TEACHING THE CULTIVATORS 53 



operative Union has admitted to me — to what extent co-operation 

 had developed abroad, and more especially how much foreign co- 

 operators had already done for education. Being well acquainted 

 with foreign co-operative organisations I made it my task to bring 

 their doings under notice here, and when, in consequence — I had 

 been called in France le cooperateur le plus repandu — I was invited 

 to take the late E. Vansittart Neale's place on the committee formed 

 to bring together the " International Co-operative Alliance," I 

 worked energetically to secure the adhesion of foreign co-operative 

 organisations. That proved rather an arduous task. For all co- 

 operative organisations had been used to stick exclusively to their 

 own particular country. I had difficulty in securing the adhesion of 

 German " neutral " organisations. I had to scheme in order to bring 

 in the " socialists " of France — now the backbone of the French 

 distributive movement — and the " democratic " organisations of 

 Germany — in the teeth of the unwillingness of their dissenting 

 countrymen to work together with them. Switzerland I had to 

 visit three several times before I could get the Swiss organisations 

 to join. Once we had the " Alliance " established, I made a point 

 of obtaining at every congress held original reports from leading 

 foreign co-operators upon the position of co-operation in their 

 several countries. That was at first, in our own country, received 

 with tolerant indifference. But its value soon came to be realised, 

 and now that the " Alliance " is well under weigh, rejoicing in a 

 good income, which at the outset was sadly lacking, and embracing 

 a vast membership hailing from a large number of countries, the 

 practice of maintaining and studiedly cultivating such foreign 

 relations and the communication of foreign doings is carried even 

 very much further than when I was at the head of the organisation. 

 And there is but one voice, that that has done and is continuing to 

 do an immense amount of good, not only to co-operation in general, 

 but also to our British co-operation in particular. What was being 

 done abroad had been quite unknown, undreamt of — just as it was 

 unknown what great amount of generous activity foreign govern- 

 ments had displayed in promoting co-operation in agriculture, until 

 my conspectus of such work appeared in our congress report of 1904. 

 Studying what is being done elsewhere in agriculture is likely 

 to prove of similar benefit to our agriculture at home, and to the 

 " country life " that we are anxious to create. Looking around us 

 and seeing what others are doing elsewhere inevitably broadens the 

 mind, awakens the intellect, and, making us to think, inspires us 

 with new ideas. 



