CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



thrive best in manufacturing towns, where large 

 numbers of people are employed in each indus- 

 trial establishment In London, the most success- 

 ful co-operative trading associations are those 

 established by the various employe's in the 

 General Post-office, and other government depart- 

 ments. One of these, the Civil Service Supply 

 Association, with about 4500 members, has an 

 annual business of about ,1,000,000. 



Although the co-operative system is best known 

 in connection with trading operations, it has been 

 successfully utilised for manufacturing purposes. 

 The Rochdale Co-operative Manufacturing Society 

 possesses extensive cotton-spinning works, in 

 which hundreds of operatives, many of whom 

 are shareholders, are employed. The number of 

 members is 1283 ; the amount of capital, 74,127 ; 

 and the value of the assets, 113,298; the 

 liabilities being estimated at ;: 12,458. In 

 Northumberland, there is a co-operative ship- 

 building company ; and in other parts of the 

 country, we have societies devoted to the manu- 

 facture of silk, chairs, boots and shoes, cigars, 

 clothing, &c. ; but at least eleven-twelfths of the 

 total number of co-operative societies in the king- 

 dom are simple trading associations. The others, 

 however, form the co-operative societies proper 

 that is, those in which the members make or 

 produce the various articles sold by them. The 

 North of England Co-operative Wholesale Society, 

 the headquarters of which are at Manchester, is a 

 federation of co-operative societies, formed for the 

 purpose of purchasing direct from producers, and 

 selling wholesale to themselves ; in other words, 

 taking upon themselves the functions of the whole- 

 sale dealers. This society contains 277 members, 

 each of whom represents a co-operative associa- 

 tion, and has a capital of about .31,352. The 

 amount received for goods during 1872, was 

 ,1,139,767 ; the net profits on the same being 

 1 1,1 1 8. One feature in most of the co-operative 

 associations is, that a certain portion of the profits 

 is reserved for the establishment and mainten- 

 ance of reading-rooms and for other educational 

 purposes. 



Among the largest co-operative societies in 

 England, are those at Accrington, with 2882 

 members, and .41,253 capital ; Bacup, with 2457 

 members, and ^44,859 capital ; Bolton, with 2566 

 members, and ^40,785 capital ; Bury, with 6460 

 members, and ^86,946 capital ; Leigh, with 2502 

 members, and .46,569 capital ; Manchester, 

 with 4466 members, and .35,596 capital ; 

 and Halifax with 7400 members, and .171,394 

 capital These form a portion only of the larger 

 societies. Rochdale has six co-operative associa- 

 tions, representing 11,425 members, a capital of 

 .276,033, and annual business to the extent of 

 .712,576. Oldham has four societies, with 7725 

 members, capital to the amount of .155,969, and 

 a yearly business of .434,145. Co-operative 

 societies are most numerous in Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire, and fewest in Hampshire, Hereford- 

 shire, and the agricultural counties generally. 

 The total number of societies in England and 

 Wales at the end of 1872 was 749, representing 

 301,157 members, a capital of not less than 

 ^2,786,965, and annual business to the amount 

 f l 1,397,225'; the profits approaching nearly 

 1,000,000 ! 



The co-operative movement has made some 



526 



progress also in Scotland. At the end of 1871, 

 there were 225 Scottish co-operative associations, 

 the largest being those in Lanarkshire, where the 

 Bridgeton Old Victualling and Baking Society in 

 1871 possessed 651 members, with a capital of 

 .5206, and an annual business of more than 

 ,20,000. The Edinburgh Professional and Civil 

 Service Supply Association in 1874 had over 

 2000 members, and its sales amounted to 

 .56,000. The official returns, however, are so 

 defective, that the actual condition of most of the 

 Scottish societies has yet to be ascertained. It is 

 believed that generally they are in a prosperous 

 state. Most of these societies have been formed 

 since 1860. In 1871, there were only 10 co- 

 operative societies in Ireland, the number of 

 members and amount of capital in each being 

 extremely limited. 



BUILDING SOCIETIES. 



The origin of benefit building societies dates as 

 far back as the middle of the last century, for, in 

 Mr J. A. Langford's Century of Birmingham Life, 

 we find recorded, under date December 3d, 1781, 

 ' certain proposals for establishing a society for 

 building on lands belonging to William Jennings, 

 Esq.,' which embrace several of the features of 

 modern building societies monthly payments, a 

 committee annually elected, &c. Fourteen years 

 later, building clubs had become common in Bir- 

 mingham ; but the real start of these bodies was 

 immediately after the passing of the Benefit Build- 

 ing Societies Act in 1835. According to that Act, 

 a building society is established for the purpose of 

 raising, by the monthly or other subscriptions of 

 the several members of such societies, shares not 

 exceeding the value of ^150 for each share, such 

 subscriptions not to exceed in the whole 203. per 

 month for each share, a stock or fund for the 

 purpose of enabling each member thereof to 

 receive out of the funds of such society the 

 amount or value of his or her share or shares 

 therein, to erect or purchase one or more dwelling- 

 house or dwelling-houses, or other real or lease- 

 hold estate, to be secured by way of mortgage 

 to such society until the amount or value of his 

 or her shares shall have been fully repaid to 

 such society, with the interest thereon, and all 

 fines and other payments incurred in respect 

 thereof. 



Terminating Societies. 



Mr Davis, in his useful work on the Law of Build- 

 ing and Freehold Land Societies, describes the 

 principal characteristics of the two classes into 

 which such societies are divided. The general 

 principles upon which bond-fide building societies 

 are formed seem to be the following : When 

 the society is a terminating one, members sub- 

 scribe monthly or other periodical sums, which 

 are accumulated till the fund is sufficient to give 

 a stipulated sum to each member, and then the 

 whole is divided amongst them. But one main 

 object is to enable members to obtain the amount 

 of their shares by anticipation, on their allowing 

 a discount. For this purpose, when a sufficient 

 fund is in the hands of the society, the members 

 who desire to get their shares in advance bid, by 

 a sort of auction, the sum which they are ready to 

 allow as discount ; and the highest bidder obtains 



