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    198 THE OPINIONS OF JOHN STUART MILT,.

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    .. * • Part Ii. Co-Operation. Neail The ...

    respect to the rise and progress of those thriving joint stock concerns . An important element in their history he would beg

    particularly to mention , viz ., they -were originally established , and since conducted solely and entirely , by the working men

    themselveswith-, out either patronage or interference from any quarter whatever . The paper following on the listentitled _" Co-operative Societies /'

    , by Dr . Watts , was read in his absence by Mr . Holmes . The subject being * identical with the last , and time being- shortMr . ' Holmes

    , gave but a resume of the contents , from which I give the following extracts .

    "In November , a month after the last meeting of the Association for the Promotion of Social Science , Mr . William Chamb ' ers startled

    his readers by his account of a visit to the Rochdale Co-operative Association . ' A few facts extracted ' from that paper will be a

    fitting introduction to our subject : —There were three shops belonging to the society—one on the right hand sicLe in going down

    the street ( Toad Lane ) , and two on the left—the concern having evidently outgrown its original dimensions , and heen fain to get

    houseroom in any form near at hand . The right hand store was apparently the ancient and metropolitan centre of affairs , and besides

    the shop , which contained two counters , there were apartments upstairs appropriated to different purposes . The higher floor consisted

    of a room for Board meetings , which was lined with presses full of books , and of another apartment used as a reading-room . On the

    opposite side of the street one of the shops had the street iloor occupied by a large table for the cutting up and sale of meat ; above

    was a storeroom for flour and other articles , also an office , with desk and ledgers . The third shop was appropriated to the sale of

    materials for wearing apparel . The society dates from 1844 . It originated in the efforts of a few weavers to better a condition which

    Chartism , strikes , communism , and other pretentious agencies , left pretty much as they found it . By dividing the town into districts ,

    and _apjDointing collectors , the committee of management combined to scrape together somewhere about £ 36 . A third of the sum

    collected was spent on some absolutely necessary fixtures and shop apparatus , there being left about £ 24 wherewith to buy in a stock to

    begin business . They rented a shop at £ 10 per annum . The credit system , which had foundered all preceding' attempts , was

    most resolutely avoided . All j ) urchases , and all sales , were for ready moneyor " brass" as it is called in Yorkshire ; no matter

    what were the , exigencies , , or what the character of buyers , down they must lay the brass on the counter before an article could be

    removed . Originally the store was opened only at certain hours , but in 1851 it was opened all daya regular superintendent and

    , shopmen being appointed . "At the end of 1858 the Equitable Pioneers' Co-operative Society

    consisted ' of 1 , 950 members , and the funds amounted to £ 18 , 160

    5 . s . 4 cl . The business done during the year was £ 71 , 689 , and the

    198 The Opinions Of John Stuart Milt,.

    198 THE OPINIONS OF JOHN STUART MILT ,.

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1860, page 198, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111860/page/54/