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GE  JACOB  HOLYOAKE 


Presented  to 

She  library 

of  tbe 

of  Toronto 


U.    I 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE 

ROCHDALE   PIONEERS 


CENTRAL  STOI:ES,  TOAD  LAKE,  -l&dj 


SELF-HELP  BY  THE  PEOPLE. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE 

ROCHDALE   PIONEERS 


BY 

GEORGE  JACOB  HOLYOAKE 

M 

AUTHOR  OF      TUB  HISTORY  OF  CO-OPERATION  IX  ENGLAND,"  "SIXTY  YEARS  0? 
AM  AGITATOR'S  LIFB,"  ETC.  ETC, 


1844-1892 
EDITION  REVISED  AND  ENLARGED 


From  nothing-,  from  the  least. 
The  lowliest  village  (what  but  here  and  there 
A  reed-roofed  cabin  by  a  river  side), 
Grew  everything  ;  and  year  by  year 
Patiently,  fearlessly  working  her  way 
O'ei  brook  and  field,  o'er  continent  and  sea." 

ROGERS'  Ronu. 


THIRD        HC\i*fCa         EDITION 


LONDON 
SWAN    SONNENSCHEIN    &    CO,    LTM. 

NEW  YORK:   CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1900 


DeMcateft 

(BY  PERMISSION) 
TO   LORD  BROUGHAM, 

WHO    NEVER  CEASED  TO   ADVANCE  THB 

INTELLECTUAL  AND  SOCIAL  WELFARE  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

AND   WHO   LEST, 

WHEN   NO  ONE   ELSE  IN   HIS   POSITION   WOULD, 
THE   INFLUENCE   OF   HIS   NAME 

FOE,  THE  PROMOTION  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE, 

OF  WHICH 
CO-OPERATION   IS  THE   INDUSTRIAL   PAUT. 


PREFACE 


THE  chapters  of  this  little  History  were  commenced  to 
be  inserted  in  the  Daily  News  (in  1857),  as  the  reader 
may  infer  from  note  to  Chapter  I.  The  breaking  out 
of  the  Mutinies  in  India  absorbed  all  space  in  that 
quarter,  and  prevented  the  completion  of  the  publica- 
tion in  those  columns;  otherwise,  the  subsequent 
chapters  might  have  had  the  advantage  of  notes  of 
the  Editor  of  the  Daily  News  (Mr.  William  Weir), 
who  had  great  knowledge  of,  and  interest  in,  Co- 
operative Associations,  abroad  and  at  home. 

When  the  chapters  appeared  as  a  book,  it  became 
known  to  many  persons,  interested  in  social  ideas. 
Mr.  Horace  Greeley  of  the  New  York  Tribune  had 
an  edition  printed  in  New  York.  This  was  the  first 
reprint.  Next,  Fernando  Garrido,  a  Spanish  dramatic 
writer  and  publicist,  made  a  translation  in  his 
"  Historia  de  las  Asociaciones  Obreras  en  Europa." 
Professor  A.  Talandier  published  a  translation  in  Le 
Progres  de  Lyons.  Great  impetus,  the  translator  re- 


Vlii  PREFACE. 


ported,  was  thereby  given  to  Co-operation  in  Lyons. 
The  Emperor,  who  had  social  ideas,  -commended  Co- 
operation to  the  Lyonnese,  and  mentioned  it  in  an 
Imperial  speech.  M.  Elie  Reclus,  editor  of  L' Associa- 
tion, told  the  moral  of  this  story  of  the  Pioneers  to 
the  Parisians,  in  his  fable  of  "  The  Blind  Man  and  the 

£ 

•  Lame  Man."/ Mr.  John  Stuart  Mill,  by  quoting  passages 
from  this  little  history  in  his  "Principles  of  Political 
Economy,"  did  more  than  any  one  else  to  call  attention 
to  the  proceedings  of  the  Rochdale  Pioneers.  Mr. 
Joseph  Cowen  read  chapters  of  this  narrative"  nightly 
to  pitmen  and  other  workmen  who  were  his  neigh- 
bours, which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Blaydon-on- 
Tyne  Store,  now  occupying  a  street,  and  owning  a 
considerable  farm.  Mr.  Henry  Pitman  reprinted  the 
book  in  the  Go-operator.  Mr.  M'Guiness  of  Paris 
made  a  translation  of  it  in  the  French  Journal 
Co-operative. 

The  first  principal  translation  in  book  form  was  one 
in  French  by  Madame  God  in  (under  the  name  of  Marie 
Moret),  for  the  information  of  the  workmen  of  Guise. 
Professor  Vigano  of  Milan  published  an  Italian  trans- 
lation in  a  quarto  volume.  M.  O.  Cambier,  a  magis- 
trate of  Paturage,  Belgium,  issued  a  complete  trans- 
lation of  283  pages  at  Verviers  and  Paris,  including 


PREFACE.  ix 

the  prefaces  of  1857  and  1867,  and  a  biography  of 
the  author.  Later,  Signor  Lorenzi  Ponti  published  in 
Milan  a  translation  from  the  French  of  Madame  Godin. 
Herr  H.  Hantschke  published  a  translation  in  German, 
with  engravings  of  the  old  store  in  Toad  Lane  and  of 
the  present  central  store  in  Rochdale,  of  which  a 
presentation  copy  was  sent  me  in  ornate  Berlinese 
binding. 

The  last  translation  has  been  that  of  Dr.  St.  Bernat 
of  Buda-Pesth  into  the  Hungarian  language.  The 
Sociological  Society  of  America  issued  a  small  Manual 
of  Co-operation.  This  epitome,  excellently  executed 
by  ladies,  included  some  of  the  following  chapters: 
The  Manual  was  popular,  I  judge,  as  a  share  of  profit 
from  it  was  sent  to  me.  Foreign  translations  on  a 
subject  new  to  the  public  do  not  at  first  allure  readers, 
and  the  translators  generally  lose  money  by  their 
generous  labour.  I  received  no  profit  from  any,  nor 
stipulated  for  any.  On  the  contrary,  I  felt  under  obli- 
gation to  the  translators  for  being  at  the  expense  of 
introducing  to  their  countrymen  an  English  method  of 
industrial  self-help,  which  otherwise  might  have  re- 
mained much  longer  unknown  and  unregarded. 

"  Self-Help  by  the  People,"  here  first  used,  I  believ^ 
as  a  title,  has  been  employed  by  Dr.  Smiles  to  desig- 


X  PREFACE. 

nate  his  popular  book  of  brief  biographies.  In  1860  a 
condensed  edition  of  this  History  was  issued  in  Paisley, 
purporting  to  be  "  Abridged  from  the  Original  Publica- 
tion," but  what,  or  whose  publication,  was  not  stated. 
An  article  contributed  to  "  Chambers's  Journal "  con- 
tained passages,  purporting  to  be  original,  taken  from 
the  Rochdale  story.  The  correction  was  at  once  made  by 
the  editor.  Afterwards  I  was  sorry  I  mentioned  the  mat- 
ter, as  other  writers  might  have  gone  on  quoting  as  their 
own,  passages  which  would  have  advanced  the  know- 
ledge of  Co-operation,  The  Quarterly  Review  of  1863 
had  occasion  to  include  this  "  History "  in  the  list  of 
books  reviewed,  in  a  very  remarkable  article  on  Co- 
operation, but  it  suppressed  the  name  of  the  author. 
The  writer  of  the  review  suggested  that  a  single  book 
of  nameless  authorship  had  an  odd  look  among  others 
that  enjoyed  paternity.  The  editor  adopted  an  extra- 
ordinary mode  of  removing  the  singularity — he  omitted 
the  names  of  all  the  other  authors  reviewed,  though 
among  them  were  writers  of  the  most  perfect  "  regula- 
tion" type  of  thought,  and  the  result  was  the  only 
article  that  probably  ever  appeared  in  the  Quarterly 
in  which  only  authorless  books  were  reviewed. 

There  remains,  however,  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  this  book  has  been  useful.     Mr.   William  Cooper 


PREFACE.  XI 

of  Rochdale,  writing  to  the  Daily  News,  December, 
1863,  stated  that  of  332  Co-operative  Societies  then  on 
the  Registrar's  Returns,  251  had  been  established  since 
1857,  when  "  Self- Help "  was  published,  and  he  adds, 
"  I  have  heard  several  persons  ascribe  the  origin  of  their 
now  prosperous  Society  to  reading  the  History.  Not 
fewer  than  500  or  600  copies  were  sold  in  Rochdale. 
It  was  bought  and  read  by  a  few  working  men  in  many 
towns  in  the  United  Kingdom."  This  History  is  now 
revised,  enlarged,  illustrations  added,  and  brought  down 
to  the  Rochdale  Congress  of  1892. 

The  Italians  have  a  proverb  of  unusual  sagacity  for 
that  quick-witted  people,  namely :  "  They  who  go 
slowly  go  far."  Co-operation  has  gone  both  slow  and 
far.  It  has  issued  like  the  tortoise  from  its  Lancashire 
home  in  England  ;  it  has  traversed  France,  Germany, 
and  even  the  frozen  steppes  of  Russia ;  the  bright- 
minded  Bengalese  are  applying  it,  as  is  the  soon-seeing 
and  far-seeing  American ;  and  our  own  emigrant 
countrymen  in  Australia  are  endeavouring  to  natural- 
ise it  there.  Like  a  good  chronometer,  Co-operation  is 
unaffected  by  change  of  climate,  and  goes  well  in  every 
land. 

a  j.  H. 

KASTERK  LODOE,  BRIGHTON, 
September,  1893. 


THE  SOCIALISTS'  INSTITUTE. 


THE  WEAVERS'  ARMS. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE        -  -  .  vii. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FIEST  EFFORTS,  AND  THE  KIND  OF  PEOPLE  WHO   MADE  THEM  1 

CHAPTER  H. 

APPOINTMENT    OF  A  DEPUTATION  TO  THE  MASTERS. — GREAT    DE- 
BATE  IN   THE   FLANNEL   WEAVERS'   PARLIAMENT  6 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  DOFFERS  APPEAR  AT  THE  OPENING   DAY. — MORAL  BUYING  AS 

WELL   AS   MORAL   SELLING          -  -  -  -  11 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   SOCIETY  TRIED  BY  TWO    WELL-KNOWN    DIFFICULTIES — PRE- 
JUDICE  AND   SECTARIANISM       -  ...  16 

CHAPTER  V. 

ENEMIES    WITHIN  AND  ENEMIES  WITHOUT,   AND    HOW  THEY  ALL 

WERE   CONQUERED          -  21 

CHAPTER  VL 

THE   GREAT   FLOUR   MILL   PANIC       -  28 

CHAPTER  VH. 

SUCCESSIVE    STEPS    OF    SUCCESS. —THE     ROCHDALE    STORE    ON    A 

SATURDAY   NIGHT  -  -  -  33 

CHAPTER  VHI. 

ANECDOTES   OF   THE   MEMBERS. — THE    WORKING    CLASS   STAND   BY 

THK   STORE   AND   THEY    "KNOW   THE   REASON    WHY"  -  4*2 


xiv  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PACK 
RULES  AND   AIMS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  .  •  .  .  47 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE    OLD    CO-OPERATORS — WHY     THEY     FAILED.        THE    NEW     CO- 
OPERATORS—WHY   THEY   SUCCEED          ....  55 

CHAPTER  XL 

AN  ILLUSTRATIVE  CHAPTER  .....  64 

CHAPTER  XII. 

AN  OLD  PIONEER'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STORE         •         67 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  WEAVERS'  DREAM       ......         77 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  FAMOUS  TWENTY- EIGHT  .....  79 

CHAPTER  XV. 

LEGAL  IMPEDIMENTS  TO  ECONOMY  •  -87 

CHAPTER  XVL 

QUERULOUS  OUTSIDERS         ....  -93 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

FOUR  DANGEROUS  YEARS     '•  •  •  .  .  -98 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HALTING  ON  THE   WAY         ......  1Q6 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

STORY  OF  THE  CORN   MILL-  .  .  •  .114 

CHAPTER  XX. 

ORIGIN   OF  THE   "  WHOLESALE "       -  -  .  .  -123 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

CO-OPERATIVE  ADMINISTRATION  •  133 


CONTENTS.  XV 


CHAPTER  XXH. 

DMB 
THE  BRANCH  STORE  AGITATION       ...  -          143 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OTHER  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS     •  -          148 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CONTESTS  FOR   PRINCIPLE    ------          157 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

DEAD  PIONEERS        -  -  -  .  163 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  ROCHDALE  CONGRESS  OF   1892  ....  177 

INDEX  --  ..--..  185 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

CENTRAL  STORES,  TOAD  LAN??,  1868  ...      Frontispiece 

THE  SOCIALISTS'  INSTITUTE — THE  WEAVERS'  ARMS          •  .        xii 

TIIE   PIONEER  STORE    IN   ITS   ORIGINAL  STATE,    1844  -  -          xvi 


THE  PIONEER  STORK  IN  ITS  ORIGINAL  STATE,  1844. 


HISTORY  OF  THE 

ROCHDALE  EQUITABLE  PIONEERS. 

PART   I.— 1844-1857. 

CHAPTER  L 

THE   FIRST  EFFORTS,   AND  THE  KIND   OF   PEOPLE  WHO  MADE  THEM. 

HCMAX  nature  must  be  different  in  Rochdale  from  what  it  is  else- 
where. There  must  have  been  a  special  creation  of  mechanics  in  this 
inexplicable  district  of  Lancashire — in  no  other  way  can  you  account 
for  the  fact  that  they  have  mastered  the  art  of  acting  together,  and 
holding  together,  as  no  other  set  of  workmen  in  Great  Britain  have 
done.  They  have  acted  upon  Sir  Robert  Peel's  memorable  advice  ; 
they  have  "  taken  their  own  affairs  into  their  own  hands ; "  and  what 
is  more  to  the  purpose,  they  have  kept  them  in  their  own  hands. 

The  working  class  are  not  considered  to  be  very  rich  in  the  quality 
of  self-trust,  or  mutual  trust.  The  business  habit  is  not  thought  to 
be  their  forte.  The  art  of  creating  a  large  concern,  and  governing  all 
its  complications,  is  not  usually  supposed  to  belong  to  them.  The 
problem  of  association  has  many  times  been  tried  among  the  people, 
and  as  many  times  it  has  virtually  failed.  Mr.  Robert  Owen  has  not 
accomplished  half  he  intended.  The  "  Christian  Socialists,"  inspired 
by  eloquent  rectors,  and  directed  by  transcendent  professors,  aided  by 
the  lawyer  mind  and  the  merchant  mind,  and  what  was  of  no  small 
importance,  the  very  purse  of  Fortunatus  himself,1  have  made  but 
poor  work  of  association.  They  have  hardly  drawn  a  single  tooth 
from  the  dragon  of  competition.  So  far  from  having  scotched  that 
ponderous  snake,  they  appear  to  have  added  to  its  vitality,  and  to 
have  convinced  parliamentary  political  economists  that  competitive 
strife  is  the  eternal  and  only  self-acting  principle  of  society.  True, 
reports  come  to  us  ever  and  anon  that  in  America  something  has  been 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  association.  Far  away  in  the  backwoods 

i  Here  we  must  express  our  dissent.    They  failed  precisely  because  they  were  aided 
bytiiepurseof  Fortunatus.  In  France,  we  are  assured  all  those  "AssociationsOuvrieres, 
which  refused  to  accept  money  from  government  in  184S  are  prospering,  while  those 
which  accepted  it  have  either  ceased  to  exist,  or  are  on  the  eye  of  ceasing  to  exist.    Sacri- 
fice and  self-reliance  are  the  secret  of  success  in  these  as  in  all  other  enterprises.— to. 


2  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

a  tribe  of  bipeds — some  mysterious  cross  between  the  German  and  the 
Yankee — have  been  heard  of,  known  to  men  as  Shakers,  who  are  sup- 
posed to  have  killed  the  fatted  calf  of  co-operation,  and  to  be  rich  in 
corn,  and  oil,  and  wine,  and — to  their  honour  be  it  said — in  foundlings 
and  orphans,  whom  their  sympathy  collects,  and  their  benevolence 
rears.  But  then  the  Shakers  have  a  narrow  creed  and  no  wives. 
They  abhor  matrimony  and  free  inquiry.  But  in  the  constituency  till 
lately  represented  by  Mr.  Edward  Miall,  there  is  liberality  of  opinion 
— Susannahs  who  might  tempt  the  elders  again — and  rosy-cheeked 
children,  wild  as  heather  and  plentiful  as  buttercups.  Under  all  the 
(agreeable)  disadvantages  of  matrimony  and  independent  thought, 
certain  working  men  in  Rochdale  have  pi'actised  the  art  of  self-help, 
and  of  keeping  the  "wolf  from  the  door."  That  animal,  supposed  to 
have  been  extirpated  in  the  days  of  Ethelbert,  is  still  found  show- 
ing himself  in  our  crowded  towns,  and  may  be  seen  any  day  prow- 
ling on  the  outskirts  of  civilisation. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1843,  on  one  of  those  damp,  dark,  dense, 
dismal,  disagreeable  days,  which  no  Frenchman  can  be  got  to  admire 
— such  days  as  occur  towards  November,  when  the  daylight  is  all 
used  up,  and  the  sun  has  given  up  all  attempt  at  shining,  either  in 
disgust  or  despair — a  few  poor  weavers  out  of  employ,  and  nearly  out 
of  food  and  quite  out  of  heart  with  the  social  state,  met  together  to 
discover  what  they  could  do  to  better  their  industrial  condition. 
Manufacturers  had  capital,  and  shopkeepers  the  advantage  of  stock  ; 
how  could  they  succeed  without  either  ?  Should  they  avail  them- 
selves of  the  poor-law  ?  that  were  dependence  ;  of  emigration  ?  that 
seemed  like  transportation  for  the  crime  of  having  been  born  poor. 
What  should  they  do  ?  They  would  commence  the  battle  of  life 
on  their  own  account.  They  would,  as  far  as  they  were  concerned, 
supersede  tradesmen,  millowners,  and  capitalists  :  without  experi- 
ence, or  knowledge,  or  funds,  they  would  turn  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers. The  subscription  list  was  handed  round — the  Stock 
Exchange  would  not  think  much  of  the  result.  A  dozen  of  these 
Liliputian  capitalists  put  down  a  weekly  subscription  of  twopence 
each — a  sum  which  these  Rochdale  Rothschilds  did  not  know  how  to 
pay.  After  fifty-two  "calls"  had  been  made  upon  these  magnificent 
shareholders,  they  would  not  have  enough  in  their  bank  to  buy  a  sack 
of  oatmeal  with :  yet  these  poor  men  now  own  mills,  and  warehouses, 
and  keep  a  grocer's  shop,  where  they  take  £76,000X  a-year  over  the 


1KOCHDALE  EQUITABLE  PIONEERS'  SOCIETY,  CASH  ACCOUNT,  DEC. 
RECEIPTS.                                            £ 

,  1857, 
B.    d: 

To  Cash,  balance  September  quarter 

3311 

14    1 

,        Repaid  by  the  Corn  Mill  Society 

-        -        -        1000 

0    0 

,        Propositions         ..... 

7 

5    0 
4    3J 

,        Received  for  Goods     .... 

19389 

0    0 
8    2 

£24,443  11     CJ 


FIRST   EFFORTS. 


counter  in  ready  money.  Their  "cash  sales"  of  £19,389,  recorded 
in  their  last  quarterly  report,  which  we  subjoin,  show  their  ready 
money  receipts  to  reach  £1,400  a-week. 

Thus  the  origin  of  the  Rochdale  Store,  which  has  transcended  all 
co-operative  stores  established  in  Great  Britain,  is  to  be  traced  to 
the  unsuccessful  efforts  of  certain  weavers  to  improve  their  wages. 
Near  the  close  of  the  year  1843,  the  flannel  trade — one  of  the  prin- 
cipal manufactures  of  Rochdale — was  brisk.  At  this  auspicious 
juncture  the  weavers,  who  were,  and  are  still,  a  badly  paid  class  of 
labourers,  took  it  into  their  heads  to  ask  for  an  advance  of  wages. 
If  their  masters  could  afford  it  at  all,  they  could  probably  afford  it 
then.  Their  workpeople  thought  so,  and  the  employers  of  Rochdale, 
who  are  certainly  among  the  best  of  their  class,  seemed  to  be  of  the 
same  opinion.  Nearly  each  employer  to  whom  the  important  ques- 
tion was  put,  at  once  expressed  his  willingness  to  concede  an 
advance,  provided  his  neighbouring  employers  did  the  same.  But 
how  was  the  consent  of  the  others  to  be  induced — and  the  collective 
agreement  of  all  to  be  guaranteed  to  each  ?  The  thing  seemed 
simple  in  theoiy,  but  was  anything  but  simple  in  practice.  Masters 
are  not  always  courteous,  and  workpeople  are  not  proverbially 
tacticians.  Weavers  do  not  negotiate  with  their  superiors  by  letter; 
a  personal  interview  is  commonly  the  warlike  expedient  hit  upon — 
an  interview  which  the  servant  obtrudes  and  the  master  suffers. 
An  employer  has  no  a  priori  fondness  for  these  kind  of  deputations, 
as  a  demand  for  an  advance  of  wages  he  cannot  afford  may  ruin  him 
as  quickly  and  completely  as  a  fall  may  distress  the  workmen. 
However,  to  set  the  thing  going  in  a  practical  and  a  kind  way,  one 
or  two  firms,  with  a  generosity  the  men  still  remember  with  grati- 
tude, offered  an  advance  of  wages  to  their  own  workpeople,  upon 
trial,  to  see  whether  example  would  induce  the  employers  generally 
to  imitate  it.  In  case  general  compliance  could  not  be  obtained, 
this  special  and  experimental  advance  was  to  be  taken  off  again. 
Hereupon  the  Trades'  Union  Committee,  who  had  asked  the  ad- 
vance on  behalf  of  the  flannel  weavers,  held,  in  their  humble  way, 
a  grand  consultation  of  "  ways  and  means."  English  mechanics  are 

DISBURSEMENTS.  £     s.    d. 

By  Cash  paid  for  Goods    .......  ..       19483    0    3 

Wages £243    6    8J 

Rents 34  10    3 

Carriage 152    7    8 

General  Expenses  and  Repairs   -       -  62  16    8J 

/"Treasurer's  salary         -        -        -        .  2  10    0 

,"-  I  Petty  Cash 100 

,£-'  Rates 18  16    8 

,•3  I  Insurance       ......  1150 

,5  ^Building  Fund      .....  600 

Withdrawn  by  Members 20->7  13    7 

Balance 2309  14    SJ 

£24,443  11    6J 


4  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

not  conspirators,  and  the  working  class  have  never  been  distin- 
guished for  their  diplomatic  successes.  The  plan  of  action  adopted 
by  our  committee  in  this  case  did  not  involve  many  subtleties. 
After  speech-making  enough  to  save  the  nation,  it  was  agreed  that 
one  employer  at  a  time  should  be  asked  for  the  advance  of  wages, 
and  if  he  did  not  comply,  the  weavers  in  his  employ  were  "  to 
strike"  or  "turn  out,"  and  the  said  "  strikers  "  and  "turn  cuts" 
were  to  be  supported  by  a  subscription  of  twopence  per  week  from 
each  weaver  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  remain  at  work.  This 
plan,  if  it  lacked  grace,  had  the  merit  of  being  a  neat  and  summary 
way  of  proceeding  ;  and  if  it  presented  no  great  attraction  to  the 
masters,  it  certainly  presented  fewer  to  the  men.  At  least  Mrs. 
Jones  with  six  children,  and  Mrs.  Smith  with  ten,  could  not  be 
much  in  love  with  the  twopenny  prospect  held  out  to  them,  especi- 
ally as  they  had  experienced  something  of  the  kind  before,  and  had 
never  been  heard  to  very  much  commend  it. 

The  next  thing  was  to  carry  out  the  plan.  Of  course,  a  deputa- 
tion of  masters  waiting  upon  their  colleagues  would  be  the 
courteous  and  proper  thing,  but  obviously  quite  out  of  the  question. 
A  deputation  of  employers  could  accomplish  more  in  one  day  with 
employers  than  a  deputation  of  all  the  men  could  accomplish  in  a 
month.  This,  however,  was  not  to  be  expected  ;  and  a  deputation 
of  workmen  on  this  embassy  was  an  interesting  and  adventurous 
affair. 

A  trades'  deputation,  in  the  old  time,  was  a  sort  of  forlorn  hope 
of  industry — worse  than  the  forlorn  hope  of  war  ;  for  if  the  volun- 
teers of  war  succeed,  they  commonly  win  renown,  or  save  them- 
selves ;  but  the  men  who  volunteered  on  trades'  deputations  were 
often  sacrificed  in  the  act,  or  were  marked  men  ever  after.  In  war 
both  armies  respect  the  "forlorn  hope,"  but  in  industrial  conflicts 
the  pioneer  deputy  was  exposed  to  subsequent  retaliation  on  the 
part  of  mill-owners,  who  did  not  admire  him  ;  and — let  it  be  said 
in  impartiality,  sad  as  the  fact  is — the  said  deputy  was  exposed 
often  to  the  wanton  distrust  of  those  who  employed  him.  A 
trades'  deputation  was  commonly  composed  of  intelligent  and  active 
workmen  ;  or,  as  employers  naturally  thought  them,  "dissatisfied, 
troublesome  fellows."  While  on  deputation  duty,  of  course,  they 
must  be  absent  from  work.  During  this  time  they  must  be  sup- 
ported by  their  fellow-workmen.  They  were  then  open  to  the 
reproach  of  living  on  the  wages  of  their  fellows,  of  loving  deputation 
employment  better  than  their  own  proper  work,  which  indeed  was 
sometimes  the  case.  Alas  !  poor  trade  deputy — he  had  a  hard  lot ! 
He  had  for  a  time  given  up  the  service  of  one  master  for  the  service 
of  a  thousand.  He  was  now  in  the  employ  of  his  fellows,  half  of 
whom  criticised  his  conduct  quite  as  severely  as  his  employer,  and 
begrudged  him  his  wages  more.  And  when  he  returned  to  his  work 
he  often  found  there  was  no  work  for  him.  In  his  absence  his 
overlooker  had  contrived  (by  orders)  to  supply  his  place,  and 


FIRST  EFFORTS.  5 


betrayed  no  anxiety  to  accommodate  him  with  a  new  one.  He  then 
tried  other  mills,  but  he  found  no  one  in  want  of  his  services.  The 
poor  devil  set  off  to  surrounding  districts,  but  his  character  had  gone 
before  him.  He  might  get  an  old  fellow-workman  (now  an  over- 
looker) to  set  him  on,  at  a  distance  from  his  residence,  and  he  had 
perhaps  to  walk  five  or  six  miles  home  to  his  supper,  and  be  back  at 
his  mill  by  six  o'clock  next  morning.  At  last  he  removed  his  family 
near  his  new  employ.  By  this  time  it  had  reached  his  new  employer's 
ears  that  he  had  a  "leader  of  the  Trades'  Union"  in  his  mill.  His 
employer  calculated  that  the  new  advance  of  wages  had  cost  him 
altogether  a  thousand  pounds  last  year.  He  considered  the 
weaver,  smuggled  into  his  mill,  the  cause  of  that.  He  walked 
round  and  "took  stock"  of  him.  The  next  week  the  man  was  on 
the  move  again.  After  a  while  he  would  fall  into  the  state 
of  being  "always  out  of  work.''  No  wonder  if  the  wife,  who 
generally  has  the  worst  of  it,  with  her  increasing  family  and 
decreasing  means,  began  to  reproach  her  husband  with  hav- 
ing ruined  himself  and  beggared  his  family  by  "his  trade  union- 
ing."  As  he  was  daily  out  looking  for  work  he  would  be  sometimes 
"treated"  by  old  comrades,  and  he  naturally  fell  in  with  the  only 
sympathy  he  got.  A  "  row"  perhaps  occurred  at  the  public-house, 
and  somehow  or  other  he  would  be  mixed  up  with  it.  In  ordinary 
circumstances  the  case  would  be  dismissed — but  the  bench  was 
mainly  composed  of  employers.  The  unlucky  prisoner  at  the  bar 
had  been  known  to  at  least  one  of  the  magistrates  before  as  a 
"  troublesome"  fellow,  under  other  circumstances.  It  is  not  quite 
clear  that  he  was  the  guilty  person  in  this  case ;  but  as  in  the 
opinion  of  the  master-magistrate  he  was  quite  likely  to  have  been 
guilty,  he  gave  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and  the  poor  fellow 
stood  "remanded"  or  "committed."  The  chief  shareholder  of  the 
M'ddam  Chronicle  was  commonly  a  mill-owner.  The  reporter  had 
a  cue  in  that  direction,  and  next  day  a  significant  paragraph,  with 
a  heading  to  this  effect,  "The  notorious  Tom  Spindle  in  trouble," 
carried  consternation  through  the  ranks  of  his  old  associates.  The 
next  week  the  editor  had  a  short  article  upon  the  "  kind  of  leader- 
ship to  which  misguided  working  men  submit  themselves."  The 
case  was  dead  against  poor  Spindle.  Tom's  character  was  gone. 
And  if  he  were  detained  long  in  prison,  his  family  was  gone  too. 
Mrs.  Spindle  had  been  turned  out  of  her  house,  no  rent  being 
forthcoming.  She  would  apply  to  the  parish  for  support  for  her 
children,  where  she  soon  found  that  the  relieving  officers  had  no  very 
exalted  opinion  of  the  virtues 'of  her  husband.  Tom  at  length 
returned,  and  now  he  would  be  looked  upon  by  all  who  had  the 
power  to  help  him,  as  a  "worthless  character,"  as  well  as  a 
"troublesome  fellow."  His  fate  was  for  the  future  precarious. 
By  odd  helps  and  occasional  employment  when  hands  were  short, 
he  eked  out  his  existence.  The  present  writer  has  shared  the  humble 
hospitality  of  many  such,  and  has  listened  half  the  night  away  with 


6  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

them,  as  they  have  recounted  the  old  story.  Beaten,  consumptive, 
and  poor,  they  had  lost  none  of  their  old  courage,  though  all  their 
strength  was  over,  and  a  dull  despair  of  better  days  drew  them 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  grave.  Some  of  these  ruined  deputation- 
ists  have  emigrated,  and  these  lines  will  recall  in  distant  lands,  in 
the  swamps  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  huts  of  a  Bendigo  digging, 
and  in  the  "claims"  of  California,  old  times  and  fruitless  struggles, 
which  sent  them  penniless  and  heart-broken  from  the  mills  and 
mines  of  the  old  country.  In  the  new  land  where  they  now  dwell 
— a  strange  dream  land  to  them — their  thoughts  turn  from  pine- 
forests,  night  fires,  and  revolvers,  to  the  old  villages,  the  smoke- 
choked  towns,  and  soot-begrimed  monotony  in  which  their  early 
life  was  spent.  Others  of  the  abolished  deputationists  of  whom  we 
speak  turned  news  vendors  or  small  shopkeepers.  Assisted  with  a 
few  shillings  by  their  neighbours — in  some  cases  self-helped  by  their 
own  previous  thrift — they  have  set  up  for  themselves,  have  been 
fortunate,  grown  independent,  and  trace  all  their  good  fortune  to 
that  day  which  cost  them  their  loss  of  employment. 


CHAPTER  II. 

APPOINTMENT     OF    A    DEPUTATION    TO    MASTERS. — GREAT    DEBATE    IN 
THE   FLANNEL  WEAVERS'   PARLIAMENT. 

So  much  will  enable  the  reader  to  understand  the  hopes  and  fears 
which  agitated  the  Rochdale  Flannel  Weavers'  Committee,  when 
they  appointed  their  deputation  to  wait  upon  the  masters.  "  Who 
shall  go?"  No  sooner  was  this  question  put  than  the  loudest 
orators  were  hushed.  Cries  of  "  We  will  never  submit" — "We  will 
see  whether  the  masters  are  to  have  it  their  own  way  for  ever,' 
etc.,  etc.,  etc. — were  at  once  silenced.  Five  minutes  ago  everybody 
was  forward — nobody  was  forward  now.  As  in  the  old  fable,  all 
the  mice  agreed  that  the  cat  ought  to  be  belled,  but  who  was  to  bell 
the  cat  ?  The  collective  wisdom  of  the  Parliament  of  mice  found 
that  a  perplexing  question.  Has  the  reader  seen  a  popular  political 
meeting  when  some  grand  question  of  party  power  had  to  be 
discussed  ?  How  defiant  ran  the  speeches !  how  militant  was  the 
enthusiasm  !  Patriotism  seemed  to  be  turning  up  its  sleeves,  and 
the  country  about  to  be  saved  that  night.  Of  a  sudden  some 
practical  fellow,  who  has  seen  that  kind  of  thing  before,  suggests 
that  the  deliverance  of  the  country  will  involve  some  little  affair  of 
subscriptions — and  proposes  at  once  to  circulate  a  list.  The  sudden 
descent  of  the  police,  nor  a  discharge  of  arms  from  the  Chelsea 
Pensioners,  would  not  produce  so  decorous  a  silence,  nor  so  minicul- 


A  DEPUTATION   TO   MASTERS. 


ous  a  satisfaction  with  things  as  they  are,  as  this  little  step.  An 
effect  something  like  this  is  produced  in  a  Trades'  Committee, 
when  the  test  question  is  put,  "Who  will  go  on  the  deputation  ?" 
The  men  knew  that  they  should  not  be  directly  dismissed  from  their 
employ,  but  indirectly  their  fate  would  probably  be  sealed.  The 
6rst  fault — the  first  accidental  neglect  of  duty — would  be  the  pretex 
of  dismissal.  Lake  the  archbishop  in  "  Gil  Bias,"  who  dismissed  his 
critic — not  on  account  of  his  candour  ;  his  grace  esteemed  him  for 
that — but  he  preferred  a  young  man  with  a  little  more  judgment. 
So  the  employer  has  no  abstract  objection  to  the  workman  seeking 
to  better  his  condition — he  rather  applauds  that  kind  of  thing — he 
merely  disputes  the  special  method  taken  to  accomplish  it.  The 
reader,  therefore,  understands  why  our  Committee  suddenly  paused 
when  a  mouse  was  wanted  to  bell  the  cat.  Some  masters — indeed 
many  masters— are  as  considerate,  as  self-sacrificing,  as  any  work- 
men are,  and  they  often  incur  risks  and  losses  to  keep  their  people 
in  employ,  which  their  people  never  know,  and,  in  many  cases, 
would  not  appreciate  if  they  did.  Many  Trades'  Unionists  are 
ignorant,  inconsiderate,  and  perversely  antagonistic.  It  would  be 
equally  false  to  condemn  all  masters  as  to  praise  all  men.  But  after 
all  allowances  are  made,  the  men  have  the  worst  of  it.  They  make 
things  bad  for  themselves  and  for  their  masters  by  their  want  of 
knowledge.  If  they  do  not  form  some  kind  of  Trades'  Union  they 
cannot  save  their  wages,  and  if  they  do  form  Unions  they  cannot 
save  themselves.  Industry  in  England  is  a  chopping  machine,  and 
the  poor  man  is  always  under  the  knife. 

We  will  now  tell  how  the  Flannel  Weavers  of  Rochdale,  whose 
historians  we  are,  have  contrived  to  extricate  themselves  somewhat. 

Our  Trades'  Committee  numbered,  as  all  these  committees  do,  a  few 
plucky  fellows,  and  a  deputation  was  eventually  appointed,  and  set 
off  on  their  mission.  Many  employers  made  the  required  advance, 
but  others,  rather  than  do  so,  would  let  their  works  stop.  This 
resistance  proved  fatal  to  the  scheme,  seconded  as  it  was  by  the  im- 
petuosity of  the  weavers  themselves,  who  did  not  understand  that  you 
cannot  fight  capital  without  capital.  The  only  chance  you  have  is 
to  use  your  brains,  and  unless  your  brains  are  good  for  something, 
are  well  informed  and  well  disciplined,  the  chance  is  a  very  poor  one. 
Our  flannel  weavers  did  not  use  their  brains  but  their  passions.  It  is 
easier  to  hate  than  to  think,  and  the  men  did  what  they  could  do  best 
— they  determined  to  retaliate,  and  turned  out  in  greater  numbers 
than  their  comrades  at  work  were  able  or  willing  to  support.  The 
cooler  and  wiser  heads  advised  more  caution.  But  among  the  work- 
ing class  a  majority  are  found  who  vote  moderation  to  be  treachery. 
The  weavers  failed  at  this  time  to  raise  their  wages,  and  their  em- 
ployers succeeded,  not  so  much  because  they  were  right,  as  because 
their  opponents  were  impetuous. 

At  this  period  the  views  of  Mr.  Robert  Owen,  which  had  been  often 
advocated  in  Rochdale,  were  recurred  to  by  the  weavers.  Socialist 


8  HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

advocates,  whatever  faults  they  else  might  have,  had  at  least  done  one 
service  to  employers — they  had  taught  workmen  to  reason  upon 
their  condition — they  had  shown  them  that  commerce  was  a  system, 
and  that  masters  were  slaves  of  it  as  well  as  men.  The  masters' 
chains  were  perhaps  of  silver,  while  the  workmen's  were  of  copper, 
but  masters  could  not  always  do  quite  as  they  would  any  more  than 
their  servants.  And  if  the  men  became  masters  to-morrow,  they 
would  be  found  doing  pretty  much  as  masters  now  do.  Circumstances 
alter  cases,  and  the  Social  Reformers  sought  to  alter  the  circum- 
stances in  order  to  improve  the  cases.  The  merit  of  their  own  scheme 
of  improvement  might  be  questionable,  but  the  Socialism  of  this 
period  marked  the  time  when  industrial  agitation  first  took  to 
reasoning. l  Ebenezer  Elliott's  epigram,  which  he  once  repeated  as  an 
argument  to  the  present  writer,  pointed  to  doctrines  that  certainly 
never  existed  in  England  : — 

"  What  is  a  Communist?    One  who  hath  yearnings 
For  equal  division  of  unequal  earnings ; 
Idler  or  bungler,  or  both,  he  is  willing 
To  fork  out  his  penny,  and  pocket  your  shilling." 

The  English  working  class  have  no  weakness  in  the  way  of  idle- 
ness ;  they  never  become  dangerous  until  they  have  nothing  to  do. 
Their  revolutionary  cry  is  always  "  more  work  !  "  They  never  ask  for 
bread  half  so  eagerly  as  they  ask  for  employment.  Communists  in 
England  were  never  either  "idlers  or  bunglers."  When  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter  troubled  Parliament,  in  1840,  with  a  motion  for  the  sup- 
pression of  Socialism,  an  inquiry  was  sent  to  the  police  authorities 
of  the  principal  towns  as  to  the  character  of  the  persons  holding  those 
opinions  (the  same  who  built  in  Manchester  the  Hall  of  Science, 
now  the  Free  Library,  at  an  expense  of  £6000  or  £7000).  The 
answer  was  that  these  persons  consisted  of  the  most  skilled,  well- 
conducted,  and  intelligent  of  the  working  class.  Sir  Charles  Shaw 
sent  to  the  Manchester  Social  Institution  for  some  one  to  call  upon 
him,  that  he  might  make  inquiries  relative  to  special  proceedings. 
Mr.  Lloyd  Jones  went  to  him.  and  Sir  Charles  Shaw  said,  that  when 
he  took  office  as  the  superintendent  of  the  police  of  that  district, 
he  gave  orders  that  the  religious  profession  of  every  individual 
taken  to  the  station-house  should  be  noted ;  and  he  had  had 

1  Chartists  have  always  complained  that  their  most  active  men  were  won  from  them  by 
the  new  logic  of  the  Social  Reformers.  Indeed,  some  Social  ^Reformers  conceived  a  dis- 
trust of  political  reform  as  absurd  as  that  professed  by  many  Chartists  for  social  reform, 
but  the  '  Doctrine  of  Circumstances  '  had  one  moralising  effect  upon  the  multitude-  it 
taught  them  to  regard  with  pity  many  opponents  whose  throats  they  otherwise  would 
have  cut  with  pleasure.  Coleridge  has  owned  (The  Friend,  p.  263,  vol.  ii.)  to  the  pacific 
influence  of  this  doctrine  on  his  own  spirit  when  excited  by  a  sense  of  injury  received. 
When  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  called  attention  to  the  evil  he  discovered  in  the  '  Doctrine 
of  Circumstances,'  he  omitted  to  notice  that  if  it  sometimes  weakened  moral  effort,  it 
always  diminished  hatred,  a  fact  of  great  political  importance  in  a  country  where  class 
rivalry  is  intense,  and  where  the  poor  grow  poorer  as  the  rich  grow  richer,  except  where 
private  benevolence  steps  in  to  bridge  over  the  Ijequality. 


A   DEPUTATION    TO   MASTERS. 


prisoners  of  all  religious  denominations,  but  never  one  Socialist. 
Sir  (J.  Shaw  said,  also,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  purchasing  all 
the  publications  of  the  Society,  and  he  was  convinced,  that  if  they 
had  not  irfluenced  the  public  mind  very  materially,  the  outbreaks 
at  the  time,  when  they  wanted  to  introduce  the  "general  holiday," 
would  have  been  much  worse  than  they  were,  and  he  was  quite 
willing  to  state  that  before  the  government,  if  he  should  be  called 
upon  to  give  an  opinion. 

The  followers  of  Mr.  Owen  were  never  the  "  idlers,"  but  the  phil- 
anthropic. They  might  be  dreamers,  but  they  were  not  knaves. 
They  protested  against  competition  as  leading  to  immorality.  Their 
objections  to  it  were  theoretically  acquired.  They  were  none  of 
them  afraid  of  competition,  for  out  of  the  Socialists  of  1840  have  pro- 
ceeded the  most  enterprising  emigrants,  and  the  most  spirited  men  of 
business  who  have  risen  from  the  working  classes.  The  world  is 
dotted  with  them  at  the  present  hour,  and  the  history  of  Rochdale 
Pioneers  is  another  proof  that  they  were  not  "bunglers."  No  popular 
movement  in  England  ever  produced  so  many  persons  able  to  take 
care  of  themselves  as  the  agitation  of  Social  Reform.  Moreover,  the 
pages  of  the  New  Moral  World  and  the  Noilheni  Star  of  this  period 
amply  testify  that  the  Social  Reformers  were  opposed  to  "strikes," 
as  an  untutored  and  often  frantic  method  of  industrial  rectification  ; 
as  wanting  foresight,  calculation,  and  fitness  ;  often  a  waste  of , 
money.  And  when  a  strike  led,  as  they  often  have  done,  to  work- 
men preventing  those  who  were  willing  to  work  from  doing  so,  the 
strike  became  indefensible  save  in  view  of  the  fact  that  employers 
did  the  same  by  Unionist  workmen. 

As  there  was  a  general  feeling  that  the  masters  who  had  refused 
their  demands  had  not  done  them  justice,  they  resolved  to  attain  it 
in  some  other  way.  They  were,  as  Emerson  expresses  it,  "  English 
enough  never  to  think  of  giving  up."  Hereupon  they  fell  back  upon 
that  talismauic  and  inevitable  twopence,  with  which  Rochdale  mani- 
festly thinks  the  world  can  be  saved.  It  was  resolved  to  continue 
the  old  subscription  of  twopence  a  week,  with  a  view  to  commence 
manufacturing,  and  becoming  their  own  employers.  As  they  were 
few  in  number,  they  found  that  their  banking  account  of  two- 
pences  was  likely  to  be  a  long  time  in  accumulating,  and  some  of 
the  committee  began  to  despair  ;  and,  as  nothing  is  too  small  for 
poverty  to  covet,  some  of  them  proposed  to  divide  the  small  sum 
collected. 

At  this  period  a  Sunday  afternoon  discussion  used  to  be  held  in  the 
Temperance  or  Chartist  Reading  Room.  Into  this  arena  some  mem- 
bers of  the  weavers'  committee  carried  their  anxieties  and  projects, 
and  the  question  was  formally  proposed,  "  What  are  the  best  means 
of  improving  the  condition  of  the  people?"  It  would  be  too  long  to 
report  the  anxious  and  Babel  disputation.  Each  orator,  as  in  more 
illustrious  assemblies,  had  his  own  infallible  specific  for  the  deliver- 
.-uice  of  mankind.  The  Teetotalers  argued  that  the  right  thing  to  do 


10  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

was  to  go  in  for  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  and  to 
apply  the  wages  they  earned  exclusively  to  the  support  of  their 
families.  This  was  all  very  well,  but  it  implied  that  everything  was 
right  in  the  industrial  world,  and  that  the  mechanic  had  nothing  to 
do  but  to  keep  sober  in  order  to  grow  rich  ;  it  implied  that  work 
was  sufficiently  plentiful  and  sufficiently  paid  for  ;  and  that  masters, 
on  the  whole,  were  sufficiently  considerate  of  the  workman's  interests. 
As  all  these  points  were  unhappily  contradicted  by  the  experience 
of  every  one  concerned,  the  Teetotal  project  did  not  take  effect  in 
that  ft) rm. 

Next,  the  Chartists  pleaded  that  agitation,  until  they  got  the 
People's  Charter,  was  the  only  honest  thing  to  attempt,  and  the  only 
likely  thing  to  succeed.  Universal  Suffrage  once  obtained,  people 
would  be  their  own  law  makers,  and,  therefore,  could  remove  any 
grievance  at  will.  This  was  another  desirable  project  somewhat 
overrated.  It  implies  that  all  other  agitations  should  be  suspended 
while  this  proceeds.  It  implies  that  public  felicity  can  be  voted  at 
discretion,  and  assumes  that  acts  of  parliament  are  omnipotent  over 
human  happiness.  Social  progress,  however,  is  no  invention  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  nor  would  a  Chartist  parliament  be  able  to 
abolish  all  our  grievances  at  will ;  but  Chartists  having  to  suffer  as 
well  as  other  classes,  ought  to  be  allowed  an  equal  opportunity  of 
trying  their  hand  at  parliamentary  salvation.  The  Universal  Sufi- 
rage  agitation  scheme  was  looked  upon  very  favourably  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  would  probably  have  been  adopted,  had  not  the  Socialists 
argued  that  the  day  of  redemption  would  prove  to  be  considerably 
adjourned  if  they  waited  till  all  the  people  took  the  Pledge,  and  the 
government  went  in  for  the  Charter.  They,  therefore,  suggested 
that  the  weavers  should  co-operate  and  use  such  means  as  they  had 
at  command  to  improve  their  condition,  without  ceasing  to  be  either 
Teetotalers  or  Chartists. 

In  the  end  it  came  about  that  the  Flannel  Weavers'  Committee 
took  the  advice  of  the  advocates  of  co-operation.  James  Daly, 
Charles  Howarth,  James  Smithies,  John  Hill,  and  John  Bent,  ap- 
pear to  be  the  names  of  those  who  in  this  way  assisted  the  co:ii- 
mittee.  Meetings  were  held,  and  plans  for  a  Co-operative  Provision 
Store  were  determined  upon.  So  far  from  there  being  any  desire 
to  evade  responsibility,  as  working  class  commentators  in  Parliament 
usually  assume,  these  conimunistic-teetotal-political  co-operators 
coveted  from  the  first  a  legal  position;  they  determined  that  the 
society  should  be  enrolled  under  Acts  of  Parliament  (10th  Geo.  IV., 
c.  56,  and  4th  and  5th  William  IV.,  c.  40). 


THE  DOFFERS  APPEAR.  II 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  DOFFERS  APPEAR  AT  THE  OPENTNG  DAY.— MORAL  BUYING  AS  WELL 
AS  MORAL  SELLING. 

NEXT,  our  weavers  determined  that  the  Society  should  transact  its 
business  upon  what  they  denominated  the  "  ready  money  principle." 
It  might  be  suspected  that  the  weekly  accumulation  of  twopences 
would  not  enable  them  to  give  much  credit  ;  but  the  determination 
arose  chiefly  from  moral  considerations.  It  was  a  part  of  their 
socialistic  education  to  regard  credit  as  a  social  evil — as  a  sign  of  the 
anxiety,  excitement,  and  fraud  of  competition.  As  Social  Reformers, 
they  had  been  taught  to  believe  that  it  would  be  better  for  society, 
that  commercial  transactions  would  be  simpler  and  honester,  if 
credit  were  abolished.  This  was  a  radical  objection  to  credit.1 
However  advantageous  and  indispensable  credit  is  in  general  com- 
merce, it  would  have  been  a  fatal  instrument  in  their  hands. 
Some  of  them  would  object  to  take  an  oath,  and  the  magistrate 
would  object  to  administer  it ;  thus  they  would  be  at  the  mercy  of 
the  dishonest  who  would  come  in  and  plunder  them,  as  happens 
daily  now  where  the  claim  turns  upon  the  oath.1  Besides,  some  of 
them  had  a  tenderness  with  respect  to  suing,  and  would  rather  lose 
money  than  go  to  law  to  get  it ;  they,  therefore,  prudently  fortified 
themselves  by  setting  their  faces  against  all  credit,  and  from  this 
resolution  they  have  never  departed. 

From  the  Rational  Sick  and  Burial  Society's  laws,  a  Manchester 
communistic  production,  they  borrowed  all  the  features  applicable  to 
their  project,  and  with  alterations  and  additions  their  Society  was 
registered,  October  24th,  1844,  under  the  title  of  the  "Rochdale 
Society  of  Equitable  Pioneers."  Marvellous  as  has  been  their  sub- 
sequent success,  their  early  dream  was  much  more  stupendous — in 
fact,  it  amounted  to  world  making. 2  Our  Pioneers  set  forth  their 

1  A  valued  book,  now  in  their  Library,  did  not  then  exist,  to  teach  them  to  distinguish 
between  prejudice  and  a  moral  political  economy.  In  the  book  referred  to,  the  author 
savs  :— "  Heartily  do  I  wish  that  shop  debts  were  pronounced  after  a  certain  day  irre- 
co'verable  at  law.  The  effect  would  be,  that  no  one  would  be  able  to  ask  credit  at  a 
shop  except  where  he  was  well  known,  and  for  trifling  sums.  All  prices  would  sink 
to  the  scale  of  cash  prices.  The  dishonourable  system  of  fashionable  debtors,  who 
aU'ays  pay  too  late,  if  at  all,  and  cast  their  deficiencies  on  ot'ier  customers  in  the  form  of 
increased  charges,  would  be  at  once  annihilated.  Shopkeepers  would  be  rid  of  a  great 
deal  of  care  which  ruins  the  happiness  of  thousands."  Lectures  on  Political  Economy, 
by  Professor  Newman,  p.  255. 

-  In  those  days  the  working  class  were  justified  in  their  jealousy  of  those  set  "  in 
authority  over  them,"  to  an  extent  happily  less  credible  now.  So  late  as  February, 
1S49,  our  co-operators  stipulated  that  a  clause  should  be  inserted  in  a  lease  of  premises 
they  were  about  to  take,  to  the  effect  that  it  should  not  be  invalid  upon  a  conviction 
o!  nuisance  against  them.  Their  pacific  objects  might  be  sworn  as  a  "  nuisance  "  by 
enemies,  and  magistrates  on  the  bench,  finding  them  legally  defenceless,  might  listen 
to  prejudice  against  them.  Such  cases  have  occurred  elsewhere. 


12        HISTORY  oP  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

designs  in  the  following  amusing  language,  to  which  designs  the 
Society  has  mainly  adhered,  and  has  reiterated  the  same  terms  much 
nearer  the  day  of  their  accomplishment  (in  the'Society's  Almanack 
for  1854).  These  Pioneers,  in  1844,  declared  the  views  of  their 
Association  thus  : — 

"  The  objects  and  plans  of  this  Society  are  to  form  arrangements 
for  the  pecuniary  benefit  and  the  improvement  of  the  social  and 
domestic  condition  of  its  members,  by  raising  a  sufficient  amount  of 
capital  in  shares  of  one  pound  each,  to  bring  into  operation  tho 
following  plans  and  arrangements  : — 

"The  establishment  of  a  Store  for  the  sale  of  provisions,  clothing, 
etc. 

"  The  building,  purchasing,  or  erecting  a  number  of  houses,  in 
which  those  members,  desiring  to  assist  each  other  in  improving 
their  domestic  and  social  condition,  may  reside. 

"To  commence  the  manufacture  of  such  articles  as  the  Society 
may  determine  upon,  for  the  employment  of  such  members  as  may 
be  without  employment,  or  who  may  be  suffering  in  consequence  of 
repeated  reductions  in  their  wages. 

"  As  a  further  benefit  and  security  to  the  members  of  this  Society, 
the  Society  shall  purchase  or  rent  an  estate  or  estates  of  land,  which 
shall  be  cultivated  by  the  members  who  may  be  out  of  employment, 
or  whose  labour  may  be  badly  remunerated." 

Then  follows  a  project  which  no  nation  has  ever  attempted,  and 
no  enthusiasts  yet  carried  out : — 

"  That,  as  soon  as  practicable,  this  Society  shall  proceed  to  arrange 
the  powers  of  production,  distribution,  education,  aiid  government ;  or, 
in  other  words,  to  establish  a  self-supporting  home-colony  of  united 
interests,  or  assist  other  societies  in  establishing  such  colonies." 

Here  was  a  grand  paper  constitution  for  re-arranging  the  powers  of 
production  and  distribution,  which  it  has  taken  fifteen  years  of 
dreary  and  patient  labour  to  advance  half  way. 

Then  follows  a  minor  but  characteristic  proposition  : — 

"That,  for  the  promotion  of  sobriety,  a  Temperance  Hotel  be 
opened  in  one  of  the  Society's  houses  as  soon  as  convenient." 

If  these  grand  projects  were  to  take  effect  any  sooner  than  uni- 
versal Teetotalism  or  universal  Chartism,  it  was  quite  clear  that  some 
activity  must  take  place  in  the  collection  of  the  twoperices.  Tho 
difficulty  in  all  working  class  movements  is  the  collection  of  means. 
At  this  time  the  members  of  the  "  Equitable  Pioneer  Society  "  num- 
bered about  forty  subscribers,  living  in  various  parts  of  the  town,  and 
many  of  them  in  the  suburbs.  The  collector  of  the  forty  subscrip- 
tions would  probably  have  to  travel  twenty  miles  ;  only  a  man  with 
the  devotion  of  a  missionary  could  be  expected  to  undertake  this  task. 
This  is  always  the  impediment  in  the  way  of  working  class  subscrip- 
tions. If  a  man's  time  were  worth  anything  at  all,  he  had  better 
subscribe  the  whole  money  than  collect  it.  But  there  was  no  other 
way  open  to  them  ;  and,  irksome  as  it  was,  some  undertook  it,  and, 


THE   DOFFERS  APPEAR.  13 

to  their  honour,  performed  what  they  undertook. x  Three  collectors 
were  appointed,  who  visited  the  members  at  their  residences  every 
Sunday  ;  the  town  being  divided  into  three  districts.  To  accelerate 
proceedings  an  innovation  was  made,  which  most  at  the  time  have 
created  considerable  excitement.  The  ancient  twopence  was  de- 
parted from,  and  the  subscription  raised  to  threepence.  The  co- 
operators  were  evidently  growing  ambitious.  At  length  the  formid- 
able sum  of  £28  was  accumulated,  and,  with  this  capital,  the  new 
world  >  that  was  to  be,  was  commenced. 

Fifteen  years  ago,  Toad  Lane,  Rochdale,  was  not  a  very  inviting 
street.  Its  name  did  it  no  injustice.  The  groundfloor  of  a  warehouse 
in  Toad  Lane  was  the  place  selected  in  which  to  commence  opera- 
tions. Lancashire  warehouses  were  not  then  the  grand  things  they 
have  since  become,  and  the  groundfloor  of  "Mr.  Dunlop's  pre- 
mises," here  employed,  was  obtained  upon  a  lease  of  three  years  at 
£10  per  annum.  Mr.  William  Cooper  was  appointed  "  cashier  ; "  his 
duties  were  very  light  at  first.  Samuel  Ash  worth  was  dignified  with 
the  title  of  "  salesman  ; "  his  commodities  consisted  of  infini- 
tesimal quantities  of  "flour,  butter, sugar, and  oatmeal."2  The  entire 
quantity  would  hardly  stock  a  homreopathic  grocer's  shop,  for  after 
purchasing  and  consistently  paying  for  the  necessary  fixtures,  £14  or 
£15  was  all  they  had  to  invest  in  stock.  And  on  one  desperate 
evening — it  wasthe  longest  evening  of  theyear — the21stof  December, 
1844,  the  "  Equitable  Pioneers  "  commenced  business  ;  and  the  few 
who  remember  the  commencement,  look  back  upon  their  present  opu- 
lence and  success  with  a  smile  at  their  extraordinary  opening  day.  It 
had  got  wind  among  the  tradesmen  of  the  town  that  their  competitors 
were  in  the  field,  and  many  a  curious  eye  was  that  day  turned  up 
Toad  Lane,  looking  for  the  appearance  of  the  enemy  ;  but,  like  other 
enemies  of  more  historic  renown,  they  were  rather  shy  of  appearing. 
A  few  of  the  co-operators  had  clandestinely  assembled  to  witness  their 
own  denouement ;  and  there  they  stood,  in  that  dismal  lower  room  of 
the  warehouse,  like  the  conspirators  under  Guy  Fawkes  in  the  Par- 
liamentary cellars,  debating  on  whom  should  devolve  the  temerity  of 

1  The  executive  policy  of  democracies  is  in  a  very  crude  state  among  the  people.  Time 
and  zeal  are  wasted  woefully.  A  committee  of  thirteen  working  men  sometimes  debate 
half  an  evening  away  as  to  whether  ninepence  or  thirteen  pence  shall  be  expended  upon 
a  broom.  Money  ought  not  to  be  wasted  upon  brooms,  nor  ought  hard-reared  zeal  to 
be  erpended  in  the  study  of  the  petty  cash  book.  Illustrations  occur  in  the  minutes  of 
the  Rochdale  Society.  "  Eesolved,  that  the  two  parties  attending  the  Bank  on  business 
receive  the  sum  of  sixpence  each,  and  the  third  party  twopence."  (June  10, 1850.) 
Judging  by  the  remuneration,  the  transactions  could  not  have  been  very  responsible. 
"Eesolved,  that  the  shopmen  be  presented  with  an  apron  and  sleeves  each,  in  con- 
sideration of  having  to  make  up  some  bad  money."  (Feb.  28,  1850.)  This  is  a  very 
amusing  instance  of  economical  compensation.  "  Eesolved,  that  we  have  two  cisterns 
for  treacle,  two  patent  taps  from  Bradford,  a  shovel  for  sugar,  and  one  for  currants, 
and  that  the  step-ladder  be  .epaired."  (May  9,  1850.)  "  Eesolved,  that  the  grate  at 
the  back  of  the  wholesale  warehouse  be  opened  for  air."  (March 6, 1851.)  "Eesolved 
that  there  be  a  watering-can  provided  for  the  store."  (March  28, 1852.)  No  doubt  a 
protracted  debate,  five  speeches  each  all  round,  seven  or  eight  explanations,  and  heavy 
replies  by  the  mover  and  seconder,  preceded  these  momentous  resolutions. 

-These  are  the  articles  specified  in  the  minutes  of  Dec.  12, 1844. 


14  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

taking  down  the  shutters,  and  displaying  their  humble  preparations. 
One  did  not  like  to  do  it,  and  another  did  not  like  to  be  seen  in  the 
shop  when  it  was  done  :  however,  having  gone- so  far  there  was  no 
choice  but  to  go  farther,  and  at  length  one  bold  fellow,  utterly  reck- 
less of  consequences,  rushed  at  the  shutters,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
Toad  Lane  was  in  a  titter.  Lancashire  has  its  gamins  as  well  as 
Paris — in  fact,  all  towns  have  their  characteristic  urchins,  who  display 
a  precocious  sense  of  the  ridiculous.  The  "doffers"  are  the  gamins  of 
Rochdale.  The  "  doffers  "  are  lads  from  ten  to  fifteen,  who  take  off 
full  bobbins  from  the  spindles,  and  put  them  on  empty  ones. 1  Like 
steam  to  the  engine,  theyare  the  indispensable  accessories  to  the  mills. 
When  they  are  absent  the  men  have  to  play,  and  often  when  the  men 
want  a  holiday,  the  "  doffers  "  get  to  understand  it  by  some  of  those 
signs  very  well  understood  in  the  freemasonry  of  the  factory  craft, 
and  the  young  rascals  run  away  in  a  body,  and,  of  course,  the  men 
have  to  play  until  the  rebellious  urchins  return  to  their  allegiance. 
On  the  night  when  our  Store  was  opened,  the  "doffers"  came  out 
strong  in  Toad  Lane — peeping  with  ridiculous  impertinence  round 
the  corners,  ventilating  their  opinion  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  or 
standing  before  the  door,  inspecting,  with  pertinacious  insolence, 
the  scanty  arrangement  of  butter  and  oatmeal :  at  length,  they  ex-y 
claimed  in  a  chorus^ Aye !  the  owd  weaver's  shop  is  opened  at  last.jf 

Since  that  time  two  generations  of  "  doffers  "  have  bought  thefr 
butter  and  oatmeal  at  the  "  owd  weaver's  shop,"  and  many  a  bounti- 
ful and  wholesome  meal,  and  many  a  warm  jacket  have  they  had 
from  that  Store,  which  articles  would  never  have  reached  their 
stomachs  or  their  shoulders,  had  it  not  been  for  the  provident 
temerity  of  the  co-operative  weavers. 

Very  speedily,  however,  our  embryo  co-operators  discovered  that 
they  had  more  serious  obstacles  to  contend  with  than  derision  of  the 
"doffers."  The  smallness  of  their  capital  compelled  them  to  purchase 
their  commodities  in  small  quantities,  and  at  disadvantage  both  of 
quality  and  price.  In  addition  to  this,  some  of  their  own  members 
were  in  debt  to  their  own  shopkeepers,  and  they  neither  could,  nor 
dare,  trade  with  the  Store.  And  as  always  happens  in  these  humble 
movements,  many  of  the  members  did  not  see  the  wisdom  of  pro- 
moting their  own  interests,  or  were  diverted  from  doing  it,  if  it  cost 
them  a  little  trouble,  or  involved  some  temporary  sacrifice.  Of  course 
the  quality  of  the  goods  was  sometimes  inferior,  and  sometimes  tho 
price  was  a  trifle  high.  These  considerations,  temporary  and  trifling 
compared  with  the  object  sought,  would  often  deter  some  from  be- 
coming purchasers,  for  whose  exclusive  benefit  the  Store  was  pro j  ected. 
If  the  husband  saw  what  his  duty  was,  he  could  not  always  bring  his 
wife  to  see  it ;  and  unless  the  wife  is  thoroughly  sensible,  and 
thoroughly  interested  in  the  welfare  of  such  a  movement,  its  success 
must  be  very  limited.  If  the  wife  will  take  a  little  trouble,  and  bear 

ITopullpff  abobbin  is,  in  the  language  of  mills,  to  "doff"  it;  hencethephrase  "doffers." 


THE   DOFFERS   APPEAR.  15 

with  the  temporary  sacrifice  of  buying  now  and  then  an  article  she 
does  not  quite  like,  and  will  send  a  little  farther  for  her  purchases 
than  perhaps  suits  her  convenience,  and  will  sometimes  agree  to  pay 
a  little  more  for  them  than  the  shop  next  door  would  charge,  the  co- 
operative stores  might  always  become  successful.  Pure  quality,  good 
weight,  honest  measure,  and  fair  dealing  within  the  establishment, 
buying  without  higgling,  and  selling  without  fraud,  are  sources  of 
moral  and  physical  satisfaction  of  far  more  consequence  to  a  well- 
trained  person  than  a  farthing  in  the  pound  cheaper  which  the  same 
goods  might  elsewhere  cost.  How  heavily  are  we  taxed  to  put  down 
vice  when  it  has  grown  up — yet  IIOAV  reluctant  are  we  to  tax  ourselves 
ever  so  lightly  to  prevent  it  arising.  If  there  are  to  be  moral  sellers, 
there  must  be  moral  buyers.  It  is  idle  to  distinguish  the  seller  as  an 
indirect  cheat,  so  long  as  the  customer  is  but  an  ambiguous  knave. 
Those  dealers  who  make  it  a  point  always  to  sell  cheaper  th:in  any 
one  else,  must  make  up  their  minds  to  the  risk  of  dishonesty,  to  the 
driving  of  hard  bargains,  or  of  stooping  to  adulterations.  Our  little 
Store  thought  more  of  improving  the  moral  character  of  trade  than  of 
making  large  profits.  In  this  respect  they  have  educated  their 
associates  and  customers  to  a  higher  point  of  character.  The  first 
members  of  the  Store  were  not  all  sensible  of  this,  and  their  support 
was  consequently  slender,  like  their  knowledge.  But  a  staunch  section 
of  them  were  true  co-operators,  and  would  come  far  or  near  to  make 
their  purchases,  and,  whether  theprice  was  high  or  low,  the  quality  good 
or  bad,  they  bought,  because  it  was  their  duty  to  buy.  The  men  were 
determined,  and  the  women  no  less  enthusiastic,  willing,  and  content. 
Those  members  of  the  Store  who  were  true  to  their  own  duty,  were 
naturally  impatient  that  all  the  other  members  should  do  the  same  ; 
they  expected  that  every  other  member  should  buy  at  the  Store  what- 
ever the  Store  sold,  that  the  said  member  purchased  elsewhere.  Not 
content  with  wishing  this,  they  sought  to  compel  all  members  to  be- 
come traders  with  the  Store  ;  and  James  Daly,  the  then  secretary, 
brought  forward  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  those  members  who 
did  not  trade  with  the  Store  should  be  paid  out.  Charles  Howarth 
opposed  this  motion,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  destroy  the  free 
action  of  the  members.  He  desired  co-operation  to  advance,  he 
said  he  would  do  all  he  could  to  promote  it ;  that  freedom  was  a 
principle  which  he  liked  absolutely,  and,  rather  than  give  it  up,  he 
would  forego  the  advantages  of  co-operation.  It  will  be  seen,  as  our 
little  history  progresses,  that  this  love  of  principle  has  never  died 
out,  nor,  indeed,  been  impaired  amid  these  resolute  co-operators. 
James  Daly's  motion  was  withdrawn. 


16  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   SOCIETY  TRIED  BY  TWO  WELL-KNOWN   DIFFICULTIES  —PREJUDICE 
AND   SECTARIANISM. 

IN  March,  1845,  it  was  resolved  that  a  license  for  the  sale  of  tea  and 
tobacco  be  taken  out  for  the  next  quarter,  in  the  name  of  Charles 
Howarth.  This  step  evidently  involved  the  employment  of  more 
capital  ;  for  though  the  members  had  increased,  funds  had  not  in- 
creased sufficiently  for  this  purpose.  The  members,  in  public  meet- 
ing assembled,  were  made  aware  of  this  fact ;  then,  for  the  second  time 
in  the  history  of  the  Rochdale  Store,  do  we  hear  of  any  member  being 
in  possession  of  more  than  twopence.  One  member  "  promised  to 
find"  half-a-crown.  "Promised  to  find"  is  the  phrase  employed  on 
the  occasion — it  was  not  "promised  to  pay,  or  subscribe,  or  advance." 
"  Promised  to  find  "  probably  alluded  to  the  effort  required  to  pro- 
duce a  larger  sum  than  twopence  in  those  parts.  Another  member 
"promised  to  find  "  five  shillings,  and  another  "promised  to  find" 
a  pound.  This  last  announcement  was  received  with  no  mean  sur- 
prise, and  the  rich  and  reckless  man  who  made  the  promise  was 
regarded  with  double  veneration,  as  being  at  once  a  millionaire  and 
a  martyr. x  Other  members  "promised  to  find"  various  sums  in  pro- 
portion to  their  means,  and  in  due  time  the  husbands  could  get  from 
the  Store  the  solace  of  tobacco,  and  wives  the  solace  of  tea.  At  the 
close  of  1845  the  store  numbered  upwards  of  eighty  members,  and 
possessed  a  capital  of  £181  12s.  3d.2  At  first  the  Store  paid  2^  per 
cent,  interest  on  money  borrowed,  then  4  per  cent.  After  paying 
this  interest,  and  the  small  expenses  of  management,  all  profits  made 
were  divided  among  the  purchasers  at  the  Store,  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  expended  ;  and  the  members  soon  began  to  appreciate  this 
very  palpable  and  desirable  addition  to  their  income.  Instead  of 
their  getting  into  debt  at  the  grocer's,  the  Store  was  becoming  a 
savings'  bank  to  the  members,  and  saved  money  for  them  without 
trouble  to  themselves.  The  weekly  receipt  for  goods  sold  during 
the  quarter  ending  December,  1845,  averaged  upwards  of  £30. 

