September 30, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



161 



is a chimney seventy-five feet in height, and having a flue about 

 four feet square, which will be amply sufficient to carry away the 

 gases, and to provide good draught to all the boilers together. It is 

 given this height, partly to give a strong natural draught, such as 

 will be needed in investigations of the efficiencies of boilers at dif- 

 ferent rates of combustion, and to insure that the adjacent build- 

 ings, some of which may ultimately be carried up to a considerable 

 height, may not interfere with its action, and may not receive gases 

 blown from its top. The ceiling of these rooms, and floor of the 

 upper portion of the building, are given the standard ' mill construc- 

 tion,' and consist of two floors of yellow pine, separated by an in- 

 termediate layer of cement. The floor is carried on heavy beams, 

 and left unlathed and unplastered ; the lower surface of the ceiling 

 being given an oil finish, and the beams painted as over the upper 

 apartments. 



The structure is an example of a successful attempt to secure 

 large, comfortable, and well-lighted rooms at small cost. The 

 construction is as simple as possible, and the finish is of the most 

 inexpensive character. The result is thoroughly satisfactory, if 

 we may judge from the limited experience so far had with it. 



CO-OPERATION ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 

 III. — Austria, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, and the Nether- 

 lands. 



From Austria the answers to Lord Rosebery's circular (see 

 Science, No. 220) are based on the reports of the inspectors of in- 

 dustries. In Vienna there are several societies founded by work- 

 men, which, from small beginnings, have so developed that they 

 now afford facilities of cheap supply to many thousand families. 

 One of the most important of these associations is the Arbeiter- 

 Spar-und Consumzierein (Workmen's Saving and Supply Associa- 

 tion) in Fiinfhaus (registered as an unlimited liability company), 

 founded in the year 1865 by fifteen working-men, and which now 

 contains about 3,800 members. Any person, without distinction 

 of station or sex, can become a member of the association. Nearly 

 half the members, about 1,600, belong to the class of working-men, 

 while the remainder are independent mechanics, tradesmen, small 

 officials, pensioners, widows, etc. Each member pays an entrance- 

 fee of 30 kr. to the reserve fund, and a subscription of 10 fl. for a 

 share. 



The members have the right of speaking and voting at the 

 general meetings, of procuring goods at the stores of the society, 

 and of claiming a share in the profits. In addition, each member is 

 allowed to make savings deposits to the amount of 500 fl. These 

 deposits yield an interest of six per cent, and can be withdrawn at 

 any time, together with the interest, on giving notice beforehand. 

 All goods bought must be paid for in cash. 



At least five per cent of the net profits are paid to the reserve 

 fund, so long as the latter does not amount to twenty-five per cent 

 of the members' capital. Out of the amount which remains, inter- 

 est at six per cent is paid on the shares, and, should any further 

 sum remain, it is paid in dividends to members according to the 

 amount of goods purchased by each during the year from the 

 society. The association is managed by the board of directors, the 

 council of inspection, and the general meeting. The board of di- 

 rectors, which is composed of the manager, the cashier, and the 

 goods manager, are elected for a period of three years from among 

 the members in a general meeting. The board of directors repre- 

 sents the society in its public dealings, and is charged with con- 

 ducting all its business affairs. The members of the board receive 

 a salary. The council of inspection, which is charged with watch- 

 ing over the management of the business by the board of directors, 

 consists of fifteen elected members, who receive no salary. The 

 general meeting has to consider and decide upon all matters of im- 

 portance which affect the society, and these meetings are held 

 quarterly. The accounts are balanced quarterly. 



It seems that the governmental reports furnish no statistics 

 of the number of co-operative societies in the whole of Austria. 

 The only reliable information on the subject is found in a report 

 drawn up in 18S1 by Dr. Hermann Ziller, editor of the Genossen- 

 schaft, the organ of the General Union of Industrial and Provident 

 Societies in Austria, of which union he is the founder and director. 



The subjoined table gives the number of co-operative societies in 

 lower and upper Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Styria, Co- 

 rinthia, Krain, the seacoast, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, 

 Bukovina, and Dalmatia, in 1881 : — 



People's banks 1,129 



Consumers* societies (selling food, clothing, etc.) 235 



Societies for assisting artisans in buying materials wholesale ... 6 



Societies for supplying agricultural implements, manure, etc. .. 14 



Raw material and selling-depots 2 



Selling-depot i 



Artisans' producing associations 41 



Agricultural producing associations 61 



Building societies 5 



Trading societies zo 



Insurance societies 2 



Various g 



Total 1,51s 



All societies in Austria, of which the number of members is un- 

 limited, and which seek to benefit them by carrying on business in 

 common, are required, by a law passed in 1873, to be registered 

 either as Hmited or unUmited liability companies ; the measure of 

 liability in the former case being fixed by their rules, which, how- 

 ever, do not generally make members liable for more than double 

 the value of their shares, and their responsibility terminates by law 

 after their membership has ceased for a year. In unlimited com- 

 panies the liability extends through the second year after the 

 expiration of membership. In 1881 something less than two-fifths 

 of the societies tabulated above were registered with unlimited, 

 and rather more than two-fifths with limited liability ; about one- 

 fifth were unregistered. 



People's banks are the most numerous co-operative societies in 

 Austria. As has been already seen in Dr. Ziller's table, there were 

 1,129 of those associations in 1881. They were unequally dis- 

 tributed over 10 different provinces ; Bohemia having 425, Moravia 

 304, Galicia 140, and Lower Austria 128, the other provinces only 

 contributing in numbers varying from 2 to 33 to the total. About 

 half these societies were unlimited as to liability. 



The people's banks may be divided into two groups. The first, 

 the majority, are open to all classes, and their members are gen- 

 erally tradesmen, artisans, and farmers ; the minority, which form 

 the other category, are open only to officials. The total number 

 of the latter kind of societies in Austria was 79, more than two- 

 thirds of which are in Lower Austria, the metropolitan province. 

 Only 696 societies made a return of the number of their members, 

 which amounted to 296,648, giving an average of 426 members per 

 society. 



Austria has no co-operative societies for shipping or fishing. Of 

 the 61 agricultural co-operative societies, 59 are dairies and cheese- 

 farms. There is one co-operative association for bee-culture, and 

 one for hop-growing. In 1881 five co-operative building societies 

 existed. Their object was to provide dwellings for artisans. They 

 were not financially successful, and are now in liquidation. 



In Italy co-operation has gained much ground since 1883, 

 though it has been known for twenty-five years. Before 1883 co- 

 operative institutions were hampered by legal restrictions. The 

 old commercial code did not recognize co-operative societies as 

 such, and they had to exist as limited liability companies. The 

 code of 1883, however, directly recognizes co-operative societies, 

 and regulates their administration. 



Instances of various kinds of co-operative associations are now 

 to be found in Italy ; but by far the most important, in regard to 

 their numbers, capital, and success, are the co-operative or 

 people's banks {banc he popolari'). Co-operative stores {societa 

 co-operative di consmno) for the purchase and retailing of pro- 

 visions, fuel, and other necessaries of life, are fairly numerous and 

 successful among the working-classes in cities and towns. In 

 many cases their establishment is due to the initiative of friendly 

 and mutual-benefit societies, and sometimes the two objects are 

 combined by one association. 



A law passed in 1870 exempts co-operative societies from the 

 payment of octroi (or local entrance dues) " upon goods provided 

 by them for distribution solely among their own members, for pur- 

 poses of benevolence, and for consumption at the homes of those 

 persons to whom the distribution is made." 



