PKEFACE xi 



Funen, and Jutland, to form Provincial Unions, but each keeps 

 strictly to its own sphere, the Provincial Union of Horse Breed- 

 ing Societies, for instance, being independent of the Provincial 

 Union of Co-operative Dairy Societies, although it may very 

 well happen that some prominent peasant may be a member 

 of the committee of more than one Association or Union in 

 his district or province. The Provincial Unions of the dairy 

 societies have combined to form a Central Organisation for 

 the whole country. In some instances the local co-operative 

 societies, such as the Co-operative Bacon Factories, each of 

 which serves a fairly large district, have formed a Union for the 

 whole country, as ^ilso have most of the Co-operative Distribu- 

 tive Societies. These Associations or Unions have no power to 

 interfere in the working or management of the independent 

 local societies ; their function is generally restricted to giving 

 advice, helping to keep the societies on uniform lines, and 

 repFesehting them in their relationship to others ; or they take 

 up work which the local societies could not do, such as the 

 collection of statistics. The more important of these Central 

 or Provincial Unions together with some large co-operative 

 societies extending their operations to the whole country, have 

 combined to form a central representative body, the Central 

 Co-operative Committee (" Andelsudvalget "), which thus 

 forms as it were the keystone to the complete arch. ^ 



It is only quite recently that the question of co-operative 

 short credit, as distinct from the Credit Associations, has been 

 taken up by Danish peasants through the Co-operative Village 

 Banks. At the same time, the more complete organisation, 

 through the Central Co-operative Committee, has enabled the 

 co-operative societies to form a Co-operative Bank. It is the 

 intention in future to call large annual meetings of delegates 

 from all the co-operative associations affiHated to or repre- 

 sented on the Central Co-operative Committee for the dis- 

 cussion of all co-operative questions of a general nature, and 

 for the purpose of voicing the wishes of the co-operative 

 societies, for instance, in their relation to the State. 



An important development which seems to indicate a 

 possible solution of the difficult problem of how to counteract 

 trusts and similar combines has been successfully practised 



