WORK DONE OR PROJECTED 235 



Societies as far as lay in their power, others have shown 

 themselves averse to the principle of co-operative action, 

 and are reluctant to offer any encouragement whatever to 

 the newly-formed societies. As it happens, too, although 

 the County Councils are under an obligation to act in the 

 case of individuals who require land the Board of Agricul- 

 ture having authority to call upon them to produce a scheme 

 should they refrain from so doing there is no similar obliga- 

 tion on the Councils to provide land for Co-operative Land 

 Renting Societies, the power given in respect to the latter 

 being merely permissive, and not compulsory. 



DISCOURAGEMENTS AND SUCCESSES. 



As the result of this unwillingness on the part of some 

 County Councils to take any action at all, and of the tedious 

 delays due to the prolonged negotiations of others, a number 

 of the Land Renting Societies lost heart, and either lan- 

 guished and died, or else survive to-day in a more or less 

 moribund condition, but still hoping for land. 



Notwithstanding these discouragements, many of the 

 societies have secured land for their members in circum- 

 stances under which land might otherwise have been 

 unattainable by them, and they have followed up 

 co-operation for land renting by combination for a variety 

 of other purposes besides. 



COUNTY COUNCIL POLICY. 



That there is scope for a considerable expansion in co- 

 operative land renting through County Councils will have 

 been gathered from what has already been said, and there 

 is, too, a prospect of further action being taken in the 

 matter. 



At a meeting of the Public Health, Housing, and Small 

 Holdings Committee of the County Councils Association, 

 held on April 24th, 1912, the following memorandum on 

 the subject of County Councils and Co-operative Small 



