CO-OPERATION IN ENGLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 4

CO-OPERATION IN ENGLAND.

SOME OF ITS TROTTBI/ES. RIVAL __ULTIP_.E SHOPS. (Prom Our Own Correspondent). LONDON, March 26. The chequered career of some of the Dominion co-operative societies during the present difficult times will render the story of the great English Co-opera-tive Wholesale Society worth hearing by way, perhaps, of warning, and it may be of example. The importance of co-operation in Britain —which, however, has always remained curiously aloof from agriculture, probably from the conservatism of the English farmer, may be gauged from the fact that in 1921 retail societies had effected in 1922 sales of over £219,000,000, and that figure was a decrease from the previous year. The C.W.S., some representatives of which visited New Zealand about two years ago in search of supplies which, they wished to secure straight from the producer, has had its post-war troubles, and these it has investigated and reported upon. Since, in a sense, the organisation of the control boards of New Zealand's various primary products must be handled on lines somewhat analogous to those of the C.W.S., we make no apology for giving a fairly lengthy precis. The report shows that when the great trade slump'began in the latter half of 1920, business with the C.WjS. began to fall off on account of prices. Certain buyers for the co-operative societies asserted that they could do better by purchasing from outside sources, and loyalty to the productive side of the movement went to the winds, as far as they were concerned. The C.W.S. Committee have found it to be true that here and there merchants and manufacturers, forced to turn goods into cash to meet the demands of bankers, were obliged to sell them below cost prices, with, which the C.WIS., desiring to work on sound, commercial lines, could not compete. On the other hand, many co-operative societies, by reason of their financial and competitive position, combined with the depreciation of stock values, "were obliged to go into the cheapest market and pick up job lines at prices which had no relation to the cost of production. In many industries, following the war activities, numerous firms were over-producing in relation to demand, with the result that surplus goods were offered and sold at low prices to attract the co-operative trade." , The committee gives an instance in respect -to the flour trade, in -which over-production led some- millers to sell at lower rates to retail societies than the C.W_. was prepared to do. This, however, was only a temporary advantage, lor on the occasion of the recent C.W.S. -strike, private millers, in consequence of a partial stoppage of cooperative flour mills, advanced their quotations to distributive societies. It is reported that as trade approaches the normal the C.W.S. is regaining all that it lost through exceptional financial circumstances of the country. The committee, speaking from the experience of extensive trading' operations, find that there now exists a more stable state of affairs generally in finance and commerce, and that to-day there need be no act of disloyalty on account of prices. • A promise is made that every effort will be put forth to remove any other obstacles to trade in actual C.W.S. productions. Some retail societies" complain of lack of variety and style, especially in drapery and allied goods supplied by the C.W.S. This can be met only by the gradual process of increasing the range of manufacture. The keenest competition, however, arises from the sale of proprietary articles. The report says: "It is perhaps desirable to call attention to the competition of the multiple shops, where the productive and retail operations are under one control and there is national uniformity in regard to package, price, etc. A most effective means of combating this menace is, we believe, by the adoption of fixed retail prices by societies for C.WjS. productions.* The experiments we have already made in this direction with various articles have been successful. The sale of proprietary bands is a sore point with co-operative societies, for some of these are supplied only on condition that they are sold without the usual co-operative dividend, at the makers' fixed price, plus the amount of the dividend that would be given. There may some day have to be a stiff fight between the co-operative movement arid the Proprietary Articles Traders' Association, or co-operation will have to give up its economic advantages of mutual trading (as far as these goods are concerned), or entirely support only its own productions of a similar character.