FABIAN TRACT N 0. 202 

THE 

Constitutional Problems 
of a Co-operative Society 


BY 

SIDNEY WEBB 

PuBLISHED AND SoLD BY 

THE FABIAN SOCIETY 

By arrangement zvith the Trustees of the Sara 
Hall Trust, in commemoration of the life and 
work of Robert Owen 

PRICE TWOPENCE 

LONDON: 

THE FABIAN SociETY, 25, ToTHILL STREET, WESTMINSTER, S.W. 1. 

jANUARY, 1923. 


THE FABIAN S OCIETY. 

25, TOTHILL STREET, WESTMINSTER, LON DON, S.W.l. 

Those willing to join the Labour ~arty, or desirous of obtaining informa 
about its Programme and Principles, are invited to communicate with the Secretaryof the Fabian Society. 

The Fabian Society has been, from the outset, a constituent body of the Labour 
Party ; and membership of the Society carries with it full membership of the Labour 
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for Labour Party, candidatures for Parliament and Local Authorities, without 
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The Society welcomes as members any persons, men or women, wherever 
resident, who subscribe to its Basis (set forth below), and who will co-operate in its 
work according to their opportunities. 

BASIS OF THE FABIAN SOCIETY. 

To BE SIGNED BY ALL MEMBERS. Adopted JI!Jay 23rd, 1919. 

The Fabian Society consists of Socialists. 
It therefore aims at the reorganisation of Society by the emancipation of Land 
and Industrial Capital from indi vidual ownership, and the vesting of them in the 
community for the general benefit. In this way only can the natural and acquiredadvantages of the country be equitably shared by the whole people. 
The Society accordingly works for the extinction of private property in land, 
with equitable consideration of established expectations, and due provision as to the 
tenure of the home and the homestead; for the transfer to the c.ommunity, by constitutional 
methods, of all such industries as can be conducted socially; and for the 
establishment, as the governing consideration in the regulation of production, distribution 
and service, of the common good instead of private profit. 
The Society is a constituent of the Labour Party and of the Tnternational Socialist 
Congress; but it takes part freely in all constitutional movements, social, economic 
and political, which can be guided towards its own objects. Tts direct business is 

(a) the propaganda of Socialism in its application to current problems ; (b) investigation 
and discovery in social, industrial, political and economic relations; (c) the 
working out of Socialist principles in legislation and administrative reconstruction ; 
(d) 
the publication of the results of its investigations and their practical lessons. 
The Society, believing in equal citizenship of men and women in the fullest 
s~nse, is open to persons irrespective of sex, race or creed, who commit themselves 
to 
its aims and purposes as stated above, and undertake to promote its work. 
The Society includes :


1. 
Members, who must sign the Basis and be elected by the Committee. Their Subscriptions are 
not fixed ; each is expected to subscribe annually according to his means. They control 
the Society through the Executive Committee (elected annually by ballot through :t 
postal vote), and at its annual and other business meetings. 
II. 
Associates, who sign a form expressing only general sympathy with the objects of the Societyand pay not less than 10s. a year. They can attend all except the exclusively members' 
meetings, but have no control over the Society and its policy. 
IlL Subsr;~~~~~~swho must pay at least 5s. a year, and who can attend the Society's Ordinary 

The monthly paper, Fabian News, and the Tracts from time to time published

in the well-known Fabian Series, are posted "to all these classes. There are con


venient Common Rooms, where light refreshments can be obtained, with an extensive 

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Among the Society's activities (in which it places its services unreservedly at 

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the Trade Unions and Trades Councils, and all other Labour and Socialist organi


sations). may be mentioned: 

(L) Free lectures by its members and officers · 
(ii.) The well-known Fabian each cbntaining about three dozen of the best books on 
rr•uut~m.s. which can be obtained by any organisation of 
5~0..\'~it~=fr:;r,;~~ an exchange of books every three months ; 
't "'~"'''"''" fl ancl others on legal, technical or 


The Constitutional Problems of a 
C o-operative Society. 

Bv SmNEY WEBB. 

I
I
N the early years of a Co-operative Society, as in tHe infancyof the Co-operative Movement itself, we find little thoughtof constitution-making. The little band of members come 
together in general meetings, which are not too numerously attended 
to be able to get through the business Without elaborate standingorders or formalities. It is easy to designate one member to act 
as Secretary and another as Treasurer. Presently a committee 
is elected with equal simplicity, which continues to lay before the 
members' meeting, quarter by quarter, a plain tale of the society'shumble experiences. 

Nowadays a new co-operative society finds ready to hand the 
carefully thought-out Model Rules of the Co-operative Union, into 
which an immense amount of labour has been put. The adoption 
of this well-devised constitution avoids all perplexities and makes 
easy the necessary task of getting the sanction of the Chief Registrarof Friendly Societies for the rules. Hundreds of co-operative societies 
have in this way grown to prosperity, and even to some magnitude, 
without encountering any constitutional problems. 

" Let Sleeping Dogs Lie." 
Now, where there is no problem, and no grievance or difficulty,
it is in the highest degree unwise to meddle with the society'sconstitution. It is not a mark of wisdom or of discretion when 
a committee, or an individual member, proposes an alteration of 
the society's rules 'merely in order to give them a more elegantexpression, or to incorporate some fad of current interest, or to 
graft upon them some innovation of theoretical advantage. A 
perpetual tinkering with the constitution is, in some Democracies, 
actually a disease; and one from which the Co-operative Movement 
of Great Britain has been honourably free. 
Nothing could well be more undesirable than to have motion 
after motion brought forward, one year after another, either in the 
members' meetings of individual societies, or at the congresses, 
conferences or delegate meetings of federal institutions, seekingto change the rules or alter the constitution. 
The public opinion of the Movement should concern itself 
with the work done and to be done; and with the spirit by which 
it is inspired, rather than with the constitutional machinery. 


4 

An Experienced Executive. 

Nevertheless, as each society grows in magnitude, some changes 
in its machinery will be necessary. The clothes of the infant become 
unsuitable for the growing child, and the adolescent requires, at 
each stage of growth, a new suit. 

One of the changes required,(1) as the society's business increases 
in magnitude, is a strengthening of the executive body, to which 
the members entrust the management. In the early days it was 
customary for the members to take turns to serve on the Committee 
of Management. In some few cases (as in the great St. Cuthbert's 
Society at Edinburgh) the rules actually provided for service in 
rotation as the names stood on the list of members, anyone objecting 
to take his turn being subject to a fine. Nowadays the members 
always elect the Committee; but many societies cling to the idea 
of rotation, and require each member to stand aside after the expiration 
of a fixed term. Experience has taught co-operators, like 
other people, that any such rule or practice is detrimental to efficiency 
of administration. However convenient it may be to be 
able to get a change without hurting anybody's feelings, this convenience 
is dearly bought at the expense of regularly displacing 
the committee-men who have learnt their work. " If we desire to 
make our societies more efficient," declared Alderman F. Hayward,
JP., in his inaugural address at the Co-operative Union Congress in 
r9r9, " we must abolish all time-limits for committees and abandon 
the method by which appointments are made in accordance with a 
rota system. . . . . A rule compelling persons to retire after a 
short period of service is equivalent to having committees permanently 
in the stage of apprenticeship." 

