Automatic Age

12
T
he
A
u t o m a t ic
A
ge
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
http://www.arcade-museum.com/