1  I  have  rescued  and  shall  preserve  the  name  of  this  pecuniary  hero— it  was  William 
Mallalieu,  a  trusted  servant  of  John  Feilden,  M.P.,  now  of  Todmorden,  who  joined 
the  Society  at  its  fifth  meeting,  September  12th,  1844.    It  does  seem  like  amusement 
to  make  this  note,  but  those  concerned  know  it  to  be  ludicrously  true.    The  present 
writer  well  remembers  the  feeling  of  exultation  with  which  the  important  accession  of 
£1  was  accomplished  ;  and  there  was  only  Mr.  Mallalieu  in  all  Bochdale  at  that  time 
willing  and  able  to  help  the  humble  movement  to  that  extent.    They  little  expected, 
ten  years  later,  to  be  able  to  put  this  minute  upon  their  books — "Resolved,  that  A. 
Hill  and  T.  Smithies  wait  upon  the  Board  of  the  Rochdale  Corn  Mill  Society,  and  giv« 
them  notice  that  £1,500  lying  in  the  Bank,  belonging  to  this  Society,  is  now  at  their 
command." — Minutes,  March  8th,  1855. 

2  The  Society  paid  no  interest  upon  its  shares  the  first  year,  and  all  profits  were 
allowed  to  accumulate  with  a  view  to  increasing  capital.  -  Vide  Minute  of  Committee 
Meeting,  Aug.  29, 1844, 


TWO   WELL-KNOWN   DIFFICULTIES.  17 

"The  Rochdale  Society  of  Equitable  Pioneers,  held  in  Toad  Lane, 
in  the  Parish  of  Rochdale,  in  the  County  of  Lancaster,"  made  up  its 
mind  that  a  capital  of  £1,000  must  be  raised  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Store.  This  sum  was  to  be  raised  by  £1  shares,  of  which  each 
member  should  be  required  to  hold  four  and  no  more.  In  case  more 
than  £1,000  was  required,  it  was  to  be  lawful  for  a  member  to  hold  five 
shares.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Store,  it  was  allowed  a  member 
to  have  any  number  of  shares  under  fifty-one.  The  chances  of  any 
member  availing  himself  of  this  opportunity  were  very  dreary.  But 
the  officers  were  ordered,  and  empowered,  and  commanded  to  buy 
down  all  fifty-pound  shares  with  all  convenient  speed  ;  and  any 
member  holding  more  than  four  shares  was  compelled  to  sell  the  sur- 
plus at  their  original  cost  of  £1,  when  applied  to  by  the  officers  of 
the  Society.  But  should  a  member  be  thrown  out  of  employment, 
he  was  then  allowed  to  sell  his  shares  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  or 
other  member,  by  arrangement,  which  would  enable  him  to  obtain 
a  higher  value.  Each  member  of  the  Society,  on  his  admission 
night,  had  to  appear  personally  in  the  meeting-room  and  state  his 
willingness  to  take  out  four  shares  of  £1  each,  and  to  pay  a  deposit 
of  not  less  than  threepence  per  share,  or  one  shilling,  and  to  pay 
not  less  than  threepence  per  week  after,  and  to  allow  all  interests 
and  profits  that  might  be  due  to  him  to  remain  in  the  funds  until 
the  amount  was  equal  to  four  shares  in  the  capital. 

Any  member  neglecting  his  payments  was  to  be  liable  to  a  fine, 
except  the  neglect  arose  from  distress,  sickness,  or  want  of  employ- 
ment. 

When  overtaken  by  distress,  a  member  was  allowed  to  sell  all  hi? 
shares,  save  one. 

The  earliest  rules  of  the  Society,  printed  in  1844,  have,  of  course^ 
undergone  successive  amendments  ;  but  the  germs  of  all  their 
existing  rules  were  there.  Every  member  was  to  be  formally  pro- 
posed, his  name,  trade,  and  residence  made  known  to  every  one 
concerned,  and  a  general  meeting  effected  his  election. 

The  officers  of  the  Society  included  a  President,  Treasurer,  and 
Secretary,  elected  half-yearly,  with  three  Trustees  and  five  Direc- 
tors. Auditors  as  usual. 

The  officers  and  Directors  were  to  meet  every  Thursday  evening, 
at  eight  o'clock,  in  the  committee  room  of  the  Weavers'  Arms, 
Yorkshire  Street.  Then  followed  all  the  heavy  regulations,  common 
to  enrolled  societies,  for  taking  care  of  money  before  they  had  it. 
The  only  hearty  thing  in  the  whole  rules,  and  which  does  not  give 
tic  doloreux  in  reading  it,  is  an  appointment  that  an  annual 
general  meeting  shall  be  holden  on  the  "first  market  Tuesday," 
at  which  a  dinner  shall  be  provided  at  one  shilling  each,  to  celebrate 
the  anniversary  of  the  grand  opening  of  the  Store.  At  which 
occasion,  no  doubt,  though  the  present  historian  has  not  the  report 
before  him,  the  first  sentiment  given  was  "Th'  owd  weyvurs'  shop," 
followed  by  a  chorus  from  the  "doffers." 

B 


1 8  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONZERS. 

The  gustativeness  of  the  members  appears  not  to  have  sustained 
an  annual  dinner,  for  in  1847 *  we  find  records  of  the  annual 
celebration  assuming  the  form  of  a  "tea  party,-"  to  which,  in  right 
propagandist  spirit,  certain  Bacup  co-operators  were  invited. 

The  store  itself  was  ordered  to  be  opened  to  the  public  (who  never 
came  in  those  days  at  all)  on  the  evenings  of  Mondays  and  Satur- 
days only — from  seven  to  nine  on  Mondays,  from  six  to  eleven  on 
Saturdays.  It  would  appear  from  this  arrangement  that  the  poor 
flannel  weavers  only  bought  twice  a  week  in  those  times.  A  dread- 
ful string  of  fines  is  attached  to  the  laws  of  1844.  The  value  of  a 
Trustee  or  Director  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact,  that  his  fine  for 
non-attendance  was  sixpence.  It  is  plain  that  the  Society  expected 
to  lose  only  half-a-crown  if  the  whole  five  ran  away.  However,  they 
proved  to  be  worth  more  than  the  very  humble  price  they  put  upon 
themselves.  Under  their  management  members  rapidly  increased, 
and  the  Store  was  opened  (March  3,  1845)  on  additional  days,  and 
for  a  greater  number  of  hours  : — 

Monday        from     4     to     9     p.m. 

Wednesday     „         7     to     9       „ 

Thursday        „         8     to  10       „ 

Friday  „         7     to    9        „ 

Saturday         ,,         1     to  11       ,, 

On  February  2nd,  1846,  it  was  resolved  that  the  Store  be  opened 
on  Saturday  afternoons  for  the  meeting  of  members  ;  an  indication 
that  the  business  of  the  Store  was  becoming  interesting,  and  required 
more  attention  than  the  weavers  were  able  to  give  it  after  their  long 
day's  labour  was  over.  In  the  October  of  this  year,  the  Store  com- 
menced selling  butcher's  me^t.  For  the  three  years  1846-8,  the 
Store  was  tried  by  dullness,  apathy,  and  public  distress.  It  made 
slow,  but  it  made  certain  progress  under  them  all.  Very  few  new 
members  were  added  during  1846  ;  but  the  capital  of  the  Society  in- 
creased to  £252  7s.  l|d.,  with  weekly  receipts  for  goods  averaging 
£34  for  the  December  quarter. 

In  case  of  distress  occurring  to  a  member,  we  have  seen  that  he  was 
permitted  to  dispose  of  his  shares,  retaining  only  one.  During  1847 
trade  was  bad,  and  many  of  the  members  withdrew  part  of  their 
shares.  Nothing  can  better  show  the  soundness  of  the  advantages 
created  by  the  Society  than  the  fact  that  the  first  time  trade  became 
bad,  and  provisions  dear,  the  members  rapidly  increased.  The  people 
felt  the  pinch,  and  it  made  them  look  out  for  the  best  means  of 
making  a  little  go  far  ;  and  finding  that  the  payment  of  a  shilling 
entrance  money,  and  threepence  a  week  afterwards — which  sum  being 
paid  on  account  of  their  shares,  was  really  money  saved — would 
enable  them  to  join  the  Store  ;  they  saw  thab  doing  so  was  quite 
within  their  means,  and  much  to  their  advantage.  Accordingly, 

1  An  early  minute,  Oct.  6, 1845, 1  find  appoints  an  Anniversary  Tea.  It  was  "  resolved 
Oct.  7,  1850,  that  neither  tea  nor  dinner  be  provided  to  celebrate  the  Anniversary''  of 
that  year.  This  festival  must  have  been  a  modest  one. 


TWO   WELL-KNOWN   DIFFICULTIES.  1 9 

many  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  buying  their  goods  at 
the  Store.  The  Store  thereby  encouraged  habits  of  providence,  and 
saved  the  funds  of  the  parish.  At  the  close  of  1847,  HO  members 
were  on  the  books,  and  the  capital  had  increased  to  £286  15s.  Sid., 
and  the  weekly  receipts  for  goods  during  the  December  quarter  were 
£36.  An  increase  of  £34  of  capital,  and  £2  a  week  in  receipts  during 
twelve  months,  was  no  great  thing  to  boast  of  ;  but  this  was  accom- 
plished during  a  year  of  bad  trade  and  dear  food,  which  might  have 
been  expected  to  ruin  the  Society  :  it  was  plain  that  the  co-operative 
waggon  was  surely,  if  slowly,  toiling  up  the  hill.  The  next  minute 
of  the  Society's  history  is  unexpected  and  cheering. 

The  year  1848  commenced  with  great  "  distress"  cases  and  an  acces- 
sion of  new  members.  Contributions  were  now  no  longer  collected 
from  the  members  at  their  homes.  There  was  one  place  now  where 
every  member  met,  at  least  once  a  week,  and  that  was  at  the  Store, 
and  the  cashier  made  the  appointed  collection  from  each  when  he 
appeared  at  the  desk.  Neither  revolutions  abroad,  nor  excitement 
nor  distress  at  home,  disturbed  the  progress  of  this  wise  and  peaceful 
experiment.  The  members  increased  to  140,  the  capital  increased  to 
£397,  and  the  weekly  receipts  for  goods  sold  in  the  December 
quarter  rose  to  £80 ;  being  an  increase  of  £44  a  week  over  the 
previous  year  in  the  amount  of  sales. 

The  lower  room  of  the  old  warehouse  was  now  too  small  for  the 
business,  so  the  whole  building,  consisting  of  three  stories  and  an  attic, 
was  taken  by  these  enterprising  co-operators,  on  lease  for  twenty- 
one  years. 

More  new  members  were  added  to  the  Society  in  1849.  The  second- 
floor  became  the  meeting-  room  of  the  members,  and  also  a  sort  of 
news-room,  for  on  August  20th,  it  was  resolved — "  That  Messrs. 
James  Nuttall,  Henry  Green,  Abraham  Greenwood,  George  Adcroft, 
James  Hill,  and  Robert  Taylor,  be  a  committee  to  open  a  stall  for  the 
sale  of  books,  periodicals,  newspapers,  etc.  ;  the  profits  to  be  applied 
to  the  furnishing  the  members'  room  with  newspapers  and  books." 
At  the  close  of  1849  the  number  of  members  had  reached  three 
hundred  and  ninety.  The  capital  now  amounted  to  £1193  19s.  Id., 
and  the  weekly  receipts  for  goods  had  risen  to  £179. 

In  the  next  year  a  very  old  enemy  of  social  peace  appeared  in 
Rochdale.  The  religious  element  began  to  contend  for  exclusiveness. 
The  rapid  increase  of  the  members  had  brought  together  numbers 
holding  evangelical  views,  and  who  had  not  been  reared  in  a  school 
of  practical  toleration.  These  had  no  idea  of  allowing  to  their  col- 
leagues the  freedom  their  colleagues  allowed  to  them,  and  they  pro- 
posed to  close  the  meeting  room  on  Sundays,  and  forbid  religious 
controversy.  The  liberal  and  sturdy  co-operators,  whose  good  sense 
and  devotion  had  created  the  secular  advantages  of  which  the  religious 
accession  had  chosen  to  avail  itself,  were  wholly  averse  to  this 
restriction.  They  valued  mental  freedom  more  than  any  personal 
gain,  and  they  could  not  help  regarding  with  dismay  the  introduction 


20  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

of  this  fatal  source  of  discord,  which  had  broken  up  so  m:my  Friendly 
Societies,  and  often  frustrated  the  fairest  prospects  of  mutual  im- 
provement. The  matter  was  brought  before  a  general  meeting,  on 
February  4th,  1850.  We  give  the  dates  of  the  leading  incidents  we 
record,  for  they  are  historic  days  in  the  career  of  our  Store.  On  the 
date  here  quoted,  it  was  resolved,  for  the  welfare  of  the  Society  : — 
"  That  every  member  shall  have  full  liberty  to  speak  his  sentiments 
on  all  subjects  when  brought  before  the  meetings  at  a  proper  time, 
and  in  a  proper  manner  ;  and  all  subjects  shall  be  legitimate  ivhen 
properly  proposed."  The  tautology  of  this  memorable  resolution 
shows  the  emphasis  of  alarm  under  which  it  was  passed,  and  the 
endeavour  to  secure  by  reiteration  of  terms  a  liberty  so  essential  to 
conscience  and  to  progress.  The  founders  of  the  Society  were  justly 
apprehensive  that  its  principles  would  be  overthrown  by  an  indis- 
criminate influx  of  members,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  toleration 
upon  which  all  co-operation  must  be  founded,  and  they  moved  and 
carried  : — "  That  no  propositions  be  taken  for  new  members  after 
next  general  meeting  for  six  months  ensuing."  From  this  time 
peace  has  prevailed  on  this  subject. 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  co-operation — as  far  back  as  1832 — the 
Co-operative  Congress,  held  in  London  in  that  year,  wisely  agreed 
to  this  resolution  : — "  Whereas,  the  co-operative  world  contains 
persons  of  all  religious  sects,  and  of  all  political  parties,  it  is  unani- 
mously resolved,  that  Co-operators,  as  suc/i,  are  not  identified  with 
any  religious,  irreligious,  or  political  tenets  whatever  ;  neither  those 
of  Mr.  Owen,  nor  of  any  other  individual."1 

Sectarianism  is  afc  all  times  the  bane  of  public  unity.  Without 
toleration  of  all  opinion,  popular  co-operation  is  impossible. 

These  theological  storms  over,  the  Society  continued  its  success. 
The  members  increased  in  1850  to  six  hundred  ;  the  capital  of  the 
Society,  in  cash  and  stock,  rose  to  £2299  10s.  6d.,  and  the  cash 
received  during  the  December  quarter  amounted  to  £4397  17s.,  or 
£338  per  week. 

In  April,  1851,  seven  years  after  its  commencement,  the  Store  was 
open,  for  the  first  time,  all  day.  Mr.  William  Cooper  was  appointed 
superintendent ;  John  Rudman  and  James  Standring  shopmen. 

This  year  the  members  of  the  Store  were  six  hundred  and  thirty  ; 
its  capital  £2785;  its  weekly  sales  £308.  Somewhat  less  than  in 
1850. 

The  next  year,  1852,  the  increase  of  members'  capital  and  receipts 
was  marked,  and  they  have  gone  on  since  increasing  at  a  rate  beyond 
all  expectation.  To  what  extent  we  shall  show  in  Tables  of  Results 
in  another  chapter. 

1  Resolution  of  the  third  London  Co-operative  Congress.    1832. 


ENEMIES   WITHIN    AND   ENEMIES   WITHOUT.        21 


CHAPTER  V. 

ENEMIES  WITHIN    AND   ENEMIES  WITHOUT,    AND   HOW  THEY  ALL  \\EUF, 
CONQUERED. 

THE  moral  miracle  performed  by  our  co-operatives  of  Rochdale  is, 
that  they  have  had  the  good  sense  to  differ  without  disagreeing  ;  to 
dissent  from  each  other  without  separating ;  to  hate  at  times,  and  yet 
always  hold  together.  In  most  working  classes,  and,  indeed,  in  most 
public  societies  of  all  classes,  a  number  of  curious  persons  are  found, 
who  appear  born  under  a  disagreeable  star ;  who  breathe  hostility, 
distrust,  and  dissension :  whose  tones  are  always  harsh  :  it  is  no  fault 
of  theirs,  they  never  mean  it,  but  they  cannot  help  it ;  their  organs  of 
speech  are  cracked,  and  no  melodious  sound  can  come  out  of  them  ; 
their  native  note  is  a  moral  squeak  ;  they  are  never  cordial,  and  never 
satisfied  ;  the  restless  convolutions  of  their  skin  denote  "a  difference 
of  opinion ;"  their  very  lips  hang  in  the  form  of  a  "carp ;"  the  muscles 
of  their  face  are  "  drawn  up  "  in  the  shape  of  an  amendment,  and  their 
wrinkled  brows  frown  with  an  "entirely  new  principle  of  action ;"  they 
are  a  species  of  social  porcupines,  whose  quills  eternally  stick  out  ;• 
whose  vision  is  inverted ;  who  see  everything  upside  down ;  who  place 
every  subject  in  water  to  inspect  it,  where  the  straightest  rod  appears 
hopelessly  bent ;  who  know  that  every  word  has  two  meanings,  and 
who  take  always  the  one  you  do  not  intend  ;  who  know  that  no  state- 
ment can  include  every  thing,  and  who  always  fix  upon  whatever  you 
omit,  and  ignore  whatever  you  assert ;  who  join  a  society  ostensibly  to 
co-operate  with  it,  but  really  to  do  nothing  but  criticise  it,  without 
attempting  patiently  to  improve  that  of  which  they  complain  ;  who, 
instead  of  seeking  strength  to  use  it  in  mutual  defence,  look  for  weak- 
ness to  expose  it  to  the  common  enemy  ;  who  make  every  associate 
sensible  of  perpetual  dissatisfaction,  until  membership  with  them 
becomes  a  penal  infliction,  and  you  feel  thatyou  are  sureof  more  peace 
and  more  respect  among  your  opponents  than  among  your  friends  ; 
who  predict  to  everybody  that  the  thing  must  fail,  until  they  make  it 
impossible  that  it  can  succeed,  and  then  take  credit  for  their  treacher- 
ous foresight,  and  ask  your  gratitude  and  respect  for  the  very  help 
which  hampered  you  ;  they  are  friends  who  act  as  the  fire  brigade  of 
the  party  ;  they  always  carry  a  water  engine  with  them,  and  under 
the  suspicion  that  your  cause  is  in  a  constant  conflagration,  splash  and 
drench  you  from  morning  till  night,  until  every  member  is  in  an  ever- 
lasting state  of  drip  ;  who  believe  that  co-operation  is  another  word 
for  organised-  irritation,  and  who,  instead  of  showing  the  blind  the 
way,  and  helping  the  lame  along,  and  giving  the  weak  a  lift,  and 
imparting  courage  to  the  timid,  and  confidence  to  the  despairing, 
spend  their  time  in  sticking  pins  into  the  tender,  treading  on  the  toes 


22  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


of  the  gouty,  pushing  the  lame  down  stairs,  leaving  those  in  the  dark 
behind,  telling  the  fearful  that  they  may  well  be  afraid,  and  assuring 
the  despairing  that  it  is  " all  up."  A  sprinkling  of  these  "damned 
good-natured  friends "  belong  to  most  societies  ;  they  are  few  in 
number,  but  indestructible  ;  they  are  the  highwaymen  of  progress, 
who  alarm  every  traveller,  and  make  you  stand  and  deliver  your 
hopes  ;  they  are  the  lagoes  and  Turpins  of  democracy,  and  only 
wise  men  and  strong  men  can  evade  them  or  defy  them.  The  Roch- 
dale co-operators  understand  them  very  well — they  met  them — boro 
with  them — worked  with  them— worked  in  spite  of  them — looked 
upon  them  as  the  accidents  of  progress,  gave  them  a  pleasant  word 
and  a  merry  smile,  and  passed  on  before  them  ;  they  answered  them 
not  by  word  but  by  act,  as  Diogenes  refuted  Zeno.  When  Zeno 
said  there  was  no  motion,  Diogenes  answered  him  by  moving.  When 
adverse  critics,  with  Briarian  hands,  pointed  to  failure,  the  Roch- 
dale co-operators  replied  by  succeeding. 

Whoever  joins  a  popular  society  ought  to  be  made  aware  of  this 
curious  species  of  colleagues  whom  we  have  described.  You  can  get 
on  with  them  very  well  if  they  do  not  take  you  by  surprise.  In- 
deed, they  are  useful  in  their  way;  they  are  the  dead  weights  with 
which  the  social  architect  tries  the  strength  of  his  new  building. 
We  mention  them  because  they  existed  in  Rochdale,  and  that  fact 
serves  to  show  that  our  co-operators  enjoyed  no  favour  from  nature 
or  accident.  They  were  tried  like  other  men,  and  had  to  combat 
the  ordinary  human  difficulties.  Take  two  examples. 

Of  course  the  members'  meetings  are  little  parliaments  of  working 
men — not  very  little  parliaments  now,  for  they  include  thrice  the 
number  of  members  composing  the  House  of  Commons.  All  the 
mutual  criticisms  in  which  Englishmen  proverbially  indulge,  and  the 
grumblings  said  to  be  our  national  characteristic,  and  the  petty 
jealousies  of  democracies,  are  reproduced  on  these  occasions,  though 
not  upon  the  fatal  scale  so  common  among  the  working  class.  Here, 
in  the  parliament  of  our  Store,  the  leader  of  the  opposition  sometimes 
shows  no  mercy  to  th.e  leader  in  power;  and  Rochdale  Gladstone 
or  Disraelies  very  freely  criticise  the  quarterly  budget  of  the  Sir 
George  Cornewall  Lewis  of  the  day.  At  one  time  there  was  our 
friend  Ben,  a  member  of  the  Store  so  known,  who  was  never  satis- 
fied with  anything — and  yet  he  never  complained  of  anything.  Ho 
looked  his  disapproval,  but  never  spoke  it.  He  was  suspicious  >c 
everybody  in  a  degree,  it  would  seem,  too  great  for  utterance.  Ho 
went  about  everywhere,  he  inspected  everything,  and  doubted  every- 
thing. He  shook  his  dissent,  not  from  his  tongue,  but  his  head.  Ifc 
was  at  one  time  thought  that  the  management  must  sink  under  his 
portentous  disapprobation.  With  more  wisdom  than  usually  falls  to 
critics,  he  refrained  from  speaking  until  he  knew  what  he  had  to  say. 
After  two  years  of  this  weighty  travail  the  clouds  dispersed,  and  Ben 
found  speech  and  confidence  together.  He  found  that  his  profits 
had  increased  notwithstanding  his  distrust,  and  he  could  no  longer 


ENEMIES   WITHIN  AND    ENEMIES  WITHOUT.        2$ 

find  in  his  heart  to  frown  upon  the  Store  which  was  making  him  rich. 
At  last  he  went  up  to  the  cashier  to  draw  his  profits,  and  he  came 
down,  like  Moses  from  the  mount,  with  his  face  shining. 

Another  guardian  of  the  democratic  weal  fulminated  heroically. 
The  very  opposite  of  Ben,  he  almost  astounded  the  Store  by  his 
ceaseless  and  stentorian  speeches.  The  Times  newspaper  would  not 
contain  a  report  of  his  quarterly  orations.  He  could  not  prove  that 
anything  was  wrong,  but  he  could  not  believe  that  all  was  right.  He 
was  invited  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Board ;  indeed,  if  we  have 
studied  the  chronicles  of  the  Store  correctly,  he  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Board,  that  he  might  not  only  see  the  right  thing  done, 
but  do  it;  but  he  was  too  indignant  to  do  his  duty,  and  he  was  so 
committed  to  dissatisfaction  that  above  all  things  he  was  afraid  of 
being  undeceived ;  and,  during  his  whole  period  of  office,  he  actually 
sat  with  his  back  to  the  Board,  and  in  that  somewhat  unfriendly 
and  inconvenient  attitude  he  delivered  his  respective  opinions. 
Whether,  like  the  hare,  he  had  ears  behind  has  not  been  certified ; 
but,  unless  he  had  eyes  behind,  he  never  could  have  seen  what  took 
place.  A  more  perfect  member  of  an  opposition  has  rarely  ap- 
peared. He  was  made  by  nature  to  conduct  an  antagonism.  At 
length  he  was  bribed  into  content — bribed  by  the  only  legitimate 
bribery — the  bribery  of  success.  When  the  dividends  came  in  be- 
hind him,  he  turned  round  to  look  at  them,  and  he  pocketed  his 
' '  brass  "  and  his  wrath  together  ;  and,  though  he  has  never  been 
brought  to  confess  that  things  are  going  right,  he  has  long  ceased  to 
say  that  they  are  going  wrong. 

The  Store  very  early  began  to  exercise  educational  functions. 
Besides  supplying  the  members  with  provisions,  the  Store  became  a 
meeting  place,  where  almost  every  member  met  each  other  every 
evening  after  working  hours.  Here  there  was  harmony  because 
there  was  equality.  Every  member  was  equal  in  right,  and  was 
allowed  to  express  his  opinions  on  whatever  topic  he  took  an  interest 
in.  Religion  and  politics,  the  terrors  of  Mechanics'  Institutions, 
were  here  common  subjects  of  discussion,  and  harmless  because 
they  were  open.  In  other  respects  the  co-operators  acquired  busi- 
ness confidence  as  well  as  business  habits.  The  Board  was  open  to 
everybody,  and,  in  fact,  everybody  went  everywhere.  Distrust  dies 
out  where  nothing  is  concealed.  Confidence  and  honest  pride 
sprung  up,  for  every  member  was  a  master — he  was  at  once  pur- 
chaser and  proprietor.  But  all  did  not  go  smoothly  on.  Besides 
the  natural  obstacles  which  exist,  ignorance  and  inexperience 
created  others. 

Poverty  is  a  greater  impediment  to  social  success  than  even  pre- 
judice. With  a  small  capital  you  cannot  buy  good  articles  nor  cheap 
ones.  What  is  bought  at  a  small  Store  wifl  probably  be  worse  and 
dearer  than  the  same  articles  elsewhere.  This  discourages  the  poor. 
With  them  every  penny  must  tell,  and  every  penny  extra  they  pay 
for  goods  seems  to  them  a  tax,  and  they  will  not  often  incur  it.  It 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

is  of  no  use  that  you  show  them  that  it  and  more  will  come  back 
again  as  profit  at  the  end  of  the  quarter.  They  do  not  believe  in  the 
end  of  the  quarter — they  distrust  the  promise  of  profits.  The  loss  of 
the  penny  to-day  is  near — the  gain  of  sixpence  three  months  hence 
is  remote.  Thus  you  have  to  educate  the  very  poor  before  you  can 
serve  them.  The  humbler  your  means  the  greater  your  difficulties — 
you  have  to  teach  as  well  as  to  save  the  very  poor.  One  would  think 
that  a  customer  ought  to  be  content  when  he  is  his  own  shopkeeper ; 
on  the  contrary,  he  is  not  satisfied  with  the  price  he  charges  himself. 
Intelligent  contentment  is  the  slowest  plant  that  grows  upon  the  soil 
of  ignorance. 

Some  of  the  male  members,  and  no  wonder  that  many  of  the 
women  also,  thought  meanly  of  the  Store.  They  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  fine  shops,  and  the  Toad  Lane  warehouse  was  repulsive  to 
them  ;  but  after  a  time  the  women  became  conscious  of  the  pride  of 
paying  ready  money  for  their  goods,  and  of  feeling  that  the  Store 
was  their  own,  and  they  began  to  take  equal  interest  with  their 
husbands.  As  usually  happens  in  these  cases,  the  members  who 
rendered  no  support  to  the  new  undertaking  when  it  most  wanted 
support,  made  up  by  making  more  complaints  than  anybody  else, 
thus  rendering  no  help  themselves  and  discouraging  those  who  did. 
It  has  been  a  triumph  of  penetration  and  good  sense  to  inspire  these 
contributors  with  a  habit  of  supporting  that,  which,  in  its  turn,  sup- 
ports them  so  well.  There  are  times  still  when  a  cheaper  article  has 
its  attraction  for  the  Store  purchaser,  when  he  forgets  the  supreme 
advantage  of  knowing  that  his  food  is  good,  or  his  garment  as 
stout  as  it  can  be  made.  He  will  sometimes  forget  the  moral  satis- 
faction derived  from  knowing  that  the  article  he  can  buy  from  the 
Store  has,  as  far  as  the  Store  can  influence  it,  been  produced  by  some 
workman,  who,  in  his  turn,  was  paid  at  some  living  rate  for  his 
labour.  Now  and  then,  the  higgler  will  appear  at  the  little  co-oper- 
ative stores  around,  and  the  Store  dealers  will  believe  them,  and 
prefer  their  goods  to  the  supplies  to  be  had  from  the  Store,  because 
they  ai'e  some  fraction  cheaper  ;  without  their  being  able  to  know 
what  adulteration,  or  hard  bargaining  elsewhere,  has  been  practised 
to  effect  the  reduction. 

Any  person  passing  through  the  manufacturing  districts  of  Lan- 
cashire will  be  struck  with  the  great  number  of  small  provision  shops ; 
many  of  them  dealing  in  drapery  goods  as  well  as  food.  From  these 
shops  the  operatives,  to  a  great  extent,  spread  their  tables  and  cover 
their  backs.  Unfortunately,  with  thorn  the  credit  system  is  the  rule, 
and  ready  money  the  exception.  The  majority  of  the  people  trading 
at  these  shops  have  what  is  called  a  "  Strap  Book,"  which,  of  course, 
is  always  taken  when  anything  is  fetched,  and  balanced  as  often  as 
the  operatives  receive  their  wages,  which  is  generally  weekly,  bub 
in  many  cases  fortnightly.  A  balance  is  generally  left  due  to  the 
shopkeeper,  thus  a  great  number  of  operatives  are  always  less  or 
more  in  debt.  When  trade  becomes  slack,  he  goes  deeper  and 


ENEMIES   WITHIN   AND   ENEMIES   WITHOUT.        25 

deeper,  until  he  is  irretrievably  involved.  When  his  work  fails  alto- 
gether, he  is  obliged  to  remove  to  another  district,  and  of  course  to 
trade  with  another  shop,  unless  at  great  inconvenience  he  sends  all 
the  distance  to  the  old  shop. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  an  honest  weaver  will  prefer  all  this 
trouble  to  forsaking  a  house  that  has  trusted  him.  One  instance  has 
been  mentioned  to  the  present  writer,  in  which  a  family  that  had  re- 
moved from  a  village  on  one  side  of  the  town  to  one  on  the  opposite 
side,  continued  for  years  to  send  a  distance  of  two  miles  and  a  half 
to  the  old  shop  for  their  provisions,  although  in  doing  so  they  had  to 
pass  through  the  town  of  Rochdale,  where  they  could  have  obtained 
the  same  things  cheaper.  This  is  in  every  way  a  grateful  and  hon- 
ourable fact,  and  the  history  of  the  working  class  includes  crowds 
of  them. 

We  are  bound  to  relate  that  the  capital  of  the  Store  would  have 
increased  somewhat  more  rapidly,  had  not  many  of  its  members  at 
that  time  been  absorbed  by  the  land  company  of  Feargus  O'Connor. 
Many  members  of  the  Store  were  also  shareholders  in  that  concern, 
and  as  that  company  was  considered  by  them  to  be  more  feasible, 
and  calculated  sooner  to  place  its  members  in  a  state  of  permanent 
independence,  much  of  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  necessary  to  the 
success  of  a  new  society  were  lost  to  the  co-operative  cause. 

The  practice  of  keeping  up  a  national  debt  in  this  country,  on  the 
interest  of  which  so  many  are  enabled  to  live  at  the  expense  of 
industrious  taxpayers,  and  the  often  immoral  speculations  of  the 
Stock  Exchange,  have  produced  an  absurd  and  injurious  reaction  on 
the  part  of  many  honest  people.  Many  co-operative  experiments 
have  failed  through  want  of  capital,  because  the  members  thought 
it  immoral  to  take  interest,  and  yet  they  had  not  sufficient  zeal  to 
lend  their  money  without  interest.  Others  have  had  a  moral  objec- 
tion to  paying  interest,  and  as  money  was  not  to  be  had  without,  of 
course  these  virtuous  people  did  nothing — they  were  too  moral  to  be 
useful.  All  this  showed  frightful  ignorance  of  political  economy. 
If  nobody  practised  thrift  and  self-denial  in  order  to  create  capital, 
society  must  remain  in  perpetual  barbarism ;  and  if  capital  is  refused 
interest  as  compensation  for  its  risk,  it  would  never  be  available  for 
the  use  of  others  ;  it  would  be  simply  hoarded  in  uselessness,  in- 
stead of  being  the  great  instrument  of  civilisation  and  national 
power.  The  class  of  reformers  who  made  these  mistakes  were 
first  reclaimed  to  intelligent  appreciation  of  industrial  science  by  Mr. 
Stuart  Mill's  "Principles  of  Political  Economy,  with  some  of  their 
applications  to  Social  Philosophy."  Most  of  these  "  applications  " 
wore  new  to  them,  and  though  made  with  the  just  austerity  of 
science,  they  manifested  so  deep  a  consideration  for  the  progress 
of  the  people,  and  a  human  element  so  fresh  and  sincere,  that 
prejudice  was  first  dispelled  by  sympathy,  and  error  afterwards  by 
argument. 

The  principle  of  co-operation — so  moralising  to  the  individual  as  a 


26  HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

discipline,  and  so  advantageous  to  the  State  in  its  results — with  what 
difficulty  has  it  made  its  way  in  the  world  !  Regarded  by  the  states- 
man as  some  terrible  form  of  political  combination,  and  by  the  rich  as 
a  scheme  of  spoliation ;  denounced  in  Parliament,  written  against  by 
political  economists,  preached  against  by  the  clergy  ;  the  co-operative 
idea,  as  opposed  to  the  competitive,  has  had  to  struggle,  and  has  yet 
to  struggle  its  way  into  industry  and  commerce.  Statesmen  might 
spare  themselves  the  gratuitous  anxiety  they  have  often  manifested 
for  the  suppression  of  new  opinion.  Experience  ought  to  have 
shown  them  that  wherever  one  man  endeavours  to  set  up  a  new  idea, 
ten  men  at  once  rise  up  to  put  it  down  ;  not  always  because  they 
think  it  bad,  but  because,  whether  good  or  bad,  they  do  not  want 
the  existing  order  of  things  altered.  They  will  hate  truth  itself,  even 
if  they  know  it  to  be  truth,  if  truth  gives  them  trouble.  The  states- 
man ought  to  have  higher  taste,  even  if  he  has  not  higher  employment, 
than  to  join  the  vulgar  and  officious  crowd  in  hampering  or  hunting 
honest  innovation.  There  is,  of  course,  a  prejudice  felt  at  first  on 
the  part  of  shopkeepers  against  co-operative  societies.  That  sort  of 
feeling  exists  which  we  find  among  mechanics  against  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  which,  for  want  of  better  arrangements,  is  sura 
to  injure  them  first,  however  it  may  benefit  the  general  public  after- 
wards. But,  owing  to  the  good  sense  of  the  co-operators,  and  not 
less  to  the  good  sense  of  the  shopkeepers  of  Rochdale,  no  unfriend- 
liness worth  mentioning  has  ever  existed  between  them.  The 
co-operr.tors  were  humbly  bent  on  improving  their  own  condition,  and 
at  first  their  success  in  that  way  was  so  trivial  as  not  to  be  worth  the 
trouble  of  jealousy.  For  the  first  three  or  four  years  after  the 
commencement  of  the  Store,  its  operations  produced  no  appreciable 
effect  upon  the  retail  trade  of  the  town.  The  receipts  of  the  Store 
in  1847,  four  years  after  its  commencement,  were  only  £36  a  week  ; 
about  the  receipt  of  a  single  average  shop,  and  five  or  ten  times  less 
than  the  receipts  of  some  shops.  But  of  late  years,  no  doubt,  the 
shopkeepers,  especially  smaller  ones,  have  felt  its  effects.  In  some 
instances  shops  have  been  closed  in  consequence.  The  members 
of  the  Store  extend  out  into  the  suburbs,  a  distance  of  one  or  two 
miles  from  the  town.  It  has  happened  in  the  case  of  at  least  one 
suburban  shopkeeper,  that  half  the  people  for  a  mile  round  him  had 
become  Store  purchasers.  This,  of  course,  would  affect  his  business. 
The  good  feeling  prevailing  among  the  tradesmen  of  the  town  has 
been  owing  somewhat  to  a  display  of  unexpected  good  sense  and 
moderation  on  the  part  of  the  co-operators,  who  have  kept  themselves 
free  from  the  greed  of  mere  trade  and  the  vices  of  rivalry.  If  the 
prices  of  grocery  in  the  town  rose,  the  Store  raised  its  charges  to 
the  same  level.  It  never  would,  even  in  appearance,  nor  even  in 
self-defence,  use  its  machinery  to  undersell  others  ;  and  wheii 
tradesmen  lowered,  as  instances  often  occurred,  their  prices  in  order 
to  undersell  the  Store,  and  show  to  the  town  that  they  could  sell 
cheaper  than  any  society  of  weavers :  and  when  they  made  a  boast 


ENEMIES  WITHIN   AND   ENEMIES   WITHOUT.        2/ 

of  doing  so,  and  invited  the  customers  of  the  Store  to  deal  with  them 
in  preference,  or  taunted  the  dealers  at  the  Store  with  the  higher 
prices  they  had  to  pay,  the  Store  never  at  any  time,  neither  in  its 
days  of  weakness  nor  of  strength,  would  reduce  any  of  its  prices. 
It  passed  by,  would  not  recognise,  would  in  no  way  imitate  this 
ruinous  and  vexatious,  but  common  resource  of  competition.  The 
Store  conducted  an  honest  trade — it  charged  an  honest,  average 
price — it  sought  no  rivalry,  nor  would  it  be  drawn  into  any,  although 
the  means  of  winning  were  quite  as  much  in  its  hands  as  in  the  hands 
of  its  opponents.  The  prudent  maxims  of  the  members  were,  "To 
be  safe  we  must  sell  at  a  profit."  "  To  be  honest  we  must  sell  at  a 
profit."  "  If  we  sell  sugar  without  profit,  we  must  take  advantage 
covertly  in  the  sale  of  some  other  articles  to  cover  that  loss."  "  We 
will  not  act  covertly ;  we  will  not  trade  without  profit  whatever  others 
may  do ;  we  will  not  profess  to  sell  cheaper  than  others  ;  we  pro- 
fess to  sell  honestly  " — and  this  policy  has  conquered. 

Some  manufacturers  were  as  much  opposed  to  the  co-operators' 
Store  as  the  shopkeepers — not  knowing  exactly  what  to  make  of  it. 
Some  were  influenced  by  reports  made  to  them  by  prejudiced  persons 
—some  had  vague  notions  of  their  men  acquiring  a  troublesome  in- 
dependence. But  this  apprehension  was  of  short  duration,  and  was 
set  at  rest  by  the  good  sense  of  others.  One  employer  was  advised 
to  discharge  some  of  his  men  for  dealing  at  the  Store,  who  serviceably 
nnsweredv"He  did  not  see  why  he  should.  So  long  as  his  men  did 
their  duty,  it  was  no  business  of  his  to  dictate  where  they  should  deal. 
They  had  as  much  right  as  he  had  to  spend  their  money  in  that  mar- 
ket where  they  thought  it  would  go  farthest,  and  if  they  learned 
thrift  he  did  not  see  what  harm  it  would  do  them,  and  if  they  could 
save  money  they  had  a  right  to  do  so.  Indeed,  he  thought  it  was 
their  turn." 

The  co-operators  have  long  enjoyed  the  good  opinion  of  the 
majority  of  the  manufacturers,  and  the  higher  classes  of  the  town. 
The  members  of  the  Store  are  so  numerous,  that  the  masters  come  in 
contact  with  them  at  almost  every  turn.  The  co-operators  work  fcr 
nearly  every  employer  in  the  town,  and  many  hold  the  most  trusty 
and  responsible  situations.  The  working  class  in  general  hold  the 
Co-operative  Society  in  high  esteem,  and  what  is  more  natural,  since 
it  aims  at  bettering  their  condition  ?  Indeed,  the  Society  exercises 
considerable  influence  in  the  town.  As  its  members  are  spread  over 
every  part,  every  local  or  public  movement  is  known  to  one  or  the 
other,  and  is  communicated  rapidly  as  they  meet  with  their  fellow 
members  at  the  Store.  Facts  circulate — opinion  is  elicited — criti- 
cism follows — a  general  conviction  upon  particular  points  springs  up 
— and  thus  many  learn  what  is  the  right  view  to  support,  and  support 
it  with  more  confidence  from  the  knowledge  that  numbers,  upon 
whom  they  can  rely,  share  it. 

The  slowness  of  the  Rochdale  movement  for  two  or  three  years 
may  be  attributed  to  the  want  of  confidence  in  any  scheme  originating 


28  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

among  the  working  classes  for  the  amelioration  of  their  condition. 
The  loss,  trouble,  and  anxiety  entailed  upon  the  leading  men  of  the 
previous  co-operative  societies  in  Rochdale,  were  still  within  the 
recollection  of  many.  These  reminiscences  would  naturally  intimi- 
date the  cautious.  There  were  others  who  were  not  aware  that  the 
former  societies  had  been  wrecked  by  the  credit  system.  The 
"  Equitable  Pioneers "  had  most  studiously  avoided  that  shoal. .  In 
fact,  so  many  co-operative  experiments  had  been  stranded  by  credit, 
that  an  almost  universal  opinion  jvas  prevalent,  not  only  in  Rochdale, 
but  throughout  the  country  and  in  Parliament,  that  co-operation  was 
an  exploded  fallacy,  and  the  poor  co-operators,  whose  enterprise  we 
report,  were  looked  upon  as  dangerous  emissaries  of  some  revolution- 
ary plot,  and  at  the  same  time  as  fanatics  deluded  beyond  all  hope  of 
enlightenment,  who  were  bent  on  ruining  themselves,  and  too 
ignorant  to  comprehend  their  folly  or  their  danger.  It  was  not  until 
the  small  but  unfailing  stream  of  profits  began  to  meander  into  all 
out-of-the-way  cottages  and  yards — itwas  not  until  the  town  had  been 
repeatedly  astonished  by  the  discovery  of  weavers  .with  money  in 
their  pockets,  who  had  never  before  been  known  to  be  out  of  debt,  that 
the  working  class  began  to  perceive  that  the  '•  exploded  fallacy"  was 
a  paying  fallacy ;  and  then  crowds  of  people  who  had  all  their  life  been 
saying  and  proving  that  nothing  of  the  kind  could  happen,  now 
declared  that  they  had  never  denied  it,  and  that  everybody  knew 
co-operation  would  succeed,  and  that  anybody  could  do^what  the 
Pioneers  did. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   GREAT    FLOUR    MILL  PANIC. 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  1850,  a  new  Society  takes  its  place  in  our 
narrative — namely,  the  "Rochdale  District  Corn  Mill  Society."  A 
similar  one  had  long  flourished  in  Leeds,  a  history  of  which  would  be 
a  very  instructive  addition  to  co-operative  literature.  *  The  Rochdale 
imitation  commenced  its  active  operations  about  the  close  of  1850. 
This  Corn  Mill  Society,  meeting  at  the  Elephant  and  Castle,  Man- 
chester Road,  received  encouragement  from  the  Store.  The 
Directors  being*  unacquainted  with  the  business,  had,  of  course,  to 
entrust  it  to  other  hands  very  much  to  its  disadvantage.  Our 

1  An  account  appeared  in  the  local  newspapers  of  1819,  of  the  success  of  the  Leeds 
nnd  Halifax  Corn  Mill  Societies,  wliich  had  effected  a  general  reduction  in  tlie  price  of 
flour  in  those  towns,  thua  serving  the  whole  public,  besides  supplying  to  theirown  mem- 
bers pure  flour  cheaper  than  the  public  price,  with  added  profits.  These  facts  circulated 
by  the  newspapers  led  Mr.  Smithies,  Mr.  Greenwood,  and  Mr  Charles  Howarth  to  initi- 
ate the  discussion  of  a  corn  mill  movement  in  Rochdale,  at  the  Equitable  Pioneers' 
meetings. 


THE   GREAT   FLOUR   MILL   PANIC.  29 

i:  Equitable  Pioneers"  invested,  in  the  shape  of  shares  in  the  Corn 
Mill,  from  £400  to  £600. 

In  1851  they  began  to  lend  to  the  Corn  Mill  Society,  on  account  of 
goods  to  come  in.  Unfortunately,  the  goods  sent  in — namely  the 
flour,  was  of  an  inferior  quality.  This  was  owing  to  two  causes — 
first,  the  Corn  Society  being  short  of  capital,  was  obliged  to  buy  where 
it  could  get  credit,  instead  of  where  it  could  get  the  best  corn  ;  being 
in  the  power  of  him  who  gave  credit,  they  were  often  compelled  to 
accept  an  inferior  article  at  a  high  price.  Second,  there  was  a  want 
of  skill  in  the  head  miller — in  the  grinding  department.  The 
"Equitable  Pioneer  Society3'  decided  to  sell  no  flour  but  the 
"Rochdale  Corn  Mill  Society's,"  and  that  being  inferior,  of  course 
the  sale  fell  off. x  This  is  another  of  those  little  crevices  in  the  walls 
of  a  popular  experiment  through  which  the  se!6shness  of  human 
nature  peeps  out.  Of  course  a  man  who  pays  a  dearer  rate  than  his 
neighbour  for  any  article  taxes  himself  to  that  amount ;  but,  in  a 
public  movement,  this  is  one  of  those  liabilities  which  every  man  who 
would  advance  it  must  be  prepared  to  encounter.  When  the  support 
of  the  purchasers  at  the  Store  began  to  drop  off  by  this  refusal  to  take 
the  flour,  it  brought  on  a  crisis  in  the  Co-operative  Society.  By  the 
end  of  the  third  quarter  of  1851,  the  Corn  Mill  had  lost  £441. 2  This 
produced  a  panic  in  the  Store,  which  was  considered,  by  its  invest-  . 
ments,  to  be  implicated  in  the  fall  of  the  Corn  Mill.  It  was  soon 
rumoured  that  the  Store  would  fail,  and  some  of  the  members  pro- 
posed that  the  Corn  Mill  business  be  abandoned.  Others  suggested 
that  each  member  of  the  Store  should  subscribe  a  pound  to  cover  the 
loss,  and  clear  out  of  it.  But  as  the  Corn  Mill  held  its  meetings  at 
the  Pioneers'  Store,  and  its  leading  members  belonged  to  the  Store, 
Mr.  Smithies  considered  that  their  honour  was  compromised  if  they 
were  defeated ;  and  insisted,  with  much  energy,  that  the  name  of 
"  Pioneers"  must  be  given  up,  unless  they  went  on  altogether.  Had 
the  Mill  been  brought  to  the  hammer  at  this  time,  there  would  not 
have  been  realised  ten  shillings  in  the  pound.  This  was  the  point 
to  try  their  faith  in  co-operation.  The  members  did  not  fail.  Some 
brought  all  the  money  they  could  collect  together  to  enable  the 
difficulties  to  be  conquered  ;  a  few,  as  usual  in  these  cases,  fell 
back.  In  the  first  place,  amid  those  who  distinguished  themselves 
to  avert  the  disaster  of  failure,  all  agree  to  name  Abraham  Greenwood, 
whose  long  and  protracted  devotion  to  this  work  cost  him  his  health, 
and  nearly  his  life.  How  much  has  depended,  in  the  fate  of  the 
Store,  on  the  honesty  of  its  officers,  may  be  seen  from  the  disasters 
of  the  Corn  Mill,  arising  from  defects  of  character  in  some  of  its 
servants.  One  miller  systematically  went  to  Manchester,  instead  of 

1  The  deficiency  of  capital  is  always  aggravated  by  miscalculation.  After  contract- 
ing for  the  machinery  of  £750,  the  millwright  sent  in  a  bill  of  extras  of  £140 — a 
dressing  machine  at  £44  was  overlooked  ;  the  result  was  that  when  the  mill  was  ready 
no  money  existed  with  which  to  purchase  grain. 

-  The  joy  with  which  the  Directors  hailed  the  production  of  their  first  sack  of  flour  was 
turned  into  dismay  at  this  result. 


30  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

to  Wakefield,  to  buy  his  grain.  By  acting  in  concert  with  some 
seller,  he  got  a  commission  in  Manchester,  and  the  Store  suffered  for 
it.  The  first  great  loss  of  the  Mill  was  probably  occasioned  in  this 
way.  The  next  miller  had  a  weakness  for  "  toddy,"  and  his  successor 
was  liable  to  faint  perceptions  of  truth  ;  so  between  the  man  who 
would  not  know  what  he  was  doing,  and  the  man  who  did  not  know 
what  he  was  doing,  and  the  man  who  did  not  know  what  ho  was 
saying,  the  affairs  of  the  Corn  Mill  got  somewhat  confused. 

Another  very  usual  error  among  the  working  class  muddled  every 
thing  further.  Thinking  it  economical  to  accept  volunteer  book- 
keepers, they  had  their  books  kept  by  those  who  offered — who 
officiated  in  turns — atid  the  books  were  duly  bungled  for  nothing. 
The  confusion  was  cheap  but  inextricable,  and  the  perplexity  of 
everything  grew  worse  confounded.  The  directors  acted  with  good 
sense  and  vigour  as  soon  as  they  comprehended  their  position.  The 
defective  manager  for  the  time  being  was  dismissed,  Mr.  A.  Green- 
wood, the  president  of  the  Society,  acting  in  his  place.  A  paid  book- 
keeper was  appointed — debts  were  commenced  liquidation  by  small 
instalments,  when  an  unexpected  disaster  overtook  them.  One 
morning  news  was  brought  to  town  that  the  bailiffs  were  in  posses- 
sion— to  the  dismay  of  the  struggling  co-operators  and  secret  satis- 
faction of  the  prophets  of  failure,  who  could  not  help  felicitating 
themselves  on  so  portentous  a  sign.  The  landlord,  of  whom  the 
Corn  Mill  was  rented,  had  neglected  to  pay  the  ground  landlord  his 
rent,  and  for  three  years'  ground  rent,  amounting  to  £100,  he  had 
put  in  a  distraint  upon  the  property  of  the  co-operators,  who  were 
not  morally  responsible.  This  enemy  was  in  due  time  routed — per- 
severance triumphed,  and  successive  dividends,  from  fourpence  to 
one  shilling  in  the  pound,  cleared  off  the  loss  of  £450,  and  the  day 
of  substantial  profits  at  length  dawned. 

When  the  Store  was  first  opened,  one  shopkeeper  boasted  that  he 
could  come  with  a  wheelbarrow  and  wheel  the  whole  stock  away, 
which  was  quite  true.  He  had  the  command  of  ten  times  more 
capital.  He  threatened  that  he  would  sell  cheaper,  and  break  up  the 
Store.  It  was  quite  true  that  he  could  sell  cheaper,  but  the  weavers 
held  together,  and  he  did  not  break  up  the  Store.  There  were  many 
unfriendly  traders  of  this  way  of  thinking.  It  often  happens  that 
men  who  do  not  exactly  mean  ill  towards  you  become  your  enemies 
artificially.  They  begin  by  predicting  that  you  will  fail,  and  without 
exactly  wishing  you  should  fail,  are  sorry  when  you  do  not.  As  an 
abstract  matter,  they  would  perhaps  be  glad  of  your  success  ;  but 
having  committed  themselves  to  a  prediction,  they  are  disgusted  when 
you  falsify  it,  and  they  will  sometimes  help  to  bring  about  your  ruin 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  of  fulfilling  their  own  prediction.  In 
1849,  when  the  public  Savings'  Bank  in  Rochdale  so  disgracefully 
broke,  and  many  thousands  of  pounds  of  the  hard  earnings  of  the  poor 
were  swept  away,1  the  poor  and  ruined  people  turned  to  the  Store 

1  Out  of  £100,403  deposits,  an  officer  had  appropriated  to  his  own  use  £71,717.      The 


THE   GREAT   FLOUR   MILL   PANIC.  31 

for  protection.  Since  1849  there  has  been  no  Savings'  Bank  in 
Rochdale. 

Many  of  the  weavers  who,  up  to  this  time,  had  preferred  investing 
their  money  in  the  bank,  had  now  to  look  out  for  another  place  in 
which  to  deposit  their  savings.  They  felt  that  they  had  misplaced 
their  confidence  in  the  Savings'  Bank,  which  was  an  institution  with- 
out an  adequate  responsible  security,  or  in  which  they  had  no 
controlling  influence  over  the  application  of  the  money.  As  the 
Store  offered  both  these  advantages,  and  a  higher  rate  of  interest, 
many  of  their  bank  dividends  a  found  their  way  to  the  Store,  and 
future  savings  also. 

They  had  more  confidence  in  the  "  Equitable  Pioneers  "  than  in 
the  false  Government  bank.  The  failure  of  the  Savings'  Bank  led  to 
an  accession  of  members  and  capital  to  the  Store.  This  growth  of 
confidence  brought  great  discredit  on  the  prophets  to  whom  we  have 
referred.  No  sooner,  however,  did  the  Corn  Mill  panic  get  rumoured 
about  than  they  recurred  with  sinister  emphasis  to  their  old  pre- 
dictions, and  their  rumours  brought  about  a  run  upon  the  Store. 
The  humble  Directors  said  nothing,  but  quietly  placed  their  cashier 
behind  the  counter  with  orders  to  pay  every  demand.  One  man, 
who  had  twenty-four  pounds  in  the  Store,  the  whole  of  which  he 
had  made  from  the  profits,  began  with  a  demand  for  sixteen  pounds. 
He  had  some  sort  of  sympathy  for  his  benefactors,  and  thought  he 
would  leave  a  little  in  their  hands. 

"  Are  you  about  to  commence  some  sort  of  business  ?  "  asked  the 
cashier. 

" No,"  said  the  man,  "but  I  want  my  money." 

"  Well,  you  are  aware  that  notice  is  required  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  and  I  am  come  to  give  notice."  He  "would  have  his 
money." 

"Well,"  said  the  cashier,  "we  avail  ourselves  of  the  notice 
when  we  are  likely  to  be  short ;  but  we  can  dispense  with  notice 
now.  You'd  better  '  tak  brass  now/' " 

And  they  made  the  man  "tak  brass"  then,  and  much  to  his 
astonishment,  he  was  obliged  to  carry  his  money  away  in  his  pocket, 
and  he  went  away  half  suspecting  he  had  been  playing  the  fooL 

Eighteen  months  after,  this  man  brought  his  money  back  :  he  had 
kept  it  in  some  stocking  foot  all  that  time  (that  celebrated  "patent 
safe  "  of  the  poor),  losing  the  interest.  He  himself  then  told  the 
cashier  the  stury  of  his  taking  it  out ;  in  consequence  of  being  assured 
that  the  Store  would  break.  He  now  tells  the  story  to  his  com- 
rades, far  and  near,  and  nobody  has  more  confidence  in  the  Store 
than  he. 

Next  a  woman  appeared  :  she  would  have  her  money  out  then. 
It  was  at  once  offered  to  her— then  she  would  not  have  it.  She  de- 


amount  still  due  to  the  depositors  (1S77)  is  £3S,2S7.    Sir  A.  Ramsay  baa  lately  presented 
a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  subject. 
1 12s.  6d.  in  the  pound  is  all  yet  paid. 


32  HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCPIDALE   PIONEERS. 

manded  her  money  because  she  had  been  told  she  could  not  get  it ; 
and  when  she  found  that  she  could  have  it,  she  did  not  want  it. 
More  sensible  and  quickwitted  than  the  dullard  man  who  carried  his 
sixteen  pounds  home  to  his  stocking  foot,  when  she  found  there  was 
no  risk,  she  left  her  money.  Another  woman  refused  to  draw  her 
money  out  whether  it  was  in  danger  or  not,  though  a  shopkeeper 
said  to  her  : — "  It  will  be  sure  to  break,  and  you  had  better  draw  it 
out." 

From  the  depositors  the  panic  extended  to  traders;  but  the  panic 
among  them  did  not  last  long.  At  that  time,  corn  was  bought  for 
the  Mill  one  week,  and  paid  for  the  next.  The  payments,  at  this 
time,  were  made  at  Wakefield,  one  week  under  the  other.  One 
week  the  buyer-in  missed  the  paying.  The  old  gentleman  who  was, 
in  this 'case,  the  creditor,  was  told  by  millers  about  him  that  the 
Store  had  broken — he  might  depend  upon  it.  He  took  an  express 
train  to  Rochdale  and  a  cab  from  the  railway  station,  rushed  down 
to  the  Store,  and  demanded  his  money.  He  was  quietly  asked  for 
his  invoice,  and  his  money  was  at  once  paid  him ;  and  he  was  told  if 
he  knew  any  others  wanting  money  on  account  of  goods  supplied  to 
the  Corn  Mill,  to  be  kind  enough  to  send  them  in.  The  old  gentle- 
man went  away  very  much  astonished ;  he  felt  that  he  should  never 
have  another  order ;  and  he  afterwards  stated  to  the  superintendent 
at  the  railway  station  he  had  ever  since  regretted  the  unfortunate 
journey  he  was  induced  to  make. 

About  this  time,  the  bank  in  Rochdale,  with  whom  our  "  Equit- 
able Pioneers'"  did  business,  did  them  a  frank  piece  of  service,  which 
they  have  always  remembered  with  appreciation.  Some  tradesmen 
being  at  the  counter  of  the  bank,  a  person  remarked  that  he  thought 
the  Store  was  running  down,  evidently  fishing  from  the  bankers  some 
confirmation  of  his  suspicions.  The  answer  given  by  one  of  the  firm 
was,  that  he  did  not  see  why  it  should,  as  the  Board  had  left  £2000 
in  their  hands  for  a  long  time,  which  they  had  never  touched.  This 
observation  established  confidence  in  influential  quarters ;  and  as  <  ho 
depositors  who  applied  for  their  money  at  the  Store  invariably  car- 
ried it  back  with  them  in  their  pockets,  it  soon  restored  confidence 
among  their  own  order.  The  humble  Directors  of  the  Store,  like  all 
other  honest  men,  had  more  pride  and  pleasure  in  paying  money 
than  in  receiving  it,  and  their  firm  and  judicious  conduct  re-estab- 
lished the  credit  of  the  "  Equitable  Pioneers." 

Hero  from  one  to  two  thousand  working  men  had  done  what  Sir 
John  Dean  Paul  failed  to  do— kept  an  honest  banking  house.  In 
point  of  morality,  how  infinitely  superior  are  these  Rochdale  co- 
operators  to  that  Lord  of  the  Treasury  who  finally  poisoned  himself 
on  Hampstead  Heath !  Surely  these  men  are  as  tit  for  the  franchise 
as  Paul  and  Sadleir,  as  Hugh  Innes  Cameron  and  Humphrey  Brown. 
What  standard  of  electional  fitness  does  the  Government  take,  who 
gives  the  franchise  to  fraudulent  bankers  and  knavish  lords  of  the 
Treasury,  and  withholds  it  from  honest  working  men? 


SUCCESSIVE  STEPS  OF  SUCCESS.  33 

The  September  quarter  of  1852  showed  a  clear  balance  of  gain  for 
that  quarter  of  £100  upon  the  Corn  Mill.  The  energy  of  Mr. 
Greenwood  and  his  colleagues  had  turned  upwards  the  fortunes  of 
the  Corn  Mill. 

In  the  origin  of  their  flour  operations  a  curious  circumstance 
occurred.  Determined  to  supply  all  things  genuine,  they  supplied 
the  flour  so.  It  might  be  inferior,  as  we  have  related  it  was,  but  it 
was  pure  ;  but  being  pure,  it  was  browner  than  the  usual  flour  in 
the  market.  It  was  rejected  for  its  difference  of  colour.  A  friend 
of  the  present  writer,  disgusted  with  the  spurious  coffee  of  London, 
made  arrangements  to  supply  the  common  people  with  a  genuine  cup. 
To  this  end  he  opened  a  house  in  Lambeth,  and  ground  up  the  real 
berries  pure.  But  no  one  would  drink  his  coffee,  and  he  had  to  shut 
up  his  bouse.  Accustomed  to  adulterated  coffee  until  their  taste 
was  formed  upon  depraved  compounds,  the  people  rejected  the  pure 
beverage.  So  it  happened  to  our  Corn  Mill.  The  unadulterated 
flour  would  not  sell.  The  customers  of  the  Store  knew  neither  the 
colour  nor  taste  of  pure  flour.  Then  there  was  a  cry  against  the  co- 
operators.  It  was  said  they  could  not  compete  with  the  usual 
millers ;  and  if  they  adulterated,  the  only  way  open  of  rendering 
their  flour  popular,  there  would  be  another  cry  out  against  them  for 
adulterating  it,  and  being  as  bad  as  other  traders.  For  a  short  time 
they  made  their  flour  white  in  the  usual  way,  but  it  was  so  much 
against  their  principles  to  do  it  that  they  discussed  the  folly  of  the 
preference  with  their  purchasers  at  the  Store,  and  the  pure  flour, 
of  whatever  colour,  was  taken  into  favour,  and  from  that  day  to 
this  it  has  been  sold  genuine. 


CHAPTER  VH. 

SUCCESSIVE  STEPS  OF  SUCCESS — THE  EOCHDAtE  STORE  OX  A 
SATURDAY  K1GHT. 

THE  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  is  divided  into  seven  departments  : 
— Grocery,  Drapery,  Butchering,  Shoemaking,  Cioggnigj  Tailoring. 
Wholesale. 


34  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE    PIONEERS. 

A  separate  account  is  kept  of  each  business,  and  a  general  account 
is  given  each  quarter,  showing  the  position  of  the  whole. 

The  grocery  business  was  commenced,  as 'we  have  related,  in 
December,  1844,  with  only  four  articles  to  sell.  It  now  includes 
whatever  a  grocer's  shop  should  include. 

The  drapery  business  was  started  in  1847,  with  a  humble  array  of 
attractions.  In  1854  it  was  erected  into  a  separate  department. 

A  year  earlier,  1846,  the  Store  began  to  sell  butchers'  meat,  buy- 
ing eighty  or  one  hundred  pounds  off  a  tradesman  in  the  town.  After 
awhile,  the  sales  were  discontinued  until  1850,  when  the  Society  had 
a  warehouse  of  its  own.  Mr.  John  Moorhouse,  who  has  now  two 
assistants,  buys  and  kills  for  the  Society  three  oxen,  eight  sheep, 
sundry  porkers  and  calves,  which  are  on  the  average  converted  into 
£130  of  cash  per  week. 

Shoemaking  commenced  in  1852.  Three  men  and  an  apprentice 
make,  and  a  stock  is  kept  on  sale. 

Clogging  and  tailoring  commenced  also  in  this  year. 

The  Wholesale  department  commenced  in  1855,  and  marks  an  im- 
portant development  of  the  Pioneers'  proceedings.  This  department 
lias  been  created  for  supplying  any  member  requiring  large  quantities, 
ind  with  a  view  to  supply  the  co-operative  stores  of  Lancashire  arid 
Yorkshire,  whose  small  capitals  do  not  enable  them  to  buy  in  the 
best  markets,  nor  command  the  services  of  what  is  otherwise  indis- 
pensable to  every  store — a  good  buyer,  who  knows  the  markets  and 
his  business,  who  knows  what,  how,  and  where  to  buy.  The  whole- 
sale department  guarantees  purity,  quality,  fair  prices,  standard 
weight  and  measure,  but  all  on  the  never-failing  principle — cash 
payment. 

After  registering  the  Society  under  the  13  and  14  Viet.,  chap.  115,1 
the  Society  turned  its  attention  to  a  wholesale  department,  an  opera- 
tion which  would  have  been  impossible  but  for  the  legal  protection  of 
this  Act,  an  Act  which  has  called  forth  more  expressions  of  gratitude 
to  Parliament  than  any  Act  I  have  heard  commented  upon  by 
working  men.  The  Pioneers'  laws  say  (we  quote  three  of  their 
rules) : — 

14. — The  Wholesale  department  shall  be  for  the  purpose  of  supply- 
ing those  members  who  desire  to  have  their  goods  in  large  quantities. 

1 6. — The  said  department  shall  be  charged  with  interest,  after  the 
rate  of  five  per  cent,  per  annum,  for  such  capital  as  may  be  advanced 
to  it  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

17. — The  profits  arising  from  this  department,  after  paying  for  the 
cost  of  management  and  other  expenses,  including  the  interest  afore- 

lAn  act  which  is  itself  an  answer  to  those  who  would  apply  the  maxim  of  Laisser 
faire  (Let  things  alone)  to  politics,  a  maxim  which,  however  advantageous  in  political 
economy,  cannot,  observes  Professor  Newman,  be  applied  to  politics  without  blundering 
or  disingenuousness.— Political  Economy,  p.  188, 


SUCCESSIVE   STEPS   OF   SUCCESS.  35 

said,  shall  be  divided  quarterly  into  three  parts,  one  of  which  shall  be 
reserved  to  meet  any  loss  that  may  arise  in  the  course  of  trade  until 
it  shall  equal  the  fixed  stock  required,  and  the  remaining  two-thirds 
shall  be  divided  amongst  the  members,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
their  purchases  in  the  said  department. 

In  1854,  a  conference  was  held  in  Leeds,  to  consider  how  the  co- 
operative societies  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  could  unite  their  pur- 
chases of  produce  and  manufactures  among  themselves.  Mr.  Lloyd 
Jones  lent  his  valuable  counsel  on  this  occasion,  and  at  Rochdale, 
where  a  second  Conference  with  this  object  was  held  in  August,  1855. 
Of  course  the  cardinal  question  was,  who  should  find  capital  to 
carry  out  the  idea  of  a  wholesale  department.  Some  stores  were 
willing  to  contribute  a  proportional  share,  others  had  hardly  cash 
to  carry  on  their  own  operations  ;  other  stores,  with  a  prudence 
very  old  in  the  world,  proposed  to  see  how  the  plan  was  going  to 
succeed  before  joining  in  it.  This  is  a  cautiousness  commendable  in 
some  cases,  but  were  all  to  act  upon  it  no  advance  would  ever  be 
made.  The  Equitable  Pioneers  accepted  the  initiative  with  their 
usual  pluck.  As  many  of  the  stores  had  the  notion  in  their  heads 
that  all  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  took  up  succeeded,  several  stores 
joined,  and  put  in  a  little  money  ;  but  the  principal  capital  was 
supplied  by  our  enterprising  friends,  the  Rochdale  Equitables. 
As  the  law  we  have  quoted  shows,  they  stipulated  for  five  per  cent, 
on  their  advances.  Differences,  though  not  dissensions,  arose. 
The  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  felt  dissatisfaction  that  stores  not 
contributing  a  fair  share  of  capital  to  work  the  wholesale  trade 
should  yet  receive  an  equal  dividend  of  profits  in  proportion  to  their 
trade  with  the  department.  As  the  Equitable  Pioneers  found  nearly 
all  the  capital,  they  were  by  many  thought  entitled  to  nearly  all  the 
profit.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  urged  that  the  five  per  cent,  on 
their  capital  was  all  they  had  a  right  to,  and  they  had  no  claim  to 
the  profits  made  by  the  trade  of  other  stores.  The  Store  of  the 
Pioneers  dealt  with  the  wholesale  department,  and  had,  in  common  with 
other  stores,  their  profits  upon  the  amount  of  their  own  trade.  It  was 
true  that  many  stores  only  bought  articles  that  yielded  little  profit, 
while  the  Rochdale  Store  bought  so  generally  and  largely  as  to  create 
the  chief  profits  itself,  besides  risking  its  capital,  which  seemed  at  first 
to  be  in  danger.  For  in  the  March  quarter  of  1856,  £495  10s.  4d.  were 
lost  through  purchasing  sugars,  syrups,  treacle,  soaps, etc.,  when  prices 
were  high,  which  prices  came  down  before  the  goods  could  be  sold. 
A  committee  of  inquiry  at  a  later  date  reported  that  several  stores 
had  increased  their  purchases  from  the  wholesale  department  of  goods, 
which  yielded  even  more  profit  than  the  purchases  of  the  Pioneers' 
Store.  Mr.  William  Cooper,  the  Secretary,  defended  the  proceed- 
ings and  position  of  the  department,  and  it  was  ultimately  agreed 
that  the  District  Stores  had  dealt  fairly  by  the  wholesale  department 
on  the  whole,  although  they  had  not  supported  it  by  capital  to  the 


36  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

extent  the  promoters  could  have  wished.  Still  many  remained  dis- 
satisfied, although  they  were  unable  to  show  what  was  wrong,  and  at 
an  adjourned  quarterly  meeting,  so  late  as  October,  1856,  it  was  "  Re- 
solved, that  the  wholesale  stock  be  dispensed  with."  Owing  to  the 
energy  of  Mr.  Samuel  Stott  and  others,  this  resolution  never  took 
effect.  The  department  being  founded  by  an  enrolled  rule,  it  could 
not  be  dispensed  with  without  an  alteration  of  the  rules,  and  before  an 
alteration  in  the  rules  can  take  place  the  three-fourths  of  the  whole 
members  specially  convened  must  consent  to  it.  The  opponents  of  the 
department  despaired  of  getting  this  wide  ratification  of  their  partial 
dissatisfaction,  and  the  department  continued.  The  loss  of  £495  10s. 
4d.  has  by  the  end  of  the  March  quarter  of  1857,  in  one  year's  opera- 
tion, been  reduced  to  £141  14s.  Id.  In  half  a  year  more,  the  loss 
will  be  cancelled,  and  profits  beyond  the  interest  on  ciipital  accrue. 
The  stores,  to  their  credit,  continue  to  trade  with  the  department, 
just  as  though  they  were  receiving  a  dividend  in  addition  to  the 
interest  on  the  capital,  which  they  will  shortly  do ;  were  they  to 
receive  no  dividend,  it  would  be  to  their  advantage  to  trade  with  the 
department.  The  most  important  officer  of  a  store  is  the  purchaser. 
He  must  be  acquainted  with  his  business  and  the  markets.  No 
honesty,  if  he  has  not  tact  and  knowledge,  will  prevent  him  from 
damaging  the  prosperity  of  a  store  by  bad  purchases.  Small  stores 
cannot  always  find  a  man,  nor  support  him  when  they  do.  But  a 
wholesale  department,  by  keeping  a  few  such,  can  serve  all  stores,  can 
enable  the  smallest  to  command  genuine  articles  equally  with  the 
greatest,  and  to  command  them  even  cheaper,  as  well  as  better,  as 
large,  united,  wholesale,  purchases  can  be  made  more  advantageously, 
of  course,  than  small  ones.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  this  admirable 
and  well-devised  department  must  have  fallen  but  for  the  wise 
provision  of  the  Act  of  Parliament  upon  which  Mr.  Stott  and  his 
colleagues  fell  back.  This  useful  law  gives  stability  to  a  society,  it 
prevents  short-sighted  sections  from  destroying  general  purposes, 
and  enables  the  errors  of  a  few  to  be  revised  and  rectified  by  the 
decision  of  a  veritable  majority  of  all  concerned. 