Let the Committee Choose its own Chairman. 

Most societies start with a President elected by the members; 
and the President (who ought to be the most active member of the 
Committee, making himself personally responsible for continuous 
oversight of the society's affairs) does not always find himself serving 
with a sympathetic committee. Itseems to be a better plan, and one 
now sometimes being adopted, for the committee to choose its 
own chairman, and for him to lead in the administration ; the 
office of President being, so long as the society can get along with 
"part time" direction, simply discontinued.(2) 

( 1} Further examples and additional information with regard to all the 
points raised in this pamphlet will be found in The Consumers' Co-operativeMovement, by S. and B. Webb, 192I. 

{2) It may be borne in mind that the rules of co-operative societies, unlike 
the statutory constitution of Local Authorities, provide for the removal of 
any member of the committee of management at any time by two-thirds of 
the members present and voting at a special general meeting, which maythereupon proceed to fill up his place by a majority of the members presentand voting. 


5 


Representation of the Employees. 

Much more important than the election of the President or 
Chairman is, however, the hotly-debated question of the representation, 
upon the Committee of Management, of the society's own 
employees. The change of opinion during the past" decade has 
certainly been remarkable. Originally, as is well-known, the 
employees were invariably debarred from election to the Committee 
<>f Management; generally disqualified even from voting at its 
election ; and, in some cases, absolutely excluded from membershipin the society. They are now everywhere allowed, encouraged and 
even pressed to become members. Many societies have abrogatedthe long-standing explicit disqualification of employees to vote as 
members in the election of the committee of management : an 
enfranchisement sometimes restricted to adult employees, not 
married and not living with their parents, who are members. It 
looks now as if the Co-operative Movement would frankly accept (1)
the view that there is no more justification for disfranchising a 
member merely because he happens to be also an employee of the 
society than for the denial of the Parliamentary vote to the citizen 
who is a postman or a policeman. The eligibility of employees 
for election to the committee of management by vote of the members 
is less widely accepted, and may be more open to question. (2) 

( 1) The Co-operative Union has, however, not yet omitted the disfranchis1~ 
clause from its Model Rules (edition of rgzo). 
( 2) The report of the General Co-operative Survey Committee in rgr ggives a very hesitating opinion with regard to employees participating ill the 
management and control of the-Society by which they are employed. "Vl'e 
are of opinion," they state, "that there is not yet sufficient experience to 
justify a recommendation that employees, as such, should have representation 
on management committees ; but we believe 1t would be in the interests of 
the Moverrent if one or more soc1eties were to make the experiment. There 
are one of two societies, upon the management committee of which employees 
may sit as employee-s, but as the employees on the committee have usuallybeen officials these cases do not provide the experience which we consider is 
required, for the present-day demand is for representation of th~;; rank and file 
employees. W'hilst we do not recommend anything more than an experimentin the way of official representation on committees of employees as such, 
we are strongly of opinion that employees of a societv who are members of 
a society should not be by rule rendered ineligible for election to the committee 
because they are employees.... Whilst thus desirous of giving to employeestheir full rights as members of their societies, we are of the opinion that much 
of the work of management committees does not aflect employees as such, 
and that provision for the employees to participate in the determination 
of the conditions of the1r employment can be provided by some form of workshop 
committee or joint council representative of the management committee 
and employees,the appointment of which we recommend. We are of the op1nionthat the formation of such workshop committees or ioint councils would meet 
the vital needs of the employees, and probably render unnecessary any specialrepresentation on the management committee. The subject of workshop{;omrnittees is further discussed in a later part of our report de<1ling with 
welfare work" (Rep01·t of the General Co-op~rative Survey Committee, rgrg, 
p. 
194)B 

6 

A few societies (like the Crewe Co-operative Friendly Society Limited} 
have never had any disqualifying rule, though members who were also 
employees were not often nominated. They are now beginning to be 
nominated and elected-the Crewe Society had its first employee 
member in tg18 and its second in 1920. The York Co-operative 
Society, in 1922, haQ four employees sitting on its committee 
of management, one of them being the secretary of the local branch 
of the employees' Union. Where there was an express disqualification, 
this has sometimes r:>een simply abrogated (as in the Ann-
field Plain Industrial Co-operative Society Limited). In other 
cases express provision is being macle in the rules that not more 
than one (1) or two employees shall be eligible for election, or not 
more than one-sixth of the total number of the committee. The 
Sunderland Equitable Industrial Society has for twenty-one years 
allowed the election of one employee. during which time the same 
person has alwavs been re-elected. The new rules now being 
adopted in other societies (as in Manchester and Salford and the 
Warrington Equitable Co-operative Society Limited) usually allow 
of" the election of not more than two employees upon the committee 
o[ management." A Welsh society now allows four such members. 
Some other societies put no limit on the nnmber of employees who 
may be chosen by the members.(2) Altogether several dozen societies. 
(out of 1,300) have definitely removed the disqualification of employees. 
As an outcome of the movement of thought and of tl!e 
alterations in the rules, employees are being nominated for election 
in an increasing number of societies, occasionally as many as four 
at a time for seven places, though they are not always elected. In 
a score or so of societies at least, an employee, and sometimes two 
or three, may now (1922) be found on the committee. The great 
Liverpool Co-operative Society has three. There are, however, 
already signs of a reaction, especially where candidatures of employees 
have been more numerous than has been liked by the 

members. 

( 1) "No membershall be disqualified from serving on the Board of Directors 
by reason of his being employed by this Society, but not more than one 
person employed by the Society shall be a Director at the same time " (newrule of 1920 of the Hucknall Torkard Industrial Provident Society Limited). 
( 8)" Any servant of the society ccmplying with the foregoing shall be 
eligible for nomination to a seat on the board of management" (Rules of 
the Newbiggin District Industrial and Provident Society Limited, 1920). 

"Employment by the society shall not disqualify a member from being 
an officer other than P ublic Auditor" (Rules of the Coventry and District 
Co-operative Society Limited, 1920). Under this rule one employee was 
promptly elected a committee-man. 


7 

There are, indeed, some objections to the election, at the 
members' meeting, of employees to be committee-men; (1) and there 
can be in this way no assurance that the person chosen represents 
the views or feelings of the staff. Accordingly a few societies have 
taken another line The rules of the Hendon Industrial Co-operative 
Society provide for a special "Employees' Representative"
being elected annually to the committee by the Employees themselves, 
quite apart from the election of the other members at the 
quarterly meeting. The Bishop Auckland Industrial Co-operative 
Flour and Provision Society, by the rules revised in 1915, has 
specifically laid it down that " the employees of the society mayappoint one of their own number, who is a member of the society,
and eligible according to rules 79 and 89, to be a member of the 
committee. He shall share in the duties and responsibilities of 
the committee, and be paid for his services at the same rate as the 
other members of the committee except (a) he shall not be an 
officer of the society [meaning not president, secretary, or treasurerj, 

