Page Two
THE FISHERMAN
Friday, July  11, 1947
WHAT DIRECTION, CO-OPS?
By DOUG CLARK, UBC Extension Department
The fishermen's cooperatives of this coast have arrived at a point in their development where they might well pause and take stock of themselves. They have accomplished a great deal during the past fifteen years, particularly during the war period. Large and efficient plants ■ have been built, fine packers have been outfitted; the basis has been laid for an ever expanding credit union movement and the cooperatives have united to create a large federated sales organization. In a short period of time they have become a major force in the British' Columbia fishing industry, handling through their sales agency more than Ave
million dollars worth of product annually. In short, the fishermen's co-ops have achieved a good measure of economic success and have thus fulfilled their basic function. There should emerge from this economic foundation those less tangible indications of true cooperative endeavours, without which a cooperative is not complete.
A cooperative does not justify itself by the balance sheet alone. Indeed, if its membership comes to regard the balance sheet as the only yardstick of success the situation becomes dangerous, particularly in a business subject to the great fluctuations characteristic of the fishing industry. It is unfortunate that there are co-op members in considerable numbers who have this attitude. The attendance at a cooperative meeting generally falls off after the first day and a half. The balance sheet usually is presented within the first day and a half.
It is unfortunate that producers' co-ops are peculiarly vulnerable to this weakness. The reasons are not difficult to detect.
In the first place the membership of a producers' cooperative is limited, and naturally so, to producers. This is in sharp contrast to consumers' associations and credit unions, where the membership is open to all. Again, since the producer co-ops cannot control the market to the extent that they can lower the price to the consumer, they must sell for as high a price as they can command and depend upon the delivery of a high quality product as the means of catering to consumer interests. This is particularly true in industries where competition from private trade is severe.
In other words, the interests of the producer must, for some time yet, appear to be at odds with the interests of the great mass of consumers. All consumers meet at a common level in a desire to effect savings for all. A consumer group is not the exclusive association a producer group is forced to be. If, then, the interests of even cooperative producers seem to be at odds with the interests
Doug Clark
of the consumers, is there no way in which a producer co-op can express those ideals of self help which must ultimately guide such as-M sociations? H§ There are several ways. They can provide and util-i z e educational funds and place before their member-
B.C.
BOAT EQUIPMENT
Everything For Fish Boats "If you can't get it elsewhere, come and see us."
General marine overhauling and exchange service.
IVAN MAHOOD — Prop.
644 Powell St       HA. 5306
ship instruction in all aspects of cooperation.
The development of an informed membership is the task of all cooperatives. Furthermore they can show an interest in de» veloping other cooperatives by assisting smaller groups. It is gratifying to see that the fishermen's cooperatives are taking some steps in this direction. The Prince Rupert Fishermen's Co-op, for instance has always shown a desire to aid the farmers of central British Columbia to form co-ops and has sponsored a number of educational programs in the area.
Perhaps the best way in which a producer co-op can give expression to true cooperative ideals is to be found in just treatment of its employees. At this point the cooperative becomes an employer, each co-op member ' becomes in reality an employer of labor. The test of the sincerity of co-op producers is to be found in their attitude to fellow workers within their industry. It is more necessary now then ever before that the common interests of co-op fishermen and Uie fish workers they. employ be discovered by both the fishermen and the fish workers. All questions affecting them must be studied and discussed. If this is done it will become clear that the welfare of either group cannot be achieved at the expense of the other. With an eye to the future, some thinking should be done to consider possibilities of establishing a system of payment for cooperative employees which will give those employees a vital interest in the success of the cooperative and at the same time remove discussions of payment from the seasonal basis upon which they are now conducted.
It would not be right to complete this article without acknowledging the fact that the fishermen's co-ops have, over the past years, been in the forefront in granting fair conditions to th.eir employees. Nor should the fact be overlooked that the industry is now in a state of uncertainty and that this is bound to be reflected in the general attitude of .cooperators. This year the cooperatives have  taken this posi-
tion—that they will match any igreement the union arrives at with the private trade, but will not take the lead in negotiating wage rates. It does not take a wizard to see that in such a position there are many dangers.
It is likewise necessary to point out to fish workers the obligation they owe to themselves to study these questions and to support the cooperative movement in any way they can. They must support the credit union movement and the consumer co-op stores where-ever it is possible for them to do so. In this way they can live up to some of their responsibilities as workers who desire a fuller arid more secure life.
Fishermen!
FISH AND BUY COOPERATIVELY
Our Camps and Stores on the West Coast of Vancouver Island are ready to serve!
Kyuquot Trollers Co-operative Association
Head Office, 1140 Government Street, Victoria, B.C.
