The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-22
COOPERATIVE STORES.
(Ansonia 'Sentinel.)

News from New London is to the effect that railroad men are forming a cooperative store in that city. from which only the holders of stock may make purchases. In Boston the bank clerks have organized a similar enter prise In each of them it is proposed to deal in meats, vegetables and gro- ceries, to. eliminate the profit of the jobber and to, sell at the lowest possi- ble margin. This is somewhat along the line of the Ansonia cooperative enterprise, started some months ago. and similar to quite number of other projects on foot throughout the coun- try. Year by year the number of these is increasing, and they are generally looked upon as the natural outcome of the high cost of living, the reason for which is sometimes laid to one source and sometimes to another, with the rniddieman very sure to receive his part of the blame.
 If the middleman is really reaplng an undue profit, we wonder why 4 IS that so many grocers have failed dur- ing the past month? A study of the July fanlures reveals that traders in meat, groceries and fish led all the rest for the number of failures, for the aggregate of liabilities and for the in crease in both items over the cores bonding month of last year. Next to dealers in the line of groceries. meats and fish, the class of traders highest Tn number and liabilities were the gen. eral store traders, of whom 1S1 failed, with liabilities of S893,073. In all prob ability, the places of the 235 who faii- ed were at once occupied by others who are persuaded of their ability to "keep store'' with profit. Here ins.Con- necticut we are sure the number or grocers who have failed within the year has been very large, and that f0i a. ble ones the news columns have testl- fled time and again.
 The July failures certainly tend to disprove that the retailing middleman has been making undue profit. We do not, however, refer to the failures Of this class of merchants with any 1n- tention to discourage the cooperative ventures. We consider them a natural development, partly born of necessity and partly prompted by the fact that corners to this country have seen them operated with success in their fatherland. In the United Kingdom there are over 2.s00.000 individual in 1909 there were 2,9S5 retail societies of this kind that made official returns to the government. It would be Won- der withso many people interested in and benefited by these societies,if some of them did not find root in this coun-
 
 for reducing the price of living, who will say that they are not entitled to a foothold? Surely no one will deny them this right. On the other hand, we shall be Surprised if they are able [ to demonstrate that the average retail middleman is rolling in inordinate profits.
 Whatever societies of this kind are organized, they might do the general public a service by publishing from time to time some of the results of their experiences. They should be able in few years to throw much light upon the cost of transportation and the cost of handling and perhaps make valuable recommendations con corning the advisability of having in each city department of markets, which would publish statement of market needs and keep both producers and consumers informed concerning current prices.