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2017 | Supplement | Buchkapitel

5. Bending Co-operation to the Western Australian Economic Problem

verfasst von : David J. Gilchrist

Erschienen in: Imperial Theory and Colonial Pragmatism

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The four British co-operative traditions considered in Chap. 2 combined with the international experience of settlement and land alienation discussed in Chap. 3 to indirectly shape the development of agricultural co-operation in Western Australia. The arguments and counter-arguments associated with co-operation were well known in the Antipodes by the 1890s. In fact, the concept of working in concert to earn an appropriate return for all resonated particularly in Western Australian agricultural circles and had done since early settlement. Farmers naturally heard variations of Owen’s message that individuals should strive to work together in conditions other than those seen in the Satanic mills (and, of course, many had migrated to escape such mills); of Ludlow’s message that it was a Christian’s duty to serve one’s fellow man; of Mill’s message that the labourer may evolve to a higher plane if only given the opportunity to break the master–servant relationship; and of Mitchell’s pragmatic message that consumers need not be exploited in the market if they join a consumer co-operative. Once again it is important to emphasise that individuals, even in a frontier environment, do not live in an intellectual and cultural vacuum in which ideas just appear.

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Fußnoten
1
For example, see The Inquirer and Commercial News 24th July 1889, The West Australian 14th March 1891 and the Western Mail 7th January 1893. For the growth in co-operation, see Eastern Districts Chronicle 5th of May 1897 and The West Australian 12th March 1898.
 
2
For example, see The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal 26th October 1833.
 
3
Also note that this rhetoric became more cynical as time passed, with the more commercial organisations that eventually evolved out of these efforts in the second half of the twentieth century making references to Owenite idealism simply to protect their commercial interests (Zekulich 1997; Ayris 1999). Finally, note that the increasingly commercial and pragmatic movements of the later nineteenth century, such as the CWS model championed by Mitchell, also clearly acted as a template for the pragmatic and commercially minded Western Australian promoters.
 
4
See the reports published in The West Australian 24th July 1889, Kalgoorlie Miner 15th July 1896, Eastern Districts Chronicle 5th May 1897, The West Australian 19th May 1897 and 2nd March 1898.
 
5
For references to Harper’s involvement in the institutions described in the narrative earlier, see The West Australian 7th September 1887, The Inquirer and Commercial News 2nd December 1891, The West Australian 20th January 1894, The Daily News 16th May 1894 and Eastern Districts Chronicle 14th October 1905.
 
6
For a full description of Galbraith’s contribution to economics in the context of Countervailing Power, see Gilchrist (2011).
 
7
For instance, see his speech in Parliament where he spoke on the topic of cheap meat for Perth residents (Hansard Vol. XXIII 1903, p. 237).
 
8
The extent to which this policy stance should be interpreted as a variation of what Butlin would later call colonial socialism is returned to in Chap. 4. The emphasis at this juncture is on Harper’s role in establishing a co-operative tradition in Western Australia.
 
9
Other interposed entities, however, were just as important. For instance, by 1895, the Agricultural Bank had been established to advance cheap loans to farmers (Parker 1957; Spillman 1989).
 
10
The Raiffeisen banking system was a community banking system developed in Germany. It was enabled via government legislation and initial capital was raised via a membership payment system. The profits earned from banking and the repayments from loans made were reinvested in the loan book or, if there was sufficient extra capital developed, money was provided for local community projects and infrastructure. Usually the local school teacher was made the manager. Harper’s support for this system is considered further in this chapter.
 
11
Notwithstanding Oliphant’s apparent considerable contribution to the co-operative movement, he has not been afforded an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, nor is his contribution recorded to any great extent in the co-operative literature relating to Western Australia.
 
Literatur
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Zurück zum Zitat Ayris, C. 1999. A Heritage Ingrained: A History of Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd, 1933–2000. Perth: Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd. Ayris, C. 1999. A Heritage Ingrained: A History of Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd, 1933–2000. Perth: Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd.
Zurück zum Zitat Bolton, G.C. 1990. Venn, Henry Whittall (1844–1908). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Bolton, G.C. 1990. Venn, Henry Whittall (1844–1908). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Brown, M. 1996. The Merchant Princes of Fremantle: The Rise and Fall of a Colonial Elite, 1870–1900. Crawley: University of Western Australia Press. Brown, M. 1996. The Merchant Princes of Fremantle: The Rise and Fall of a Colonial Elite, 1870–1900. Crawley: University of Western Australia Press.
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Zurück zum Zitat Galbraith, J.K. 1952. American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Galbraith, J.K. 1952. American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Zurück zum Zitat Gilchrist, D.J. 2011. Charles Harper Through a Galbraithian Lens: Agricultural Co-operation and Countervailing Power in Colonial Western Australia. History of Economics Review 54: 92–110.CrossRef Gilchrist, D.J. 2011. Charles Harper Through a Galbraithian Lens: Agricultural Co-operation and Countervailing Power in Colonial Western Australia. History of Economics Review 54: 92–110.CrossRef
Zurück zum Zitat Lewis, G. 2006. The Democracy Principle: Farmer Co-operatives in Twentieth Century Australia. Self Published, Wamboin. Lewis, G. 2006. The Democracy Principle: Farmer Co-operatives in Twentieth Century Australia. Self Published, Wamboin.
Zurück zum Zitat Mercer, F.R. 1958. The Life of Charles Harper of “Woodbridge” Guildford, Western Australia. Perth: Western Australian Farmers Co-operative Printing Works. Mercer, F.R. 1958. The Life of Charles Harper of “Woodbridge” Guildford, Western Australia. Perth: Western Australian Farmers Co-operative Printing Works.
Zurück zum Zitat ———. 1955. On Farmers’ Service: A Short History of Farmers’ Organisations in Western Australia. Perth: The Executive of the Farmers’ Union of W.A. Inc. ———. 1955. On Farmers’ Service: A Short History of Farmers’ Organisations in Western Australia. Perth: The Executive of the Farmers’ Union of W.A. Inc.
Zurück zum Zitat Sandford, J. 1955. Walter Harper and the Farmers. Perth: Westralian Farmers Co-operative Limited Printing Works. Sandford, J. 1955. Walter Harper and the Farmers. Perth: Westralian Farmers Co-operative Limited Printing Works.
Zurück zum Zitat Spillman, K. 1989. Horizons: A History of the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia. Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press. Spillman, K. 1989. Horizons: A History of the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia. Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press.
Zurück zum Zitat Thompson, P. 2014. Wesfarmers 100: The People’s Story, 1914–2014. Crawley: UWA Publishing Custom. Thompson, P. 2014. Wesfarmers 100: The People’s Story, 1914–2014. Crawley: UWA Publishing Custom.
Zurück zum Zitat Zekulich, M. 1997. The Grain Journey: The History of the Grain Pool of WA. Perth: The Grain Pool of Western Australia. Zekulich, M. 1997. The Grain Journey: The History of the Grain Pool of WA. Perth: The Grain Pool of Western Australia.
Metadaten
Titel
Bending Co-operation to the Western Australian Economic Problem
verfasst von
David J. Gilchrist
Copyright-Jahr
2017
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62325-2_5