Camps With Stores: Camps Only:
Bamfield Kyuquot ' Refuge Cove, Ucluelet Tofino, Winter Harbor Klaskish, Queen's Cove
FISHERMEN!
Use Your Own Cooperative Facilities
Fish Handling Plant Fish Liver Oil Plant
Cold Storage and Ice Plant
Fish Camps With Stores: Fish Camps Only:
Nanalmo Quathiaski Cove Pender Harbour
Porlier Pass Egmont Anderson Bay
Active Pass Owen Bay Reeve Bay
United Fishermen's Cooperative Association
Phones: Office, HA. 53SS; Plant HA. 5022 Head Office: Vancouver, B.C. Night Calls, HA. 0691M
WOOL PANTS OILSKIN and RUBBER SUITS SCOTCHMEN'S BUOYS SLEEPING BAGS
•
F. JEUNE & BRO. LTD.
670 Johnson St.        —        —        —        Victoria, B.C.
'We are buyers of fresh and frozen salmon and halibut, car lots or less"
REFERENCE: CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE
SAGUENAY FISH and TRADING CO.
QUEBEC, P.Q. .
U.S. Cooperator Warbasse Wins Rebuke From Scot Co-op Heads
OTTAWA.—Dr. James Peter Warbasse's article, "British Cooperatives to be Destroyed," released several weeks ago by the news service of the Cooperative League of the USA, has again elicited sharp criticism from the British Isles. Recently Warbasse's claims, which boiled down to charges that the British co-op movement was surrendering itself lock, stock and barrel to the socialist government were refuted by Sir Arthur MacDonald, secretary of the Cooperative Wholesale Society, and (unofficially) by Miss G. W. Volley, general secretary of the International Wholesale Alliance. In a letter to the Cooperative
Union of Canada on behalf of his Board of Directors, Robert W. Leckie, secretary of the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society, states that the article "is full of inaccuracies, in fact there are so many that I do not propose to enumerate them. As an example, however, I would indicate that the phrase 'the Beveridge Plan of Socializing Industry" is a contradiction in terms as Beveridge is certainly not a Socialist."
According to Warbasse, the Scottish Co-op Wholesale had, "under socialist influence," followed the English. "Its board of directors," wrote Warbasse, "has promulgated the following plan for after-war reconstruction: state control and ownership of land and mines; of banks and insurance, and all public transport; political water; political development and control of housing; public control of production and distribution; nationalization of education and medical service; and government administration of hotels. It was further recommended that the government enter the fishing business."
To this Leckie retorts, "The paragraph which particularly refers to the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society Limited is misleading for, in the report from which Doctor Warbasse has received his information, it is stated definitely that Ithe S.C.W.S. believes that the production, wholesaling and distribution of all foodstuffs, dry goods, furnishings and hardware should be the function of the cooperative movement."
Leckie expressed surprise that Warbasse's article should have been published. "The motives which urged the writer to prepare this article can only be conjectured, but to read it on this side of the Atlantic is apt to
make one wonder if the article was prepared with a view to discrediting British cooperation."
In Scotland, said Leckie, there were many co-op societies which were over a hundred years old. "We have perhaps a higher degree of consumer cooperation, in our small country, than in any other country in the world. We are still expanding and in the Highlands and islands of our country we have a pioneering spirit similar to that of the earlier days of the movement when the development took place in the industrial areas. Perhaps then you can excuse us if we are amazed by the attempt of Doctor Warbasse to endeavor to teach us the meaning of cooperation."
Leckie said the approach to cooperation differed throughout the world 'and while we are all united in our belief in the cooperative way of living our methods of achieving that are bound to vary with the conditions and history of the countries in which we live. The International Co-op  Alliance rec-
FISHERMEN!
What does good water mean 'o you?    The recent government laboratory  test  indio**es that : the water from our arvedlan well i which supplies the Sointula oil ; station is entirely free from all | impurities.   Drop in at Sointula : and fill your tank with water that is REALLY PURE. And don't forget that your dollars go further when you make your purchases at a "Co-op."
Sointula Co-operative Store Association
SOINTULA, B.C. General Imperial Oil
Merchandise Agents
III......HIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIKIIIIIMIIIIIIIhlllllll.....I III III l( l|
Balmoral Hotel!
"The  Pithtrmtn't Home"
159 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C.
I'JfJfJfJRElMflf
ALBERNI
Shipyards
W. G. Osborne, Mgr. Boat Construction, - Repairs
Marine Ways up to 70 ft. Experienced Workmanship and Best Materials PORT  ALBERNI, B.C.
