Litchfield enquirer., 1874-03-19
From Frank Lesiies Illustrated ewspaper. EhcLlSH COOPERATION.
 It's Position and Prospects.
HENRY FAwcETT, II. P.

stores. They do no: necessarily establish a union, or merging of capital and la
 bor. The capital in these stores is own ed by, and the profits realized are dis
 tributed amongst, the customers, and not amongst the employees of the establish
 ment.
 In many of the manufacturing towns ill
 the north of England the working classes
 deal almost entirely at these stores. They
 are also to be found in agricultural vii- lages. The profits are not distributed amongst the employees, but amongst the customers, who have not necessarily con tributed any capital at all. Each cnsto- mer. when he makes purchase, receives certain tin tickets or tallies which record the amount of his purchases. The ac- counts are made mp at the eni of each quarter, and after fixed dividend at iLe rate of five per cent. Der annum has been allotted to capital, the surplus profits are divided amongst the customers in propor- tion to the amount of their purchases
 The goods are sold at prices which are current at the ordinary retail shops. The business is strictly a ready-money one. Under no circumstances whatever is any credit given
 There are no bad debts. The managers of these stores can pay ready money for all the goods they purchase. Credit, it has been truly said, Is the great bane of the working classes.
 Although 1t is probable that these stores will absorb greater proportion of the re- tail business of the country yet the indi- vldual trader need not fear that he will be superseded.
 These cooperative stores are wanting in one important element of cooperation, because no share of the profits is allotted to the managers, clerks, porters, and the other employees whose labor is essntial to the carrying on of the business
 The entire capital of the Rochdale Pio- neers' store at the present time is proba- ply not more than a25, 900, whereas the aggregate share capital now possessed by the Pioneers Society is E108, ,000. The working classes of Rochdale, in facts it's entire population, became so much i'm pressed with the advantages which the society offers as an investment, that 1t soon possessed far larger capital than 1t required for the store
 As the business of the store at Koch dale rapidly extended, it's managers were not unnaturally led to perceive the advan- tages of establishing wholesale depot of their own, instead of purchasing the vari- ous good they sold from ordinary whole sale houses. It was moreover felt that such Wholesale Society might render invaluable assistance to small struggling societies If an attempt were made to crush them by a combination of tradesmen jealous of cooperation. In 1863 this Wholesale Society was transferred to Manchester. It has now become a great central depot, with branches in London and Newcastle. Branches will also short Ixy I,a d n. Cardiff and Cambridge. The Wholesale than G, GOO. 900 year. and so rapidly is it growing that there has been since 1872 an increase of 37 and 57 per cent. in each quarter over its immediate predecessor. No individual can purchase goods from the society; its entire business consists in selling goods to various cooperative stores. At the present time no less than 59O of these stores deal with this society, and of this number 358 have capital invested ill it. Those stores which purchase goods from the Wholesale, but do not hold shares in 1t, are usually small struggling stores which have no spare capital. The business ap- pears to be most admirably conducted. Under no circumstances whatever is a longer credit given than seven days from the date of invoice. The result of adher- ing to this rule Is that on transactions amounting to more than 2,00O, ,0O0 per annum, the amount lost by bad debts does not, on the average, exceed f30. The cost of management Is unprecedent- edly small, not amounting to l per cent. on the returns. The leading idea which appears to be predominant amongst the supporters of this Wholesale Society is a desire, as far as possible, to get rid of the middlemen. In order to do this, con- modities are purchased whenever an oc- casion offers directly from the producers, and as the concern develops, they will un- doubtedly manufacture for themselves greater portion of the goods they sell. For instance, instead of buying Irish but ter through the provision merchants | who import it, they have their own agents in Ireland, who purchase it direct ly from farmers. They have also already established shoe manufactory of their own at Leicester, and a biscuit manufac- tory at Manchester; and they pro- pose shortly to start a soap man ufactory. The day is not far distant when they will obtain wheat and other agricultural produce from their own land, and when they will import tea, coffee and sugar in their own ships, from their own plantations.
 It IS impossible to place too high a | value upon the educational influence which may be exercised upon the mem- 1 bers of cooperative societies. A work man who has few pounds invested in cooperative store soon understands what are the true functions of capital. Instead of thinking that capital is some mysteri- ous agent specially created to oppress and lnlure labor, he becomes as much i'm pressed as an individual employer can be that capital is not less essential to indus try than labor, and that consequently it possesses not less indefeasible claim to receive its due reward.
 The large profits realized by the stores brought so forcibly home to the working classes the advantages of carrying on a retail trade on their own account, that they very naturally thought that they should be able to secure still greater ad- vantages if the laborers could form them selves into associations to carry on some of the various trades in which they were employed. One of the first experiments ot this kind in what may be termed CO., operative productive industry was made Tn Rochdaie in 1855. Previous to this time, however, several cooperative trad ing establishment had been in successful working in Paris. At Rochdale the ex- pertinent of applying cooperation to pro- ductive industry was commeced on very small scale. The system of conducting the business was as simple as it was ex- cellent. A dividend of five per cent. on capital was the first charge on profits. After this dividend had been secured, the remaining profits were divided into two equal shares. One of these shares was given as an extra dividend on capital, and the other was distributed as bonus amongst the laborers employed. Each iaoorers share of this bonus was pro- portioned to the aggregate amount of wages he had earned. The most. there fore, was given to those who worked with the greatest regularity and the greatest skill; and as, in addition to this bonus. the wages current in the trade were paid. 1 1t was natural that the hest efforts of