theory & practice of, co-operation india and abroad

444 Pages·2012·12.47 MB·English

THEORY & PRACTICE OF,
CO-OPERATION
IN
INDIA AND ABROAD \
VOL. \\
By
~
K. R. KULKARNI, M. A., F.~. Econs. S. (London),
OfIg. Principal All India Co-operative Training College, Poona 1,
Ex-Financial Adviser; Bombay Co-operati ve Department,
Author of' .Agricultural Marketing in India '.
with an Introduction
By
VAIKUNTH L. MEHTA, B. A.
Vice-Chairman. Bombay Provincial Co-operativil Institute.
1955
The Co-operators' Book Depot,
9. BAKE HOUSE LANE, FORT. BOMBAY NO. 1
LW:-:ARY,
-A-()C-n.-·~~ .. ~-J-..~ .-.. -~.-.... -
Publi8hed by : Printed by :
V. V. Bapllt, K. G. Sharangpani,
OO'operators' Book Depot, at the Aryabhuahan Press,
9, Bakehouse Lane, Fort, Bombay. 915/1 Shivajinagl1r, Poona 4.

PREFACE
In my preface to the first volume of this series of books on
Co-operation designed to help the students of Co-operation
either in the class-room or in the practical field, I have already
made mention of the handicaps under which they labour in
the absence of a handy volume to assist them in their studies.
There are several good books. no doubt, on Co-o'peration in
foreign countries written by eminent authorities, yet there is
not one compact volume which deals with the important
developments that have taken place after the II World War.
Recently, a ~mall volume has been written by Shri S. Rajgopalan,
Deputy Registrar. Co-operative Societies, Madras, dealing with
Co-operation in 51 foreign countries; but within the limited
space of the book it has not been possible for the author to
treat the important branches of the co-operative movement in
several countries at greater length though the book itself, on
the whole, has been very well written.
In a number of countries the co-operative movement took
advantage of the fluid conditions that prevailed at the end of
the War and brought about a complete overhaul of the structure
of the central organisations. There have been. of course. new
developments. And vaLuable and intere~ting ,experiments have
been made in many countries despite the econom.ic dislocation
that followed in the wake of the last War. The co-operative
movement has in sonie countries withstood the stress and
.of
strain of the uncertain conCiitiollS the post-war period very
well; but after a century of existence or over new "shoots are
springing up vigorously from the old stock ...
To narrate the story of aU the radical changes that have
taken place in the national co-operative movements in several
countries since the War would be certainly a task beyond the
scope of this small book. What I have been able to do,
therefore, is to concern myself with a detailed treatment of the
more important branches of the co-operative movement in
some of the selected important countries as mentioned below:-
( 1) The consumers' co-operative movement in Great
Britain and Sweden.
IV
(2) Co-operative credit movement in Germany. Italy and
Sweden.
(3) Credit unions in U. S. A. and Canada.
(4) Land mortgage credit in Germany, England and
France and land· mortgage section in the Common
wealth Bank of Australia.
(5) Farm Credit Administration and its set-up in
U.S.A;
(6) Co-operative dairies in Denmark. New Zealand and
creameries in Ireland.
( 7) Co-operative marketing of agricultural products in
U. S. A.. Canada and Australia.
(8) Farming societies in Russia. Yugoslavia and Palestine;
( 9) Labour and land reclamation societies in Italy.
(10) Producers' co-operative societies in France and
England.
(11) Induscos in China.
(12) Housing societies in Sweden, U. S. A. and Israel.
(13) Co-operative education in Great Britain. Sweden.
U. S. A., Canada and folk high schools in Denmark.
(14) British Insurance Co-operative Society.
Material for this volume bas been gathered from various
sources, such as books, journals, pamphlets and articles in the
Year Books of Agricultural Co-operation of the Horace Plunket
Foundation and other Indian co-operative journals which are
mentioned in the bibliography at the end of each chapter. I
take this opportunity to acknowledge the deep debt of gratitude
I owe to the numerous writers and authors of books, reports
and articles from whose works and writings I have drawn the
material. In presenting the material I have endeavoured to
maintain a simple and lucid style and to make the book as accu
rate, useful and instructive as possible. 1 am. however. conscious
that inspite of my best efforts. the book is not entirely without
short-comings. I could not bring the information up-to-date
in some of the countries as it was not available. This book.
I hope. will be found useful not only by students reading for
the Higher Diploma in Co-operation but also by those in
colleges of Arts and Commerce who choose Co-operation as
their optional subject for their degree or diploma examinations.
The material presented in this volume would also, it is believed,
be of considerable help for officer-trainees studying in other
Co-operative intermediate grade training colleges set up or to be
set up under the auspices of the Reserve Ba nk of India and other
co-operative institutes an over India. Students reading for the
G. D. C. & A. examination in the Bombay State will find ample
material in this book for the purpose of their examination. It
can also with advantage be consulted by co-operative workers
in the field.
In preparing this book, I have rec.eived assistance from
various institutions and indivi.iuals. My thanks are due to the
General-PurposesCommittee of the British Co-operative Union
for permitting me to use the material contained in the Co
operative Union's two books on Swedish Co-operation viz .
.. Co-operative Enterprise" and "Co-operative Sweden To day".
Similarly, I must convey my sincere thanks to Shri J. C. Ryan,
Chief Officer, Agricultural Credit Department of the Reserve
Bank of India, for allowing me to make use of the matter
contained in the Bank's pamphlets on Co-operative Education,
Land Mortgage Banking, Housing, Co-operative Farming and
Credit in Other C)untries. I am also grateful to Shri D. A. Shah
who was a member of the Indian Delegation to Canada for hav
ingallowed me access to the unpublished notes drawn up by him
on the working of co-operatives in Canada. Sbri V. L. Mehta.
Vice-Chairman of the Bombay Provincial Co-operative Institute,
has laid me under a deep debt of gratitude by contributing a
brief introduction to this volume also, despite the many urgent
calls on his time. I must also express my sense of gratitude to
Shri P. J. Chinmulgund, 1. C. S .• Ex-Registrar. Co-operative
Societies. Bombay State, for having given expression to his
opinions on the two volumes in this series, extracts wherefrom
appear elsewhere. Finally, I must thank the Aryabhushan
Press. Poona, for the painstaking manner m which the work
was executed,
Co-operative Training College Author.
Poona.

