The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-04-27 00:00:00

LORD RIPON ON CO-OPERATION.

The tenth annual congress of delegates of co-operative
societies commenced at Manchester on Monday in the Co-
operative Hail, Downing-street.
- - -

Lord .Ripon (who presided) delivered the inau2..mral
address, the first part of which teviewed the progreSs
and present position of co-operative associations. He
read the statistics of the movement as they were obtain-
able for 1875. Looking to the fact that these tivures were
three years old, there must be now over 500,000 per-
sons who were members of co-operative societies, with
a share capital of over i:5,000,000, and doing a busi-
ness which he imagined could not be estimated at
less than a receipt of i:20,000,000 a year for goods
sold. A quarter of a century had covered the
country with co-operative stores ; it might be des-
tin,-;d that the next quartqr shatill in like manner
greatly increase the number of productive associations,
and that could best be done by followin; in the same
course which had led to succzss in the case of the stores
—by cautious progress, by an adherence to principle.
The task appeared to be difficult. The small success
which had hitherto been made showed that it was so.

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The noble lord then went on to refer to the pro-
posal to apply co-operation to agriculture, an experi-
ment in which he expected much difficulty; but sup-
posinga to proceed on a sound basis it would deserve
success. He doubted the propriety of a method he
had seen suggested, that the land to be hired or pur-
chased should be divided into small holdings. Greatly
as he desired the existence of what his friend (vir.
Thornton), hi an interesting book, had called peasant
proprietors, it seemed very doubtful whether the
legislation commonly thought likely to promote that
result, and which on other grounds might merit
support, would really have the effect of bringing
small properties into the hands of a numerous
class. Concentration in agriculture and
.other

dustry was a system not Purely good, it had coun-
tervailing evils ; still, it was the tendency of the
times, and no just legislation—that was to say, no
permissive legislation—would overcome it. The ad-
vantages of small properties would not attach to small
holdings or occupations, and though there might be
some sort of co-operation between these small farmers
in the case that appeared to be in contemplation, yet
he believed a scheme of that kind would try the experi-
ment of agricultural co-operation on mostunfavourable
terms, and would afford the advantages neither of
small properties nor of cultivation on a large scale.
Among the questions then occupying the attention of
friends of co-operation was that of whether in all co-
operative institutions some share of the profits should
not be given to all who were employed, and he expressed
,mrprise that any doubt on the subject should exist.
e always supposed that the close and intimate union
of capital and labour and sharing of the profits of the
joint undertaking between them was the essence of
operations co-
and that bodies which did not follow this
rule were simply joint stock companies.
urnin, ta another point, there was an apparent
danger of over-centralization besetting this movement.
Centralization prevented that active variety and.