John McCullough on the Ultimate Goal of the Credit Union Movement (1960s)

From "Credit Union Philosophy: Some Implications" by John McCullough, who was the president of the Pennsylvania Credit Union League from 1966-1968. Published some time in the 1960s, found excerpted on page 353 in But For Service: A History of the Credit Union Movement in Pennsylvania by Mark H. Dorfman.

The ultimate goal of the credit union movement is that each man should be master of his economic situation rather than its servant. It is where economics and democracy come together that the credit union can exist; it is to keep these two together that the credit union does exist.

The democratic nature of the movement must be preserved. It can and should be implemented in such a way that it will achieve economic efficiency. The movement as a whole can and should offer to credit unions and their members all the services they need, including the unique informational service of the credit union and all the collateral services which are usually offered by other financial institutions.

Our task then is to keep our organized movement both democratic and efficient."