ENGLAND : CRADLE OF CO-OPERATION By Sydney. R. Elliott
Mr. Elliott's account of the Co- operative movement, which was started at Rochdale in 1844 (Faber, 8s. 6d.) is marred by a good deal of invective against " Capitalism " and the normal wholesale and retail traders. Neverthe- less, it contains much information about the methods of the co-operative societies, and the comparisons instituted between their working costs and those of com- petitors are deserving of attention. Mr. Elliott seems rather inconsistent in speaking of " the wilderness of distribu- tion," while at the same time he con- demns the manufacturers of proprietary articles who fix their prices with the object of rationalising the retail trade. But his chapters on this subject, largely based on the Linlithgow Committee's Report, are worth reading. Unlike most co-operative authors, he does not over- load the book with figures, though he gives enough to show how great an economic and educational force- the movement has now become. Mr. Elliott, in discussing the Co-operative party, observes that the Labour Party tends to- ignore its ally's experience and that " the further Left one looks, the more ignorant men seem to be of the value of the weapons within their grasp."
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