(b) he shall not be paid for attendance at meetings or for services 
performed during hours tor which he receives wages from 
the society."(2) Among the South Wales societies this practice is 
spreading. In the Dowlais Society (3,160 members in 1919, with 
sales of £186,069) one employee is elected by the employees themselves 
to the committee of management, and two others to the 
education committee. The Nantymoel Society (2,284 members 
in 1919, with £232,442 trade) had, in 1922, no fewer than four 
employees elected to the committee of management by the 
employees, these constituting one-fifth of the entire body. 
But there is yet another line along which provision has been 
made for the participation of the employees in the conduct of the 
co-operative societies' activities. The separately elected education 
committee, which exists in every important society, and sometimes 
exercises considerable influence-managing the hall, the library,
the lectures, and the social entertainments-usually accepts 

( 1) Canvassing for votes has been found an evil. Some societies have 
penalised the practice. Thus, in the Bolton Co-operative Society's rules 
it is stated that " Any person seeking election on the Committee of Management 
and on the Educational Committee found to have been soliciting votes 
by the circulation of canvassing matter, or to have induced other persons 
to solicit votes for him in that manner (either before or dfter nomination) 
or to have canvassea the servants of the society, sha!l be disqualified and shall 
not be again eligible for a period of t wo years." " Any member of the societyfound to have issued canvassing matter on behalf of any candidate, or found 
canvassing within roo yards from the entrance of any of the society's pollingstations on the day of election, shall render himself liable to expulsion from 
the society" (jubilee History of the Bofton Co-operative Society Li11:ited, 1909, 
p. ,;r8). 
( 2) Rules of the Bishop Auckland Industria{ Co-operati<•e Flour .1nd Pro1'
ision Sariet\' L·h::itd, 1915. 

8 


employees as eligible for election, and they sometimes take an 
active part in the work. In some of the larger societies there have 
been established shop or works committees of employees only, 
entitled to confer with the committee of management about all 
matters affecting the staff; and even something like "WhitleyCouncils," composed of representatives of the management and of 
the various sections of employees exclusive of the management,
in equal numbers, for the consideration of all such questions. Thus, 
the Warrington Society, which, as we have seen, allows two employees 
to be elected by the members to the committee of management, 
also provided in 1919 for the appointment of a very elaborate 
"Joint Advisory Committee" composed of equal numbers representing 
the committee of management on the one hand and of the 
employees of the society on the other, for the following amongstother purposes, namely : " To consider the general welfare of the 
employees, and to make recommendations to the committee of 
management from time to time ; to consider the education and 
training of the employees from a Co-operative standpoint, and to 
make recommendations thereon ; to consider all such matters as 
may be referred to it from time to time by the committee of management, 
and to endeavour to cultivate and maintain a co-operative 
spirit and understanding between the management and the employees 
on all matters affecting their common interests and that of 
the industry which they mutually serve." 

It is further specifically provided that " the following are, 
amongst others, the questions which shall be referred to the AdvisoryCommittee for consideration:


I. Hours of labour and business. 
2. Minimum rates of wages and working conditions. 
3· Sickness benefit and its application. 
4· Annual and other holidays of the staff. 
5· Check-book surplus and deficiencies. 
6. 
Incompetence, dishonesty, or indifference of any members 
of the staff. 
7· Disputes arising between Trade Unions and the society. 

8. Suggestions for improving methods, extensions of branches, 
and new lines of business. 
9· None of the above clauses shall in any way interfere with 
recognised Trade Union functions." 
This important and influential committee in a highly successful 
society, having some 20,000 members, a quarter of a million poundsof capital, and an annual turnover approaching a million sterling, 
consists of fourteen members, seven (of whom two must be women)
elected by the committee of management and seven by the employees, 


q 

the latter being chosen each December by all the employees over 
twenty years of age for the time being, voting in five sections, 
namely, Office Staff (one) ; Branch Managers (one) ; Grocery 
(one male and one female) ; Drapery, Boots, Clothing, and Furnishing 
(one male and one female) ; and Bakery, Vanmen, and 
Carters (one). It meets when it likes, but outside working hours, 
in a room provided by the society, and chooses its own chairman 
and secretary, the latter being paid by the society. (1) 

The Coventry and District Co-operative Societv (established 
r86g, in rgzo 26,245 members) has formed a "Labour AdvisoryCouncil" of similar nature. It consists of six members appointedby the committee of management, and ix elected by ballot by the 
employees for one year. The employees in the Works, Dairy, 
Garage, Coal, and Stable departments choose one; those in the 
Farm department, with the carters, choose one; those in the 
Outfitting, Furnishing, Tailcring, Boots, Drapery, and Millinery 
departments choose one; those in the Bakery, Grocery, and Confectionery 
departments choose one ; the Clerical Staff chooses 
one; and (a characteristic of Coventry industrial organisation) 
one is chosen from and by the " shop stewards." The Council 
appoints its own chairman, who must be neither 2.11 employee nor an 
official of the society. It meets once a month to interpret the rules 
as to conditions of service. and to consider matters referred to it 
by the committee of management, the shop stewards, or the employees 
themselves ; and it reports. not only to the committee of 
management, but also to the general meeting of members.(2) 

The extent to which the zo,ooo members of the \VarringtonSociety and the z6,ooo of the Coventry Society have recognisedthe claim of their four to seven hundred employees to participatein the management of what concerns their working lives, and the 
apparently well-devised constitutional machinery devised for this 
purpose, represent, I think, a high-water mark of democracy in the 
Co-operative Movement. 

A Full-Time Salaried Executive. 

Latterly there has been introduced the revolutionary conception 
of a paid and "full-time" executive, which sometimes 
takes the form (as in the Barnsley Society) of a salaried president 
an.d two salaried vice-pre idents, supplemented by " ordinary"
directors. In such a case the salaried president and vice-presidentsare elected by the whole membership, like the" ordinary" directors, 
but for a longer term of years (for insta_nce, for five instead of 

( 1) Constitution and Rules of the \\"arrington Co-operative Society's Toint 
Advisory Committee, r9r9. 
( 1) H.ules of Coventry and District Co-operative Society. 

IO 

three years).(1) A further step has been taken by the Royal Arsenal 
Co-operative Society, established r87o, and in rgrg selling goods 
to the value of £2,633,941 per annum to a membership of 68,509, 
extending from Erith to New Maiden. This society now entrusts 
its entire manag<:!ment to seven directors, who give their whole time 
to the Society's service for a salary of £400 a year. They have been 
elected by the entire membership, voting by ballot papers, on the 
system of the single transferable vote, it being believed that this 
would prove a better way of securing a certain degree of "district 
representation" than if the electorate were divided into geographicaldistricts. One of them, it is to be noted, was an employee, who 
naturally had to cease to be one of the staff when he became one of 
the dire-ctors. The outcome of this experiment will be watched 
with interest by the co-operative world. Other large societies, 
notably those of Leeds and Bolton, are already considering the 
revision of their constitutions in the same direction. 

This transformation of the executive, in a few of the largestsocieties, from a committee paid only by fees to a small number of 
full-time salaried officers is, perhaps, the most momentous of the 
changes that are now taking place in the constitutions of the cooperative 
societies. When we realise the inevitable limitations of 
the committees of men engaged during the clay in earning their 
own livelihood in m:~.nual or clerical labour, able to meet only in 
the evening, at the end of exhausting toil, and unaccustomed in 
their daily lives to any but a narrow range of dealings in small sums, 
we can only be amazed at the capacity and success with which these 
co-operators have coped with business running literally into millions 
of pounds annually. And it is not failure which is leading to the 
supersession of the unpaid committee-men, for it is exactly .in the 
largest and most successful societies that the idea is being adopted,
but the sheer inability of getting through the ever-growing volume 
of business by evening meetings, even if held six nights a week.(2) 

But if co-operators find it necessary to secure the full-time 
services of committee-men or directors, they must make up their 
minds to pay proper salaries. Every experienced co-operator 
knows this, often after painful past experiences, when it is a question 
of managers, or heads of technical departments, or accountants. 