Make QUALITY
your success formula
ognizes these differences and while the American cooperatives may consider their movement a private business and the Scottish movement consider their business owned by the public, this in our opinion is merely a variation in terms and does not in any way detract from the value of both movements-"
Spanish Exiles Now In France Hit By War
OTTAWA—"The Spanish exiles in France are among the war's hardest hit," according to a survey by the Unitarian Service Committee, one of \he 27 member agencies of Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe.
"Some 2,049 Spanish refugees— men, women and children without a country since 1939 — have found a bleak haven in St. Etl-enne, France, where they have joined in their host country's critical battle for coal," the report says.
"Eighty per cent of the Spaniards are not miners by profession, but entered the mines for survival. They work more than a mile below the ground, in heat so intense that they toil in midwinter practically naked. They ■io this back-breaking work after years of starvation in concentration camps.
"They live, or rather crouch, in dark and cheerless rabbit-warrens in the slums of the city. The tenement huts are inadequately heated, if at all. They have damp earth floors. They are serviced by rickety and broken stairways that are little more than ladders, and the refugees never escape the pall of coal dust that permeates everything."
The Unitarian Service Committee brought aid to the Spanish refugees during the winter, as did a number of other groups who sent CARE food parcels to help keep them alive.
CARE provides four standard low-cost packages, and guarantees delivery of them to the beneficiary named. The CARE food parcel weighs 21.5 pounds net, and includes such basic foods as flour, shortening, sugar, coffee, chocolate and other items. The CARE blanket package contains two all-wool Army blankets, with
Referring to Doctor Warbasse's | sewing materials, and soles and comments on the alliance between | heels for repairing worn shoes. In the Cooperative Party and the La- I addition, there are two CARE bor Party, Leckie states: "Let me i textile. packages, say quite clearly that the Coopera- Each of the four CARE par-tive Party is entirely free of the eels costs just ten dollars, includ-Labor Party, though it does work ing guaranteed delivery in Eur-in collaboration with it and we j ope. Orders may be sent to (Ca-are proud that this is the case."   | nadian) CARE, Ottawa.
FISHERMEN!
When In Northern B.C. Waters—Use Your Co-op Facilities
Liver Oil Plant •   Fishermen's Credit Union
First Class Bakery •   Fish Cold Storage
Fish Camps With Stores And Oil Station Large General Fisning Supply Store In Prince Rupert Fishermen's Settlement Service •   Ic»> Plant
Branch Office Pacific Coast Mutual Marine Insurance Co.
Prince Rupert Fishermen's Co-op Ass'n
Phone: Store—760-764 Cold Storage Plant—Red 786
Offiee—763 Engine Room—Blue 786
Whether you are fisherman or merchant . . . whether you sell to consumer, retailer, wholesaler, packer or buyers abroad . . . your customers buy on a QUALITY basis. Therefore you must SELL on a quality basis. It pays to give your customers what they want—and they want quality! Careless hapdling . . . careless packing . . . are dangerous. And selling fish that you even suspect is slightly 'off colour' is deadly. It can ruin your reputation, and lose you customers for all time.
Don't take chances. Sell quality—always — and face the future with confidence.
DEPARTMENT  OF FISHERIES Ottawa - Canada
ffon. H. Fruncit G. Bridges, M.P., Minister
JOHN STANTON
BARRISTER, SOLICITOR NOTARY
503 Holden Bldg., 16 E. Hastings MArine 5746 Vancouver
FNDENT FISH CO. LTD
PRODUCERS'1 & DISTRIBUTORS
JIPSH' WATER;|ISH-ITORT^pi^SMOICED^ CURED flSrU
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FISHERMEN'S COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION
If So You Can Obtain
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By Insuring Your Boat In
PACIFIC COAST FISHERMEN'S MUTUAL MARINE INSURANCE
COMPANY
Phone PAcific 0185
ONE WEST CORDOVA STREET
Vancouver, B.C.
A TRADE MARK THAT SPELLS QUALITY
Lures and Tackle
Gibbs Lures and tackle have been consistent favorites with commercial fishermen for over 36 years. A Name To Remember In Fishing Tackle
Gibbs Tool & Stamping Works
VANCOUVER, B.C.
— Popular Models —
with local fishermen:
"ABBOWHEAD JUNIOR" 4 cyl-40 hp at 3000 rpm
"ABBOWHEAD" 4 cyl-45 hp at 2400 rpm
"MODEL-B" 4 cyl-44 hp at 1400 rpm "HIAWATHA SPECIAL" 6 cyl-90 hp at 3000 rpm
BOOKING NOW ! For  Spring Delivery
Adanac Ship Supply Co.
1 ALEXANDEB STBEET
VANCOUVER, B.C.