RUSSIAN
ORGANIZATIONS. Soviet Russian Co-operation is the largest co-operative move ment in the world in the number of its members and in the scale and variety of its operations. The chief types of societies are consumers, agricultural, productive and housing. Each of these groups has its own special organisation, central and local, but all participate through their central organisations in the All-Russian Co-operative Bank (V secobank), which through its central office and its local branches serves the whole system. The Consumers is by far the largest in numbers and resources. Great progress has also been made recently in the development of specialised agricul tural societies.
These began to be formed about the 'sixties of the last century following English examples. Progress for a time was slow, but the traditions of the mir or village community helped the development. In 1898 there was formed the Moscow Union of Consumers Societies which later developed into the All-Russian Central Union of Consumers Societies known generally now as Centrosoyus. By 1914 there were about I i,000 Societies with 1,500,000 members, with a total capital of £3,000, 00o sterling and a turnover of £30,000,000 sterling per annum, in the Russian Empire, including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Esthonia. The War assisted the movement to grow more rapidly. Later, during the Revolution and the Provisional Government, the co-operative system was the only trading organisation which continued to function. In the early days of the Soviet Government it was regarded with some suspicion for many of the co-operative leaders at that time were Menshevists. But there was no other organisation capable of supplying the urban population, and for a time the authorities used the societies as the Government ration ing agency. When the blockade ended and the new economic policy was introduced in 1921, the movement was relieved of its special functions and restored to its previous autonomy. During all this troubled period, however, the rules, constitution and trad ing organisation of Centrosoyus and of many leading societies had been retained intact and there had been no break in legal con tinuity.
Since that date the progress of the movement has been remark able. There was at first a big drop in nominal membership when the voluntary basis was restored. But the figures below show the subsequent growth in membership and in the number of societies and capital: The Soviet authorities regard the Consumers Co-operative Move ment as the appropriate machinery for the distributive trade, both urban and rural. Private trade has played relatively a less impor
tant role each year as the Societies have become better organised. In 1923-24, it was officially estimated that the retail trade of the country was as to I I% in Government hands ; 3o% in Co-opera tive hands and 59% in private hands; in 1926-27 with a trading turnover which had increased three fold, the shares of Govern ment, of Co-operative and of private trade were respectively 16%, 51%, 33%. In 1926-27 the whole trade in tea, both import and distribution; 71.8% of the whole distribution of textiles; 73.2% of sugar; 60.7% of salt ; 61.5% of tobacco were in Co-operative hands. In the great cities 7o% or over of the trade in bread is co operative.
The Consumers Movement through the many village societies collects a considerable portion of grain, eggs, poultry, etc., and markets it on its own account or on commission for the peasant through the urban societies as well as abroad. Centrosoyus and the societies also possess a considerable number of flour mills, bread factories, food-canning and preserving plants; tea-packing factories, etc.
The unit is the local primary co-operative society, of which there are three types: (I) the village society; (2) the urban society with a chain of co-operative shops and in some cases central departmental stores; (3) special transport workers societies. The rules of all the societies follow the Rochdale principles. Business is managed by officials responsible to periodical meetings of members. Each mem ber whatever his shareholding is entitled to one vote only. The trading surplus, after paying fixed interest obligations is used for building up capital reserves, for social and educational activi ties, and for distribution to members in proportion to their busi ness with the society. In comparison with English societies, pro portionately far larger sums are put to capital account and divi dends are much smaller. About 15% of surpluses on the average are used for educational and social purposes. On the average there are 14 stores to every town and two to every village society. There are over 400,000 employees.