THE MARKET 323 



that is, in proportion to the respective amounts of fish 

 brought in by the co-operators properly so called. In 

 this way, the mere subscribers of capital being set aside, 

 this balance, which will really be simply a surplus, con- 

 sisting of the dues paid by stoppages out of the product 

 of the work of the associated fishermen, will return to 

 them, as it should. . . . The enterprise having no 

 resources but the net product of the sales, it will be 

 necessary to maintain some margin between this sum 

 and the sums paid to the fishermen. How is this margin 

 to be obtained, and what should be its dimensions ? 

 The society solves the question by fixing the price of 

 the fish, after its delivery by the associated fishermen, 

 at a mean rate which has to be determined after 

 consulting the local trade ; this rate is of course variable, 

 but is fixed before the sale. We fear that, with an 

 article subject to such great variations of price, this 

 procedure has its dangers, and that this has been one 

 of the causes of the lack of success of the society which 

 has adopted it. Our intention is to pay the associates 

 the result of the sales only after the money has been 

 realised, then deducting from the net price (the special 

 expenses of each shipment being deducted) the amount 

 considered necessary. In this way the institution retains 

 its character as a co-operative society ; it does for the 

 fishermen what they would do for themselves if they 

 banded together to dispose of their catches." 



In reality, almost everything is yet to be done in the 

 matter of co-operative production and sale. The poverty 

 of the fishermen, their slow, distrustful minds, and their 

 intestine dissensions are all so many obstacles in the 

 path. Some shipowners, however, have very success- 

 fully formed such societies. In La Rochelle a co-opera- 

 tive union was formed about a year ago among the 