(1) The salaries at present (r 92 1) fixed in the Barnsley Society are £t•oo 
for the president and { 550 for each ,·ice-pr('sident. free of Income Tax. The 
" ordinary" directors now receive £roo a year each, instead of the usual fee 
for each attendance. 
( 2) It may be observed that it is usual in all the larger co-operative societies 
of Germany for the" Vorstand." or executive committee of the three principalofficers, to give their whole t ime in return for salaries. So in Belgium, the 
well-know "Voruit" of Ghent, and " Maison du Peuple " of Brussels, are 
governed by three salaried officers, the functions of the elected committee, 
or conseil d'administration, being rather of a supervi ory and ratifyingcharacter, except as regards new departuJes of policy. 

II 

No co-operator to-day would seek to justify taking on carmen or 
.engineers, joiners or bakers at less than the accepted Standard 
Rate for their particular crafts. Many people, however, fail to 
realise that administration or direction-which is the craft for 
which a committee-man or director should be chosen-is itself a 
-skilled occupation, one requiring knowledge and training, as well 
as character and ability ; and one commanding a price in the market. 
Fancy thinking to hire management at £8 per week! Co-operativesocieties have often been well-served, in different capacities, by men 
who have given their whole lives to the Movement for a mere pittance, 
and sometimes entirely gratuitously. Such self-sacrifice does them 
110nour. It is not quite so honourable of the Movement to go on, 
year after year, complacently accepting the sacrifice. It is not 
very creditable to the members of a society that they sh.ould see 
its premises steadily increase in value, and its reserves grow, whilst 
its dividend is steadily maintained__:when all the time this prosperity 
is very largely the result of the faithful, zealous services 
of men and women, whether as members of the committee or members 
of the staff, who are not being adequately paid for their work. 
There is such a thing as "sweating" the brainworkers, and "exploiting" 
devotion to the Movement, as well as "sweating" the 
wage earners. 

There is nothing specially democratic in accepting gratuitousservice, or in paying for it below the market-rate. On the contrary,
it is, in a sense, highly undemocratic to take this course, because 
it involves the exclusion from office of all those whose family or 
-other circumstances do not allow them to make such a sacrifice. 
\Ve do not get too much first-class ability in our co-operativesocieties ! We ought to open up all the important positions in the 
Movement to the ablest of our members, even if they are poor.
This is what we refuse to do so long as we take advantage of the 
devotion of those who are able and willing to serve us at salaries 
below the market rate. 

It must be borne in mind that, valuable and even necessary as 
may be the adoption of a full-time salaried Committee of Management 
or Board of Directors, this very change inevitably separatesthe committee-men or directors still further from the mass of the 
members. It may increase among the members the apathy that 
is complained of. It may tend to intensify the already greatdisinclination to make complaints, or utter any criticism, of the 
management ; and, on the other hand, to make the salaried and 
almost permanent management callous and contemptuous with 
regard to the members' grievances. It may well be that those 
societies that change their constitutions in order to get greaterefficiency in their executives, require also to make changes in 
order to ensure at least an equal increase in active co-operatiYe 
citizenship among the members at large. 


IZ 

The Educational Committee. 

Most of the co-operative societies in Great Britain seem to have 
relied largely on their Educational Committees for bringing the 
members into touch with each other. I do not propose to deal 
here with the manifold useful activities of Educational Committees ; 
but even the most active of them can hardly claim to secure the 
active participation of more than a tiny percentage of the membership 
of its society. They do not, because they cannot, organisethe membership as a whole. Useful as their function is, whether 
in education or in propaganda, it does not solve the constitutional 
problem presented by the apathy and indifference of the members. 
at large, who no more actively desire to be educated than to be 
troubled with attendance at business meetings. Ur'lfortunately,
as I thitJ.k, there seems to be, in many societies, a certain estrangement 
between the Educational Committee on the one hand, and 
the Committee of Management and the principal officers of the 
society on the other. Indeed, in something like one-third of the 
societies there appears now to be no Educational Committee at all ; 
whilst in others the grant for this committee has been cut down. 

Now, I happen to believe very strongly in both the educational 
and the propagandist functions of the Co-operative Movement. I 
believe that they are not (as is often assumed) one and the same ; 
but that they could both be considerably developed with advantage.
That, however, will be dealt with elsewhere. What here concerns. 
us is the constitution of the co-operative society ; and on this pointI venture to submit a suggestion to my fellow members. I think 
that the Educational Committee, in nearly all societies, suffers. 
from its isolation, from its complete separation from the Committee 
of Management, and, usually also, frcm its divorce from the attention 
of the principal officers of the Society. It is looked upon by them 
too much as a "side show," if not even as a useless "fad," yielding 
no pecuniary profit to the society's balance sheet. With the 
adoption of a full-time salaried executive this isolation and subordination 
of the Educational Committee is likely to increase. 

Some critics have suggested the abolition of the Educational 
Committee, with an express instruction to the elected Committee 
of Management that the work is to be continued under its own 
direct administration. This, it is feared, might mean less educational 
activity instead of more! Several societies have provided,
by rule, that two or more members of the Committee of Management 
shall be deputed to sit on the Educational Committee, so that 
the two bodies may be kept in touch. This device does not seem 
to have much improved matters. 

If any revision of the constitution is decided on, I think the 
most promising hint is to be taken from the Local Education 
Authority of our County Boroughs and County Councils under the 


I3 


Education Acts of rgoz-3. I would make both the educational 
and the propagandist functions of the society as much part of the 
responsibility of the Committee of Management as the buyingand selling of commodities. But I would require the Committee 
of Management to appoint a distinct Educational Sub-Committee. 
consisting of several of its own members, and for the rest, of members. 
selected by the Committee of Management to serve for a year,
after publicly inviting nominations from the Guilds, from anyeducational classes that have been going on, from the staff, and 
from the members at large. The Educational Sub-Committee 
shotild be empowered to manage the current business, after getting 
its financial budget approved, and subject to reporting for sanction 
any new departures. I believe that this annual eo-option of members 
particularly qualified for or specially interested in educational 
work, to sit with those popnlarly elected by the society as a whole, 
affords the most effective wav of" joining up" the educational work 
,,·ith that of the Committee of Management. The work of propaganda 
(which co-operators make a mistake in mixing with education) 
ought to be combined with advertising; and needs, perhaps,
to be dealt with by a special officer, and, in large societies, by a 
special department, under the direct control of the Committee of 
:\lanagement. 

