Cooperation cannot be developed downward from a central wholesale
organization with a corps of organizers, nor will it grow when built
upon mercenary motives. In this case organized labor in the state was
partly to blame for not heeding the warning of a few groups of
cooperators who were aware of the nature of the concern early in its
history. But the ultimate blame lies with the individual men and women
who joined the corporation without looking carefully into its
organization.

* * * * *

The Cooperative Society of America.

In 1920 The Cooperative Society of America was doing a flourishing
business in Chicago and vicinity. One of the leaders of the enterprise
went to Europe in 1921 and convinced most of the leading cooperators of
those countries that he was the greatest power in the cooperative
movement in the United States. By the summer of 1921, the agents of the
principal promoter of this scheme, Harrison Parker, were operating in
New York City, and scores of salesmen were covering the various boroughs
selling stock. Within two weeks all the agencies interested in
protecting cooperation were organized to fight this fraud. The matter
was placed in the hands of the Attorney General and a special deputy
appointed to prosecute. The leading newspapers ran an expose of its
operations. At this juncture, the Chicago headquarters suddenly went
into the hands of a receiver and the New York office closed its doors.

Late in the year federal action was instituted against Harrison Parker
in Chicago. The entire business of the so-called cooperative was
disclosed to the courts. It was found that 81,000 people had invested