Basis of co-operation;

              ATLANTA
BALTIMORE HASKINS & SELLS PHILADELPHIA
PITTSBURGH
BOSTON CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS PORTLAND
BUFFALO PROVIDENCE
CHICAGO SAINT LOUIS
CINCINNATI SALT LAKE CITY
CLEVELAND BULLETIN SAN FRANCISCO
DALLAS SEATTLE
DENVER TULSA
DETROIT WATERTOWN
KANSAS CITY LOS ANGELES HAVANA
MINNEAPOLIS LONDON
NEWARK PARIS
NEW ORLEANS E X E C U T I V E OFFICES SHANGHAI
NEW YORK HASKINS & SELLS BUILDING
37 WEST 39TH ST., NEW YORK
VOL. VI NEW YORK, OCTOBER, 1923 No. 10
instinct of self-preservation was strong.
Selfishness, probably more than any other
one thing, is the cause of the friction which
arises in the course of human relationships.
The true basis of cooperation is unselfish­ness.
Devotion to a cause is postulated
on that characteristic. Complete coopera­tion
is possible in no other way. The
moment the parties to a scheme requiring
cooperation begin to "jockey for position,"
as it were, at that moment the doom of
success begins to take form. When self-interest
develops it obscures the vision
and begins to interfere with proper per­spective,
which is essential to the full
consideration of a joint-interest program.
Any scheme of cooperation calls for un­selfish
thoughts, words, and deeds. It re­quires
subordination of everything which
is not whole-heartedly in support of the
object of attainment. Self-sacrifice may
be necessary. If so, it must be suffered
for the good of the cause. No part may
assume proportions greater than the whole.
There is perhaps no type of undertaking
that requires as much in the way of co­operation
as a professional organization.
THE operation of the human mind is a
strange phenomenon. In an individ­ual,
the mind works one way to-day;
another way to-morrow. Two individuals
thinking about the same thing may arrive
at totally different conclusions. The mind
is influenced sometimes by facts; some­times
by false hypotheses which have all
the appearance of fact; again by repre­sentations
or arguments put forth with
good or bad motive by other individuals.
Actions of human beings are not always
true indices of the operation of the mind;
neither is the spoken word. The person
who says what he thinks, is one type. The
person who gives voice to something which
another person is pleased to hear, is an­other.
He who gives expression to the
things which will advance his own interest
is in a third class. And there is no casual
way of determining the relation between
words and actions on the one hand and
thoughts on the other.
The motive for words and actions which
are not the true expression of thought is
selfishness. This quality is a heritage from
common, primitive ancestors in whom the
The Basis of Co-operation