But just as there will be no effective educational work without 
a well-constructed committee, so there will be none-at least not for 
any length of time, or continuously-without an officer specially 
appointed to " run " it. In all but the smallest societies he must 
give his whole time and thought to the work. (He might, in smaller 
societies, give a few lectures ; supervise the library ; or even teach 
a class, as part of his work.) But his main work must be that of an 
organiser and an administrator ; and for this, if efficiency is to be 
obtained, a proper salary must be paid. Yet a large society, which 
has learnt to pay its general manager £8oo or £r,ooo a year, will 
long make shift with an Honorary Secretary of the Educational 
Committee; and, when it comes to appoint a salaried officer, will 
think £F, a week munificent for the administration and organisation 
of all its educational work ! 

How to Overcome the Apathy of the Members. 

But co-operative history reveals, it may be suggested, other 
shortcomings than the failure of Committees of Management and 
Educational Committees to rise to the height of their great task. 
Co-operators themselves complain more of the apathy of a large 
(and, as some say, an increasing) proportion of the members. In 
too many cases, the members, old or new, think of the co-operative 
store simply as an advantageous retail shop. Many of them 
remain ignorant of the fact that it is their own enterprise, dependent 


for its fullest success on their personal interest and active participation 
in its administration. Even if they continue their purchasesthey do not share in the co-operative life. They remain often 
unaware of new developments in their own society. They do not 
attend the quarterly meetings. They are often very far from 
being conscious citizens of the Co-operative State. 

This apathy among the members is, of course, their own fault. 
But it is a drawback, not to themselves alone, but also to the Movement; 
and it may easily become a danger to any society. To overcome 
tlus apathy co-operators have tried many devices. Sol1ile of 
these necessitate changes in the society's constitution. 

District Meetings. 

One way of combating the members' apathy is to make it 
easier for them to attend the quarterly meetings. \Vhen a societ:-· 
has grown so as to include more than a few thousand members: 
or whenever its membership has spread into several towns or villages 
or over any considerable area, it has been found useful (as it has been 
in the C.W.S.) to hold the members' meetings in separate parts, 
in different meeting places, at closely connected dates.(1) These 
District Meetings are an invention of the Co-operative Movement, 
and are, I believe, not kn-own outside it. For they are, legally and 
formally, not separate meetings but merely portions of one members' 

( 1) In the Haswell Co-operative Society, established 18IA>, which had in 
1919 ),481 members, it is provided in the r920 rules that "the membershipresiding at the various places where business is done by the society shall be 
divided into districts, and district quarterly meetings shall be held at which 
lhe same business paper as will be submitted to the generai quarterly meetingshall be considered and voted upon. A member may attend and speak at 
any meeting, general or district, but shall only be entitled to vote at one 0f 
such meetings." The 6,726 members of the Chester-le-Street Co-operativeand Industrial Society (established 1862), who shop at then central premisesand nine branch stores, are, for the purpose of voting, elaborately divided 
accordmg to the1r places of residence into twelve electoral districts : and they 
may vote only in their respective districts. The poll is open for three weeks 
preceding each quarterly meeting. The great Plymouth Society has a more 
elaborate rule . "On all matters of unusual interest, in order to obtain the 
votes of members from all parts of the.district covered by the society on a 
specific question or questions, the committee shall have power to convene 
district meetings. These meetings shall be held in suitable halls, and shall 
be as far as possible held simultaneously, but in each case the hst meeting 
must be held not later than fourteen days after the date of the first meetings.
yhe agenda for each meeting must be the same, and any deviation therefrom 
1n any one or more of the meetings shall make the decisions of that meetingvoid and of no account. No member shall attend more than one meeting.
Admission to these meetings shall be by production of the member's share 
pass book, and his attendance thereat shall be registered by the stampingof the vouchers therein contained and printed for that purpose. Specialdistrict meetings may also be called . .. . not less than 50 members in earh 
and every district" (Rules of the Plymouth Co-operative Society Limited, 
1916, p. 31). 

IS 

meeting, identical resolutions being put to the vote at all of them, 
and the decision being found by adding together the votes for and 
against that have been cast at all the District Meetings. Some, 
at least, of the Officers and Committee-men are in attendance at 
each meeting, in order to conduct the business and answer questions. 
The institution of such District Meetings has been found useful 
in making it easier for members to attend; in maintaining interest 
among members living at a distance from the Central Store ; and 
sometimes in securing the election to the Committee of members 
belonging to different parts of the area covered by the society. 
It seems to secure the attendance, in the aggregate, of a largernumber of members than the former single meeting; but by no 
means an adequate proportion of the total membership. Some of 
the District Meetings get very poor attendances. 

Making the Business Meetings more Social. 

But co-operative man does not live by business alone ; and it is 

worth consideration whether the Members' Meeting, even if sum


moned only to hear the report and declare the dividend, might not, 

with advantage, be made more of a social gathering than it is at 

present. It may be too expensive for the society and not altogether

desirable, to bribe the members to attend by providing a free meal. 

But it would cost little, and would be unobjectionable, to offer 

merely a cup of tea or coffee-even a cigarette-at the beginning

or end of the meeting ; to allot at some stages of the proceedings

half-an-hour for friendly gossip ; and to give the Committee-men 

and Officers of the society an opportunity of conversing with old 

friends in the membership, as well as of making personal acquaint


ance with new members. Somehow or other, if any genuine co


operative life is to be maintained, it must be possible to arrange

that new members should find an opportunity of making acquaint


ances among the older members; and that officers and committee. 
men should hold out the hand of welcome to recruits. 

Organising the Whole Membership. 

Even apart from good-fellowship and friendly intercourse, 
for which some co-operative societies seem to make no provision 
at all, we are apt, as it seems to me, in all societies to leave the 
individual member too much to himself ; to rely on his frequenting 
the store and reading the notices and posters displayed there ; 
and to trust to him spontaneously to make known his wishes, to 
complain of any shortcomings, and to communicate to the management 
any grievance of which he is conscious. In some of the verysuccessful German co-operative societies (which have, in various 
ways, gone ahead of our own), the constitution provides for a systematic 
organisation of the whole membership. Each group of neighbours, 
to the number of a hundred or so-sometimes those who 


r6 


live in the same street, or group of adjacent streets; sometimes. 
those who live in a particular village or hamlet-are placed in 
charge of one of their number, who volunteers to serve for a term 
as the connecting link between them and the management. He is 
appointed by the Committee of Management, and his first and principal 
duty is to deliver promptly to each of the members on his list 
any notices that he receives for this purpose. In this way the 
Committee of Management is able, without the heavy expense of 
postage, to put into the hands of every household, even where the-
member does not trouble to visit the store, a series of. invitations to, 
or notices of, meetings or lectures or entertainments: a series of 
advertisements of specially attractive goods that are on sale; and 
even a series of requests for individual orders for particular commodities 
that can be bulked for transmission to the Wholesale 
Society. At the same time the Group Agent hears any grievances 
or receives written complaints, which he communicates to the 
management. Periodically the whole of the Group Agents are 
invited to meet the Committee and Officers; when a free discussion 
takes place about possible business improvements and new developments, 
concluding with a festive meal and an entertainment. In 
a society of ro,ooo members, divided in this way into groups of 
roo each, the hundred Group Agents for the time being would constitute 
a valuable link between management and membership.

