REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-OPERATION.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2324, 4 December 1914, Page 6

REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-OPERATION.

A PROSPEROUS AND PROGRESSIVE ■ ASSOCIATION OP FARMERS. The term co-operation, a« Holyoake | points out in his well-known, history nfthe movement, was "originally used in' the sense of communism, as denoting a general rearrangement of society for the ■mutual benefit of all concerned .in sua-' tainin" it." In later years, however,'its' usage became restricted to the humbler ,operations of "buying and selling provisions." But thiß was not to be the fixed and final meaningof the word. Ever since the.year 1844,- when the plan was introduced of profits not only to the shareholder, but in part to the' purchaser, the co-operative principle has been applied to innumerable departments of hiuman activity, including those of. the pastoralist land agriculturalist. Plor a striking, testimony to the remarkable development of this phase of co-operation we should (read the impressive statement', published on the. leader page of this is-" sue, at-the instance of the New. Zealand .Farmers' Co-operative Association of Canterbnry, Ltd. ■ • i This progressive and proerierous association of farmers was established thirtytwo years ago.' With a head office and warehouse at Cashel Street, Clrristohmrch, branches in the leading towns of Canterbury, and agencies throughout New Zealand and Australia, it has facilitated the transmission of the farmers! produce-to market, and supplied the personal and household needs of its shareholders and others on the most advantageous terms. It has also conducted with success the business of auctioneers, land and estate agents, up-to-date registers, being kept of properties in all parts of the Dominion. • An idea of the substantial nature of the transactions of this company can be gathered from the figures given in the statement already referred to; It-will be seen, that the aggregate turnover for -the year ending July 31, 1913, was no less a sum than an achievement" of which the company is justifiably prond. The authorised capital of the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association of Canterbury, Ltd., is ;£1,250,000, half of'whicli has been subscribed, with £240,120 Btill to be called np. The reserve fund is credited with ,',£111,898. These wonderful figures apeak well for tho caution and foresight with which this ' concern is governed, and it may bo reasonably expected that in the future developments of co-operation in this part of the worjd, the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative- Association of Canterbury, , Ltd., will still play an important part. '