action.
Trace tho .o’rigin Of tho commonor
111b of life and almost invariably you
will find that constipation was tho
causo., It is not t.6 bo expected that a
mnsB of fermented food can remain in
the system beyond its time without vi
tiating tho blood and affecting tho
nerves and muscles. It congests the
entire body.
- The resultB are colds, fevers, piles,
headache^, and norvousnesB, with Its
accompanying indigestion and sleep
lessness. There is only one thing to
do, and that is to remove tho trouble;
and when, nature seems unable to do
it, outside aid is necessary. You will
find tho j>est of all outBide aids a rem
edy that many thousands are now us
ing for this very purposo,' called Dr.
Caldwell'B Syrup Pepsin. Many hun
dreds of letters aro received by Dr.
Caldwell telling of the good results
obtained, and among the enthusiastic
letters is one from Lieut. G. W.
Vaughan, of 623 W. North St., Decatur,
111. He is 72 and has had a bad liver
and Btomach since lie came out of tho
army. Ho says he tried abopt every
thing, but never succeeded 'In getting
permanent relief until he took Dr.
Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin. He is never
without a bottle in the house, and ho
is never without good health.
It has untold advantages over pills,
salts and the various coarse cathartics
Common Form of Insanity.
A party ot Ciovolander3 entertained
some holiday visitors and having
showed them everything interesting In
Cleveland proper they had to toko
them to Newburg for a view of the
asylum. The superintendent' was in
a genlul frume of mind and he con
ducted the bunch personally.
“Here is a queer case, ladles," he
said, pausing at a partlculaf cell.
“This man has the delusion that he
possesses tho motive power that runs
the universe. He is perfectly harm
less, but he actually believes that
without him tho world would not
move. Strango notion, isn’t it?"
“Why, not at all!” exclaimed one of
the women. "My husband has tho
same idea and he always has had it.
Is he crazy, too?”
saLts if backachy or
KIDNEYS TROUBLE YOU
Eat Less Meat If Your Kidneys Aren’t
Acting Right or If Back Hurts or
Bladder Bothers You.'
When you wake up with backache
and dull misery In the kidney region
it generally means you have been eat
ing _too much meat, says a well-known
authority. Meat forms uric acid which
overworks the kidneys in their effort
to filter it from the blood and they be
come sort of paralyzed and loggy.
When your kidneys get sluggish and
clog you must Relieve them, like you
relieve your bowels; removing all tho
body’s urinous waste, else you have
backache, sick headache, dizzy spells;
your stomach sours, tongue Is coated,
and when the weather is bad you have
rheumatic twinges. The urine is
cloudy, full of sediment, channels oft
en get sore, water scalds and you aro
obliged to seek relief two or three
times during the night.
Either consult a good, reliable physi
cian at once or get from your pharma
cist about four ounces of Jad Salts;
take a tablespoonful in a glass of
w'ater before breakfast fo.r a few days
and your kidneys -will then act fine.
This famous salts is made from the
acid of grapes and lemon juice, com
bined with lithla, and has been used
for generations to clean and stimulate
sluggish kidneys, also to neutralize
acids in the urine so it no longer irri
tates, thus ending bladder' weakness.
Jad Salts is a life saver for regular
meat eaters.- It is-lnexponslve, cannot
Injure and makes a delightful, effer
vescent lithla-watey drink.—Adv.
Had the Proof.
Stonemmason (in box describing as-'
sault)—He walks Into my yard and
rams me up agen one o’ me own
stones.
'Counsel—Did he hurt you?
Stonemason—Hurt me! Why, I’ve
gbt "sacred to the memory of” stamp
ed all down me back.—Tatler.
LIEUT. G. W. VAUGHAN
and purgatives, for while these do but
temporary good, Syrup Pepsin cures
permanently. ■ The effect of its action
Is to train the Btomach and bowel
muscles to do their work naturally
again, and In a short time all forms of
medicine can be dispensed with. It
can bo bought without Inconvenience
at any nearby drug store for fifty
cents and one dollar a bottle, the latter
size being regularly bought by those
who already know Its valuo. Results
are always guaranteed or money will
be refunded.
Families wishing to try a free sam
ple bottle can obtain it postpaid by ad
dressing Dr. W. B. Caldwell, 203 Wash
ington St., Monticello, 111. A postal
card with your name apd address on
it will do.
