THE CENTRAL CO-OPERATIVE UNIOX OF FLAX GROWERS 1 7 



the Popular Bank of Moscow and above all of the Bank of 'the State 

 which afforded them special credit. 



The influence of these advances on prices was felt immediately. Thus 

 in Rjevsk in the province of Vitebsk there was^^Krise front 25 to 52 roubles, 

 while a less notable rise in Kovensk was of 25 percent. 



The influx of flax into the dejoots naturally made the co-operators think 

 of organizing the sale. A first action taken with regard to the home market 

 did not succeed because Russian spinners shoAved themselves the enemies of 

 the co-operative movement. The only field remaining for the co-operative 

 societies was therefore that of exportation. In order to organize this it 

 was necessary to create a network of organizations, beginning with the local 

 and district unions. 



On I June 1915 eight unions composed of 107 co-operative associa- 

 tions had already- been formed : the union of Rjevsk had 40 associations, 

 that of Schatzk 12, that of »Suschevsk 11, that of Volokolamsk 18, that of 

 Kaschir 5, that of Tver 8, that of Setarovsk 6 and that of Betejsk 7. 



A central organization which could unite these groups was lacking. 

 In April 1915, a memorable date in the history of the Russian co-operative 

 movement, the commission for the preparation of the by-laws of the future 

 Central Union of Flax Growers was founded at the council of the Congress 

 of Representatives of the Linen Industry, an organization which unites grow- 

 ers, traders and spinners in the defence of their common interests in the 

 State. The commission was composed of representatives of the Commit- 

 tee of Rural Funds, the Popular Bank of ^loscow and the co-operative asso- 

 ciations and resolved as follows regarding the basis of the new organization : 

 " It is the object of the Central Co-operative Union of Flax Growers to help 

 the co-operative associations of flax growers to organize selling in the best 

 conditions, and to buy for them seeds, manures and machines and organize 

 more rationally the growth and the treatment of flax. Only co-operative 

 credit societies, co-operative agricultural societies and co-operative consu- 

 mers' societies concerned with the sale of flax may belong to the Central 

 Union ". 



In order to become a member of this union every co-operative society 

 must pay an entrance fee of 10 roubles and buy at least one share of 50 rou- 

 bles. Each society has only one vote and liabilit}' for the union's business 

 extends over all the property and capital of a member societ}'. 



The Central Administration of Agriculture approved these by-laws on 

 17 July 1915 and the new organization then became active immediately. 

 At the outset the Central Co-operative Union was composed of 43 member 

 co-operative associations, namely 6 district unions, 3 provincial agricul- 

 tural societies and 34 other societies. On i May 191 6 it united 163 organi- 

 zations of which eleven were unions ; and at the end of 1916 twenty-two 

 unions comprised more than 400 associated co-operative societies composed 

 of hundreds of thousands of flax growers in the flax producing districts of 

 European Russia. 



All necessary aid to exporting was given by the Popular Bank of Mos- 

 cow, which had already reached good results by an experiment in working 