Those who have not tried the experiment of thus organisingthe whole membership sometimes declare that it cannot be done ; 
that volunteers as Group Agents could not be found, even for such 
a short term of service as six months ; that the members would 
not like it ; that the management would be overwhelmed with 
foolish complaints, and so on. The answer is that the" Production " 
of Hamburg, and other great co-operative societies in Germanyactually do it, and find it extremely successful. Merely as a device 
for business advertisement it is invaluable. Any capitalist trader 
would jump at the chance of such an organisation. I cannot 
believe that British co-operators are incapable of it. 

Branch Committees. 

In some co-operative societies there have been established 
Branch Committees, each representing the members habituallydealing at a particular Branch Store, and charged to exercise 
a general supervision over its operations. This was suggested in a 
former edition of the Model Rules by the Co-operative Union as 
a way of attempting to organise the whole membership. It was 
hoped that by instituting Branch Committees a larger number 
of members might he induced to take an active interest in the 
society's affairs ; and that the officers and general committee-men 
would get the assistance of local criticisms and suggestions. It 
cannot be said, I think, that such Branch Committees have usuallyproved very ucces ful. 


17 

In some cases they have been given up, sometimes because of 
their inanition, and sometimes because it was felt that particularlyenergetic local committees got special advantages for their own 
branches not enjoyed by branches unprovided with a local committee, 
or with a committee that did not function. In the extensive 
Lincoln Society, which had, in 1919, 19,245 members and altogether 
25 branch stores, with sales amounting to £912,663, local 
committees of not more than nine members are elected annually 
for each of eight outlying branches. But I gather that ail but 
one of these local committees confine their activities to meetingabout every six weeks, and the eighth meets only monthly, in spite 
<lf the fact that a fee of eighteen pence is allowed for each attendance. 
It is found difficult, we are told, to invent business for such 
meetings as are held; and they are not considered to have been 
very successful in attracting the most useful members. In the 
equally large Peterborough Society (with 19,641 members in 1919 
and sales of £662,271) seven out of the eleven country branches 
elect at their quarterly members' meetings local committees of a 
few members, who actually meet weekly, and earn their fee of 
eighteen pence per attendance by discussing, week by week, the 
current return of takings at the branch store, making suggestions 
to the board of management, and generally supervising the local 
business. The board of management makes a point of consulting 
the local committee about any local appointment, or any proposedalteration or extension. 

It may, I think, fairly be inferred that what stands in the way<Jf successful Branch Committees is the difficulty of according to 
them any real power or executive authority, even with regard to 
their own Branch Stores. They cannot, for instance, be permitted 
to buy or order g<Jods, or decide what kinds of business shall be undertaken, 
or how much stock shall be kept ; they cannot be given 
freedom to arrange about local collections and deliveries of goods ; 
they cannot be allowed to fix selling prices ; they cannot even be 
entrusted with appointments, promotions or dismissals, or the 
fixing of wages or salaries. To ensure good administration of the 
society as a whole, it is absolutely essential that all these decisions 
should be taken by the General Committee or Board of Directors 
in consultation with the society's principal officers. What can be 
given to a Branch Committee is the "right to grumble "-to voice 
complaints, to offer criticisms and to make suggestions on any 
matters whatsoever. This is usually found not sufficiently exciting 
to induce members to serve on a Branch Committee ; or to attend 
its ~etings when they have been elected to it. 

Nevertheless, the institution of Local or Branch Committees 
in some form seems indispensable, if effective Democracy is to 
prevail, in co-operative societies having tens of thousands of members, 
dealing at dozens or scores of widely-scattered Branch Stores, 


extending over an area which sometimes measures hundreds of 
square miles. We may not yet have found exactly how to make 
these committees successful, but we must go on trying. 

How to make Branch Committees Successful. 

The experience of various large and successful societies with 
Branch Committees suggests certain conditions for success. 

If Branch Committees are instituted at all, they should be uni\'
ersal. If (as in the Lincoln Co-operative Society) they are set up-
only for some of the Branch Stores-it may be only for some outlying 
Branches, or for " the country branches," or a Branch formed 
out of a separate society which has been absorbed-there is inevitably 
a danger of exciting jealously among the Branches. Those 
which have not Branch Committees may suspect that their own 
complaints and desires do not receive the same attention as the complaints 
and desires that are backed up by an active Branch Committee. 
There may grow up the suspicion of "favouritism" of 
this or that Branch: moreover, any devolution of power or executive 
authority to Branch Committees, even to the slight extent to which 
this may be expedient, is made almost impracticable unless it can 
be done for all Branches alike. If there are to be any Branch Committees, 
there should be one for each separate store, central or local, 
so that all may feel dealt with equally. 

The Branch Committees, once they exist, must not be ignored. 
It may often be easier or more convenient for the Board of Directors 
or Management Committee, and especially for the principal officers, 
to come to decisions of policy without consulting the Branch Committees. 
It saves time. It avoids controversy. It permits 
secrecy. Sometimes, indeed, such an immediate decision is essential 
in the society's interests. But, except in such cases of real 
emergency, it will be found to be more advantageous in the long 
run to incur the trouble and delay involved in consulting the Branch 
Committees, not merely with regard to every proposed innovation 
or change of policy concerning the .particular Branches, but also 
with regard to such as concern the society as a whole. The veryessence of co-operative success, at least as far as co-operative life 
is concerned, is a genuine Democracy of administration. Even if 
it is not practicable in any real sense to consult the whole membership 
it is worth a greal deal in any large society to gain the conscious 
consent for any important innovation of the hundred or 

two of members-largely the more active or the more influential 
members-who make up the Branch Committees. Merely from 
the point of view of advertisement, the prior consultation of the 
Branch Committees as to every new departure (whenever actual 
urgency does not forbid it) is well worth the trouble that it involves. 


Some ingenuity may be exercised in finding useful work for 
the Branch Committees to do. It might be made the duty of one 
of the officers in the Secretary's Department to see that the Branch 
Committees start right; to arrange for the chairman of the society, 
or some other member of the Management Committee to be present 
at the first meeting ; to get the Branch Committee to appointits own chairman and secretary, and to adopt a regular day, hour 
and place of meeting, and a proper form of agenda ; to cyclostyle· 
and post from the central office, if desired, the agenda for each 
meeting of each Branch Committee ; and to include in such agenda 
not merely the items supplied by the Branch chairman or secretary, 
but also whatever propositions or notices the Management Committee 
may order to be put before the Branch Committees. Moreover, 
it should be the duty of the Secretary's Department to supply 
to the Branch Committee regular statistics of the progress of each 
Branch in membership, trade, &c., in comparison with all the other· 
Branches, and with previous years. 

In some societies, the Branch Committee is required to depute 
one or more members to conduct, or to help in conducting, the 
periodical Stocktaking at the Branch Store. It may be made the 
duty of the Branch Committee to convene and conduct periodicalmeetings of the members registered as dealing habitually at its 
Branch ; or to manage entertainments, lectures or social functions 
among them. Every Branch Committee ought certainly to be 
specially summoned once a year for the express purpose of a" heart-
to-heart talk " with a deputation from the Management Committee 
and the principal officers, about the life of the Branch, the progressof the business of the Branch Store, the complaints and grievancesthat have been made, the criticisms that have been expressed, the 
suggestions as to new developments that have been urged, or can 
then be brought forward. We are very prone to blame the members 
for apathy and to complain that they will not express either their 
discontents or their desires; but we do not always realise that 
it is a necessary part of the art of administration in a Democracy 
to create a channel for the expression of the popular will, and 
actually to organise regular opportunities for its utterance. And 
I am inclined to think that there is one way in which Branch Committees 
may be rendered much more active and efficient as Branch 
Committees, and that is by making them something more than 
Branch Committees. In this it is the Leeds Industrial Co-operativeSociety that is leading the way. 

