form.

In this form of coöperation, a number of individuals contribute their
savings to a common fund, buy certain desired commodities at wholesale
prices, and distribute these among themselves. Generally, the
coöperative store sells to its members at the regular retail price,
but at stated intervals throughout the year the profits of the
business are distributed among the coöperatives in proportion to the
amount of their individual purchases. Thus the difference between the
wholesale and the retail price--minus the expense of conducting the
store--goes to the coöperators, instead of to a store keeper or other
middleman.

One of the best examples of consumers' coöperation is the Rochdale
Society of Equitable Pioneers, established in England in 1844. This
type of coöperation has also been remarkably successful in Germany,
Belgium, and other continental countries. The idea was taken up in the
United States about the middle of the nineteenth century, and at the
present time there are in this country about 2000 coöperative stores,
many of them doing a thriving business. These stores are located
chiefly in New England, the North Central States, and the West, few
being found in the South.

115. COÖPERATION IN CREDIT.--Credit coöperation may take any one of a
number of forms. In one of the best known forms, a group of persons
form a credit society by contributing a proportion of their personal
savings to a common fund. On the strength of this capital, and of
their own individual liability, they borrow more capital. The total
amounts thus got together are then loaned to the members of the
society at a specified rate of interest. This rate of interest is