The  members  of  the  Store  attracted  from  a  distance  make  their 
purchases — some  once  a  fortnight,  and  have  their  goods  sent  home  ; 
others  unite  together  and  employ  a  carter  to  deliver  them.  The 
desire  to  obviate  this  inconvenience,  and  the  difficulty  of  serving  the 
great  increase  of  members  at  Toad  Lane  (the  Central  Store),  Branch 
Stores  have  been  lately  opened.  In  1856,  the  first  Branch  was 
opened  iu  the  Oldham  Road,  about  a  mile  from  the  centre  of  Roch- 
dale. In  1857,  the  Castleton  Branch,  and  another  in  the  Whitworth 
Road,  were  established,  and  a  fourth  Branch  at  Pinfold. 

An  idea  of  the  appearance  of  a  Branch  Store  may  be  gathered  from 
the  next  page.  On  each  side  the  door  a  narrow  upright  sign,  tho 
height  of  the  entrance,  gives  the  following  information  : — 


SUCCESSIVE  STEPS  OF  SUCCESS. 


37 


EQUITABLE    PIOXEEKS     CO-OPERATIVE   STORES. 


Enrolled 

according 

to  Law. 


Objects. 

To  improve  the 

social  and 

domestic 

condition  of 

its  members. 


Five  per  cent. 

interest  paid 

on  shares. 


Remaining 

profits 

divided 

amongst 


[Copied  from 

the  Doors  of 

the  School  Lune 

Brandi.] 


purchasers 
in  proportion 
to  the  money 

expended. 


No  second 
prices. 


All  purchases 

paid  for 
on  delivery. 


Dividends 
declared 
quarterly. 


38  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

The  "owd  weyvurs'  shop,"  or  rather  the  entire  building,  was  (in 
1849),  as  we  have  related,  taken  011  lease  by  the  Store,  in  a  state 
sadly  out  of  repair.  One  room  is  now  pleasantly  fitted  up  as  a  news- 
room. Another  is  neatly  fitted  up  as  a  library. x  Every  part  has 
undergone  neat  refitting  and  modest  decoration,  and  now  wears  the 
air  of  a  respectable  place  of  business. 

The  Corn  Mill  was,  of  course,  rented,  and  stood  at  Small  Bridge, 
some  distance  from  the  town — one  mile  and  a  half.  The  Society 
have  since  built  in  the  town  an  entirely  new  mill  for  themselves. 
The  engine  and  the  machinery  are  of  the  most  substantial  and  im- 
proved kind.  It  is  now  spoken  of  as  "  the  Society's  New  Mill  in 
Weir  Street,  near  the  Commissioners'  Rooms."  The  capital  invested 
in  the  Corn  Mill  is  £8,450,  of  which  £3,731  15s  2d.  is  subscribed  by 
the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society.  The  Corn  Mill  employs  eleven 
men. 

The  Almanack  of  1855  announced  the  formation  of  a  "Manufactur- 
ing Society,'5  enrolled  pursuant  to  the  15  and  16  Vic.,  chap.  31. 
Every  Branch  of  the  (we  are  entitled  to  say  now)  Great  Store's  pro- 
ceedings are  enrolled  pursuant  to  some  Act  or  other.  This  was  their 
first  formal  realisation  of  the  design  announced  eleven  years  before,  of 
attempting  the  organisation  of  labour.  Now  they  avail  themselves  of 
the  Industrial  and  Provident  Societies'  Act  for  carrying  on  in  common 
the  trades  of  cotton  and  woollen  manufacturing.  The  capital  in  this 
department  is  £4,000,  of  which  sum  £2,042  has  been  subscribed  by 
the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society.  This  Manufacturing  Society  has 
ninety-six  power  looms  at  work,  and  employs  twenty-six  men,  seven 
women,  four  boys,  and  five  girls — in  all,  forty-two  persons. 

In  1854,  the  Store  commenced  to  issue  an  almanack,  in  which 
their  announcements  to  members  were  made,  and  from  which  the 
reader  might  gather  the  historic  sympathies  of  the  co-operators  from 
the  memorable  men  and  dates  selected.  Now  a  considerable  portion 
of  dates  is  occupied  with  their  Store,  and  Corn  Mill,  and  other 
meetings.  Advertisements  of  the  different  operations  of  the  Society 
are  given ;  a  little  history  of  its  origin  is  crowded  into  one  corner ; 
the  ancient  objects  of  the  Society  are  repeated  in  another  place ;  such 
principles  and  extracts  from  the  laws  as  are  suitable  for  the  informa- 
tion of  strangers  find  due  place  upon  the  same  broad  sheet.  In  1855 
they  announce  their  Central  London  Agents: — "The  Central  Co- 
operative Agency,  No.  356  Oxford  Street."  In  185G  they  add,  "and 
the  Universal  Purveyor  (William  Islip  and  Co.),  No.  33  Charing 
Cross."  In  1853  the  Store  purchased,  for  £745,  a  warehouse  (free- 
hold) on  the  opposite  side  of  Toad  Lane,  where  they  keep  and  retail 
their  stores  of  flour,  butcher's  meat,  potatoes,  and  kindred  articles. 
Their  committee-rooms  and  offices  are  fitted  up  in  the  same  building. 
They  rent  other  houses  adjoining  for  calico  and  hosiery,2  and  shoe 


Vide  Almanack,  1854. 

In  1S55  the  drapery  stock  was  ordered  to  be  insured  in  the  Olobe  for  £1000. 


SUCCESSIVE   STEPS   OF   SUCCESS.  39 

stores.  In  their  wilderness  of  rooms  the  visitor  stumbles  upon  shoe- 
makers and  tailors,  at  work  under  healthy  conditions,  and  in  perfect 
peace  of  mind  as  to  the  result  on  Saturday  night.  Their  warehouses 
are  everywhere  as  bountifully  stocked  as  Noah's  Ark,  and  crowds  of 
cheerful  customers  literally  crowd  Toad  Lane  at  night,  swarming 
like  bees  to  every  counter.  The  industrial  districts  of  England  have 
not  such  another  sight  as  the  Rochdale  Co-operative  Store  on  Satur- 
day night. 

At  seven  o'clock  there  are  five  persons  serving  busi'y  at  the 
counter,  others  are  weighing  up  goods  ready  for  delivery.  A  boy  is 
drawing  treacle.  Two  youths  are  weighing  up  minor  articles  and 
refilling  the  shelves.  There  are  two  sides  of  counters  in  the  grocer's 
shop,  twelve  yards  long.  Members'  wives,  children  of  members,  as 
many  as  the  shop  will  hold,  are  being  served  ;  others  are  waiting  at 
the  door,  in  social  conversation,  waiting  to  go  in.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Lane,  three  men  are  serving  in  the  drapery  department, 
and  nine  or  ten  customers,  mostly  females,  are  selecting  articles.  In 
the  large  shop,  on  the  same  side  of  the  street,  three  men  are  chopping 
and  serving  in  the  butcher's  department,  with  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
customers  waiting.  Two  other  officers  are  weighing  flour,  potatoes, 
preparing  butter,  etc.,  for  other  groups  of  claimants.  In  other 
premises  adjoining,  shoemakers,  doggers,  and  tailors  are  at  work,  or 
attending  customers  in  their  respective  departments.  The  clerk  is 
in  his  office,  attending  to  members'  individual  accounts,  or  to  general 
business  of  the  Society.  The  news-room  over  the  grocery  has  twenty 
or  more  men  and  youths  perusing  the  newspapers  and  periodicals. 
Adjoining,  the  watch  club,  which  has  fifty-eight  members,  is  collect- 
ing its  weekly  payments,  and  drawing  lots  as  to  who  shall  have  the 
repeaters  (manufactured  by  Charles  Freeman,  of  Coventry),  which  the 
night's  subscription  will  pay  for.  The  library  is  open,  and  the 
librarian  has  his  hands  full  in  exchanging,  renewing,  and  delivering 
books  to  about  fifty  members,  among  whom  are  sons,  wives,  and 
daughters  of  members.  The  premises  are  closed  at  ten  o'clock,  when 
there  has  been  received  during  the  day  for  goods  £420,  and  the 
librarian  has  lent  out  two  hundred  books.  In  opposite  districts  of 
the  town,  the  Society  has  now  open  four  Branch  Stores  for  the  con- 
venience of  outlying  members,  where,  on  a  lesser  scale,  the  same 
features  of  sales  are  being  repeated. 

But  it  is  not  the  brilliance  of  commercial  activity  in  which  either 
writer  or  reader  will  take  the  deepest  interest ;  it  is  in  the  new  and 
improved  spirit  animating  this  intercourse  of  trade.  Buyer  and 
seller  meet  as  friends ;  there  is  no  overreaching  on  one  side,  and  no 
suspicion  on  the  other ;  and  Toad  Lane  on  Saturday  night,  while 
as  gay  as  the  Lowther  Arcade  in  London,  is  ten  times  more  moral. 
These  crowds  of  humble  working  men,  who  never  knew  before  when 
they  putgood  foodintheirmouths,whoseevery  dinner  was  adulterated, 
whose  shoes  let  in  the  water  a  month  too  soon,  whose  waistcoats  shone 
with  devil's  dust,  and  whose  wives  wore  calico  that  would  not  wash 


40  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

now  buy  in  the  markets  like  millionaires,  and,  as  far  as  pureness  of 
food  goes,  live  like  lords.  They  are  Aveaving  the,ir  own  stuffs,  making 
their  own  shoes,  sewing  their  own  garments,  and  grinding  their  own 
corn.  They  buy  the  purest  sugar,  and  the  best  tea,  and  grind  their 
own  coffee.  They  slaughter  their  own  cattle,  and  the  finest  beasts  of 
the  land  waddle  down  the  streets  of  Rochdale  for  the  consumption  of 
flannel  weavers  and  cobblers. x  When  did  competition  give  poor 
men  these  advantages  ?  And  will  any  man  say  that  the  moral 
character  of  these  people  is  not  improved  under  these  influences  ? 
The  teetotalers  of  Rochdale  acknowledge  that  the  Store  has  made 
more  sober  men  since  it  commenced  than  all  their  efforts  have  been 
able  to  make  in  the  same  time.  Husbands  who  never  knew  what  it 
was  to  be  out  of  debt,  and  poor  wives  who,  during  forty  years,  never 
had  sixpence  uncondemned  in  their  pockets,  now  possess  money 
sufficient  to  build  them  cottages,  and  go  every  week  into  their  own 
market  with  coins  jingling  in  their  pockets  ;  and  in  that  market 
there  is  no  distrust,  and  no  deception  ;  there  is  no  adulteration,  and 
no  second  prices.  The  whole  atmosphere  is  honest.  Those  who 
serve  neither  hurry,  finesse,  nor  fl.-if :'er.  They  have  no  interest  in 
chicanery.  They  have  but  one  duty  to  perform — that  of  giving  fair 
measure,  full  weight,  and  a  pure  article.  In  other  parts  of  the  town, 
where  competition  is  the  principle  of  trade,  all  the  preaching  in 
Rochdale  cannot  produce  moral  effects  like  these. 2 

As  the  Store  has  made  no  debts,  it  has  incurred  no  losses  ;  and 
during  thirteen  years'  transactions,  and  receipts  amounting  to 
£303,852,  it  has  had  no  law  suits. 

Children  are  not  generally  sent  to  shops  when  adults  can  be  spared 
for  the  errand,  as  it  is  very  well  known  children  are  put  off  with  any- 
thing. The  number  of  children  who  are  sent  to  the  Store  to  make 
purchases  is  a  proof  of  the  honourable  family  confidence  it  has 
inspired.  A  child  is  not  sent  to  the  Store  with  a  message  to  go  to  a 
particular  man  with  grey  whiskers  and  black  hair,  and  get  him  to 
serve,  and  to  be  sure  and  ask  him  for  the  "  best  butter."  Everybody 
has  grey  whiskers  and  black  hair  .it  the  Store  ;  the  child  cannot  go  to 
the  wrong  man,  and  the  best  bailor  is  given  to  every  one,  old  and 
young,  without  its  being  asked  for,  for  the  best  of  all  reasons — they 
keep  no  bad. 

The  meetings  of  the  Store  were  quite  a  family  feature  during  the 
first  few  years.  Afterwards,  when  the  members  much  increased,  the 
meetings  assumed  a  more  commercial  character.  Of  course  the  Store 
will  not  now  hold  its  eighteen  hundred  members.  They  are  numerous 
enough  to  make  a  large  public  meeting  ;  and  the  Public  Hall,  at 
Rochdale,  has  to  be  engaged  when  a  general  meeting  is  held.  The 
perfect  freedom  of  intercourse  maintained,  the  equality  of  all,  which 


SUCCESSIVE  STEPS  OF   SUCCESS. 


has  ever  been  undisturbed,  both  in  the  board  room  and  on  every 
occasion  of  intercourse,  have  imparted  an  air  of  independence  of 
feeling  and  manner  to  the  whole.  Eighteen  hundred  workmen  are 
brought  into  weekly  intercourse  with  each  other,  under  circumstances 
which  have  raised  the  tone  of  society  among  them  all. 

The  Directors  of  this  important  and  encouraging  movement  are  the 
same  modest  and  unassuming  men  they  were  thirteen  years  ago  ; 
shining  in  oil,  or  dusted  with  flour,  or  flannel  jackets  and  caps,  they 
in  no  way  answer  the  expectations  of  strangers  in  appearance,  how- 
ever they  surpass  expectation  in  moral  and  commercial  capacity. 

The  /(Mowing  Tables  sJiow  the  progress  of  the  Store  from  1844  to 
1857 — a  period  of  thirteen  years. 


Year. 

Xo.  of 
Mem- 
bers. 

Amount 
of 
Capital. 

Amount  of  Cash      Receipts  per 
Sales  in  Store.           Week  in 
Annual.         December  Quar. 

Amount  of     , 
Profit. 

Annual. 

- 

£      8.    d. 

£        8.     d. 

£     s.    d. 

£     s.    d. 

1844 

28 

21    0    0 

1 

1845 

74 

181  12    5 

710    6    5 

SO    0    0 

32  17    6 

1846 

80 

252    7    1J 

1,146  17    7 

34    0    0 

80  10    Si 

1-47 

110 

286    5    Si 

1,924  13  10 

36    0    0 

72    2  10    1 

1-4? 

140 

397    0    0 

2,276    6    5J 

80    0    0 

117  16  10J  i 

1849 

390 

1,193  19    1 

6,611  18    0 

179    0    0 

561    3    9    ; 

1850 

600 

2,299  10    5 

13,179  17    0    j          338    0    0 

889  12    5 

1851 

630 

2,785    0    14 

17,638    4    0 

308    0    0 

990  19    8}  I 

1852 

680 

3,471    0    6 

16,352    5    0 

371    0    0 

1,206  15    2j  j 

|    1853 

720 

5,848    3  11 

22,760    0    0 

524    0    0 

1,674  18  111  : 

1854 

900 

7,172  15    7          33,364    0    0 

661    0    0 

1,763  11    -2k 

1    1855 

1400 

11,032  12  10i        44,902  12    0           1,204    0    0 

3,106    8    4i 

1    1856 

1600 

12,920  13    li 

6:097  10    0 

1,353    0    0 

3,921  13    lj 

1857 

1850 

15,142    1     2~        79,788    0    0           1,491    0    0 

5,470    6    84 

Total  sales  in  thirteen  years,  £303,852.    Total  profits,  £19,8SS  16s.  UJd. 


The  Capitals  of  Three  Departments.     1856-7. 


Store. 

Com  Mill. 

Manufacturers. 

Total  of 
Capitals. 

1856—  £12,920    i 
1857—  15,142    : 

£8,450 
8,450 

£4,000 
5,500 

£25,370 
29,092 

"Weekly  Receipts  of  the  s 

ame,  1856-7.                ^Re'tu^ns0*1 

1856—  £1,353     ! 
1857—  1,491     : 

£850 
1,184 

£360                   £133,276 
300                      153,088 

These  Returns  will  be  much  higher  for  1858.  as  the  Balance  Sheet 
for  the  first  quarter  shows  an  increase  ot  more  than  £'10,000  for  the 
year,  for  the  Store  alone. 


42  HISTORY  OF   THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ANECDOTES   OF   THE   MEMBERS — THE    WORKING   CLASS   STAND   BY   THE 
STORE   AND  THEY    "KNOW  THE   REASON  WHY." 

IT  is  as  instructive  as  it  is  gratifying  to  notice  the  kind  of  replies  fre- 
quently made  by  persons  who  have  been  served  by  the  Store.  One 
woman  who  had  about  £50  in  the  Store  to  her  credit,  was  told  the 
"  Store  would  break,"  by  persons  who  wished  it  would  do  so.  She 
answered,  "  Well,  let  it  break  ;  I  have  only  paid  one  shilling  in,  and 
I  \\&\Q  fifty  pounds  in  it.  It'll  break  with  it's  own  if  it  do  break." 
These  anecdotes  are  common.  Many  poor  people,  whose  con- 
fidence was  sought  to  be  tampered  with,  have  answered  alarmists, 
who  have  tried  to  shake  their  trust — "  Well,  if  it  do  smash  it  may 
smash  with  all  it  has  of  mine,  for  it  has  paid  me  out  more  than 
ever  I  paid  in."  These  answers  not  only  show  good  sense,  but  grati- 
tude and  generosity  of  sentiment.  In  all  service  of  the  people  there 
will  be  ingratitude  displayed.  Every  man  finds  it  so,  sometimes 
among  his  private  and  chosen  friends  ;  no  doubt,  it  will  be  so  with 
the  public,  whom  you  serve  at  random.  In  publicism  in  all  human 
relations  a  man  who  will  not  be  cast  down  needlessly  must  learn  to 
look  on  both  sides.  He  will  in  every  crowd  find  many  whom  he 
cannot  respect,  and  who  do  not  deserve  respect  ;  and  numbers  of 
poor,  yet  devoted,  trusting,  toiling,  manly,  impassable,  grateful  men 
and  women,  whom  you  might  worship  in  the  fulness  of  the  sentiment 
of  admiration  with  which  they  inspire  you. 

Another  fact  ought  not  to  escape  notice,  which  none  but  those 
having  considerable  experience  are  aware  of — viz.,  it  is  seldom  that 
the  people  whom  you  expect  to  help  forward  a  movement  do  it. 
Exactly  those  on  whom  you  most  rely — commonly  those  whom  you 
elect  for  appeal  — deceive  you,  or  fail  to  help  when  you  expect,  and 
when  the  crisis  requires  it. 

The  effects  of  the  Store  in  improving  the  finances  of  its  members 
was  seen  in  the  instance  of  one  known  as  Dick,  who  has  lived  in  a 
cellar  thirty  years,  and  was  never  out  of  debt.  He  one  morning 
astonished  his  milkman  by  asking  him  to  change  him  a  £5  note.  The 
sly  dog  never  had  one  before,  and  he  felt  a  pardonable  pride  in  display- 
ing his  first  possession.  Dick  has  now  twenty  pounds  of  "  brass'' 
in  Store.  And  most  of  those  who  have  the  largest  balances  stand- 
ing to  their  credit  are  persons  who  have  never  paid  many  shillings 
in.  The  whole  is  the  accumulation  of  their  profits. 

The  following  cases,  designated  by  the  numbers  belonging  to  the 
particular  member,  were  taken  by  the  present  writer  from  the  books 
of  the  Store  in  1853,  and  communicated  to  the  Leader  newspaper  : — 

"  No.  12  joined  the  Society  in  1844.     He  had  never  been  out  of 


ANECDOTES  OF   THE   MEMBERS.  43 

a  shopkeeper's  books  for  forty  years.  He  spent  at  the  shop  from 
twenty  shillings  to  thirty  shillings  per  week,  and  has  been  indebted 
as  much  as  £30  at  a  time.  Since  he  has  joined  the  Pioneers' 
Society  he  has  paid  in  contributions  £2  18s. ;  he  has  drawn  from 
the  Society  as  profits  £17  10s.  7d.,  and  he  has  still  left  in  the 
funds  of  the  Society  £5.  Thus  he  has  had  better  food  and  gained 
£20.  Had  such  a  Society  been  open  to  him  in  the  early  part  of  his 
life,  he  would  now  be  worth  a  considerable  sum. 

"  No.  22  joined  the  Society  at  its  commencement.  He  was  never 
out  of  a  shopkeeper's  debt  for  twenty-five  years.  His  average  expen- 
diture with  the  shopkeeper  was  about  ten  shillings  per  week,  and 
was  indebted  to  him  forty  shillings  or  fifty  shillings  generally.  He 
has  paid  into  the  Society  £2  10s. ;  he  has  drawn  from  the  Society 
£6  17s.  5d.  ;  he  has  still  left  iu  the  funds  of  the  Society  £8  Os.  3d. 
He  thinks  the  credit  system  made  him  careless  about  saving  any- 
thing, and  prevented  his  family  from  being  as  economical  as  they 
would  have  been  had  they  been  compelled  to  pay  ready  money  for 
their  commodities.  In  this  he  agrees  with  No.  12.  Since  he 
(No.  22)  has  joined  the  Society,  he  lias  enjoyed  other  advantages, 
having  a  place  accessible,  where  he  can  resort  to,  instead  of  going  to 
the  public-house  or  beer-shop  for  information  and  conversation. 

"  No.  114  joined  the  Society  in  1848.  Paid  in  fifteen  shillings, 
has  drawn  out  £11  14s.  lid.,  has  still  in  the  funds  of  the  Society 
£7  2s.  lid.  Gained  in  two  years  £18. 

"  No.  131  joined  the  Society  at  its  commencement  in  1844.  He 
says  he  was  never  out  of  debt  with  a  shopkeeper  for  fourteen  years. 
He  spent  on  an  average  about  nine  shillings  per  week  with  the 
shopkeeper,  and  generally  owed  him  from  twenty  to  thirty 
shillings.  He  has  paid  into  the  Store  as  contributions  at  different 
times  £1  18s.  4d. ;  and  has  drawn  from  it£l  12s.  Id.;  and  has  still 
in  the  funds  of  the  Society  £3  Is.  lOd.  He  thinks  the  credit  system 
one  reason  why  he  was  always  poor,  and  that  since  he  joined  the 
Society  his  domestic  comfort  has  been  greatly  increased ;  and  had 
he  not  belonged  to  the  Society  in  1847,  he  would  have  been  obliged 
to  apply  to  the  parish  officers  for  relief. 

"Thus  the  members  derive  all  the  advantage  of  a  sick  as  well  as 
a  benefit  society.  It  is  thus  that  the  Society  give  to  its  members 
the  money  which  they  save.''1 

A  mother  who  had  always  sent  her  child  to  the  neighbouring  shop, 
at  length  began  to  send  her  child  to  the  Store,  which  was  more  than 
a  mile  away  from  her  house.  The  child  asked  the  mother  why  she 
should  be  sent  so  far  away  for  things  instead  of  going  into  the  shop 
next  door.  The  mother  explained  to  the  child  that  the  profits  made 
at  the  Store  would  come  to  them.  The  child  understood  the  lesson, 
and  would  come  down  in  a  morning  to  fetch  the  food  for  breakfast, 
and  the  family  at  home  would  wait  till  she  returned ;  and,  as  Sir 

1  These  instances  were  quoted  by  Chambers't  Journal  at  the  time  of  their  appearance. 


44  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

James  Graham  would  express  it,  both  mother  and  child  knew  the 
reason  why.  A  butcher's  wife  expressed  her  new  experience  thus  : — 
"  Instead  of  having  to  take  her  'strap  '  book  with  her,  she  now  had 
money  in  her  pocket  and  money  in  the  Store."  One  member  has 
£50  in  the  Store,  all  of  which  he  has  made  by  profits,  he  having  drawn 
out  for  his  own  use  all  that  he  ever  paid  in.  In  one  case  a  woman 
withdrew  £5  from  her  savings  in  the  Store,  not  so  much  because  she 
had  special  occasion  for  the  money,  as  for  the  pleasure  of  having  £5 
in  her  possession.  She  had  traded  at  shops  for  nearly  half  a  century, 
and  she  declared  it  was  the  first  time  she  had  ever  had  £5  of  her  own 
in  her  hands  in  her  life. 

A  husband  who  dealt  at  the  Store,  and  had  accumulated  money  in 
it,  had  a  wife  who  did  not  believe  in  co-operation,  and  was  easily 
persuaded  that  the  Store  was  unsafe,  and  she  took  the  opportunity 
of  drawing  her  savings  from  the  Store  and  placed  them,  for  more 
safety,  in  the  Savings  Bank.  Before  long  the  Savings  Bank  broke. 
The  poor  woman's  faith  was  made  whole  by  the  mishap.  She 
gathered  up  the  tardy  dividends  of  the  bank  and  placed  the  residue 
in  the  Store,  where  since  they  have  remained. 

George  Morton,  an  old  man  above  sixty,  says  that  had  there  been 
no  Store,  he  does  not  know  how  he  could  have  lived  without  going 
to  the  poor-house.  The  profits  he  has  received  from  the  Store  on 
goods  purchased  has  nearly  kept  him  out  for  the  last  eleven  years — 
that  is,  from  1845  to  1856.  He  has,  during  that  time,  received  in 
dividends  £77  3s.  6d.,  and  has  remaining  in  the  Society  £11.  He 
has  never  paid  into  the  Society  more  than  £5  16s.  7gd  altogether. 

Of  the  confidence  in  the  dealings  of  the  Store,  Mrs.  Mills,  a  widow, 
gives  this  testimony.  She  came  to  the  Store  for  a  steak,  but  as  the 
Store  butchers  had  none,  and  she  wanted  it  for  a  sick  person,  she 
went  into  the  public  market  and  bought  a  pound  and  a  half.  On 
reaching  home  she  weighed  her  purchase,  and  found  that  the  pound 
weighed  fourteen  ounces,  and  the  half-pound  only  seven  ounces. 
She  now  says  that  when  there  is  no  steak  at  the  Store,  "they lump 
it;"  meaning  that  they  make  shift  until  the  Store  is  replenished. 
This  authentic  anecdote  gives  no  bad  idea  of  a  Rochdale  sickness, 
to  which  a  pound  and  a  half  of  steak  seems  congenial.  The  vege- 
tarians might  take  a  turn  there. 

Speaking  of  beef — the  other  day  I  was  standing  at  the  upper 
window  of  the  Store,  when  the  Store  butchers,  who  had  just  come 
from  the  Society's  abbatoirs,  drove  up  with  an  immense  waggon 
full  of  "prime  joints."  Upon  looking  over  the  chief  butcher's  bill, 
I  found  he  reported  himself  as  having  "  killed  four  cows  and  a  half," 
which  led  me  to  inquire  by  what  co-operative  process  he  was  enabled 
to  kill  half  a  cow  at  a  time.  The  explanation  was  this.  Some 
butcher  in  the  town  wanted  half  a  cow  for  that  day's  market,  the 
Store  wanted  four  cows  and  a  half  only,  so  the  fifth  cow  was  divided 
and  both  parties  served,  which  the  butcher  called  "  killing  half  a 
cow." 


ANECDOTES   OF   THE  MEMBERS.  45 

"  The  Tillicoultry  Co-operative  Society  a  admits  110  member  who 
is  immoral  in  his  conduct.  A  female  householder  is  admitted  a  mem- 
ber, but  is  refused  a  vote.  The  Baking  Company  of  the  same  place 
has  a  similar  ungallant  and  uncivil  rule.1 

The  Rochdale  Store  renders  incidental  but  valuable  aid  towards 
realising  the  civil  independence  of  women.  Women  may  be  mem- 
bers of  this  Store,  and  vote  in  its  proceedings.  Single  and  married 
women  join.  Many  married  women  become  members  because  their 
husbands  will  not  take  the  trouble,  and  others  join  it  in  self-defence, 
to  prevent  the  husbands  from  spending  their  money  in  drink.  The 
husband  cannot  withdraw  the  savings  at  the  Store  standing  in  the 
wife's  name  unless  she  signs  the  order.  Of  course,  as  the  law  still 
stands,  the  husband  could  by  legal  process  get  possession  of  the 
money.  But  a  process  takes  time,  and  the  husband  gets  sober  and 
thinks  better  of  it  before  the  law  can  be  moved. 

Many  single  women  have  accumulated  property  in  the  Store,  which 
thus  becomes  a  certificate  of  their  conjugal  worth.  And  young  men, 
in  want  of  prudent  companions,  consider  that  to  consult  the  books 
of  the  Store  would  be  the  best  means  of  directing  their  selection. 
The  habits  of  honourable  thrift  acquired  by  young  men,  members 
of  this  Store,  renders  it  unlikely  that  they  would  select  industrious 
girls  in  marriage  for  the  purpose  of  living  in  idleness  upon  their 
earnings  or  savings,  as  happens  elsewhere.2 

What  quality  is  it  that  makes  a  poor  woman  pay  her  way  ?  Ladies 
do  not  always  do  it ;  many  bankruptcies  in  London  are  occasioned 
by  their  neglect ;  the  poor  woman  who  has  been  born  with  that 
faculty,  or  who  has  acquired  it,  is  a  treasure  and  a  triumph  of  good 
sense  and  social  cultivation.  The  difficulty  of  bringing  about  this 
result  many  working  class  husbands  can  tell.  The  art  of  living  with- 
in your  income  is  a  gift.  The  woman  who  has  it,  will  do  it  with  £1 
a  week  ;  she  who  has  it  not,  will  be  poor  with  £20.  Peter  Koakes, 
tired  of  finding  himself  always  in  debt,  wants  to  get  his  wife  one  week 
in  advance  with  the  world.  He  wants  to  stand  clear  on  the  shop- 
keepers' books.  He  knows  that  the  small  tradesman  cannot  pay 
his  way  unless  his  customers  pay  theirs.  He  therefore  saves,  by 
carefulness  and  secret  thrift,  a  little  money,  and  one  week  delights 
his  wife  by  giving  her  double  wages,  that  she  may  pay  in  advance 
for  her  things.  What  is  the  result?  Next  week  he  finds  her  running 
into  debt  as  usual.  He  complains,  and  then  she  tells  him  the  ever- 
lasting story  of  a  thousand  working-class  homes,  "What  could  she 
do?  Mr.  Last's  bill  for  Tommy's  boots  had  never  been  paid,  the  ac- 
count for  Billy's  jacket  had  stood  over  till  she  was  ashamed  of  it,  little 
Jane's  shoes  were  out  at  the  toes,  and  poor  Polly,  she  was  the  disgrace 
of  the  family  for  want  of  a  new  frock,  and  as  for  Mrs.  Noakes  herself, 

1  Vide  rules  1S45-6  of  the  above  societies. 

2  Vide  letter  of  S.  H.  Mnsgrave,  read  by  Sir  Erskine  Perry  at  the  public  meeting  to 
consider  the  laws  relating  to  the  property  of  married  women,  held  at  21  Regent  Street, 
London,  31rt  May,  1856.— Lav  Amendment  Journai,  So.  1*,  p.  W. 


46  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

her  own  bonnet  was  not  fit  to  be  seen,  she  would  rather  stop  in  the 
house  for  ever  than  go  out  in  that  old  fashioned  thing  any  longer." 
Poor  Peter  is  overwhelmed  — he  had  never  thought  of  these  things. 
In  fact,  Mrs.  Noakes  tells  him  "  he  never  does  think  of  anything.     He 
gets  up  and  goes  to  work,  and  comes  home  and  goes  to  bed,  and  never 
thinks  of  anything  in  the  house."     What  can  Peter  do?    He  does  the 
only  thing  he  ought — he  allows  that  his  wife  ought  to  know  best, 
confesses  that  he  is  very  stupid,  kisses  her  in  continuation  of  his  re- 
pentance, and  promises  to  save  her  another  week's  wages,  and  she 
shall  try  what  can  be  done  the  next  time.     In  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks,  Peter,  by  over-work  and  going  without  customary  half-pints 
of  beer,  saves  up  another  week's  wages,  when,  alas !  he  finds  that  the 
shoemaker  has  sent  in  another  bill,  and  the  tailor  another  account — 
that  Master  Tommy's  trousers  have  grown  too  short  for  him,  young 
Billy's  jacket  is  out  at  the  elbows,  Jane's  shoes  let  in  water,  Miss 
Polly  (bless  her  sweet  soul !)  is  still  the  disgrace  of  the  family,  and 
Mrs.  Noakes,  although  Peter  thought  she  never  looked  so  young  nor 
so  pretty  as  she  did  last  Sunday,  declares  her  bonnet  "perfectly  hate- 
ful ;  indeed,  there  is  not  such  another  fright  as  herself  in  the  whole 
neighbourhood,  and  if  Peter  was  like  anybody  else,  he  would  be 
ashamed  to  see  his  wife  go  out  in  such  a  condition."     And  the  little 
book  still  goes  to  the  shop,  Peter  eats  cheese  tough  as  guttapercha, 
she  buys  tea  that  has  been  used  to  boiling  before  it  was  sold  to  her, 
the  coffee  tastes  grievously  of  burnt  corn,  Tommy's  boots  are  a  long 
time  being  mended,  Mrs.  Noakes  never  has  sixpence  to  bless  herself 
with,  her  money  is  all  condemned  before  it  comes  in ;  Peter,  degraded 
and  despairing,  thinks  he  may  as  well  drink  a  pint  as  a  half-pint — 
things  can't  be  worse  at  home.     He  soon  ceases  to  take  interest  in 
public  affairs.     How  can  he  consistently  help  the  public  who  can- 
not help  himself  ?    How  can  he  talk  of  independence,  who  is  the 
slave  of  the  shoemaker  and  the  tailor  ?     How  can  he  subscribe  to  a 
political  or  social  society,  who  cannot  look  his  grocer  in  the  face  ? 
Thus  he  is  doubly  destroyed.     He  is  good  neither  for  home  nor 
parish.     So  ends  many  domestic  experiments  for  paying  in  advance. 
When  children  are  sick,  or  the  husband  is  out  of  work,  a  wife  will 
submit  to  any  amount  of  privation.     If  she  would  submit  to  half  as 
much  from  pride  of  independence  as  she  will  from  affection,  thou- 
sands of  families,  now  always  poor,  would  be  in  possession  of  moder- 
ate competence.     But  to  starve  your  household  when  you  can  help 
it,  to  prevent  them  being  starved  one  day  when  you  cannot  help  it, 
implies  good  sense,  strength  of  will,  and  courageous  foresight,  which 
many  women  certainly  display,  but  which  is  yet  so  rare  a  quality 
that  one  cannot  but  marvel  and  applaud  the  Rochdale  co-operators, 
who  have  taught  so  many  families  the  art  of  getting  out  of  debt, 
and  inspired  them  with  the  pride  of  keeping  out. 

Let  the  enemies  of  co-operation  ponder  on  this  fact,  and  learn  wis- 
dom ;  let  the  friends  of  co-operation  ponder  on  this  fact  and  take 
courage ;  the  fact  that  the  members  in  a  short  period  learn  provident 


RULES   AND   AIMS.  47 

habits  by  connection  with  these  societies — habits  which,  iu  some 
cases,  forty  years  of  competition  have  failed  to  teach. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BULKS   AXD  AIMS  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 

THE  founders  of  the  Society  were  opposed  to  capital  absorbing  .ill 
profit  arising  from  trade,  and  to  hit  upon  a  plan  that  should  give 
proportionally  the  gain  to  the  persons  who  make  it,  was  a  problem 
they  had  to  solve.  After  meeting  several  times  for  the  purpose  of 
agreeing  to  laws,  Mr.  Charles  Howarth  proposed  the  plan  of  divid- 
ing profits  on  purchase — that  is,  after  paying  expenses  of  manage- 
ment, interest  on  capital  invested,  at  a  rate  of  five  per  cent. ,  the 
remaining  profits  to  be  divided  quarterly  among  the  members  in 
proportion  to  their  purchases  or  dealings  with  the  Society.  This 
plan  continues  the  feature  of  the  Rochdale  Store. 

The  division  of  profits  is  made  quarterly  from  the  net  proceeds 
of  all  retail  sales  in  every  department,  after  paying  : — 

1.  Expenses  of  management. 

2.  Interest  on  loans. 

3.  Reduction  in  value  of  fixed  st<ick. 

4.  Dividends  on  subscribed  capital. 

5.  Increase  of  capital  for  the  extension  of  business. 

6.  Two  and  a  half  per  cent,  (of  the  remainder  after  the  above 
are  provided  for)  applied  to  educational  purposes. 

The  residue  thus  accruing  is  divided  among  the  members  of  the 
Store  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  their  respective  purchases 
during  the  quarter. 

The  Pioneers  prudently  established  early  in  their  career  a  "  Re- 
demption Fund,"  which  consists  of  the  accumulation  of  entrance  fees 
of  one  shilling  from  each  member.  The  last  two  pounds  drawn  from 
the  Society  by  a  retiring  member  are  liable  to  a  forfeit  of  one  shilling 
each  pound.  The  trade  of  non-members  of  the  Society  affords  some 
profit.  These  sums  go  to  the  Redemption  Fund,  which  is  a  reserve 
to  meet  the  depreciation  of  the  fixed  stock.  In  all  financial  reports 
of  the  Society  a  broad  allowance  is  always  made  for  depreciation  of 
stock,  and  the  fixed  capital  at  stock-taking  is  always  estimated  be- 
low its  real  value,  so  that  if  the  Society  broke  up,  it  is  calculated 
that  every  subscriber  of  £1  invested  in  the  Society  would  receive 
twenty-five  shillings  as  his  dividend. 

A  new  member  must  now  hold  five  £1  shares  in  the  capital.  He 
pays  one  shilling  deposit  on  these  on  entrance,  and  threepence  a  week 
afterwards,  or  three  and  threepence  a  quarter,  until  the  £5  are  paid 


48 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


up ;  but  these  payments  are  assisted  by  all  the  profits  he  makes  by 
dealing  at  the  Store,  and  any  interest,  which  is. fixed  at  5  per  cent., 
accruing  to  him  as  successive  pounds  are  made  up.  All  profits  and 
interest  are  not  paid  to  the  member,  but  carried  to  the  credit  of  his 
shares,  until  the  £5  are  paid. 

The  Board  of  Directors  may  suspend  any  member  whose  conduct  is 
considered  to  be  injurious  to  the  Society,  and  a  general  meeting  may 
expel  him,  after  which  he  has  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  re-admis- 
sion, if  he  desires  it. 

Any  co-operative  society  can  buy  to  any  extent  through  one  of  its 
members,  who,  however,  must  become  a  member  of  the  "Equitable 
Pioneers'  Society." 

A  member,  being  in  distress,  may  withdraw  any  sum  he  may  have  in 
the  funds  of  the  Society  above  £2,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of 
Directors.  In  the  great  distress  period  of  1849,  many  applications 
were  made  to  be  allowed  to  draw  all  out  except  £1.  Though  it  is  rarely 
that  any  Director  puts  a  question  as  to  the  personal  affairs  of  an 
applicant,  yet  narratives  were  volunteered  of  so  painful  and  remark- 
able a  character,  that  the  Directors  learned  to  esteem  that  co-operation 
which  had  placed  in  their  hands  a  wholesome  power  of  relief.  To 
this  day  these  Directors  recur  to  the  experience  of  that  year  when 
defending  the  Society.  Members  may  withdraw  any  sum  above  £5 
according  to  the  following  scale  of  notice  :  — 

£2       10s.      at  once  on  application  to  the  Board. 
2       10        to       £5      at      2       weeks'  notice. 


5 
10 
20 
30 
40 
50 
60 
70 
80 
90 


10 

3 

20 

4 

30 

5 

40 

6 

50 

7 

00 

8 

70 

9 

80 

10 

90 

11 

100 

12 

No  member  can  hold  more  than  £100  x  of  shares  in  the  Society 
except  by  way  of  annuity,  nor,  under  any  circumstances,  shall  his 
interest  in  the  funds  exceed  £30.  The  Directors  can  obtain  loans, 
but  not  exceeding  four  times  the  amount  of  the  paid  up  subscriptions 
of  the  members  for  the  time  being. 

All  disputes  are  settled— 

1.  By  the  Directors,  or 

2.  By  appeal  at  a  general  meeting. 

3.  By  arbitration. 

1  A  recent  Act  of  Parliament  lias  increased  this  amount  to  £'-OQ, 


RULES   AND  AIMS.  4; 


Complaiiits  and  suggestions  relative  to  the  qualities  or  prices  of 
goods,  or  conduct  of  servants  of  the  Society,  are  required  to  be  made 
in  writing  to  the  Directors,  who  record  their  decision  thereupon  ;  if 
not  satisfactory,  the  question  is  referred  to  a  special  general  meet- 
ing, whose  decision  is  final. 

The  question  of  liability  to  Income  Tax  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  Store  for  several  years.  Its  apparently  final  solution  may  be  use- 
ful information  to  other  Stores.  In  August,  1850,  the  Board  applied 
to  editors  of  newspapers,  who  are  the  popular  lawyers  of  the  poor,  to 
learn  whether  co-operative  societies  were  liable  when  the  individual 
members  have  not  the  requisite  amount  of  income.  Answers  so 
obtained  could  not  have  the  force  of  law,  but  they  had  the  quality  of 
direction.  The  Society  paid  Income  Tax  regularly,  but  as  the  separ- 
ate income  of  each  member  was  far  below  the  amount  at  which  the 
Government  commences  its  assessment,  the  Society  appealed  against 
^till  the  local  Commissioners  forced  its  payment.  They  were 
told,  indeed,  that  each  member  might  demand  a  form  of  Exemption, 
and  claim  the  amount  of  his  assessment  back  again.  But  this,  on 
the  part  of  a  thousand  members,  involved  too  much  trouble,  as  the 
Exemption  claims  must  have  been  filled  up  for  them  in  most  cases. 
One  year  the  members  went  to  the  Appeal  office  in  a  body,  but  the 
Commissioners  refused  to  admit  them,  and  required  one  representa- 
tive to  be  appointed.  It  ended  in  the  old  order  to  pay  being 
enforced.  Opinions  of  Members  of  Parliament  were  obtained,  who 
said  the  Society  was  Liable,  and  the  opinions  of  lawyers,  who  said 
they  were  not  liable.  As  their  numbers  and  importance  increased, 
their  confidence  grew,  and,  in  1856,  they  resolved  to  make  a  stand 
against  the  exaction,  and,  if  need  be,  carry  it  to  trial.  An  ad- 
journed meeting  of  the  Board,  held  in  October,  appointed  Messrs. 
Smithies  and  Ellis  "  to  appeal  against  the  Income  Tax.a  These 
officers,  who  were  trustees  of  the  Society,  presented  themselves  on 
Appeal  day,  and  argued  that  the  Society  was  exempt,  being  enrolled 
under  the  Industrial  and  Provident  Societies'  Act,  which  forbid  any 
member  receiving  more  than  £30  annually  in  any  or  all  forms  from 
the  Society.  The  case  was  adjourned  to  another  day,  when  it  was 
to  be  heard  first.  The  day  came,  but  Messrs.  Smithies  and  Ellis 
were  edified  by  the  opportunity  of  hearing  numerous  cases  disposed 
of  without  their  case  being  called  on.  They  were  told  to  come  the 
following  day.  On  the  "following  day"  they  were  told  they 
should  receive  notice  when  required  to  appear,  as  the  Commis- 
sioners were  in  correspondence  with  London.  Messrs,  Smithies  and 
Ellis  had  the  happiness  never  to  be  sent  for.  However,  the  Income 
Tax  Collector  could  not  refrain  from  making  his  accustomed  demand, 
and  insisted  that  it  must  be  paid,  giving  the  Society  the  gratifying 
assurance  that,  if  illegal,  they  could  get  it  back  again.  The 
Society,  however,  were  not  to  be  gratified  in  this  way.  They  thought 
it  audacity  on  the  part  of  the  collector  to  make  the  demand,  so  long 
as  the  case  was  undecided,  and  attempt  to  use  his  legal  position  to 

D 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

intimidate  uneducated  men.  Mr.  William  Cooper  reported  the  case 
to  the  Pioneers'  Board,  who  put  on  their  minute^,  December  4th,  1850, 
this  very  English  resolution  : — "  Resolved,  that  we  do  not  pay  the  In- 
come Tax  until  we  are  made.'"'  The  next  Saturday,  the  collector  again 
called  and  demanded  the  money.  He  was  told  the  decision  of  the 
Board.  He  replied,  in  professional  terms,  that  "  he  wanted  no  un- 
pleasantness, but  the  Society  had  no  alternative  but  to  pay,  and  that, 
if  his  demand  was  not  paid  in  a  few  days,  he  should  seize  the  goods  of 
the  Store."  On  the  Board  being  informed  of  that,  they  resolved,  Dec. 
18th,  1856,  "That  the  Income  Tax  Collector  take  his  own  course." 
He  has  not  taken  his  course  to  this  day,  nor  have  the  Commissioners 
made  any  sign  of  having  a  course  to  take. 

One  most  honourable  feature  of  the  Society,  which  proves  the  earn- 
est desire  of  the  members  for  self-improvement,  is  the  reservation  of 
a  portion  of  their  funds  for  educational  purposes.  The  2^  per  cent, 
of  their  quarterly  profits  assigned  for  division  among  the  members, 
together  with  the  fines  accruing  from  the  infraction  of  rules,  con- 
stitute a  separate  and  distinct  fund,  called  the  "  Educational  Fund," 
for  the  intellectual  improvement  of  the  members  of  the  Store,  the 
maintenance  and  extension  of  the  Library,  i  and  such  other  means 
of  instruction  as  may  be  considered  desirable. 

GENERAL   FINANCIAL  ACCOUNT   OF   THE   EDUCATIONAL   FUND. 


Receipts. 

Disbursements. 

& 

s. 

d. 

£ 

a. 

d. 

Donations     -     -     -     - 

1 

2 

6 

Paid  for  Books  - 

-    308 

11 

9 

2\  per  cent,  from  Edu- 

Bookbinding 

-     20 

1-2 

34 

cational  Fund     -     424 

18 

114 

Book  Case- 

-     25 

9 

11" 

Catalogues  and  Fines 

17 

19 

11 

Wages  -     - 

-     28 

5 

4i 

Sale  of  Newspapers- 

2 

14 

3 

Catalogues,  etc.      6 

0 

6" 

Sundry  Receipts    -    - 

3 

-7 

9 

Newspapers2 

-     17 

5 

Ol 

2 

Sundry  Dis- 

bursements 

-       2 

8 

8 

Cash  on  hand-     - 

-     41 

9 

8 

£450 

3 

44 

£450 

;; 

44 

Their  News-room  is  as  well  supplied  as  that  of  a  London  club, 
and  the  Library  contains  2,200  volumes  of  the  best,  and  among 
them,  many  of  the  most  expensive  books  published.  The  Library  is 
free.  In  their  News-room,  conveniently  and  well  fitted  up,  a  member 
may  read,  if  he  has  the  time,  twelve  hours  a  day,  also  free. 


1  A  minute  of  Sept.  20th,  1853,  orders  a  motion  to  be  made  at  the  quarterly  meeting, 
for  awarding  £40  to  the  Library. 

-  The  News-room  has  become  chargeable  on  the  Education  Fund  only  within  the  last 
six  months  (1857).  The  quarterly  meeting  passed  a  resolution  that  the  News-room 
should  be  free  to  members,  and  supported  from  the  Education  Fund. 


RULES   AND   AIMS.  5  I 

From  1850  to  1855,  a  school  for  young  persons  was  conducted  at  a 
charge  of  twopence  per  month.  Since  1855,  a  room  has  been  granted 
b}r  the  Board  for  the  use  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  persons,  from  the 
ages  of  fourteen  to  forty,  for  mutual  and  other  instruction  on 
Sundays  and  Tuesdays. 

Any  readers  of  these  pages,  who  may  contemplate  forming  stores 
in  their  own  neighbourhood,  will,  on  application  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society,  Toad  Lane,  Rochdale,  obtain  the 
laws  at  present  in  force,  and  other  printed  documents  from  which 
executive  details  may  be  learned,  not  necessary  to  be  included  in 
this  history  ;  but  a  personal  visit  to  the  Store  ought  to  be  made  by 
all  who  would  initiate  similar  establishments.  Many  Members  of 
Parliament,  political  economists,  and  some  distinguished  publicists, 
have  made  journeys  of  late  years  to  the  Rochdale  Store.  The  officers 
receive  with  courtesy,  and  give  information  with  enthusiasm  to,  all 
inquirers.  Indeed,  they  are  often  f ound  travelling  thirty  miles  from 
their  homes  to  give  evening  explanations  to  some  workmen's  meeting 
desirous  of  information  in  practical  co-operation,  and  of  forming 
societies  themselves.  It  will  greatly  promote  the  extension  of 
co-operative  societies  if  the  Ruchdale  Pioneers  will  train  officers 
who  may  be  transplanted  to  the  towns  commencing  stores,  to  organise 
and  conduct  them.  This  co-operative  colonisation  will  save  both 
waste  and  failure  in  many  places. 

JCteagh  an  element  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others — a  feeling 
tffift'ju.^uce  rather  tliun  H-jlti.s'iiijL-.ss  ifaould  pi/rv;ul-_-  industrial  inter- 
course, if  it  is  to  be  healthy — animates  these  co-operators,  who  are 
neither  dreamers  nor  sentimentalists.  This  may  best  be  shown  by  a 
quotation  from  a  letter  by  one  of  their  leaders,  to  whom  we  elsewhere 
refer — Mr.  Smithies.  ' '  The  improved  condition  of  our  members  is 
apparent  in  their  dress,  bearing,  and  freedom  of  speech.  You  would 
scarcely  believe  the  alteration  made  in  them  by  their  being  connected 
with  a  co-operative  society.  Many  well-wishers  to  the  cause  think 
that  we  rely  too  much  upon  making  ourselves  capitalists  ;  but  my 
experience  among  the  working  classes  for  the  last  sixteen  years  has 
brought  me  to  the  conclusion,  that  to  make  them  act  in  union  for 
any  given  object,  they  must  be  bound  together  by  chains  of  gold, 
and  those  of  their  own  forging." 

In  1855,  a  co-operative  conference  was  held  at  Rochdale.  A  Com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  carry  out  certain  resolutions  agreed  to. 
Abraham  Greenwood,  President,  James  Smithies,  Secretary,  pub- 
lished a  declaration  of  the  principles  on  which  the  proceedings  of  the 
said  Committee  would  be  regulated.  We  shall  quote  them  to  the 
credit  of  co-operation.  They  were  these  : — 

I.  Tiiat  human  Society  is  a  body  consisting  of  many  members, 
the  real  interests  of  whicli  are  identical. 

n.   That  true  workmen  should  be  fellow-workers. 

HI.  That  a  principle  of  justice,  not  of  selfishness,  must  govern 
our  exchanges. 


52  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

We  think  these  three  sentences  honourably  illustrate  how  much 
higher  is  the  morality  of  co-operation  than  that  of  competition. 
When  did  any  commercial  firm  ever  issue,  and,  what  is  more,  act 
up  to,  a  manifesto  like  this  ? 

The  co-operative  conference  of  1855,  held  in  Rochdale,  was  called 
by  the  Equitable  Pioneers  ;  the  delegate  from  London  was  Mr. 
Lloyd  Jones, 1  who  has  as  continually  aided,  as  he  has  serviceably 
defended,  these  associations.  On  this  occasion,  the  Rochdale  Society, 
in  addition  to  the  manifesto  of  its  own  principles  and  public  aims, 
which  entitled  it  to  distinction  above  all  other  societies,  took  the 
opportunity  of  paying  a  just  tribute  to  the  labours  of  others,  to  which 
they  had  themselves  been  indebted,  as  well  as  the  public  : — 

"  They  were  convinced  that  the  Society  for  Promoting  Working 
Men's  Associations  had,  during  the  period  of  its  active  existence,  con- 
ferred great  benefits  on  the  Co-operative  cause  by  gathering  all  sorts 
of  valuable  information,  and  spreading  it  throughout  the  country 
amongst  the  various  Co-operative  bodies  ;  by  urging  on  the  atten- 
tion of  Parliament,  through  members  favourable  to  the  cause,  the 
legal  hindrances  to  the  movement  ;  and  by  helping  to  procure  such 
alterations  of  the  laws  relating  to  Friendly  Societies  as  to  give  f  red- 
action and  greater  security  to  the  men  who  have  embarked  in  the 
Co-operative  undertaking.  Not  only  have  they  done  these  things, 
but  they  have  likewise  drawn  up  model  laws  suitable  for  either  dis- 
tributive or  productive  associations ,  so  as  to  facilitate  the  safe  enrol- 
ment of  all  Co-operative  bodies,  and  to  secure  the  highest  degree  of 
legal  accuracy  with  the  smallest  possible  cost  ;  in  addition  to  which, 
they  have  at  all  times  given  legal  advice  freely  to  such  of  the  Socie- 
ties as  stood  in  need  of  it- -a  matter,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  of 
great  value  to  bodies  of  working  men. 

"  The  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers  feel  deeply  the  value  of  the 
services  rendered  to  Co-operation  by  the  Council  of  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Working  Men's  Associations ;  and,  as  the  fullest  and  most 
acceptable  acknowledgment,  they  considered  that  the  best  thing  they 
could  do  would  be  to  attempt  to  continue  the  work  which  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Working  Men's  Associations  had  begun,  and  perfect, 
if  possible,  the  design  which  they  were  unable  to  complete." 

Never  was  testimony  more  nobly  deserved  than  this  thus  borne 
to  the  services  rendered  to  working  men  by  the  gentlemen  known 
in  London  as  "Christian  Socialists,"  Professor  Maurice,  Mr. 
Vanstittart  Neale,  the  Rev.  Charles  Kingsley,  Mr.  Furnival,  Mr. 
Ludlow,  and  others.  Guided  by  their  wisdom  and  sustained  by  their 

*Mr.  Lloyd  Jones,  being  the  manager  of  the  Manchester  branch  of  the  Co-operative 
Central  Agency  of  London,  and  subsequent  traveller  for  that  firm,  has  frequently  visited 
the  working  and  co-operative  societies  of  the  North  of  England,  and  addressed  the  mem- 
bers at  their  anniversary  meetings.  On  these  occasions,  and  at  the  several  co-operative 
conferences  held  in  London,  Manchester,  Kochdale,  Leeds,  and  Bury,  he  has  exercised 
an  important  influence  in  the  development  of  the  co-operative  idea.  The  "  Wholesale 
department"  of  the  Kochdale  ^tore,  so  important  a  step  in  organisation,  was  carried 
out  under  his  advice. 


RULES  AND  AIMS.  53 

wealth,  efforts  for  "  Promoting  Working  Men's  Associations,"  for 
which  the  people  will  be  more  grateful  as  they  acquire  more  know- 
ledge to  appreciate  their  sympathy,  their  generosity,  their  patient 
and  costly  services,  the  Working  Men's  College  of  London  is  the 
crowning  tribute  of  their  catholic  love  of  the  people. 

The  Rochdale  Store  has  done  business  for  several  years  with  "The 
Universal  Purveyor,"  instituted  by  J.  L.  St.  Andre^1  author  of  the 
"  Prospects  of  Co-operative  Associations  in  England,'"'  a  volume  re- 
markable for  comprehensive  views  of  industrial  organisation.  In 
the  words  of  one  who  knew  him,  "  M.  St.  Andre",  whatever  may  be 
his  enthusiasm,  or  his  over-estimate  of  what  can  be  done  with  men  as 
they  are,  appears  to  have  the  merit  of  a  sincere  desire  to  draw  associa- 
tions together  in  a  spirit  of  unselfish  co-operation,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  place  them  in  a  healthy  connection  with  the  external  world.''2 

We  record,  and  rightly,  the  names  of  inventors  and  discoverers — 
we  record  the  names  of  those  who  signalise  themselves  on  the  field 
of  battle — it  is  no  less  useful  to  record  the  names  of  those  who  have 
discovered,  or  perfected,  or,  at  least,  improved  the  art  of  self-help 
among  the  people,  and  conquered  in  the  field  of  industry  by  provid- 
ence and  good  sense,  where  so  many  fail  and  perish.  Every  name 
represents  the  continuity  of  small  duties  well  fulfilled — a  quality 
more  valuable  to  society  than  the  emulation  of  sublime  virtues. 
Every  member  of  this  Store  has  been  a  co-worker  equally  with  the 
officers,  but  we  can  only  enumerate  those  who  have  taken  the  lead 
in  the  most  successful  experiment  conducted  by  the  people.  Their 
perseverance  must  give  a  new  idea  of  the  capacity  of  the  working 
class. 

The  first  general  meeting  of  the  founders  of  the  Store  was  held  in 
the  Social  Institution,  Rochdale,  on  Sunday,  August  llth,  1844. 
The  first  resolutions  upon  their  minutes  are  as  follows  : — 

Resolved,  1st — That  the  following  persons  be  appointed  to  con- 
duct the  business  of  the  Society  now  established — Mr.  John  Holt, 
Treasurer,  Mr.  James  Daly,  Secretary,  Mr.  Miles  Ashworth,  Presi- 
dent, Messrs.  Charles  Howarth,  George  Ashworth,  and  William 
Mallalieu,  be  appointed  Trustees. 

2nd — That  Messrs.  James  Tweedale,  James  Smithies,  James  Holt, 
James  Btmford,  and  William  Taylor,  be  appointed  Directors. 

3rd — That  John  Bent  and  Joseph  Smith,  be  appointed  Auditors. 
(Signed)  Miles  Ashworth,  Chairman. 

ABBITRATOB3  OF    1844. 

Mr.  James  Wilkinson,  shoemaker,  High  Street;  Mr.  Charles 
Baraish,  weaver,  Spotland ;  Mr.  George  Healey,  hatter,  Sudden- 

1  And  sustained  by  the  ECT.  Charles  Marriott,  Fellow  of  Oriel,  one  of  those 
Churchmen  who  commend  the  priestly  character  by  uniting  a  clear  faith  to  works  of 
human  interest. 

-  "  The  Co-operative  Principle  not  opposed  to  ft  true  Political  ECOUOIE  v  '  br  the 
Eer.  Charles  Marriott,  B  J>.,  Fellow  of  Oriel— pp.  3»-6. 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

brow;  Mr.  John  Garside,  cabinetmaker,  High  Street;  Mr  John 
Lord,  weaver,  Cronkey  Shaw. 

The  present  arbitrators  (1858)  are— 1Thomas  Livsey,  Esq.,  Alder- 
man, Rochdale,  late  Chief  Constable  ;  2  John  Garside,  cabinetmaker; 
Rev.  James  Wilkinson,  Unitarian  Minister;  John  Lord,  publican; 
Samuel  Tweedale,  foreman. 

First  among  the  arbitrators  of  the  Co  operative  Manufacturing 
Society,  and  of  the  Corn  Mill  Society,  of  which  we  have  yet  to  speak, 
stands  the  name — universally  esteemed  among  the  working  classes 
of  Lancashire — of  Jacob  Bright,  Mayor  of  Rochdale. 

OFFICERS'  NAMES  FROM  OFFICIAL  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  STORE,  ETC. 

John  Holt  (Treasurer),  Benjamin  Rudman,  James  Standring. 
Names  appended  to  the  Laws  of  1844. 

John  Cockcroft,  Henry  Green,  John  Kershaw.  Names  attached 
to  the  Laws  of  1848. 

William  Cooper  and  Abraham  Greenwood.     From  Laws  of  1855. 

George  Adcroft  (President),  James  Hill,  Robert  Taylor,  John 
Whitehead,  Robert  Hoyle,  Thomas  Hollows,  James  Joyce  Hill, 
George  Morton,  James  Mittall,  John  Clegg.  Names  attached  to 
Corn  Mill  Rules. 

Abraham  Hill,  Treasurer;  John  Tweedale,  Robert  Woolfenden, 
Trustees;  Robert  Law,  Thomas  Hill,  James  Whittaker,  Directors; 
Samuel  Ash  worth,  Superintendent.  Store  officers  from  the  Al- 
manack of  1854. 

Samuel  Fielding,  David  Hill,  John  Hollows,  Trustees ;  Peter 
McKenzie,  Robert  Whitehead,  William  Ellis,  Adam  Grindrod. 
Directors.  Store  officers  from  the  Almanack  of  1855. 

James  Manock,  Trustee  ;  John  Smith,  Secretary ;  Thomas  Glegg, 
Isaac  Tweedale,  John  Worsnip,  Directors;  Emeryk  Roberski,3 
Superintendent.  Store  officers  from  Almanack  of  1856. 

Edward  Farrand,  Clerk.  Corn  Mill  advertisement.  Vide  Alma- 
nack, 1856. 

William  Whitehead,  Secretary.  Vide  Manufacturers'  advertise- 
ment, 1856. 

John  Aspgen,  Librarian ;  William  Holt,  Samuel  Newton,  Robert 
Glegg,  Samuel  Glegg,  Robert  Howarth,  Thomas  H  alii  well,  Com- 
mittee of  Library.  Vide  Almanack,  1856. 

John  T.  W.  Mitchell,  .Secretary;  John  Ken  worthy,  Trustee; 
Jonathan  Crabtree,  Thomas  Fielmng,  Thomas  Cheetham,  Samuel 
Stott,  Directors.  Store  officers  from  the  Almanack  of  1857. 

James    Glegg,    George     Watson,    Matthew    Ormerod,    William 

1  The  most  radical  and  popular  chief  constable  of  the  d_ay. 

2  Known  among  old  social  reformers  as  "  Father  Garside." 

3  An  intelligent  young  Polish  exile,  exiled  through  the  Hungarian  struggle,  to  whom 
employment  was  given  in  the  Store,  and  who  rose  to  bu  superintendent.     He  has  lately 
emigrated  to  Australia. 


CO-OPERATORS  OLD  AND   NEW.  55 

Briggs,  William  Hoyle,  Abraham  Howard,  Edmund  Kelly,  Thomas 
\\  hittaker.     Library  Committee  from  Almanack  of  1857. 

These  names  are  given  here  in  the  order  of  time  in  which  they 
appear  in  the  public  documents  cited,  and  with  the  office  annexed 
the  person  happened  to  hold  in  the  list  quoted.  Each  name  is  given 
but  once,  though  most  of  them  occur  again  and  again,  some  in  con- 
nection with  every  office.  For  instance,  Mr.  James  Smithies,  to 
whom  the  members,  some  time  ago,  presented  a  valuable  watch  and 
chain,  in  testimony  of  their  regard,  has  held  offices  during  twelve 
years.  Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood,  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  Corn  Mill,  has  been  an  officer  nine  years.  Mr.  William  Cooper 
has  been  an  officer  in  the  Store  from  the  commencement.  To  the 
last-named  persons  I  have  been  mainly  indebted,  and  especially  to 
Mr.  W.  Cooper,  the  present  Secretary,  for  the  sources  of  the  lead- 
ing facts  of  these  pages. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   OLD   CO-OPERATORS — WHY  THEY   FAILED. — THE    NEW    CO- 
OPERATORS — WHY   THEY   SUCCEED. 

"  THAT  were  a  noble  achievement  which  should  originate  a  system 
of  more  wages  and  less  work,  that  the  labour  of  the  handicraftsman 
might  be  lighter  on  his  hands,  and  his  earthly  blessings  and  little 
comforts  be  increased ;  and  that  were  a  still  more  worthy  achieve- 
ment which  should  teach  him  to  till  his  intervals  of  time  with  the 
study  of  philosophy,  and  the  pursuit  of  literature  and  science." 
Thus  wrote  Dr.  Chalmers. 

"  This  that  they  call  organisation  of  labour  is,  if  well  understood, 
the  problem  of  the  whole  future,  for  all  who  would  in  future  govern 
man."  Thus  wrote  Thomas  Carlyle. 

' '  It  appears  from  actual  experiment,  that  a  thousand  subscribers  of 
from  one  penny  upwards  will  yield  a  weekly  revenue  of  £5.  In 
Great  Britain  there  are  6,000,000  adult  m?.les.  Take  of  these,  in- 
cluding such  females  as  choose  to  subscribe,  4,000,000 ;  these  willyield 
£20,000  weekly,  or  £1,040,000  a-year.  Now,  £1,040,000  a-year,  with 
compound  interest,  would  amount, 

£        s.    d. 

In  10  years,  to 18,232,413  14  11 

In  20  years,  to 65,522,599    8    3 

In  30  years,  to 188,181,161  18    8 

In  40  years,  to 506,325,883  12    8 

In  50  years,  to 1331,511,365  15     1 

In  60  years,  to 3471,129,99518    4 


56  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

Now  this  sum  would  buy  all  the  property  of  the  kingdom.  Do  not 
suppose  for  a  moment  that  4,000,000  of  working  men  will  soon  be 
found  steadily  subscribing  their  penny  or  twopence  a-week  for  this 
object ;  but  these  figures  show  what  a  fund  there  lies  in  the  smallest, 
co-operation  of  the  millions,  and  which  the  devotion  of  the  sums  ex- 
pended merely  on  spirits  and  tobacco  might  accomplish  for  mankind." 
So  calculates  the  Leeds  Redemption  Society,  and  seeks  to  win  by 
figures  those  whom  argument  fails  to  reach. 

"Wait  no  longer  011  the  banks  of  the  great  and  ever-growing  river 
of  poverty  for  the  golden  boat  of  the  capitalists  to  carry  you  over, 
till  you  perish.  Awake  to  the  fact  you  may  become  capitalists  your- 
selves—that you  can  and  must  help  yourselves."  Thus  exhorts  the 
People's  Journal,  in  its  genuine  sympathy  for  the  working  classes. 

Upon  how  many  thousands  of  our  countrymen  have  these  words  of 
wise  direction  fallen,  as  upon  "  stony  ground.''  The  more,  therefore, 
the  esteem  with  which  the  public  will  regard  the  men  of  Rochdale, 
upon  whom  they  have  not  fallen  in  vain. 

That  co-operation  was  the  secret  whereby  the  poor  could  make 
money  was  known  to  old  co-operators,  though  the  Rochdale  Society 
has  been  the  most  skilful  in  turning  it  to  progressive  account ;  for  as 
early  as  1831,  one  William  Shelmerdine,  storekeeper  of  a  society, 
meeting  at  7  Rodger's  Row,  Deansgate,  Manchester,  reported  that 
their  members,  with  a  stock  of  only  £46  12s.,  and  subscriptions  of 
£26  10s.,  had  made,  in  twelve  months,  £20  2s.  of  profits.  Eight 
members  founded  the  Sooiety,and  thirty-six  had  joined  it  by  the  end 
of  the  year. 

