The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-03-14
ALL EUROPE SUFFERS FROM
THE HIGH COST OF LIVING
President Taft Sends Special Message to Congress Giving
Comparisons and Study Of the Cooperative Socieres
Of Engand--France and Germany Are Aroused

around per cent. Ahe report VIII"
the President submits to Congress
gives an excellent idea OF the scope
OF the profits OF one OF the whole
ta,c cooperative societies, called the
wholesale Cooperative Society OF
England. Some of the activities OF
this organization consist In msnufac-
turing boots and shoes; operating
banks ana dry goods stores; insuring
their members; manufacturing soap;
running steamship lines: selling tea
and coffee; manufacturing cocoa ana
chocolate, clothing. shirts and cor
sets, and hosiery: and operating fruit
farms This society has branches
estabiieheS =" cr~r the world, and
uys goods for its members at the
best asa.ia- p..Ses In the worm
market. Meat, for instance, Is bought
in Australia; butter. eggs and bacon
are bought In Denmark and Canada;
and grain and fruit are bought In
Canada and the United States. The
total fmportations into England by
the Manchester Cooperative Whole
sale Society during 1909 were valued
at s34.445,077. and originated In al
most all the different countries OF
the globe. This wholesale society
and the Wholesale Society OF Eng
land boast the largest and finest houi
factories In Great Britain.
City Association.
In another part OF the report the
instance Ut the growth Of a city asso-
citation IL cited. This lie the Co-opera-
tive Society OF Leeds, England. Irsat
society was started in 1s47 for the
sole purpose of securing cheap -four
for Its mem bers. II began lite opera
tons by renting -four mill. Later
II hranched into selling groceries, .nd
then to dealing in meats, boots and
shoes. dry goods and clothes. 1t be-
gan to conduct series Of fecruscs
to advance the cooperative idea. In
1859 II became affiliated with one OF
the wholesale, co-cecrat.se societies.
and the sixteen retail stores which
It at that time operated began to buy
from =tfe-oBe &helee~4.- sssaaety. Later
II went into the building business. ad-
vancing loans to its members for the
construction Of homes; then It branch
ed into manufacturing. and establish
I'd shoe manufactures. and later cloth
| ing and furniture manufactures. AZ
far back a. 1873 It took up the ad.
vanced idea Of giving it, employees
an annual holiday, md shortly after
wards began to make grants to various
| local charities. Now 1t operates a
! Z ews room and library; owns q coal
wharf; operates ships to carry the
coal and to carry grain; II has ~o-
mems guild which conducts school
classes In cooking, dressmAking. ecu.
1t has purchased land to help small
farmers.
The opposition OF private firnls to
| the cooperative idea In England
seems to have grown much iess In
tense. Naturally when the system frsf
appeared as a material factor 1t spread
geenral alarm In the English business
world. The idea now. however. seems
! to be that progressive merchants have
| nttle to fear from the co-operators. In
f. the nrst place the co-oneratfve 60
| cieties sell almost exclusively staple
commodities on which tho profits are
small. and they sell only TO the poorer
people: private firms can give longer
credit and carry more diversified
stocks.
Dividends Arc Demoralixing.
The English shcpkeepers claim thai
instead OF encouraging thrift ths co.
operative societies. by paying divi-
| dends, which they do generally few
weeks before the semi-annual Eng
!ish rent collections occur, leave their
members to depend upon the divt-
dend payments to meet their Rents
practice which, they say. ~ de-
moraiixinE. They claim a. well that
| these societies do not In reality save
for their members. but make theif
profits by selling cheap foods at high
prices. and the people are oiled Into
Joining them BY the promise Of the
dividend. A good many ignorant pso-
pie have joined the societies. they
claim, not caring what sort OF goods
they get for their money, but simply
because they know that they can de-
pend upon the dividends to pay their
trent. and the societies will give them
o free outing every year.
! The supporters Of cooperation as
sert that these cooperative societies
do. In their dividends. show y savina
to the consumer on his purchases. anu
that their activities operate 70 keep
down the prices in the private stores
| They point out also that the memberu
OF the societies get real benefit from
the profits In the educational and
! charitable work which the societies
| do. For instance. In Derby. England
the cooperative Society there las loan
| ed over 4 million dollars to persons
wishing to build homes. and about 81
| per cent. Of this has already been pait
to them by successful builders. Their
they will ut reasonable rates loar
money to their members to tide them
! over periods Of illness and disability
In short, they say that these co.
operative societies in England have
actually made good In their efforts Il
fdei1t Id his message 81 trHnsmftta
points out that only experiment car
! tell whether this English system oar
Re applied successfully In the Cnitet
states.