PEEFACE xiii 



marking of butter, though this latter has now been super- 

 seded by legislation initiated by the peasants themselves. 



The difficulties experienced in ^me countries, when starting 

 a co-operative undertaking, are often caused by the competition 

 from the trade affected. A co-operative bacon factory, for 

 instance, might be Hkely to take custom away from private 

 bacon manufacturers or pork butchers in the district. These 

 would, therefore, try, by offering the co-operating farmers a 

 higher price for their pigs, to draw these away from the co- 

 operative factory, hoping thereby to render its existence 

 impossible, and then later on, with less competition, to recoup 

 themselves by getting the pigs cheaper. To defeat this not 

 uncommon nor unnatural form of competition, Danish co 

 operative societies have in several instances apphed the rule 

 of compulsory dehvery. The co-operators will bind them- 

 selves for a number of years to deliver all their pigs to their 

 co-operative bacon factory, or all their milk to their co-operative 

 dairy, except what is wanted for their own use ; or they will 

 bind themselves to buy either all the artificial manure they 

 want, or a certain quantity, through their co-operative pur- 

 chasing society. They show thereby an obedience to self- 

 made laws which gives a great strength to their co-operative 

 undertakings and enables them to defy all competition. By 

 the time the period for which they have bound themselves has 

 expired, a sufficiently long test has been afforded to show 

 whether the undertaking was sound or not. 



It has sometimes been considered a shortcoming of the 

 Danish co-operative societies that they have not set themselves 

 ideahstic or philanthropic aims or devoted some part of their 

 surplus to educational purposes. This, however, is an un- 

 deserved stricture based on a misunderstanding of the co- 

 operative movement in Denmark. The co-operative societies 

 as such have not taken up education or other social work, but 

 the members of the co-operative societies, i.e. the farmers 

 themselves, have done so. Just as they have found it practi- 

 cable to form a special society for each special object, so they 

 have found it advisable to maintain societies for technical or 

 commercial work distinct from societies with idealistic aims. 

 The Danish farmers are well supplied with schools, and several, 