The  second  Co-operative  Congress  was  held  in  Birmingham,  in 
October,  1831.  The  first  appears  to  have  been  held  in  Manchester, 
in  May,  in  the  same  year.  In  this  year,  the  Lancashire  and  York- 
shire Co-operator  appeared — a  small  fortnightly  penny  paper,  calling 
itself  the  advocate  of  the  useful  classes,  and  bearing  this  sensible 
motto  : — 

"  Numbers  without  Union  are  powerless — 
And  Union  without  Knowledge  is  useless." 

The  true  warning  is  here,  though  twenty-six  years  of  experience  has 
not  supplied  the  necessary  wisdom  to  profit  by  it. 

At  the  third  London  Co-operative  Congress,  1832,  there  was  re- 
ported the  existence  of  a  "Rochdale  Friendly. Co-operative  Society," 
which  sent,  as  a  delegate  to  London,  one  William  Harrison.  It  had  a 
secretary  of  the  gentle  name  of  T.  Ladyman,  whose  address  was  70 
Cheetham  Street,  Rochdale.  The  Society  was  formed  October,  1830. 
Tn  1832  it  had  fifty-two  members.  It  employed  ten  members  and 
families.  It  manufactured  flannel.  It  had  thirty-two  volumes  in  its 
library.  It  had  never  discussed  the  "  principles  of  exchange  ;"  and 
there  were  two  societies  in  its  neighbourhood. 

Tn  1832,  there  existed  in  Birkacre  a  society,  whose  secretary  was 
Ellis  Piggot,  Printer's  Arms,  Salford,  which  had  3,000  members  and 
£4,000  of  funds.  This  society  were  silk  and  calico  printers. 


CO-OPERATORS   OLD   AND   NEW.  57 

At  the  third  London  Co-operative  Congress  there  were  sixty-five 
societies  represented,  of  which  nine  were  in  London.  Of  the  dele- 
gates or  secretaries,  the  following  names  are  still  known : — W.  Lovett, 
B.  Cousins,  T.  Whitaker. 

Why  have  so  many  stores  one  after  the  other  disappeared?  Some 
have  not  known  how  to  turn  their  prosperity  to  a  progressive  account, 
and  have  grown  tired  of  a  monotonous  success.  There  have  been  of 
late  years  failures  around  Rochdale  ;  the  leading  cause  assigned  is  the 
system  of  credit. 

The  Oldham  Mechanics'  Store,  and  the  Bolton  Store,  were  broken 
up  through  the  strike  of  the  amalgamated  ironworkers ;  but  it  was  said 
they  paid  twenty  shillings  in  the  pound.  The  Brighton  Store  did  not 
acquit  itself  so  well  on  its  failure,  which  was  attributed  to  its  giving 
credit  to  its  members.  Mr.  Smithies,  who  is  certainly  the  most  com- 
petent and  practical  authority  we  can  follow,  said,  writing  in  1855 : — 
"Nearly  all  the  Stores — there  is  hardly  one  exception — are  now  on  the 
ready-money  principle.  We  find  that  those  Co-operative  Societies 
which  commenced  by  giving  credit,  but  have  since  adopted  the  ready- 
money  plan,  have  all  improved  since  doing  so.  I  look  upon  the  strap 
book,"  says  he,  "  as  one  of  the  greatest  evils  that  can  befal  a  working 
man.  He  gets  into  debt  with  the  shopkeeper,  and  is,  for  ever  after, 
a  week  behind ;  and,  as  we  express  it  here,  eats  the  calf  in  the  cow's 
belly." 

Hence  arose  that  just  terror  of  credit  which  the  Store  from  the 
first  betrayed.  In  their  first  book  of  laws — the  laws  of  1844— the 
grand  fine,  the  lion  fine  of  the  list  there  given,  was  to  be  inflicted 
on  any  officer,  who,  on  any  pretence,  should  either  purchase  or  sell 
any  article  except  for  ready-money  ;  which  prohibition,  as  usual 
when  they  are  emphatic,  is  given  twice  over. 

The  Liverpool  Co- operative  Store,  rising  every  year  in  importance 
and  usefulness,  gives  credit  to  the  amount  of  two-thirds  of  the  paid- 
up  shares  of  the  members.  The  Store  connected  with  Price's  Patent 
Candle  Manufactory  acts  upon  a  similar  rule.  This,  of  course,  is  a 
safe  form  of  credit,  but  it  involves  a  great  additional  amount  of 
book-keeping,  and  stops  short  of  that  moral  discipline  which 
ready-money  payments  exercise  upon  the  poor  and  naturally  im-  f\  . 
provident.  / 

In  Rochdale,  each  workman  in  the  manufacturing  department  is 
required  to  become  a  capitalist.  Either  by  weekly  subscription  or 
other  payments  he  is  required  to  hold  five  shares  in  the  Society. 
Each  of  these  artisan  shareholders  receives  5  per  cent,  upon  the 
amount  he  has  invested.  After  the  payment  of  this  interest,  and  the 
wages  of  the  workmen  at  the  usuai  average  of  the  district,  and  all 
trade  expenses,  the  surplus  of  profit  is  divided  according  to  the  wages 
received  by  each  workman.  The  amount  of  profit  over  5  per  cent, 
interest,  which  is  first  paid  to  the  shareholders,  is  divided  equally 
between  the  shareholders  and  the  workmen.  One  half  goes  to  the 


58  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

shareholder1  according  to  the  number  of  his  shares;  the  other  hall 
goes  to  the  workman  or  workwoman  according  to  the  wages  paid  to 
him  or  her.  The  dividend  in  the  Rochdale  Co-operative  workshops, 
paid  January,  1857,  was  one  shilling  and  sixpence  upon  every  pound 
of  wages  received  by  workman  or  workwoman. 

An  important  difference  in  the  division  of  co-operative  profits  in 
Padiham  and  in  Rochdale  should  be  noticed.  In  Padiham,  workmen 
who  had  made  small  savings,  and  other  minor  capitalists,  subscribed 
a  fund  among  them,  bought  machinery,  and  employed  workmen. 
The  chief  profits  were  reserved  by  the  subscribers  of  the  capital  for 
themselves.  The  workmen  they  employed  had  better  situations  and 
somewhat  higher  wages  than  another  mills.  This  arose  from  most 
of  the  proprietors  being  workmen,  and  having  sympathy  with  the 
persons  they  employed.  In  other  respects,  the  Padiham  Cotton 
League  Company,  under  the  Joint  Stock  Companies'  Act,  paid  their 
profits  wholly  to  the  capitalists  or  shareholders.  All  the  societies 
enrolled  under  this  act  are  understood  to  pursue  this  rule.  It  is  no 
part  of  their  plan  to  acknowledge  the  labourer's  right  to  a  share  of 
the  profits  his  labour  creates,  which  is  the  Rochdale  principle. 

By  precautions  and  good  sense,  the  Rochdale  Co-operators  have 
succeeded,  notwithstanding  the  impediments  the  prejudices  of  their 
class  put  in  their  way.  During  the  period  known  among  them  as 
"the  Corn  Mill  Panic,"  Mr.  Coningham,  M.P.,  to  whom  the  country 
is  indebted  for  valuable  personal  reports  of  the  Working  Men's  As- 
sociations of  Paris,  consented  to  make  an  advance  of  capital  to  assist 
in  the  exigence  of  the  Corn  Mill,  but  on  being  very  naturally  re- 
quired to  submit  their  securities  to  the  examination  of  his  solicitor, 
the  Board  objected  to  "  having  anything  to  do  with  a  lawyer,"  yet 
their  securities  were  ample  and  good,  and  they  knew  it. 

Confidence  among  the  members  was  sought  the  first  year  of  the 
existence  of  the  Store  by  establishing  and  showing  plainly  that 
checks  upon  the  honesty  of  the  officers  existed.  Drawers  conveni- 
ently constructed  are  now  used  by  each  salesman,  provided  with 
brass  or  tin  coins  according  to  the  nature  of  his  sales,  of  which  he 
hands  to  each  purchaser  an  amount  exactly  representing  the  cash 
expended. 

The  Treasurer  and  Secretary  of  the  Store,  the  Corn  Mill,  and  manu- 
facturing departments,  balance  their  cash  accounts  weekly.  This 
rule,  which  enables  errors  tu  be  corrected  as  they  may  arise,  has 
operated  very  beneficially. 

Security  is  now  taken  from  £10  to  £200  from  each  officer  employed, 
according  to  his  measure  of  responsibility.  Each  officer  in  charge 
of  a  shop  till  gives  £10  security.  Where  other  guarantee  is  not  pro- 
vided, the  Society  holds  the  deposits  of  the  officer  in  the  Society,  and 
if  he  has  not  a  sufficient  amount  paid  in,  he  is  required  to  make  up 

1  Though  capitalists  were  twice  paid  (a  bad  example  to  set)  they  rose  up  and  tosk 
away  from  the  workman  his  share,  as  soon  as  they  proved  numerous  enough. 


CO-OPERATORS  OLD  AND    NEW.  59 

such  amount  by  periodical  payments.  For  sums  so  lying  in  the  hands 
of  the  Society,  interest  is  paid  as  in  the  case  of  shares.  This  is  a  very 
efficient  regulation  of  securities,  for  no  man  will  find  it  answer  his 
purpose  to  rob  himself.  The  early  Boards  of  Directors  assisted  the 
shopmen  in  their  duties.  Economical  in  all  their  improvements,  it 
was  not  until  1854  that  they  lowered  the  floor  of  their  flour  store,  for 
the  convenience  of  children  and  the  aged  members  coming  to  make 
purchases. 

Numerous  stores  have  at  times  sprung  up  around  the  Rochdale 
one,  and  in  consequence  of  its  example ;  but  none  have  been  con- 
ducted with  the  same  ability,  nor  have  achieved  more  than  a  tithe  of 
its  success.  This  is  owing  to  no  fault  in  the  principle,  but  to  defi- 
ciency on  the  part  of  those  who  apply  it,  to  want  of  sense,  of  union, 
of  patience,  and  enterprise.  There  are  numerous  instances  in  which 
the  Stores  have  not  only  succeeded,  but,  in  the  opinion  of  the  mem- 
bers, have  succeeded  too  well.  They  have  made  more  money  than 
they  know  what  to  do  with.  Not  knowing  how  to  employ  their 
savings  advantageously,  they  have  been  returned  to  the  members, 
who  have  commenced  saving  again.  Their  Directors  have  lacked 
the  talent  of  expanding  their  operations,  and  making  their  capital 
reproductive.  The  Rochdale  weavers  appear  to  have  been  born 
with  a  special  talent  for  co-operation. 

One  cause  of  the  striking  success  of  these  co-operators  is,  no  doubt, 
to  be  found  in  the  great  economy  of  their  trade  expenses.  The  pro- 
portion of  the  salaries  they  pay  to  their  receipts  is  very  small.1  It 
would  be  impossible  to  maintain  the  same  rate  in  the  metropolis, 
where  rents  and  wages  are  higher,  and  the  rate  of  poor  men's  provi- 
sions, in  leading  articles,  the  same.  In  answer  to  a  question  put  to 
him  on  this  point,  Mr.  W.  Cooper  writes  me — ''  I  see  no  reason  why 
the  people  of  London  cannot  carry  on  a  Co-operative  Society  as  well 
as  people  who  live  in  the  provinces.  In  a  small  town,  some  dozen  or 
twenty  persons  will  meet,  and  agree  fhat  if  a  Co-operative  Provision 
Store  could  be  commenced  it  would  be  a  good.  These  twelve  or 
twenty  do  commence  one.  They  work  on  together,  determined  to 
make  the  thing  do.  When  it  has  worked  on  awhile,  people  who 
doubted  begin  to  see  that  it  can  be  carried  out,  and  they  join  too. 
I  see  no  reason  why  a  number  of  earnest  men  in  London  cannot  act 
in  the  same  way."  In  answer  to  other  questions,  the  same  informant 
writes — "At  the  commencement  of  a  co-operative  store  or  manu- 
facturing society,  it  is  essential  that  the  members  be  visited  or  brought 
together  often,  so  that  contributions  may  be  collected  to  establish  and 
carry  on  the  society,  and  that  the  members  may  become  acquainted 
with  the  objects,  position,  and  requirements  of  the  society.  With 

The  cost  of  distribution  at  the  central  Store  is  If  per  cent,  upon  the  retains,  and 
with  the  branch  shops,  about  24  per  cent. ;  so  that  for  2  percent,  all  working  expenses 
of  rent,  rates,  wages,  etc..  are  defrayed. — John  Holmes's  paper,  read  before  the 
British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Social  Science,  at  Birmingham,  which  we 
commend  to  the  reader. 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

this  kind  of  management  a  store  easily  acquires  sufficient  capital  to 
work  its  business  with,  because  the  members  have  gained  confidence, 
and  pay  in  subscriptions  on  their  own  account  without  being  much 
looked  after." 

To  get  people  together  in  this  personal  and  continuous  manner  is 
the  difficult  problem  in  London.     Making  some  allowance  for  higher 
expenses  in  proportion  to  profits,  the  thing  might  be  done  if  a  num- 
ber of  the  working-class  could  be  got  to  act  together,  and  keep  togetltcr, 
for  this  end.     It  requires  to  convert  a  number  of  them  to  a  clear 
view  of  their  own  personal  interest,  to  be  promoted  in  no  other  way, 
and  a  deep  sense  of  duty  towards  their  order,  whose  character  is 
elevated  by  such  successes.     Compare  Rochdale  with  Liverpool  for 
instance.     In  Rochdale,  a  little  bridge  that  spans,  like  a  rocking 
horse,  an  imaginary  stream,  in  which  there  is  nothing  liquid  but  the 
mud,  situated  in  an  invisible  part  of  the  town,  is  the  only  picturesque 
object  in  it.     There  is,  indeed,  a  church  with  a  flight  of  steps  to  it, 
so  narrow,  steep,  and  interminable,  that  you  can  never  get  to  it,  or 
if  you  do,  it  is  a  question  as  to  whether  you  will  ever  get  back.     The 
remainder  of  the  town  is  made  up  of  roads  that  lead  to  nowhere, 
ornamented  with  factories  apparently  built  before  the  dawn  of  archi- 
tecture.    There  is  not  a  building  in  Rochdale  upon  which  it  will  do 
any  eye  good  to  look.     The  town  is  in  the  shape  of  a  teacup,  with 
a  gutter  at  the  bottom  and  a  burying-ground  upon  the  rim.     In  such 
a  place,  if  people  are  disposed  to  act  together,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
way  of  striking  attraction  around  them  to  prevent  them.     The  people 
are  immensely  before  the  town,  which  like  many  other  manufactur- 
ing towns  in  the  North,  has  grown  into  importance  anyhow  ;  but  will, 
no  doubt,  yet  assume  the  magnificence  which  is  gradually  being  im- 
ported into  Bradford,  Leeds,  and  other  places,  which,  twenty  years 
ago,  were  quite  as  unpromising  as  Rochdale.     Now  pass  to  Liverpool, 
with  the  bright  and  busy  Mersey — its  migratory  population — its 
magnificent  buildings — its  open  halls,  surpassing  in  variety  those  of 
London.     Plainly,  it  requires  more  devotion  among  the  few  to  carry 
a  store  to  success  in  Liverpool  than  it  does  in  Rochdale.    Then  if  you 
compare  the  ordinary  provincial  town,  fixed,  stolid,  and  tame,  with 
London  and  its  countless  attractions,  the  difficulty  is  greater.     The 
people  are  "too  clever  by  half"  to  be  useful.     Will  a  dozen  men 
stick  to  a  plan  of  reform  year  after  year,  never  failing  on  the  weekly 
night  of  meeting  to  be  at  their  posts,  amid  the  charms  of  the  metro- 
polis ?    Dickens  is  making  a  speech  at  Drury  Lane,  or  reading  his 
"Christmas  Carol  "  at  St.  Martin's  Hall — Thackeray  is  lecturing  on 
the  "  Four  Georges  "  at  tho  Surrey  Gardens,  with  Mr.  Spurgeon  to 
succeed  him — Robson  is  coming  out  in  a  newcharacter — Mr.  Saunders 
has  a  new  play  at  the  Hayrnarket — Cardinal  Wiseman  is  preaching 
in  the  next  street — Dr.  Cumming  is  to  prove  that  the  end  of  the 
world  will  occur  on  Saturday,  and  the  People's  Subscription  Bands 
play  in  the  Parks  on  Sunday — Neal  Dow  is  at  Exeter  Hall,  and 
George  DawsonattheWhittington  Club— there  areCremorne,Roshcr- 


CO-OPERATORS   OLD   AND   NEW.  6 1 

ville,  and  Kevv — the  National  Gallery  and  the  British  Museum,  and 
the  Houses  of  Commons  and  Lords,  South  Kensington  Museum,  and 
public  meetings,  where  you  may  hear  speakers  never  to  be  heard 
before,  and  often  never  again — and  countless  other  allurements.  A 
man  must  have  self-denial  as  well  as  interest,  who  steadfastly  grinds 
coffee  berries  and  watches  the  sale  of  tea  and  sugar,  and  sits  for  years 
upon  Candle  and  Treacle  Committees,  amid  this  confluence  of  cele- 
brities and  novelties,  though  it  be  duty  and  religion  to  do  it.  This  is 
why  popular  movements  in  London,  which  depend  upon  the  working 
and  middle  classes,  make  such  uncertain  progress.  Unless  a  man  be 
wise  enough  to  choose  a  side  and  discharge  its  obligations  as  a  sacred 
duty,  undertakes  to  win  others  to  act  in  concert  with  him  and  pur- 
sues his  object  with  the  fidelity  of  a  soldier,  nothing  can  be  depended 
upon.  In  fine,  it  requires  working  men  in  London  to  be  as  superior 
to  the  average  of  their  class  in  the  metropolis  as  the  Pioneers  of 
Rochdale  are  superior  to  the  average  of  their  own  class  in  Lanca- 
shu'e.arul  then  co-operation  may  carry  its  moral  discipline  and  physical 
comfort  among  the  poor  of  London. 

The  Leeds  Corn  Mill  Society — the  Padiham  Co-operative  Manu- 
facturers— the  Galashiels  Co-operators — present  features  of  success 
worthy  to  be  placed  side  by  side  with  the  Rochdale  Store.  Whether 
in  being  originated  and  conducted  by  purely  working  men — whether 
in  the  variety  and  development  of  their  operations — whether  in  pro- 
pagandist spirit — they  are  to  be  compared  or  placed  before  the 
Rochdale  Pioneers,  are  matters  I  leave  for  others  to  determine. 
The  public  will  be  glad  to  hear  more  about  these  experiments  than 
these  pages  can  communicate.1 

Just  as  the  farmers,  some  years  ago,  could  not  be  prevailed  upon 
to  make  returns  of  their  crops,  lest  their  interests  should  be  pre- 
judiced in  Parliament  by  the  fact,  so  the  Co-operators  in  some  dis- 
tricts, having  the  fear  of  the  Income  Tax  Commissioners  before  their 
eyes  ('the  Rochdale  issue  of  this  question  not  being  known,  or  not 
being  considered  settled),  or  distrust  of  Government,  object  to  make 
reports.  Mr.  T.  Barker,  of  Todmorden,  in  an  unfilled  return  sheet 
before  me,  assigns  this  reason  for  its  incompleteness.  Todinordeu, 
Walsden,  Bridge  End,  Alma  Works,  and  Commercial,  are  mentioned 
in  his  return.  Mr.  Smithies,  of  Rochdale,  whom  I  had  requested 
to  get  certain  forms  filled  up  for  me,  despairs  on  these  grounds  of 
succeeding. 

Working  men  are  often  injudiciously  treated  by  employers  in  this 
way.  Where  the  men  dressed  with  some  taste,  and  maintained  an 
appearance  of  social  comfort,  masters  would  infer  that  they  were 
doing  too  well,  and  would  reduce  their  wages.  This  had  a  disastrous 
influence  on  the  men,  who  came  to  regard  careless  habits  and  indi- 
gence of  dress  as  means  of  keeping  up  wages.  How  were  working 

!For  the  History  of  the  People's  Flour  Mill  Society  of  Leeds,  the  reader  can  consult 
the  paper  mentioned  in  the  note  on  p.  5°.  It  may,  probably,  be  had  of  the  author. 
James  Holmes,  Leeds,  or  the  printer,  David  Green,  38  Boar  Lane,  Leeds. 


62  HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

men  to  be  raised  from  improvidence  while  those  who  ought  to  in- 
cite them  to  improvement  suggested  to  them  the  policy  of  keeping 
themselves  poor,  in  order  to  avoid  being  made  poor.  A  master 
whose  pride  or  ignorance  was  put  to  the  blush  by  superiority  in  the 
manners  of  his  men,  would  reduce  their  wages  in  order  to  lower  their 
tone.  This,  however,  has  changed  now ;  and  masters  are  prouder 
of  being  enabled  to  say,  "  all  my  men  are  worth  money,"  than  that 
"  half  of  them  are  in  debt."  Throughout  mankind  the  tendency  is 
universal  to  help  those  who  can  help  themselves.  The  poorest  man 
that  exists  will,  if  he  reflects,  find  himself  unconsciously  acting  on 
this  feeling.  The  very  beggar  will  not  give  to  the  beggar  if  he  has 
reason  to  tlaink  that  what  he  gives  him  will  do  him  no  good.  There 
is  no  benevolence,  high  or  low,  that  will  many  times  repeat  the  act 
of  pouring  the  water  of  charity  into  a  sieve.  This  fact,  so  common 
to  every  man's  experience,  should  teach  the  working  class  that  if 
they  display  the  habits  of  thrift,  others  may  display  the  disposition 
to  help.  Moral  statistics  will  assure  the  intelligent  workman  that 
where  one  employer  reduces  the  wages  of  his  men  because  of  their 
social  aspirations,  there  are  more  who  make  it  a  pretext  to  reduce 
them  because  they  see  no  resulting  improvement. 

Writers  who  speak  with  the  authority  of  political  science  have 
testified  to  the  utility  of  these  efforts  of  self-help.  One  to  whom 
the  working  classes  are  indebted  both  for  instruction  and  defence, 
remarks  : — "  We  think,  moreover,  that  these  Co-operative  Associa- 
tions may  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  many  influences  now 
at  work  for  the  education  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  people;  that 
wisdom  will  be  gained,  if  not  wealth,  from  the  industry,  self-control, 
and  mutual  forbearance  needed  to  conduct  them.1 

This  is  the  place  where  one  may  usefully  cite  words  which  one  of 
the  sincerest  friends  of  the  people  has  written,  and  which  cannot  be 
too  widely  known  among  them,  as  this  grave  truth  is  not  to  be  dis- 
puted. 

"  I  lately  heard  the  case  of  a  letter-printer,  who  used  to  employ 
in  his  trade  the  savings  of  his  workmen  with  mutual  advantage.  At 
one  time  he  had  thus  in  his  hands  as  much  as  a  thousand  pounds, 
the  property  of  one  of  the  workmen.  A  master  manufacturer  at 
Manchester  assured  me  that  he  would  gladly  employ  in  his  business 
any  sums  which  his  men  would  entrust  him.  with,  but  that  it  was 
out  of  the  question,  although,  personally,  he  was  on  excellent  terms 
with  them.  To  invest  money  in  their  master's  business  would  be 
binding  themselves  to  his  interests,  and  separating  themselves  pro- 
portionably  from  that  of  their  own  order.  Such  a  step  might  even 
expose  them  to  resentment,  and,  at  any  rate,  their  party  feeling  was 
too  alive.  They  had  an  indefinable  suspicion  that  the  master  would 
be  able  to  take  advantage  of  it.  Many  of  them,  perhaps,  did  not 
like  the  master  to  know  how  rich  they  were."  * 

1  W.  E.  Greg,  "Investments  of  the  Working  Classes,"  p.  120. 

2  Professor  F.  W.  Newman's  lectures  on  "  Political  Economy,"  pp.  321-2. 


CO-OPERATORS   OLD   AND   NEW.  63 

Perhaps  no  sentence  written  about  the  people  is  more  likely  to  serve 
them  than  the  following  words  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill:— "In  Europe  the 
time,  if  it  ever  existed,  is  long  past,  when  a  life  of  privation  had  the 
smallest  tendency  to  make  men  better  workmen  or  more  civilised 
beings.1'  This  sentence  strikes  at  the  root  of  that  intellectual  apathy 
about  the  condition  of  the  people  which  has  checked,  and  still 
checks,  so  many  endeavours  for  their  elevation.  The  gentlemen  of 
England  are,  as  a  class,  probably  less  indolent  and  sensual  than  the 
poor.  Opulence,  and  the  means  of  physical  ease,  have  not  robbed 
them  of  enterprise.  No  spur  of  privation  remains  to  stimulate  them, 
but  the  spur  of  intellect,  of  art,  of  high  cultivation,  excites  them, 
occupies  them,  interests  them — a  new  pride  possesses  them,  and  a 
lofty  consciousness  of  nobler  powers  than  those  which  poverty  simu- 
lated, now  carries  them  on  to  a  destiny  undreamed  of,  and,  indeed, 
undesired  before.  When  this  truth  is  applied  to  the  common 
people,  when  it  is  no  longer  an  article  of  parish  faith,  that  ' '  priva- 
tion" is  the  sole  incentive  of  labour,  the  social  policy  of  our  rulers 
will  be  changed,  and  the  systematic  elevation  of  the  people  begin. 

When,  a  few  years  ago,  Mr.  Carlyle  began,  with  his  noble  insight, 
to  write  of  "Captains  of  Industry,"  he  was  considered  to  have  visions 
of  the  most  hopeless  class  of  ch  ief  tains  ever  pictured  in  romances.  But 
Ids  ideas,  grafted  on  the  age,  have  taken  root.  Modern  employers, 
if  they  wished,  might  found  chieftainships,  nobler  far  than  those  of 
feudal  days,  and  will,  no  doubt,  do  it  yet.  The  Crossleys,  Akroyds, 
and  Salts  of  the  North,  are  already  taking  proud  places  in  the  indus- 
trial history  of  the  people.  A  few  years  ago,  the  "  hives ''  of  Lanca- 
shire and  Yorkshire,  Halifax,  Bradford,  Leeds,  and  Manchester,  were 
dreary  as  penal  settlements — as  Oldham,  Ashton-under-Lyne,  Hyde, 
Stockport,  and  crowds  of  smaller  towns,  are  still.  Of  late  years,  how- 
ever, the  warehouses  of  Manchester,  and  Bradford,  and  Leeds  have 
assumed  an  air  of  magnificence.  Buckingham  Palace  does  not  look 
half  so  imposing  as  does  the  regal  structure  erected  by  Sir  John  Watts, 
of  Manchester.  Towering  in  variegated  marble,  head  and  shoulders 
above  all  surrounding  structures — occupying  the  site  of  sixty-three 
former  tenements — it  stands  the  Monarch  of  Warehouses.  The 
factory  worker  grows  taller  by  looking  up  at  it — the  most  insensible 
inspire  pleasure  in  walking  by  it.  Must  not  the  beef -built,  square- 
headed,  shrewd  Bradford  man,  grow  somewhat  refined,  and  even 
proud,  if  he  has  a  spark  of  national  spirit  in  him,  as  his  way  home  lies 
by  noble  structures  every  day  rising  up  on  his  path,  and  raising 
the  industrial  glory  of  his  native  town  and  land  ?  Are  we  not  all  far 
away,  proud  to  think  that  trade  is  not  all  mammon  worship  and  gross 
materialism.  Is  it  not  a  relief  to  see  the  careful  saving  merchant, 
wooing  the  arts,  and  obtain  from  the  brain  of  the  designer  glorious 
structures,  in  which  to  enjoy  his  patiently  earned  wealth  ?  Let  not  the 
pallid,  often  stunted,  hot-air-stewed  factory  hands  of  Hyde,  on  pre- 
carious nine  shillings  or  fourteen  shillings  a-week,  nurse  a  sense  of 
perpetual  despondency.  Their  turn  is  coming.  When  the  noble 


64  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

warehouse  1ms,  for  some  time,  been  admired,  public  attention  will  be 
turned  to  the  factory,and  next  to  the  "factory  hand,"  and  will  befound 
quite  ready  to  admire  both,  if  they  will  bear  admiring ;  and  then 
it  will  never  do  for  the  proud  and  rich  employer  to  say,  "Oh, 
I  keep  dainty  rooms  to  store  my  cottons  in ;  but  as  for  the 
people  who  make  them,  any  murky,  sooty,  unventilated,  and 
dreary  den  will  do  for  them."  The  day  is  coming  when  no 
employer  in  the  North  will  like  to  say  this.  Mr.  Titus  Salt  has  been 
the  first  to  feel  this,  and  Saltaire  ;  the  noble  factory  and  dwellings  he 
has  erected  point  to  what  will  one  day  be  done.  Workmen  think  it  a 
privilege  to  get  an  engagement  in  Mr.  Salt's  mill.  The  town  of 
Bingley  has  been  deserted  by  men  who  prefer  Saltaire.  The  work- 
men's rooms,  in  which  the  factory  operations  are  carried  on,  are  nobler, 
higher,  healthier,  pleasantcr  rooms,  than  were  the  drawing-rooms 
of  the  gentlemen  of  the  North  fifty  years  ago.  Any  workshop  in 
Saltaire  is  pleasanter  than  any  room  in  the  house  you  pass  at  Bury, 
where  the  late  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  born. 

A  man,  whose  soul  is  affluent  as  well  as  his  circumstances,  willsupple- 
ment  his  stately  warehouse  by  a  stately  and  healthy  factory  ;  from 
being  an  artist  in  his  premises,  he  will,  to  use  Mr.  Thornton  Hunt's 
words,  become  "an  artist  in  flesh."  He  will  covet  that  his  men  shall,  in 
their  way,  look  as  well  and  bear  themsel  ves  as  gracefully  as  his  machines, 
and  then  that  they  shall  dwell  in  homes  as  tasteful,  as  salubrious, 
and  as  suitable  as  those  accorded  to  spinning-jennies  :  he  will 
covet  that  the  ring  of  his  money  shall  echo  with  the  contentment  of 
those  who  aided  to  earn  it.  Thus,  were  the  advocate  silent,  and  the  plea 
of  humanity  disregarded,  and  social  rights  ignored,  a  principle  of 
artistic  consistency  will,  one  day,  enforce  universal  co-partnership 
in  the  produce  of  industry  and  the  conquests  of  science. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AN    ILLUSTRATIVE    CHAPTER. 

DURING  the  progress  of  this  little  book  through  the  press,  some  new 
incidents  in  the  career  of  the  Store  and  its  departments  have  arisen, 
which  deserve  brief  notice. 

(1857.)  The  Store  has  been  attacked  in  local  newspapers,  and  on 
placards,  by  anonymous  writers,  who  appear  to  seek  the  destruction 
of  the  Society  by  sowing  disunion  and  creating  distrust  of  its  financial 
security.  The  attacks  were  commenced  during  the  recent  panics. 
In  the  December  quarter  the  Board  reported  that  although  unfavour- 
able reports  had  been  circulated  respecting  the  Stores,  the  number 
of  members  oa  the  books  was  greater  by  forty-eight  than  at  the  com- 


AN    ILLUSTRATIVE  CHAPTER.  65 

mencement  of  the  quarter — making  a  total  of  1,848.  Had  the  placard 
writers  here  referred  to  succeeded  in  their  design,  considerable  in- 
jury would  have  been  done  to  a  large  body  of  the  working  class  at  a 
time  when  firms  were  daily  breaking.  Had  the  credit  of  any  com- 
mercial house  been  attacked  in  the  same  way,  a  jury  would  have 
given  considerable  damages,  had  the  case  been  brought  before 
them  :  and  we  think  the  Board  of  Directors  would  do  well  to  regard 
themselves  as  entitled  to  the  usual  protection  of  commercial  houses, 
and  to  make  an  example  of  the  first  responsible  assailants  to  whom 
they  can  trace  similar  wanton  aggressions.  There  is  fear  that  enemies 
to  the  success  of  the  Pioneers,  enemies  on  competitive  grounds,  will, 
now  that  the  Pioneers  have  become  really  formidable, seek  to  destroy 
them  by  disunion.  It  requires  great  good  sense  and  mutual  powers 
of  forbearance  to  sit  silent  and  see  statements  published  which  appear 
to  the  public  more  than  half  true,  and  which  you  know  to  be  wholly 
false.  The  temptation  to  go  into  controversy  in  self-defence  is  very 
great ;  and  the  ease  with  which  controversy  slides  into  personalities 
we  all  know — then  time  is  wasted,  temper  lost,  and  only  scandal 
gains,  and  the  enemy  triumphs.  Any  shrewd  opponent  may  naturally 
calculatethatamid2,OOOpersons,somewUl  be  foundwhomay,  by  taunts 
of  want  of  courage,  or  want  of  truth,  be  seduced  into  a  disastrous  news- 
paper or  placard" war.  It  is  said  of  the  first  Napoleon, that  in  the  early 
part  of  his  Italian  campaign  he  was  followed  by  numerous  letters,  some 
criticising  him,some  abusing  him,  and  all  perplexing  him  very  much  to 
answer.  After  a  good  deal  of  time  had  been  consumed  in  replies,  which 
time  might  have  beeu  much  better  employed  upon  maps  and  strategy, 
and  actual  warwith  the  enemy,  it  occurred  to  him  tothrowall  hisletters 
in  toacapacious  basket,  andletthemlie  there  for  sixweeks:  at  the  end  of 
which  period  he  found  that  time  and  events  had  answered  them  nearly 
alL  We  suggest  some  such  plan  as  this  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  Rochdale  Store.  We  recommend  them  to  refer  all  matters  of 
controversy  to  a  committee  of  three  clear-headed,  dispassionate  men, 
whose  duty  it  should  be  to  give  very  brief  explanations  of  any  point 
really  misunderstood;  and  if  any  controversy  seemed  called  for,  to  enter 
upon  it  only  once  a  year,  and  to  lay  by  all  placards,  newspapers, 
letters  and  articles,  until  December,  and  then  reply,  to  what  time  and 
success  may  not  have  confuted,  and  what  the  public  may  not 
have  forgotten  (which  will  be  found  to  be  nine-tenths  of  the  whole), 
and  then  let  silence  and  peace  prevail  for  twelve  months  more. 


LETTER  FROM  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE   PIOXEERS'  SOCIETY. 

Equitable  Pioneers'  Co-operative  Stores, 

K os.  8, 16,  and  31  Toad  Lane, 

Rochdale,  April  17th,  1858. 

SIR,— By  this  post  I  send  the  report  of  the  R.  D.  C.  C.  M.  S. 
(Rochdale  District  Co-operative  Corn  Mill)  for  March,  1858,  from 

E 


66  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

which  you  will  see  that  the  Society  is  making  progress — as  is  the 
co-operative  principle  as  a  whole.  I  think  I  told  you  that  our  next 
step  forward  will  be  to  extend  the  operations  of  the  "Manufacturing 
Society  "  here,  and,  while  I  write,  a  Committee  is  sitting  to  consider 
proposals  which  have  been  made  in  response  to  an  advertisement 
for  a  capitalist  to  build  us  a  mill,  which  we  purpose  to  fill  with 
machinery  and  work.  The  working  classes  may  at  times  lose  by 
having  over  confidence,  but  do  not  they  lose  much  more  who  never 
have  any  confidence  ?  The  five  thousand  members  of  the  Co-oper- 
ative Societies  within  ten  miles  of  Rochdale,  representing  twenty- 
five  thousand  persons,  could  not  derive  the  benefits  they  now  receive 
unless  they  had  confidence  in  each  other  and  in  the  principle  of  co- 
operation. 

WILLIAM  COOPER. 

To  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake. 


THE   OPINION   AND   ADVICE   OF   LORD   GODERICH,    M.P.1 

( A  later  Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Store. ) 

We  (writes  William  Cooper  of  Rochdale),  received  a  long  letter 
from  Mr.  Holmes,  of  Leeds,  this  morning,  April  26th,  1858,  which 
shows  that  they  are  aiming  at  Co-operative  Stores  to  distribute  their 
groceries  in  preference  to  the  agency  principle,  which  they  adopted 
to  distribute  the  flour  made  at  their  own  mill.  In  the  course  of  his 
letter  Mr.  Holmes  remarks  : — "  The  other  day  your  West  Riding 
Member,  Lord  Goderich,  being  in  the  town,  visited  our  mill,  and 
met  the  Board  in  a  conference.  We  had  a  very  interesting 
meeting  and  conversation.  His  lordship  told  us  ice,  Leeds  and 
Rochdale  for  rather  Rochdale  and  Leeds,  for  we  cheerfully  give 
way  to  Rochdale  superiority),  were  the  objects  of  frequent  conversa- 
tions both  in  the  House  and  out  of  it  ;  that  our  success  was  most 
welcome  to  some  good  statesmen,  who  see  if  the  people  are  doing 
well,  all  else  must  be  well.  Our  prosperity  was  pointed  at  as  proving 
the  people  can,  and  will,  manage  their  own  affairs.  If  we  fail,  the 
reputation  of  the  principle  will  be  seriously  damaged,  and  when  our 
contentions  and  difficulties  are  mentioned,  "it  ties  their  hands.  He 
told  us  it  was  not  ourselves  alone  we  should  consider ;  we  were  now 
held  up  and  closely  watched  by  other  societies,  and  other  people 
would  follow  us  if  we  succeed,  or  be  disheartened  if  we  fail.  We 
had  a  most  kind  and  strong  exhortation  to  go  on,  economise,  save, 
and  extend — to  be  shrewd,  wise  and  peaceful.  It  would  take  me 
long  to  tell  you  all,  but  he  promised  us  good  service  should  we  need 
it,  and  he  be  able  to  do  us  good.  By  the  way,  I  could  recommend 

1  Since  Marijuis  of  Kipon. 


AN  OLD  PIONEER'S  ACCOUNT.  67 

you  to  send  reports  to  Lord  Godericli,  Mr.  Conningham,  M.P., 
Mr.  Slaney,  M.P.,  and  other  good  friends  in  London.  It  affords 
them  pleasure,  and  their  sympathy  is  deserving  of  return." 

I  mike  you  this  copy  of  Mr.  Holmes's  letter,  which  will  interest 
you,  as  showing  you  that  our  progress  bears  some  fruit. 

WILLIAM  COOPER. 

To  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake. 

The  cordial  interest  taken  by  Lord  Goderich  in  the  welfare  of  the 
working  classes  is  well  known,  not  only  in  the  West  Hiding  but 
throughout  England.  We  choose  to  close  this  brief  history  of  the 
first  thirteen  years  of  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  with  the  above  tran- 
script of  Lord  Gotlerich's  wise  and  influential  words  of  encourage- 
ment aud  advice. 


CHAPTER  XTI. 
AX  OLD  PIONEER'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  STORE. 

MR.  JOH:\  KERSHAW,  the  last  but  one  of  the  Pioneers,  sent  to  Mr. 
Abraham  Greenwood  various  MSS.  (1891-2)  records  relating  to  the 
period  preceding  the  formation  of  the  Equitable  Pioneers,  which 
he  wished  should  reach  my  hands.  Many  things  are  new,  all  told 
by  him  with  the  vividness  of  a  witness,  and  the  circumstantiality  of 
one  who  took  part  in  them.  The  stoiy  adds  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  old  Pioneers,  and  is  confirmatory  of  all  that  has  been  published 
of  them.  The  pictures  given  of  Rochdale  life  and  meetings  of 
working  men,  are  scenes  from  the  past  well  worth  preserving. 

"I  began, "Mr.  Kershaw  writes,  "to  work  as  a  tearboy  at  the  Gate 
Printworks  before  I  was  seven  years  old,  and  went  to  work  in  the 
pit  before  I  was  eight  years  old.  So  you  will  see  there  was  not  much 
time  for  my  schooling  had  any  schoolmaster  been  about.'' 

The  Rochdale  Pioneers  began  their  work  when  distress  was  wide 
spread.  The  hand-loom  weaver  seemed  to  be  the  worst  off  of  any 
of  the  working  class.  Improved  machinery  had  driven  him  to  the 
lowest  point  at  which  he  could  live.  The  condition  of  things  in 
Rochdale  would  be  incredible  uid  it  not  rest  upon  authority. 
Sharman  Crawford,  the  member  for  the  borough,  declared  in  the 
House  of  Commons  in  the  debate  Sep.  20,  1841,  that  in  Rochdale 
there  were  136  persons  living  on  6d.  per  week,1  200  on  lOd.  per 

1  Mr.  Kershaw  took  it  from  Mr.  Lloyd  Jones'  "  Life  of  Robert  Owen."  Mr.  Lloyd 
Jones  took  it  from  the  late  John  Noble's  "  National  Finance."  I  verified  it  by  goin? 
to  Hansard's  Parliamentary  Debates.  It  seems  incredible  now  how  any  human  being 
could  live  on  the  sains  named.  Dr.  Abernethy  advised  a  fat  alderman  "  to  live  on  six- 


68  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


week,  508  on  Is.  per  week,  855  on  la.  6d.  per-week,  and  1,500  were 
living  on  Is.  lOd.  a  week.  Five-sixths  of  those  he  spoke  of  had 
scarcely  any  blankets,  eighty-five  families  had  no  blankets,  forty- 
six  families  had  only  chaff  beds,  with  no  covering  at  all.  No  wonder 
the  country  was  full  of  agitations,  and  in  Rochdale,  where  there  was 
intelligence  as  well  as  unrest,  all  agitations  seemed  to  rage.  There 
was  a  great  local  agitation  against  the  new  Poor  Law.  There  was 
one  for  the  Charter.  Temperance  had  its  advocates.  The  Social- 
ists had  their  society.  The  Anti-Corn-Law  agitation  was  rife  in  the 
town.  The  Ten  Hours  Bill  was  fiercely  discussed.  Two  social  facts 
stood  out  very  clear — labour  was  cheap,  but  bread  was  dear.  Yet 
bread  was  almost  the  only  article  of  food  the  people  were  able  to 
get. 

"In  1842,  at  an  Anti-Corn-Law  meeting,  a  proposal  was  made  toclose 
factories  to  compel  Parliament  to  repeal  the  Corn  Laws.  The  chair- 
man was  about  to  put  the  motion,  when  an  elderly  gentleman,  who 
seemed  to  have  more  forethought  than  the  rest,  said  it  would  never 
do,  as  the  work-people  would  soon  be  starving,  and  very  soon  there 
would  be  rioting.  Another  speaker  said  that  employers  would 
reduce  the  wages  lower  than  they  were." 

In  the  summer  of  1843,  Rochdale  was  placarded,  announcing  a 
discussion  on  "  The  best  means  of  obtaining  the  People's  Charter." 
Mr.  Kershaw  says  "  I  attended  that  discussion  ;  so  did  Charles 
Howarth,  James  Smithies,  and  James  Daly.  It  was  there  I  first  heard 
the  principles  of  the  Pioneers  announced  ;  Charles  Howarth  taking 
the  lead,  was  well  supported  by  Smithies,  Daly,  and  others.  Mr. 
Howarth  showed,  as  I  thought,  very  clearly  that  it  was  the  only 
lever  whereby  the  working  class  could  permanently  improve  their 
social  and  political  condition.  His  scheme  and  its  details  were  so 
well  studied  out  and  clear  that  it  commanded  assent.  It  was  said 
at  this  meeting  that  a  co-operative  society  had  been  in  existence  in 
Rochdale  not  more  than  two  years  before,  and  that  it  had  gone  down. 
Howarth  at  once  showed  us  the  reason  why.  He  seemed  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  cause,  and  was  well  prepared  with  a  new  prin- 
ciple which  would  keep  continually  infusing  new  life  into  the 
movement.  A  few  days  before  Christmas,  1843,  a  circular  was  issued 
calling  a  delegate  meeting  to  be  held  at  the  Weavers'  Arms,  Cheetham 
Street,  near  Toad  Lane.  Each  trade  was  invited  to  send  two 
delegates.  The  colliers  sent  me  (John  Kershaw).  The  promoter 
of  this  meeting  was  a  strong  trade  unionist,  and  a  unionist  chairman 
was  at  once  appointed.  His  address  pointed  out  what  the  colliers 
had  just  done  in  getting  their  wages  increased  nearly  double  the 
amounts  they  were  receiving  a  few  weeks  before.  He  praised  the 

pence  a  day  and  earn  it."  Bfct  a  prescription  of  sixpence  a  week  would  have  killed  the 
patient.  However  did  136  Rochdale  persons— not  fat  and  full  like  Abernethy's  alder- 
man, but  lean  and  hungry— contrive  to  live  on  a  penny  a  day  and  nothing  for  Sunday  ? 


AN  OLto  PIONEER'S  ACCOUNT.  69 

colliers  to  the  skies,  as  it  were.  It  appeared  from  what  he  said 
that  he  thought  all  other  workers  could  do  the  same,  if  they  took 
the  same  means." 

After  a  deal  of  talk,  a  collier  (Mr.  Kershaw)  was  asked  to  show 
how  they  had  managed  to  get  advances  in  their  wages  without  a  strike. 
He  said  he  could  not  recommend  them  all  to  do  just  what  the  colliers 
had  done,  for  if  all  branches  of  industry  did  the  same,  they  would 
be  worse  off  after  the  advance  than  they  were  before.  This  seemed 
to  puzzle  the  meeting  not  a  little,  which  could  not  see  how  they  would 
be  worse  off  with  higher  wages,  and  asked  the  speaker  to  explain. 
He  said  :  "Suppose  you  were  all  getting  £1  a  week,  and  with  it  you 
could  just  pay  your  way.  Then  suppose  you  got  an  advance  of  4s.  a 
week,  but  at  the  same  time  the  price  of  all  the  articles  you  needed 
to  buy  cost  you  5s.  a  week  more,  you  would  be  worse  off  after  the 
advance  than  you  were  before."  The  plan  of  the  colliers  was  this — 
the  Haddershaw  Moor  Colliery  just  employed  thirty  coal  getters  at 
that  pit.  For  every  quarter  each  got  (a  quarter  contains  fifteen 
loads)  the  collier  was  advanced  2d.  per  quarter,  and  the  masters 
advanced  the  coal  2d.  per  load  or  2s.  6d.  per  quarter.  That  is  for 
every  2d.  they  paid  the  collier  they  charged  the  public  fifteen  two- 
pences.  The  collier  got  2d.  and  the  coalowner  2s.  4d.  "  I  say,* 
said  the  speaker,  "  that  if  everything  is  raised  upon  the  same  prin- 
ciple we  shall  all  be  worse  off  after  the  advance  than  we  were  before." 
Whereupon  a  great  tumult  arose  in  the  meeting,  and  the  colliers 
were  called  everything  that  was  bad,  and  were  even  charged  with 
conspiring  with  the  masters  to  rob  the  public. 

No  one  seemed  to  perceive  that  all  employers  could  not  charge 
the  public  2s.  6d.  for  every  2d.  extra  they  paid  the  workmen.  The 
collier  speaker  himself  dicl  not  appear  to  see  that  if  he  had  4s.  extra 
wages  he  would  not  have  to  spend  4s.  for  the  coal  he  burnt  in  his 
house  every  week,  probably  not  Is.,  and  he  would  be  3s.  the  better. 
In  every  trade  the  same  argument  applied.  The  poor  collier  had  got 
into  his  head  the  nonsense  employers  always  talk.  They  always  say 
the  higher  your  wages  the  worse  you  will  be  off,  and  the  only  way  to 
improve  your  condition  is  to  work  for  nothing.  Those  who  smile 
to-day  at  the  poor  colliers'  muddle-headedness  should  remember 
that  political  economists  in  those  days  talked  the  same  nonsense,  and 
they  talk  the  same  thing  still  in  the  House  of  Commons,  when  they 
say  that  any  advance  in  wages  will  drive  trade  to  other  countries. 
The  wages  of  all  men  are  double  now  what  they  were  that  day,  and 
according  to  that  theory  all  trade  should  have  left  the  country  long 
ago. 

Hearing  how  the  increased  price  of  coal  had  come  about,  a  tumult 
arose,  and  the  colliers  were  accused  for  having  incited  the  masters 
to  raise  the  price  of  coal.  When  it  did  subside  Mr.  Kershaw  cried 
out : 

"  Hold  on  a  bit,  there  are  some  of  you  talking  of  what  you  know 
nothing  about.  If  anyone  is  more  to  blame  than  another  for  what 


70  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

has  been  done,  that  man  is  I,  for  I  gave  the  colliers  the  advice  upon 
which  they  acted.  Up  to  the  present  time  I  have  not  uttered  a  single 
word  to  any  master,  nor  has  any  master  said  anything  to  me  upon 
that  subject.  But  the  masters  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage  of 
what  we  had  done.  It  is  well  known  that  our  wages  have  been 
doubled  and  the  price  of  coal  has  risen  in  the  market." 

Then  a  new  charge  was  made,  that  the  colliers  had  neglected  their 
duty  to  the  public  in  not  exposing  the  conduct  of  the  masters  in 
raising  the  price  of  coal  so  exorbitantly  beyond  what  they  had  given 
to  the  men.  The  denunciation  of  this  neglect  was  loud  and  fiei'ce. 
This  roused  Mr.  Kershaw's  indignation,  and  he  replied  with  great 
force  and  directness.  He  said  "  the  colliers  owed  no  obligation  what- 
ever to  the  public.  The  public  cared  nothing  about  the  colliers,  and 
why  should  the  colliers  care  anything  about  the  public  ?  All  the 
public  cared  for  in  connection  with  colliers  was  cheap  coal.  Cheap 
coal  was  all  their  aim. 

"Only  a  few  months  before  this  time,  I  was,"  Mr.  Kershaw  said, 
"getting  a  two-feet  seam  of  coal,  doing  all  the  bye  work,  paying  the 
banksman  ;  in  fact,  delivering  it  into  the  boats.  All  I  was  paid  was 
thirteenpence  a  ton,  but  never  did  any  of  the  public  come  and  say, 
'  Here,  Kershaw,  you  were  not  properly  paid  for  that  coal  that  was 
got  so  cheap.  Here's  sixpence  for  you.'  No;  it  was  cheap  coal 
they  wanted.  It  did  not  matter  to  them  what  became  of  the  collier." 

Mr.  Kershaw  relates  "  that  in  going  home  Howarth  and  he  dis- 
cussed the  colliers'  duty  to  the  public."  Mr.  Kershaw  maintained  that 
they  owed  no  obligation  to  the  public  and  the  public  cared  nothing 
for  the  producer,  which  was  amply  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  hand- 
loom  calico  weaver  was  driven  out  of  his  trade  ;  when,  if  the  public 
would  have  given  ^d.  per  yard  more  for  hand-loom  woven  calico 
than  they  gave  for  steam-power  weaving,  the  hand-loom  calico 
weaver  would  have  held  his  own.  No,  the  public  preferred  the 
cheaper  article,  and  the  hand-loom  weaver  was  driven  from  the 
industrial  field.  Mr.  Howarth  well  knew  that  the  hand-loom 
flannel  weaver  could  maintain  his  ground  if  the  public  would  give 
Id.  a  yard  more  for  hand-woven  flannel,  but  the  public  cared  for 
cheapness,  and  not  for  the  lives  of  the  workers.  The  result  was 
that  the  hand-loom  flannel  weaver  was  going  after  the  hand-loom 
calico  weaver.  Mr.  Howarth  acknowledged  he  had  never  seen  the 
question  in  that  light. 

At  the  meeting  above  described,  some  trade  unionist  opposed 
co-operation  and  some  co-operators  were  against  trade  unions,  Mr. 
Kershaw  remarking,  "All  you  can  justly  say  of  trade  unions  is 
they  are  a  never-ending  contention  between  employer  and  em- 
ployed, without  producing  any  corresponding  benefit."  He  did  nor. 
see  then,  very  few  workmen  did,  that  organised  unionism  would 
one  day  become  a  powerful  defender  of  workmen,  and  the  regulator 
of  wages. 

"  The   question  arising,  what   could  be  done  to  amend  things, 


AN  OLD  PIONEER'S  ACCOUNT.  71 

it  was  said  that  Charles  Howarth  had  a  plan,  but  as  the  night  was 
far  advanced  it  was  arranged  to  hear  it  explained  another  evening. 
Howarth  came  well  prepared.  The  trade  unionists  were  there 
with  a  considerable  opposition.  They  said  co-operation  had  been 
tried  and  had  failed  ;  the  shop  had  been  closed  two  years  ago. 
Charles  Howarth  showed  very  clearly  why  and  how  it  had  gone 
down,  and  always  would  go  down,  he  said,  so  long  as  the  rich,  in 
the  character  of  shareholders,  ran  away  with  all  the  profits.  Under 
his  scheme  the  larger  the  family  the  greater  would  be  its  gain,  while 
the  investments  of  the  richer  members  would  receive  a  fair  remun- 
eration, profits  remaining  among  members  according  to  their  pur- 
chases." 

Mr.  Kershaw  asked  the  question,  "  Suppose  all  working  men 
were  in  earnest,  and  paid  threepence  a  week  until  they  were  able  to 
start  a  co-operative  store,  and  then  allowed  all  the  profits  to  ac- 
cumulate and  be  relaid  out  productively — that  is,  in  astablishtng 
co-operative  workshops — how  long  would  it  take  to  get  the  land  and 
workshops  of  the  country  under  the  control  of  the  working  people  ? " 
Charles  Howarth  and  Macnaught  (who  was  present)  took  pencil  and 
paper  to  calculate  the  result.  Macnaught  was  the  first  to  raise  his 
head,  and  said  that  i;i  fifteen  years,  if  all  working  men  went  into  the 
project,  they  might  get  command  of  the  workshops  if  their  contri- 
butions and  store  profits  were  laid  out  productively.''  At  the  next 
adjourned  meeting,  a  week  later,  Charles  Howarth,  proceeding  upon 
his  own  and  Macnaught's  calculation,  brought  a  tract  ready  written, 
showing  how  working  men  might  become  their  own  employers  in 
fifteen  years.  The  paper  was  read,  earnestly  discussed,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  print  it.  Each  man,  who  could,  paid  5s.  down  there 
and  then  The  meeting  was  a  thin  one,  but  £3  was  given  to 
Howarth  that  he  might  get  as  many  printed  as  he  could  for  that 
sum  and  bring  them  to  the  next  meeting.  The  largest  quantity 
were  consigned  to  Mr.  Kershaw,  with  the  understanding  that  he 
would  distribute  them  and  collect  them  in  the  way  tract  collectors 
did.  He  did  this  for  several  weeks,  allowing  each  tract  to  remain  a 
fortnight  before  calling  for  it.  Every  alternate  week  he  might  be 
seen  collecting  these  tracts  and  re-delivering  them  at  houses  where 
they  had  not  been  before.  At  one  house,  at  Clegg  Hall,  he  met 
with  a  very  strong  rebuff.  On  collecting  the  tract  he  asked  whether 
it  had  been  read.  The  answer  was  mostly  "  Yes."  He  then  asked 
what  was  thought  about  it,  and  frequently  a  little  debate  followed  ; 
but  at  Clegg  Hall,  when  the  occupant,  a  man  about  fifty  years  old, 
was  asked  what  he  thought  about  it.  he  said,  "  Such  folks  as 
Kershaw  and  his  friends  were  unfit  to  live.  It  was  such  men  who 
made  things  as  bad  as  they  were.  It  was  all  their  fault  that  times 
were  so  bad."  He  deprecated  any  new  agitation  for  amending 
social  and  industrial  evils,  lest  it  should  make  matters  worse — a 
doctrine  which,  if  it  was  generally  acted  upon,  would  make  oppres- 
sion of  long  life,  and  reform  or  improvement  of  any  kind  impossible. 


?2  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

Those  who  were  in  the  wrong  would  never  fiud  it  out,  nor  be  dis- 
quieted in  doing  wrong  ;  and  those  who  found  doing  wrong  agree- 
able to  their  interests  would  be  guaranteed  an  easy  time  of  it.  The 
burglar  is  ensured  a  charmed  life  when  people,  whose  houses  he  is 
looting,  are  advised  not  to  interrupt  him,  nor  call  in  the  police,  lest 
he  should  be  irritated  and  matters  made  worse.  The  poor  workman 
Mr.  Kershaw  encountered  was  of  this  way  of  thinking.  The  simple- 
minded  Clegg  Hall  man  had  probably  learned  this  kind  of  chatter 
from  people  far  more  astute  than  he.  It  is  a  commonplace  of 
governments,  capitalists,  monopolists,  and  all  who  have  some 
interest  to  defend,  or  some  improvement  or  act  of  justice  to  resist. 
The  Government  say,  "  You  need  not  agitate,  the  time  has  not  yet 
come  ;  you  only  make  irritation  and  indispose  people  to  do  what 
you  want."  When,  after  a  lapse  of  time,  those  who  act  upon  this 
advice  ask  the  fulfilment  of  the  implied  promise,  they  are  told 
"their  demand  is  perverse;  nobody  is  asking  for  the  change  "- 
thus  making  the  silence  they  asked  for  an  argument  for  refusing  the 
very  thing  which  they  were  told  agitation  prevented  them  conced- 
ing. In  the  same  way  as  a  partisan  of  an  interest  or  an  injustice  is 
officiously  saying,  to  any  who  ask  redress,  "  You  indispose  those  in 
office  to  concede  what  you  request  by  perpetually  agitating  for  it." 
If  you  listen  to  them  they  sharply  tell  you  "  nobody  cares  for  the 
improvement  you  seek  or  they  would  be  asking  for  it."  It  is 
agitation  that  makes  opinion,  and  it  is  opinion  alone  which  compels 
those  to  do  justice  whose  interest  it  is  to  withhold  it.  This  kind  of 
argument  could  not  impose  upon  the  intelligent  Rochdale  co-oper- 
ators of  that  day;  and  Mr.  Kershaw  at  once  said,  "I  know  things 
are  bad,  since  I  cannot  earn  10s.  a  week,  and  that  is  not  sufficient 
to  maintain  a  family  upon.  That  state  of  society  which  compels  a 
man  to  work  for  so  little  wants  altering,"  and  he  for  one  was  deter- 
mined that  it  should  be  altered,  so  that  an  honest  man  should  be 
able  to  earn  sufficient  to  live  upon  by  honest  means.  It  transpired 
afterwards  that  the  Clegg  Hall  man  was  a  steady  workman,  who 
had  been  imposed  upon  by  those  who  knew  better,  and  he  was 
afraid  that  agitation  would  make  things  worse  with  him  than  they 
were. 

At  another  meeting  the  subject  discussed  was  the  "  habits  of  the 
people,"  when  Mr.  Pennington  said,  "  the  man  who  lost  a  quarter  of 
a  day's  work,  or  spent  or  wasted  a  sixpence  unnecessarily,  was  a 
fool  to  himself,  a  rogue  to  his  family,  and  a  knave  to  his  fellowmen." 
These  honest  men  who  had  industry  in  their  blood,  who  coveted 
sixpences,  and  had  to  economise  them,  were  justly  indignant  that 
other  people,  because  they  had  a  little  capital,  were  able  to  amass 
pounds  out  of  their  unrequited  labour  and  they  be  unable  to  help  it. 
Accordingly  they  decided  to  become  the  pioneers  of  a  new  co-oper- 
ative store. 

There  was  then  a  building  in  Toad  Lane,  three  storeys  high ;  the 
topmost  storey  a  Bethel  school ;  the  middle  a  day  school ;  the 


AN   OLD  PIONEER'S  ACCOUNT.  73 

ground  floor  unoccupied.  It  had  been  a  warehouse,  and  had  a  pair 
of  large  doors  as  an  entrance.  These  would  have  to  be  removed, 
and  proper  shop  doors  and  windows  be  put  in.  Charles  Howarth 
and  others  were  appointed  to  go  and  see  the  landlord.  As  soon  as  he 
was  told  the  name  of  the  society,  and  what  they  proposed  doing,  he 
said  he  could  not  think  of  letting  the  room  to  them.  At  this  point 
Charles  Howarth  sprang  to  the  front  and  said:  "Will  you  take  me 
for  a  tenant,  and  I  will  pay  you  a  quarter's  rent  in  advance  ?  " 
'•  Yes,"  said  the  landlord,  "  I  will  do  that."  So  it  was  agreed  that 
the  new  society  should  have  the  place  for  three  years,  Howarth 
being  the  tenant,  and  paying  the  rent  each  quarter  in  advance.  It 
was  decided  to  open  only  at  nights.  Samuel  Ashworth  and  William 
Cooper  volunteered  to  act  as  shopmen,  and  if  the  business  did  not 
pay  the  first  three  months  they  would  take  nothing  for  their  ser- 
vices, but  if  it  was  able  to  pay  a  dividend,  they  were  to  receive 
threepence  an  hour,  which,  if  they  were  on  duty  three  hours,  would 
be  ninepence  a  night,  and  the  salary  of  a  permanent  night  shopman 
would  be  4s.  6d.  a  week.  The  Store  was  opened  on  the  evening 
of  St.  Thomas's  day,  1844. 

New  societies  who  think  they  are  not  going  to  succeed  because 
their  first  dividends  are  small,  may  take  courage  from  Kershaw's 
story. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  the  Rochdale  Society  did  pay  a 
dividend  of  3d.  in  the  pound,  after  reducing  the  value  of  the  fixed 
stock  to  what  they  thought  it  would  bring  under  the  hammer.  The 
second  dividend  was  4d.,  the  fourth  7d.,  the  fifth  9d.,  the  sixth  lid., 
the  seventh  Is.  2d.,  the  eighth  Is.  4d.,  the  ninth  Is.  6d. ;  Is.  8d. 
was  the  largest  dividend  they  ever  calculated  upon  getting ;  but  for 
many  years  afterwards  it  ranged  from  2s.  to  2s.  6d. 

They  arranged  their  rules  so  that  they  could  devote  one-tenth  of 
their  profits  to  educational  purposes.  But  when  sent  to  Mr.  Tidd 
Pratt,  the  Registrar,  he  refused  to  certify  them.  The  contest  with 
him  lasted  for  some  months.  The  rules  were  altered  again  and 
again.  The  Society  tried  to  edge  in  education  in  several  different 
ways ;  but  he  always  struck  it  out.  "  We  were  not  allowed  to  edu- 
cate ourselves,  but  the  Society  was  very  loth  to  part  with  its 
education  clause.  We  had  considerable  correspondence  with  Mr. 
Tidd  Pratt  on  the  subject,  but  he  would  never  give  way."  These 
were  the  days  when  the  law  prohibited  workmen  from  educating 
themselves  and  the  Government  refused  them  the  franchise  ou  the 
ground  of  their  want  of  knowledge. 


[The  major  portion  of  the  following  part  first  appeared  in  1S78, 
ticenty-OHe  years  later.] 


PART  II.— 1857-1892. 


1  Others,  we  doubt  not,  if  not  we, 
The  issue  of  our  toil  shall  see  : 
And  children  gather  as  their  O'.STI 
The  harvest  which  the  dead  have  sown- 
The  dead,  forgotten,  and  unknown." 


Co 
THE   REV.   WILLIAM    NASSAU    MOLESWORTH,    M.A., 

A  CLERGYMAN  WHO,  TEACHING  CHRISTIANITY  BV  EXAMPLE 

AND  LEAVING  CONVICTION  TO  CONSCIENCE, 
WENT  AMONG  HIS  CO-Ol'ERATIVK  PARISHIONERS,  GIVING  THEM  WISE  COUNSHl 

AND  FRIENDLY  HELP, 
IRRESPECTIVE  OF  THKIR  WILFULNESS  IN  PIETY  OK  POLITICS, 

THIS  STORY  OF  THEIR  CAREER  FROM   1857  TO   i?7S 

IS   RESPECTFULLY    INfCKlbEl). 


THE  WEAVERS'  DREAM.  77 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  WEAVERS'  DREAM. 

THIRTY- TWO  years  ago  certain  working  men  in  a  third-rate  town 
in  Lancashire  dreamed,  like  Bunyan,  a  dream.  Their  subject  was 
different  from  his.  The  famous  Bedford  tinker  dreamed  of  the 
kingdom  of  Sin — the  Rochdale  weavers  dreamed  of  the  kingdom  of 
Labour.  Both  dreamei-s,  however,  had  one  vision — that  of  the  pil- 
grimage out  of  an  evil  and  hopeless  land.  The  weavers  were  weary 
of  dwelling  in  the  unrequited  grounds  where  toil  had  no  reward  ; 
and  turned  their  eyes  towards  the  Enchanted  Lands  of  self-secured 
competence.  Both  knew  there  was  a  rugged  pilgrimage  before  them, 
and  the  flannel  weavers  of  the  town  in  question  resolved,  like 
Christian  of  Bunyan's  immortal  story,  to  set  out  without  delay. 

We  do  not  pursue  any  further  the  allegory  between  the  two  sets 
of  pilgrims  :  a  different  and  simpler  comparison  will  be  sufficient  for 
our  purpose.  In  1844,  co-operation  was  no  unknown  thing.  It  was, 
worse  than  that.  As  sometimes  happens  at  the  police  courts,  it  had, 
like  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  * '  been  seen  there  before."  Co-operation 
was  an  old  offender  ;  it  had  been  tried  and  condemned  many  times. 
Many  workmen  had  lost  by  it  ;  more  had  suffered  disappointment 
by  it.  It  was  regarded  as  an  exploded  scheme.  To  use  a  nautical 
phrase,  the  vessel  was  not  seaworthy ;  in  fact,  co-operation  was  little 
better  than  a  leaky,  rickety  cockboat,  in  which  few  would  sail  out 
into  the  sea  of  industry.  It  was  doubtful  whether  it  would  ever  get 
into  port,  and  was  sure  to  be  a  long  time  about  it,  if  ever  it  did  arrive. 
However,  a  few  resolute  mariners,  who  could  not  be  much  worse  off 
if  they  went  to  the  bottom,  made  up  their  minds  to  the  attempt. 

A  year,  as  the  reader x  knows,  was  spent  in  preparing  for  the 
voyage.  The  sides  of  the  old  hulk  were  caulked,  and  the  old  rigging 
repaired  in  1844.  She  had  been  on  the  water  then  sixteen  years, 
the  leaky  old  craft  having  been  launched  at  Brighton  in  1828.  Her 
condition  was  very  frequently  discussed,  and  unfriendly  onlookers 
shook  their  heads.  Others  tried  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  sailors. 
An  outsider  or  two  did  tnke  a  small  share  in  the  adventure,  but  the 
cargo  was  almost  entirely  supplied  by  the  crew  which  were  to  man 
her  ;  and  at  the  end  of  twelve  months  she  was  launched  again,  with 
half  £28  worth  of  provisions,  consisting  chiefly  of  oatmeal,  salt,  and 
bacon  ;  and  general  preparations  were  made  for  a  very  rough  pass- 
age. The  Equitable  Pioneers  had  pretty  hard  work  to  balance  them- 
selves. They  were  finely  tossed  about.  One  minute  they  were  seen 
on  the  crest  of  an  ugly  wave,  and  the  next  lost  in  a  nasty  trough  of 

l  Meaning  the  reader  of  the  First  Part  of  this  narrative. 


78  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


sea.  The  townspeople  were  on  the  look-out  on  the  shore.  The  crew 
had  been  a  little  shy  of  getting  into  so  insignificant  a  cockboat. 
Everything  was  mean,  shabby,  poverty-stricken,  and  worm-eaten 
about  the  affair,  excepting  the  bravery  of  the  Rochdale  sailors,  who 
sustained  their  national  renown  for  pluck  and  daring.  Some  of  the 
spectators  wished  them  "  God  speed,"  but  these  were  too  poor  to 
aid,  and  mostly  too  desponding  to  believe  in  their  own  kind-hearted 
hope.  Others  jeered,  for  never  was  a  more  absurd,  battered,  leaky 
old  barque  seen,  which  went  by  the  name  of  "The  Weavers'  Dream." 

In  more  prosaic,  but  not  truer  terms,  it  may  be  told  that  co- 
operation was  a  distrusted  and  doubtful  thing,  when  the  flannel 
weavers  of  Rochdale  began  business  in  Toad  Lane  on  £28  of  capital, 
the  produce  of  much  hard  saving.  Gradual  gains  were  made.  Years 
of  vicissitude  and  progress  followed.  The  "  Pioneers'  Store,"  as  it 
was  called,  increased  ;  members  multiplied  :  new  departments  of 
business  were  opened.  Panics  occurred,  and  again  it  was  predicted 
that  the  "  Weavers'  Dream  "  would  end  as  dreams  usually  do,  in 
fantastic  nothingness. 

