Co-operative Societies. 



[march, 



could by purchasing for himself alone from local dealers. 

 He obtains the benefit of lower rates of carriage, and he is 

 assured of the genuineness of the goods. 



Such a society is not only in a position to buy from large 

 merchants or manufacturers, but it can guard itself against 

 adulteration or misdescription by analysis, the cost of which 

 when applied to large consignments is proportionately un- 

 important, though the trouble and expense involved would 

 tend to discourage the smaller buyer from protecting himself 

 in this way. 



Although it is evident that the benefit of such co-operative 

 purchase is very great in the case of the small farmer, there 

 is little doubt that it is equally advantageous to the large 

 farmer, though for a less obvious reason. The quality of 

 manures and feeding stuffs can practically only be tested by 

 analysis, and even then some scientific knowledge is necessary 

 to appreciate the results obtained and the relation between 

 the price charged and the value represented by the analysis. 

 Admitting that many farmers are fully qualified to bargain 

 on equal terms with those engaged in the trade, it is certain 

 that there are many who are not, many more who are indis- 

 posed to take the necessary trouble, and many again who are 

 inclined to rely unduly on the description of the goods 

 furnished by the seller. To such, a co-operative society is 

 of the greatest value, for they can depend on their interests 

 being duly safeguarded in every way. They know that they 

 are paying only the wholesale price of an article and they 

 have the further assurance of freedom from adulteration and 

 correct description, because in such a society practically all 

 inducement to overcharge disappears owing to the fact that 

 any advantage taken of a member would only increase the 

 profit which would afterwards be returned to him in the shape 

 of increased dividend or bonus. 



These advantages are best secured by a genuinely co-opera- 

 tive association, that is to say, a society in which the capital 

 is subscribed by those interested as consumers, and in which 

 the profits are distributed by paying a fixed rate of interest 

 on the capital, and then dividing the surplus among the 

 members in proportion to the extent to which they have par- 

 ticipated in the business. Only members should be admitted 