Blame Located.
A crabbed old misogyrilst Said, to
Ethel Barrymore at a dinner in Bar
Harbor:
"Woman! Feminism! Suffrage!
Bah! Why; there isn’t a woman alivf*
who wouldn't rather be beautiful than
intelligent.”
“That’s, becauso," Bald Miss Barry-.
more, calmly, "so many irien' are stu
pid while so few aro blind."
TAKES OFF DANDRUFF
HAIR STOPS FALLING
Girls! Try This! Makes Hair Thick,
Glossy, Fluffy, Beautiful—No
More Itching 8calp.
Within ten minutes after an appli
cation of Danderlne you cannot find a
Single trace of dandruff or falling hair
and your scalp will not Itch, but what
will please you most will be after a
few weeks' ubb, when you see new
hair, flnq and downy at first—yes—but
really new hair—growing all over the
scalp.
A little Danderlne immediately dou-,
bles the beauty of your hair. No dif
ference how dull, faded, brittle and
scraggy, just moisten a cloth with
Danderlne and carefully, draw it
through your hair, talcing one small
strand at a time. The effect is amaz
ing—your hair will be-light, fluffy and
wavy, and have an appearance of
abundance; an Incomparable luster,
softness and luxuriance.
Get a 25 cent bottle.of Knowlton's
Danderlne from any store, and prove
that your hair is as pretty and soft
as any—that it has been neglected or
injured by careless treatment—that’s
all—you surely can have beautiful hair
and lots of it If you will just try a lit
tle Danderino. Adv.
Deadly Work of Scorpion.
Some scorpion bites cause little
more than burning pain and numbness
In tho part affected for a few days.
But the more poisonous varieties cause
death, and that especially,, when
they sting young children or de
bilitated old people. The lower class
es of people in Mexico suffer more than
the well-to-do, because of their custom
of going about half naked most Qf the
time. , '
Putnam Fadeless Dyes will last un-
cil the goods wear out. Adv.
Fragile.
Little Elsie after being lectured)—
Mamma, the commandments break
awful easy, don’t they?
Actors imitate mankind; amateurs
imitate actors.
RUB-MY-TISM
Will cure your Rheumatism and all
kinds of aches and pains—Neuralgia,
Cramps, Colic, Sprains, Bruises, Cuts,
Old Sores, Burns, etc. Antlseptio
Anodyne. Price 25c.—Adv.
Stinging. '
“Er—ah, beg your pardon, miss, but
haven’t you lost something?” began
tho would-be flirt.
“No, I haven’t. But there goes a
lady with a dog chain. It's probably
her you're looking for."
Astonishing Tobacco Remedy — Guarahteea
to instantly removo tuste for cigarettes or tobacco
In any form, or money-ohoerfally rofunded. Bend
35c and recolve nondorfal remedy by return mail.
Address lMik K, Tobacco Cleans* Co„ Hlciiltn, Kansas.—idv.
The only exercise some people get
is throwing bouquets at themselves.
c
That Weak Back
accompanied by pain hero or there—oxtromo nervousness—
Bleoplessness—may be faint spells--orspasms—allure signals of
distress lor a woman. She may bo growing from girlhood into
Womanhood—passing from womanhood to mothorhood—or lator
suffering from that change Into middle life which leaves somany
wrecks of women. At any or all of these periods of a woman’s life
she should take a tonic and nervine prescribed for just such eases
by a physician of vast experience in the diseases of women.
RR. PIERCE’S
Favprtte Prescription
has successfully treated more cases in past forty years than any other known remedy. 15
can now be had in sugar-coated, tablet form as well as in the liquid. Sold by medicino
dealers or trial box by mail on receipt of 50 cents in stamps.
h!:ns Elizabeth Lordahl of Berkeley. Cal, in a recent letter to' Dr. Fierce said: “I woe completely*
broken down in health, lwaa ach ins nnd had pains a! 1 ovormy body and was to norvoun that I could scream
If anyono talked to mo, but I had the good fortuno to meet a nurse who had been cured by Dr. Pierce’a
Prescription. 2 hnvo never had an occasion to consult a physician Bineo—am in excellent health.*"