This  was  not  to  be  so.  The  old  craft  made  many  voyages,  and 
always  with  an  increasing  profit  on  its  freights.  Storm  clouds 
darkened  its  passage,  the  crew  were  often  driven  upon  the  rocks,  but 
each  year  they  repaired,  strengthened,  and  new-painted  their  vessel ; 
and  at  times  new  ones  were  launched,  amid  expressions  of  confidence 
unknown  before,  and  rejoicings  that  none  ever  thought  to  witness. 
At  length  1861  arrived,  and  cotton  famine  clouds  blew  from  the  South 
and  threatened  the  wreck  of  everything.  A  slave  war  monsoon 
blew  across  the  Atlantic,  and  withered  in  a  night  all  the  vast  in- 
dustry of  the  northern  counties.  Then  was  to  come  the  wreck  of 
co-operation  and  the  crash  of  stores.  Then,  at  last  and  for  ever, 
the  weavers  were  to  awaken  from  their  long  and  infatuated  dream  ! 

The  great  tornado  came — panic  and  famine,  and  all  the  furious 
winds  of  war  and  disaster — but  nothing  moved  the  adventurous 
Pioneer  vessel  from  its  moorings.  It  had  become  a  stout  ship  by 
this  time.  It  had  been  remasted,  new  rigged,  had  a  quarter  deck 
laid  dcwn,  and  been  fitted  with  maehinery  of  the  latest  improve- 
ments in  co-operative  navigation.  It  made  its  usual  voyages  during 
the  tempest  as  though  nothing  was  happening  ;  and,  while  many 
other  ships  foundered,  it  always  came  safe  into  port.  And  when  other 
vessels  were  in  difficulties,  from  stress  of  weather  or  want  of  pro- 
visions, it  would  put  off  and  gallantly  render  help.  Of  course  its 
timbers  had  been  well  strengthened,  and  the  commanders  had  pro- 
vided themselves  with  good  maps,  on  which  the  rocks  were  laid  down 
pretty  accurately.  The  captain  knew  where  to  coast  about  and  when 
to  put  out  on  the  open  sea.  The  crew  consisted  of  stout-hearted, 
experienced  sailors.  How  it  came  about  that  they  alone  made  pros- 
perous voyayes  in  dangerous  seas  will  be  told  herein,  in  due  course, 
for  the  entertainment  and  instruction  of  future  co-operative  navi- 
gators. 


THE   FAMOUS   TWENTY-EIGHT.  79 

.  CHAPTER  XIV. 

TH  E  FAMOUS  TWEXTY-EIGHT. 

ROCHDALE  is  a  town  which  has  been  in  its  time  equally  distinguished 
for  poverty  and  pluck.  The  distress  and  discontent  which  existed 
there  before  the  days  of  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832  are,  happily,  no 
longer,  even  in  the  recollection  of  the  present  generation  of  inhabi- 
tants, who  have  ceased  to  be  reminded  of  it  in  their  daily  personal 
experience. 

In  the  old  hungry  Corn  Law  days,  from  1825  to  1830,  things  went 
ill  with  the  working  classes  of  Rochdale.  At  public  meetings  of  work- 
ing people  in  the  town  statements  were  made  of  lowness  of  wages  and 
domestic  wretchedness,  which  would  be  deemed  incredible  now. 
Delegates  were  sent  to  neighbouring  towns  to  report  upon  their 
condition,  and  deplorable  stories  they  told.  No  one  would  imagine 
that  such  persons  had  the  capacity  of  co-operation  in  them,  or  that 
it  was  in  the  power  of  any  industrial  device  to  do  them  substantial 
service.  The  creditable  thing  is  that  Rochdale  men,  though  in 
Desperate  circumstances,  were  not  wanting  in  public  spirit.  They 
had  constables  who  were  not  pleasant-minded  persons  and  were 
guilty  of  some  offensive  official  irregularities,  and  though  they  had 
the  power  of  retaliation  on  those  of  the  workmen  who  objected  to 
such  proceedings,  the  weavers  resolved  to  bring  them  to  account, 
and  out  of  their  scanty  means  subscribed  enough  to  "have  the 
law  "  upon  them,  and  succeeded.  The  old  parish  records  contain, 
no  doubt,  particulars  of  the  affair.  Mr.  Francis  Place  preserved  the 
only  published  account  of  it  I  have  seen.  The  creditable  incident 
is  worth  recalling.  Scores  of  local  officials,  magistrates  included, 
have  elsewhere  "  gone  wrong''  since  that  day,  without  being  called 
to  account,  as  was  done  by  the  unappeasable  weavers  of  Rochdale. 

Twenty  years  have  now  nearly  elapsed  since  the  first  part  of  this 
history  appeared.  The  two  dozen  and  four  adventurous  operatives 
who  began  the  Store  in  Toad  Lane,  have  come  to  be  spoken  of  as  the 
"  famous  twenty-eight."  Most  of  them  are  now  gathered  to  their 
fathers,  and  the  public  will  be  willing  to  hear  final  details  of  them. 

A  correspondent  to  whom  I  have  been  heretofore  indebted  for  in- 
formation says  that  "in  a  recent  conversation  with  a  member  of  the 
Rochdale  Educational  Committee,  he  was  informed  that  the  old  shop 
in  Toad  Lane,  in  which  the  Pioneers  commenced  business,  was 
known  as  '  The  Pioneers'  Store '  for  years  before  it  was  occupied 
by  them,  in  consequence  of  being  used  as  a  storeroom  for  the  Pioneer 
regiment,  stationed  in  Rochdale,  before  the  barracks  were  removed 
to  Bury.  The  place  behind  the  shop  is  still  known  as  Barracks' 
Yard,  and  there  may  be  some  truth  in  this.  If  so,  it  may  be  that 


80  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

the  Pioneers  took  their  name  from  that  circumstance,  or  it  may  be 
a  mere  coincidence." 

My  belief  is  that  this  was  merely  a  coincidence.  In  social  and 
trade  union  literature  before  that  date,  there  were  publications 
bearing  the  name  of  the  Pioneer,  and  pioneering  was  in  the  mind  of 
the  early  Socialists ;  it  was  a  common  ambition  amongst  them  to  be 
going  forward  and  doing  something.  The  fact,  however,  is  worth 
recording,  as  it  has  never  before  been  mentioned. 

In  the  minds  of  many  outsiders,  Chartists  and  the  co-operators 
were  so  mixed  together  in  the  rise  of  co-operation  in  Rochdale,  that 
only  time  and  testimony  can  separate  them,  and  satisfy  every  one 
to  whom  the  credit  of  the  movement  was  really  owing.  There  never 
was  a  doubt  entertained  among  persons  living  on  the  spot,  or 
acquainted  with  the  facts,  that  the  Socialists  were  the  persons  who 
first  thought  of  starting  co-operation,  who  counselled  it,  who  origin- 
ated it  and  organised  it,  kept  it  going,  and  carried  it  out.  The  fact 
is,  the  Chartists  were  impediments  in  the  way  of  it.  They  were  the 
most  troublesome  opponents  the  co-operators  had  to  contend  with. 
The  Chartists  were  opposed  to  co-operation.  They  took  little 
interest  in  it.  They  treated  as  apostates  those  who  did.  For  a  long 
time  they  did  not  understand  it,  and  when  they  did  they  distrusted 
it.  But  sixteen  years  after,  when  co-operation  had  succeeded  and 
become  a  thing  of  pride  and  repute,  they  made  attempts  to  prove 
they  were  the  persons  who  commenced  it.  Many  years  after  co- 
operation acquired  notice  and  power,  their  able  and  cultivated  leader, 
Mr.  Ernest  Jones,  opposed  it  in  a  public  discussion  at  Padiham  about 
1851  with  Mr.  Lloyd  Jones.  It  has  been  the  fate  of  other  move- 
ments than  that  of  co-operation  to  be  strenuously  opposed  through- 
out all  its  straggling  days,  and  then  to  be  claimed  by  its  greatest 
adversaries  as  their  own  discovery  and  as  being  the  cause  which 
they  had  advocated  and  befriended.  It  is  always  a  good  sign  when 
these  pretensions  are  advanced  by  opponents,  since  it  shows  that 
the  principle  has  triumphed,  and  its  most  strenuous  adversaries  are 
covetous  of  the  honour  of  being  associated  with  it.  But  it  is  the 
business  of  history  to  discern  to  whom  the  credit  of  origination 
belongs,  and  give  it  to  whom  it  is  due. 

In  1861,  the  Chartist  claim  was  put  forward  in  the  Rochdale 
Spectator  with  confident  pertinacity  by  Ambrose  Tomlinson.  A 
Chartist  Society  existed  in  Rochdale  in  1843.  Mr.  Tomlinson  denied 
that  the  co-operative  movement  grew  out  of  the  flannel  weavers' 
strike  of  1843-4.  He  said  that  it  commenced  with  the  Chartist 
Society,  who  met  in  Mill  Street,  the  fact  being  the  Mill  Street 
Chartists  opposed  the  movement  in  its  infancy,  and,  because  several 
of  their  members  joined  the  Society  formed  under  the  name  of  the 
Equitable  Pioneers,  they  were  denounced  by  their  Chartist  brethren 
as  "deserters."  In  those  days  the  doctrine  was — "The  Charter, 
the  whole  Charter,  and  nothing  but  the  Charter."  These  oft- 
repeated  phrases  still  ring  in  the  ears  of  those  who  mingled  in  work- 


THE   FAMOUS   TWENTY-EIGHT.  8 1 

ing-class  movements  of  those  times.  To  co-operators,  to  advocates 
of  the  Ten  Hours  Bill,  to  Com  Law  repealers — three  separate 
parties  who  then  occupied  public  attention — the  Chartists  every- 
where said — "  If  you  will  not  help  us  to  get  what  we  want,  we  will 
prevent  you  getting  anything."  And  they  did  it  as  far  as  they  were 
able.  The  Chartists  did  not  succeed  in  carrying  their  measure  by 
that  unfriendly  policy,  and  did  not  deserve  to  succeed.  Each  move- 
ment has  a  right  to  do  the  best  for  itself,  but  when  it  seeks  to  frus- 
trate the  success  of  those  going  in  the  same  direction  in  order  that 
it  may  win  first,  it  merely  helps  the  common  enemy  of  all,  and 
enables  it  to  be  said  derisively — "See  how  these  Reformers  are 
fighting  amongst  themselves." 

Mr.  Ambrose  Tomlinson,  an  active  Rochdale  Chartist  of  those  days, 
gives  an  account  of  what  occurred  among  his  comrades,  in  words  nearly 
as  follows  : — "  The  co-operators,  the  few  originators  of  the  movement, 
who  were  all  Chartists,  becameso  enamoured  of  co-operation,  thatthey 
nurtured  it  in  one  corner  of  Mill  Street  Chartist  room.  The  Chartist 
council  held  their  meetings  in  the  opposite  corner  of  the  same  room  ; 
but  on  many  successive  occasions  the  Chartist  council  corner  became 
very  thin  of  attenders.  At  this  juncture  those  of  the  Chartists  who 
had  attended  the  council  meetings  reproached  the  Chartist  co- 
operators  who  had  resolved  to  attend  the  co-operative  meetings,  and 
neglect  Chartist  business.  The  few  sturdy  co-operators  took  umbrage, 
and  resolved  to  meet  together  at  the  Labour  and  Health  beer-house, 
kept  by  Mr.  Tweedale  at  that  time,  not  one  hundred  yards  from  the 
Chartist  room  in  Mill  Street.  The  use  of  that  room  at  the  Labour 
and  Health  was  secured  by  Ann  Tweedale,  a  female  co-operator, 
who  was  sister  to  the  landlord.  She  afterwards  became  the  wife  of 
Benjamin  Standring,  inducing  him  to  become  a  co-operator  soon 
after  their  marriage.  The  co-operators  met  there  for  only  a  very 
few  weeks  before  they  joined  the  Chartists  at  their  place  of  meeting 
again.  They  again  became  attached  as  friends,  when  the  Chartists 
took  the  Socialists'  room  from  the  Socialists,  at  the  time  of  the 
failure  of  the  Harmony  Hall  scheme.  The  co-operators  went  with 
the  Chartists  from  Mill  Street  Chartist  room  to  the  room  situate  at 
the  top  of  Yorkshire  Street.  The  co-operators  remained  with  the 
Chartists  until  the  September  following.  During  that  time  they 
were  contriving  plans  for  the  future  of  co-operation,  drawing  up 
rules,  making  preparations  for  commencing  ;  then  they  resolved  to 
look  out  for  more  suitable  premises  for  carrying  on  business,  when 
they  got  possession  of  the  building  in  Toad  Lane,  formerly  known 
as  Bethel  School  Room."1 

One  is  glad  to  hear  again  of  the  beer-house  with  the  pretty  name 
of  "  Labour  and  Health."  But  let  us  hope  that  the  attendance  was 
not  too  enthusiastic  there — because  when  that  is  the  case  "  labour' 
sometimes  loses  its  "health"  in  those  quarters.  No  doubt  the 

ember  16,  1876. 


82  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

Chartist  opposition  to  the  early  Pioneers  in  Rochdale  seems  a  small 
thing  in  1877,  now  the  Pioneers  have  grown  to  many  thousands  and 
the  Chartists  have  become  nearly  extinct — but  it  was  a  very  different 
thing  in  1844  and  long  afterwards,  when  the  Chartists  were  ten  or 
twenty  times  as  numerous  as  the  Socialists.  Every  earnest  party  in 
which  principles  are  masters  of  its  leaders,  instead  of  leaders  being 
masters  of  their  principles,  has  its  mad  days  when  its  advocates  think 
their  principles  should  take  precedence  of  all  others.  Indeed,  they 
sometimes  contend  that  all  other  principles  are  injurious.  Sanity 
is  known  by  seeing  what  your  place  is  and  working  in  it. 

The  Socialist  flannel  weavers,  after  their  unsuccessful  strike, 
founded  the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society,  and  commenced  subscribing 
practically  to  create  a  fund  with  which  to  begin  a  small  provision 
store.  At  first  they  met  where  the  weavers  had  done,  in  the  Bethel 
School  Room,  Toad  Lane.  Ultimately  their  meetings  were  removed 
to  the  Social  Institution,  top  of  Yorkshire  Street,  and  the  Equitable 
Pioneers'  Society  dates  its  establishment  from  this  place.  Mr.  John 
Holt,  who  had  been  the  treasurer  at  Mill  Street,  became  the  treasurer 
of  the  Store  Society,  and  continued  to  hold  that  office  until  shortly 
before  his  decease.  The  rules  of  the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  were 
drawn  up  at  the  Social  Institution,  and  the  older  heads  among  the 
Socialists  were  those  who  framed  them  and  organised  the  Society. 
Mr.  Tomlinson  x  handed  to  the  Editor  of  the  Rochdale  Spectator  the 
book  of  the  Society  existing  immediately  before  the  Equitable 
Pioneers'  Association  was  formed.  The  names  it  contained  are  worth 
preserving  for  historical  reference  : — 

"  George  Morton,  Mount  Pleasant ;  and  then  follow  Charles 
Ratcliffe,  Regent  Street  ;  Robert  Whitehead,  John  Dawson,  Richard 
Farmer,  Richard  Brierley,  Thomas  Kershaw,  Mary  Bromley,  Mount 
Pleasant  ;  Ann  Tweedale,  Mount  Pleasant ;  Charles  Holroyd,  Lower 
Fold  ;  Samuel  Shore,  Healey ;  John  Cain,  Richard  Street  ; 
Benjamin  Rudman,  Shawclough ;  Abner  Riley,  Calder  Brow ; 
Abraham  Birtwistle,  Water  Street ;  Fred.  Greenwood,  Moss  ;  Miles 
Ashworth,  Spotland  Bridge  ;  James  Nutall,  Bank  Side  ;  Samuel 
Ashworth,  Spotland  Bridge  ;  John  Holt,  Shawclough." 

The  next  matter  in  the  book  is  the  list  of  parties  who  received  the 
money  from  Mr.  George  Howe,  watchmaker,.  Walk,  when  he  refused 
to  continue  secretary.  The  names  are  the  same  as  those  above. 
The  next  account  is  that  in  which  Mr.  Alderman  Livsey  receives  as 
treasurer  of  the  co-operators  various  sums,  amounting  in  the  whole 
to  £8  13s.  6d.  This  money  was  received  by  Mr.  Livsey  on  the  7th 
February,  1843. 

The  capital  with  which  the  Pioneer  Society  first  commenced 
business  was,  as  everybody  knows  now,  £28  ;  and,  by  coincidence, 
the  number  of  members  which  commenced  the  Society  was  also  28. 

In  1865,  21  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Store,  the  then  sur- 

1  February,  186L 


THE   FAMOUS   TWENTY-EIGHT.  83 

vivors,  13  in  number,  were  prevailed  upon  by  Mr.  Smithies  to  meet 
together  and  be  photographed  in  a  group,  for  the  gratification  of 
friends  of  the  great  Store.1  For  the  convenience  of  readers  who 
may  meet  with  the  group,  I  give  here  the  following  description  of 
the  Pioneers  in  it,  as  told  me  by  William  Cooper,  retaining  his  own 
language,  not  devoid  of  force  and  individuality: — 

"A  short  sketch  of  the  thirteen  persons  who  were  amongst  the 
early  members  of  the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society,  now  on 
a  photograph  taken  at  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1865. 

"The  photograph  being  placed  before  you,  commence  at  the  left 
hand  with  those  sitting  in  the  front. 

"  No.  1.  James  Standring,  at  the  time  of  the  Society's  formation 
a  flannel  weaver  by  trade  ;  an  Owenite  or  Social  Reformer  ;  was 
secretary  in  Rochdale  for  the  Ten  Hours  Factory  Act  agitation. 
When  the  flannel  weavers  turned  out  in  1843-4  for  an  advance  of 
wages,  and  failed  in  accomplishing  their  object,  he  procured  a  copy 
of  the  Friendly  Societies  Acts,  to  see  whether  the  remnant  of  the 
union  amongst  the  weavers  could  take  advantage  of  its  provisions  to 
form  manufacturing  or  other  associations  for  their  self -employment, 
protection,  and  benefit. 

"  No.  2.  John  Bent,  tailor  by  trade,  belonged  to  the  Socialist  body, 
was  one  of  the  first  auditors  of  the  Society. 

' '  Xo.  3.  James  Smithies,  wool-sorter  and  book-keeper,  a  Social  Re- 
former, was  one  of  the  first  directors.  Has  at  various  times  held 
office  as  president,  secretary,  trustee,  and  director  in  the  Society. 
Has  always  laboured  to  promote  the  spread  of  co-operation,  and  to 
preserve  in  it  the  just  and  fraternal  spirit. 

"  Xo.  4.  Charles  Howarth,  a  warper  in  a  cotton  mill  by  trade,  be- 
longed to  the  Socialist  body.  Was  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the 
Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society.  He  mostly  drew  up  the  rules 
by  which  the  Society  was  to  be  governed,  and  proposed  that  the  rule 
or  principle  of  dividing  profits  on  purchases  in  proportion  to  each 
member's  trade,  should  be  adopted.  He  has  at  sundry  periods  held 
office  on  the  committee  as  secretary.  During  the  Ten  Hours  Bill 
agitation  he  was  one  of  the  delegates  who  went  to  London  to  confer 
with  members  of  Parliament  and  watch  the  Bill  while  before  the 
House  of  Commons.  Being  a  mill  worker,  he  was  in  close  contact 
with  the  employers,  some  of  whom  had  no  liking  for  legislation  as 
between  them  and  their  employes.  On  one  occasion  he  was  called 
into  the  office  by  his  employers,  and  they  made  a  proposal  something 
in  this  way  : — He  must  remain  in  the  office,  and  they  would  send  for 
the  hands  one  by  one  out  of  the  mill,  and  put  the  question  to  them 
whether  they  wanted  the  Ten  Hours  Bill,  with  a  reduction  in  wages 
corresponding  with  the  shorter  time.  By  this  means  they  said  it 
could  be  ascertained  whether  a  majority  of  their  workpeople  were  in 

1  The  last  communication  I  received  from  Mr.  Cooper  contained  this  cartoon  :  under- 
neath the  sitters  is  the  name  of  each  written  by  Mr.  Cooper.  I  have  it  framed  and  it 
hangs  in  my  chambers  before  me  now. 


84  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

favour  or  against  the  Ten  Hours  Factory  Act.  Charles  Howarth 
agreed  so  to  do,  providing  they  would  consent  first  for  him  to  have 
a  meeting  with  the  hands  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  mill,  to  explain 
and  address  them  on  the  subject.  The  employers  did  not  assent  to 
this,  so  there  was  no  meeting  and  no  calling  of  the  workpeople  into 
the  office. 

"  No.  5.  David  Brooks,  a  block  printer  by  trade  ;  a  Chartist  in 
politics.  Was  the  first  appointed  purchaser  of  goods  for  the  Society. 
He  was  an  honest  enthusiast,  who  spared  neither  time,  labour,  nor 
means  to  promote  the  success  of  the  Society. 

"  No.  6.  Benjamin  Rudman,  a  flannel  weaver  by  trade  ;  a  Chartist 
in  politics.  A  man  of  few  words,  but  a  steady  supporter  of  the 
Society. 

"  No.  7.  John  Scrowcroft,  hawker  by  trade  ;  nothing  in  politics  ; 
a  Swedenborgian  in  religion.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Society  mem- 
bers often  came  to  the  Store  and  had  conversations.  Politics,  religion, 
or  other  subjects,  were  at  times  talked  over,  and  occasionally  there 
would  be  a  night  set  apart — not  a  business  meeting  of  the  Society — 
by  those  members  who  choose  to  attend,  to  debate  on  a  stated 
question.  Of  course,  religion  was  sometimes  the  topic  for  the  even- 
ing. Some  of  the  members  who  were  religious  thought  it  a  sin  to 
debate  their  faith,  and  they  proposed  to  prohibit  such  matters  being 
open  to  criticism  ;  but  John  Scrowcroft  was  thoroughly  sincere  in  his 
religion,  and  said  it  was  as  much  a  proper  subject  for  debate  as  any 
other  question.  Indeed,  he  was  certain  his  was  the  true  faith,  and 
the  more  religion  was  examined  and  discussed  the  greater  number 
would  come  to  believe  it.  The  motion  to  '  muzzle  did  not  get  itself 
carried.' 

"  Commencing  at  the  left  with  those  standing  in  back  : — 

"  No.  8.  James  Manock,  flannel  weaver  by  trade  ;  Chartist  in  poli- 
tics ;  has  served  on  the  committee  at  various  times  as  trustee,  director. 

"No.  9.  John  Collier,  engineer  by  trade  ;  a  Socialist.  Has  been 
a  committee-man  of  the  Society  several  times.  He  speaks  in  the 
broad  Lancashire  style,  and  no  wonder,  as  he  is  a  great-grandson  of 
the  famous  John  Collier  ('  Tim  Bobbin'),  of  Milnrow,  near  Rochdale, 
who  wrote  books  in  verse  and  prose  in  the  years  1744  and  175C  in 
Lancashire  dialect,  full  of  wit  and  droll  humour,  in  which  the  '  Witch' 
and  the  '  Parson  '  come  in  for  a  fair  share  of  satire.  John  Collier 
('  Tim  Bobbin')  was  buried  in  Rochdale  Old  Churchyard,  1786,  witli 
the  following  epitaph  on  his  gravestone,  said  to  have  been  composed 
by  himself  about  ten  minutes  before  he  died  :  — 

"  '  Here  lies  John,  and  with  him  Mary, 
Cheek  by  jowl  and  never  vary  ; 
No  wonder  that  they  so  agree , 
John  wants  no  punch,  and  Moll  no  tea.'  "* 

1  Rochdale  old  church,  as  visitors  to  the  town  are  aware,  stands  on  an  abrupt  hill, 
overlooking  the  borough  ;  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  runs  the  Roach.  It  is  among  the 
dead  on  the  plateau  above  where  "  Tim  Dobbin  "  lies,  and  old  townsmen  believe  it  was 


THE   FAMOUS   TWENTY-EIGHT. 


"  No.  10.  Samuel  Ashworth,  flannel  weaver  by  trade  ;  Chartist  in 
politics.  Was  appointed  the  first  salesman  in  the  Store. 

"No.  11.  William  Cooper,  flannel  weaver  by  trade  ;  a  member  of 
the  Socialist  body.  Was  appointed  the  first  cashier  in  the  Store. 

"No.  12.  James  Tweedale,  a  clogger  by  trade  ;  a  Socialist.  Was 
one  of  the  first  directors  in  the  Society. 

"No.  13.  Joseph  Smith,  woolsorter  by  trade  ;  a  Social  Reformer. 
Was  appointed  one  of  the  first  auditors  of  the  Society." 

Mr  Cooper  on  another  occasion,  with  that  sense  of  justice  always 
a  pleasant  feature  in  him,  desired  me  to  remark  that  the  photograph 
does  not  give  all  the  persons  then  living  in  Rochdale  who  were 
among  the  early  members  of  the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers' 
Society.  Partly  by  oversight  and  partly  by  misunderstanding  three 
are  left  out : — 

"Miles  Ashworth,  flannel  weaver  by  trade  ;  Chartist  hi  politics. 
Was  the  first  president  of  the  Society." 

"James  Maden,  flannel  weaver  by  trade,  teetotaler;  nothing  in 
particular  in  politics  or  religion." 

"  John  Kershaw,  warehouseman  by  trade ;  Swedenborgian  and 
half  Chartist." 

Mr.  James  Smithies,  no  less  considerate  and  conservative  of  the 
repute  of  co-operative  workers,  sent  me  at  my  request  the  following 
notice  of  David  Brooks,  No.  5  of  the  series  explained  by  Mr.  Cooper : — 

"  Mr.  David  Brooks,  a  block  printer  by  trade,  whose  name  has 
never  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Rochdale  Co-operative 
Society  in  its  earliest  stages  of  existence,  rendered  services  of  no  mean 
order.  He  was  the  first  purchaser  appointed  by  the  Society,  an  office 
which  required  much  care  and  ability,  besides  being  the  butt  at 
which  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  the  shopkeepers  was  directed.  He 
never  flinched  from  the  post  assigned  to  him,  although  the  foreman 
of  the  works  at  which  he  was  employed  was  a  shopkeeper  ;  yet  he 
still  served  the  Store  with  a  fidelity  rarely,  if  ever,  surpassed  by  a 
true  believer  in  the  emancipation  of  the  working  classes  by  their  own 
exertions.  He  frequently  left  his  own  employment,  at  which  he  could 
then  earn  7s.  to  8s.  per  day,  to  work  for  love  of  the  cause,  until  the 
Society  could  afford  to  pay  him  something  like  3d.  per  hour  for  his 
labour.  For  four  to  five  years  he  was  superintendent  and  purchaser. 
Although,  like  many  a  flower,  '  born  to  blush  unseen,'  his  services 

on  his  grave  that  Mr.  Bright  made  his  first  public  speech  in  the  town.  He  was  then  a 
young  man.  He  had  come  down  from  One  Ash,  his  father's  house,  to  protest  against 
levying  a  church  rate.  ' '  Tim  "  must  be  very  proud,  if  he  knew  it,  that  that  voice  should 
first  be  heard  over  his  head,  which  one  day  all  the  world  would  hear. 

Tim  Bobbin's  gravestone  was  put  down  and  the  verses  on  it  composed  long  after  his 
death,  by  a  distant  relative.  The  stone,  and  the  inscription  on  it,  has  since  been  re- 
newed by  subscription.  Mr.  John  Bright  did  not  speak  from  it  at  the  Church  Kate 
meeting.  The  authority  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this  information,  stood  by  Mr. 
Bright  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  monuments  in  the  old  churchyard,  from  which  he  ad- 
dressed the  assemblage.  Mr.  Bright  could  not  have  addressed  them  from  Tim  Bobbin's 
stone,  because  it  was  not  then  raised  above  the  level  of  the  churchyard,  and  he  would 
have  been  lost  in  the  crowd,  had  he  stood  there.  However,  if  the  dead  hear  at  all,  Mr. 
Bright  was  quite  near  enough  for  Tim  to  be  aware  of  what  was  going  on. 


86          HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

have  never  been  acknowledged  ;  or  rather  sa"y,  until  the  present 
panic,  which  almost  annihilated  the  block  printing  business,  brought 
the  old  boy  so  low  in  his  finances  that  a  notice  was  given  that  an 
application  would  be  brought  before  the  quarterly  meeting  to  make 
him  a  present  of  ten  pounds,  to  assist  him  to  stave  off  his  enemy, 
poverty  ;  but  a  generous  committee  did  better,  they  found  him  em- 
ployment at  one  of  the  Branch  Stores,  where  he  was  numbered 
among  the  servants  of  the  Society,  contented  to  serve  where  he  once 
commanded." 

Mr.  Smithies  does  not  mention  that  it  was  he  who  made  the  honour- 
able motion  which  brought  acknowledgment  and  succour  to  Mr. 
Brooks  in  the  day  of  his  decay  of  means  and  power. 

It  would  be  well  were  Mr.  Walter  Morrison's  suggestion  acted  on, 
and  the  old  Toad  Lane  Store  purchased  by  the  Pioneers,  and  held  in. 
its  old  Store  state,  as  a  memorial  of  the  early  days  of  their  career, 
and  used  as  a  news-room  :  and  portraits,  so  far  as  can  now  be  done, 
painted  of  the  old  Pioneers,  and  preserved  in  the  hall  of  the  old  Toad 
Lane  Store.  This  would  be  a  graceful  memorial,  quite  iii  the  power 
of  the  great  Society  to  preserve,  and  it  would  have  infinite  interest  a 
century  hence  to  all  visitors  from  afar  and  students  of  the  science  of 
co-operative  economy.  From  the  public  spirit  of  the  Pioneers,  it 
may  come  to  pass,  as  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Store,  to  remain,  if  it 
chooses,  the  Pioneer  Store  of  the  great  movement.  Let  us  hope 
that  the  wealthy  and  historic  Society  which  has  grown  out  of  Toad 
Lane  will  endeavour  to  possess  and  preserve  in  its  original  state  the 
humble  building  in  which  the  organisation  of  Co-operation  was  com- 
menced. One  of  the  Oldham  Societies  has  a  "  conversation  room ;" 
the  lower  part  of  the  Toad  Lane  building  might  serve  that  purpose, 
where  questions  might  be  continually  debated,  and  the  business 
meeting  of  the  Society  elsewhere  would  be  greatly  facilitated  by  the 
members  being  personally  informed  of  the  questions  to  be  decided. 
Other  parts  of  the  building  might  contain  the  reference  library,  which 
business  requires  to  be  separate  from  the  great  library  at  the  central 
stores. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  original  Twenty-Eight : — 

James  Smithies.  John  Scrowcroft. 

Charles  Howarth.  John  Hill. 

William  Cooper.  John  Holt. 

David  Brooks.  James  Standring. 

John  Collier.  James  Manock. 

Samuel  Ashworth.  Joseph  Smith. 

Miles  Ashworth.  William  Taylor. 

William  Mallalieu.  Robert  Taylor. 

George  Healey.  Benjamin  Rudnian. 

James  Daly.  James  Wilkinson. 

James  Tweedale.  John  Garside. 

Samuel  Tweedale.  John  Bent. 

John  Kershaw.  Ann  Tweedale. 

James  MjJen.  James  Bamford. 


LEGAL  IMPEDIMENTS  TO  ECONOMY.  87 

No  complete  list  has  been  given  before  of  the  "  original  Twenty- 
eight."  One  list  wanted  four  names — they  are  given  above. 
Mr.  George  Adcroft,  president  of  the  Store,  in  1847,  three  years 
after  its  formation,  has  gone  with  me  over  the  names  of  all  the 
early  members,  and  has  decided  that  James  Wilkinson,  shoemaker, 
was  one ;  John  Garside,  cabinetmaker,  was  another ;  George  Healey, 
hatter,  was  the  third,  and  Samuel  Tweedale  was  the  fourth,  belong- 
ing to  the  "  Twenty-eight."  There  were  two  Tweedales  among 
them,  James  and  Samuel.  James  was  a  clogger,  and  lived  at  the 
top  of  Wardleworth  Brow,  and  kept  a  doggers  shop  there.  Samuel 
Tweedale  was  a  weaver  at  King's  the  quaker,  Oldham  Road.  Samuel 
gave  the  first  little  lecture  they  had  in  the  Toad  Lane  Store.  It 
was  on  "  Morals  in  their  relations  to  every  day  life."  It  was  on  a 
Sunday  night.  He  was  considered  the  "  talking  man  "  of  the  Store. 
He  afterwards  went  to  Australia.  Among  the  "Twenty-eight" 
there  were  eight  Jameses  and  seven  Johns. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LEGAL  niPEDIireNTS  TO   ECONOAT7. 

WHEN  the  Rochdale  Society  began,  and  for  many  years  subsequent, 
such  associations  were  not  recognised  by  law.  The  members  had 
no  denned  rights,  and  were  under  unlimited  responsibility  :  yet 
they  were  incompetent  to  deal  with  outsiders,  or  even  with  them- 
selves. Indeed,  the  cash  box  might  disappear  with  impunity.  The 
Society  could  not  hold  land  above  a  small  quantity  ;  members  could 
only  hold  a  very  limited  sum  in  the  funds  even  after  the  law  did  be- 
gin to  befriend  them  :  nor  could  they  devote  their  savings  to  self 
education.  Indeed,  it  would  take  pages  to  explain  all  the  legal 
disabilities  then  existing.  By  whose  generous  exertions  all  this 
came  to  be  altered  is  related  elsewhere.1 

Nobody  understood  better  or  cared  more  for  the  legal  position  of 
co-operation  than  the  Rochdale  Pioneers.  The  townsmen  who  had 
Mr.  Thos.  Livsey  for  an  alderman,  Mr.  Cobden  for  a  member,  and 
Mr.  Bright  for  a  neighbour,  ought  to  be  in  advance  of  other  towns, 
and  they  were.  The  Pioneers,  assisted  by  eminent  friends  of  social 
reform  in  London,  Mr.  E.  V.  Neale,  Mr.  Thos.  Hughes,  Mr.  F.  J. 
Furnivall,  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Ludlow,  procured  the  necessary  amend- 
ment of  the  law  ;  and  when  it  was  done,  they  had  the  grace  to 
distinguish  who  had  served  them  and  to  place  on  record  their  thanks 
to  each.  On  Christmas  Day,  1862,  an  annual  conference  of  100  dele- 
gates from  the  co-operative  societies  of  Lancashire  and  the  neigh- 

1  History  of  Co-operation  in  England,  Vol.  II.,  Constructive  Period. 


88          HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

bouring  counties  was  held  in  Oldham.  Seventy-five  societies  were 
represented.  Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood,  of  Rochdale,  presided. 
Mr.  William  Cooper  of  Rochdale,  secretary  of  the  conference  com- 
mittee, stated  that  when  the  previous  conference  met  at  Rochdale, 
on  the  25th  of  December,  1861,  the  Hon.  Robert  A.  Slaney,  M.P., 
who  had,  up  to  that  time,  had  the  charge  of  their  Bill  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  was  on  the  Continent,  owing  to  failing  health.  The 
committee  (on  the  approval  of  Mr.  Slaney  and  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Bright,  who  accompanied  a  deputation  for  that  purpose)  solicited 
the  Government  to  bring  in  the  Bill.  They  declined  to  bring  it  in 
as  a  Government  measure,  but  intimated  that  they  should  not 
oppose  it  if  it  was  brought  in  by  a  private  member.  Mr.  Bright 
then  recommended  the  committee  to  solicit  Mr.  Estcourt  to  introduce 
the  Bill  to  Consolidate  and  Amend  the  Industrial  and  Provident 
Societies  Acts.  He  cordially  took  charge  of  the  Bill  in  the  Commons, 
and  the  Hon.  Robert  A.  Slaney,  M.P.  (who,  we  regret  to  say,  soon 
after  died),  arrived  just  in  time  to  second  the  Bill  in  its  first  read- 
ing. The  committee  sent  three  separate  deputations  to  London,  at 
various  stages  of  the  Bill  while  before  Parliament,  to  explain  it  and 
interest  Members  in  its  favour.  Besides  these  special  deputations, 
their  tried  friend,  Mr.  E.  V.  Neale,  living  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
London,  was  at  call  to  act  on  behalf  of  the  committee  on  other  need- 
ful occasions.  The  Rev.  W.  N.  Molesworth  generously  undertook 
to  use  what  influence  he  had  with  Members  of  Parliament,  on  their 
behalf.  During  this  time  there  was  much  written  correspondence 
going  on  between  those  conducting  the  Bill  through  Parliament 
and  the  committee. 

Mr.  Edward  Hooson,  of  Manchester,  moved — 

"  That  this  Co-operative  Conference  presents  its  grateful  acknow- 
ledgments to  John  Bright,  Esq.,  M.P.,  for  the  valuable  advice  he 
tendered  to  the  promoters  of  the  '  Bill  for  the  Amendment  of  the 
Industrial  Provident  Societies  Acts ;' for  the  great  service  of  his 
personal  assistance  at  every  stage  of  the  Bill ;  for  arranging  the  in- 
terviews of  the  deputation  with  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  for  his  in- 
dispensable offices  in  soliciting  Mr.  J.  S.  Estcourt  to  take  charge  of  the 
Bill  in  the  House  of  Commons—  services  not  to  be  lightly  estimated 
or  the  less  scrupulously  and  respectfully  acknowledged  because  they 
arc  such  as  the  working  class,  bent  upon  self-improvement,  can  ever 
command  from  Mr.  Bright." 

Mr.  Bright's  subsequent  acknowledgment  of  the  vote  was  in 
the  following  terms,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  William  Cooper, 
Oldham  Road,  Rochdale : — 

"  Rochdale,  January  19,  1863. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  to  thank  you  and  the  Conference  of  Delegates 
for  their  resolution.  It  sets  forth  far  greater  services  than  I  was 
able,  but  not  more  than  I  was  wishful,  to  render  you.  I  hope  the 
Bill  will  do  much  good,  which  will  be  a  satisfaction  to  all  those 
who  supported  it." 


LEGAL  IMPEDIMENTS   TO   ECONOMY.  89 

Mr.  Greenwood,  the  chairman,  moved — 

"  That  this  Conference  convey  to  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sotheron  Sstcourt, 
M.P.,  the  respectful  thanks  of  all  friends  of  Co-operation  for  the 
courtesy  and  liberality  with  which  he  undertook  the  charge  of  their 
'  Bill  for  the  Amendment  of  the  Industrial  Societies  Acts;'  giving 
to  it  the  advantages  of  his  parliamentary  position,  which  ensured  it 
successfully  passing  the  ordeal  of  the  House  of  Commons." 

Mr.  Estcourt,  who  was  then  in  Italy,  replied  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Abram  Greenwood  as  follows  : — 

"  Florence,  16th  February,  1863. 

"  Sir, — I  have  just  received  the  complimentary  resolution  passed 
at  the  delegates'  meeting  of  the  Co-operative  Societies,  held  at  Old- 
ham  on  the  25th  of  December,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  part  which 
I  took  last  session  in  regard  to  the  '  Bill  for  the  Amendment  of  the 
Industrial  Societies  Acts.' 

"  I  request  you  to  convey  to  the  delegates  the  satisfaction  which  I 
feel  in  receiving  this  mark  of  their  approval ;  and  to  assure  them 
that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  undertake  the  work. 

"  I  cannot  forbear  reminding  you  that  in  the  preparation  of  the 
Bill  and  in  carrying  it  through  the  House  of  Commons  I  received 
great  assistance  from  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the 
Solicitor  General ;  that  the  able  lawyer  employed  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  preparing  their  measures,  was  allowed  to  revise  my  scheme ; 
and  that  Lord  Portman  took  charge  of  the  Bill  in  the  House  of 
Lords  and  greatly  conduced  to  its  success  by  his  judicious  manage- 
ment. I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  SOTHEROX  ESTCOURT/' 

Mr.  Charles  Howarth,  the  earliest  organising  co-operator  of 
Rochdale,  moved — 

"That  the  chairman  of  this  Conference  be  instructed  to  convey  to 
Lord  Portman,  on  the  part  of  the  co-operative  representatives  pre- 
sent, their  sincere  acknowledgments  of  the  great  service  he  has 
rendered  to  the  industrial  interests  of  the  English  workman  by  his 
kindness  in  undertaking  the  labour  and  responsibility  of  conducting 
the  '  Bill  for  the  Amendment  of  the  Industrial  Societies  Acts ' 
through  the  House  of  Lords,  and  to  assure  his  lordship  that  the  co- 
operators  of  England  will  know  how  to  appreciate  the  consideration 
shown  to  the  rights  of  labour  by  the  passing  of  this  measure." 

Lord  Portman 's  answer  was  made  in  the  following  terms  to  Mr. 
Cooper  : — 

"Bryanston,  Blandford,  Jan.  24,  1863. 

"  Sir, — I  have  the  greatest  confidence  in  the  Co-operative  industrial 
and  friendly  societies,  and  have  laboured  to  aid  them  ever  since  I 
have  been  in  Parliament,  now  40  years ;  so  I  am  not  likely  to  fail 
in  my  exertions  while  I  have  strength  to  be  useful.  Your  obedient 
servant, 

Mr.  Councillor  Smithies,  of  Rochdale,  moved — 


pO          HISTORY  OF   THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

"  That  this  Conference  would  ill  discharge  its  duty  if  it  separated 
without  expressing  its  high  sense  of  the  obligations  the  co-operators 
of  England  are  under  to  Edward  Vansittart  Neale,  Esq.,  for  the 
munificent  interest  which  he  has  ever  taken  in  their  welfare. 
Especially  this  Conference  desires  to  record  its  heartiest  thanks  for 
his  legal  and  professional  services  in  drawing  up  this  '  Bill  for  the 
Amendment  of  the  Industrial  Societies  Acts' — services  rendered 
with  promptness  and  without  stint;  for  advice,  assistance,  and  in- 
fluence, watchfully  and  unintermittently  given  through  every  stage 
of  the  Bill,  for  which  the  members  of  every  co-operative  society  in 
the  kingdom  owe  Mr.  Neale  pei'sonal  thanks." 

Mr.  Neale's  answer  was  of  a  nature  to  add  to  the  obligations  co- 
operators  were  under  to  him.  Itwas  expressed  in  the  following  letter : 

"  West  Wickham. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  trust  that  the  Bill  which  I  have  been  instrumental  in 
obtaining  for  you  will  inaugurate  an  era  of  genuine  co-operative  effort 
among  the  working  men  of  England,  whence  I  am  certain  that  an  in- 
calculable amount  of  good  of  every  sort  will  arise.  But  we  must  be 
patient  and  persevering.  The  great  thing  to  impress  upon  the  minds 
of  the  workers  is  the  importance  of  seeking  to  raise  the  position  of 
their  class,  instead  of  limiting  their  efforts  to  raising  their  own  posi- 
tion as  individuals.  This  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  dispute  about  giving 
workers,  as  such,  a  share  in  profits.  A  man  who  has  saved  up  a 
little  capital  may  say,  '  I  shall  get  more  if  I  take  all  the  profits  to 
myself.'  But  will  his  children  get  more?  Is  it  not  far  more  im- 
portant to  him,  ns  a  working  man,  to  bring  about  a  state  of  things 
whereby  his  children,  or  other  relatives,  witt  share  in  the  profits  of 
capital,  whatever  their  occupation  may  be,  rather  than  to  get  a  few  more 
shillings  or  pounds  a  year  himself;  while  he  leaves  the  present  state 
of  things  unchanged  for  every  person  connected  with  him  who  has 
not  saved  up  capital,  or  has  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  place  it 
advantageously  ?  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"  E.  V.  NEALE." 

Mr.  James  Dyson,  of  the  Working  Tailors'  Association,  moved  the 
following  resolution,  which  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Edwards,  of  Man- 
chester, and  carried  : — 

"That  this  Conference,  composed  of  the  representatives  of  Co- 
operative Societies,  desires  to  express  its  profound  sympathy  with  the 
family  of  the  late  Hon.  Robert  A.  Slaney,  M.P.,  in  their  bereave- 
ment ;  and  further  desires  to  convey  to  them  its  high  sense  of,  and 
cordial  thanks  for  his  many  and  valuable  labours  in  the  Commons 
House  of  Parliament  to  promote  the  passing  of  laws  which  have  given 
permanence  and  security  to  these  societies,  thus  enabling  the  people 
of  Great  Britain  to  organise  for  the  improvement  of  their  moral, 
social,  physical,  and  pecuniary  condition,  and  for  which  the  industrial 
classes  will  ever  hold  his  memory  ingrateful  and  sacred  remembrance." 


LEGAL  IMPEDIMENTS  TO   ECONOMY.  9! 

This  resolution  was  replied  to  by  Captain  Kenyon  Slaney,  son-in- 
law  of  the  late  member  for  Shrewsbury. 

"  \Valford  Hall,  Shrewsbury. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of 
the  13th  January,  enclosing  a  copy  of  a  resolution  passed  at  a  confer- 
ence of  delegates  from  co-operative  industrial  societies,  held  at 
Oldhain,  on  25th  December,  expressing  in  most  kindly  terms  their 
warm  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  to  their  societies  by  the 
late  Mr.  Slaney,  M.P.  for  Shrewsbury,  and  tendeiing  their  sympathy 
and  condolence  to  his  family  under  their  bereavement. 

"Such  a  record  of  Sir.  Slaney 's  services,  and  of  the  estimation  in 
which  such  services  were  held,  is  most  gratifying  to  those  to  whom 
your  communication  is  addressed.  They  know  full  well  the  import- 
ance Mr.  Slaney  ever  attached  to  co-operative  societies,  and  the 
zeal  with  which  he  applied  himself,  in  Parliament  and  out  of  Par- 
liament, to  promote  the  success  of  such  institutions,  and  in  all  ways 
to  advance  the  interests  and  improve  the  condition  of  the  industrial 
classes.  But  it  is  rarely  that  such  deeds  obtain  a  grateful  recogni- 
tion like  that  which  it  is  now  my  duty  to  acknowledge.  I  am 
desired  to  convey  to  the  delegates  of  the  co-operative  societies,  whom 
you  so  ably  represent,  the  warm  and  hearty  thanks  of  every  member 
of  Mr.  Slaney's  family,  for  the  good  feeling  which  has  prompted  the 
resolution  ;  for  the  generous  tribute  of  gratitude  and  regard  which 
has  thereby  been  offered  to  his  memory ;  and  for  the  sympathy  so 
kindly  expressed  for  those  who  mourn  his  loss." 

In  passing  these  resolutions  of  thanks,  the  co-operative  delegates 
spent  gratefully  and  honourably  their  Christmas  Day,  1863.  The 
North  of  England  Wholesale  Agency  mentioned  in  another  chapter 
was  founded  the  same  day  at  the  same  meeting. 

Oldham  at  that  time  was  not  the  most  encouraging  place  in  the  world 
to  visit  on  a  Christmas  Day,  and  it  would  be  late  in  the  evening 
before  many  of  the  delegates  would  return  by  rail  home.  When  all 
England,  that  can  get  it,  devotes  itself  to  roast  turkey,  festivity,  and 
plum  pudding,  it  is  to  the  credit  of  these  co-operators  that  they 
should  have  given  the  whole  day  to  railway  journeys  and  prosaic 
delegate  business.  Rochdale  would  be  sure  to  do  its  share  of  this 
work,  as  anyone  can  testify  who  has  had  personal  intercourse  with 
the  Pioneers.  There  has  been  on  their  part  a  consciousness  of  work- 
ing for  society  as  well  as  for  Rochdale — they  desired  to  show  what 
could  be  done — that  others  might  be  incited  to  do  the  same.  They 
cared  for  others,  and  this  is  why  so  many  care  for  them.  They  wished 
to  raise  the  class  to  which  they  belonged.  They  saw  that  the  ele- 
vation of  the  working  men  as  a  class  was  the  best  security  for  the 
individual  advancement  of  its  members,  and  it  is  this  sentiment, 
more  than  any  success,  which  has  given  to  Rochdale  Co-operators 
an  honoured  name. 

The  leading  co-operators  of  the  Society  took  the  trouble  to  get  the 
resolutions  of  thanks  recited,  as  well  expressed  as  they  could.  I 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

suppose  they  knew  that  most  persons  carry  a  stock  of  hate  on  hand, 
and  that  censure  is  always  ready  made.  But  praise  is  a  very  different 
thing.  It  only  proceeds  from  generosity  or  gratitude,  and  those  are 
deliberate  sentiments.  A  man  may  rage  without  art,  but  lie  cannot 
applaud  sensibly  without  it.  This  is  why  the  quality  of  a  man's  mind 
is  more  easily  seen  in  his  praise  than  in  his  censure.  Defamation 
shows  his  feeling,  praise  his  understanding  ;  and  if  he  wishes  to  give 
an  idea  of  his  strong  sense  of  a  service  rendered  him,  he  can  best  do 
it  by  showing  that  he  accurately  estimates  it,  and  this  is  the  only 
praise  anyone  not  vain,  cares  to  receive,  or  which  is  an  actual  tribute 
to  him.  The  Pioneers  put  themselves  to  some  cost  to  get  their  re- 
solutions into  terms  which  they  liked.  They  paid  me  10s.  to  draft 
resolutions  which  should  include  the  individual  services  and  character- 
istics of  each  person,  so  that  each  vote  should  be  different,  andfounded 
on  personal  knowledge. 

Sixteen  years  ago,  the  Pioneers  made  a  graceful  acknowledgment 
to  the  present  Vicar  of  Spotland  (who  was  then  incumbent  of  that 
church),  for  kindly  services  to  them,  and  which  services,  it  may  now 
be  said,  have  increased  with  the  years  which  have  since  elapsed. 
One  day  they  carried  to  Mr.  Molesworth  a  beautiful  bound  copy  of 
the  "English  Hexapla,"  which  bore  the  following  inscription  : — 

"  Presented  to  the  Rev.  W.  N.  Molesworth  (incumbent  of  Spot- 
land),  by  the  Educational  Committee  of  the  Rochdale  Equitable 
Pioneers'  Co-operative  Society,  as  a  testimonial  in  recognition  of  his 
valuable  and  disinterested  services  on  behalf  of  the  above  Society 
and  of  Co-operation  generally. 

"  December  20th,  1861.  SAMUEL  NEWTON,  Secretary." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Molesworth  took  a  personal  interest  in  the  Society 
almost  from  the  commencement,  and  visited  Mr.  William  Cooper, 
and  talked  to  him  about  it.  It  occurred  to  Mr.  Molesworth  that  lie 
would  like  to  be  a  member  of  it  in  order  that  he  might  watch  its 
progress  more  closely  ;  but  he  could  not  overlook  that  if  he  joined 
it,  and  anything  went  wrong  with  it,  he  would,  perhaps,  be  regarded 
as  morally  responsible  in  respect  to  it.  A  person  of  position  belong- 
ing to  a  society,  although  he  had  no  connection  with  its  management, 
would  be  thought  to  lend  a  sort  of  guarantee  of  its  financial  and  legal 
soundness,  although  all  he  might  have  in  his  mind  would  be  to  assist 
a  useful  society  calculated  to  promote  the  social  improvement  of 
working  people.  Besides,  if  a  society  had  no  legal  recognition  or 
limited  liability,  a  person  of  means  might  be  made  responsible  in 
case  of  losses,  for  which  members  without  means  could  not  practi- 
cally be  made  liable.  More  from  regard  to  others  than  himself,  it 
is  within  my  knowledge  that  Mr.  Slolesworth  asked  Mr.  Cooper 
"whether  the  liability  was  limited."  Mr.  Cooper  said  "it  was,"  but 
he  subsequently  found  he  was  mistaken.  Mr.  Molesworth  then 
considerately  pointed  out  to  him  what  an  objectionable  thing  it  was 
that  the  members  of  the  Society  should  each  of  them  be  liable  to  the 


QUERULOUS  OUTSIDERS.  93 

full  extent  of  his  means  if  anything  went  wrong.  Mr.  Cooper  be- 
coming aware  of  the  seriousness  of  this  state  of  affairs,  asked  Mr. 
Molesworth,  and  one  or  two  others  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
Society,  to  meet  at  his  office  and  consider  the  matter.  Mr.  Moles- 
worth  complied  with  the  request,  and  brought  with  him  several 
suggestions,  which  were  adopted  by  the  meeting  nearly,  if  not  en- 
tirely, in  the  form  in  which  he  submitted  them.  They  were  sent  to 
Mr.  Vansittart  Neale,  who  returned  them  and  recommended  them 
for  adoption,  and  in  that  shape  they  were  soon  after  published. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

QUERULOUS   OUTSIDERS. 

IT  is  no  mean  part  of  the  art  of  progress  to  know  how  to  treat  out- 
siders— that  is  supposing  you  have  a  good  cause,  clear  principles,  and, 
earnest  advocates.  Therefore  let  us  look  with  curiosity  and  intelli- 
gence on  outsiders.  If  conversion  is  reasonably  treated,  they  will 
be  insiders  one  day.  Here  I  deal  with  querulous  outsiders — the 
discontented  who  are  not  ignorant — the  critics  who  mean  mischief, 
and  know  it.  They  swarmed  about  the  Rochdale  Society  for  years. 
Sometimes  the  shopkeeper  is  made  an  angry  adversary  by  being 
needlessly  alarmed.  A.  co-operative  speaker  will  say,  "Look  at  the 
great  profits  made  at  the  chief  stores— £20,000,  £30,000,  or  £40,000 
a  year.  All  this  is  rescued  from  the  shopkeepers.'1  Nothing  of 
the  kind.  It  is  by  buying  wholesale  by  combination  of  capital; 
it  is  by  purchasers  buying  largely  at  the  stores  by  combination  ;  it 
is  by  economy  in  distribution  ;  it  is  by  fewer  shops,  fewer  servants, 
by  avoiding  advertisements  and  costly  display,  that  the  chief  pro 
tits  are  made.  The  co-operator  gains  by  avoiding  the  multiplied 
shops,  the  high  rents,  the  heavy  taxes,  the  useless  servants,  the 
cost  of  advertisements,  glarish  lights,  and  loss  on  unsold  goods 
and  bad  debts.  The  co-operator  grows  rich  by  picking  up  what  the 
shopkeeper  drops,  before  he  touches  the  tradesman's  actual  profits. 

Co-operators  are  merely  miners  in  the  gold  fields  of  commerce,  whc 
find  what  the  shopkeeper  has  overlooked.  Many  a  shopkeeper  is 
made  to  grieve  by  the  idea  of  the  loss  of  profits  he  never  had  anc 
never  would  have  had,  had  co-opeiators  never  been  born.  The  co 
operator  mainly  gains  by  a  superior  mode  of  business  and  the 
natural  economy  of  concert. 

The  Rochdale  Co-operators  publish  an  almanack  which  may  be 
taken  as  their  annual  manifesto.  It  records  their  progress  and 
current  opinions.  It  is  compiled  by  various  hands,  and  now  and 
then  an  article  appears  on  the  sheet  which  shows  that  the  new  writer 


ft 


94  HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

is  a  recent  convert  who  fails  to  comprehend  the  traditions  of  this 
great  Society.  In  an  almanack  now  and  then  there  has  been  an 
attack  on  shopkeepers,  which  a  sagacious  co-operator  avoids.  For 
instance,  in  the  year  1860  almanack  there  was  a  denial  of  the  initia- 
tive principle  which  makes  co-operation  a  wholesome  power.  Here 
is  the  questionable  passage  :— 

"  The  present  co-operative  movement  docs  not  seek  to  level  the 
various  social  inequalities  which  exists  in  society  as  regards  wealth, 
excepting  so  far  as  enabling  the  labouring  man  to  subscribe  a  portion 
of  the  capital  necessary  :  first,  for  the  purchase  of  articles  of  con- 
sumption from  those,  or  as  near  to  those  as  possible,  who  produce 
them,  so  as  to  appropriate  to  himself  the  profits  which  now  flow 
into  the  pockets  of  the  retail  dealers ;  and  next  by  enabling  him  also 
to  assist  in  the  contribution  of  such  capital  as  is  necessary  for  the 
carrying  on  of  his  own  industrial  occupation :  by  this  means  giving 
him  a  chance  of  participating  in  the  profits  of  his  own  labour,  and 
removing  it  farther  out  of  the  reach  of  men  with  a  little  capital 
to  realise  princely  fortunes  out  of  the  energy  and  industry  of  the 
people,  while  the  people  themselves  are  barely,  at  the  best,  fed  and 
clothed  for  the  time.  In  a  word,  the  present  co-operative  movement 
;  does  not  seek  to  enforce,  or  carry  out,  any  particular  doctrines  of 
any  particular  individual.  This  acknowledgment,  on  the  part  of  the 
co-operators  of  the  present  day,  ought  to  set  at  rest  the  hitherto 
generally  believed  assertion  that  co-operation  is  only  the  Utopian 
idea  of  such  enthusiasts  as  St.  Simon,  Robert  Owen,  Louis  Blanc, 
and  others,  and  that  it  is  on  that  account  impracticable." 

Here  is  a  needless  tribute  to  public  incompetence.  This  disavowal 
of  all  the  antecedents  of  co-operation  might  have  answered  some 
purpose  in  the  struggling  days  of  the  movement.  In  the  day  of  its 
triumph  it  was  gratuitous.  Had  it  not  been  for  St.  Simon,  Robert 
Owen,  and  Louis  Blanc,  and  others,  co-operation  might  not  have 
lifted  up  its  head  for  centuries.  Save  for  the  genius  of  St.  Simon, 
the  princely  sacrifices  of  Owen,  the  brave  risks  of  its  eloquent  advo- 
cates, like  Louis  Blanc,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  workmen  who  have 
now  competence,  would  have  died  the  death  of  a  blind  proletaire, 
grateful  for  the  permission  to  toil,  breed,  suffer,  and  perish. 7 

This  language  was  calculated  to  give  the  querulous  outsider  good 
heart,  who  would  renew  his  attempt  to  damage  an  adversary  who 

1  The  editor  of  the  almanack  has  given  this  explanation  of  his  views  :— "  \Ve  were 
charged  with  '  Socialism,'  and  '  Communism,'  and  these  terms  amongst  most  of  the 
people  we  wanted  to  reach  were  only  synonymous  with  'atheism'  and  'social  anarchy.' 
We  did  not  care  for  the  shopkeepers  ;  we  knew  they  would  always  be  against  us  from 
former  experience  ;  but  there  were  the  great  mass  of  the  working  people  to  whom  we 
wanted  to  bring  the  benefits  only  a  few  had  tasted."  Had  the  author  of  this  passage 
confined  himself  to  pointing  out  that  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  were  walking  in  a  distinct 
though  coincident,  path  from  that  described  by  those  eminent  theorist-,— had  he 
pointed  out  that  the  Rochdale  Co-operators  were  working  in  the  same  direction  of 
social  improvement,  of  self-created,  self -directed,  self-sustained,  personal  prosperity, 
which  the  great  thinkers  who  inspired  them  meditated,  he  had  better  defended  weavers 
from  injurious  misapprehension. 


QUERULOUS  OUTSIDERS.  95 

was  defaming  himself.  There  were,  however,  it  must  be  owned, 
some  few  cantankenbus  shopkeepers  in  Rochdale  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Store.  One  instance,  long  forgotten,  belonging  to  the  pre-store 
days,  deserves  to  be  told.  When  the  flannel  weavers  were  out  on 
strike  in  1844,  they  were  no  doubt  bad  customers  to  the  shopkeepers. 
It  is  very  likely  the  shopkeepers  had  no  reason  to  admire  them.  No 
doubt  their  necessities  developed  in  them  a  strong  desire  for  credit,  at- 
tended by  feeble  capacity  of  payment,  and  when  the  men  added  to  their 
sins  of  impecuniosity,  the  actual  solicitation  of  assistance  to  sustain 
them  on  strike,  a  shopkeeper  iii  Yorkshire  Street,  in  the  town,  of 
the  outlandish  name  of  Pozzi,  startled  the  weavers.  He,  like  Mrs. 
Caudle,  gave  them  "  a  bit  of  his  mind."  He  told  them  they  were 
"  vagabonds,  and  should  go  to  work."  They  were  poor,  but  not 
idle  men.  They  were  starving,  but  they  were  starving  on  principle. 
They  had  a  spirit  above  vagabondage,  and  they  determined,  as  they 
said,  "to  punish  the  shopkeepers  who  insulted  them.1'  Thus 
resentment,  as  well  as  social  philosophy,  had  to  do  in  promoting  the 
Store.  This  was  thoroughly  English.  Seldom  does  a  reform  in 
this  country  originate  because  it  is  reasonable.  It  is  an  outrage  or 
an  insult  which  generally  sets  the  reforming  conviction  in  a  blaze. 
Many  an  early  co-operative  weaver,  who  found  difficulties  causing 
the  fire  of  principle  to  grow  low  within  him,  was  blown  into  flame 
again  by  the  resentful  recollection  of  "  that  Pozzi."  After  seventeen 
years,  as  the  Store  Almanack  of  1860  shows,  his  enraging  memory 
was  fresh  in  the  co-operative  mind.  Naturally  the  weavers  on  strike 
were  under  the  impression  that,  as  their  wages  were  principally 
spent  at  the  shops,  it  was  the  interest  of  the  shopkeepers  to  aid  them 
in  increasing  their  wages.  They,  however,  obtained  but  "  slender 
assistance."  Many  shopkeepers  had  no  means  of  aiding  largely,  and 
more  had  no  sympathy  with  them,  and  not  a  few  were  poor  them- 
selves by  reason  of  the  credit  given  by  them  to  the  weavers. 

But  if  co-operators  and  trade  unionists  can  be  inconsiderate,  shop- 
keepers can  be  fools  when  they  give  their  minds  to  it,  and  many 
Rochdale  tradesmen  have  shown  desire  and  ability  to  distinguish 
themselves  in  this  way.  In  1859,  two  years  after  the  issue  of  the 
first  part  of  this  history,  and  when  they  well  knew  that  co-operation 
— like  John  Brown's  soul — "  was  marching  on,"  they  took  the  field 
against  Richard  Cobden  because  he  was  known  to  be  friendly  to 
co-operative  workmen.  At  a  subsequent  election,  the  shopkeepers 
supported  Mr.  Baliol  Brett,  a  Tory  lawyer,  who  had  never  done 
anything  and  was  unknown  for  any  human  service  to  the  people. 
The  shopkeepers  of  Rochdale — not  all  of  them,  but  a  pretty  sub- 
stantial crowd  of  them — sought  to  give  the  seat  of  Richard  Cobden 
to  an  adventuring  Conservative  barrister.  So  far  as  this  was  done 
not  from  political  coincidence  of  opinion,  but  with  a  view  to  trade 
interest,  it  was  not  creditable. 

To  be  without  honest  principle  in  commerce,  is  to  be  a  thief — that 
is  what  it  is  called  in  criminal  courts.  To  be  without  honest  con- 


96  HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

viction  and  clear  knowledge  in  public  affairs  _nd  prefer  your  private 
interest  or  ambition  to  the  public  good — that  is  to  be  a  thief  in 
politics.  Neither  friendliness  to  co-operation  nor  opposition  to  it 
is  a  reason  for  voting  for  any  candidate.  His  general  fitness  to  serve 
the  country  is  the  only  ground  for  preferring  a  member,  as  nations 
go  in  their  daily  and  ordinary  march. 

In  1859,  the  shopkeepers  of  Rochdale  started  a  Tory  gentleman 
named  Ramsay  as  the  Anti-Store  Candidate.  He  was  selected  on 
the  respectable  principle  of  local  poMtics,  namely,  that  he  had 
never  done  anything.  He  was  the  author  of  no  public  reform  ; 
he  had  never  laboured  for  any  popular  and  unfriended  interest,  and 
therefore  was  to  be  electorally  distinguished  for  his  inability.  This 
is  the  way  the  tradesmen  put  him  forward.  I  quote  from  one  of 
their  bills,  taken  from  the  walls  and  preserved  for  me.  It  runs 
thus  : — 

"LOOK  OUT! 

"  The  shopkeepers  of  Rochdale  will  do  well  to  '  look  before  they 
leap '  in  the  approaching  struggle.  They  will  do  well  to  ask  this 
important  question,  '  Who  are  the  men  who  are  thus  busying 
themselves  in  adopting  means  to  secure  the  election  of  Richard 
Cobden  ? ' 

"  Are  the  shopkeepers  aware  that  the  chief  supporters  of  the 
Bright-and-Cobdenite  faction  are  also  the  leading  members  of  the 
Co-operative  Stores  ? 

"  Is  it  not  notorious  that  George  Ashford  (and  family  connections), 
Jacob  Bright,  John  Petrie,  Pagan  (and  their  family  connections), 
Livsey,  Kemp  and  Kelsall  (and  their  family  connections),  who  are 
in  the  Radical  front  ranks,  are  all  part  and  parcel  of  these  Stores — 
are  aiders  and  abetters  of  this  iniquitous  system  ? 

"  Will  the  shopkeepers  of  Rochdale  never  take  a  lesson  from  the 
past  ?  Will  they  never  be  aroused  to  the  real  state  of  their  affairs  ? 
Will  they  still  go  on  aiding  the  men  who  are  fostering  the  system 
which  is  destined  at  no  distant  period  to  snatch  their  daily  bread 
from  their  very  jaws  1 

11  If  the  shopkeepers  of  Rochdale  are  fully  aware  of  all  these  facts 
will  they,  I  ask,  give  the  vital  stab  to  their  future  prospects  by  de- 
liberately voting  for  the  Bright-and-Cobden  faction  ? 

"  There  is  but  one  sane  course  open  to  them,  and  that  is  to  vote 
for  Ramsay,  liberty,  and  justice  !  and  not  for  Cobden  and  Livsey's 
pet  bastile  !  !  A  SHOPKEEPER." 

This  precious  bill  bore  no  personal  name,  but  the  shopkeepers  did 
not  disown  it.  It  bore  no  printer's  name,  so  that  its  parentage  could 
not  readily  be  traced.  The  answer  to  it  bore  a  pretty  broad,  brief, 
abrupt  and  intelligible  headline ;  it  bore  also  a  printer's  address, 
and  was  signed  by  several  distinguished  and  honoured  names.  Here 
it  is.  I  have  sent  the  printer  one  of  the  original  placards  to  quote 
from  : — 


QUERULOUS  OUTSIDERS.  97 


"TORY  LIES. 

"  A  handbill,  anonymous,  and  without  printer's  name,  has  been 
industriously  circulated  among  the  shopkeepers  of  this  borough, 
seeking  by  absolute  and  positive  falsehoods  to  prejudice  them  against 
Richard  Cobden. 

"  The  statements  referred  to  are  to  the  effect  that  the  leading  sup- 
porters of  Richard  Cobden  are  connected  with  the  Rochdale  Co- 
operative Store. 

"  Without  expressing  any  opinion  concerning  the  'Store,'  we,  tho 
undersigned,  being  all  the  persons  named  in  the  handbill,  give  the 
most  unqualified  contradiction  to  the  statement,  and  assert  that  we 
have  no  connection  with  that  establishment  directly  or  indirectly. 

''  Sir  Alexander  Ramsay's  cause  must,  indeed,  be  considered  hope- 
less by  his  friends  when  they  are  compelled  to  resort  to  such 
disgraceful  means  in  the  vain  attempt  to  secure  their  ends. 

"  Shopkeepers  of  Rochdale !  don't  be  blinded  to  your  true  interests 
by  the  silly  attempts  of  the  Tories  to  throw  dust  in  your  eyes.  No 
man  has  done  more  for  the  trade  of  the  country  generally,  nor  for 
the  shopkeepers  especially,  than  has  Richard  Cobden.  Give  him 
your  votes,  and  show  the  Tories  that  tricks  and  falsehood  will  never 
succeed  with  honest  people. 

'  GEORGE  ASHFORD. 
JOHK  PETRIB. 
JACOB  BRIGHT. 
JOHN  PAGAX. 
KELSAUL  «fc  KEMP. 
'  THOMAS  LIVSEY. 
"  Rochdale,  April  18th,  1859." 

The  placard  sent  me  while  the  contest  raged  bore  these  words : 
"Richard  Cobden  will  be  member  for  Rochdale. — William  Cooper." 
And  so  it  proved.  Tradesmen  have,  however,  small  cause  to  com- 
plain if  the  co-operator  is  sometimes  antagonistic  to  them  when 
they  play  these  tricks.  This  is  a  sufficient  example  of  the  cantan- 
kerous tradesman  on  the  stump. 

