1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

ers. The objective was to acquire jointly,
and as cheaply as possible, such things as
they needed in the way of food, clothing
and household items. Despite this small
beginning, the society prospered. So successful
was it that it provided a basis for
other cooperative societies that came later.
Interesting are the principles agreed to
by "The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers," as
they were called. (1) Membership was to
be open, with no restriction as to race,
sex, religion, politics or other affiliation.
(2) Democratic control was to exist, with
one vote per member regardless of the
amount of capital each invested. This
would prevent the wealthy from dominating
by having more capital invested.
(3) Limited interest was returned on the
capital they invested, so no huge profits
would be taken out. (4) The savings made
from the business were to be distributed
periodically back to the members on the
basis of their patronage. They would receive
a refWld in precise proportion to
their purchases at the society's store.
(5) The cooperative would be neutral in
politics, religion and other matters. (6) All
transactions were to be made on a cash
basis, with ample provision made for depreciation
and reserves. The goods would
he sold at current prices, which would
have the effect of keeping other merchants
from charging too much for their wares.
Finally, (7) the cooperative would provide
information and education continually on
the principles and practices of cooperation.
Generally speaking, the cooperatives in
most countries have held to these principles,
with variations due to local circumstances.
However, in totalitarian land" this
has not been the case, for there membership
is often compulsory and has much to
do with politics.
After Rochdale, cooperative societies
soon sprang up in many countries. However,
in some it was a difficult proposition.
18
In Sweden, for example, laborers were le.gally
forbidden to form organizations of
any sort, but in time the government had
to retract such laws. A Swedish writer,
Axel Gjores, a former cabinet minister,
said that cooperation "sprang from the
people themselves, was born out of the
pressing needs of the lower strata to better
their everyday conditions and fostered by
the growing understanding of the necessity
of organized cooperation and the demands
of such cooperation."
After tough resistance, cooperative societies
got going in Scandinavia in the
1860's. One of the first was a consumers'
association at Stavanger, Norway. It came
to be called the "Bag Association" because
its members had to bring their own bags
when they picked up the goods they ordered,
which goods were distributed on
certain days. In Sweden the small associations
were combined into a joint cooperative
society in 1899. Since that time it has
grown to be one of the country's largest
employers, with more than 20,000 employees.
Over one-third of Sweden's population
now buys their goods through the cooperative
association, popularly called "Konsum,"
and the cooperative is responsible
for 14 percent of the general retail and 26
percent of the foodstuff trade. In Sweden
the cooperative movement has even taken
over manufacturing plants to produce
some of its goods, thus uniting the consumer
and producer cooperative ideas. Additionally,
the cooperative runs many restaurants,
correspondence schools, insurance
businesses and even motion picture production!
Little did the Rochdale group
realize how their small beginning would
develop into the huge business establishment
now seen in Sweden!
In Denmark opposition was also strong,
but in 1852 the first really cooperative
association was formed, the "Fuel Association"
in Copenhagen. It had as its ob-
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