ABSTRACT
IN its various forms the co-operative movement representsone of the most interesting and fruitful developmentsof modern times. Though in practice predominantly a working-class movement, it is not exclusively so, and in recent years the proportion of its middle-class adherents has significantly increased. As a social gospel, co-operation appeals to all classes. It seeks, not to obliterate class distinctions, but to temper and subdue class animosities. The co-operative ideal is a commonwealth where production is controlled by producers and consumers enrolled in voluntary associations; where profit, the chief source of the inequalities of the present system, is suppressed, and where the exploitation of one man by another is no longer possible. The means by which co-operators hope to attain their ends are almost as interesting and original as the ends themselves. Not revolutionary action nor State intervention, but the free initiative of individuals working through VOluntary associations is the instrument on which they rely. Between cooperation and socialism there is naturally a certain resemblance, but the two programmes are based on quite distinct conceptions of social justice and proceed by radically different methods. 'Our system,' says an eloquent advocate of cooperation, ' presents this advantage, incomparable in our eyes, of sacrificing nothing of the liberty of the individual or of rights legitimately acquired. If in these circumstances we find ourselves fighting side by side with the socialists, I for one will not be alarmed. Even the most revolutionary socialists will cease to terrify us, once they have passed through the school of co-operation.' 1
The chief forms of co-operation are these: (a) producers' co-operation; (b) consumers' co-operation; and (c) co-operative credit. It will be convenient to consider each of these in turn.