The  chief  figures  which  used  to  come  into  prominence  in  the  crowd 
of  outsiders  would  be  newspaper  correspondents  and  pamphleteers 
under  the  name  of  "Merchant,"  "  Looker  on,"  or,  of  course,  •'  Work- 
ing man,"  who  was  a  favourite  character  in  which  the  outsiders  ap- 
peared. There  was  some  sense  in  the  objections  whicli  the  shop- 
keeper put  under  these  disguises.  The  stores  were  inefficient,  and 
these  objectors  did  much  to  improve  them.  In  cases  in  which  I 
wrote  pamphlets  in  reply,1  I  urged  upon  co-operators  that  the  thing 
wanted  in  most  districts  is  a  good  central,  well-supplied  depot,  on 
the  co-operative  plan,  which  can  engage  and  maintain  a  good  buyer- 

* 1  wrote  one  for  the  Haddersfield  Co-operators. 


98          HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

in.1  The  goods  would  then  be  carefully  selected,  the  profits  would 
be  higher,  and  the  smallest  store  would  thus  be  on  a  level  with  the 
greatest  wholesale  shopkeeper.  But  it  takes  time  to  educate  co- 
operative societies  to  see  their  own  interests.  Many  prefer  blun- 
dering along,  making  bad  purchases  for  the  sake  of  some  immediate 
gain,  while  they  lose  in  character,  and  injure  themselves,  the 
members,  and  the  cause  in  the  long  run.  This  short-sightedness 
will  cure  itself  in  time.  It  can  be  cured  by  patience  and  reason. 
It  cannot  be  cured  by  reproaches.  Every  society,  of  course,  has  a 
right  to  buy  where  it  pleases.  We  must  wait  till  good  sense  and 
enlightened  interest  gain  the  day.  Men  like  our  incendiary  "Work- 
ing Men"  appear  in  every  place;  but  they  get  fewer  and  fewer 
as  the  great  principle  travels  on.  There  are  errors  and  failures 
everywhere,  but  they  are  eclipsed  by  successes  so  unexpected  and 
soimportant,  that  the  great  Social  Reform  advances,  and  co-operation 
is  the  now  accepted  principle  of  self-help  for  the  people. 

Every  society  has  its  "Working  Men"  objectors.  They  appear 
in  every  town,  occasionally  of  a  very  bad  type.  They  crawl  out  of 
the  slime  of  competition.  Sometimes  they  mean  well,  and  some- 
times they  don't.  I  have  seen  them  before,  and  know  what  they 
intend  to  say  before  they  speak,  and  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
answer  them  in  the  dark.  In  the  early  years  of  a  cause  it  is  useful 
to  notice  them,  and  they  like  it.  If  they  write  like  candid  men, 
respect  them;  if  they  do  not,  answer  them  within  certain  limits. 
Error,  misrepresentation,  misapprehension,  and  prejudice  are  ser- 
pents, alive  at  both  ends.  If  you  cut  them  in  two,  they  still  live  ; 
while  they  can  wriggle,  they  may  sting.  Since,  however,  they  are 
damaged  when  divided,  it  is  good  policy  to  chop  at  them. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FOUR  DANGEROUS  YEARS. 

When  the  slave  war,  or  rather  the  war  instigated  by  the  Southern 
American  party  in  defence  of  slavery,  came,  it  was  known  that  the 
Cotton  Famine  would  follow :  the  mills  of  Lancashire  and  York- 
shire would  stop,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  families  would  be  with- 
out work — and  that  meant  being  without  food — John  Bull  would  be 
short  of  calico,  and  manufacturers  short  of  profits.  Then  it  was 
predicted  that  co-operation  would  stop  spinning  like  a  top,  when 
the  momentum  of  working-class  prosperity  was  withdrawn. 

The  political  economists  shook  their  heavy  heads  in  their  wise 

1  There  was  no  great  "  Wholesale  "  in  those  days.    It  had  not  even  been  debated  at 
Jumbo  Farm. 


FOUR  DANGEROUS  YEARS.  99 

way.  Not  the  better  sort,  like  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill  or  Professor  Fawcett, 
who  often  vindicated  co-operation.  The  professor,  however,  sent 
out  in  "Macmillan,"  a  small  professional  moan — chiefly  of  kindly 
warning,  but  still  distrustful  of  the  new  forces  of  concerted  industry 
— to  stand  the  shock  of  the  dangerous  years  coming.  He  said  : — 

"  Will  a  body  of  workmen,  combined  in  a  cotton  manufactory,  be 
able  to  keep  together  during  two  or  three  years,  at  low  profits,  and 
withstand  the  difficulties  of  a  financial  crisis  ?  This  is  a  problem 
which  remains  to  be  solved."  1 

When  the  dangerous  years  (from  1861  to  1864)  set  in,  we  had 
Times  correspondents  writing  from  Rochdale.  What  they  had  to 
tell  will  be  remarkable  reading  for  many  years  to  come.  In  1862 
the  relief  committees  had  not  dispensed  very  much  among  the  un- 
employed families.  On  December  19th  of  that  year,  the  Times 
commissioner  wrote  from  Rochdale,  saying: — "It  is  never  very 
easy  to  ascertain  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  the  extent  to  which 
the  unemployed  have  taxed  their  own  resources  to  meet  the  calamity 
which  has  fallen  upon  them.  The  investments  most  preferred  by 
the  working  classes  vary  in  different  towns.  In  some  the  savings 
bank  is  the  favoured  depository ;  in  others,  building  and  benefit 
societies  are  the  fashion  ;  and  of  late  there  has  been  a  very  general 
run  on  the  co-operative  associations.  On  this  account,  comparison 
of  savings  bank  accounts  will  not  always  be  a  correct  indication  of 
what  is  going  on.  In  several  towns  where  I  have  inquired  into  the 
point  I  have  found  that  the  withdrawals  in  this  year  of  distress  very 
little  exceed  those  of  last  year,  and  the  explanation  given  was  that 
the  operators  had  just  begun  to  withdraw  their  deposits  in  order  to 
invest  them  in  this  new  movement.  In  Rochdale  it  may  be  said 
that  the  co-operative  societies,  which  are  on  a  very  large  scale,  have 
absorbed  pretty  nearly  the  whole  of  the  savings  of  the  working 
classes.  There  are  here  three  great  concerns  managed  on  this  prin- 
ciple— the  Store,  the  Corn  Mill,  and  the  Cotton  Moll,  representing 
among  them  a  capital  of  close  upon  £140,000." 

The  "  problem"  was  getting  itself  "  solved"  pretty  well,  and  co- 
operative societies  had  no  small  share  in  enabling  the  people  of  the 
two  great  cotton  spinning  counties  to  resist  the  recognition  of  a  slave 
dominion.  But  our  commissioner  relates  unexpected  facts  of  the 
Rochdale  Store  : — 

"Last  quarter,"  he  said,  "the  profit  to  members  on  purchases 
amounted  to  2s.  5d.  in  every  pound — in  other  words,  for  every 
17s.  7d.  spent  the  member  got  a  pound's  worth  of  goods  ;  so  that 
instead  of  being  perpetually  in  debt,  as  in  the  old  times,  the  work- 
ing man  who  deals  here  is  absolutely  earning  for  himself  the  profit 
which  went  into  the  shopkeeper's  pocket, 2  and  probably  gets  a  better 

1  Professor  Fawcett. — "  Macraillan's  Magazine,"  October,  1860. 

-  All  these  profits  as  we  have  said  diil  not  go  into  the  shopkeepers'  pockets.  The 
co-operator  gets  the  savings  by  cash  payments,  no  bad  debts,  by  occupying  cheaper 
shops,  making  no  display  of  gas,  or  of  goods  which  perish  by  exposure  ;  by  numerous 


100        HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

article  into  the  bargain.  The  more  comfortably  he  lives,  the  larger 
is  his  share  of  the  profits  at  the  end  of  the  year.  One  account 
taken  at  hazard,  among  others  which  I  saw  myself  in  the  books  of 
the  Store,  sets  the  advantages  of  the  system  to  the  working  man  in 
a  very  clear  light.  It  was  that  of  a  member  who  in  September, 
1854,  had  £7  10s.  standing  to  his  credit.  For  all  the  eight  years  he 
had  gone  on  clothing  and  feeding  his  family  at  the  Store,  he  had 
never  paid  in  a  farthing  in  any  way  to  increase  his  account ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  had  drawn  out  at  various  times  £90  odd,  and  yet  at  the 
end  «f  last  quarter  he  had  £50  placed  against  his  name.  The  pro- 
fits on  his  purchases  during  the  last  eight  years,  with  interest,  had 
actually  produced  him  £132  10s.,  or  rather  more  than  £16  a  year. 
In  all  probability,  if  he  had  gone  on  dealing  all  this  time  at  an  or- 
dinary shop  he  might  have  spent  10  per  cent,  more,  and  would  have 
been  in  debt  at  the  end  of  the  time  some  £5  at  the  least.  It  is  only 
natural  that  the  numbers  of  the  members  and  the  business  done 
should  have  increased  rapidly,  and  that  the  working  classes  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  should  have  endeavoured  to  copy  the 
very  successful  model  thus  set  up.  The  capital  increased  so  fast, 
in  fact,  spite  of  all  the  extensions,  that  it  outgrew  the  necessities  of 
the  Society,  and  it  became  necessary  to  find  other  employment  for 
it.  First  a  Corn  Mill  was  established,  which  has  now  been  at  work 
nine  years,  and  in  1861  made  a  profit  of  £10,000.  The  original  capital 
invested  here  was  £2,000,  and  it  has  now  risen  to  nearly  £30,000, 
of  which  £9,000  has  been  contributed  by  the  Store.  It  does  a  large 
trade  in  the  surrounding  district,  and,  like  the  Equitable  Pioneers' 
Store,  supplies  other  stores  rsund  about  with  goods  wholesale. 
From  this  the  co-operators  took  a  still  higher  flight,  and  entered  on 
an  experiment  which  at  first  sight  seemed  not  a  little  hazardous. 
They  conceived  the  idea  of  combining  labour  and  capital,  of  being 
their  own  employers,  and  sharing  among  themselves  the  fruits  of 
their  own  labour." 

No  mere  impressive  account  of  the  practical  economy  of  co-opera- 
tion has  ever  been  given.  The  good  sense  of  concerted  action  pays 
when  it  yields  £16  a  year  profit  to  a  working  man's  family.  It  is 
worth  listening  to  a  writer  whose  words  have  gone  all  over  the 
world.  He  says  further  : — "  The  Co-operative  Manufacturing 
Society,  which  was  formed  in  1857,  owns  now  one  of  the  finest  mills 
io  the  town,  fitted  with  fii'st-rate  machinery,  and  another  of  equal 
dimensions,  I  am  told,  is  in  course  of  erection.  Its  capital  is  now 
£68,000,  and  in  1861,  it  divided  profits  to  the  amount  of  £5,599. 
It  appears  to  have  been  skilfully  managed  from  the  first,  and, 

customers  and  few  servants  ;  by  buying  wholesale  ;  advantages  which  small  shopkeepers 
cannot  command.  Owing  to  his  greater  expenses  the  shopkeeper  does  not  get  hall  the 
profit  tbe  co-operator  makes.  It,  therefore,  creates  needless  ill-will  to  represent  that 
co-operative  profits  formerly  went  into  ths  shopkeeper's  pocket.  Co-operators  often 
talk  in  this  inaccurate  way,  and  no  wonder  that  a  writer  new  to  the  subject  fell  into 
the  same  language. 


FOUR  DANGEROUS  YEARS.          IOI 

though  it  suffers  in  common  with  other  concerns,  it  is  still  able  to 
run  three  days  a  week.  I  wish  to  point  out  how  materially  the 
existence  here  of  the  co-operative  societies  must  have  alleviated  the 
pressure  of  the  distress.  In  its  early  stages  the  movement  had  to 
encounter  no  little  opposition  from  those  who  scented  Communism, 
Socialism,  and  all  sorts  of  bugbears  in  it ;  but  its  improving  effects 
on  the  character  and  condition  of  the  working  classes  are  so  unmis- 
takable that  none  but  the  most  selfish  could  refuse  it  their  support. 
Manufacturers,  as  a  rule,  prefer  co-operatives  as  workmen ;  the 
habits  of  self-reliance,  prudence,  and  order  which  their  connection 
with  these  societies  engenders  raise  them  considerably  over  the 
ordinary  class,  and  their  economy  has  certainly  put  them  in  a  better 
position  to  bear  the  strain  of  the  times." 

Thus  the  "problem"  of  the  political  economist  got  "solved." 
Co-operation  proved  to  be  no  hothouse  plant,  requiring  hot-air 
apparatus  and  infinite  watching,  forcing,  and  coddling  ;  but  a  hale, 
hearty,  winter  shrub,  which  wUl  take  root  in  any  good  soil,  enjoys 
a  blast,  and  grows  strong  by  exposure. 

The  statements  in  the  Times  were  written  by  a  man  of  ability  in 
putting  facts,  and  not  without  sympathy  with  self-helping  sense 
among  working  people.  The  profit  to  a  family  of  well-managed, 
well-sustained  co-operation,  was  never  packed  into  smaller  compass, 
or  brought  before  the  public  eye  in  a  more  palpable  way,  than  in 
the  sentence  in  which  he  says  "  that  a  single  family  saved  as  much 
as  £16  a  year  for  eight  years,  while  had  they  continued  buying  at 
the  ordinary  shops,  they  would  have  paid  10  per  cent,  more  for  their 
goods,  and  have  been  at  least  £5  in  debt.'J  Here  is  a  distinct,  solid, 
complete,  picturesque  thing  said.  This  is  one  of  those  portable 
statements  which  the  most  casual  reader  can  carry  away  in  his  mind. 
Art  in  statement  is  like  cultivated  taste  in  exhibiting  treasures  ;  the 
picture  or  statuette  must  be  seen  with  the  glory  of  space  around  it. 
All  crowding  is  detraction.  Multiplicity  is  not  magnificence,  as  the 
uneducated  think.  All  details  have  their  place  in  statement,  and 
out  of  place  they  are  like  meaner  things  which  crowd  about  the 
nobler,  hide  the  proportions  of  beauty,  and  distract,  torment,  and 
outrage  the  trained  eye.  The  commissioner  of  the  Times  notices 
that  communicativeness  of  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  which  has  made 
theirs  the  great  propagandist  Store.  He  remarks — "Few  are  so 
communicative  as  to  their  actual  position  as  the  Equitable  Pioneers, 
who  are  too  firmly  established  to  fear  even  this  severe  strain  ;  but 
the  restricted  trade  and  diminished  working  capital  must  have  told 
on  the  greater  numberXThe  trade  of  the  Rochdale  Store  in  the 
twelvemonth  has  fallen  off  by  about  one-third  on  the  year,  and 
jL'^J.,Oik)  has  oeen  withdrawn  from  the  funds,  of  which,  probably, 
£1G,000  at  least  has  been  withdrawn  by  unemployed  members  in 
order  to  meet  the  distress.  All  of  it  has  come  back  to  the  Store  in 
the  purchase  of  provisions,  and  the  profits  on  the  purchasers  of  the 
year,  together  with  the  payment  of  share  subscriptions,  reduce  the 


IO2        HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

actual  loss  of  capital  to  little  more  than  £l,000^r  There  is  no  trans- 
fer of  stock,  but  the  rule  of  the  Society  is  that  any  member  may 
withdraw  as  much  of  his  capital  invested  as  he  pleases  down  to  £5, 
and,  with  the  special  leave  of  the  committee,  down  to  £2.  No  de- 
posits are  allowed  below  that  amount,  and  those  whose  necessities 
will  not  allow  them  to  stop  there  must  draw  out  the  whole.  About 
300  members  have  been  thus  compelled  to  leave  the  Society,  to  re- 
join it,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  when  better  times  comes  round." 

They  all  came  back,  and,  as  an  Irishman  would  say,  many  more 
came  back  who  had  never  left.  The  above  statement  includes 
particulars  of  the  rules  and  practices  of  the  Rochdale  Store,  which 
will  be  informing  and  welcome  to  all  readers.  Narrative  should, 
like  leading  articles  in  a  newspaper,  resemble  a  Scotch  house,  and 
be  self-contained.  The  Times  itself  became  the  "leading  journal" 
by  this  art.  When  its  columns  were  crowded  for  five  days  with 
reports  of  Palmer's  trial,  the  leading  article  upon  it  on  the  sixth  day, 
when  the  case  ended,  gave  a  complete  account  of  the  fat,  horse- 
racing,  rascally,  surgical  poisoner's  trial,  which  the  busy  man  could 
understand  though  he  had  never  read  a  line  of  the  reports.  The 
article  was  self-contained.  It  was  lighted  up  with  outside  facts. 
The  above-cited  passages  introduce  into  this  story  details  which 
make  it  complete  in  itself,  without  irrelevant  and  formal  repetition. 
It  is  of  no  use  listening  to  a  speaker,  or  reading  an  author,  if  you 
require  first  to  hear  or  read  someone  else  to  understand  him. 

But  the  immediate  point  before  the  reader  is  to  understand  how 
Rochdale  stood  the  slave  and  cotton  storm.  Co-operation  stood  like 
fche  Eddystone  Lighthouse — as  immovable  as  the  north  pole. 

In  December,  1861,  when  the  cotton  panic  had  commenced,  the 
cash  received  at  the  Store  over  their  counters  for  the  sale  of  pro- 
visions and  other  articles  of  household  and  personal  use  amounted 
to  £176,000.  During  the  year  of  1865,  the  cash  received  reached 
£196,030,  showing  an  increase  of  £20,000.  Their  capital  in  1861 
was  £42,000;  in  1865  it  was  £78,000.  Four  years^  before  their 
members  werara,900  ;  four  years  later  they  were  5,300-4howing  an  in- 
crease during  the  panic  of  1,400  members.  T  his  looks  as  though  co- 
operative crafts  were  places  of  safety  in  a  storm. 

In  1862  these  Pioneers  built  a  new  shop  at  Blue  Pits.  There's  a 
name  ! — an  honest  name,  however,  for  the  pits  deserve  it.  This 
Blue  Pit  shop  cost  £700.  Next  year  they  built  a  slaughter-house 
and  stables,  at  a  cost  of  £1,000 ;  and  also  a  new  shop  at  Pinfold, 
which  cost  £1,000.  This  was  pretty  well  for  1863.  In  1864  they 
put  up  a  Store  at  Spotland  Bridge,  at  a  cost  of  £1,500  ;  and  another 
in  the  Oldham  Road,  at  a  cost  of  £1,700  ;  and  in  1863  they  finished 
the  Buersil  branch,  at  a  cost  of  £1,000.  The  Pioneers  modestly 
said  that  these  buildings  do  not  disgrace  the  neighbourhood  in  which 
they  stand.  The  fact  is,  there  was  little  or  nothing  to  disgrace — 
there  being  no  lively  or  inspiring  buildings  anywhere  about — and 
these  stores  are  cheerful,  wholesome,  and  not  unpleasing  buildings. 


FOUR  DANGEROUS  YEARS.          103 

The  Town  Hall,  Rochdale,  which  is  a  municipal  glory  now,  was  not 
then  erected. 

Xor  is  this  all.  The  Pioneers  commenced  excavations  in  Toad 
Lane  (which  ought  to  be  called  the  Pioneers'  Highway,  for  it  goes 
up  a  hill,  and  they  have  made  the  hill  of  difficulty  easy)  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  a  great  Central  Store,  which  they  hoped  would 
be  an  ornament  to  the  town.  There  was  reason  for  this  hope  ;  for 
Rochdale  needed  and  deserved  some  architectural  improvement. 
/^During  the  four  years  of  " famine,"  the  members  drew  out  £83,000^  .! 
the  Society  having  been  a  savings  bank  on  this  great  scale.  Better  / 
than  this,  the  Pioneers  gave  £750  for  the  relief  of  the  distressed  and 
to  other  charitable  purposes.  And  quite  as  honourable  to  their 
intelligence  as  these  gifts  are  to  their  humanity,  they  had  appro- 
priated £1,840  to  the  purposes  of  self-education.  This  is  enough  to 
show  that  the  working  men  of  Rochdale  know  how  to  dream  dreams, 
and  that  the  weavers'  co-operative  dream  turned  out  a  substantial 
and  instructive  reality. 

If  the  reader  has  the  courage  to  go  through  a  paragraph  having 
figures  in  it  (p.  142),  he  may  see  how  the  Rochdale  Store  fared 
in  the  eventful  years  when  the  slave  owners  fought  for  the  whip. 
The  odd  hundreds  and  fractions  of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence, 
usually  included  in  any  financial  narrative,  are  omitted  here.  The 
writer  recognises — what  is  not  often  done — that  the  general  reader  is 
not  an  auditor.  He  can  only  take  figures  in  the  bulk.  The  common 
rule  is  to  fill  into  any  narrative  containing  figures  all  the  minor 
amounts  and  fractions,  just  as  though  the  reader  was  going  to  send 
for  the  books  and  go  over  them  to  test  the  exact  truth  of  the  state- 
ment, in  which  case  the  writer  would  have  to  wait  a  fortnight 
before  the  reader  would  be  able  to  attend  to  the  continuation  of  the 
argument. 

In  the  following  statement  the  reader  will  find  the  grand  figures 
in  one  round  honest  bulk,  with  all  the  fractional  edges  chipped  off, 
so  that  they  will  not  scratch  the  memory  nor  irritate  the  under- 
standing. 

Returns  from  Rochdale  show  the  position  of  co-operation  in  that 
town  for  the  four  years  preceding  and  subsequent  to  the  civil  war 
in  America.  From  1857  to  1860  the  members  increased  from  1,800 
to  4,600,  the  capital  from  £15,000  to  £57,500,  the  business  from 
£80,000  to  £174,000,  the  profits  from  £5,000  yearly  to  £15,000. 

From  1860  to  1864,  the  full  period  of  the  cotton  crisis,  the  profits 
increased  in  uneven  gradations  from  £15,000  to  £22,000.  In  1861, 
the  Society  felt  the  effects  of  the  scarcity  of  cotton.  In  the  March 
quarter  of  that  year  the  receipts  for  sales  were  £47.000;  in  the 
December  quarter  they  had  fallen  to  £42,000.  T"_L2fifl,  the  p^ttvn 
famine  was  the  most  severe.  Two-thirds  of  the  operatives  of  Roch- 
dUle  weTti  almost  entirely  out  of  work.  The  greater  part  of  the 
mills  were  entirely  closed,  and  the  people  had  to  subsist  to  a  great 
extent,  on  their  previous  savings.  This  year  the  number  of  mem- 


104        HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

bers  of  the  Store  decreased  500.  The  capital  of  the  Society  decreased 
£4,500.  The  cash  receivWfor  sales  decreased  £32,000;  yet  this 
year  the  profits  made  amounted  to  £17,000.  Not  only  did  co-oper- 
ation stand  its  ground  during  a  period  which  it  was  supposed  would 
destroy  it,  but  the  Store,  the  Corn  Mill,  and  Manufacturing  Society 
of  Rochdale  gave  together  £1,500  for  the  relief  of  the  unemployed, 
and  the  Store  alone  made  £70,000  profit  for  its  members.  The 
Corn  Mill  Society  made  £10,000  a  year  profit  in  1860  and  1861.  In 
1862,  the  profits  fell  to  £8,000,  but  next  year  they  returned  to 
£10,000  again.  The  Manufacturing  Society  of  Rochdale  kept  up  its 
full  payment  of  wages  during  the  cotton  famine,  ran  more  time  than 
any  mill  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  subscribed  £3  weekly  to  the 
Distress  Fund. 

These  societies  of  working  men  took  their  place  by  the  side  of 
manufacturers  in  the  mill  and  market,  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
they  shrunk  from  any  responsibility  which  gentlemen  in  times  of 
public  distress  undertake. 

Productive  manufactures  fared  no  less  hopefully  as  far  as  they 
went.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  productive  manufactures,  in 
order  to  distinguish  production  from  distribution.  Of  course  all 
manufactures  are  productive — either  of  dividends  or  deficits — and 
of  course  always  create  articles  of  utility  or  desire.  Manufacturing, 
however,  had  not  then,  nor  has  yet,  got  into  complete  co-operative 
ways.  The  mills  reputedly  co-operative  of  that  date  were  mainly 
joint-stock  enterprises  with  a  dash  of  co-operation  in  the  prospectus. 
In  1862,  manufacturing  societies  of  this  nature  in  Rochdale  worked 
three  days  a  week,  which  was  greatly  above  average  of  the  time 
worked  by  the  mills  of  the  town.  In  Rochdale  and  its  suburbs 
there  were  then  93  cotton  mills,  rather  over  three-fourths  of  which 
wholly  ceased  working.  Taking  the  average  of  the  whole,  they 
worked  less  than  one  day  per  week.  It  was  a  creditable  and  unex- 
pected thing  that  a  semi-co-operative  manufacturing  mill  which,  it 
was  said,  would  first  fall  in  a  cotton  crisis,  should  find  itself  able  to 
work  more  time  than  any  of  its  competitive  competitors. 

The  question,  during  the  distress  from  which  the  working  people 
suffered,  was  as  to  whether  co-operators  were  to  be  entitled  to 
relief.  The  Central  Executive  Relief  Committee,  of  which  the  Lord 
Derby  of  that  day  was  chairman,  considered  the  question  of  dis- 
qualifying co-operators  and  other  persons  from  participating  in  the 
national  subscriptions  then  made.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Lord 
Derby  presented  a  scheme  for  the  equitable  administration  of  that 
fund,  which  was  marked  by  a  generous  and  unforeseen  discrimina- 
tion which  has  not  been  forgotten  to  this  day.  Lord  Derby  said : — 

"  The  co-operative  societies  stand  upon  a  peculiar  footing.  The 
societies  known  by  this  name  comprise  provision  and  clothing  stores 
and  flour  mills,  which  are  conducted  to  a  great  extent  on  co-oper- 
ative principles  ;  but  cotton  manufactories,  called  co-operative,  are 
generally,  if  not  universally,  simply  joint-stock  companies  of  limited 


FOUR  DANGEROUS  YEARS.  IO5 

liability,  the  capital  of  which  has  been  subscribed  in  small  shares, 
chiefly  by  workmen  in  the  cotton  districts,  and  which  are  often 
built  and  conducted  with  the  aid  of  loans.  They  have  arisen  out  of 
motives  which  do  the  highest  honour  to  the  operative  classes  ;  and 
'there  is  no  question  but  they  have  induced  habits  of  frugality, 
temperance,  and  self-restraint,  which  have  operated  greatly  to  the 
benefit  of  the  working  classes  morally  and  physically.  But  it  is  in- 
disputable that  the  shares  in  some  of  the  co-operative  societies  are 
at  the  present  moment  greatly  depreciated,  and,  in  some  cases, 
actually  valueless.  Is,  then,  the  possession,  say,  of  one  or  more 
shares  in  one  of  these  societies  to  exclude  the  holder  from  a  title  to 
relief  ?  On  the  principle  applied  to  the  savings  banks,  the  answer 
should  be  in  the  affirmative  ;  and  the  more  so,  as  the  investment 
hitherto  has  yielded  a  larger  interest.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  whatever  has  been  invested  in  the  savings 
banks  realises,  on  its  withdrawal,  the  whole  of  its  nominal  amount ; 
whereas  the  co-operative  shares  are,  in  many  cases,  not  only  de- 
preciated, but,  if  compelled  to  be  sold,  would  realise  little  or  nothing 
to  the  possessors.  The  utmost,  therefore,  which  can  fairly  be  re- 
quired is,  that  the  holder  shall  have  mortgaged  his  share,  and  that 
he  is  not  at  the  present  moment  deriving  any  pecuniary  benefit  from 
it.  In  such  a  case,  I  think  the  holder  might  fairly  be  entitled  to 
relief,  as  having,  for  the  time,  no  other  resources." 

Dr.  Watts,  at  the  meeting  when  this  was  read,  pointed  out  that 
shares  in  co-operative  stores  were  not  mortgageable;  and  mentioned 
instances  of  great  hardship  where  sums  had  to  be  withdrawn,  at  a 
loss,  before  relief  could  be  obtained. 

Lord  Derby,  in  reply,  said  :  "  I  have  not  even  stated  that  those 
conditions  should  be  insisted  upon  in  all  cases.  The  whole  intention 
of  the  paragraph  is  to  moderate  the  application  of  the  strict  prin- 
ciple." jf 

Lord  Egerton,  of  Tajton,  quoted  the  previous  statement  of  the 
committee,  that  these  were  cases  for  forbearance,  and  that  it  would 
not  be  wise  to  discourage  habits  of  forethought,  adding: — 

"  I  can  assure  Dr.  Watts  that  it  is  the  general  opinion  of  the 
Executive  Committee  that  these  cases  should  meet  with  the  greatest 
forbearance,  and  be  looked  most  carefully  to,  so  that  those  who  have 
profited  by  the  opportunity  of  laying  by  some  small  store  for  them- 
selves may  not,  in  these  days  of  adversity,  be  left  entirely  helpless." 

The  co-operators"  were  not  destined  to  find  on  local  committees 
the  same  sense  of  industrial  justice  as  animated  the  committee  in- 
spired by  Lord  Derby.  In  the  face  of  these  strong  recommendations  . 
the  local  committee  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  appeals  of  co-operative 
shareholders.  Hence  there  arose  the  co-operative  shareholders' 
Central  Relief  Committee,  which  in  its  public  address  remarked  : — 

"  The  mere  refusal  of  money  is  only  a  part  of  the  injustice.  Thus, 
the  girls  of  co-operative  shareholders  have  been  refused  admission 
into  the  sewing  classes.  The  articles  of  clothing  so  generously  con- 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 


tributed  have  been  refused  to  co-operators,  though  frequently  in 
greater  need  of  them  than  others  who  obtained  them.  Many  have 
their  clothes  in  the  pawnshop,  and  yet  at  the  release  of  goods  there- 
from, a  few  weeks  ago,  in  Haslingden,  not  an  article  was  returned 
that  belonged  to  co-operative  shareholders." 

Lord  Derby  took  a  just  and  considerate  view  of  the  claims  of 
co-operators  ;  but  the  shopkeepers  on  the  committees  took  a  shabby 
revenge  upon  their  humble  rivals.  But  that  distressed  them  not. 
They  got  through  with  cheerful  hearts. 


1, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HALTING   ON    THE   WAY. 


IN  1844,  the  Equitable  Pioneers,  after  a  long  period  of  controversy 
and  distrust,  founded  their  Store  upon  the  principle  of  taking  pur- 
chasers into  partnership.  From  that  time  is  dated  the  successful 
career  of  co-operative  distribution,  which  before  the  adoption  of 
that  principle  was  in  most  towns  vacillating,  uncertain,  and  often 
ignominious  in  its  operations.  Many  years  later,  when  the  value  of 
partnership  in  consumption  had  been  triumphantly  tested,  it  was 
resolved  to  apply  it  to  productive  co-operation.  In  1855,  steps  were 
taken  to  erect  a  spinning  mill,  which  commenced  business  with  96 
looms.  In  1855,  there  was  fitted  up  a  second  null  with  new  machin- 
ery. The  two  mills  were  calculated  to  run  50,000  spindles.  The 
principle  on  which  this  mill  was  founded  was  that  of  taking  the 
labourer  into  partnership,  and  giving  him  a  reasonable  share  of  the 
profits,  which  were  the  joint  produce  of  capital,  and  the  industry, 
good-will,  good  skill,  and  the  carefulness  of  the  workmen.  It  was 
strongly  hoped  that  the  sagacity  of  the  Rochdale  men  would 
successfully  set  manufactures  on  the  same  ground  of  equity  on  which 
they  had  placed  distribution.  The  determination  of  the  promoters 
of  the  new  mills  was  to  carry  into  workshops  the  same  social  ad- 
vantages they  had  created  in  homes.  It  was  believed  that  success 
in  Rochdale  in  creating  a  permanent  industrial  partnership  would 
have  great  influence  in  other  towns.  Even  on  the  Continent  the 
success  of  the  experiment  was  inquired  after  with  great  interest. 
It  was  known  as  a  rule  that  workmen  made  bad  masters.  The  sub- 
jection in  which  they  have  been  kept,  the  dependence  in  which 
they  have  lived,  the  beggarly  income  which,  as  a  rule,  comes  to 
them  (the  lowest  for  which  poverty  and  competition  compel  them 
to  sell  their  unwilling  services),  the  parsimony  of  life  imposed  upon 
them — enter  into  their  souls  and  narrow  their  judgment  of  their 
fellows.  When  they  become  masters  themselves  they  are  often 
jealous  of  the  success  of  their  late  comrades.  They  regard  good 
wages  for  good  services,  which  make  them  profit,  as  so  much  money 


HALTING  ON  THE  WAY.  IO? 

taken  out  of  their  own  pockets.  They  aim  at  getting  the  utmost 
work  out  of  those  they  employ,  just  as  the  worst  master  under  which 
they  have  served  did  unto  them.  What  they  wished  to  be  done  to 
them  when  they  were  workmen,  they  commonly  forget  to  do  to 
others  when  they  become  employers  themselves.  Their  masters 
kept  all  the  profits  in  their  own  hands,  and  they  determined  to  do 
the  same  thing.  Therefore,  friends  of  industrial  progress  were 
very  anxious  about  the  success  of  the  co-operative  mill,  and  great 
admiration  was  expressed  of  the  Rochdale  workmen  that  established 
it,  when  they  showed  the  fine  spirit  of  founding  a  real  industrial 
partnership. 

This  excellent  and  long-looked-for  vision  of  equity  and  industry 
loomed  hopefully  for  a  time  in  the  immediate  distance,  and  then  went 
out  of  sight  again.  The  "share  list"  being  open  to  the  whole  town, 
shares  were  taken  up  by  numerous  persons  who  knew  nothing  of  co- 
operation, and  by  others  who  cared  little  for  it,  and  by  many  who 
actively  disliked  it ;  and  the  rule  giving  a  participation  of  profit  to 
workmen  was  rescinded. 

The  two  noble  engines  erected  in  the  mill  of  60-horse  power, 
one  named  "Co-operation,"  and  the  other  "Perseverance,"1  had  to  be 
rechristened  by  the  more  revelant  names  of  "Joint-stock,"  and 
"  Greed."  As  soon  as  the  facts  became  noised  abroad,  the  advocates 
of  the  artisan  ceased  to  look  to  Rochdale  for  that  organisation  of 
industry  which  should  terminate  the  increasing  and  unprofitable 
war  between  capital  and  labour.  Thus  co-operation  halted  on  the 
way. 

An  article  upon  Co-operative  Societies  in  the  London  Specfatoi 
(April  16,  1864),  made  this  assertion  : — "At  Rochdale,  the  system 
of  admitting  journeymen  to  participation  in  profits  was  abandoned 
after  trial." 

"  Abandoned  after  trial,"  suggests  that  it  had  been  tried  and  did 
not  answer.  The  truth  is,  it  was  frustrated  during  successful  trial ; 
it  was  not  abandoned,  it  was  put  to  death. 

Professor  Newman  observed  in  a  communication  to  the  present 
writer  (Jan.  23,  1863)  :— 

"Co-operative  manufacturing 'hangsfire'inthematterthatthemem- 
bers'  interest  as  capitalists  overpowers  their  sympathy  with  hirelings. 
If  it  be  true  that,  as  capitalists,  they  gain  nothing  by  interesting  the 
hireling  in  the  prosperity  of  the  concern,  this  me?ms  that  co-operative 
capital  can  compete  with  private  capital  on  equal  terms ;  then  the  pro- 
blem is  really  simplified.  Each  man  who  saves  at  all  may  be  capitalist 
somewhere,  though  he  be  merely  hireling  elsewhere  ;  and,  by  co- 
operative stores,  and  abstinence  from  strong  drink,  all  who  have 
health  and  youth  can  save.  Bub  if  co-operative  capital  cannot — or 
where  it  cannot — compete  on  equal  terms  with  private  capital,  it 
becomes  the  interest  of  the  co-operative  capitalists  to  take  the  hire- 


1  They  first  went  round  August  11, 1860. 


108         HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

lings  into  quasi- partnership,  by  some  bonus  or  other  on  the  general 
success.  But,  by  one  or  both  methods,  I  think  the  way  is  open  for 
prudent  persons  .whenever  moderate  prosperity  is  general.  But 
until  the  townsmen  understand  that  the  cause  of  tho  peasants  is  their 
own  cause,  and  that  depression  of  the  country  people  weighs  down 
the  artisans,  I  do  not  expect  any  general  and  considerable  elevation." 

Professor  Newman,  though  an  author  upon  Political  Economy, 
distinctly  recognises  the  interest  which  workmen  have  when  they 
become  capitalists,  of  taking  those  in  their  employ  into  partnership 
with  them.  At  that  time,  it  was  believed  that  the  partnership  system 
had  been  tried  in  Rochdale,  and  that  the  co-operators  themselves 
had  relinquished  it.  Whereas,  they  never  did  so ;  they  never  mis- 
trusted the  principle — they  never  gave  it  up ;  it  was  forced  from  their 
hands  in  the  fourth  year  of  its  trial.  The  co-operators,  like  the  Swedish 
monarch  Charles,  "  were  overmatched,  overpowered,  and  out- 
numbered." The  discredit  was  not  upon  the  co-operators  of  that  day. 
We  shall  describe  the  class  of  persons  by  whom  the  evil  was  accom- 
plished. 

The  Almanac  of  1860  said : — "  The  object  of  the  Rochdale  Co-opera- 
tive  Manufacturing  Society  is  to  provide  arrangements  by  winch  its 
fitcmbi  i'x  man  '"''''•'  '-'""  profits  origin.// from-  the  employnu  ut  of  Hid,-  own, 
capital  and  labour  in  the  manufacturing  of  cotton  and  woollen  fabrics, 
and  so  improve  their  social  and  domestic  condition.  The  profits 
which  arise  from  the  business  of  the  Society  (first  paying  interest 
on  capital  after  the  rate  of  £5  per  cent,  per  annum)  are  divided 
amongst  the  members,  giving  an  equal  percentage  to  capital1  subscribed 
and  labour  performed.  Each  member  lias  the  same  amount  of  votes 
and  influence,  whatever  the  amount  of  his  investments."  In  1861 
the  editor  of  the  Almanac  again  repeated  the  same  clear,  sensible, 
semi-equitable  and  hopeful  announcement. 

In  1864  the  co-operators  hung  their  harps  upon  the  willows  of 
Mitchell  Hey,  and  sang  no  more,  At  the  same  time  they  gave  one 
good-natured  but  instructive  and  disowning  shriek  in  the  Almanac. 
They  said  : — "  The  principal  object  of  the  founders  of  this  Society 
was  the  equitable  division  of  the  profits  arising  from  the  manu- 
facturing of  cotton  and  woollen  fabrics.  They  believed  that  all  -who 
contributed  to  the  realisation  of  wealth,  ought' to  participate  in  it*  ilis- 
tribntion.  To  this  principle  the  Society  has  proved  recreant,  to  tlie 
great  regret  of  its  originators." 

When,  therefore,  the  an ti- co-operators  in  Rochdale  took  the  rule 
by  the  throat  which  gave  only  a  share  of  profit  to  workmen,  and 
strangled  it,  the  gold-tinted  eye  of  capitalism  elsewhere  grew  bright 
on  hearing  of  this  proceeding,  and  there  was  rejoicing  in  countless 
counting-houses  of  manufactories  where  men  had  for  generations 
worked  like  horses  and  died  like  dogs. 

iThis  ia  not  co-operation  proper,  because  it  treats  capital  as  co-equal  with  labour, 
making  it  a  partner,  instead  of  an  agent  merely.  But  co-operation  had  got  no  further 
in  that  day. 


HALTING  ON   THE   WAY.  IO9 

Early  in  1860,  the  enemy  began  to'appear  in  the  field,  and  a  great 
meeting  was  held  in  September  in  the  Public  Hall,  Baillie  Street,  to 
discuss  the  question  of  "bounty  or  no  bounty  to  labour."  No  doubt 
those  hideous  words  "  bonus  and  bounty  "  were  the  beginning  of  the 
mischief,  and  made  the  ignorant  shareholders  believe  they  were  actu- 
ally giving  away  their  money  in  some  foolish  manner.  \\  hereas, 
the  profits  divided  on  labour  represent  the  profits  created  by  labour, 
over  and  above  that  which,  in  the  long  run,  would  exist,  if  the  parti- 
cipation is  withheld.  An  unregarded  workman  gives  more  than 
merely  dull,  sullen,  careless,  uninterested  service,  during  which  he 
conspires  —  by  trade  onions  or  otherwise — to  extort  from  his 
employer  all  he  can,  because  he  believes  his  employer  conspires  to 
withhold  from  him  all  he  is  able.  This  sort  of  industry  is  merely 
silent  spite.  At  the  great  meeting,  all  the  orators  of  greed  appeared 
to  argue  that  the  workman  was  paid  the  market  value  of  his  labour, 
and  that  was  the  fair  end  of  him.  This  sort  of  argument  was  for 
many  years  in  great  force  in  the  distributive  stores.  It  was  argued 
that  the  purchaser  obtained  in  goods  the  market  value  of  his  money, 
and  what  more  did  he  want  ?  Nearly  two  generations  of  men  lived 
and  lied  and  died,  among  whom  this  question  was  argued,  before 
they  could  be  taught  to  see  that,  by  giving  customers  an  interest  in 
coming  to  the  Store,  these  customers  would  themselves,  by  the 
certainty  and  magnitude  of  their  purchases,  create  the  very  profits 
which  were  to  be  shared  among  them.  It  will  probably  take  as  long 
before  it  will  be  believed  that  the  labourer  in  a  manufactory  can 
equally  contribute  the  profits  accorded  to  him.  The  conditions  of 
production  are  more  complicated  than  those  of  distribution,  and  it 
will  take  time  and  patience  to  discover  all  the  methods  whereby  every 
person  engaged  in  a  manufactory  shall  be  induced  to  do  his  best  in 
consideration  of  his  being  a  partner  in  the  profits.  At  the  great 
meeting  of  1860,  the  old  Pioneers  stood  up  stoutly  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  principle  which  recognised  the  workman  as  a  partner.  One  of 
them  said  :  "  It  was  the  duty  of  the  Pioneers  to  base  a  manufac-  i 
tory  on  the  same  principle  as  a  Pioneers'  Store.  It  was  their  duty,  as  T" 
the  pioneers  of  the  country,  to  see  that  labour  had  its  due."  This 
was  the  public  and  generous  propagandist  principle  upon  which  the 
question  was  argued  by  the  co-operators  at  the  first  great  meeting. 
When  the  votes  were  taken,  571  were  given  against  the  partnership 
of  industry,  and  270  for  it.  Nevertheless,  the  motion  was  lost,  as 
the  rules  require  a  majority  of  three-fourths  for  the  alteration  of  any 
law.  Two  years  later,  the  enemy  having  consolidated  their  forces, 
gave  battle  again,  won  the  day,  and  put  back  the  dial  of  manufactur- 
ing industrial  progress  for  their  time,  so  far  as  the  example  of  Roch- 
dale w  as  concerned.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  the  cry  went  forth 
that  the  partnership  of  labour  in  Rochdale  had  failed,  and  if  anyone 
denied  it,  he  was  sharply  asked  the  question,  "  If  it  had  not  failed, 
why  was  the  law  of  participation  abrogated  1 "  A  rule  may  be  can- 
celled by  cupidity,  but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  it  has 


1 10        HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

failed.  Greed  of  profit  on  the  ^)art  of  shareholders  may  have  led  to 
procuring  the  abolition  of  a  law  which  they  thought  injurious  to  them ; 
and  who,  having  power  to  carry  out  their  will,  were  not  restrained 
by  any  feeling  of  equity  to  others.  It  was  freely  said  "  the  Society 
was  drifting  to  dissolution,"  as  members  were'  withdrawing  their 
shares,  and  placing  them  in  other  companies  where  no  participation 
law  was  in  force.  Several  persons  really  did  withdraw  their  shares, 
and  others  threatened  to  do  so.  But  no  greater  number  of  with- 
drawals took  place  than  is  common  in  large  societies,  and  this  manu- 
facturing company  could  well  afford  to  spare  these  retreating 
members  ;  and  it  would  have  been  more  honourable  in  them  who 
did  not  agree  with  the  law,  to  betake  themselves  to  some  other 
society  more  congenial  to  their  views,  than  remain  in  one  they  had 
entered,  for  the  purpose  of  abolishing  the  fundamental  principle 
which  distinguished  it.  There  was  never  ground  for  the  assertion 
that  the  Society  was  in  danger  of  loosing  its  members  or  the  needful 
supply  of  capital  by  continuing  the  participation  law.  Many  months 
previous  to  the  repeal  of  this  law,  the  Society  ceased  taking  new 
members,  and,  as  a  consequence,  declined  taking  additional  money, 
except  from  those  already  members,  because  members  and  money 
came  in  so  rapidly  that  the  Society  did  not  see  how  it  could  use 
profitably  at  the  time  all  the  capital  it  possessed.  It  was  well  known 
that  large  numbers  were  ready  to  come  into  the  Society  when  the 
new  list  should  again  be  opened.  It  is  a  common  experience  of  all 
societies  that  a  certain  class  of  shareholders  who  want  some  special 
change  made  will  threaten  to  withdraw  from  the  Society,  and,  of 
course,  they  spread  the  report  that  if  they  do  that  the  Society  will 
break  up.  The  importance  of  their  remaining,  and  of  having  their 
way,  cannot  in  their  opinion  be  too  highly  estimated.  Experience, 
however,  shows  that  a  society  does  not  always  fail  because  a  few 
persons  think  it  will,  or  mean  that  it  shall,  or  believe  that  it  ought 
to  fail  when  they  leave  it.  At  that  day  various  writers  appeared  to 
defend  the  reactionary  decision  of  the  shareholders.  One  would  sign 
his  letters  under  the  mask  of  "  Old  Pioneer."  This  writer  strongly 
asserted  that  if  the  "anti-bountites,"  as  they  were  called,  had  ceased 
to  be  members,  the  Manufacturing  Society  could  no  longer  go  on. 
This  was  quite  an  illusion  ;  but  it  would  have  been  fortunate  for 
Rochdale  if  they  had  withdrawn,  and  formed  another  society  on  the 
mere  joint-stock  plan,  which  they  had  a  right  to  do,  and  might  have 
done  without  reproach.  Then  they  would  have  left  the  original 
Society  to  test  itself  and  to  stand  or  fall  on  the  principle  on  which 
it  was  founded.  The  charge  against  the  "anti-bountites"  is,  that 
when  they  found  themselves  strong  enough  to  seize  this  Society, 
which  they  had  not  founded,  they  did  so,  and  prevented  an  honest 
public  experiment  being  tried,  and  brought  discredit  on  co-operation 
itself  among  those  not  acquainted  with  the  facts  of  the  case.  It  was 
alleged  that  "  co-operators  of  old  standing"  voted  for  the  destruction 
of  the  partnership  of  labour  rule.  If  so  they  never  owned  to  it.  But 


HALTING  ON   THE  WAY.  Ill 

the  main  body  of  the  old  co-operators  strove  by  every  means  in 
their  power,  by  their  advocacy  and  their  votes,  to  save  it.  Mr. 
William  Cooper,  who  was  a  member  of  the  first  Rochdale  Equitable 
Pioneer  Society  before  and  during  the  time  the  first  rules  were 
drawn  up,  which  was  some  months  before  the  Toad  Lane  Store  was 
opened  for  business,  knew  all  the  persons  who  drew  the  black  joint- 
stock  line  across  the  Manufacturing  Society.  He  testified  at  the 
time  that  this  defacement  was  the  act  of  the  "newer  members." 
When  the  disastrous  night  arrived  which  was  to  cast  conspicuous 
discredit  on  the  partnership  of  industry  in  Rochdale,  162  votes  were 
given  for  the  retention  of  the  labour  profit  rule,  and  502  for  its 
abolition. 

When  the  white  line  of  partnership  of  labour  is  for  the  first  time 
drawn  across  a  manufactory,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  rejoicing  to  see  a 
black  line  of  the  subjugation  of  labour  supersede  it. 

Nothing  can  "pay"  permanently,  or  ought  to  pay,  which  is  not 
conducted  on  a  principle  of  fairness  to  all  concerned  in  creating  its 
value.  The  pyramid  of  gain  which  is  not  based  on  equity  is  a  mere 
rascally  pile,  which  an  honest  man  would  rather  not  touch. 

On  the  recalcitrant  night  when  the  anti-co-operative  shareholders 
destroyed  the  hopeful  law  of  industrial  partnership,  the  Co- 
operative Manufacturing  Society  numbered  over  1,500,  of  whom 
only  664  were  present.  There  was,  therefore,  half  the  members 
who  either  did  not  attend  the  meeting,  or  who  attended  and  did  not 
vote,  and  who  may  be  classed  as  indifferent,  neutral,  or  satisfied  with 
the  Society  in  its  then  form.  It  is  some  satisfaction  to  record  that 
only  502  out  of  1,500  members  actually  lifted  up  their  hands  against 
the  recognition  of  the  workman.  If  all  the  consequences  to  the 
credit  of  Rochdale  which  has  since  followed  upon  that  step  had  been 
foreseen,  many  of  the  502  who  brought  the  discredit  about,  would, 
from  mere  pride  of  townsmanship,  apart  from  any  care  for  the  work- 
ing class,  have  withheld  their  votes,  and  gone  elsewhere  and  founded 
another  society.  The  chief  movers  against  the  workers  participat- 
ing in  the  profits  were  at  the  time  well-known  to  be  of  the  class  of 
managers,  overlookers,  small  tradesmen,  and  such  like.  The  mover 
of  the  motion  to  rescind  the  grand  rule,  and  those  who  spoke  on  the 
side  of  its  abrogation,  were  drawn  from  these  classes.  The  com- 
mitteeof  the  Manufacturing  Society  were  not  all  of  them  co-operators, 
or  they  would  have  held  as  sacred  the  great  law,  and  would  have  given 
all  their  interest  and  influence  against  its  repeal.  But  the  majority 
of  the  committee  were  themselves  Continually  agitating  against  the 
principle  to  the  neglect  of  other  important  interests  of  the  Society. 
One  who  was  within  "  The  Ring,"  and  who  knew  all  about  it,  put 
me  in  possession  of  the  facts  at  the  time.  He  admitted  that  some 
of  the  committee  were  dashing,  fast-going  men — not  the  sort  of  men 
who  usually  cared  for  principle.  1  heir  favourite  argument  against 
the  labourer's  claim  of  sharing  in  the  profits  of  his  labour,  was  that 
of  calling  it  a  "  Socialist  Theory." 


112        HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS, 


Of  course  it  was  a  "  Socialist  Theory."  All  co-operative  stores 
are  founded  on  the  same  "  Socialist  Theory,"  which  gives  profits  to 
purchasers  as  well  as  to  capitalists.  Shopkeepers  of  common-sense 
often  act  now  upon  the  same  "  Socialist  Theory,"  and  give  their 
customers  a  share  in  the  profits  the  customers  help  to  create.  The 
"Socialist  (manufacturing)  Theory  "  is  that  the  capitalist  may  bo 
made  more  secure,  and  even  derive  increased  profits  by  making  it 
the  interest  of  the  labourer  to  co-operate  with  him  in  the  production 
of  gain. 

In  the  great  discussion  which  finally  disestablished  and  disen- 
dowed the  workman  as  a  shaver  in  the  profits  of  his  labour,  James 
Smithies  made  one  of  his  best  speeches  on  the  occasion.  Mr. 
Abraham  Greenwood  and  William  Cooper  were  amongst  the  fore- 
most champions  of  the  claim  of  the  workmen.  Mr.  Holden  also 
spoke  on  the  same  side.  I  possess  a  full  report  of  all  the  speeches 
published  in  the  Rochdale  Spectator  of  the  time,  annotated  with  the 
names  of  all  the  speakers,  not  given. 

The  under- placed  tables  show  what  this  Society  did  down  to  1866, 
when  profit  was  taken  from  the  workers. 


Year—  July. 

Funds. 

Business. 

Profits. 

18o4 

£ 

£ 

£ 

1855 

•  •• 

,. 

•  •* 

1856 

•  «• 

1857 

4,351 

12,'081 

888 

1858 

8,790 

13,381 

679 

1859 

25,613 

16,483 

1,770 

3860 

56,857 

23,634 

3,643 

1861 

69,317 

47,229 

5,237 

1862 

67,513 

65,368 

3,325 

1863 

82,850 

86,437 

3,688 

This  company  still  retains  its  old  style  of  "Co-operative  Manufac- 
turing Society  " — fourteen  years  after  it  has  relinquished  the  prin- 
ciple. In  the  meantime,  co-operation  has  got  to  re-establish  the 
workman  as  a  participator  in  manufacturing  profits.  Masters  may 
go  back,  as  we  have  seen  at  theWhitwood  Collieries;  but  co-operators 
should  not.  The  trade  unionists  could  carry  the  principle ;  and 
they  will  do  it  when  they  get  advisers  who  can  think  above  the  luvel 
of  strikes.  I  have  seen  Dutch  workmen  out  in  the  Zuyder  Zee  ac- 
complish what  English  trade  unionists  have  never  had  the  coin-ago 
to  attempt.  As  yet  the  main  hope  lies  among  unionists.  In  1872 
attempts  were  made  to  re-establish  co-operative  manufacturing  in 
Rochdale  by  commencing  card-making,  but  sufficient  capital  wa.i  not 
obtained  to  keep  the  Society  "  on  the  cards." 


HALTING  ON  THE  WAY.  113 

In  this  place  and  elsewhere  I  prefer  to  use  the  phrase  daim  of  the 
workman  instead  of  the  term  "right."  A  right  of  labour,  like  a 
right  in  politics,  is  what  can  be  got  to  be  ruled,  or  conceded.  A 
claim  is  what  ought  morally  to  be  conceded.  A  right  is  what  is 
conceded.  But  the  claim  holds  good,  and  is  to  be  persisted  in.  If 
workmen  were  gentlemen  in  means  no  employed  would  dare  to  dis- 
allow it. 

Comments  on  persons  who,  being  directors  or  shareholders  in  a 
co-operative  company,  and  knowing  it  to  be  so,  and  joining  it  as  co- 
operators,  and  then  turning  upon  the  principle  and  betraying  it  or 
destroying  it — do  not  apply  to  persons  who  never  were  co-operators 
or  accepted  honour  and  trust  as  such.  They  are  of  the  joint-stock 
species — a  different  kind  of  commercial  creature  altogether.  But 
co-operation  means  more  and  higher.  It  means  the  recognition  of 
the  workmen,  not  indirectly — not  in  some  infinitesimal,  impalpable, 
hypothetical,  and  abstract  way — but  directly,  plainly,  personally, 
absolutely,  permanently,  as  owner  of  an  equitable  share  of  the  profits 
of  labour. 

A  co-operative  society  is  one  which  shares  its  profits  equitably 
with  all  engaged  in  creating  them,  in  labour  and  trade. 

Mr.  John  Bright,  meeting  Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood,  conversed 
on  the  subject  of  the  decision  of  the  members  of  the  Society,  ex- 
pressed his  disapproval,  and  asked  if  it  could  not  be  reversed,  and 
the  principle  given  another  trial.  Mr.  Greenwood  expressed  the 
opinion  that  it  would  be  best  to  try  the  principle  again  de  novo,  with 
members  who  have  faith  in  that  mode  of  working,  and  that  they 
should  be  more  careful  as  to  who  were  admitted.  Mr.  Bright  stated 
that  a  large  number  of  members  of  Parliament  had  taken  great 
interest  in  the  experiment,  and  that  he  also  knew  manufacturers 
who  would  have  been  quite  willing  to  allow  workmen  to  share  in  a 
certain  amount  of  the  profits  if  it  could  have  been  carried  out  with- 
out themselves  taking  part  in  the  business,  and  if  the  workpeople 
would  rely  on  the  amounts  stated  to  have  been  realised,  and 
jealousy  not  allowed  to  interfere.  Mr.  Greenwood  assured  Mr. 
Bright  that  good  workmen  believed  iii  profit  sharing,  and  that  the 
principle  had  attracted  a  superior  class  of  employes  to  Mitchell  Hey. 
Mr  Bright  replied  that  if  the  scheme  had  succeeded  other  manu- 
facturers would  have  been  compelled  to  offer  to  employes  some  in- 
ducement for  vigilance  and  better  work  ;  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
paid  as  a  gift  but  for  making  the  capital  of  the  employer  more 
remunerative,  the  machinery  do  more  work,  and  to  exercise  greater 
economy  in  the  material  they  had  to  manipulate. * 

Mr.  Bright's  interest  in  this  question  is  one  of  the  most  honour- 
able things  in  his  career.  Experience  shows  that  once  a  social  ex- 
periment which  has  excited  great  hopes  has  been  defeated,  it  is 
seldom  that  the  same  generation  try  it  again.  It  is  a  pity  Mr. 

1  Handbook  of  the  Rochdale  Congress,  1S92,  by  William  Robertson. 

H 


114        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

Bright's  advice  was  not  acted  upon.  Mr.  Bright  never  gave  his 
advice  without  giving  his  influence.  Had  an  attempt  been  made  to 
reverse  the  decision  against  the  principle  on  which  the  mill  was 
founded,  the  friendly  minority  would  have  been  increased  and  pro- 
bably inspired  to  recommence  their  vital  experiment. 

Mr.  John   T.  W.   Mitchell,  whose   name   the   reader   has  seen 
(p.  54),  was  one  of  the  promoters  and  chairman — the  Rochdale  Con- 
gress Handbook  records — of  this  manufacturing  society.     As  such 
I  he  must  have  believed  in  profit  sharing.     Had  he  remained  faithful 
to  that  principle,  the   wholesale   society  had   been  the  promoter 
instead  of  the  organised  discouragement  of  true  co-operation. 
Rochdale  holds  much  of  its  old  ground,  and  goes  steadily  forward 
in  many  excellent  ways,  but  the  ancient  enthusiasm — which  pushed 
forward  into  new  paths,  or  fought  its  way  back  to  the  old  principles, 
i  when  driven  out  of  them  by  adverse  votes— has  not  been  maintained 
}  with  equal  conspicuousness  among  the  new  generation  of  co-opera- 
j!  tors  ;  else  we  should  have  seen  the  great  principle  of  self-helping 
industry  vindicated  in  Rochdale  before  this. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   STORY  OP  THE   CORN  MILL. 

THE  murder  of  the  equitable  industrial  principle  effected  at  Mitchell 
Hey  by  the  seizure  and  perversion  of  the  Co-operative  Manufactur- 
ing Society  was  noised  abroad,  and  spread  discouragement  throughout 
the  earth.  It  was  of  the  nature  of  a  compliment  to  Rochdale,  that 
what  was  done  in  that  town  should  be  thought  much  of  elsewhere. 
Rochdale  men  had  come  to  be  considered  as  really  pioneers  of 
industrial  progress.  The  abandonment  of  co-operative  principle  in 
the  Manufacturing  Society  was  treated  as  a  "  failure  "  of  it.  It  was 
supposed  that  the  principle  had  been  tried  by  deliberate,  sagacious, 
patient,  earnest  men,  who  had  applied  all  their  powers  to  it,  ex- 
hausted all  their  resources  upon  it,  made  prolonged  sacrifices  to  give 
it  effect,  had  afforded  ample  time  for  the  experiment  to  be  fully 
tested,  and  that  the  failure  of  the  principle  was  decisive.  It  has 
been  shown  now  how  mistaken  all  these  impressions  were.  If  the 
people  of  Oldham  can  build  a  new  mill  every  week,  the  increasing 
and  enterprising  population  of  Rochdale  might  surely  start  other 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  CORN   MILL.  115 

manufacturing  societies,  and  try  the  experiment  again  and  again 
and  restore  and  increase  the  reputation  of  that  historic  town. 

When  I  went  to  the  Industrial  Exhibition  at  Amsterdam,  owing 
to  the  interest  taken  in  it  by  Mr.  Somerset  Beaumont,  M.P.,  the 
first  question  put  to  me  by  Baron  Mackay  on  the  Commission  of 
Inquiry,  at  which  he  presided,  was,  "  Had  the  Corn  Mill  failed  1 " 
The  impression  in  Holland  was  that  failure  had  set  in  in  Rochdale, 
and  that  whatsoever  was  equitable,  fair,  and  hopeful,  and  of  good 
report,  had  been  swallowed  up  by  the  impetuous  dragon  of  un- 
scrupulous dividend. 

The  Corn  Mill  Society  was  founded,  as  has  been  related  (Part  I.), 
in  1850.  An  account  of  its  first  years,  dated  now  sixteen  years  ago, 
wa»  Written  by  Mr.  W.  Cooper.  The  Mill  began  in  a  dainty  way. 
The  co-operators  had  acquired  some  taste  by  dealing  at  the  Store, 
and  had  learned  to  dislike  as  well  as  detect  adulteration,  and  re- 
solved to  imitate  the  successful  example  of  Leeds,  and  have  a  corn 
mill  of  their  own.  The  rules  were  drawn  up  mainly  by  the  same 
sagacious  hands  which  drew  up  the  Pioneers'  rules  six  years  before 
(Mr.  Charles  Howarth's),  who  was  a  factory  worker,  but  was  also  a 
kind  of  "  sea  lawyer'7  to  the  Pioneers.  He  would  give  his  nights 
to  the  humble  work  of  codification.  It  took  him  a  long  time  to  see 
his  way  ;  but  he  was  sure  to  find  it.  He  was  one  of  those  ocular 
men  who  keep  on  looking  until  they  see  something. 

The  adventurous  promoters  of  this  Mill — though  it  is  plain  sailing 
now,it  was  quite  an  affair  of  unknown  navigation  then — held  theirfirst 
meetings,  as  we  have  said,  at  the  Elephant  and  Castle  Inn,  Man- 
chester Road,  Rochdale.  Afterwards  they  met  at  the  Weavers'  Arms, 
and,  finally,  at  the  meeting-room  of  the  Pioneer  Store,  Toad  Lane, 
that  Society  taking  twenty  shares  of  £5  each  in  the  Corn  Mill. 
John  Butterworth  carried  the  first  treasury  box,  which,  Mr.  Cooper 
records,  "was  not  very  heavy,  as  it  seldom  had  more  than  £6  at  a 
time  in  it."  When  a  capital  of  £1000  was  provided,  steps  were 
taken  to  look  out  for  a  mill.  At  first  an  old  one  was  taken  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  Rochdale,  called  "Holme  Mill,"  at  a  rental  of 
£150.  Members  brought  in  all  the  money  they  could.  Among  the 
first  committee  were  Laurence  Melladay,  Geo.  Greenwood,  John 
Turner,  Edmund  Hartley,  and  John  Butterworth,  of  the  "  treasury 
box,"  all  of  whom  subscribed  to  the  extent  of  their  means.  Others 
put  in  only  a  portion  of  their  money,  investing  at  the  same  time 
elsewhere,  lest  the  Corn  Mill  should  grind  up  with  the  wheat  what 
they  had  put  in  it.  Others  helped  the  Cora  Mill  with  their  good 
wishes,  waiting  to  see  how  it  succeeded  before  they  helped  it  in  any 
more  expensive  way.  The  Toad  Lane  Pioneers,  however,  made  an 
investment  of  £100  more — a  good  deal  for  them  to  risk  when  their 
Society  was  only  six  years  old.  They  appointed  representatives  in 
whose  name  the  money  should  be  invested,  a  plan  afterwards  followed 
by  other  societies — the  plan  being  to  give  one  representative  to 
every  £5.  Before  the  end  of  1850,  the  Equitable  Pioneers  had 


Il6        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

^hirty  representatives — quite  a  detachment — to  look  after  their  £200. 
About  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Rochdale  existed  a  Brickfield  Equitable 
Pioneer  Society.  Though  fewer  in  numbers  than  the  Rochdale 
Society,  it  was  never  behind  in  support  of  the  Mill.  Its  members 
were  really  what  have  since  been  called  "  bricks."  They  appointed 
representatives  and  paid  their  investments,  and  when  the  Mill  got 
to  work  the  Brickfield  "  bricks"  bought  all  their  flour  from  the  Mill 
— good  or  bad,  none  else  would  they  sell.  The  Rochdale  Equitable 
Pioneers  did  the  same. 

Some  persons  who  joined  the  Mill  Society,  conceived  a  clever  little 
scheme  of  getting  some  profit  out  of  it.  They  proposed  to  take  at  a 
rental  a  portion  of  the  Holme  Mill,  with  turning  power  for  willows 
to  break  up  cotton  or  other  waste.  As  this  scheme  promised  to 
lessen  the  risks  of  the  Society  by  lessening  its  rental,  all  the  timid 
members  were  likely  to  be  influenced  by  it  ;  while  others  wisely 
contended  that  the  dust  from  the  waste  would  get  into  the  flour,  and 
their  customers  might  reasonably  object  to  eat  a  mixture  of  cotton 
waste  and  wheat.  After  argument  enough  to  turn  a  dozen  corn 
mills,  it  was  decided  not  to  re-let. 

The  Pioneers'  Almanac,  in  due  course,  set  forth  touching  the  Corn 
Mill:  "The  objects  of  this  Society  are  to  provide  for  its  members 
and  those  who  trade  with  it,  pure, wholesome,  and  unadulterated  flour 
at  a  price  and  quality  equal  to  what  can  be  done  by  any  miller  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  divide  the  profits  arising  from  the  trade  amongst 
the  members,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  money  expended,  hav- 
ing first  paid  interest  upon  capital  after  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  per 
annum."1  The  laws  by  which  the  Society  is  governed  are  the  same 
in  principle  as  those  of  the  Equitable  Pioneers,  save  in  the  exclusion 
of  labour  from  profit. 

In  1861,  for  the  first  time,  the  words  "after  the  rate  of  five  per 
cent,  per  annum  "  were  changed  into  "  after  the  rate  of  £5  per  cent, 
per  annum."  The  Toad  Lane  Store  had  been  going  sixteen  years 
then,  before  it  was  discovered  that  an  abstract  statement  of  financial 
profits  was  not  intelligible  to  the  concrete  minds  of  Rochdale.  The 
increasing  number  of  outsiders  who  were  beginning  to  come  into  the 
stores  and  buy  of  the  Mill  did  not  quite  .understand  what  "  five  pel- 
cent."  meant— they  perfectly  understood  what  "£5"  meant.  It 
takes  a  long  time  to  acquire  the  art  of  making  things  plain. 

Never  Avas  there  a  more  obstinate  corn  mill  than  that  of  Holme. 
The  flour  would  not  be  good — the  mill"  would  not  pay — and  the 
profits  would  not  come.  The  first  report  of  the  Society  was  ashamed 
to  show  itself ;  the  second,  of  June,  1851,  showed  a  loss  of  £103  ; 
the  third  report,  of  September,  showed  a  loss  of  £338  on  the 
quarter's  transactions.  A  total  loss  of  £441  attracted  an  army  of 
croakers.  Mr.  Darwin  would  have  had  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the 

i  This  is  so  far  the  right  form  of  productive  co-operation  :  it  hires  capital  and  divides 
all  profits  among  the  yurchasers  who  make  it.  But  the  Almanac  is  silent  as  to  in- 
cluding the  workmen. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  CORN   MILL.  117 

descent  of  all  of  them  in  a  town  which  had  produced  Toad  Lane. 
But  the  croakers  were  not  born  round  the  mill.  The  Pioneers  were 
said  to  be  blundering.  It  was  plain  to  everybody  th^y  did  not 
understand  corn  milling-  Their  manager  had  mismanaged.  The 
Society  discharged  him,  and  the  directors  and  president,  Mr. 
Abraham  Greenwood,  went  to  market  themselves,  taking  a  miller 
with  them  to  judge  the  quality  of  the  grain  they  bought,  and  they 
managed  without  a  manager. 

