The Co-opolitan: A Story of the Co-operative Commonwealth of Idaho

The year 1905 witnessed the inauguration of two important enterprises in Idaho, each of which has contributed immeasurably to the development of the Co-operative Commonwealth. Both were proposed, superintended and owned by the Co-opolitan Association. The first was the irrigation, cultivation and settlement of the Snake River Valley. This valley at that time was noted for its wonderful scenery, its broad expanse of uncultivated and unoccupied land, and the majestic river which swept swiftly through it. All public lands belonging to the United States had, the year before, been granted to the various states in which they were situated, each state being required to pay two cents an acre to the Federal government therefor. Some of the states proceeded to pay at once and receive the patent for the lands so granted, and to dispose of the same to settlers.

Among those which paid for their acquisitions promptly was Idaho. But the money to pay, amounting to one million three hundred and eighty-six thousand dollars, was advanced to Idaho by the Co-opolitan Association. This advance, let it be understood, was not a loan. The state government could not borrow money. But the Co-opolitan Association had become so powerful and exercised such entire and absolute control over the state government that when it advanced this amount it was well understood that it was able to reimburse itself at will. The state now acquired the public lands of the Federal government, but was powerless to improve them. What should be done?

The Great Council had met during the first half of the year, and its members were all Co-opolitans except eleven. It realized that it would be open to severe criticism outside of the state if it should grant the newly acquired lands to the Co-opolitan Association, whether for a consideration or gratuitously. It did not concern Idaho what the world beyond its territory thought, except that we were all anxious that mankind, for its own good, should not be misled as to the benefits of co-operation. Before that session of the Great Council was closed a petition, signed by more than twenty per cent of the voters of the state, was submitted to the Governor, on the recommendation of the Great Council itself, asking that the simple question of whether the public lands of the state should be granted in fee simple absolute to the Co-opolitan Association on condition that the Association improve the same, be submitted to popular vote at the October election. Under our law it was the duty of the Governor, if such petition was properly signed, to submit the question proposed as a matter of course, and it was done accordingly.

This was not the first time the people had by petition initiated legislation, but it was the most important question thus far submitted. There was no doubt as to the result, because the Co-opolitan Association embraced nearly all the people of the state except something like fifty thousand who were scattered along the boundaries of Montana and Wyoming, being principally placer miners and cattle men. Even among these there were many inclined to favor the grant. But the question was very fully discussed. The Daily Co-opolitan, under my charge, presented the arguments on all sides. Every company in the Industrial Army was required to attend at least three meetings before election day, at which the question was debated by the ablest debaters we could find, and on election day it is safe to say that the voters who were ignorant of the merits of this question were exceedingly few. The election resulted in a vote of two hundred and sixteen thousand five hundred and three for and seven thousand three hundred and twenty against the grant. The decision of the people thus registered was the law of the state and was sufficient in itself to pass the title in all this land to the Association, but the formality of issuing the patent was enacted when the Great Council met the following January.

Great were the preparations the day after election for the work of reclaiming the Snake River Valley. The Legislative Council was in constant session arranging the details of an industrial occupation of a new and broader domain. The Engineering department had long before procured complete surveys of all the public lands, and more especially of this valley. A final survey had been made for an extensive system of irrigation flumes, canals and ditches, together with reservoirs for the collection and storage of surface waters, as well as the waters diverted from the river. Four thousand men were dispatched, under the charge of the proper departments, to commence the work and make excavations along the survey at such points as they could work most conveniently, and when the freezing of the ground in the latter part of November made further work in that direction impracticable the army returned to Co-opolis and the companies composing it were sent to their several home cities and engaged in other employment.

When springtime came—the spring of 1906—the work upon the irrigating system of Snake River Valley was again resumed with an increased force. It was prosecuted with such vigor that when the snow began to fly again the whole system was completed and constituted the most extensive of the kind on the American continent. The result was that one million acres of land as fertile as any in the world, not excepting the valley of the Nile, were made available for use for agricultural purposes and all of this was the property of the Co-opolitan Association. The whole of this broad area was now turned over to the Agricultural department. The Transportation department was also instructed to extend the Co-opolis Southern Electric Railroad the entire length of the valley, and in two years from the time the first work was done on the irrigating system that marvelous region was changed from a wilderness into a productive and beautiful garden.

The history of the Snake River region since then has been one of the most startling illustrations of the power of co-operation and the quantity of literature devoted to the description of the valley, its people, its productivity, its cities, roads, system and methods in all the countries and languages of the civilized world show how deep an impression this magnificent product of co-operation has made. But the wealth which this valley added each year to the Co-opolitan Association enabled us to carry the industrial war forward with a celerity not anticipated. The Agricultural department now—1909—had under its control three million five hundred thousand acres of land devoted to agriculture, five hundred thousand acres devoted to fruit and at least eight million devoted to grazing.

The Co-opolitan Association was and is the most successful farmer in the world! No wonder! There stand between it and the consumer no middleman and no manufacturer. Its own labor manufactures most of its own farm tools and machinery. It feeds, clothes and shelters its own farm hands, and both produces and manufactures food and clothing. All represent to it the cost of labor only. The wheat produced cost the Association in 1909 only about five cents per bushel to produce. This estimate is based upon the cost of machinery imported from other states and paid for with metallic money. But even this was too high an estimate, because when a machine was once imported our mechanics kept it in constant repair, while other farmers using machinery are continually paying out money to keep it in serviceable condition.

We paid nothing but labor. Other farmers were compelled to sell their wheat at the lowest cash price paid by traders and speculators, who invariably received a large profit. We obtained that profit ourselves. Other farmers saw their wheat ground into flour and sold at a profit by the manufacturer to the wholesale dealer, who again sold at a profit to the retailer, and the retailer added a profit and sold to the farmer. We received all this profit. The only cost to us of a barrel of flour was the cost of such machinery as I have described and the cost of transportation. The Brotherhood stores at that time sold all our surplus on commission. At the time of writing this—1917—the cost of producing a barrel of flour at the great Shoshone flour mills is, of course, nothing, the farm machinery, mill machinery and all devices used in connection with such manufacture being manufactured by the Association.

The facts which I have thus briefly stated must make it apparent that we were, as early as 1909, and even before that time, in a position which was entirely unassailable by competitors who had not placed themselves on a similar foundation. Our system was in a condition to challenge the whole industrial world in a free and fair field. We could and did undersell every business house in all Idaho and the competitive system, unable to compete against us, had fled from the state. Its case was hopeless. It had no footing, and never could have. It recognized capital as master and labor as its humble servant. Our system reversed the order and recognized labor as master and capital as its creature and its obedient servant. For this reason labor came to us and capital without labor was powerless. Already this condition in Idaho was affecting all adjoining states. The Co-operative system was, after ten years of honest trial, so strong, and so wondrously beautiful in its strength, that, overleaping the bounds of the co-operative state, it was infecting Oregon and Washington, and colonies framed upon the model of the Co-opolitan Association were pouring into those states. But of that I have something to say in a subsequent chapter.