Harmony Industrial Association - Saskatchewan Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

As the boards read:

Harmony Industrial Association

Principles:

From 1885 until 1900, the Harmony Industrial Association pioneered co-operative production at this site. A store, carpenter shop, butcher shop, dairy and several residences comprised the heart of the colony which was modelled on the principles of England's Rochdale Co-operative and named after an Old Testament city of refuge. To the founders of Saskatchewan's first co-operative, Hamona offered not only refuge from the uncertain farm economy of the 1890's but the freedom to produce and market goods in spite of it.

Beulah, Manitoba, a settlement about 45 miles southeast of here was the birthplace of the Hamona Co-operative. There, two Ontario-born brothers, Edwin and William Paynter, discussing solutions to the depression with other dissatisfied people, generated enough interest in co-operatives to form the Harmony Industrial Association in June of 1895. Seeking a location for the colony, William Paynter chose this area of the Qu'Appelle Valley with its wooded slopes, limestone and gravel deposits, streams capable of producing electrical power and the government survey promising a nearby railroad line.

Men and women familiar with co-operatives were invited to join by purchasing a $200 share. Because their hard work would lay the foundation of the colony, free homesteads were to be granted to the first subscribers. People of such diverse professions as millwright, farmer, editor, and candy maker were attracted and formed the group of ten families and several bachelors that moved from Beulah to Hamona in 1897. The following year legislation, influenced by Edward Paynter, allowed members to transfer their homestead obligations from their farms to the village and thus enabled them to devote all their energies to building the colony and the long awaited industries.

Industries

With visions of a large, flourishing , independent community, the Hamona colonists proposed a division of the co-operative's various activities into the Department of Finance, Public Works, Education and Recreation, Agriculture, Manufacture, Distribution, Sanitation and Cuisine. William Paynter, in charge of Finance kept the Association's own scrip issued in denominations of one and five dollars. Maintaining that "a man's endowments fix the measure of his duty" towards the Commonwealth, the association paid all jobs equally. Profits from various industries were shared in proportion to the number of days each member worked.

William Paynter also managed the Hamona store which carried a variety of settlers' effects as well as the community's own saleable items. When a member bought goods from the store, he submitted his scrip to have the total punched out, until, on successive purchases, the value was used up. Barter was encouraged within the community and in an effort to make outside contacts, Hamona once shipped a carload of flour to the Ruskin Co-operative in BC, receiving lumber and fresh salmon in return. With the lumber the colonists erected a bunkhouse for the single men and the curious observers who often spent a week or two working in the colony.

In addition to the blacksmith and carpenter shops, the Harmony Industrial Association also constructed a butcher shop with an ice-house nearby to guarantee fresh meat and dairy products during the summer months. "Hamona Butter" made from surplus milk was marketed through McNaughton's store in Moosomin.

One of the colony's most important sources of revenue was the lime industry, cheaply run because of the availability of both limestone to burn and wood to fire the kilns. The burned lime, used washing and plastering, was either bartered locally or sold to the Thomas Grayson lumberyard in Moosomin at 27 1/2c a bushel.

Programs

Like other co-operatives of its day, the Harmony Industrial Association was concerned with the welfare of its community and planned to provide such benefits as rent-free housing, free firewood and, 50 years ahead of its time, a type of family allowance called "children's scrip". According to Article V, Section 16 of the Prospectus, "Each child shall receive a graduated sum per year until 18 years of age, the amount to be determined by the board of directors."

Although scarce funds and a small membership prohibited many of these plans, the colonists did undertake several projects to help ease hardship of pioneer life. The community dining hall was short-lived but the laundry, equipped with a huge 1898 model washing machine, proved a boon to the women of the settlement.

The value of a complete education was stressed by the membership in the ruling that their children should attend school until 18 years of age. Prior to the construction of the Hamona Public School, Whit Husten taught the children in the kitchen of the Burdett farm home. The new school, a concrete structure, served as the centre of Hamona's social life where lively dances on Saturdays nights gave way to even livelier debates on Sunday afternoons. Other activities enjoyed by the colonists were sleigh rides, tobogganing, skating, picnics and card parties.

By 1900, however, it became apparent that the colony would not fulfill its original expectations. Differences regarding policy, lack of sufficient increase in membership and the failure to obtain a rail line through the community influenced the decision to divide the assets and dissolve the Harmony Industrial Association.

The valuable experiences gained from the Hamona colony was not lost. Its members remained staunch co-operators and many of them establish the large successful co-operatives that exist today in the province of Saskatchewan.

Marker type: Print on Boards Marker placement date: Not listed

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