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Some of the broad definitions 'of CO-OPERATION are illustrated
and applied to the automatic trade.
SIG N IF IC A N T M E A N IN G OF T H E WORD
CO -O PERATION
B y A . E. G EBERT, President, Vending Machine Manufacturers’
Association, and Manager, Advance Machine Co., Chicago
Websters Dictionary defines the
meaning o f this word as “ the associa
tion, or collective action, o f persons
fo r their common benefit, especially in
an industry.
Our civilzation is based on CO-OP
E RATIO N . One fo r all, and all for
each, is the keynote. W e can visual
ize primitive man playing a lone
hand, until compelled by circum
stances to unite with his fellow man
fo r the purpose o f mutual protection
and advancement. The fam ily units
merged into clans and tribes. The
village, city and nation was the out
growth o f this co-operative principle
and today with the league o f nations
spreading its doctrines, the world bids
fair to become one great co-operative
body.
The manufacturer or operator who
fails to get a vision o f the benefits o f
CO-OPERATION has little chance to
succeed.
One o f our national maxims is,
“ united we stand; divided we fall.”
During a crisis in early American
history a great patriot said to his fe l
low conspirators, “ we must hang to
gether or we will hang separately.”
Organization means co-operation as
well as protection and the more sta
ble the better the results.
Part of- Napoleon’s strategy con
sisted o f driving a wedge in the ranks
o f his opponent, thus dividing the
army o f the latter, which he pro
ceeded to defeat by holding back one
portion while demolishing the other.
Assuming that organization does
© International Arcade Museum
bring CO-OPERATION , we should
realize that the Association must not
be one in name only, but must func
tion in order to give it life. The pur
poses o f the Association may be beau
tifully expressed in print, but it
means nothing unless put into action.
Without CO-OPERATION , civili
zation would fall. There is no single
individual who could by himself lift
the race into higher things, or who
could produce any commodity involv
ing complicated conditions.
Imagine a lone manufacturer o f
vending machines digging the iron
ore, converting it into steel, trans
porting it, making the machinery fo r
producing the product, gathering and
form ing the materials to make the
packing boxes and last but not least
attempting to find a market by the
slow process o f individual and per
sonal contact, instead o f advertising
in a medium that would reach hun
dreds of prospective buyers with each
issue.
Such a proposition is unthinkable
and helps to make us realize how de
pendent we are on others— yes. even
upon the water boy who refreshes the
miner who digs the ore.
The story is told o f a little girl who
was lost in a wheat field. A score
o f searchers scattered out in different
directions,
without
accomplishing
their purpose.
A fter a conference
they organized, form ing a line by
grasping hands and spreading out;
then in this formation they covered
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