A  revolutionary  meeting  was  held  at  the  Pioneers'  meeting-rooms, 
when  the  prophets  of  evil  were,  as  is  their  wont,  eloquent  in  favour 
of  running  away.  Some  members  argued  that  they  had  better  give 
up  supporting  the  Corn  Mill ;  that  the  Store,  by  selling  only  the 
Corn  Mill  Society's  flour,  was  losing  its  custom  ;  that  the  Corn  Mill 
Society  was  losing  money,  and  could  not  be  made  to  pay,  and  that 
the  Mill  would  go  down,  and  the  Store  had  better  shake  the  Mill  off, 
buy  their  flour  wherever  they  could  buy  it  cheapest  and  best,  else 
the  Mill  would  drag  the  Store  down  along  with  it.  Others  main- 
tained that  private  individuals  could  make  it  do,  and  get  a  fortune 
out  of  the  business,  and  why  not  co-operators  ?  The  causes  of  the 
losses  were  shown  to  arise  from  shortness  of  money  to  work  the 
business  with,  necessitating  them  to  take  grain  from  those  factors 
who  would  give  them  credit,  when  sometimes  that  wheat  was  neither 
the  best  nor  the  cheapest ;  from  neglect  or  want  of  skill,  or  both,  in 
the  head  miller ;  and  from  want  of  better  support  from  the  members 
and  stores.  It  was  also  said  by  others  that  if  the  Corn  Mill  Society 
was  to  fail,  it  would  be  a  severe  test  for  co-operation  in  Rochdale, 
for  how  would  confidence  in  the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers' 
Society  be  maintained,  when  the  members  could  be  pointed  to  one 
Co-operative  Society  in  the  town  that  had  already  failed  ?  We  have 
related  already  how  there  came  into  play  that  vigorous  sense  and 
talismaniac  faith  of  the  Pioneer  idea.  Mr.  James  Smithies  contended 
that  duty,  the  honour  of  co-operation  and  pioneership,  called  upon 
them  not  to  forsake  the  Mill.  A  majority  voted  in  favour  of  con- 
tinuing it.  Some  of  the  opposition  shook  their  heads,  and  said  the 
majority  would  not  see  their  folly  until  they  had  brought  ruin  to  the 
"Pioneers'  Society."  But  though  the  Corn  Mill  Society  had  got 
one  favourable  vote  in  the  Pioneers'  Society,  it  was  not  yet  safe  ; 
for  an  unfavourable  one  might  be  passed  at  some  other  meeting  of 
the  same  Society.  Parties  went  about  enthusiastically  crying  the 
Mill  up,  while  others  were  hysterically  crying  it  down.  As  the  same 
members  belonged  to  the  Corn  Mill  Committee  and  the  Store 
Committee,  they  had  to  run  from  one  room  to  another  to  divert  an 
adverse  vote.  Mr.  Cooper  gives  a  picture  of  the  social  difficulty  of 
doing  this — one  of  those  transcripts  of  the  domestic  sacrifices  of 
reformers  seldom  brought  into  sight,  though  an  important  part  of 
social  history : — 

"  There  were  the  monthly  meetings  of  each  of  the  societies,  be- 
sides occasional  special  meetings,  and  two  officers  had  to  attend 


Il8        HISTORY    OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

committee  meetings  one  night,  often  more,  in  each  week.  Of  course 
the  men  would  be  away  from  home  while  attending  these  meetings. 
The  wife,  who  is  mostly  as  good  a  supporter  of  the  mill  as  her  hus- 
band, generally  putting  up  with  the  flour  when  it  was  not  so  good  as 
it  ought  to  be ;  and  when  she  had  a  nice  baking  bread  showing  it  to 
all  neighbours  and  comers — that  they  might  be  convinced  what  good 
flour  the  Corn  Mill  Society  was  making.  Certainly  some  husbands 
would  find  fault  with  the  wife  when  the  bread  was  not  good,  and 
say  'she  had  spoiled  the  flour,'  to  which  some  wives  would  reply, 
'  they  could  bake  as  well  as  other  people  if  they  had  the  same  flour, 
and  that  they  would  not  use  the  Corn  Mill  Society's  flour  if  they 
were  to  be  grumbled  at  because  they  could  not  make  good  bread  out 
of  bad  flour.'  The  husband  would  be  from  home  while  attending 
meetings,  the  wife  had  to  put  the  children  to  bed,  and  would  be 
waiting  with  no  one  to  speak  a  word  to  her,  until  the  husband  came 
from  the  meeting.  All  would  be  silent  except  the  constant  tick  of 
the  clock,  the  rain  battering  against  the  windows,  and  the  wind 
whistling  and  howling  as  if  it  had  risen  in  revolt  against  the  re- 
straints imposed  upon  it  by  nature.  To  the  wife  alone,  minutes 
seem  as  long  as  hours,  she  thinks  she  is  neglected,  her  husband 
attending  meetings,  or  anything  else  rather  than  home.  At  another 
house  little  Elizabeth  has  been  sickly  some  days,  and  father  has 
been  at  work  all  day,  and  now,  when  his  work  is  done,  he  has  gone 
to  the  meeting.  Tlae  mother  cannot  get  the  child  to  rest — she 
thinks  it  is  getting  worse,  When  the  husband  comes  home,  she 
tells  him  how  sickly  the  child  is,  and  that  he  ought  not  to  have  gone 
to  the  meeting — indeed,  if  he  had  any  thought  for  the  child  he  could 
not  go.  He  tells  her  he  has  come  home  as  soon  as  the  meeting  was 
over,  but  he  cannot  persuade  her  that  he  ought  to  have  gone  at  all. 
He  believes  the  child  will  be  better  in  a  few  days,  and  promises  to 
help  her  to  nurse  and  take  care  of  her  till  it  is  so.  These,  or  many 
similar  incidents,  will  have  occurred  to  most  persons  engaged  in 
promoting  social  or  other  reforms.  But  it  must  not  be  said  that 
the  women  are  opposed  to  co-operation ;  they  are  and  ever  have 
been  as  much  interested  and  as  zealous  of  its  success  as  the  men. 
There  are  many  instances  where  the  husband  was  lukewarm  and  the 
wife  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  join  the  Co-operative  Society,  but 
she  was  not  to  be  baffled,  so  she  enters  the  Co-operative  Society  her- 
self. After  a  while,  the  husband  thinks  he  should  like  to  have  hia 
name  on  the  books.  The  wife  will  then  withdraw  so  that  he  may 
take  her  number,  or  he  will  be  proposed,  and  they  will  both  become 
members." 

By  the  end  of  1851  fifteen  co-operative  stores  traded  with  the 
Corn  Mill.  By  the  end  of  1852  they  had  increased  to  fifty-two. 
Among  the  individual  members  of  the  Corn  Mill,  in  its  struggling 
days,  were  Mary  Hawkes  and  Elizabeth  Stott,  James  Smithies, 
Abraham  Greenwood,  William  Cooper,  and  others  familiar  to  the 
reader.  In  the  first  year  Samuel  Ashworth,  Thomas  Barlow,  John 


THE   STORY  OF   THE   CORN    MILL. 


Grinclrod,  John  Collier,  John  Pickles,  Edmund  Hartley,  George 
Hoit,  Edmund  Rhodes,  John  Clegg,  and  William  Cooper  had  each 
£10  in  the  Mill,  which  meant  a  good  deal  in  those  days. 

There  was  real  difficulty  about  the  flour.  Besides  its  sale  nob 
making  profit,  it  was  not  good  —  bad  wheat  being  often  bought; 
and  when  it  was  really  good,  numbers  of  the  customers  disliked  it. 
It  was  not  so  white  as  that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed. 
They  called  it  "yellow  flour."  It  had  a  cream-coloured  look,  instead 
of  the  nice  alum  colour  with  which  they  were  familiar.  They  did 
not  know  good  flour  when  they  saw  it,  and  did  not  like  it  when  they 
tasted  it.  They  had  never  known  the  taste  of  pure  flour,  and  it 
took  a  long  time  to  educate  their  taste.  In  taking  the  falling 
fortune  of  the  Mill  into  his  hands,  Mr.  A.  Greenwood  had  to  learn 
the  art  of  buying  wheat  and  the  trade  of  milling,  and  the  proper 
management  of  a  flour  mill.  These  difficult  duties  discharged,  in 
addition  to  those  in  a  mill  of  a  very  different  kind  where  he  was 
employed,  made  serious  inroads  both  on  his  time  and  in  his  health. 
For  some  years  the  consequences  were  serious  to  him.  He,  how- 
ever, succeeded  in  mastering  the  business,  and  pioneered  the  Mill 
out  of  its  difficulties.  Mr.  Robert  Hoyle,  Richard  Hoyle,  "William 
Ellis,  William  Taylor,  and  others,  by  enthusiasm  and  address  aiding, 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  first  quarter  in  which  the  Society  had  no 
manager  it  made  a  profit  of  £20. 

We  now  arrive  at  the  time,  plain,  tame,  prosaic-looking  1855-,  when 
the  Weir  Street  Mill  first  entered  into  the  human  mind  —  that  is  into 
that  part  of  the  human  mind  which  understood  co-operative  enter- 
prise in  Rochdale.  The  fixed  stock  or  fittings  and  machinery  of  the 
Holme  Mill,  where  the  Corn  Mill  first  commenced  business,  cost 
£1,275.  It  really  cost  four  shillings  and  a  penny  more  (I  mention 
the  4s.  Id.  lest  anyone  should  impugn  the  accuracy  of  this  narrative). 
In  the  early  part  of  the  Society's  operations  nothing  could  be  set 
aside  for  depreciation,  owing  to  losses.  When  better  days  came, 
the  losses  were  cleared  off,  which  was  done  before  any  dividend  was 
paid.  At  every  subsequent  report  of  the  Society,  £50  or  £100,  and 
sometimes  as  much  as  £300,  were  set  aside  for  wear  and  tear,  and 
by  the  end  of  1855,  everything  had  been  paid  for,  excepting  an 
amount  of  £27. 

In  1856  a  new  mill  and  machinery  was  established  at  a  cost  of 
£6,827  16s.  lOid.  (mark  that  ''halfpenny!")  The  co-operators 
Knew  exactly  what  the  Corn  Mill  cost  them.  It  has  since  been  known 
as  the  "Rochdale  District  Co-operative  Corn  Mill  Society's  New 
Mill,  Weir  Street,  Rochdale."  According  to  the  engraving  which 
represents  it,  and  which  I  published  at  the  Fleet  Street  House, 
sixteen  years  ago,  it  is  the  most  melancholy  mill  that  ever  made  a 
dividend.  Dark,  thick,  murky  clouds  around  it,  and  the  sky  line 
as  grim  as  the  ridges  of  a  coffin.  The  white  glass  of  the  plain  front 
meets  the  eye  like  the  ghost  of  a  disembodied  factory.  "A  dreary 
waggon,  carrying  bags  of  corn,  guided  by  drivers  that  look  like 


I2O        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

mutes,  is  making  its  way  through  a  cold,  Siberian  defile.  The 
builder  might  have  made  it  pleasant  to  the  eye,  with  as  little  ex- 
pense as  he  made  it  ugly.  But  in  those  days  nobody  thought  of 
comeliness,  seemliness,  or  pleasantness  in  structure,  in  which  men 
would  work  all  their  lives.  The  really  pleasant  part  about  the 
Corn  Mill  was  in  the  minds  of  the  gallant  co-operators  who  set  it 
going,  and  kept  it  going. 

The  Almanac  repeated  that,  "The  objects  of  this  Society  are 
to  provide  its  members,  and  those  who  trade  with  it,  with  pure, 
wholesome,  and  utiadulterated  flour.  The  profits  arising  from  the 
trade  are  divided  amongst  the  members,  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  money  expended,  having  first  paid  interest  upon  capital  (nothing 
to  the  workmen)  after  the  rate  of  £5  per  cent,  per  annum.  The 
laws  by  which  the  Society  is  governed  are  the  same  in  principle 
[which  was  not  the  case]  as  those  of  the  Equitable  Pioneers." 

The  wise  practice  of  reducing  the  cost  of  the  mill  by  reserves  made 
for  depreciation  was  continued,  so  that  in  1860,  when  the  mill  could 
be  sold  under  the  hammer  for  £6,000,  it  stood  in  the  books  as  an 
asset  at  £3,862  only. 

At  the  quarter  ending  June,  1860,  the  amount  of  business  done 
at  the  melancholy  mill  amounted  to  £33,140.  The  Directors  then 
announced  that  "  it  had  then  become  obvious  that  their  present  mill 
and  machinery  could  not  be  extended  much  farther  with  advantage." 
At  that  time  the  number  of  members  was  550,  the  representatives 
of  stores  and  sick  and  burial  societies  included.  It  was  for  the  bene- 
fit of  these  societies  that  they  should  invest  their  accumulated  funds 
in  co-operative  undertaking;  for,  at  the  bank,  they  only  obtained 
two  or  three  per  cent,  on  their  deposits,  and  they  knew  nothing 
further  about  their  money,  except  that  they  had  left  it  there.  Being 
men  of  inquiring  minds,  they  did  not  quite  like  this  mystery  about 
their  money.  At  the  co-operative  societies  they  could  get  five  per 
cent.,  and  know  where  their  money  was,  and  what  it  was  doing,  and 
have  votes  in  the  management  of  the  society,  so  as  to  make  sure  their 
money  was  doing  well.  Of  course,  it  took  some  trouble  to  persuade 
the  members  of  sick  and  burial  societies  that  it  was  safe  to  invest 
their  funds  hi  the  Corn  Mill.  It  was  necessary  that  they  should  be 
satisfied  on  this  head,  for  if  they  had  much  anxiety  about  their 
money  the  Directors  themselves  might  become  sick,  and,  being  sick, 
not  get  better,  and  then  the  Burial  Society  might  have  to  inter  the 
Directors.  When  the  Corn  Mill  had  been  some  four  or  five  years 
at  work,  a  lodge  in  the  town  took  courage  and  voted  to  invest  some 
of  their  money  in  the  Mill,  and  appointed  three  representatives  to 
take  it.  Mr.  Cooper  relates  that,  "  when  they  got  there  and  saw 
the  committee  of  the  Mill  they  durst  not  leave  the  money."  Per- 
turbed, confused,  and  not  knowing  how  to  explain  their  impres- 
sions, they  retired  shambling,  suspicious,  and  speechless.  They 
went  back  to  their  lodge,  where  they  appeared  like  the  Provost  of 
Linlithgow,  looking  as  though  they  had  been  "touched  by  a  tor- 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  CORN   MILL.  121 

pedo,  or  seen  of  a  wolf,"  and  related  that  "  they  had  beheld  weavers 
sitting  on  the  Corn  Mill  committee,  and  that  none  of  the  committee 
were  rich  men,  so  they  had  brought  the  money  back  to  the  I'dge 
that  it  might  be  safer  than  in  the  hands  of  working  men.3'  They 
had  been  swindled  by  gentlemen  before,  as  when  the  Savings  Bank 
iu  the  town  failed,  and  brought  dismay  into  thousands  of  poor 
families;  but  they  had  never  been  swindled  by  working  men,  and 
so  they  thought  it  a  sort  of  duty  to  lose  their  money  by  respectable 
defaulters  only.  The  lodge,  however,  took  a  more  common-sense 
view  of  the  matter.  They  held  a  consultation  upon  the  subject,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  weavers  were  as  fit  to  be  trusted  as 
bankers.  They  appointed  fresh  representatives  with  a  little  more 
courage,  and  sent  more  money  by  them  than  they  had  entrusted  to 
the  first  downcast  set.  It  was  all  invested,  and  ever  after  it  remained. 

In  later  years  the  Almanac  gave  this  pleasant  report  of  its  pro- 
gress : — "  This  Society,  although  one  of  the  most  delicate  in  its  in-  ^ 
fancy,  has  now  grown  to  be  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  healthy. 
About  seven-eights  of  the  businessdone  is  with  co-operative  societies, 
there  being  about  50.  who  trade  with  it.  It  supplies  its  members, 
and  others  who  trade  with  it,  with  pure,  wholesome,  unadulterated 
flour  meal.  Some  people  have  objected  to  th&  flour  from  this  mill, 
simply  because,  when  supplied  to  them  pure,  it  did  not  look  so  well 
to  the  eye  when  baked  into  bread;  we  know  that  when  they  have 
been  most  deceived  they  have  been  best  pleased.  Those  who  choose 
to  adulterate  for  themselves  can  do  so.  The  gradually  increasing 
business  has  necessitated  an  increase  in  the  productive  power ;  con- 
sequently the  Society  added  in  1862  (to  its  previous  working  plant) 
one  25-horse-power  steam  engine,  and  six  pairs  of  French  stones, 
which  are  now  at  work  helping  to  supply  the  increased  demand.  It 
has  also  erected  in  the  past  year  three  cottage  houses." 

The  difficulty  about  adulteration,  which  for  a  time  was  so  serious, 
the  Society  had  quite  overcome,  and  was  even  vivacious  about  it. 
The  members  had  become  more  intelligent ;  they  had  learned  the 
nature  of  good  flour  when  they  had  it;  their  tastes  were  better 
educated  than  that  of  many  gentlemen  of  the  middle  class,  and  the 
Directors  were  able  to  tell  the  purchasers,  in  a  reckless  manner,  "if 
they  wanted  to  adulterate  the  flour  they  could  do  it  themselves." 
The  Society  took  upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  advising  the  I 
formation  of  corn  mills  in  different  parts  of  the  country  where  there  | 
were  co-operative  societies  to  support  them.  The  propagandist 
sentiment  has  always  been  one  of  the  honourable  distinctions  of 
Rochdale.  For  this  purpose  they  consulted  Mr.  John  Holmes,  of 
Leeds,  always  a  copious,  fertile,  quaint,  and  willing  illustrator  of 
co-operative  principles.  He  had  had  great  experience  with  the 
Leeds  Corn  Mill,  of  which  he  was  a  trustee.  He  explained  that  it 
may  be  taken  as  a  general  fact  that  1,000  families  would  not  support 
a  corn  mill,  2,000  will  probably  do  it,  and  3,000  families  would  be 
certain  to  do  it.  Of  course  this  applied  to  demand  alone.  At  Leeds 


122        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 


the  mill  would  not  have  paid  with  1,000  members.  At  Garforth, 
near  Leeds,  where  there  were  1,500  members,  the  mill  barely 
existed.  At  Rochdale,  they  fared  better  with  2,000  members,  but 
then  they  sold  to  the  public  also.  As  to  funds,  the  Leeds  Society 
started  with  21s.  per  member,  and  with  this  1,000  could  trade. 
Perhaps  with  a  mill  hired  they  might  find  machinery  for  1,000 
members  for  £2  each,  or  2,000  for  30s.  each :  but  for  a  freehold  mill 
and  works  2,000  people  will  require  50s.  each,  supposing  all  was 
done  well  and  cheaply.  A  mill  could  not  be  built,  including  ground 
and  machinery,  for  less  than  from  five  to  seven  thousand  pounds, 
to  grind  for  2.000  people. 

The  conclusion  to  which  the  Rochdale  people  came  was,  that  in 
any  district  where  there  are  a  group  of  co-operative  stores  not  more 
than  eight  or  ten  miles  distant,  having  altogether  three  thousand 
members,  and  these  societies  would  furnish  a  capital  of,  say,  25s. 
per  member,  they  would  be  safe  in  renting  a  mill  and  fitting  the 
same  up  with  their  own  machinery.  The  cost  would  be  greater  now. 

The  progress  and  fluctuations  of  the  "Rochdale  District  Co- 
operative Corn  Mill,  Limited,"  is  best  told  in  its  Almanac  reports 
of  26  years. 


Year. 

Funds. 

Business. 

Profits. 

1850 

£ 

£ 

None. 

£ 

1851 

2,613 

•*• 

+  None. 

1852 

2,898 

7,636 

336 

1853 

4,143 

16,679 

208 

1854 

3,971 

22,047 

557 

1855 

4,626 

28,085 

1,376 

1856 

8,784 

38,070 

773 

1857 

10,701 

54,326 

2,007 

1858 

14,181 

59,188 

3,135 

1859 

18,236 

85,845 

6,115 

1860 

26,618 

133,125 

10,164 

1861 

29,600 

166,800 

10000 

1862 

30,254 

155,696 

8,227 

1863 

41,714 

152,492 

10,138 

1864 

46,739 

141.309 

7,806 

1865 

55,261 

148,533 

12,511 

1806 

72,020 

224,122 

18,163 

1867 

89,000 

357,440 

15,000 

1868 

86,400 

349,439 

4,824 

1869 

95,961 

219,674 

None. 

1870 

56,000 

185,603 

None. 

1871 

63,570 

190,751 

3,661 

*  Account  mislaid.         t  Loss  £441. 

THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE  "WHOLESALE." 


123 


Year. 

Funds. 

Business. 

Profits. 

£ 

£ 

£ 

1872 

64,692 

215,238 

3,133 

1873 

67,898 

241,399 

5,145 

1874 

71,294 

244,181 

6,474 

1875 

79,615 

204,242 

2,532 

1876 

77,279 

176,671 

3,370 

1877 

78,234 

252,045 

5,333 

1878 

83,985 

285,920 

3,860 

1879 

88,857 

270,037 

5,822 

1880 

97,414 

301,  835 

7,989 

1881 

96,609 

299,670 

6,933 

1882 

99,885 

286,968 

2,144 

1883 

101,323 

259,397 

3,295 

1884 

101,850 

209,910 

1,543 

18S5 

99,980 

192,632 

None. 

1886 

95,319 

167,654 

330  . 

1887 

87,868 

148,726 

None. 

1888 

88,198 

183,524 

44 

1889 

85,340 

196,007 

Loss,  2,  642 

1890 

86,899 

235,274 

4.510 

1891 

93,122 

315,598 

9,022 

1892 

103,358 

254,061 

2,384 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF   THE   "WHOLESALE." 

ONE  of  the  distinctions  of  Rochdale  is  that  it  gave  practical  form  and 
force  to  the  idea  of  a  Federation  of  Purchasers,  which  ultimately 
took  the  style  and  title  of  "  The  North  of  England  Co-operative 
Wholesale  Society,"  otherwise  known  as  the  Great  Manchester 
Wholesale  Association. 

Of  course  no  one  foresaw  the  great  ascendancy  which  one  day 
would  be  attained  by  this  Society.  It  is  very  seldom  that  anyone 
does  see  the  ascendancy  of  anything  while  it  is  upon  the  ground. 
When  it  is  soaring  over  the  mountain  tops,  the  prophets  of  its  failures 
declare  that  they  predicted  its  rise,  and  now  believe  they  made  it 
float. 

Of  course  somebody  began  everything,  and  we  shall  see  in  due  course 
to  whom  the  originating  the  wholesale  ought  to  be  mainly  ascribed. 

Mr.  A.  Greenwood's  own  history  of  attempts  to  promote  a  whole- 
sale agency,  given  in  his  published  "  Plan,"  on  which  the  Purchasing 
Federation  of  the  north  of  England  has  been  founded,  relates  that 
"  an  attempt  in  that  direction  was  made  (1850)  by  the  Christian 


124        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE.  PIONEERS. 

Socialists,  conspicuous  amongst  whom  \vere  Edward  Vansittart 
Neale,  Professor  F.  D.  Maurice,  the  Rev.  Canon  Kingsley,  J.  M. 
Ludlow,  Thomas  Hughes,  Q.O.,  J.  F.  Furnival,  Joseph  Woodin,  and 
Lloyd  Jones.  They  instituted  the  Central  Co-operative  Agency  for 
the  purpose  of  "counteracting  the  system  of  adulteration  and  fraud 
prevailing  in  trade,  and  for  supplying  to  co-operative  stores  a 
quality  of  goods  that  could  be  relied  upon,  and  in  the  highest  state 
of  purity."  The  agency  did  not  succeed,  and  had  to  be  given  up, 
entailing  great  loss  to  its  promoters.  There  was  a  remnant  of  the 
agency  left,  known  as  the  firm  of  Woodin  &  Co.,  Sherborne  Lane 
[now  of  Archer  Street],  London. 

The  main  object  here  is  to  trace  the  part  Rochdale  took  in  giving 
effect  to  the  idea.  The  records  preserved  in  the  long- buried  pages 
of  Toad  Lane  minute  books  were  never  very  ample.  Mr.  Smithies, 
who  was  the  secretary  of  the  Store  in  its  earlier  days,  had  the 
Pioneer  way  of  no  more  wasting  words  than  money.  Frugality  in 
speech  is  certainly  a  virtue,  though  not  usually  counted  in  the  list 
of  meritorious  economies.  Mr.  Bamford  remarks  that  "Mz\ 
Smithies  evidently  never  contemplated  any  one  looking  up  his  re- 
cords for  information  in  after  years."  Writers  of  minutes  in  these 
days  might  check  some  tediousness  by  noticing  to  this  effect  Mr. 
Smithies'  muscular  brevity  of  style.  The  first  entry  concerning  the 
wholesale  was  made  in  July,  1853,  to  this  effect: — "That  Joseph 
*  Clegg  look  after  the  wholesale  department."  There  either  was  then 
a  wholesale  of  some  kind  in  existence,  or  one  was  there  and  then 
agreed  upon  ;  but  only  Dr.  Darwin  himself  could  trace  the  descent 
of  the  wholesale  species  from  anterior  records  here.  Mr.  Bamford 
conjectures  that  the  resolution  refers  only  to  the  drapery  department, 
as  there  are  frequent  references  to  the  drapery  business  suggesting 
it.  At  a  general  members'  meeting  on  September  18th  of  the  same 
year,  it  was  resolved  ' '  to  accept  the  terms  of  the  conference,  and 
become  the  Central  Depot."  This  conference  is  one  supposed  to 
have  been  held  at  Leeds.  At  a  general  meeting  of  members,  held 
the  following  month,  October  23rd,  1853,  the  first  laws  of  the 
wholesale  were  adopted.  The  terms  in  which  they  were  expressed 
have  interest  now.  They  were  as  follows  : — 

"  1. — The  business  of  the  Society  shall  be  divided  into  two  depart- 
ments, the  wholesale  and  the  retail. 

"  2. — The  wholesale  department  shall  be  for  thepurposeof  supplying 
those  members  who  desire  to  have  their  goods  in  large  quantities. 

"3. — This  department  shall  be  managed  by  a  committee  of  eight 
persons  and  the  three  trustees  of  the  Society,  who  shall  meet  every 
Wednesday  evening  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  ;  they  shall  have  the 
control  of  the  buying  and  selling  of  such  goods  as  are  agreed  upon 
by  the  Board  of  Directors  to  be  kept  in  stock  by  that  department. 
This  committee  shall  be  chosen  at  the  quarterly  meetings  in  April 
and  October,  four  retiring  alternately. 

"  4. — The  said  department  shall  be  charged  with  interest  after  the 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE  "WHOLESALE."  12$ 

rate  of  five  per  cent,  per  annum,  for  such  capital  as  may  be  advanced 
by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

"  5. — The  profits  arising  from  this  department,  after  paying  for  the 
cost  of  management  and  other  expenses,  including  interest  aforesaid, 
shall  be  divided  quarterly  into  three  parts,  one  of  which  shall  be 
reserved  to  meet  any  loss  that  may  arise  in  the  course  of  trade,  until 
it  shall  equal  the  fixed  stock  required,  and  the  remaining  two -thirds 
shall  be  divided  amongst  the  members  in  proportion  to  the  amount, 
of  their  purchases  in  the  said  department  [leaving  out  the  workers]."1 
(Signed)  JOKN*  COCKCKOFT, 

ABRAHAM  GREENWOOD, 

WILLIAM  COOPER, 

JAMES  SMITHIES,  Secretary. 

Of  course  these  rules  had  to  be  registered,  and  it  is  not  until  the 
'first  Board  meeting  in  1855  that  any  reference  is  made  to  them,  which 
is  done  in  these  words  : — "  Resolved, — That  we  now  go  on  under  the 
new  laws.''  A  quarterly  meeting  in  February  following  confirmed 
this  resolution.  The  next  clear  reference  to  the  wholesale  of  that 
day  was  in  a  minute  of  a  quarterly  meeting  held  April  2nd,  1855, 
appointing  the  following  persons  as  a  wholesale  committee  : — 
Thomas  Hallows,  Ed.  Farrand,  J.  K.  Clegg,  Jonathan  Crabtree,  Jno. 
Aspden,  James  Meauock,  Charles  Clegg,  and  Ed.  Holt.  At  the 
Board  meeting  held  April  5th,  1855,  the  following  minute  was 
passed: — "That  the  Board  meet  the  wholesale  committee  next  Wed- 
nesday night,  at  half-past  seven."  The  fluctuating  fortunes  of  the 
earlier  wholesale  experiments  were  many.  In  the  minutes  of  the 
Board  meeting  held  November  8th,  1855,  it  was  resolved,  "That 
a  special  meeting  be  called  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of 
altering  the  law  relating  to  the  wholesale  department."  On  December 
17th,  of  the  same  year,  the  committee  resolved :  "  That  it  is  the  opinion 
of  the  Board  that  the  15th,  16th,  and  17th  laws,  relating  to  the  whole- 
sale department,  ought  to  be  repealed. "  At  the  ensuing  quarterly 
meeting  (January  7th,  1856),  at  which  Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood  was 
elected  president,  the  seventh  resolution  is  "That  the  wholesale 
department  be  continv.cd  ;  ^  and  a  committee  of  seven  were  appointed 
"  to  inquire  into  the  grievances  complained  of  in  the  present  system 
of  carrying  on  the  wholesale  department."  The  following  persons 
constituted  the  committee:  —  Samuel  Stott,  John  Morton,  John 
Mitchell,  Edward  Farrand.  John  Nuttall,  James  Tweedale,  and  A. 
Howard.  On  March  3rd,  1856,  the  following  were  appointed  dele- 
gates to  attend  a  Wholesale  Conference  : — Abraham  Hill,  David  Hill, 
Samuel  Fielding,  and  William  Ellis.  Kb  mention  is  made  of  the 
place  where  the  conference  was  held,  but  the  scheme  of  a  new 

1  This  plan  bears  resemblance  to  that  Mr.  L.  Jones  drew  up,  which  probably  the 
devisors  had  before  them,  as  Mr.  Smithies  had  once  copied  it  cot.  Mr.  Jones'  plan 
t:ivided  profits  into  four  parts,  deroting  one  to  the  establishment  of  working  men's 
ussociatton  in  connection  with  co-operative.  The  Rochdale  plan  drops  this  out  and  in 
other  respects  introduces  local  features  and  simplifications. 


126        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

wholesale  society  appears  to  have  been  discussed  there,  for  at  the 
quarterly  meeting  held  April  7th,  1856,  the  members  passed  the 
following  resolution  : — "  That  our  delegates  support  the  proposition 
of  each  member  taking  out  four  shares  of  £5  each  for  one  representa- 
tive, at  the  Wholesale  Conference  to  be  held  on  April  12th.;)  At  an 
adjourned  meeting  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  inquire 
into  certain  grievances  was  accepted  with  thanks.  At  a  general 
meeting  held  May  5th,  1856,  the  following  persons  were  appointed  on 
the  wholesale  committee  : — Thomas  Lord,  Edward  Lord,  William 
Huddlestone,  and  Jonathan  Woolfenden.  At  the  next  Board  meet- 
ing a  committee  appears  to  have  been  appointed  to  draw  up  rules  for 
a  wholesale  society,  but  the  names  are  not  given.  At  the  next 
quarterly  meeting  these  rules  appear  to  have  been  considered,  as  there 
is  a  resolution  expunging  the  word  "suggest"  from  rule  25.  The 
following  resolution  was  alsopassed : — "That  our  Society  invest£l,500. 
in  the  North  of  England  Wholesale  Society."  Mr.  Jonathan  Crabtree 
was  appointed  the  representative.  The  earlier  years  in  which  the 
wholesale  project  was  maturing  will  be  of  more  interest  hereafter 
than  now. 

On  July  7th,  1856,  there  is  a  resolution  of  the  quarterly  meeting, 
empoweringthe  delegates  to  the  Wholesale  Conference  "to  support  the 
laws  drawn  up  by  the  committee  for  a  wholesale  society,  at  the  next 
delegate  meeting  to  be  held  on  July  12th,  1856."  On  September  4th, 
1856,  the  Board  gave  Mr.  Cooper  authority  "to  collect  the  expenses 
incurred  by  the  wholesale  depot  from  the  various  stores."  On  Decem- 
ber 7th,  1857,  the  following  persons  were  appointed  a  committee  "to 
inquire  into  the  wholesale  department'' : — William  Diggle,  Samuel 
Fielding,  Matthew  Ormerod,  David  Hill,  and  Edmund  Hill.  The 
report  of  this  committee  was  presented  to  the  quarterly  meeting  on 
January  4th,  1858,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  report  "be  legibly 
written  out  and  posted  in  some  conspicuous  place,  to  be  read  by  the 
members,  and  reconsidered  at  next  monthly  meeting."  The  next  re- 
solution passed  at  the  same  meeting  is,  "That  the  laws  relating  to 
the  wholesale  department  be  suspended  for  an  indefinite  period." 
The  Board,  at  its  meeting  three  days  afterwards,  decided  "That  the 
resolution  of  the  quarterly  meeting  respecting  the  wholesale  depart- 
ment be  carried  out  forthwith.''  One  of  the  minutes  at  the  adjourned 
quarterly  meeting,  held  March  1st,  1858,  is,  "That  the  report  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  wholesale  department  be 
not  received." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  ordinary  business  of  the  quarterly  meeting, 
held  April  5th,  1858,  the  meeting  was  made  special  "for  the  purpose 
of  rescinding  the  laws  relating  to  the  wholesale  department,  num- 
bered 13,  14, 15,  16,  and  17."  The  meeting  does  not  appear  to  have 
done  what  it  was  called  to  do,  however,  for  the  decision  it  came  to  was 
"That  the  wholesale  department  be  not  altered."  The  interpre- 
tation of  this,  Mr  Crabtree  thinks,  is  that  we  will  not  kill  the  Roch- 
dale wholesale  department,  but  let  it  die  quietly.  Iso  further 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE   "WHOLESALE."  127 

reference  is  made  to  it  till  March  7th,  1859,  when  a  general  meeting 
passed  the  following  resolution  : — "  That  the  question  of  re-opening 
the  wholesale  department  be  postponed  to  an  indefinite  period." 
This  is  the  last  reference  the  minutes  contain  to  the  wholesale  in 
connection  with  the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society.  In  1863,  during  the 
formation  period  of  the  North  of  England  Society,  delegates  appear 
to  have  been  regularly  appointed  at  Rochdale  to  attend  the  meetings, 
and  considerable  interest  was  manifested. 

These  were  the  Aztec  days  of  the  wholesale  idea.  The  giant  we 
now  know  was  not  yet  born.  Failure  of  the  idea  which  cost  so  much 
to  carry  forward,  came  in  London,  as  the  reader  will  see  below. 
Fluctuation  beset  it  in  Rochdale.  At  length  a  new  wholesale  arose, 
whose  statue  was  as  that  of  Og,  King  of  Bashan,  nine  cubits  and  a 
span  (Was  not  that  his  measure  ?). 

The  effort  made  by  the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  in  1852,  by 
initiating  a  wholesale  department  (as  has  already  been  related), 
originated  for  supplying  goods  to  its  members  in  large  quantities, 
and  also  with  a  vie\v  to  supplying  the  co-operative  stores  of  Lanca- 
shire and  Yorkshire,  whose  small  capital  did  not  enable  them,  to 
purchase  in  the  best  market,  nor  command  the  services  of  what  is 
indispensable  to  any  store — a  good  bui/er,  who  knew  the  markets, 
and  what,  how,  and  where  to  buy.  The  Pioneers'  Society  invited  other 
stores  to  co-operate  in  carrying  out  practically  the  idea  of  a  whole- 
sale establishment,  offering  at  the  same  time  to  find  the  necessary 
amount  of  capital  for  conducting  the  wholesale  business.  A  few 
stores  did  join,  but  they  never  gave  that  hearty  support  necessary  to 
make  the  scheme  thoroughly  successful.  Notwithstanding  this 
counteracting  influence,  the  wholesale  department,  from  the  begin- 
ning, paid  interest,  not  only  on  capital,  but  dividends,  to  the  members 
trading  in  this  department.  However,  after  a  time  the  demon  of 
all  working-class  movements  hitherto — jealousy — crept  in  here. 
The  stores  dealing  with  the  wholesale  department  of  the  Pioneers' 
Society  thought  it  had  some  advantage  over  them  ;  while  on  the 
other  side,  a  large  number  of  the  members  of  the  Pioneers'  Society 
imagined  they  were  giving  privileges  to  the  other  stores  which  a  due 
regard  to  their  immediate  interests  did  not  warrant  them  in  be- 
stowing. Mr.  Greenwood's  opinion  is  that  the  Central  Co-operative 
Agency  and  the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Wholesale  Department  must 
inevitably  have  failed,  from  their  efforts  being  too  soon  in  the  order 
of  co-operative  development. 

The  above  is  as  brilliant  a  bit  of  genuine  trade  jealousy  as  the 
reader  will  meet  with  in  ten  years'  reading.  If  a  society  purchasing 
from  the  Pioneers  got  an  advantage  thereby,  what  did  it  matter  that 
the  Pioneers  got  an  advantage  also  ?  If  they  did  not  they  ought, 
as  it  would  be  a  security  that  the  arrangement  could  be  maintained. 
Discontent  may  be  founded  on  facts,  and  well  founded  thereon  ;  but 
jealousy,  vigorous  and  virulent,  is  best  sustained  on  entire  ignorance, 
and  generally  begins  by  imagining  its  facts — a  good  plan,  too,  be- 


128        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 


cause  then  you  get  them  to  your  mind.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that 
the  Pioneers'  wholesale  scheme,  like  that  of  the  London  Central 
Agency,  disappeared.  Mr.  Greenwood,  with  clear  discernment,  saw 
that  bottf  the  London  and  Rochdale  wholesale  projects  must  fail, 
beina^oo  early  in  the  field.  When  the  London  Central  began  there 
not  sufficient  stores  in  England  to  support  it,  nor  when  the 
fochdalians  renewed  the  attempt  in  1852.  Therefore  Mr.  Green- 
'wood  waited  ten  years,  until  1863,  when  there  were  300  co-operative 
stores  in  the  United  Kingdom,  when  he  demonstrated  the  possibility 
of  successfully  commencing  the  great  North  of  England  Wholesale 
Society. 

The  argument  by  which  Mr.  Greenwood  commended  the  new  plan 
of  1864  was  of  the  same  texture  as  the  addition  table,  usually  con- 
sidered a  trustworthy  material.  There  were  in  1861  in  the  adjacent 
counties  of  Lancashire,  Yorkshire,  and  Cheshire,  120  stores,  and  an 
aggregate  of  40,000  members  ;  26  of  the  largest  of  these  stores  did 
business  to  the  amount  of  £800,000.  It  was,  therefore,  calculated 
that  if  the  weekly  expenditure  of  40,000  members  averaged  10s. 
weekly  (and  it  was  known  to  exceed-that),  it  would  represent  £20,000 
weekly,  or  more  than  one  million  a  year.  There  was  plainly,  then, 
an  ample  field  for  a  wholesale  agency  to  act  in. 

A  calculation  was  made  by  Mr.  Greenwood  of  the  quantity  of  com- 
modities of  the  grocery  kind  required  to  supply  the  40,000  members 
of  co-operative  stores  then  associated  in  the  northern  districts.  The 
calculations  were  made  on  the  data  of  goods  actually  sold  in  one 
quarter  at  the  Rochdale  Pioneer  Society,  in  1863,  when  it  had  3,500 
members.  This  was  it : — 


Kinds  of 
Articles. 

One  Week's 
Con- 
sumption. 

Weekly 

Money 
Value. 

Yearly 
Money 
Value. 

Coffee 

Ibs. 

6,923 

266 

13,832 

Tea 

5,951 

991 

51,532 

Tobacco 

4,125 

825 

42,900 

Snuff 

108 

22 

1,144 

Pepper 

243 

15 

780 

Cwts: 

Sugar 

1,400 

3,500 

182,000 

Syrup,  &c. 

400 

350 

18,200 

Currants 

107 

160 

8,320 

Butter 

717 

3,440 

178,880 

Soap 

338 

524 

27,248 

Total- 

£10,093              £524,836 

There  are  mentioned  in  the  tables  several  articles  any  one  of  which 
\vould  of  itself  be  sufficient  to  make  an  agency  profitable.  The  agency 
would,  at  the  beginning,  supply  those  articles  only  upon  which  there 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE   "WHOLESALE."  1 29 

was  a  sure  profit.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  statistics  given  that  the 
state  of  the  movement  permitted,  and,  in  fact,  warranted,  a  further 
step  being  taken  in  wholesale  progress. 

That  was  Mr.  Greenwood's  argument.  Within  the  knowledge  of 
the  new  race  of  constructive  co-operators,  the  wholesale  house  has 
been  twice  put  up,  and  had  come  down  again,  because  it  had  not 
sufficient  solid  ground  to  stand  upon.  So  far  as  it  was  in  my 
power  to  encourage  those  attempting  to  establish  the  co-operative 
wholesale,  I  did  it  by  advising  them  ever  to  plead  that  they  were 
simply  re-establishing  it.  The  best  way  of  inclining  the  timid  and 
unenterprising  to  attempt  a  new  thing  is  by  showing  them  that  it  j» 
has  been  done  before,  or  how  nearly  it  has  been  done  already. 

"  Hen  most  be  taught  M  though  700  taught  them  not, 
And  things  proposed  as  new  as  things  forgot." 

No  doubt,  in  this  way,  we  actually  encouraged  people  to  suppose 
that  nothing  original  or  distinctive  was  being  accomplished.  Since 
it  required  careful  financial  demonstration  and  much  perseverance 
to  prove  and  enforce  it,  it  was  practically  quite  a  new  adventure. 

The  Rochdale  Pioneers'  Society  had  then  nine  grocery  branches, 
all  supplied  and  managed  from  the  Central  Store  in  Toad  Lane. 
The  transactions  between  the  branches  and  the  Central  Store  are 
very  simply  managed.  The  head  shopman  at  each  branch  makes 
out  a  list  of  all  the  things  wanted  on  a  form  provided  for  the 
purpose,  and  forwards  it  to  the  Central  Store.  The  manager  upon 
receiving  it  gives  directions  to  the  railway  or  canal  company,  where 
the  Store  goods  are  lying,  to  send  the  parcels  of  articles  required  to 
each  branch  named  on  the  delivery  order.  The  Central  Store  in 
Rochdale  stood  in  precisely  the  same  relation  to  its  branches  as  the 
proposed  agency  would  do  to  the  federated  societies. 

Mr.  Greenwood  pointed  to  this  accomplished  fact,  and  it  was 
finally  resolved  to  attempt  for  the  third  time  the  formation  of  a  new 
wholesale  agency.  A  company  was  formed  under  the  title  of  the 
"North  of  England  Co-operative  Wholesale  Industrial  and  Provi- 
dent Society  Limited. "  The  Wholesale  has  now  become  like  the 
historic  and  untraceable  Nile — the  Lord  of  Stores,  as  Mr.  Stanley 
calls  the  great  river  the  Lord  of  Floods.  By  the  assistance  of  ex- 
plorers, Mr.  S.  Bamford,  Mr.  James  Crabtree,  and  Mr.  A.  Howard, 
as  adventurous  in  their  way  as  any  who  have  preceded  Mr.  Stanley, 
we  h~.ve  been  able  to  trace  the  sources  of  the  great  commercial 
water  which  irrigates  all  the  stores  it  touches,  as  the  Nile  itself 
irrigates  the  shores  it  laps. 

There  were  in  the  Rochdale  Society,  in  1864,  when  the  Manchester 
Wholesale  took  a  tangible  shape,  many  who  had  steadfastly  opposed 
the  development  of  the  wholesale  department.  These  belonged 
largely  to  the  new  members,  who  did  not  look  with  favour  upon 
the  establishment  of  a  Wholesale  Society  at  all,  and,  although  not 
strong  enough  to  prevent  the  Rochdale  Society  from  taking  up 


130        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

shares,  were  successful  in  hindering  the  development  of  a  business 
connection  such  as  the  movement  naturally  expected  from  Rochdale. 
The  influence  of  Rochdale  in  the  wholesale  appears  in  this,  that  it 
looked  to  Rochdale  for  officers.  Mr.  Samuel  Ashworth,  the  manager 
of  the  Rochdale  Store,  was  solicited  to  take  charge  of  the  Wholesale 
Society's  business  in  Manchester.  The  wholesale  department  in 
connection  with  the  Rochdale  Society  had  ceased  operations  at  that 
time.  He  was  unwilling  to  go  unless  the  committee  of  the  Rochdale 
Society  would  undertake  to  reinstate  him  in  his  position  provided 
the  experiment  did  not  succeed. 1  This  guarantee  not  being  con- 
sented to,  he  did  not  go.  Some  months  later  he  had  another 
opportunity  of  going  to  Manchester,  which  he  accepted. 2 

We  need  not  discuss  here  the  Jumbo  Farm  theory3  of  the  origin 
of  the  wholesale  at  certain  meetings  held  there.  That  the  subject 
was  considered  there,  as  at  other  places,  there  is  no  doubt.  Mr. 
Marcroft,  himself  connected  with  the  wholesale,  supposes  that  it  was 
devised  at  meetings  held  at  that  peculiar  farm.  But  the  road  of  our 
narrative  lies  through  official  facts.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
North  of  England  Wholesale  Society,  held  in  Union  Chambers, 
Manchester,  December  10th,  18G3,  Mr.  Thomas  Cheetham  was 
appointed  Chairman,  and  Mr.  Abram  Greenwood,  President ;  James 
Smithies,  Treasurer  ;  John  C.  Edwards,  Secretary.  Messrs.  John 
Shelton,  William  Marcroft,  Charles  Howarth,  and  Thomas  Cheetham 
were  the  Committee.  Here  are  a  cluster  mostly  of  familiar  and 
historic  names  in  constructive  co-operation.  Four  years  later  a 
resolution  was  come  to  that  the  prospectus  of  the  Wholesale  Agency 
should  be  publicly  advertised.  The  following  extract  from  the 
Society's  minutes  shows  when  and  in  what  terms  it  was  resolved 
upon  :  — 

Copy  of  first  minutes  of  adjourned  committee  meeting,  March 
2nd,  1867  :— 

"  Present  :  A.  Greenwood,  James  Crabtree,  John  Hilton,  James 
Smithies,  Edward  Hooson,  Edward  Thomason. 

"Resolved:  1st — That  the  prospectus  be  published  as  an  ad- 
vertisement in  the  Go-operator  until  further  notice." 

The  concluding  part  of  this  advertisement,  which  first  appeared 
March  15th,  1867,  contained  the  following  words  : — 

"  [Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood,  of  Rochdale,  must  be  regarded  as 
the  principal  originator  of  the  Co-operative  Wholesale  Society,  of 
which  he  has  ever  since  been  the  President.]  In  the  Co-operator  for 
March,  1863  (vol.  3),  Mr.  Greenwood  propounded  his  plan  for  a 

1  The  following  minute  gives  the  official  form  of  the  circumstance  :— "  On  November 
7th,  1863,  a  deputation  was  appointed  to  invite  Mr.  Samuel  Ashworth  to  become  buyer 
for  the  wholesale,  at  a  salary  of  £200  a  year  to  commence  with."     At  the  next  meet- 
ing, November  21st,  it  was  reported  that  Mr.  Ashworth  had  declined  the  offer,  and 
that  the  .Rochdale  Board  of  Directors  had  increased  his  salary  £30  per  year  in  order  to 
retain  his  services. 

2  Mr.  A.  Howard's  statement. 

3  A  theory  started  by  Mr:  Marcroft,  who  considers  that  the  idea  of  the  wholesale  and 
most  other  things  originated  in  discussions  at  Jumbo  Farm. 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  THE  "WHOLESALE,"  131 

wholesale  agency,  which,  with  some  modifications,  formed  the  basis 
of  the  present  admirable  organisation." 

The  first  part,  which  is  put  here  in  brackets,  was  drawn  by  Mr. 
Smithies  and  Mr.  Edwards,  two  of  the  most  competent  persons  who 
could  have  written  it,  for  their  knowledge  of  its  truth  is  undoubtable, 
and  their  concurrence  in  the  statement  is  conclusive.  The  part  follow- 
ing the  brackets  was  written  by  Mr.  Henry  Pitman,  as  there  were 
copies  of  the  Co-operator  mentioned  on  hand,  which  it  was  thought 
desirable  should  be  further  circulated.  This  conclusive  and  un- 
challenged testimony,  repeated  year  after  year,  renders  future 
doubt  or  denial  absurd.  When  the  notice  was  discontinued,  it  was 
done  on  the  authority  of  the  following  minute  : — 

Copy  of  first  minute  of  committee  meeting,  held  October  16th, 
1869:— 

"  Present :  Messrs.  Greenwood,  Baxter,  Fox,  Hooson,  Crabtree, 
Thomason,  Sutcliffe,  Swindels,  and  Marcroft. 

"  Resolved  :  1st — That  no  co-operative  or  other  agency  be  added 
to  our  advertisements  in  the  Co-operator." 

No  objection  was  raised  at  this  meeting,  or  had  been  at  any 
meeting,  as  to  the  fact  of  the  authorship  of  the  wholesale.  Neither 
Mr.  Marcroft  nor  any  other  person  raised  a  question  as  to  its  truth. 
It  was  discontinued,  Mr.  Crabtree  explains,  not  because  its  truth 
was  ever  questioned,  but  because  it  was  deemed  no  longer  neces- 
sary. It  was  suggested  that  there  was  no  further  need  for  it  to 
appear,  "  as  it  would  noio  have  served  all  that  was  intended." 

No  historic  fact  could  well  be  more  conclusively  established,  more 
continuously  advertised  by  common  consent,  than  this  has  been, 
that  Mr.  Greenwood  was  the  "  principal  originator  "  of  the  whole- 
sale. 

All  who  had  personal  knowledge  of  the  development  of  co-oper- 
ation during  the  past  thirty  years  were  quite  aware  that  the  credit 
of  originating  the  wholesale,  and  the  working  and  organisation, 
belonged  to  Abraham  Greenwood  more  than  to  anyone  else.  The 
conclusive  and  well- written  letter  of  Mr.  Edwards,  in  the  Co-oper- 
ative Neics  of  July  17th,  1875,  is  quite  sufficient  testimony  to  set 
that  matter  at  rest.  Only  those — to  use  Mr.  Edwards'  expression — 
who  had  a  strong  weakness  for  believing,  in  spite  of  evidence  to  the 
contrary,  could  entertain  a  reasonable  doubt  thereupon.  Next  to 
Abraham  Greenwood  I  should  place  James  Smithies.  Smithies, 
like  most  of  the  early  co-operators,  was  a  modest  man  ;  but  though 
modest  he  was  not  weak,  and  he  could  always  be  depended  upon  to 
indicate  justly  what  share  each  of  his  colleagues  had  borne  in  their 
common  work.  He  had  himself  devised  plans  for  federating  pur- 
chasers. He  had  collected  copies  of  the  plans  of  others.  He  was 
for  years  secretary  of  committees  for  giving  effect  to  the  idea. 

In  a  movement  in  which  an  important  development  is  carried  out 
mainly  by  the  sagacity  and  persistent  efforts  of  one  person,  it  is  in 
the  interest  of  all  that  credit  should  be  given  where  it  has  been 


132        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

earned.  When  Mr.  Abram  Greenwood  first  drew  up  the  scheme  of 
it,  and  put  into  coherent  form  the  fragmentary  conceptions  of 
others,  he  set  forth,  for  the  first  time,  an  intelligent  scheme  of 
working  principles.  He  had,  to  use  his  phrase,  "  to  stand  the  fire 
of  the  criticism,  doubt,  and  distrust  of  the  plan,  of  which  no  one 
else  was  willing  to  undertake  the  responsibility  or  defence  of.:> 
Since  it  became  successful,  sponsors  for  it  and  originators  of  it  have 
sprung  up  from  Jumbo  Farm  to  Cronkey  Shaw,  and  generally  else- 
where. 

Mr.  Howard  has  an  ingenious  theory  that  the  nature  of  the 
residences  of  the  co-operators  can  be  determined  from  the  books  of 
the  stores,  which  record  the  amount  of  their  savings.  Those  mem- 
bers who  have  the  highest  balances  are  found  to  be  persons  who  live 
upon  the  hills  which  abound  in  the  town.  If  a  member  has  a  low 
balance,  he  is  found  to  live  in  the  low  lands.  If  his  balance  is  high, 
so  is  the  altitude  of  the  place  where  he  resides.  If  a  member  has 
no  balance,  it  ought  to  follow  that  he  lives  underground.  I  am  told 
the  figures  in  some  societies  do  favour  this  theory,  and  that  high 
balances  and  elevated  dwellings  do  go  together.  If  this  be  true,  it 
is  probably  owing  to  the  greater  clearness  of  the  climate  on  the 
hill,  better  enabling  members  to  seo  their  way  to  save.  I  remember 
now  that  Mr.  Greenwood  always  lived  in  some  elevated  part  of  the 
town,  which,  no  doubt,  enabled  him  to  take  comprehensive  views 
of  the  wholesale  before  the  cogitators  of  Jumbo  Farm  (which,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  is  a  low-lying  place)  got  sight  of  it. 

The  sense  in  which  it  appears  to  me  Mr.  Greenwood  is  to  be 
regarded  as  the  main  founder  of  the  wholesale  is  that  of  his  having 
been  the  advocate  of  it,  and  known  to  be  distinctively  the  advocate 
of  it,  during  more  years  than  any  other  person  laying  claim  to  its 
origination.  He  kept  it  in  mind  himself  from  the  time  (1850)  when 
the  project  was  first  formally  discussed  in  Rochdale  and  London, 
and  during  all  subsequent  years  of  its  trial,  which  preceded  its  final 
establishment  in  1864.  He  not  only  kept  the  idea  in  his  own  mind, 
but  kept  it  in  the  minds  of  others,  when  otherwise  it  would  have 
lain  in  abeyance.  His  calculations  mainly  proved  it  to  be  a  feasible 
undertaking.  His  statement  of  the  possible  mode  of  working  it 
was  the  first  which  seemed  complete  and  practicable.  James 
Smithies,  William  Cooper,  Lloyd  Jones,  George  Booth,  W.  Mar- 
croft,  Mr.  Ashworth,  Charles  Howarth,  Thomas  Cheetham,  Mr. 
Edwards,  Mr.  Stott,  William  Nuttall,  and  of  later  years,  James 
Crabtree,  A.  Howard,  J.  T.  W.  Mitchell,  and  others,  should  all  in 
fairness  be  included  ;  whose  sagacity  and  energy  have  contributed 
to  its  origination  and  development.  All  the  leading  thinkers  of  the 
Rochdale  Store  were  undoubtedly  concerned  in  furthering  the  great 
project  by  plans,  suggestions,  and  advocacy. 

If  1  could  collect  a  list  of  all  the  names  of  persons  who  have  pro- 
moted the  prosperity  of  the  wholesale,  I  should  insert  them.  Mr. 
Field,  of  Mossley,  was  on  the  committee  three  or  four  years,  and 


CO-OPERATIVE  ADMINISTRATION.  133 

was  deemed  a  good  member.  Mr.  John  Hilton  also  served  four  or 
five  years.  Air.  Marcroft,  as  we  have  seen,  was  upon  it.  Mr. 
Charles  Howarth,  who  was  also  upon  the  committee,  ceased  after  a 
time  to  be  so,  because  he  was  a  dealer  in  soda,  which  was  some- 
times purchased  by  the  agency.  Mr.  Edwards  shared  in  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  service  of  the  wholesale  four  or  five  years. 
Several  names  occur  incidentally  in  committees  which  have  been 
quoted,  which  the  co-operative  reader  will  recognise  as  those  of 
distinguished  promoters  of  the  wholesale.  Mr.  Mitchell,  of  Roch- 
dale, and  Mr.  James  Crabtree,  of  Heckmondwike  (who  has  both 
faith  and  pride  in  co-operative  principle),  have  both  been  chairmen 
of  the  wholesale. 


CHAPTER 

CO-OPERATIVE    ADMEOSTBATIOH. 

THE  Almanacs  of  the  Pioneers'  Store — quite  worthy  of  being  pre- 
served and  bound  for  reference — give  a  curious  picture  of  its  pro- 
gress, vicissitudes,  and  the  manner  of  the  Pioneer  mind  from  time 
to  time.  The  1854  Almanac  gives  a  complete  statement  of  the 
"objects  and  rules"  of  the  Society,  as  they  stood  in  force  exactly 
in  the  tenth  year  of  its  existence.  They  are  expressed  with  clear- 
ness and  conciseness.  All  clearness  is  not  concise,  and  some  con- 
ciseness is  not  clear;  but  these  Almanac  expositions  possess  both,  as 
the  reader  has  seen  on  p.  11. 

By  the  rules  of  the  Society  a  person  proposed  and  his  character 
and  qualifications  duly  discussed,  and  not  accepted,  had  his  entrance 
shilling  returned.  The  good-natured  Society  debated  his  merits 
and  demerits  gratuitously.  One  would  imagine  that  a  person  whose 
virtues  were  not  generally  admitted,  or  not  very  obvious,  would 
gladly  pay  a  shilling  for  having  them  inquired  into  by  this  willing 
association,  so  that  he  might  know  how  he  stood  among  his  class. 
Each  member  has  to  take  five  one-pound  shares.  How  many  stores 
have  languished  for  years,  flabby  in  pocket  and  lean  in  limb,  because 
its  shabby-minded  members  starved  it  by  hardly  subscribing  one 
pound  each.  Many  societies  are  pale  in  the  face  for  want  of  the 
nourishment  of  capital  which  a  wise  five-pound  rule  would  have 
brought  it.1  These  are  the  Rochdale  rules  : — 

"2.  Any  person  desirous  of  becoming  a  member  of  this  Society  shall 
be  proposed  and  seconded  by  two  members,  and  if  approved  of  at 
the  next  general  meeting  by  a  majority  then  present,  shall  be  ad- 
mitted to  membership.  A  person  proposed  and  not  making  his 
appearance  within  two  months  shall  forfeit  his  proposition  money, 

1  The  amount  of  capital  which  each  member  ought  to  supply  in  order  that  the  Store 
may  do  well  for  him  is  £8.  Members  who  do  not  furnish  this  amount  each  do  not 
understand  their  own  Interest  and  expect  to  reap  where  they  do  not  sow 


134        HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

and  shall  not  be  admitted  to  membership  unless  again  proposed. 
Each  person,  on  the  night  of  his  admission,  shall  appear  personally 
in  the  meeting-room,  and  state  his  willingness  to  take  out  five  shares 
of  one  pound  each,  and  conform  to  the  laws  of  the  Society,  and  pay 
a  deposit  of  not  less  than  one  shilling. 

"3.  That  each  member  shall  have  five  shares  in  the  capital  of  the 
Society,  and  not  more  than  fifty  shares. 

"  4.  That  the  capital  be  raised  in  shares  of  one  pound  each. 

"  5.  That  each  member  pay  not  less  than  threepence  per  week, 
or  three  shillings  and  threepence  quarterly,  until  he  have  five  shares 
in  the  capital  of  the  Society.  Any  member  neglecting  to  pay  as 
above,  except  through  sickness,  distress,  or  want  of  employment, 
shall  be  fined  threepence. 

"6.  That  two  pounds  of  each  member's  investment  be  permanent 
or  fixed  capital. 

"  7.  That  three  pounds  may  be  withdrawn  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Board. 

"  8.  That  members  may  withdraw  any  sum  due  to  them  above  five 
pounds  according  to  the  following  scale  of  notice  : — One  pound  five 
shillings  on  application  to  the  Board ;  one  pound  five  shillings  to 
two  pounds  ten  shillings,  two  weeks.  And  larger  sums  on  giving 
longer  notice ;  from  forty  to  forty-five  pounds  being  to  be  had  on 
twelve  months'  notice. 

"  16.  That  meetings  on  the  first  Monday  in  January,  April,  July, 
and  October  be  the  quarterly  meetings  of  the  Society,  at  which 
meetings  the  officers  shall  make  their  quarterly  report,  in  which 
shall  be  specified  the  amount  of  funds  and  value  of  stock  possessed 
by  the  Society. 

"  23.  x  The  officers  of  this  Society  shall  not  in  any  case,  nor  any 
pretence,  either  sell  or  purchase  any  article  except  for  ready  money. 
Any  officer  acting  contrary  to  this  law  shall  be  fined  10s.,  and  be 
disqualified  from  performing  the  duties  of  such  office. 

"  32.  That  the  profits  realised  by  the  Society  be  divided  thus  : — 
Interest  at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent,  per  annum  shall  be  paid  on  all 
shares  paid  up  previous  to  the  quarter  commencing.  The  remainder 
shall  be  divided  amongst  the  members  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  their  purchases  at  the  Store  during  the  quarter." 

The  last  is  the  rule  which  introduced  into  England  and  into  all 
store  practices  the  new  policy  of  dividing  profits  on  purchases. 

The  1854  Almanac  also  contained  the  economical  announcement, 
of  which  the  like  had  never  appeared  in  Great  Britain  (and  would 
be  difficult  to  find  elsewhere  in  1877),  namely,  that  the  news-room, 
a  bounteously  filled  room  in  those  days,  abounding  in  dailies, 
weeklies,  and  quarterlies,  was  open  from  nine  in  the  morning  until 
nine  at  night,  at  a  charge  of  twopence  per  month.  As  this  room 
was,  and  still  is,  open  on  Sundays  as  well  as  week  days,  this  gave  an 

i  The  Almanac  omits  17, 18, 19,  20,  and  others,  quoting  those  of  main  interest  to  the 
outside  reader. 


CO-OPERATIVE   ADMINISTRATION.  135 

average  of  2,520  hours'  reading  for  twopence  ;  or  600  hours,  with 
fire  and  light,  for  one  halfpenny.  Co-operative  information  is  the 
cheapest  the  working  class  ever  found,  if  regard  be  had  to  convenience 
of  hour  and  day  ;  and  the  quality  of  it  is  higher,  because  two-sided, 
than  gentlemen  can  usually  command.  More  wanting  in  intellectual 
boldness  than  workmen,  gentlemen's  news-rooms  and  libraries  are 
subjected  to  clerical  censorship,  who,  with  the  best  intentions,  im- 
pose the  impotence  of  half-knowledge  upon  the  members  who  do  not 
think  it  "  good  taste"  to  object  to  it  or  demand  "forbidden  books." 
In  all  Scotland  there  is  not  a  single  public  Library  or  news-room, 
in  city,  or  club,  or  college,  where  periodicals  and  books  on  both 
sides  of  theology  and  politics  can  be  seen.  Nor  would  co-operators 
be  in  the  freer  and  manlier  state  they  are,  did  not  their  own  money 
buy  their  books,  and  build  their  news-rooms  and  libraries,  and  their 
own  members  administer  their  affairs  themselves.  Owing  nothing 
to  anyone,  they  fear  nobody,  nor  suffer  intellectual  control  by  any. 

The  honourable  feature  of  the  Pioneers  is  that  they  did  not  go 
back,  they  went  forward.  The  Almanac,  the  yearly  manifesto  of 
the  Society,  said  : — "  The  objects  of  this  Society  are  the  social  and 
intellectual  advancement  of  its  members.  It  provides  its  members 
with  groceries,  butchers'  meat,  drapery  goods,  clothing,  shoes,  clogs. 
They  have  competent  workmen  on  the  premises  to  do  the  work  of 
the  members  and  execute  all  repairs.  The  profits  are  divided 
quarterly :  1st,  interest,  five  per  cent,  per  annum  on  all  paid-up 
shares;  2nd,  2£  per  cent,  off  net  profits  for  educational  purposes  ;  re- 
maining profits  divided  amongst  the  members  in  proportion  to  money 
expended.  For  the  intellectual  improvement  of  the  members  a 
library  has  been  formed,  consisting  (1877)  of  more  than  3,000 
volumes.  The  library  is  free  to  all  the  members." 

Mark,  the  objects  are  "the  social  and  intellectual  improvement 
of  members,"  as  well  as  their  secular  betterance.  "  Social  and  in- 
tellectual "  improvement  was  a  wholesale  phrase  put  there  or  kept 
there  by  Mr.  Abram  Howard. 

Their  library  soon  grew  to  3,000  volumes.  The  newspapers  a'ld 
periodicals  increased  in  number  ;  and  they  have  discovered  how  to 
make  reading  cheaper  than  2,000  hours  of  it  for  twopence.  Reading 
is  now  "  free,"  and  the  library  thrown  into  that.  The  Almanac  of 
1861  announces  that  globes,  maps,  microscopes,  and  telescopes  are 
now  added,  so  that  the  co-operator  can  look  into  things  small  and 
great,  far  and  near.  The  gentlemen  of  Rochdale  had  no  such  institu- 
tion for  their  use. 

It  is  that  golden  rule  for  the  division  of  profits  which  includes  2J 
per  cent,  off  net  gains  for  educational  purposes,  which  has  exalted 
the  Rochdale  Society  above  all  others,  made  its  wise  example  so 
valuable,  brought  it  so  many  friends,  so  much  fame,  and  kept  it 
from  being  overrun  by  fools  or  uninformed  members,  who  else 
would  long  ere  this  have  destroyed  it,  on  the  ground  that  intelligence 
does  not  pay.  Not  having  any  themselves,  and  not  knowing  what 


136        HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

it  means,  they  naturally  take  this  view.  They  think  dividends 
sufficient  without  knowledge,  not  knowing  that  without  knowledge 
there  would  be  no  dividends,  either  in  co-operative  stores  or  else- 
where. 

When  the  cotton  famine  began  to  gnash  its  lean  jaws  in  1862,  the 
forecasting  and  confident  co-operators  came  out — in  that  penurious 
year  above  all  others — with  their  golden  Almanac.  Mr.  Smithies 
and  Mr.  Cooper  both  sent  me  copies  with  pride.  It  was  printed  in 
gold  on  a  blue  ground.  It  mentioned  a  "  Wholesale  warehouse  at 
8  Toad  Lane,  and,  for  the  first  time,  gave  a  central  compartment  to 
the  educational  department."  It  recounted  that  the  library  had 
grown  to  5,000  volumes,  that  a  reference  library  of  most  valuable 
works  had  been  added,  that  the  news-room  contained  fourteen  daily 
papers,  thirty-two  weeklies,  and  monthlies  and  quarterlies  of  all 
kinds,  representing  all  opinions  in  politics  and  religion.  The  co- 
operators  wisely  set  themselves  against  being  made  into  half-minded 
men.  They  would  not  imitate  those  timid  creatures  who  are  afraid 
to  know  the  other  side  of  the  question,  and  go  squinting  at  truth 
all  their  days,  never  looking  it  square  in  the  face,  so  that  when  they 
meet  it  right  plain  in  their  way  they  do  not  know  it.  Opera  glasses, 
atlases,  and  stereoscopes  are  now  provided  for  the  use  of  members, 
and  for  a  small  fee  they  can  take  them  away,  as  well  as  microscopes 
and  telescopes.  The  slave  war  was  then  waging,  and  if  a  slave- 
owner's agent  came  their  way,  as  many  of  them  did,  the  co-operators 
had  telescopes  to  discern  his  approach,  and  microscopic  instruments 
ready  to  examine  him  when  he  arrived. 

Things  generally  had  a  vagabond  appearance  in  Lancashire.  The 
outlook  for  an  operative  was  bad,  and  destined  to  be  worse.  The 
golden  Almanac  said  so,  and  gave  this  excellent  advice  to  co- 
operators  : — 

"  1.  Let  your  earnings  be  spent  only  on  strict  necessaries.  Cut 
off  everything  else. 

"2.  Withdraw  sparingly  of  your  accumulated  savings. 

"3.  Make  the  best  use  of  the  time  thrown  on  your  hands  for  your 
intellectual  improvement,  means  for  which  are  provided  in  our 
library  and  news-rooms. 

"4.  Add  to  the  honour  of  our  movement,  by  waiting  patiently 
for  the  better  time  which  will  one  day  come." 

And  they  did  wait.  No  venal  or  other  agitators  ever  won  co- 
operators  to  join  in  anyclamourthat  the  Government  should  intervene 
on  behalf  of  the  south,  in  order  to  bring  cotton  to  Lancashire  and 
Yorkshire.  A  week's  clamour  would  have  turned  the  scale  against 
the  slave.  It  made  the  nation  proud  of  English  working  men  to  see 
the  stout  and  generous  silence  they  kept.  The  advice  I  have 
quoted  was  addressed  "to  the  co-operators  of  Rochdale  and  the 
nation."  It  is  the  only  time  they  acted  on  their  well-earned  authority 
to  speak  in  this  manner  to  the  outside  world. 

A  Sick  and  Burial  Society  was  commenced  before  1860.    Provision 


CO-OPERATIVE  ADMINISTRATION.  137 

for  relief  during  sickness  and  also  for  decent  interment  at  the  death 
of  any  of  its  members  are  the  cares  of  the  co-operators.  None 
but  members  of  the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers,  or  their  families, 
can  enter  this  Society  ;  but  a  member  may  withdraw  from  the 
Pioneers'  Society  without  losing  his  or  her  membership  in  this. 
Contributions,  of  course,  vary  according  to  age  ;  and  the  tables  are 
based  upon  authorised  calculations.  The  Pioneers  have  always  had 
among  them  a  creditable  taste  for  temperance,  and  had  the  Society's 
meetings  held  at  the  board-room  to  prevent  pay  nights  turning  into 
tippling  nights  at  a  beerhouse,  which  soon  brings  members  on  the 
"box"  of  the  sick  club.  The  founders  of  the  Society  were  too 
shrewd  to  think  that  anything  would  be  saved  by  insuring  saturated 
subscribers.  Dry  members  pay  best.  The  Almanac  of  1862  stated 
that  "  meeting  at  public-houses  was  neither  suitable  nor  consistent 
with  the  objects  of  a  sick  and  burial  society — an  appetite  for  drink 
and  company  bring  on  disease  and  premature  death."  The  Pioneers 
meant  their  arrangements  to  be  "suitable  and  consistent  with  a 
society  whose  interest  rather  is  the  prevention  of  sickness  and  burials. 
Tippling  is  alone  suitable  and  consistent  with  a  society  whose  objects 
are  promoting  sickness  and  burial.  Temperance  in  drink  is  sensible  ; 
it  is  fuddling  which  is  foolishness." 