INTRODUCTION
The first lesson that a student of Co-operation learns is
that it is a social force which moulds economic life not in one
country or in one Continent but almost all over' the world. It
is essential, hence, that those who work in and for the move
ment in India should know something, at least, about the origin
and growth of the movement in other parts of the world. The
purpose of this, the second volume of P.rof. K. R. Kulkarni's
book on the" Theory and Practice of Co-operation in India
and Abroad" is to enable students of co-operation to get
information brought up to date on various aspects of the move.
ment in different countries.
In the early days of the movement in Indid the publications
from which one could gather information about co-operative
developments in other countries were .. Co-operation at Home
and Abroad" by C. R. Fay and" Co-operation in Many Lands"
by Mr. Lionel Smith-Gordon. It 1S difficult to get these publi
cations now, nor have they gone in for revised editions: In
India, we had Rao Bahadur S. S. Talmaki's "Co-operation in
India and Abroad" published in 1931 which, again, is now
unavailable, The International Labour Office issued in 1944
and 1945 two valuable treatises-" Co-operative Organisations
and Post-War Relief" and .. the Co-operative Movement and
Present Day Problems." Both contain fund of information
and discuss a number of problems connected with the reorga
nisation of war-torn economy. What we needed, however, was
a compact, comprehensive treatment of the development in
different countries of those forms of co-operation, especially in
I
which we in India are interested.
Among the subjects dealt with are consumers' co-operation
credit, dairying, farming, housing, marketing, industrial co-ope.
ration and co-operative education. The countries that are
covered are Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Denmark,
France, Sweeden, Russia, Yogo-Slavia, Israel, United States of
America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China. The
countries whose names one misses are relatively unimportant
co-operatively, with the possible exception of Japan. The range
V1lJ
of subjects is wide, though one would have welcomed a fuller
treatment of the problem of agricultural credit, particularly in
countries with a comparatively undeveloped rural economy.
But for detailed study one has necessarily to turn to the various
original sources on which Prof. Kulkarni has freely drawn.
Social and economic conditions in no two countries are
exactly alike. ence identical methods of treatment or forms
of development are inconceivable. All the same, even a hurried
perusal of this second volume of Prof. Kulkarni's studies in
Co-operation shows how much one country can learn from
another. In this, as i~ other spheres of life, the need for diver
sity may be admitted, but the acceptance of the basic principles
of" a good life" creates a sense of unity which makes co-opera-
tion the international force that it is. .
Bombay, 2nd May 1955. Sd/- V. L. Mehta,
(True cOpy)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGES
. (it
Co-operative Consumers' Movement -
® in Great Britain. '
~o-operative I
Credit Movement
In Germany. 70-91
III Co-operative Movement in Italy. . 92-108
IV Co-operative C-ream'e ries in Ireland. - 109-112
@
Co-operative Movement in Denmark.~ 1l~
5
eVI Co-operative Movement in France. . 126-i47
VII Co-operati ve Movement in Sweden. / 148-200
Collective Farming in ~ - .
~~ Yugoslavia, Igyl ~p.d. ~
Co-operative Housing in Israd. . 201-270
~ Co-operatives in the U. S. A....r ' 271-317·
Y
Co-operative Marketing in Canada .... .. 318-335
XI Co-operative Marketing In •
Australia. 336-342
0** •
XII Co-operative Marketing in
New Zealand. --: 343-353
;" XIII Industrial Co-;>peratives in China.""""" 354-376
XIV Co-operative Education.,r ~77-416
XV Review·of World Co-operative'
Movement. ~ 417-419
List of Monetary and other units -
and abbreviations used and glossary ./'
of .technical terms. ,_... 420-422
Index 423-436
Corrigenda .- 437-438