ABSTRACT
Beatrice Webb initially published her important study in 1891 under the maiden name of Potter. For the Co-operative movement, though a striking and imposing example of a complete solution of the administrative difficulties of an industrial democracy, forms at the present time an altogether insignificant part of the national industry. The total capital of the country is estimated at ten thousand millions. Poverty and irregular habits form a lower limit to the growth of Co-operation. Fastidiousness and the indifference bred of luxury constitute a higher limit to the desire or capacity for democratic self-government. The social limits are not the only boundaries of the Co-operative State. The administrative limits are, if anything, more important. For the group of citizens who administer a Store or the Wholesale Society are necessarily the actual consumers of commodities or services supplied through those organizations.
