Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1918-03-23


of land for the production OF palm-o olives
from which oil for their soap factories is
procured.
These organizations OF consumers
springing from the little society of Roch-
dale-now bring their own currants from
Greece to be made into plum buildings in
their own great factories. The British CO.
operators now produce almost every COM
modify; watches, furniture, tinware ma
chinery. clothing, tobacco chemicals, leath-
er goods, corsets and brushes. Their total
products are five times greater than those
of the private manufacturers in the Manu-
facturers' Association.
They provide concerts entertainments,
acrobats and jugglers. Their welfare-work
embraces most every branch of human SER
vice. They conduct life saving stations on
the coast and administer large funds for
the relief of sufferers from famine and
unemployment Their banking department
is next to the Bank Of England in i'm
portance. One-haf of the industrial life
and accident insurance done in Great
Britain is done by the cooperative So
ciety Their life insurance business is
carried on at one twenty-fifth of the cost
which the profit making companies pay.
The British Wholesale Society did
business of $217OOO0OO in 1914; in 1917
it will exceed 5000 900 OOO The Scottish
Cooperative Wholesale Socitey is feder-
alton of 264 consumers societies. In 1916
it did business of $75 900 900. manufac-
tured $24,OOO,O0O worth of goods, and car
ried reserve and insurance fund of nearly
$4,000 900. The British Society employs
about 100000 people.
All of this vast business is carried on
by people who are producing and distribut-
.x,c. e., I'll
laboring class. AS great as the British
movement is, the continental movement is
still greater Germany France and Italy
have more societies and more membership
than England, Scotland and Ireland Rus
STA before the war was weak in co-opera-
tive societies, but with the growth of the
revolutionary movement the societies in
creased until the Russian movement now
has become the greatest in the world. In
1917 there were in Russia $4,000 COOPER
ative societies, with 100000 MEMBERS
Upon the basis of the head of household
representing five people, this means 49,
600 OOO which is nearly one-half of the
population. The Peoples Cooperative
Bank in Moscow does business of 81 ,OOO,-
600 yearly
The Cooperative Movement in Belgium
is peculiar. The surplus savings are not
1OCH IoUlC W CIC ulclIUcI Ill UIo 10TH OI
cash but are used for social welfare pur-
poses. This money is used for doing for
the members of the cooperative societies
what the socialized state does for the peo-
pie in Germany. Old age pension, life
insurance. insurance against sickness and
unemployment, maternity benefits and
medical and nursing care are provided
Those beautiful buildings in Belgium called
the houses OF the people, are owned bv
the cooperative societies. They are com
munity centers, used for meetings, drama
tic presentations, schools and recreations.
About some of them are parks where fine
music is rendered, mothers sew, fathers
talk and children play
This movement of the people in many
European countries has been developing
SO rapidly that it has seemed as though
the time were drawing near when the CO.
operation societies could say that govern
ment as represented in the state, is no
longer needed. The time seems approach
ing when the people in their cooperative
societies would do evervthinU for +bon,