CO-OPERATION IN IRELAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 14, 6 April 1899, Page 7

CO-OPERATION IN IRELAND.

An illustration of the progress made by Ireland, in one industry at least, during the past ten years was given by Lord Zetland in. the course of an address before an English Chamber of Agriculture a short time ago. la 1889, he said, there was only one co-operative 1 creamery in Ireland, and that consisted of 30 members. The cooperative system did not take on at once. In the year 1891 he had the honour of opening one of these institutions, and as his connection with Ireland in an official capacity ceased soon after, he had not much knowledge of how co-operation •was progressing there. He had, however, received the last annual report of the Irish agricultural organisations, and he found that on March 31, 1898, there were no fewer than 72 co-operative creameries working, and 52 more were building ; there were 13 separating stations ; 77 agricultural societies for the sale of manure and so on ; 15 cooperative banks ; and 13 co-operative societies. In other words, there were in Ireland in 1890 one co-operative creamery with 30 members. On March 31, 1898, there were upwards of 240 co-opera-tive societies, with a membership of 27,822. These figures spoke for themselves as to the enormous success which co-operative societies had been in Ireland, and he could only say from his own personal experience that these creameries supplied a want that was long felt. Irish butter was at, one time driven out of Dublin by foreign competition, but these societies were not only holding their own, they were competing successfully with the foreigner, and they gave remunerative dividends to the shareholders, and enabled the farmers to obtain a higher price for their produce. It had occurred to him that what was applicable to Ireland in that respect might very probably be applicable, in an equal degree, to England.