ABSTRACT
The two great working-class movements—Trade Unionism and Co-operation—on which I have dwelt so much in the foregoing chapters, have both made remarkable progress during the last few years. Nor is there any considerable doubt that this progress will continue; for both movements fulfil purposes which a growing proportion of the workers recognise as essential. There are, however, in both cases obvious checks on this advance. Trade Unionism thrives on good trade rather than on bad, and, even apart from this fact, its very success is constantly bringing it face to face with more formidable obstacles, and notably, just at present, with a growing determination of the possessing classes either to tame it into acceptance of capitalism or to crush it if they cannot. In the case of Co-operation, which is as yet, despite its theorists, in practice a far less ambitious movement, the main check is imposed by the fact that Co-operation, working under capitalist conditions, depends for its advance on securing adequate capital by voluntary means. As members’ share capital increases but slowly, a sudden accession of membership may easily mean that there is not enough capital available from this source to finance the necessary expansions, still less to do the pioneering work required to bring about a further widening of the movement. The Co-operative Wholesale Society, confronted with this problem, recently resorted to the debatable expedient of raising debentures in the open market—a course which, though the interest was fixed, would obviously have a tendency to assimilate it further to capitalist concerns. Even if this expedient is employed, there can be no doubt that the problem of capital is by itself quite enough to prevent the Co-operative Movement, however it may expand in the sphere of distribution, from seriously challenging within any measurable period the domination of capitalism over production. Its productive achievements are startling enough when they are compared even with those of the largest individual capitalist 104firms; but they are very small indeed in comparison with the volume of competing capitalist enterprise as a whole.
