The Detroit tribune. (Detroit, Mich.) 1935-1966, 1936-04-11

One evening, December 81, 1874,
I27 men and one women met in a
dark, dingy little shanty on a
street in Rochdale England, a mis-
cradle weaving town. No one would
rent a place to them to try out
! their Joint venture. The total capt.
tai of these ordinary, poor inhabi-
tants was PSI lbs, or about $4,000.
They bought a stock of flour, but
ter, sugar and oatmeal with half
of the 2S1 lbs. The other half went
toward rent and trying to make
something to resemble a store.
Samuel Ashworth agreed to work
for nothing, if the venture failed /;
or 8 pence an hour, if it showed a
profit at the end of the first quar-
ter. He swung back it's doors and
the store opened for business. The
crowd jeered Knocked, and laughed
at these people. By 1857, after a
dozen years of operation, they did
business of 100000 worth of
goods sold a year. In 1925, it had a
membership of 25,144 and CAPT.
tai of So, 413,445; sales $3,3S5,100;
profits $355,375.
The st. Paul Consumers Co
operative started i'm 1880. 1t took
them a little while to get started
with a few men. They started in
the gas and oil business. In 1885,
their sales were $4,000 with
earning for the Consumer-member-
owner of $4,000.
In Minneapolis fuel oil Co.
operative organization was estab-
lished in September, 1888, with a
capital of $500. For the first year
it did a business of $4,000; and
the second year, $4,000. 1t averag-
ed during this time a patronage
dividend of So per cent to its Con-
-member-owners.
A professor of philosophy and
psychology in October, 1884, visit
ed a Cooperative League Congress
in Chicago. He came away with a
new idea for building a new ecOno-
mic system that would support a
humane and civilized culture. He
returned to Alton, Ill. and started
study club. The members began
to pool their orders in a members
basement as a distributing center
From that basement they went on
to open their own store. Now with
a membership of 100, the Alton
Consumers Cooperative is doing a
! business of $1400 a month.
Consumers Cooperative Service
; Inc, $685. Harper ave-, Chicago
started December, 1882, with nine
members and no capital. 1t operat-
ed buying club, pooling orders
and shopping for prices. Seven
members were represented in the
| first order which included Fl items
and the purchase amounted to
$3.50 Sales in August, 1884, were
$4,000. In October. 1885, they had
risen to $3,251 and were still
climbing. They have met chain
store competition, and in 1885, paid
themselves back per cent on their
purchases.
THE NEGROES in different
parts of the Country have taken
to Cooperative forms of business.
Consumers Cooperative Trading
Co. of Gary. Ind. started with
$4,000 as a buying club which de-
veloped into a space in tiny store.
They likewise started in 1882. In
1885, its total sales were $4,000
with a modern store on a main
street.-the largest Negro-owned
retail business in the United States.
They have done more than build
their own business. They have
blazed a trail that leads directly to-
ward economic emancipation by
Consumers Cooperation.
The Citizen Grocery Co., of Pitts
burgh is another shining example
Of what Negroes have done in CO.
operative business enterprise.
Eight men met and pooled total of
$500. 1t tooke them 1 year from
the time of their starting to save
enough money and get enough
members to launch their coopera-
tive. They made the same discovery
as the Gary Negroes; namely
that their economic wrongs could
be righted through Consumers
Economic Action. They launched