CO-OPERATION.

An interesting article upon "Co-operation at Harvard" appeared in yesterday's Advertiser. The writer begins with a sketch of its organization last March and its subsequent growth and success. Its plan is fully explained. Chances for failure are fully discussed and admitted to be great. Of special interest to our readers, however, is his explanation of the practical workings and systems of checks of its order system :

"The rules of the society require the superintendent to file with the directors suitable bonds, and to deposit in the bank, in the name of the treasurer, all funds received by him. All bills are then required to be paid within three days by the treasurer's checks. By observing this method of immediate payments, and by remembering that no goods of any value are carried in stock, that none are sold or delivered without cash in hand, that all second-hand goods deposited for sale are at owners' risk, that all coal ordered is paid for in advance, and that the society depends - not on its commission, but on its membership fees - for its support, it will be made clear that no loss can accrue to any one from the society's failure, and that the only things which can cause its failure are embezzlement or the dwindling away of its members. While these figures serve to show the actual purchasing fund applied by the society, the following will illustrate more clearly the resulting gain :

The reduction from retail rates obtained on book averages 33 1/3 per cent.

On stationery and note books 33 per cent.

On tennis goods 20 per cent.

On stylographic pens 60 per cent.

On fuel 8 per cent.

On clothing - hats and shoes 10 per cent.

On room furnishings 10 per cent.

On cutlery, guns, etc. 10 per cent.

On confectionery and medicines 10 per cent.

On pictures and artists' materials 15 per cent.

On engravings and flowers 20 per cent.

On photographs 50 per cent.

On trunks, china, etc. 10 per cent.

On printing, book binding and framing 10 per cent.

The following description of its management thus far is of interest :

The management of the society is vested in a president, treasurer, secretary and a board of directors, of whom one is from the faculty, two from the Law School and one each from each class in college and the Divinity School. The board meets at regular intervals, audits the accounts of the treasurer and the superintendent, and provides measures for the development and maintenance of the society. An annual meeting of all the members is held on the third Tuesday of February, and the president, secretary and treasurer are then ballotted for, and all vacancies in the board of directors are filled by ballot. The superintendent is appointed by the directors for a fixed term and at a fixed salary, which for the coming year will be upwards of a thousand dollars. The total expenses of the society for the year are very small in comparison with the amount of business transacted. The leading items being the salary of the superintendent, rent of store, express bill, printer's bill and postage.

With a membership of 700 students, the society is assured of a cash income of $1,400; and if in the course of the year a business of $50,000 is done, which is not an immoderate estimate, the income from commissions, which average about two per cent. would reach $1,000, giving a total income of nearly $2,500, or more than enough to enable the society to be successful. The greatest danger to which the Harvard society is exposed is internal dissension. Students are too apt to follow blindly the lead of a few men. It was this tendency which came so near ruining Memorial Hall last spring, and it was the same influence that suddenly put the hall on a firm footing again. The fiscal year of the society ends on the third Wednesday of February, and on that day the annual dues of members are payable. A sudden prejudice against the society formed at that time might cause the membership to decline so seriously as to prevent the formation of new contracts by the directors, and so lead to a collapse. The very fact that no capital would be sunk by the society's failure, may some day lead to lukewarmness in its support which will prove its ruin. At present, however, its success is very noteworthy, and a continuance of it will doubtless lead to the establishment of other societies formed on the same simple and harmless basis in other university towns."

The warnings may well, we think, be heeded by the college. To any one wishing a complete exposition of the scheme of the society and its methods, with its advantages and disadvantages, we recommend the article in full. It is admirably stated and is in character, we believe, a semi-official statement.