VAST SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 59, 2 December 1933, Page 17

VAST SOCIETY

Cementing Empire Ties GROWTH IN 69 YEARS Co-operative Wholesalers Sixty-nine years ago in Great Britain, 28 men decided to form a movement under a new basis of Society. The result was the formation in 1864 of the Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. Now, this “All-British” organisation, with its headquarters in Manchester, has steadily grown to a vast size, with world-wide In an interview with “The Dominion” in Wellington, Mr. A. G. Hodder, New Zealand representative for the Cooperative Wholesale Society, remarked that very little seemed to be known of the extent of the organisation by the producers in New Zealand. “The society is most anxious to obtain the support of the primary producers of this country, and to give both producers and consumers a fair deal,” he said "We are not speculators, but are out to obtain supplies for the 30,000 co-opera-tive shops of Great Britain, and to endeavour to bring together primary producers and consumers.” Continuing, Mr. Hodder said that the Co-operative movement of Great Britain now numbered (5,500,000 members. These, together with their families, represented probably 22,000,000 of Great Britain’s population. The organisation was catering for the wants of all those people, feeding them, and, to some extent, clothing them, and to obtain the necessary supplies it scoured the world.

Benefit to Empire.

With regard to finance, the society had its own bank and had a turnover of over £700,000,000 per annum, banking only with its own members. Th! huge turnover of the society itself was nearly £100,000,000 a year wholesale, and 120 factories were working for it. It was directly responsible to co-opera-tive distributors of over £300.000.000 worth of goods every year; and if was helping extensively to cement the bonds of Empire.

“One hears of a great number of organisations that are working to this end,” said Mr. Hodder, “but I should like to suggest, that the organisation that is doing the work without talking about it is the co-operative movement of Great Britain. With regard to New Zealand, during (he past year we have purchased approximately £2.500.000 of her primary produce. against a total purchase of £4,250,000 of dairy produce and meat from the whole of the Empire. We do not see why any middleman should come between the producers and the co-operative consumers of Great Britain.

Widening Consumption.

“I am convinced that no other organisation in Great Britain lias done more to increase the stile of Empire butter in the North of England, where Continental butter has in the past dominated the market, than the Co-opera-tive Wholesale Society. lu recent years its trade In New Zealand butter in the Manchester section alone has increased by over 2700 tons, while its increase in New Zealand cheese sales is 874 tons. During the same time our total increase in Australian and New Zealand butter sales has been 5210 tons. Our sales of New Zealand lamb and mutton are also increasing apace. In the London area alone our sales of New Zealand lamb have reached the colossal figure of 30.000 careases weekly, with an ever-increasing demand, “While I have mentioned the business done with the Empire In connection with produce in which New Zealand is particularly interested, It should be worthy of note that the society is handling one-ninth of the world’s production of tea, the majority of this, of course, being produced within the Empire. “With regard to wheat, we treat, in our own mills, over 1,000,000 tons a year. To give some idea of the quantity of flour milled, production is at the rate of 680,2801 b sacks for every hour of a 24-hour day and for every day of the year. It has to be borne in mind, also, that this flour is utilised by cooperative consumers only.”