ABSTRACT
The cardinal principle of industrial cooperation is that of 'equitable association', and in this there is nothing that is either new or even modern. In some of its applications, indeed, the principles of co-operation go deep down into the more ordinary forms of industrial life. The Workmen's Associations started then in France were watched by Englishmen and, through Mr. J. M. Ludlow, became an incentive to the Christian Socialist movement in this country. The Society failed as an instrument of practical propaganda, for the numerous associations that it started rested on too insecure, and, perhaps, on too artificial a basis. The Co-operative Union, although the chief central organization in the movement, does not stand alone even for purposes of propaganda, and certain other bodies have been formed because of what has been felt to be the limitations and the comparative inelasticity of the Union methods.
