East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1865-05-03

0 against.
4 These things being provided 70
{ the consumers como in and claim I'll
{ remainder as bonus on consumption
D In their capital, we may presum,
: they are all equal: they have, as car
| italsts, each given equal help to th
: enterprise, but as consumers they car
, not do this. One family enjoys
larger income than another, or on
, family is greatly larger than anothe
, in the number of its members, and
as a natural consequence, its consum
} ing power is greater. A. has a wifi
and two children, B. has wife an,
} six. BIS consuming power is there
fore double that of A., presuming tha
in regard to wages and other condi
tions their circumstances are the same
A., therefore, spends H. a-week at tn
store. B. spends 81. On the old prin
ciple, these men would have beer
treated precisely alike; whatever prof
was realised would have been divided
as interest on share capital and eacl
being an investor of 81, their claims
would have been equal, and tn,
amount received in both cases tht
same.
Under tho new system, however
their claims are greatly altered. They
each receive 8 per cent. on their in
vestment, or IS. as interest on capital
But presuming that there is another
per cent. to be divided on consump-
ton, which is below the average, u
and lOpercent. being common enough,
then a., having expended at tho store
during the year 59l., receives as bonus
a. L4s., whilst BIS bonus amounts to
the handsome sum of 81. Ss. Or, in
other words, each is rewarded in pro-
portion to what he has done as a
shareholder and customer; each re-
ceives back, in fact, tho profit made
upon his personal transaction after the
necessary expenses Of the. establish
ment have been paid. dqutio sIl
The machinery by which each men,
ber's consumption is aseertained,
though not uniform throughout the
country, is easy and simple Tin
tokens, which represent money, are
given to tho purchasers, to the exact
amount of what they purchase, and,
at the end of the quarter those are
collected in, and the holders credited
for the amount, and on these the bonus
is paid. In some places the purchases
are entered in small books made for
the purpose; but, whichever plan is
pursued, little difficulty is experienced
in working the system to the satisfac-
tion of those engaged in it.
From this explanation it will be
easily seen why cooperation has rap
idly spread amongst the working peo-
plsno33 ns nsrb boS1s Sras on the Expenditure OF
9kpSS.s;, wages, being equivalent
to an advance in the price of his
labour to that amount. And this
comes in way that makes it particu-
larly welcome to the household
Usually the woman of the house does
its marketing, and to a poor mans
wife with large family TO look after,
a few pounds dropping in now and
then at stated intervals relieve her
from many perplexities, and under
any circumstances must be welcome !;
but when nothing is given for it, no
sacrifice Of any kind made, merely
the going to one shop rather, than
another, who can wonder that the
cooperative store is crowded and its
business enlarged with all desirable
rapidity. @ -
The growth Of tho Rochdale CO.
operative Store has been put forward
by nearly oil writers on this subject
as the most remarkable success of the
movement; and in some respects this
is the case. There are many clever
thoughtful men connected with that
store, who understand thoroughly the
business in hand, and who through
many years have proved themselves
to possess not only a very high intelli-
gence and good business capabilities,
but also that integrity Of character
without which all other qualities would
avail little. Starting in 1914 with
some thirty members and a capital of
2Sl., they have now 1850 members,
with &working capital of 4l,S76t odd
shillings and pence, whilst they have
divided amongst their members as
profit during the interval no less than
33, ,OO0i. And whilst stating these
facts, it would be wrong to omit their
thoughtfulncss for those outside their
society: as they subscribe handsomely
TO the charitable institutions of the
district, and have erected a drinking
fountain in their town for the con
venience of the public. Beyond this,
and looking to the moral and intel
lectual wants Of their members, they
devote 81 per cent. of their profits to
educational purposes, and possess at
present free news-room, and a free
lending library, which contains 5000
well-selected volumes. In Liverpool
the I" "Co-operative Provident Assoeia-
ton" has had rapidity of success
which throws Rochdale somewhat into
the shade This society began opera.
! tions in 1851, seven years after the
Rochdale experiment was started, and
it now numbers 1902 members; it
business, however, in amount, falls
far short of what is done by the oldei
association. In Oldham, cooperation
has met with considerable success also
there being in that town two or three
stores, one of which has 2242 enrollee
members. There are altogether some
where between six and seven hundred
of these societies in the country which
do d business annually amongst the
members Of not less than from tw'
millions to two millions and hal
sterling.
Whom the cotton famine bega'
there was much anxiety felt by tn
friends of these associations, and
doubtful feeling generally prevaile'
, as 10 their ability TO stand the strait