The Establishment of a Representative Assembly. 

Perhaps the most vital and the most revolutionary in its 
constitutional potentialities of all the constitutional changes going· 
on in the Co-operative world is the first beginning in the co-operativesociety of the characteristic organ of British political democracy,. 


20 

the elected representative assembly, intermediate between the 
electorate and the executive. In the great and flourishing Leeds 
Industrial Co-operative Society, established in 1847, which had, 
at the end of rgzo no fewer than 92,912 members, a capital exceeding 
£r,soo,ooo, and an annual turnover of over £s,ooo,ooo sterling, 
the members are divided, for the purpose of electing the board of 
directors, into four geographical constituencies, according to placeof residence. Within these four districts there are regular ward 
meetings connected with the several branch stores, each attended 
by the members who habitually make their grocery purchases at 
that branch. It is these ward meetings which constitute, in the 
aggregate, the general meeting of members which elects the president 
of the society and (in their four geographical districts) the 
twelve directors. It is at these ward meetings, too, that the votes 
are cast which, in their aggregate, authorise any expenditure out 
of the net profits, apart from dividend on purchases, and a dividend 
equalisation fund, whether the purpose be " charitable, philanthropic, 
of public utility, or any other purpose, whether within the objectsfor which the society is formed or not." But these ward meetingsserve also as a constituency for the election of a body of men and 
women who are rapidly assuming the character of a representative 
assembly, with independent powers of sanction and initiative. 
At each half-yearly meeting of the ward there is an election byshow of hands, from members purchasing to the extent of at least 
£8 each half-year, and holding two fully-paid-up shares in the society,
of a local committee-man for a term of eighteen months ; thus 
constituting for each ward a local committee of three members, 
who serve respectively as chairman and secretary of the ward, and 
stocktaker of its branch store.(1) Each local committee is required 
to meet at least once a fortnight. They have to visit the branch 
store, and they are specifically charged to bring before the directors 
anything relating to the quality or the price of goods or the conduct 
of the business which appears to be faulty. They are to 
"advise with the storekeeper on any matter in their judgmenttending to the improvement of the management or the increase of 
the sales." But in addition to these duties the local committees 
have to meet collectively. There ar'e, we are informed, fortnightly 
meetings of groups, each uniting about a dozen local committees, 
which occupy themselves with complaints and suggestions made in 
connection with the several branch stores. Moreover, the whole 
of the twenty or thirty local committees of the wards within each 
of the four geographical districts meet together about once a month 
to constitute a united local committee for the district, which has, 
according to the rules," the management of all meetings of members 
within the district " ; and " the primary duty of seeking to add 

{ 1) These 300 local committee-men receive no payment beyond their tram 
fare to and from the meetings 


21 

new members, and of inducing members to support the society."
Each united local committee elects, it should be noted, two out 
of the twelve delegates whom the society sends to C.W.S. quarterlymeetings,the remaining four being appointed by the board of directors 
But what seems destined to be the most important constitutional 

function of the local committees is their evolution into a continuous 
representative assembly. At least once a quarter, on the Saturdaypreceding the quarterly and half-yearly meetings respectively, 
and at such other times as the directors may think advisable, the 
three hundred members of the local committees (together with the 
educational committee, " and such other persons as the board for 
the time being may determine") are summoned to the People'sHall, " to meet the directors in·conference," for the purpose of 
considering the balance sheet (and) directors' report (in Januaryand July), the educational committee's report (in April and October 
and), discussing the working of the sooiety or any matter affectingits interests. 

This " quarterly conference of local committees," as it is 
commonly styled, is always well attended, an excellent tea beingprovided without charge at the close of the proceedings. The 
president, in laying before the conference the directors' report,
delivers an informative address, in which he points out the matters 
to be explained to the members when they assemble in their ward 
meetings in the ensuing week. The elected auditor also gives 
a report, often criticising items in the accounts. Questions are 
asked and speeches are made by the " Locals," .who voice anyobjections that may be entertained in their wards. The chairmen 
of the three main business committees (finance, mill and stores),
into which the board of directors is divided, afford further explanations 
and reply to criticisms. Besides the regular meeting 
once every three months, the board of directors finds it useful to 
summon the three hundred local committee-men to special conferences, 
whenever there is an important issue of policy on which 
an inconvenient popular agitation may spring up, or with regardto which it is desirable that some particular action should be taken. 
During rgzo, for instance, it was found desirable to explain at 
length the reasons that made it inexpedient for the society to embark 
on the building of cottages ; and on another occasion the facts 
with regard to a wage dispute which had occurred with the society's 
carters. It is clear that the main intention and purpose of the 
institution of the conference was that, the local committee-men 
being convinced by argument as to the necessity and wisdom of 
the action and proposals of the board of directors, they should 
proceed to their several ward meetings and secure the support of 
their local fellow members for the official policy. I imagine that, 
for the most part, the conference usually serves its intended purpose 
; and the whole machin'!ry of conference, local committees, 


22 

and ward meetings is obviously of great educational value. But, 
like the knights and burgesses whom Simon de Montfort first 
summoned to Westminster to form the House of Commons, the 
Leeds Conference of Local Committee-men has developed additional 
functions. The three hundred " Locals" who found themselves 
constituted into a permanent body discovered the need for an 
independent executive committee to organise their own proceedings. 
They have accordingly elected an extra-legal committee of eightof their number, which now receives all the suggestions made bythe united local committees of the four districts, and decides on a 
united policy for the "Locals," independently of that formulated 
by the board of directors. If the popular policy is not accepted,
the" Locals" may then set going 'an agitation in the ward meetings, 
concert a united attack at the conference, and in the last resort at 
the quarterly general meeting of members. They may even organise 
opposition to the re-election of stubborn members of the board. 
It was as an outcome of the demand of the " Locals " that the 
system of collective life assurance was adopted, and that the decision 
was at last taken, after more than half-a-century of refusal, 
to join the Co-operative Wholesale Society. It may be added 
that candidates for places on the board of directors, in the election 
addresses that are now read at the ward meetings before the ballot 
is taken, always make a point of reciting their service as local 
committee-men, and of stating that they have been nominated bythe local committees of the wards within their districts. At presenteleven out of the twelve directors of the society have had previousservice as local committee-men.(1) 

The Leeds experiment in creating an elected legislature, representing 
the members and controlling the executive, is, in my opinion,
the most important constitutional development of the British 
Co-operative Movement; not only because it shows us how Branch 
Committees may be made effective, but also because of its establishment, 
in the society, of a Parliament representing the members 
and controlling what stands, in co-operative administration, for 
the Cabinet. Co-operators should watch its progress and studyits results. It is, of course, not an example for any but a large 
society to follow. But in view of the great importance of providing 
both for a wider participation of the members and for a more 

( 1) \Ve may perhaps recognise the beginnings of such an experiment as 
that of the Leeds Societv in the practice of some other societies having Branch 
Committees. Thus the Peterborough ociety, already mentioned, has a 
half-yearly conference between its Board of Management and its seven 
Branch Committees. I have heard that some of the Branch Committees have 
begun to join in private meetings among themselves to formulate a common 
policy. And the Long Eaton Co-operative Society (established r 867; r3,392 
members m 1920) has a quarterly conference between the directors the local 
committees, the educ.ational committee, and the representatives of the Guilds, 
at wh1ch the vanous 1tems Ill the quarterly report, complaints and suggestions 
are d1sc us sed. 

