pital, and as soon as possible one member was set to work to make
boots and another clothes, and so forth, until ultimately the society
should have capital enough to take land and form a community. Education
also was prominent among their objects. These co-operative societies
reached some 400 or 500 between 1828 and 1834, but the movement then
collapsed. As the original enthusiasm died out, or members left the
neighbourhood, or capital accumulated in the hands of the original
shareholders, they almost all either failed or became private property.
In those early days, moreover, the law gave no protection to the
property of co-operative societies. This remained so until 1852, when
the Christian Socialists (see SOCIALISM) among their many great services
to the working classes secured such protection. In 1862 they secured
also limited liability for the members.

Rochdale pioneers.

Before 1844 a co-operative society had already been formed and failed at
Rochdale in Lancashire, yet some ardent spirits planned to form another.
Twenty-eight poor men, flannel weavers and such like, got together a
capital of L28 by twopenny and threepenny subscriptions, and in December
1844 opened in Toad Lane, Rochdale, a little shop from which, speaking
broadly, the whole of British co-operation, and very much of that of
other lands, has grown. Their objects were those of other co-operative
societies of the time, including the ultimate aim of a self-supporting
community. In this last they never succeeded, nor indeed did they
attempt it; but they did succeed in vastly improving the position of
millions of the working classes by enabling them to obtain their
provisions cheap and pure, to avoid the millstone of debt, to save
money, to pass from retail to wholesale trade, and from distribution to
manufacturing, building and house-owning, ship-owning and banking; above
all to educate themselves, and to live with an ideal.

The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers began their trading in the smallest way,
the members taking turns to serve in the shop; yet where so many other
Union shops had failed Rochdale succeeded, and it has steadily grown to
an institution with some 14,000 members, doing a trade of L300,000,
owning shops and workshops, a library and reading-rooms, making large
profits, and devoting a substantial part of them to education and to
charitable purposes. What was the reason of this difference? Chiefly it
would seem a different method of d