BUSINESS COOPERATION 261 



tion of the rules for cooperative associations by the National 

 Grange, stock companies made up solely of members of the order 

 had existed in many parts of the country, for the purpose of 

 providing capital for local stores or for agencies. Almost in- 

 variably these early stores attempted to operate by selling 

 goods to members of the order at very low prices, but the profits, 

 when there were any, were divided among the stockholders in 

 proportion to the amount of stock held. Corporations of this 

 sort operated under serious disadvantages. Their low prices 

 aroused the antagonism of neighboring merchants and involved 

 them in intense competition; and there was no incentive to 

 hold the trade of Patrons when better bargains were offered 

 elsewhere. As a consequence most of these organizations 

 either were forced out of business or raised their prices and gave 

 up all pretense of being cooperative. 



The Rochdale system was an improvement on these cor- 

 porations in many ways. By selling at ordinary rates the 

 intense competition of the neighboring merchants was pre- 

 vented; by issuing stock in small shares and giving an equal 

 voice in the management to each shareholder, large numbers 

 were given a personal interest in the concern; and by division 

 of profits among purchasers, the same if not greater savings 

 could be effected as by attempting to sell at cost. It was a 

 distinct misfortune, both for the order of Patrons of Husbandry 

 and for the advancement of cooperation, that the National 

 Grange did not begin to propagate the principles of the Rochdale 

 system until after the ineffectiveness and often disastrous 

 consequences of the early attempts had disgusted many of the 

 Patrons with the idea of cooperative stores and the rapid decline 

 of the order had begun. As it was, the rules for cooperative 

 associations issued by the National Grange were eagerly sought 

 by Patrons everywhere and hundreds of cooperative stores, 

 with a few more extensive associations, were organized wherever 

 the Grange continued to flourish. In the course of time many 



J. W. A. Wright, Address on Rochdale and Grange Cooperation (pamphlet, 1877); 

 Wright, Cooperation; Europe and the Grange (pamphlet, 1876?); Aiken, The 

 Grange, 13. 



