24 RUSSIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



111 Transcaucasia popular credit has also begun to develop. There 

 are there 561 co-operative societies having a total capital of 12.3 milHon 

 roubles and deposits amounting to 2.2 million roubles. The small credit 

 establishments operate exclusively with capital belonging to the State 

 bank, for the Mussulman population is not sufificientl}^ rich to allow an in- 

 flux of deposits to the co-operative societies. The usefulness of the latter 

 appears in the educative part they play towards the natives and also in their 

 beneficent influence in raising the price of costly crops, such as cotton. 



The same phenomenon is noticed in Turkestan where the co-oper- 

 ative societies operate only with State funds, amounting on an average to 

 70 roubles a member in the co-operative credit societies and 107 roubles 

 in the deposit and loan funds. In the province of Samarcanda there are 

 no co-operative credit societies and nine deposit and loan funds, in Fergansk 

 province 132 co-operatives credit societies and 116 deposit and loan funds. 

 The population is very honest and very exact in making repayments, but 

 owing to the religious prohibition to lend at interest co-operative societies 

 cannot obtain deposits. 



§ 3. The FEDERATIONS OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND THE FUNDS 

 OF THE ZEMSTVOS. 



The federations of co-operative societies and the funds of the zemstvos, 

 the two institutions which unite co-operative societies, materially or mo- 

 rally, in more or less important groups, have fared dift'erently during the 

 war. While the funds have grown somewhat more slowly than previously 

 the federations have had a relatively large increase, especially since August 

 1915. Their foundation, which once was a very complicated matter and 

 dependent on the Council of Ministers, has since that date become easier; 

 and federations may now be formed with the authorization of only the 

 Minister of Finances. Consequently their number has, as we have seen, 

 increased from eleven to eightj^-four. In January 1915 the average num- 

 ber of co-operative societies grouped b}' a federation was 1,322, in July 

 1916 only 188. 



The distribution of federations according to regions is as follows : 



Regions Number of federaUons 



1. South 15 



2. Ivittle Russia 10 



3. Industrial 9 



4. East 9 



5. Central 8 



6. Siberia 7 



7. ITral 6 



8. Caucasus 4 



Q. South-West 3 



Total ... 71 



