The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-07-25
COOPERATIVE
BODIES GROW
IN ENGLAND
Societies Started 80 Years
Ago and Thrive Despite
Opposition,
BY MILTON BRONNER
NEA Service Writer
: oNDoN, July 25.-Nearly ninety

r ONDON, July 25.-Nearly ninety
years ago, twenty-eight hard
- working, poorly paid weavers in
the Lancashire town of Rochdale saw
a vision, called it cooperation, put
their pennies together and started a
little shop at which they themselves
should be the chief customers.
Out of that little acorn has grown
the mighty oak of the English cooper
alive movement with 1,195 shops run
by 1,195 retail cooperative societies
whose total membership is 3,494,335
representing perhaps, with their fam
lilies, more than one-1fth the purchas-
ing power of the English people.
Furthermore, these retail societies
are shareholders in the immense CO.
operative Wholesale Society whose net
sales last year were more than 300 mil
lion dollars, which has financial re-
sources amounting to more than 40
million dollars, its own factories all
over England and estates abroad.
No Legal Protection
On Dec. p, 1874, the Rochdale pio-
neers opened their little shop, The
law offered them no protection They
had no credit. The landlord demand
ed $50 rent per annum and wanted
It in advance.
Painfully the weavers gathered to-
gether capital Of $40, spending half
the money on fixtures and the rest
on -four, butter. sugar and oat meal.
BY the end of the year their member
ship had increased to eighty and the
shop had sales amounting to $3.50 per
week. How meager were their re-
sources is shown by their first books,
which state that the two men who
attended to their banking business
should get 10 cents each for their
services every week.
The Rochdale pioneers believed it
possible to run shop taking the
profit element out Of it. The ordi-
nary shop was run for profit only.
Theirs should be run for service.
SO successful! has this idea been
since they started that over billion
and quarter dollars have been turned
back to the customers.
The cooperative movement had no
bed of roses. The way was not
smoothed for it. Government gave
it no subsidy, support or encourage
ment. Capital and the banks We're
against IL. Parliament was and in
some instances stu Is hostile to its
demands. Big business still makes its
opposition felt.
Banks Still Dislike EN-
The banks didn't like the coopera-
tives because the latter sell shares
to their member customers and pay
a fixed interest on these. In this
way money pours into the coopera-
tive societies which the banks would
get otherwise Even today, thanks
"a the Vaccinations Of the banks, TO
Cooperative society may sell more
than $1,000 worth Of shares to any
one person.
other things the cooperative So
cieties had to fight for and finally got
from Parliament after long battles
were
The right to deal with the
public instead of being confined
to their own members.
The right to sue and be sued
in their own name instead OF by
trustees.
The right of one society to hold
shares in another, thus paving the
way to the creation of the Co
operative Wholesale Society.
Even today there are insidious at
tacks upon the whole cooperative
system.
The little scheme has so far been
held up, largely due to the activities
of the Labor Party representatives
in Parliament.