117. COÖPERATION IN PRODUCTION.--The three forms of coöperation which
we have been considering seek to eliminate unnecessary middlemen from
industry. In producers' coöperation, on the other hand, the attempt is
made to get rid of the entrepreneur, or managing employer. A group of
workmen get together, subscribe or borrow the required capital,
purchase tools, materials, and plant, and set up as producers. They
seek markets for their product, direct the enterprise either as a
group or through salaried agents, share the profits among themselves,
and accept the risks of the enterprise.

Coöperation in production has been tried repeatedly in the various
countries of Europe, but without success. True producers' coöperative
associations have also met with almost universal failure in the United
States, though experiments have been made in a variety of industries,
and in nearly every part of the country. Formerly the Minneapolis
Coöpers were a coöperative group which seemed destined to attain a
considerable success in production, but this group has now abandoned
the coöperative principle. The coöperative marketing of fruit, cheese,
and other agricultural products is, of course, not true producers'
coöperation, but rather the coöperative marketing of commodities
produced by individual enterprisers.

118. BACKWARDNESS OF COÖPERATION IN THE UNITED STATES.--In all forms
of coöperation, progress has been much slower in this country than in
Europe. There are several reasons for this. For one thing, American
workmen move about to a greater extent than do European workmen,
whereas coöperation succeeds best where the coöperators have a fixed
residence and develop a strong sense of group solidarity. The fact
that our population is made up of diverse racial types likewise checks