Russian Organizations

The societies are combined in regional and district Unions, each of which acts as a wholesale organisation for its area. The relation between the Unions and the Societies is in principle the same as that between societies and their members. The district and regional Unions in their turn are combined in the Centrosoyus for the R.S.F.S.R. and similar organisations for each of the other Republics, the most important being the Vukopspilka for the Ukraine and Zaksoyus for the Transcaucasian Republic. In 1928, in addition, a U.S.S.R. Centrosoyus was constituted for general co-ordination of the whole organisation and for dealing with special trade problems especially import and export, storage of agricultural products and raw materials, and general agreements with industry on behalf of the whole system.

Agricultural Co-operative Societies.

These unite peas ants as producers for the joint sale of their produce and for the purchase of machinery, etc.

The most important of them are the Khlebocentre for grain and oilseeds; Maslocentre, i.e., the All-Russian Union of Butter-mak ing co-operatives; Linocentre, i.e., the All-Russian Central Union of Flax Growers; Zhivotnovodsoyus, i.e., the All-Russian Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives for the manufacture and sale of animal products ; Soyuskarto ff el, i.e., Central Union of Potato Growers, Co-operatives. In addition, the Selskosoyus, i.e., the All-Russian Union of Agricultural Co-operatives, imports and supplies the various agricultural unions with machinery and imple ments, building materials, metals, insecticides, fertilisers, etc.

The Agricultural Union of Unions exists for the consideration of common aims and interests and for negotiation with the Govern ment, and with the Consumers Co-operatives, and for general co-ordination of the various types of agricultural co-operatives.

It has no executive or trading functions.

From the foreign point of view, the most important at present of the Agricultural Co-operatives is the Maslocentre which han dles the whole export of Siberian butter and has its agents, in London and other European capitals. The total number of co operatives in 1927 was 64,573 and they had a total membership of 9,468,200. In 1926-27 the agricultural produce sold totalled 878,0oo,000 roubles in value.

The Industrial Co-operatives.

The Societies of handicraft workers and artisans, are linked together in the All-Russian Union of Industrial Co-operatives, known as Vsekopromsoyus. At the end of 1927 it consisted of 4,534 industrial artels and of 102 local unions of industrial credit co-operatives with about 600,000 mem bers in all.

The members of the Vsekopromsoyus are peasants engaged in wood-working, textile, knitting, metal, lace-making, embroidery, etc.

The Housing Co-operatives.

These are of two types: (a) tenant co-operative societies, in which the tenants of a new apartment house or a new housing estate erected with money ad vanced by the State or Municipality undertake joint ownership and supervision of the whole estate and the repayment of loans; (b) Building Societies for the actual building of houses. By 1927.

the former had under their control accommodation for about 3,500,000 persons, and the latter had built houses for ioo,000 persons. (E. F. WO