Miscellaneous, 



418 



Nov. 1906. 



One of the most valuable advantages which the system of central and 

 affiliated societies offers is the ease with which the work is extended. As funds 

 become available, the number of members of affiliated societies can be increased 

 by recruitment, or new societies can be affiliated. The increase in the volume of 

 account-keeping in such cases is by no means commensurate with the increase in 

 the number of individuals to whom the benefits of co-operative credit extend. All 

 that is requisite is a few more pages in the ledger of the Central Society. In the 

 case of a town bank, when the available funds are more than necessary for the 

 requirements of the town in which it works, it is possible for it to extend its 

 operations by affiliation of small rural societies in the vicinity, or by loan to central 

 or rural societies in the neighbourhood. In course of time it seems probable that 

 the normal district organization will be a co-operative town bank at headquarters 

 with branches in the tahsil headquarters and larger towns of the district, and 

 affiliated village societies in a very large number, if not all, of the villages of 

 the district. 



Co-operative effort in the United Provinces is not confined to co-operative 

 banking, though in the nature of things this special form is at present the most 

 important. At the present moment there is a most interesting effort, on the part 

 of the silk weavers of Benares, to escape from the clutches of the capitalist 

 merchants who control the trade, and to obtain for themselves the profits which 

 go to the middleman. A society has been formed, of which the membership roll 

 runs into thousands, which has for its object the provision of raw material at 

 wholesale prices to the weavers, and which will also give advances on loan to 

 respectable men to enable them to hold the finished product until satisfactory 

 sales can be effected. Details are being worked out. The Society will have share 

 capital, and already some Rs. 50,000 have been promised by the weavers. The 

 danger which has to be avoided is premature struggle with the body which at 

 present controls the market. If the Society at first confines its efforts to the 

 provision of material at the cheapest rates possible, and to provision of cheap credit 

 to deserving workmen, much will have been done. Later as it gains strength and 

 accumulates funds, it will be in a position to take over the distribution of the 

 finished product. Its initial financial position will not justify any such attempt 

 at the present time. 



Preliminary steps are being taken for the formation of a co-operative seed 

 depot in the Sultanpur district. Such a society would be highly popular, and 

 could be run with success. Its initiation has been retarded by the abnormal rise 

 in the price of grain owing to the frost in January and February last and the 

 unpropitious character of the monsoon. 



There are other forms of co-operative effort which will doubtless be 

 attempted in the near future. The form that co-operation may take is, however, 

 of secondary moment. Once co-operation in any form is a success, the people may 

 be trusted to work out other forms for themselves. The agriculturist of these 

 Provinces has never shown himself slow to adopt any improvement which is 

 workable and valuable, and it is not to be expected that he will be slow to adopt 

 the principles of co-operation, once they are proved by experiment to be successful 

 in any one direction. That these principles are sound is undoubted, and their 

 ultimate general adoption is simply a matter of time and of careful and systematic 

 education. The methods best suited to the conditions of the country will be 

 ascertained by the people for whose benefit the present attempt is being made. 

 And once the principles are known and the method of their application ascertained, 

 a new era will dawn for the agriculturist, and for the lower classes generally. — 

 J. H. Simpson, I.C.S,, Registrar of Co-operative Credit Societies, U. P. in Indian 

 Agriculturist. 



