COOPERATION. 557 



As prompted by a like spirit may be named trie Agricul 

 tural Credit Banks which have of late years spread in Ger 

 many, Austria, and Italy cooperative loan societies as they 

 may be called. Instead of borrowing money from ordinary 

 banks or from money-lenders, the members of these bodies 

 practically borrow from one another under the guidance of 

 an administration of their own: the administration taking 

 care that only such loans are made as the interests of all 

 permit. Of course everything depends on the judgment 

 and honesty of the officials ; but granting these, such banks 

 exhibit a form of cooperation undeniably beneficial. 



Among cooperative bodies of other kinds have to be 

 named the Russian &quot; artels.&quot; As defined by Mr. Carnegie 

 of the British Embassy in St. Petersburg, quoting a native 

 authority, one of these bodies is &quot; an association of certain 

 persons who unite their capital and labour, or only the latter, 

 for a certain work, trade, or undertaking.&quot; Each member 

 of the association has an equal share in the duties and work ; 

 each member receives an equal share of the profits ; and all 

 members are mutually responsible for the work and conduct 

 of each. The system is said to date from the 10th century, 

 when certain Cossacks on the Dnieper &quot; banded themselves 

 together for offensive and defensive purposes and elected a 

 chief, or ataman, for a certain fixed period, who conducted 

 the operations of the tribe and superintended the equal di 

 vision of the spoil to each member of it.&quot; This statement 

 harmonizes with the inference drawn above, that there is an 

 easy transition from conscious union for militant purposes to 

 conscious union for industrial purposes. These bodies are 

 various in their occupations. &quot; There are artels of carpen 

 ters, painters, blacksmiths, masons, porters, bargees, waiters, 

 &c.,&quot; as well as of many less general trades. Great trust is 

 placed in them ; even to the extent of placing large sums of 

 money in their charge. One reason for their trustworthiness 

 is that the admission of new members is jealously guarded. 

 But judging from their traditional origin and present con- 



