INTEODUCTION 17 



purpose a capital was raised, by each member buying a share 

 of one pound Sterhng, in order to keep a store for the sale of 

 provisions, clothing, etc. ; to provide better houses ; to 

 manufacture certain goods for the purpose of securing employ- 

 ment for members who were either unemployed or suffering 

 from repeated reductions of their wages ; for the latter purpose 

 the society might also rent or purchase land to be cultivated 

 by members. A further aim was the foundation of a com- 

 munistic colony according to Owen's plan. Fortunately, 

 however, the practical pioneers devoted their attention to the 

 solution of the first part of their programme, viz. to set up a 

 supply store. Unadulterated goods of full weight were to be 

 sold at ordinary trade prices for cash ; each member, whether 

 male or female, was to have one vote ; the annual surplus 

 was to he divided according to the purchases and not according 

 to share capital. These principles have proved to be of great 

 vitality and have materially promoted the growth of the 

 movement. 



The Kochdale Pioneers' store soon began to deal in other 

 than the above-named three kinds of goods ; in 1851 a flour 

 mill was built, and in 1855 a cotton mill. Other distributive 

 societies were formed in England and Scotland on the same 

 principles ; in 1851 there were already 130, in 1861, 450, in 

 1881 about 1000, and at the present time there are about 

 2500 with 2,500,000 members, and an annual turnover of 

 about £111,000,000 and an annual surplus of about £12,000,000. 



In 1863 forty-five co-operative stores in the North of England 

 combined for the purpose of wholesale purcliasing, and es- 

 tablished a business in Manchester, which in 1872 was extended 

 to the whole of England under the name of The Co-operative 

 Wholesale Society, membership of which is confined to co- 

 operative retail distributive societies, to which shares in the 

 business are allotted in proportion to the number of their 

 members and a corresponding number of votes. The annual 

 surplus of the C.W.S. is divided among members in proportion 

 to their purchases. In 1868 a similar C.W.S. was formed for 

 Scotland with its headquarters in Glasgow. These two Whole- 

 sale Societies are enormous undertakings with branches in 

 many towns and representatives in many foreign countries, 



