The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-07-17


certain articles to privileged consumers, and
are therefore essentially different from the
associations Of an earlier date.
But whether | am right or not as 10 the
reason, The fact remains as am sure will
be admitted bY The representatives. from
Rochdale, Halifax, Manchester, and ali the
most successful centres Of cooperation
They have all been working With single
eye to the establishment Of hourishiug bust
ness concerns, In which the producer and
consumer shall be brought together. Thew
have done this work in a most effective
manner, with a suceess-ecOnomIcally speak
ing-withOut parallel in this country or
elsewhere as everyone familiar with their
ordinary balance sheets, and with their last
achievement will allow. / refer to the
North of England Co operative Wholesale
Society, represented here by nv friend Mr.
Green wood-one Of the oldest aad best CO.
operators IN the kingdom. Upwards Of 200
stores have combined together az share
holders in this society and have thus e.
tabished machinery for purchasing
wholesale, in the very best OF markets, the
goods required for the ordinary consump
tion of tue members of these 200 stores, or
some $4,000 families. The career Of this
Wholesale society has been well summed up
in recent notice of their Whitsuntide
meeting, by writer in the Spectator -
10 five years, the society has reached a
business Of half-a-million year; has built
for itself, on its own land, az a cost OF
go 600, the warehouse in which that gather
ing took place has two branches in ireland
and has done ali this at a cost including
interest on capital, OF ! per cent" | con
fess that to me-Watching the progress OF
cooperation narrowly now for many years
this Nhitsuntide meeting in Manchester
would seem to have brought the first stage
of the cooperative moyemsnt in England
to successful close. We hear from all
those who were present the same story
that the representatives were collected, 90
far from being satisfied with what had been
achieved, were earnest in declaring that that
success must only be regarded az an en-
couragement for further effort. The direc-
tion which that effort shall take - the
question for everyone VINO has pat his hand
to this work and the consideration Of il il
the main object, as | understand it, Of our
meeting here to-day.
And If. as ! baye already said, there is
discouraging side 70 our retrospect of the
past; If many sides of the cooperative
movement have been neglected or allowed
to lsnguish during the last thirteen years !;
We have, at any rate this consolation-that
the practical leaders appear ID be now
thoroughly aware ot the fact, and are the
FIRST TO declare their readiness to break new
ground their Consciousness Of the truth
that they are at the beginning-not at the
end and that what remains to be done is
likely to test their energy and their princi-
pies far more severely han the work which
lies behind them.
The present Congress has, then, to con
slider how TO make the most of the present
position and on the threshold Of this in
quiry, we are met BY the curious fact-the
successful societies throughout the North
have been for some time embarrassed by too
much capital. Their members have been
ID the habit Of leaving large part Of their
profits 10 the society 70 accumulate at in
terest. Tie rate Of interest has generally
been fxed in the registered rules at per
cent, at which rate the management is
bound to had investment for all surplus
monies in its hands beyond the amount re-
quired TO transact it's ordi iary business.
This, as might have been expected. has been
found 60 be practically impossible. Hence
II has come to this--thaL such societies a.
the R0chdale Pioneers and the Halifax
store, have been playing Of non-con suming
shareholders, and refusing to retain the .ac I
cumulations which consuming shareholders
have desired to leave Ia their hands, 10 the
amount Of many thousand pounds.
Now, it seems to me that the trst thing
which these societies will have to do, will
be to re consider this policy, and to reverse
it. They are once again stirred by the same
ideas which worked 80 powerfully in lS49
and 1850. They have the same distinct
perception Of the end Of all their work
the raising their whole class morally, intel
lectually, and physically and making such
life possible for our hand workers as Eng
land may be proud Of. They are satisfied,
by experience, that no success IN the ma
chlnery Tor the purchase and distribution
OF neeessaries, can do this. They must
strike out into new fields Of enterprise and
for this will require all the capital they can
command. How, then, can they any longer
justify the throwing back Of the aceamula-
tIons of associates on their hands But how
are We 20 use these spare funds for the good
OF the cause, and at the same time to make
per cent, our guaranteed rate Of interest
to our associates, upon il ?-the executive
q the societies have right to ask Well,
to take the last clause Of the question first,
| say-fOu are not bound BY Act of Par
lament to any particular rate; and if you
can't make for your associates, you must
persuade them to take or j. But / say,
further-that there will be no difficulty in
hnding good investments for all the spare
capital at your command, and at the same
time Of turning the great movement Of
which you have been the cautious pioneers,
into new and more important channels.
TO BE C0NTISUED.