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COOPEBAGE. 378 COOPERATION. cypan, to buy, from Lat. caupo, innkeeper). The .sale of tobacco, alcoholic liquor.?, or clothing to iishernieu in the Xorth Sea, or the barter of these articles for fish, nets, or other such prop- erty. As the goods for sale had escaped duty, the business was profitable, but it demoralized the fishermen. In 18S2 a mission was founded for supplying the fishermen with good clothing, lit- erature, etc., at a fair cost, and in 1887 six na- tions concerned signed an agreement to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors to fishermen at sea. Xext year Great Britain embodied the terms of this convention in the North Sea Fish- eries Bill. COOPERATION (Lat. cooperatlo, from co- operari, to cooperate, from co-, together -|- ope- rcri, to work, from opus, Skt. a pas, work). In the widest sense of the word, all production is the result of the cooperation of nature, labor, and capital ; but economists have generally re- stricted the terra to three classes of enterprises, namely: (a) Cooperative distribution; (b) co- operative production; and (e) cooperative so- cieties for banking or loaning money. It is sometimes extended to profit-sharing, by which the employee shares beyond his wages to some ex- tent in the ])rofits of his employer; but this is a misapplication of the term, for cooperation starts with the worker, while profit-sharing starts with the employer. Cooperative Distrihutiox. This is some- times called consumers' cooperation, and is an effort to do away with the middleman and to have the consumers themselves organize distribu- tive stores and reap the profit which would othenvise fall to the storekeeper. There can of course be no doubt that tinder existing condi- tions of production the merchant who serves as an intermediary between the producer and the consumer, or between the wholesale dealer and the retail purchaser, perfonns an important social service for which he is entitled to a rea- sonable remuneration; but, unfortunately, the number of these intermediaries has increased be- yond all measure; and, as they all must strive to subsist, there is still, in spite of great im- provements in the distributive process, a vast difference between wholesale and retail prices. A French economist. Prof. Charles Gide, esti- mates that more than one-tenth of the popula- tion of France depends on commerce for its sub- sistence. In other words, ever.y ten persons sup- port one intermediary. The economic waste of commercial competition indicated by these facts aroused, many years ago, the condemnation of such social reformers as Francois Fourier (q.v.) and Robert Owen (q.v.) ; but tbe first lasting, successful attempt to dispense with the middle- man was made in 1844, by twenty-eight poor weavers of Ptochdale, near ^lanehester. They or- ganized, under the name of 'Equitable Pioneers of Rochdale.' to sujjply themselves with provi- sions, beginning with flour, butter, sugar, and oatmeal. Business was transacted at first in a small room in Toad Lane, with a capital of £28, each member having subscribed an equal share. They overcame all difficulties, and out- lived not only internal divisions and jealousies, but also external prejudices and opposition. Tlie success of the store led to many imitations, a considerable number of which, however, had only a very short existence, owing in many cases to want of harmony among the members, bad management, insutbcient capital, or dishonest olljcials. Xotwilhstandiug all dilliculties, co- operation continued to increase, and in 18(i4 no less than 395 societies in Great Britain made re- turns to the registrar, possessing a share and loan capital of £774,000, doing an annual trade of nearly £3,000.000, and making an annual profit of £225,000. It was then proposed to form a federation of societies for the jiurpose of im- dertaking the wholesale trade of the movement, thereby protecting the societies from the impo- sition of the wholesale traders, and securing the profits of wholesale dealing. The 'North of Eng- land Wholesale Society' began business in Man- chester in 1803, and in 1871 became the 'English Wholesale Society.' This organization has pur- chasing and forwarding depots not only in Eng- land and Ireland, but in New York, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Calais, and Rouen. It owns six steamships, which ply between England and the Continent. Following the same lines, the 'Scot- tish Wholesale Societj was formed in 1808, and commenced business in Glasgow. Both of these organizations have prospered and grown, and now supply a large portion of the goods sold by the retail societies. They not only purchase di- rect from the producers, but produce on their own accomit, or in connection with other asso- ciations. The latter activity falls under the head of productive coojjeration, which will be discussed later. In 1895 the memliership of the societies was nearly 1,500,000, and their share capital anioimted to over .$80,000,000; the net profit of the concerns was nearly .$27,000,000, after paying 5 per cent, interest on capital and accunuilating a surplus. About one-sixth of the population of Great Britain have their wants in whole or in part supplied through cooperative stores. In the L'nited States isolated experiments of a similar nature were made as early as the eigh- teenth century. In 1845 the 'Workmen's Pro- tective L'niou' of Boston organized a successful store, which was afterwards carried on under the name of the 'New England Protective Union.' The 'Patrons of Husbandry,' founded in 18G7, for a time developed a variety of cooperation by encouraging the local 'granges' to fonn pur- chasing clubs and to employ a^tents to buy sup- plies. The 'Sovereigns of Industry,' a secret or- der with ritual, foimdcd in 1874 to do for the artisan classes what the 'Patrons of Husbandry' were doing for the farmers, founded numerous cooi>erative stores on lines resembling the 'Roch- dale Pioneers.' In 1877 the organization was doing a business of $1,089,372, but by 1880 the order had collapsed, although not a few stores in various parts of the United States still re- main as a result of the movement. The foundation of a coiiperative store on a small scale is a simple matter in itself. A group of consumers meet to discuss rules and regulations for the enterprise, and agree to fur- nish the necessary capital by subscribing, say, five dollars each. As cooperative stores almost always do business on a cash basis, the original capital need not be very great. Each share of capital receives a fixed rate of interest, say 5 per cent. The dividends may be credited as pay- ments on additional shares up to the maximum number of shares allowed any one shareholder. In this wise the store serves also as a savings- bank for the members. Usually the money sub-