24 FRANCE - CX)-OPERATlON AND ASSOCIATION 



§ 2. Different kinds of rural co-operative bakehouses. 



These rural co-operative bakehouses which, unfortunately, the oflficial 

 enquiry has not distinguished separately, tend to penetrate into every 

 region, following in some sort, step by step, the foundation of industrial 

 bakehouses, promoted on its side by the progressive abandonment of the 

 old custom the farmers' famihes had of baking their own bread. 



The rural co-operative bakehouses assume, according to the enquiry 

 of the Musee Social, three special forms : 



1st. The private civil society, very widely spread in the region of 

 Charente and la Vendee ; 



2nd. The society with variable capital and variable number of members, 

 which is the ordinary type of co-operative distributive society ; 



3rd. The civil society en commandite simple, which seems to be peculiar 

 to Touraine. 



We shall consider these three types in order. 



I. The private civil society. — This kind of societj^ is governed by 

 the provisions of the Ci\'il Code ; its legal form has the advantage that there 

 are no essential formalities for its constitution and that it is exempt 

 from fiscal charges and taxes ; it is thus perfectly adapted for local instit- 

 utions of a very marked family character. The joint and several li- 

 ability of members is expressly laid down in the rules. 



The rules of the Breadmaking Society of Coulon (Deux-Sevres), founded 

 in 1 88 1, begin with the following preamble : 



" The Coulon Breadmaking Society is a mutual organization, the special 

 object of which is to purchase flour for cash, make bread and supply it 

 to its members on more favourable terms than are usually given by the 

 trade. Good quality, uniform weight and moderate prices are the three 

 principal guarantees it ofiers. By buying wholesale it counts on saving 

 the consumers what they would otherwise have to pay the middlemen, " 



The members of the co-operative bakehouses of the West do not pay 

 an annual contribution : they pay a simple entrance fee, generally fixed at 8 

 or 10 frs., a part of which, considered as a share, may be refunded without 

 interest, when the situation of the society allows. But, by a provision quite 

 in accordance with the fraternal soHdarity by which the co-operators 

 must be united, persons are often exempted from payment of this entrance 

 fee when they are well known to be unable to pay, and orders for bread 

 are given them on the same conditions as to the other members, "without 

 their having any share in the profits or losses of the society", as is stated 

 in the rules. 



Members reaping their own grain, have a right to bake at home, but 

 they are bound to deliver to the society a quantity of bread usually fixed 

 at half that of the household's weekly consumption. They may send 

 their grain to the co-operative bakehouse and receive orders for bread in 

 exchange; the grain is sorted by the society and the price fixed by the 