23 


continuous influence of the whole member hip upon the policy of 
the society-in short, the need for a remedy for the apathy of 
so large a proportion of the co-operative citizenship--the constitution 
of the Leeds Society appears worth consideration by all others 
having more than, say, so,ooo members.(1) 

There are those who are impatient with constitutional forms, 
as they are with statistical results, and who tell us to rely on the 
spirit, and to keep our eyes always on the ideal. But even the 
purest soul requires a body, and suffers if the body is not healthy.
Many a co-operative society is such to-day, or is at least fallingshort of perfect health, because of the imperfections of its constitution. 
It behoves the members to bethink themselves whether 
some of the reforms to which other co-operative societies have been 
led may not be worthy of their attention. 

( 1) Bodies of the nature of representab,e assemblies, intermediate between 
the members and the governing councils or executives, are being introduced 
into the larger co-operative societies of Germany, Belgium, and France. 
The newly formed amalgamation at Pa1is, the " Union des Cooperateurs,"
for instance, is divided into sections by" arrondissements" and" communes," 
which must meet at least once a year, to appoint representatives of the section 
at the general meeting of the society, where they cast votes proportionate 
to the number of members by whom they are respectively delegated. recorded 
by their signatures on the sheet of paper constituting the mandate. But 
the section elects also one representative for each 250 members to form a 
general committee. which must meet at least quarterly. At each meetingthe " conseil d'adrninistration," or committee of management, presents a 
verbal report upon the society's progress, and upon the complaints or criticisms 
made since the preceding meeting. The representatives chosen to serve 
on this general committee are charged to present to the committee of management 
all complaints and useful suggestions made to them by the se tions or 
by individual members. The general committee has also to consider propaganda, 
welfare institutions, and the questions raised at the Co-operative Congress. 
It is required to suggest the delegates to that Congress, and also to 
draw up a list of candidates for election to the committee of management(Union 
des Coopbateurs, Commentaires, Statui, Reglement Jnterieur, Paris, 1 920).
A somewhat similar organisation is proposed in the new rules of the M aison 
du Peuple of Brussels (rgzr). 

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I.-General Socialism in its various aspects. 

TRAOTS.-192. Guild Socialism. By G. D. COLE, i\T.A. 180. The Philosophyof Socialism. By A. CLC'TTON BROOK. 159. The Necessary Basis of Society. BySIDNEY WEBD. 151. The Point of Honour. By RUTH C. BENTINCK. 147. Capitaland Compensation. Bv E. R. PEASE. 146. Socialism and Superior Brains. ByBERNARD SHAW. 2d. 142. Rent and Value. 138. Municipal Tradlnj1. 121. 
Public Service v. Private Expenditure. By Sm OLrvER LODGE. 2d. 107. Socialism 
for Millionaires. By BERNARD SHAW. 2d. 139. Socialism and the Churches. 
By REV. JOHN CLIFFO!\D, D.D. 133. Socialism and Christianity. By REV. PERCY 
DEARMER. 2d. 78. Socialis m and the Teaching of Christ. By DR. J. CLIFFORD. 

42. Christian Socialism. By REV. S. D. HEADLAM. 79. A Word of Remembrance 
and Caution tothe Rich. ByJOHNWOOLMAN. 72. The Moral Aspects of Socialism. 
By SIDNEY BALL. 69. Difficulties of Individualism. By S. WEDB. 51. Socialism 
True and False. By S. WEDD. 2d. 45. Tbe Imposslbllltles of Anarchism. By
G. B. SHAW. 2d. 7. Capital and Land. 5. Facts for Socialists. 3d. 41. The 
Fabian Society: Its Early History. By BERNARD SHAW. 
11.-Applications of Socialism to Particular Problems. 

TRAOTS.-198. Some Problems of Education. By BARBARA DRAKE. 6d. 197. 
International Labour Organisation of the League of Nations. By WM. S. SANDERS. 

196. The Root of Labour Unrest. By SIDNEY WEBB. 2d. 195. The Scandal of 
the Poor Law. By C. U. LLOYD. 2d. 194. Taxes, Rates and Local Income Tax. 
By ROBERT JONES, D.So. 2d. 188. National Finance and a Levy on Capital. B y 
SIDNEY WEDD. 2d. 187. The Teacher In Politics. By SIDNEY WEBB. 2d. 186. 
Central Africa and the League of Nations. By R. C. HAWKIN. 2d. 183. The 
Reform of the House of Lords. By SIDNEY WEDB. 181. When Peace Comes-
the Way of Industrial Reconstruction. By SIDNEY WEDB. 2d. 177. Socialism 
and the Arts of Use. By. A. CLUTTON BROOK. 175. The Economic Foundations 
of the Women's Movement. 2d. 173. Public v. Private Electricity Supply. 170. 
Profit-Sharing and Co-partnership : a Fraud and Failure? 164. Gold and 
State Banking. 161 . Afforestation and Unemployment. 155. The Case againstthe Referendum. 152. Our Taxes as they are and as they ought to be. 2d. 145. 
The Case for School Nurseries. 140. Child Labour under Capitalism. 136. 
The Village and the Landlord. By EDW. CARPENTER. 144. Machinery: its 
Masters and Servants. 122. Municipal Milk and Public Health. 124. State 
Control of Trusts. 158. The Case against the C.O.S. By MRs. TOWNSHEND. 
Jli.-Local Government Powers: How to use them. 

TRAOTS.-190. Metropolitan Borough Councils. By C. R. ATTLEE.._ M.A. 2d. 191. 
Borough Councils. By C. R. ATTLEE, M.A. 2d. 193.. Housing. .tly C. M. LLOYD,
1\f.A., 3d. 189. Urban District Councils. By C. M. LLOYD, M.A. 2d. 62. Parish 
and District Councils. (Revised 1921.) 2d. 148. What a Health Committee can 
do. 2d. 137. Parish Councils and Village Life. 2d. 

IV.-Biographical Series. In portrait covers, 2d. and 3d. 

199. Wllliam Lovett. 1800-1877. By BARI1ARA L . HAMMOND. 3<1. 182. Robert 
Owen, Idealist. By C. E. !If. JOAD. 179. John Ruskln and Social Ethics. ByPROF. EDITH llfORLEY. 165. Francis Place. By ST. JOHN(;, RRVINE. 166. Robert 
Owen, Social Reformer. By MISS B. L. HUTOHINGS. 167. Wllllam Morris and 
the Communist Ideal. By MRS. TOWNSHEND. 168. John Stuart Mill. By JULIUS 
WEST. 174. Charles Klngsley and Christian Socialism. By C. E. VULLIAl!Y. 
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