A  House  Society  is  another  feature  of  Pioneer  organisation. 
Improvement  in  England  grows  fast  out  of  grievance.  Reason 
seldom  or  never  creates  it.  If,  indeed,  pure  intellect  discovers  a 
new  course,  it  generally  remains  barren  until  some  irritation  drives 
men  into  it.  The  Land  and  House  Society  began  this  way.  One 
of  its  founders  relates  that  a  certain  gentleman  who  was  a  shopkeeper, 
was  also  an  owner  of  cottages,  some  of  which  were  occupied  by 
members  of  "co-operative  societies,"  who  were  in  the  habit  of  re- 
ceiving store  profits.  He,  in  an  unwise  hour,  declared  that  u  they 
should  not  have  all  the  dividends  to  themselves  ;  he  would  have  a 
part  of  them  by  advancing  their  rents  3d.  per  week."  If  it  be  weak 
to  wait  for  an  outrage  before  you  do  a  sensible  thing,  it  is  undoubtedly 
a  proof  of  some  spirit  to  take  steps  to  make  the  repetition  of  the  out- 
rage, when  it  does  occur,  impossible  in  the  future.  This  is  what  the 
Pioneers  soon  did.  They  formed  a  society,  and  began  to  buy  land 
and  put  up  houses  for  themselves.  Their  rules  give  power  to  build, 
buy,  and  sell  houses,  workshops,  mills,  factories,  or  to  purchase,  lease, 
or  rent  land  upon  which  to  erect  such  property.  Their  proposed 
capital  was  £25,000,  in  shares  of  £1.  Thirty-six  cottages  were  put 
up  before  1867,  covering  the  whole  of  the  land  they  then  held.  Their 
erections  were  an  improvement  on  the  generality  of  cottages  then 
built.  Subsequently  they  have  built  a  co-operative  town. 

The  Irish,  Times  of  1868  remarked  in  a  leader  by  the  editor, — 
"  We  have  before  us  an  Almanac  for  1868,  published  for  the  use  and 
information  of  its  members  by  the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers' 
Society,  Limited.  It  is  a  sheet  Almanac,  illustrated  with  a  view  of 
'The  new  Central  Store,'  a  cut-stone  building  70  feet  high,  and 


138        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  stately  edifice  belonging  to  the 
Hibernian  Bank,  in  College  Green.  This  building  cost  the  Rochdale 
Pioneers  £17,000.  Some  idea  of  the  wonderful  effects  of  the  co- 
operative system,  duly  and  honourably  carried  out,  may  be  formed 
from  some  facts  stated  by  the  Directors,  who  are  all  working  men,  in 
an  address  published  in  the  Almanac." 

After  recounting  what  the  business  and  profits  of  the  Society  then 
were,  the  editor  adds  :  — 

"The  capital  is  so  large  and  so  rapidly  increases  that  the  Directors 
are  now  spending  £10,000  as  a  beginning  in  the  erection  of  a  good 
class  of  cottage  houses  for  artisans,  and  they  have  purchased  a  small 
estate  within  the  borough  of  Rochdale,  which  is  to  be  laid  out  for 
building  immediately.  The  quality  and  construction  of  the  houses 
are  greatly  superior  to  any  erected  for  the  working  class  in  Rochdale 
before  the  Pioneer  time,"  excepting,  perhaps,  a  pleasant,  wide -win- 
dowed and  healthy  range  erected  by  Mr.  Bright  for  his  workpeople. 

The  early  co-operators  in  Rochdale  took  with  regard  to  their 
buildings  what  used  to  be  called  "the  bare-bone  utilitarian  view," 
like  that  which  Abram  Combe  took  at  Orbiston.  They  were  content 
that  their  store  should  be  of  the  plainest  kind,  indeed,  they  had  an 
early  resolution  on  their  minutes,  "  not  to  spend  a  farthing  on  finery." 
This  was  a  wise  resolution  then,  because  they  had  not  the  farthing 
by  them.  Besides,  the  instinct  of  art  hardly  existed  among  the 
working  class  in  those  days.  They  thought  refinement  of  taste  be- 
longed alone  to  the  rich  ;  they  did  not  know  that  the  rich  were  often 
vulgar,  and  that  refinement  was  a  property  of  the  mind,  and  that  the 
poor  might  have  it  as  well  as  the  wealthy.  They  did  not  know  that 
plainness,  grimness,  and  ugliness  were  more  expensive  than  modest 
comeliness  and  modest  taste.  Their  central  stores  and  their  branch 
stores  are  well  and  substantially  built  now  ;  but  had  it  occurred  to 
their  architects,  they  might  have  made  them  brighter,  and  still  more 
graceful,  at  less  expense.  It  would  be  a  benefit  to  society  if  a  few 
architects  were  publicly  hanged  in  half-a-dozen  places,  as  Voltaire 
said  of  Admiral  Byng,  "for  the  encouragement  of  others." 

The  observations  by  the  Irish  editor  quoted,  are  all  founded  upon 
one  Almanac,  that  of  1868.  Much  that  has  been  written  upon  Roch- 
dale has  been  suggested  in  like  manner  by  a  stray  copy  of  this  annual 
calendar  of  the  year  falling  under  the  notice  of  persons  who  became 
interested  by  its  unexpected  contents.  The  Almanac  has  been  the 
annual  manifesto  of  the  Store.  It  has  been  the  sole  historical  publi- 
cation of  the  Store. 

In  Part  I.  of  this  history,  the  part  published  twenty  years  ago.  at  p. 
68,  it  is  represented  that  the  loan  asked  of  Mr.  Coningham,  then  M.  P. 
for  Brighton,  fell  through  because  their  securities  were  naturally  re- 
quired to  be  submitted  to  the  examination  of  Mr.  Coningham's 
solicitor,  and  the  "Board  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  a  lawyer." 
No  doubt  this  distrust  of  lawyers  existed.  But  this  was  not  the  exact 
reason  why  the  solicited  loan  came  to  an  end.  Itisnot  of  moment  now ; 


CO-OPERATIVE  ADMINISTRATION.  139 

but  I  am  unwilling  to  leave  on  record  unrevised  any  statement  which 
subsequent  information  has  shown  me  to  be  incorrect.  Mr.  Coningham 
has  sent  to  me  the  following  letter  which  he  received  at  the  time, 
and  which  puts  the  fact  accurately  : — 

13,  George  Street,  Rochdale, 

14th  October,  1851. 

Sir, — lam  directed  by  the  members  of  the  "Rochdale  District 
Corn  Mill  Society5'  to  return  their  thanks  for  your  offer  and  anxious 
desire  to  meet  their  wishes  relative  to  the  loan  of  £500. 

You  will  find  by  the  enclosed  letter  we  received  from  your  solici- 
tor, Edward  Tyler,  Esq.,  however  willing  we  may  be  we  cannot  give 
the  property  of  the  Society  in  security.  This  the  members  regret, 
for  it  precludes  them  from  getting  that  help  which  they  at  this  time 
greatly  require.  But  yet  the  members  would  esteem  it  a  great 
favour  if  you,  on  the  good  faith  of  the  Society,  advance  to  it  £200, 
to  be  repaid  by  quarterly  instalments  of  £50,  which  would  repay  the 
loan  in  12  months. — Respectfully  yours, 

W.  Coningham,  Esq.  ABRAHAM  GKEENWOOD. 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  became  President  of  America,  his  familiar- 
tongued  countrymen  dropped  out  the  "ha,"  and  reduced  him  to  the 
more  manageable  name  of  "  Abram."  Since  Mr.  Greenwood  has 
oft  been  president  of  the  various  wholesale  and  other  co-operative 
projects,  he  also  has  been  called  "Abram,"  and  it  has  been  the 
above  letter,  bearing  Mr.  Coningham's  endorsement  (I  send  the 
original  to  the  printer),  written  twenty-six  years  ago,  that  enables 
me  to  furnish  historical  proof  that  Mr.  Greenwood's  rightful  name 
is  the  good  old  resonant,  Hebraic,  patriarchal,  three-syllabled  name 
of  Abraham,  the  most  honoured  name  in  Lancashire  next  to  ' '  Me- 
sopotamia." 

In  the  first  part  of  this  history,  mention  was  made  of  the  Chris- 
tian Socialists,  the  professors,  lawyers,  clergymen,  and  other 
members  of  that  party.  It  is  a  duty  to  acknowledge  now  how  much 
the  movement  has  been  indebted  to  the  generous  zeal  and  devotion 
which,  during  the  twenty  succeeding  years,  they  have  continued  to 
promote,  which  in  various  places,  in  this  narrative  and  elsewhere, 
has  been  ungi  udgingly  acknowledged. 

On  Mr.  Ashworth's  appointment  at  the  Wholesale,  Manchester, 
Mr.  Brierley,  of  the  Brickfield  Equitable  Society,  became  manager. 
He  began  his  duties  when  the  progress  of  the  Society  was  in  full 
course.  The  local  policy  was  changed.  New  notions  of  making 
dividend  by  seeking  cheaper  markets,  with  risk  of  worse  quality, 
were  permitted. 

The  rules  were  altered  to  the  effect  that  interest  on  invested 
capital  of  five  per  cent,  should  only  be  paid  in  certain  fixed  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  of  the  member's  quarterly  purchases  of  provisions 


140      HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

or  goods  at  the  Store.  Thus,  if  a  member  had  invested  £60  in  the 
capital  of  the  Store,  and  his  purchases  amounted  to  only  £1  a  week 
during  the  quarter,  he  only  received  interest  on  £8  of  his  capital 
invested,  and  the  other  £47  paid  him  nothing.  One  reason  for  this 
singular  rule  was  a  distrust  or  jealousy  of  capitalists.  It  is  a  curious 
feature  in  the  working  class  that  at  one  time  their  great  grievance 
is  that  they  have  no  capital  (which  is  always  a  grievance  to  any 
persons  in  that  state),  and,  next,  they  use  all  their  ingenuity  to 
devise  rules  for  getting  rid  of  capital,  which  we  wanted  for  estab- 
lishing co-operative  workshops.  They  grow  afraid  of  their  friend. 
The  rules  herein  questioned  had  the  merit  of  answering  the  purpose 
intended.  The  members  who  could  not  eat  up  to  the  required 
amount, and  could  not  otherwise  augment  their  purchases  sufficiently, 
began  to  draw  out  their  capital  which  yielded  no  return.  The  result 
was  that,  in  1869-70,  £100,000  were  withdrawn,  and  £30,000  more 
was  under  notice.  It  will  surprise  the  un-co-operative  reader  to  find 
that  the  members  of  the  Store  had  so  large  an  amount  of  money. 
In  due  time  good  sense  got  uppermost,  as  it  often  has  done  in  Roch- 
dale.  The  members  had  the  disturbing  rule  rescinded.1  From 
June,  1870,  business  and  prosperity  returned  to  its  usual  standard 
of  growth ;  the  capital  has  more  than  doubled  again.  Mr.  Joseph 
Booth,  of  the  Hyde  Store,  son  of  Mr.  George  Booth,  of  Middleton, 
has  succeeded  as  manager.  Mr.  Brierley  set  up  a  rival  society  in  the 
town,  of  which  he  is  manager.  But  the  Rochdale  Society  continues 
to  prosper  in  its  own  enduring  way. 

About  the  years  1859  and  1860,  Mr  John  Bright  took,  as  he  had 
often  done  before,  considerable  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  Pio- 
neers' Society.  He  knew  several  of  the  workpeople  of  his  firm  with 
whom,  as  old  servants,  he  was  on  friendly  and  conversational  terms ; 
and  sometimes  the  affairs  of  the  Store  were  the  topic  of  his  remarks. 
He  said  some  of  his  friends  in  the  Metropolis  and  other  parts  of  the 
country  expressed  doubts  as  to  the  financial  soundness  of  the  Society, 
and  based  their  doubts  upon  the  fact  that  the  accounts  were  only 


1  This  curious  rule  is  worth  preserving.  Each  member  shall  receive  out  of  the  sur- 
plus receipts  of  the  Society,  after  providing  for  the  expenses  thereof,  in  each  year, 
such  interest  not  exceeding  five  per  cent,  per  annum  upon  the  capital  standing  to  his 
account  in  the  books  of  tho  Society,  as  is  declared  at  the  quarterly  meetings  of  the 
Society,  providing  his  purchases  are  according  to  the  following  scale,  namely :  If  a 
member  purchase 

£1  per  quarter,  shall  only  be  allowed  interest  up  to  £8 

2  ,  „  „  16 

3  ,,  »  24 

4  ,  „  82 

M      •••  •  a 

8  M 

i  i» 

»  ,  „ 

10  ,  ,  80 

11  ,  ,,  88 

12  100 


CO-OPERATIVE   ADMINISTRATION.  141 

audited  by  members.  He  himself  had  no  misgiving  concerning 
them ;  but  he  thought  it  might  give  confidence  to  other  persons  who 
were  both  willing  and  able  to  speak  well  of  the  movement,  but  who 
desired  to  be  certain  that  the  statements  made  were  verified 
by  some  acknowledged  public  auditor.  This  was  talked  about 
among  the  leading  members,  and  ultimately,  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  auditors  in  January,  1861,  the  matter  was  men- 
tioned, and  the  appointment  of  a  public  accountant  was  moved 
and  carried,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  the  reported  remarks 
of  Mr.  Bright 

Mr.  Frank  Hunter,  of  Bacup,  was  appointed.  The  books  were 
not  entered  up  in  a  systematic  manner,  and  Mr.  Hunter  had  to 
bring  out  the  whole  of  the  strength  of  his  office.  The 
great  number  of  the  entries  in  the  share  accounts  were  more 
than  he  was  prepared  to  find,  and  the  number  of  the  entries 
in  the  share  accounts  were  such  as  he  had  had  no  former 
experience  of.  He  wanted  to  take  all  the  books  away,  but  could 
not  be  permitted.  When  Mr.  Hunter's  report  was  produced  it 
showed  a  sum  of  £200  unaccounted  for.  Mr.  Cooper  said  it  could 
not  be  correct,  but  the  error  could  only  be  discovered  by  a  fresh 
audit.  Mr.  Ashworth  and  the  President  went  to  see  Mr.  Hunter 
to  ask  him  to  show  them  how  he  had  arrived  at  the  result.  He 
could  give  no  particulars.  He  had  corrected  a  number  of  members' 
share  books  without  keeping  account  of  the  corrections,  nor  could 
he  give  any  clue  to  the  mystery.  After  much  trouble  and  research 
it  was  discovered  that  Mr.  Hunter  had  made  a  mistake  by  inserting 
on  the  credit  side  of  the  trade  account  an  item  of  £70  odd  as  sales, 
which  ought  to  have  been  entered  on  the  debit  side  of  purchases. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  that  if  an  auditor  puts  down  £70  as 
received  which  the  cashier  had  actually  paid,  that  would  make  an 
error  against  him  of  £140.  But  all  the  cash  was  there.  Mr.  Hunter 
acknowledged  in  a  letter  his  mistake,  and  the  Society  was  satisfied. 
Since  that  time  the  Society  has  been  satisfied  with  the  audits  made 
by  those  appointed  ;  besides,  auditors  have  subsequently  been  better 
paid.1 

It  will  be  clear  to  the  reader  that  Mr.  Bright  did  great  service  to 
the  Society  by  the  discerning  practical  suggestion  which  he  made. 
At  that  time  doubts  were  often  expressed  as  to  whether  co-operators, 
being  working  men,  understood  enough  of  book-keeping  to  render 
a  sound  financial  statement  of  their  affairs.  This  short  story,  the 
financial  verification  of  the  Rochdale  Society,  is  a  necessary  part  of 
its  history. 

The  following  table  shows  at  a  glance  the  progress  which  the 
Society  has  made  from  1844  onwards  : — 


The  facts  of  this  chapter  were  furnished  by  Mr.  Abram  Howard, 


142        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


Year. 

Members. 

Funds. 

Business. 

Profits, 
including 
interest 

1844 

28 

£28 

1845 

.74 

181 

£710 

£22 

1846 

80 

252 

1,146 

80 

1847 

110 

286 

1,924 

72 

1848 

149 

397 

2,276 

117 

1849 

390 

1,193 

6,611 

561 

1850 

600 

2,289 

13,179 

880 

1851 

630 

2,785 

17,633 

990 

1852 

680 

3,471 

16,352 

1,206 

1853 

720 

5,848 

22,700 

1,674 

1854 

900 

7,172 

33,374 

1,763 

1855 

1,400 

11,032 

44,902 

3,109 

1856 

1,600 

12,920 

63,197 

3,921 

1857 

1,850 

15,142 

79,789 

5,470 

1858 

1,950 

18,160 

74,680 

6,284 

1859 

2,703 

27,060 

104,012 

10,739 

1860 

.2,450 

37,710 

152,063 

15,906 

1861 

^3,900 

42,925 

176,208 

18,020 

1862 

3,501  <- 

38,465 

141,074 

17,564 

1863 

4,033 

49,961 

158,632 

19,671 

1864 

>,747 

62,105 

174,937 

22,717 

1865 

/5,326 

78,778 

196,234 

25,156 

1866 

6,246 

99,989 

249,122 

31.931 

1867 

6,823 

128,435 

284,912 

41,619 

1868 

6,731 

123,233 

390,900 

37,459 

1869 

5,809 

93,423 

236,438 

28,642 

1870 

5,560 

80,291 

223,021 

25,209 

1871 

6,021 

107,500 

246,522 

29,026 

1872 

6,444 

132,912 

267,577 

33,640 

1873 

7,021 

160,886 

287,212 

38,749 

1874 

7,639 

192,814 

298,888 

40,679 

1675 

8,415 

225,682 

305,657 

48,212 

1876 

8,892 

254,000 

305,190 

50,668 

1877 

9,722 

280,275 

311,754 

51,648 

1878 

10,187 

292,344 

298,679 

52,694 

1879 

10,427 

288,035 

270,072 

49,751 

1880 

10,613 

292,570 

283,665 

48,545 

1881 

10,697 

302,151 

272,142 

46,242 

1882 

10,894 

315,243 

274,627 

47,608 

1883 

11,050 

326,875 

276,456 

51,599 

1884 

11,161 

329,470 

262,270 

50,208 

1885 

11,084 

324,645 

252,072 

45,254 

1886 

10,984 

321,678 

246,031 

44,111 

1887 

11,152 

338,  1UO 

256,736 

46,047 

1888 

11,278 

344,669 

267,726 

47,119 

1889 

11,342 

353,470 

270,685 

47,263 

1890 

11,352 

362,358 

270,583 

47,764 

1891 

11,647 

370,792 

296,025 

52,198 

THE  BRANCH   STORE  AGITATION.  143 

The  progress  of  the  Store  shown  in  columns  was  first  done  on  my 
suggestion,  and  Mr.  T.  S.  Mill  put  in  his  "Principles  of  Political 
Economy  "  this  table  down  to  1860. 


CHAPTER  XXTT. 

THE   BRANCH   STORE   AGITATION. 

THE  Society  soon  came  to  possess  fourteen  or  more  Branch  Stores 
and  nearly  as  many  news-rooms.  But  how  came  these  Branches 
into  being '?  Did  they  come  by  spontaneous  generation  or  evolution, 
or  development  of  species  process,  silently  and  naturally  ;  or  were 
they  the  offspring  of  discussion,  with  agitation  for  accoucheur  ? 
The  following  facts  will  enable  the  reader  to  judge  : — 

It  was  in  the  year  1856,  when  the  receipts  at  the  two  Central 
Stores  had  amounted  to  £1,000  per  week,  that  the  members  began 
to  talk  of  having  shops  opened  in  other  parts  of  the  town,  more 
convenient  to  their  residences. 

Many  of  the  members  lived  at  great  distances,  and  the  labour  of 
carrying  their  weekly  purchases  from  the  stores  in  Toad  Lane  had 
been  freely  undertaken  while  there  was  no  economy  in  having  more 
than  one  shop.  But  now  the  shop  was  crowded  every  night,  and 
the  day  was  scarcely  long  enough  for  the  shopmen  to  make  the 
necessary  preparations  for  the  night's  work. 

Discussions  arose  on  which  part  of  the  town  the  first  Branch 
should  be  opened  ;  it  was  soon  decided.  A  numerously  signed 
memorial  from  the  members  on  the  Castleton  side  of  the  town  was 
presented  to  the  quarterly  meeting,  held  in  June,  1856.  The  prayer 
of  the  memorialists  was  granted,  themselves  being  at  the  meeting 
in  great  strength  to  promote  it  and  support  it  by  their  votes. 
Indeed,  this  has  been  the  case  in  the  opening  of  nearly  all  the 
Branches,  and  is  a  notable  feature  in  the  democratic  character  of 
our  institution. 

A  shop  in  Oldham  Road  was  procured,  and  was  opened  No.  1 
Branch  for  the  sale  of  grocery  goods  on  the  7th  clay  of  October  of 
the  same  year.  The  business  at  this  new  Branch  soon  outgrew  the 
premises  which  the  committee  had  rented,  and  it  was  soon  seen 
that  further  steps  would  have  to  be  taken  in  the  same  direction. 

There  was  on  the  Castleton  side  of  the  town  a  society  which  had 
been  formed  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  Pioneers'  Society.  It  was 
called  "  The  Castleton  Co-operative  Society."  It  was  doing  but  a 
small  business.  I  believe  it  was  in  the  year  1855  it  was  irregularly 
assessed  by  the  Income  Tax  Commissioners  on  a  profit  of  £45,  and 
compelled  to  pay  at  that  time. 

The  greater  popularity  of  the  larger  society  threatened  to  swallow 


144        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

up  this  small  society,  and  now  when  the  Branch  movement  had 
begun,  an  agitation  was  set  on  foot  for  amalgamation.  The  result  was 
that  the  business  and  premises  of  the  Castleton  Society  were  taken 
up  by  the  Pioneers,  and  the  Store  was  opened  on  March  7th,  1857, 
as  the  No.  2  School  Lane  Branch.  It  still  retains  the  name,  although 
a  new  store  has  been  built  in  another  street  a  considerable  distance 
away. 

The  new  idea  of  Branches  gained  ground  so  fast  that  two  more 
were  opened  within  the  next  few  weeks,  No.  3,  in  Whitworth  Road, 
within  ten  minutes'  walk  of  the  Toad  Lane  Stores,  and  the  first  on 
the  same  side  of  the  town ;  and  No.  4,  Pinfold  Branch,  being  in 
another  part  of  the  township  of  Castleton. 

The  latter  Branch  was  opened  on  the  2nd  June,  1857,  but  no 
further  steps  were  taken  in  this  direction  till  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1859.  Although  great  relief  had  been  given  to  the  Central 
Stores  by  the  opening  of  the  four  Branches,  yet  the  increase  of  mem- 
bers and  business  continued  at  such  a  rate  that  further  relief  was 
now  found  to  be  necessary. 

The  Castleton  side  of  the  town  was  well  served.  Only  one 
Branch  had  been  established  on  the  same  side  as  the  Central  was 
situated,  and  it  was  now  argued  that  they  might  extend  in  the  Spot- 
land  direction.  After  some  opposition,  and  great  difficulty  in  find- 
ing a  suitable  shop,  the  Spotland  Bridge  Branch,  No.  5,  commenced 
business  on  the  17th  February,  1859. 

The  agitation  for  another  Branch  at  Bamford  was  immediately 
commenced.  This  was,  indeed,  an  agitation,  inasmuch  as  it  involved 
a  new  principle  —that  of  the  Pioneers  opening  shops  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  other  societies. 

At  a  small  village,  situate  but  a  short  distance  from  Bamford, 
there  was  one  of  those  small  societies  formed  very  early  in  the  new 
history  of  the  movement,  and  must  have  been  in  existence  a  con- 
siderable number  of  years  at  the  time  when  the  memorial  for  a 
Branch  at  Bamford  was  being  signed.  The  memorial  was  signed 
by  a  great  many  of  the  members  of  the  Hooley  Bridge  Society,  and 
a  great  many  more  opposed  it.  It  was  seen  at  once  that  if  the  Pioneers 
opened  a  shop  here  it  would  be  the  death-blow  to  their  small  Society. 
The  principle  of  self-government  was  set  against  the  principle  of 
economy  on  the  side  of  the  memorialists.  While  on  the  side  of  their 
opponents  in  the  town  it  was  urged  that  it  would  not  be  fair  to 
charge  the  Society's  funds  with  the  cost  of  carrying  the  goods  to 
such  an  outlying  Branch,  when  members  who  lived  at  great  distances 
in  other  directions  had  to  carry  their  own,  but  more  especially 
would  it  be  wrong  to  open  such  a  Branch  so  near  a  neighbouring 
society  at  which  the  memorialists  could  not  only  make  their  pur- 
chases, but  where  they  could  take  a  more  active  share  in  the  manage- 
ment than  was  possible  for  them  to  do  in  the  Rochdale  Society. 

The  memorialists,  however,  succeeded,  and  at  the  April  Quarterly 
Meeting,  in  1859,  it  was  decided  to  open  a  shop  at  Bamford.  The 


THE   BRANCH   STORE   AGITATION. 


145 


announcement  of  the  voting  was  received  with  an  outburst  of 
applause  from  the  supporters  of  the  memorial. 

No  one  seems  to  have  thought  of  the  danger  of  this  example  of 
overlapping  which  has  wrought  much  mischief  since.  A  Store  is 
better  than  a  Branch  since  the  Store  developes  local  energy  and 
business  education.  A  federation  of  Stores  around  a  wholesale 
centre  is  better  than  Branches. 

I  have  dwelt  longer  on  the  circumstances  attending  the  opening 
of  the  No.  6  Bamford  Branch  (which  took  place  on  May  26th,  1859), 
because  it  settled,  the  principle  that  the  Society  might  safely  carry 
its  Branches  to  such  places  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  town  where 
the  members  residing  in  the  neighbourhood  could  guarantee  a  cer- 
tain weekly  business,  such  as  would  give  fair  employment  to  a  shop- 
man. 

The  sixteen  Society's  Branches  were  opened  as  follows  : — 


Oldham  Road,                                                I 

fo.    1    i 

a     1856 

2 

1857 

Whitworth  Road      .... 

3 

1857 

Pinfold,            

4 

1857 

Spotlaud  Bridge  Branch, 

5 

1859 

Bamford  Branch, 

6 

1859 

Wardleworth  Brow,          .         .         . 

7 

1860 

Bluepits,           

8 

1860 

Buersil,            

9 

1864  (?) 

Shawclough,             .... 

10 

1866 

Sudden,           ..... 

11 

1869 

Newbold,          ..... 

12 

1872 

13 

1872 

14 

1873 

Gravel  Hole,            .... 

15 

1874 

16 

1875 

At  ten  out  of  the  sixteen  there  are  commodious  shops,  which  the 
Society  has  built  from  its  own  funds,  and  two  more  where  the  pre- 
mises are  its  own  by  purchase.  At  the  remaining  four  the  business 
is  conducted  in  rented  shops.  There  are  news-rooms  at  twelve  of 
them,  and  preparation  is  being  made  at  another.1  Four  or  five  of  the 
branches  do  a  business  under  £2,000  per  quarter,  but  the  rest  vary 
from  that  sum  to  £5,500  per  quarter. 

The  Branch  system  has  been  of  great  service  to  the  members,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  it  has  been  a  principal  means  of  the  rapid  and 
ultimately  secure  development  of  the  Society's  progress. 

The  Central  Store  from  which  the  Branches  radiate  is  a  very 
interesting  building.  There  is  a  meeting-room  at  the  top,  cover- 
ing the  whole  area  of  the  building.  It  is  capable  of  seating  at  least 

l  There  are  now  19  news-rooms  and  35,493  books  in  the  libraries  (1892). 


146         HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

1,400  persons,  and  has  often  held  meetings  of  2,000  and  upwards. 
This  meeting-room  affords  a  commanding  view  of  the  town  which  is 
seen  from  15  lofty  windows.  The  library  contains  12,000  volumes. 

The  building  was  commenced  in  the  beginning  of  1866,  and 
opened  in  September,  1867.  The  whole  cost  including  site  was 
£13,360  ;  all  or  the  greater  part  of  the  cost  has  long  since  been  de- 
frayed. The  premises  at  ten  of  the  Branches  belonging  to  the  Society 
were  erected  at  a  cost  of  upwards  of  £14,000,  including  fixtures. 
Close  to  the  river,  and  in  a  central  part  of  the  town,  are  the  Society's 
manufacturing  departments,  newly  arranged  and. rebuilt,  comprising 
tobacco  manufacturing ;  bread,  biscuit,  and  cake  baking ;  the  business 
of  pork  butchering,  currant  cleaning,  coffee  roasting,  coffee  and 
pepper  grinding  ;  and  in  the  same  yard  are  the  stables  and  slaughter 
houses  ;  the  whole  being  so  arranged  that  the  produce  of  each 
department  can  be  delivered  at  the  shops  when  wanted  with  the 
precision  of  a  machine. 

The  business  of  the  Society  was  £311,754,  and  the  members 
numbered  9,722  at  the  end  of  1877  ;  profits,  £51,648.  The  Society 
constitutes  an  important  part  of  the  town,  which  numbers  65,000  in- 
habitants. 

It  was  a  festive  day  when  the  Central  Stores  were  opened.  I 
invited  Colonel  R.  J.  Hinton,  of  Washington,  to  be  present,  who 
had  drilled  and  taken  part  in  training  coloured  regiments  in  the 
Slave  War  for  freedom,  in  America.  He  was  witness  of  the  proceed- 
ings, and  spoke  in  the  theatre.1  The  Central  Store  stands  at  the 
junction  of  St.  Mary's  Gate  and  Toad  Lane,  presenting  a  copious 
frontage  to  both  roads,  and  raising  its  head  higher  than  any  build- 
ing in  the  town.  Standing  on  the  site  of  the  old  theatre  and  the 
Temperance  Hall,  all  know  the  place,  and  if  they  did  not  they  can 
see  it.  It  has  been  proposed  to  erect  an  observatory  upon  it,  and 
furnish  it  with  powerful  telescopes.  The  immense  range  of  view 
from  the  top  will  make  it  the  finest  observatory  in  Lancashire. 
Speeches  were  delivered  at  the  Theatre  Royal,  the  Mayor,  Mr.  J. 
Robinson,  presiding.  Mr.  John  Bright,  M.P.,  sent  a  cordial  letter, 
being  unable  to  be  in  Rochdale  that  day.  Earl  Russel,  Lord 
Stanley,  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith,  Mr.  T.  B.  Potter,  M.P.  for  the  borough, 
Mr.  Jacob  Bright,  and  others,  sent  words  of  acknowledgment  or 
congratulation.  Mr.  Thomas  Hughes,  M.P.,  Mr.  Walter  Morrison, 
M.P.,  Mr.  E.  V.  Neale,  Mr.  E.  O.  Greening,  the  Rev.  W.  N. 
Molesworth,  the  Rev.  J.  Freeston,  and  the  present  writer,  were 
among  the  speakers.  Twenty-three  years  before  the  co-operators 
had  commenced  their  humble  and  doubtful  career  in  Toad  Lane,  and 
that  day,  September  28th,  1867,  they  obtained  acknowledged  ascend- 
ency in  the  town.  They  had  become  the  greatest  trading  body  in 
it ;  their  Central  Store  tower,  like  Saul,  head  and  shoulders  above 
every  other  establishment  about  it. 

1  In  a  volume,  the  "  Radical  Leaders  of  England"  (Putnam  and  Sons),  this  gentle- 
man has  given  recollections  of  this  visit. 


THE  BRANCH   STORE  AGITATION.  147 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Molesworth  said  he  regarded  that  celebration  as  of 
European  importance.  Throughout  the  Continent  co-operation  had 
spread  rapidly  since  they  had  adopted  the  principles  of  the  Rochdale 
Pioneers.  All  true  believers  in  co-operation  turn  their  eyes  to 
Rochdale  as  the  Mecca  and  Medina  of  the  system. 

Mr.  Morrison,  M.P.,  said  that  nothing  could  be  done  by  the 
Pioneers  in  a  corner.  It  was,  therefore,  important  that  they  should 
maintain  their  reputation.  If  other  societies  saw  that  Rochdale 
departed  from  its  first  faith,  they  would  plead  their  eminent  example 
for  departing  also. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  John  Brierley,  the  Secretary,  read  an 
elaborate  report.  It  ended  with  this  passage: — "In  1855  a 
Manufacturing  Society  was  established  in  this  town  chiefly  by  the 
members  of  the  Store.  Its  principle  was  to  apportion  the  profits 
made — in  part  to  capital  and  in  part  to  labour.  This  Society  made 
great  success  in  its  earlier  years,  but  the  capitalist  shareholder 
began  to  think  the  worker  had  too  much  profit,  so  the  bounty  to 
labour  was  abolished.  (Loud  cries  of  "shame."1)  But  we  hope  ere 
long  to  see  it  re-adopted  (hear,  hear,  and  cheers),  and  the  principles 
of  co-operation  fully  developed,  believing  that  it  is  fraught  with 
incalculable  blessings  to  the  people." 

Mr.  Hughes  accepted  this  as  a  promise  that  efforts  would  be  made 
to  restore  the  character  of  the  Manufacturing  Society. 

Mr.  William  Cooper  spoke,  and  in  alluding  to  Mr.  Neale 
described  him  as  "  their  own  lawyer,"  for  whose  services  they  were 
all  grateful. 

Mr.  Councillor  Smithies  said  that  the  Pioneers,  who  were 
registered  under  the  Friendly  Societies  Act  of  1845,  had  applied  for 
an  amendment  of  the  law  which  would  enable  them  to  devote  a 
tenth  of  their  net  profits  to  educational  purposes ;  but,  notwith- 
standing the  services  of  Mr.  Hughes  and  Mr.  Neale,  the  proposed 
rule  was  vetoed  by  Mr.  Tidd  Pratt,  the  registrar. 

The  co-operators  had  never  been  hosts  before  on  so  large  a  scale, 
and  had  never  before  been  able  to  invite  such  distinguished  guests 
as  those  to  whom  they  sent  invitations.  The  chief  guests  had  the 
choice  of  two  dinners.  One  was  provided  for  them  at  the  Central 
Stores,  and  another  by  the  Mayor,  with  whom,  as  the  intention  of 
his  worship  was  to  show  courtesy  to  the  Pioneers  by  making  their 
visitors  his  guests,  they  dined.  After  the  speech,  multitudes 
of  people  went  to  the  soiree  at  the  Stores,  and  the  ball  at  the 
Public  Hall. 

l  Eeport  in  Rochdale  Observer. 


148         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 
CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OTHER  CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


THERE  is  no  doubt  that  the  persistence  of  leading  Rochdale  Co- 
operators  in  maturing  the  "Wholesale"  entitles  their  Store  to  be 
regarded  as  the  practical  founder  of  it.  They  furnished  those  who 
conceived  the  idea  in  its  working  form,  put  it  in  motion,  and  kept 
it  in  motion. 

Long  before,  Rochdale  had  the  merit  to  demonstrate  the  value 
of  the  principle  of  dividing  profits  upon  purchases  instead  of  upon 
shares.  Mr.  Alexander  Campbell,  of  Glasgow,  was  an  advocate  of 
this  principle.  It  was  first  stated  by  Mr.  Campbell  in  1822,  and 
afterwards  put  by  him  in  the  rules  of  the  Cambuslang  Society  of 
1829.  The  principle  was  in  the  rules  of  the  Melthan  Mills  Society 
of  1827,  as  Mr.  Nuttall  has  shown:  yet  it  would  never  have  been 
in  Rochdale  save  for  Mr.  Howarth.  He  re-discovered  it,  and  was 
certainly  the  first  to  appreciate  its  importance,  and  to  urge  its  adop- 
tion there.  Double  discovery  is  very  common  in  literature, 
mechanics,  and  commerce.  Poets  and  authors  often  hit  upon  ideas 
which  have  occurred  to  others  before  they  were  born,  and  of  whose 
writings  they  had  no  knowledge.  Bell,  in  Scotland,  and  Fulton, 
in  America,  both  discovered  the  steamship  at  the  same  time.  No 
doubt  Mr.  Howarth  himself  originated  the  very  idea  in  Rochdale 
which  Mr.  Campbell  had  long  before  thought  of.  But  they  made 
nothing  of  it  in  Scotland.  Indeed,  they  did  not  know  they  had  it 
among  them,  until  Rochdale  successes  with  it  made  it  of  the  nature 
of  a  famous  discovery.  Many  discoveries  of  great  pith  and  moment 
are  made  over  and  over  again,  and  die  over  and  over  again.  At  last 
the  old  idea,  being  re-born,  falls  into  the  hands  of  knowing  nurses, 
who  bring  the  doubtful  "bairn"  up  until  it  grows  strong,  tall,  and 
rich.  It  is  wonderful  then  what  a  number  of  parents  the  young  man 
finds  he  had!  This  plan  of  sharing  profits  with  the  consumer, 
without  whom  no  profits  could  be  made,  ensured  a  following  for  a 
store.  It  gave  the  customer  an  interest  in  the  concern.  Other 
societies  soon  adopted  the  same  rule,  but  none  made  so  much  of  it 
as  Rochdale  has  done.  The  use  other  stores  of  that  day  put  it  to 
would  never  have  given  it  distinction.  Indeed,  the  division  of  pro- 
fit idea  would  never  have  made  the  noise  it  has,  but  for  tho 
Rochdale  way  of  carrying  it  out.  It  has  been  the  ever-growing 
amounts  of  profit  that  attracted  the  pecuniary  eye  of  the  country 
to  it  there.  The  early  co-operators  there,  having  a  world-amending 
scheme  in  view,  foresaw  that  money  would  be  required  for  that 
purpose,  and  this  led  them  to  adopt  a  plan  of  saving  all  they 


OTHER  CHARACTERISTICS.  149 

gained.  After  paying  capitalists  five  per  cent,  it  was  open  to  the 
co-operators  to  sell  their  goods  without  further  profit,  which  would 
have  given  to  each  purchaser  his  articles  at  almost  cost  prices.  The 
consumer  would  thus  have  had,  in  another  form,  his  full  share  of 
advantage  by  buying  at  the  Store.  The  other  plan  open  to  them 
to  adopt  was  to  charge  the  current  prices  for  all  goods  sold,  and  save 
for  the  customer  the  difference  of  profit  accruing.  This  plan  they 
adopted ;  though  it  was  theoretical  and  somewhat  Utopian,  and  not 
likely  to  be  so  popular  with  members  generally,  who  like  cheap 
ai'ticles,  who  prefer  to  know  what  they  save,  and  to  have  it  at  once. 
Uneducated  people  do  not  believe  in  saving ;  they  have  no  con- 
fidence in  it ;  they  do  not  believe  in  an  unknown,  untried  committee 
saving  money  for  them;  they  want  it  the  moment  it  is  available. 
With  them  a  penny  in  hand  is  worth  twenty  in  the  bush. 

In  one  of  his  lectures  on  capital  and  labour,  Mr.  Holmes,  of  Leeds, 
relates  a  before-told  but  still  instructive  story : — "  During  one  of  the 
Irish  famines,  Mr.  Forster  (the  father  of  the  then  M.P.  for  Brad- 
ford) went  out  there,  as  the  agent  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  to  give 
special  relief,  and  found  the  people  at  one  place  famished  down,  to 
chewing  seaweed.  He  asked  them  if  there  was  no  fish  in  the  sea ; 
they  replied  'Yes,'  but  said  'they  could  not  get  them,  as  they  had 
neither  boats  nor  nets.'  Mr.  Forster  provided  them  with  boats  and 
nets,  upon  which  they  eagerly  inquired,  'Who's  to  pay  ns  our  day's 
wages?'  Mr.  Forster  told  them  'the  fish  they  got  would  pay  them 
their  wages,'  but  they  declined  to  go  out  on  these  problematical 
conditions,  and  it  was  not  until  Mr.  Forster  guaranteed  them  their 
wages  that  they  set  off.  The  consequence  was  that  a  good  trade 
was  carried  on,  and  Mr.  Forster  soon  found  that  the  boats  and  nets 
were  cleared — all  paid  for — and  that  plenty  of  money  might  be 
made.  He  offered  the  men  the  boats  and  nets  free  of  expense ; 
but  they  would  not  take  them  in  their  own  hands,  and  nothing 
would  satisfy  them  but ' their  day's  wages!"' 

The  ignorant  trust  in  nothing.  Near  gain  of  ten  times  the  amount 
seems  to  them  a  cheat.  The  pecuniary  eye  of  the  mind  is  like  the 
natural  eye  of  the  body — sometimes  shortsighted,  and  cannot  carry 
far  enough  to  see  profit  even  a  little  way  off.  An  economic  telescope 
is  wanted  to  lengthen  the  sight.  Co-operation  proved  to  be  the 
very  telescope  which  did  the  thing  for  thousands.  I  know  co-opera- 
tors now  who  can  see  a  profit  a  mile  off;  but,  singularly,  this  long 
range  of  eye  does  not  apply  to  a  principle.  The  principle  sometimes 
lies  much  nearer,  and  they  never  see  it.  I  suppose  they  overlook 
it. 

The  poor  are  a  fastidious  and  demonstrative  class — they  require 
to  see  the  results  of  their  conduct  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour. 
Yet,  the  old  plan  of  selling  goods  cheaper  than  ordinary  tradesmen — 
turning  all  profits  into  reduction  of  price — was  not  one  that  pro- 
mised permanence.  When  errors  in  purchasing,  or  spoilt  stock, 
caused  the  price  at  the  Store  to  rise,  the  supporters  of  the  Store 


150         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 


fell.  Even  when  the  Store  was  successful  as  to  maintaining  lowness 
of  price,  the  amount  of  advantage  was  often  infinitesimal  on  some 
articles,  and  when  the  advantage  could  scarcely  be  seen,  its  influence 
waned.  The  old  plan  of  taking  all  profits  made,  and  paying  them 
in  the  shape  of  dividends  to  the  shareholders,  had  yet  greater  dis- 
advantages. These  dividends  were  drawn  out  and  spent.  When 
high,  enthusiasm  was  high.  When  the  dividends  came  down, 
popular  support  sunk  to  zero,  and  sometimes  below,  and  then  the 
Store  broke  up. 

However,  the  rule  of  forced  saving  and  deferred  spending  was 
calculated  to  delay  the  progress  of  the  Society — to  repel  members — 
to  breed  discontent.  It  required  enthusiasts  to  carry  it  out,  and 
that  rare  combination  of  enthusiasts,  zealots  with  patience,  who 
could  wait  long  years  for  results — in  fact,  to  wait  for  their  own 
success,  which  could  not  arrive  until  they  had  educated  their  neigh- 
bours, and  brought  up  the  town  about  them  to  their  level.  Luckily, 
the  early  Rochdale  co-operators  were  enthusiasts,  men  who  had  the 
courage  to  dream  dreams  in  flannel  jackets,  and  with  a  very  poor 
outlook  in  the  streets — there  being  reductions  of  wages  very  near 
them,  and  the  poorhouse  not  "  looming  "  in  the  remote  distance — 
but  near  and  palpable ;  and  yet  they  adopted  the  plan  which  forced 
members  to  save.  Thus  was  born  in  Lancashire  the  idea  ot 
accumulating  profits.  Mr.  William  Chambers,  in  his  paper  on 
co-operation,  says,  with  true  insight,  "  Without  the  principle  of 
accumulating  profits,  co-operation  remains  a  very  insignificant  affair." 
The  long  years  of  store  experience  which  preceded  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Rochdale  Store  of  1844,  were  the  "  insignificant"  days 
of  co-operation.  There  was  no  alluring  accumulations  then.  Roch- 
dale proved  that  an  average  population  can  be  educated  in  foresight 
and  thrift — quite  a  new  fact  in  human  working-class  nature  then. 
Happily,  the  Pioneers  may  come  to  be  outstripped  in  material 
successes  and  in  numbers ;  but  they  can  never  be  surpassed  in  the 
credit  which  belongs  to  faith  when  believers  are  few,  and  to  courage 
when  all  others  despaired. 

If  the  Rochdale  plan  of  dividing  profits  on  purchases  was  a  Scotch 
discovery,  it  was  unknown  to  the  Messrs.  Chambers.  Clearly  it 
had  never  attracted  any  attention  in  Scotch  hands,  else  we  had 
never  seen,  from  such  an  observant  economist  as  William  Chambers, 
the  following  singular  comment : — 

"  The  Rochdale  plan  of  paying  not  only  dividends  on  capital,  but 
a  share  of  profits  along  with  wages,  is,  on  the  first  view  of  it,  new 
and  revolutionary.  It  seems  to  overturn  all  our  ordinary  ideas  as 
to  the  relationship  between  those  who  find  the  money  and  those 
who  give  the  hands  in  trading  operations." 

When  Lord  Westbury  brought  in  his  County  Courts  Bill  for  the 
abolition  of  the  power  of  imprisonment  for  debt,  he  explained,  in  a 


OTHER  CHARACTERISTICS. 


note  to  Mr.  Pitman,  then  editor  of  the  Co-operator,  "  that  he  should 
be  glad  to  see  the  Bill  supported  by  the  petitions  of  co-operative 
societies,  feeling  as  he  did  that  the  taking  away  of  such  power 
would,  by  loosening  the  facility  of  obtaining  credit,  conduce  to 
render  more  general  habits  of  providence  —  habits  which  the  system 
of  co-operation  had  shown  to  exist  among  some  of  the  members  of 
the  working  class."  Mr.  John  Whittaker,  pleasantly  known  as  "A 
Lancashire  lad,"  endeavoured  to  elicit  the  opinions  of  leading  co- 
operators  upon  the  Lord  Chancellor's  Bill,  and  put  the  reason  for  it 
in  these  conclusive  words  :  — 

M  As  the  Lord  Chancellor's  new  Bill  strikes  directly  at  this  credit 
system,  it  deserves  the  support  of  all  who  are  interested  in  social 
improvement,  and  especially  of  those  who  are  concerned  about  the 
success  of  co-operative  associations.  So  soon  as  it  becomes  difficult 
for  working  men  to  obtain  credit,  they  will  learn  the  value  of 
societies  which  will  enable  them  to  keep  for  their  own  use  the 
profits  which  they  would  otherwise  have  to  pay  to  the  ordinary 
retail  dealer." 

This  was  in  1864.  Mr.  William  Cooper  endeavoured  in  vain  to 
induce  the  Rochdale  Society  to  petition  in  favour  of  the  Bill.  The 
reason  for  this  needs  explaining,  which  can  best  be  done  in  Mr. 
Cooper's  own  words  :  — 

"  I  believe  the  system  of  credit  does  the  working  man  a  great 
deal  more  harm  than  good  ;  for  when  a  man  '  goes  behind,'  as  we 
say,  or  gets  in  debt,  his  hope  and  his  spirit  somewhat  desert  him, 
and  he  is  liable  to  get  more  and  more  tied  to  bis  crediting  shop- 
keeper. I  have  heard  it  said  that  some  shopkeepers  like  to  have 
their  customers  a  little  in  debt,  as  then  they  know  they  are  not  able 
to  go  elsewhere  for  goods.  If  the  Lord  Chancellors  Bill  becomes 
law,  the  tradesmen  would  still  have  one  side  of  the  bargain  —  that 
is,  they  could  please  themselves  who  they  credited  ;  and  perhaps 
they  would  be  more  cautious  about  leading  people  into  debt.  But 
if  the  co-operative  societies  were  to  agitate  for  the  passing  of  the 
Bill,  the  shopkeepers  would  be  apt  to  attribute  their  interference  to 
a  desire  on  the  part  of  co-operators  to  injure  their  interests.  At 
least  such  a  construction  would  be  put  on  their  motives  in  this  town, 
as  the  Tories  want  a  pretext  to  raise  the  hostility  of  the  shopkeepers 
against  the  stores,  so  that  in  the  excitement  they  may  use  the 
shopkeepers  as  instruments  to  unseat  our  representative,  Richard 
Cobden." 

But  it  must  be  owned  that  this  solicitude  concerning  the  action 
and  interest  of  shopkeepers  was  sacrificing  the  larger  interests  of 
the  working  class  and  the  stores.  Lord  Westbury's  Bill  would  have 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 


saved  tens  of  thousands  from  debt  and  have  given  an  impetus  to 
ready-money  purchasing  at  stores. 

The  Working  Men's  Industrial  Associations  of  Italy,  which  were 
originated  by  Mazzini,  and  of  which  he  was  president,  were  ani- 
mated by  a  strong  spirit  of  citizenship.  With  them  public  life  and 
social  life  went  together.  It  was  in  the  belief  that  co-operation 
was  not  divorced  from  citizenship  in  Rochdale  that  at  a  meeting 
held  there  in  December,  1861,  I  made  a  communication,  on  the 
authority  of  the  president  of  the  chief  societies  in  Italy,  with  a  view 
to  establishing  a  personal  intercourse  between  them  and  the  trade 
societies  of  England.  The  Italian  societies  act  upon  the  principle 
some  time  before  urged  upon  the  trade  societies  of  England  by 
Mr.  Bright,  and  seek  the  unity  of  their  country  as  the  first  condition 
of  their  industrial  independence.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  com- 
munication Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood  moved  the  following  resolu- 
tion, which  was  carried  unanimously,  Mr.  Isaac  Hoyle  presiding  : — 
"  This  meeting  learns  with  pleasure  that  Italian  workmen  are  follow- 
ing the  advice  long  ago  given  to  the  workmen  of  England  by  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  and  '  are  taking  their  own  affairs  into  their  own 
hands.'  "  In  England  at  that  time  the  trade  societies  had  it  under 
their  consideration  to  use  their  organisation  for  securing  their 
political  enfranchisement ;  for  it  is  impossible  that  any  men  can 
protect  the  interests  of  their  order,  or  their  labour,  who  have  no 
political  existence  themselves.  The  Rochdale  meeting,  therefore, 
was  glad  to  see  that  the  workmen  of  Italy  included  the  unity  of 
their  country  as  a  supreme  and  essential  object  with  them. 

The  announcements  in  the  Rochdale  Almanacs  of  the  number  and 
magnitude  of  the  news-rooms  and  libraries  are  noble  notices.  Just 
as  when  the  English  colonise  any  country  they  carry  representative 
institutions  with  them,  so  whenever  the  Rochdale  Society  opens  a 
new  branch  they  open  a  new  news-room,  and  it  is  "always"  open. 
Every  member  is  wiser  in  mind  for  it,  and  no  poorer  in  pocket. 
Knowledge  is  economy  as  well  as  foresight  and  good  sense. 


Mr.  John  Ormerod  wrote  to  me  in  18*54  an  account  of  the  origin 
of  the  Co-operative  Loan  Fund  of  Rochdale.  In  1862,  some  gentle- 
men in  Wiltshire,  fearing  that  the  cotton  famine  would  seriously 
affect  the  stability  of  co-operative  stores  in  Lancashire,  generously 
proposed  to  render  assistance  which  might  help  to  avert  this  evil. 
"Considering,"  says  Mr.  Ormerod,  "that  Rochdale  had  been  (so  to 
speak)  the  cradle  of  co-operation,  these  gentlemen  made  offer  of  help 
in  Rochdale,  lest  co-operation  in  general  should  suffer  through  a 
shock  received  there."  To  this  end  they  sent  a  sum  of  £500  through 
Mr.  Sotheron  Estcourt,  M.P.,  to  the  Rev.  W.  N.  Molesworth,  the 
Vicar  of  Spotland,  for  the  use  of  the  co-operators,  free  of  interest, 
on  the  condition  that  it  was  lent  free  of  interest  to  co-operative 
families  suffering  from  the  cotton  famine.  Six  trustees  were  ap- 


OTHER   CHARACTERISTICS.  153 

pointed — two  from  the  Pioneer  Society,  two  from  the  Corn  Mill,  and 
two  from  the  Manufacturing  Society.  The  trustees  undertook  to  do 
their  best  to  collect  the  money  when  prosperity  returned,  and  to 
hand  it  over  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Molesworth.  The  money  was  lent  in 
sums  from  £1  to  £5  to  persons  depositing  their  "law  books,"  con- 
taining a  record  of  their  deposits  in  the  Store.  By  this  means,  a 
member  having  a  few  pounds  in  the  Store  could  borrow  money  to 
that  amount  without  withdrawing  his  capital  from  the  Store.  By 
continuing  to  deal  with  the  Store,  the  profit  upon  his  purchases  and 
interest  upon  his  capital  invested,  continued  to  accumulate,  enabling 
him  eventually  to  pay  back  the  loan.  Only  £361  required  to  be  lent 
up  to  the  end  of  1864.  During  the  first  half-year  of  1863  £13  were 
repaid.  In  the  second  half-year  £37  were  repaid.  In  the  third 
quarter  of  1864  £26  were  repaid,  and  the  fourth  quarter  of  1864  £32. 
Ultimately,  it  was  all  repaid,  and  £100  of  interest  was  accumulated. 
The  gentlemen  who  lent  the  money,  at  the  same  time,  gave  it  to  the 
co-operators,  should  it  be  refunded,  provided  they  put  it  to  some 
useful  purpose,  which  met  the  approval  of  the  donors.  It  was  per- 
mitted to  be  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  members  under  the  title 
of  a  Special  Education  Fund.  Mr.  Ormerod  related  that  the  expenses 
of  distributing  the  fund  up  to  the  end  of  1864  scarcely  exceeded  £2. 
But  though  they  advertised  the  existence  of  the  fund,  and  explained 
the  advantages  it  offered  to  those  members  who  needed  help,  it  went 
out  so  slowly  that  some  began  to  think  that  co-operators  were  too 
independent  to  borrow,  or  that  they  were  really  better  off  than  their 
fellow-workers  who  had  never  been  co-operators. 

The  interest  arising  from  the  Special  Educational  Fund  enables 
instructional  classes  to  be  assisted  for  the  advantage  of  the  families 
of  members.  Some  years  lectures  have  been  given  to  the  members 
by  persons  likely  to  add  to  their  instruction.  When  they  were 
specially  engaged  the  expenses  were  paid  out  of  the  proceeds  of  this 
fund.  Recent  Almanacs  of  the  Store  now  contain  this  announce- 
ment: — "Science,  Art,  and  French  Classes. — These  classes  were 
inaugurated  by  the  Educational  Committee  in  1873,  and  have  since 
continued  to  be  carried  on  successfully.  The  following  subjects  are 
now  taught  by  able  teachers,  vis.,  :  •-Mathematics,  geometrical  and 
mechanical  drawing,  theoretical  mechanics,  physiology,  botany, 
magnetism  and  electricity,  inorganic  chemistry,  freehand  and  model 
drawing,  geometry  and  perspective,  accoustics,  light  and  heat,  and 
the  French  language.  All  sons  and  daughters  of  members  should 
avail  themselves  t>f  these  classes.1' 

Seeing  the  generous  interest  in  the  fortunes  of  the  Pioneers  shown 
by  Mr.  Sotheron  Estcourt,  Estcourt  Square,  or  Terrace,  or  Street, 
would  be  a  pleasant  name  to  give  to  one  of  the  lines  of  buildings 
(when  a  new  name  is  wanted)  on  the  Pioneers'  estate.  It  concerns 
us  all  who  care  for  the  honour  and  progress  of  co-operation  to  bear 
in  grateful  regard  the  memory  of  everyone  who  lias  signally  aided  it 
in  the  past,  when  it  was  unfriended  and  struggling. 


154         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  students  in  each  division 
since  the  commencement  of  the  classes  : — 


Year. 

In  Science 
Classes. 

Examined 
in  Science. 

In  Art 

Classes. 

Examined 
in  Art. 

In  the 
Technology 
Classes. 

Examined 
in 
Technology. 

1873 

31 

16 

1874 

51 

30 

49 

40 

1875 

83 

68 

88 

59 

1876 

103 

68 

94 

63 

1877 

88 

73 

68 

60 

1878 

131 

86 

86 

43 

1879 

174 

134 

84 

48 

1880 

162 

121 

76 

51 

1881 

143 

110 

77 

55 

1882 

188 

134 

58 

39 

"6 

"i 

1883 

222 

164 

78 

51 

92 

57 

1884 

222 

151 

85 

66 

87 

47 

1885 

232 

170 

75 

43 

42 

27 

1886 

261 

192 

73 

50 

141 

75 

1887 

201 

163 

54 

36 

74 

50 

1888 

207 

155 

37 

30 

50 

26 

1889 

207 

167 

54 

34 

49 

30 

1890 

199 

160 

39 

22 

36 

26 

1891 

157 

124 

46 

27 

33 

28 

The  decrease  in  the  number  of  students  during  the  past  few 
years  is  accounted  for  by  the  starting  of  other  classes,  and  especially 
by  the  art  and  technological  work  which  the  Technical  School  Com- 
mittee have  undertaken  since  1887  and  1888.  But  the  Pioneers  at 
the  Whitworth  Road  Store  have  by  far  the  best  chemical  laboratory 
in  the  town,  and  they  alone  offer  prizes  in  all  their  classes.  The 
income  for  the  prizes  is  derived  from  the  Sotheron-Estcourt  Fund  (of 
which  mention  has  been  made)  which  realises  about  £26  per  year. 
With  this  money  prizes  of  10s.  and  63.  are  given  to  the  most 
successful  students  in  each  stage  of  each  subject. 

It  ought  to  be  put  on  record  that  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  they 
provided  the  larger  part  of  the  science  and  art  teaching  in  Roch- 
dale ;  and  this  at  but  trifling  expense  to  themselves,  for  the 
Government  grant  has  practically  sufhced  to  meet  the  cost  of 
tuition. 


The  following  return,  issued  by  Mr.  Barnish,  the  librarian,  shows 


OTHER  CHARACTERISTICS. 


155 


the  number  of  volumes  in  the  library,  and  the  extent  to  which  they 
were  used  in  1890-91 :— 


No.  of 
Vols. 

No. 
Issued. 

Theolooy,  Morals,  Metaphysics  

702 

722 

Arts  and.  Sciences  

905 

1,904 

History  and  Biography 

2,798 

1,235 

Natural  History  

482 

502 

Social  and  Political  Philosophy,  &c. 

780 

391 

Poetry,  Fine  Arts,  and  the  Drama  

766 

1,092 

Geography.  Voyages,  and  Travels  

987 

1,883 

Works  of  Fiction,  Tales,  &c  

4,103 

25,039 

Miscellaneous  Literature  

3,268 

2,730 

14,791 

35,498 

REFERENCE  LIBRARY. 

Vols. 

Central  Library,  Toad  Lane ; 547 

Branch                   Castleton 95 

Buersil 74 

Bamford 75 

OldhamRoad 81 

Pinfold.. 83 

Whitworth  Road 84 

Shawclongh 78 

Spotland  Bridge 87 

School  Lane 78 

Wardleworth  Brow 79 

Sudden  Brow 70 

Milkstone 71 

Norden 71 

New-bold 66 

Gravel  Hole 65 

Slattocks 69 

Greenbooth  64 

Branch  Lending  Library,  Greenbooth 316 

The  Branch  Libraries  contain 2,153 


In  addition  there  are  374  "select  books  and  local  pamphlets." 
These  libraries  are  a  noble  achievement  for  a  society  of  working 
men. 

While  there  have  been  a  few  grumblers,  almost  from  the  first,  the 
bulk  of  the  members  gave  no  sign  of  dissatisfaction  at  part  of  the 
profits  being  used  for  educational  purposes. 


i56 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 


THE  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SOCIETY, 
The  office  of  president  has  been  filled  each  year  as  follows  : — 


1844  Miles  Ash  worth 

1845  Charles  Howarth 

1846  James  Smithies 

1847  John  Kershaw 

1848  James  Tweedale 

1849  John  Cockcroft 

1850  John  Cockcroft 

1851  John  Kershaw 

1852  J.  J.  Hill 

1853  John  Cockcroft 

1854  John  Cockcroft 

1855  John  Cockcroft 

1856  Abraham  Greenwood 

1857  John  Cockcroft 

1858  John  Cockcroft 

1859  John  Cockcroft 

1860  John  Cockcroft 

1861  Abraham  Howard 

1862  Thomas  Cheetham 

1863  Samuel  Newton 
1884  Robert  Briggs 
1S65  Robert  Briggs 

1866  Robert  Briggs 

1867  John  Ormerod 

1868  John  Ormerod 


1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
•1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 


J.  R.  Shepherd 
J.  R.  Shepherd 
J.  R.  Shepherd 
J.  R.  Shepherd 
J.  R.  Shepherd 
J.  R.  Shepherd 
Abraham  Howard 
Abraham  Howard 
Abraham  Howard 
Benjamin  Horbury 
Benjamin  Horbury 
Benjamin  Horbury 
Benjamin  Horbury 
Benjamin  Horbury 
Benjamin  Horbury 
James  Whitworth 
James  Whitworth 
Thomas  Cheetham 
Thomas  Cheetham 
Thomas  Cheetham 
Thomas  Cheetham 
Thomas  Cheetham 
Thomas  Cheetham 
Thomas  Cheetham 


The  following  are  the  fourteen  principal  features  of  the  "Roch- 
dale System  "  : — 

1.  The  Pioneers  set  the  example  of  beginning  a  Store  with  funds 
of  their  own  providing  mainly. 

2.  Supplying  the  purest  provisions  they  could  get. 

3.  Giving  full  weight  and  measure. 

4.  Charging  market  prices,  and  not-  underselling  or  competing 
with  shopkeepers. 

5.  Taking  no  credit,   nor  giving  any  ;    thus   discouraging  debt 
among  working-people. 

6.  Giving  the  profits  made  to  members  in  proportion  to  their 
purchases  ;   acknowledging  that  they  who  make  the  profit  should 
share  it. 

7.  Inducing  members  to  leave  their  profits  in  the  Profit  Bank  of 
the  Store  to  accumulate,  thus  teaching  them  thrift. 

8.  Fixing  interest  at  5  per  cent,  that  Labour  and  Trade  (which 
alone  make  capital  fruitful)  may  have  a  fair  chance  of  gain. 

9.  Dividing  in  the  workshop  the  profits  among  those  who  have 
earned  them,  in  proportion  to  their  wages. 


CONTESTS   FOR   PRINCIPLE.  157 

10.  Devoting  2^  per  cent,  of  all  profits  to  education,  to  promote 
the  improvement  and  efficiency  of  the  members. 

11.  According  to  all  members  the  democratic  right  of  voting  (one 
person  one   vote)  upon  all  appointments  and  propositions,   and 
according  to  women  the  like  right  to  vote  and  to  receive  their 
saving  whether  they  were  single  or  married,  and  this  long  before 
the  Married  Woman's  Property  Act  existed. 

12.  The    intention    of    extending  co-operative    commerce    and 
manufacture  by  the  establishment  of  an  Industrial  City,  in  which 
crime  and  competition  should  cease. 

13.  In  originating  the  Wholesale  Buying  Society,  they  created 
means  of  fulfilling  their  own  professions,  of  supplying  provisions 
of  ascertained  genuineness,  which  otherwise  would  have  been  im- 
possible to  them. 

14.  The  conception  of  the  Store  as  an  Institution  as  the  germ  of 
a  new  social  life,  which  should  by  well  directed  self-help  ensure 
morality  and  competence  to  all  the  industrious.1 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

CONTESTS  FOB  PRINCIPLE. 

SEVERAL  exclusive  characteristics  of  the  Rochdale  Society  have 
been,  happily,  introduced  into  other  societies,  and  therefore  are  now 
common  features  of  co-operative  associations.  The  determination 
to  deal  in  pure  provisions  only,  as  far  as  they  could  get  them,  which 
all  co-operative  societies  do  now,  required  quite  a  propagandism  to 
establish  at  first.  Many  members  were  willing  to  give  up  the  en- 
deavour to  sell  only  pure  articles,  from  the  impossibility  of  getting 
them.  To  persist  in  trying  to  do  what  could  not  be  done  did  seem 
absurd.  It  was  because  it  ought  to  be  done  that  the  better  class  of 
members  persisted  in  attempting  it.  It  was  this  feeling  that  the 
pure  provisions  ought  to  be  obtained  that  led  to  the  working  of  the 
wholesale  idea,  which  has  since  made  it  possible  for  every  society 
to  do  the  same  thing.  It  was  up-hill  work,  hardly  conceivable  now, 
to  keep  up  an  agitation  for  pure  food.  Everybody  had  an  idea 
that  pure  food  was  the  best ;  but,  unfortunately,  many  did  not  like 
it  when  they  got  it.  They  did  not,  as  we  have  said,  know  the  taste 
of  it,  and  their  taste  had  to  be  educated  ;  and  many  people  no  more 
like  having  their  taste  educated  than  having  their  minds  educated. 
When  it  is  done  they  are  very  glad,  but  they  take  very  ill  to  the 
process. 

It  was  the  honourable  boast  of  the  Pioneers'  Almanac  of  1861 

1  Quoted  from  the  "  Co-operative  Movement  To-day,"  published  by  Methuen  &  Co. 


158         HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

that  it  was  "a  principle  of  the  Rochdale  Society  to  have  no 
creditors."  That  meant  that  they  did  not  trust  anybody — not  even 
their  own  members.  Everybody  had  to  pay  cash  down.  There 
was  no  going  into  debt.  Working  people  had  never  been  accus- 
tomed to  this,  and  did  not  at  all  like  it.  Most  of  them  had  no  ready 
money  at  all,  and  therefore  found  it  difficult  to  pay  when  they 
bought.  They  were  all  in  debt  to  some  local  grocer,  and  the  more 
honourable  of  them  did  not  like  taking  ready  money  to  the  Store 
when  they  had  not  paid  off  their  score  at  their  next  door  neighbour's 
shop.  When  the  middle  class  of  people  and  the  families  of  gentle- 
men are  in  debt,  which  every  tradesman  unfortunately  knows,  it  is 
a  very  difficult  thing  to  learn  the  poor  a  lesson  which  their  betters 
could  not  be  taught.  But  this  is  what  the  Co-operators  of  Rochdale 
did,  and  a  very  great  merit  it  was  to  do  it.  When  Lord  Westbury's 
wise  Bill  for  rendering  credit  illegal  was  brought  in,  the  Co-opera- 
tors of  Rochdale  were  restrained  from  supporting  it,  as  we  have 
told,  by  reluctance  to  embroil  themselves  with  the  shopkeepers 
who  were  their  neighbours.  It  is  a  stronger  argument  against 
shopkeeping  than  any  co-operator  ever  invented — that  it  should  be 
the  interest  of  tradesmen  to  keep  up  a  state  of  the  law  which  affords 
facilities  for  poor  people  getting  into  debt.  It  was,  however,  by 
the  voluntary  and  peremptory  abolition  of  credit  by  themselves  that 
the  Rochdale  Co-operators  attained  their  great  commercial  success. 

At  the  great  Co-operative  Festival  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall,  Man- 
chester, in  1864,  Mr.  Thomas  Bayley  Potter,  M.P.  for  Rochdale, 
presided,  and  gave  important  testimony  to  the  character  of  co-opera- 
tion. He  said: — "From  my  experience,  at  the  head  of  what  is, 
I  believe,  the  oldest  home-trade  house  in  Manchester,  I  can  say 
that  we  have  no  accounts  that  are  more  satisfactory  than  those  with 
the  co-operative  societies.  We  observe  that  they  buy  good  and 
genuine  articles  only.  And  this  does  not  apply  merely  to  the 
drapery  trade,  such  as  I  am  connected  with,  but  I  have  reason  to 
know,  from  friends  in  Liverpool,  dealers  in  sugars  and  dried  fruits, 
that  the  buyers  from  the  co-operative  stores  invariably  purchase 
sterling  articles,  such  as  will  give  satisfaction  to  their  customers. 
They  devote  £500  a  year  to  education  and  recreation.  I  can  bear 
testimony  to  the  excellence  of  the  Rochdale  flour.  I  have  not 
tasted  better  bread  than  that  made  from  the  Rochdale  flour.  Dur- 
ing the  distress  these  two  societies  have  distributed  £1,529  in  relief, 
and  subscribed  liberally  towards  local  charitable  institutions." 

By  abolishing  credit,  co-operative  societies  taught  saving,  and 
saving  made  many  rich.  To  this,  however,  there  is  another  side. 
In  many  cases  these  societies,  by  imparting  to  men  who  never  had 
anything,  nor  expected  to  have  anything,  the  sweet  taste  of  saving 
and  possessing  property,  have  demoralised  some  useful  persons. 
Many  people  under  the  influence  of  these  societies  have  forsaken 
patriotism  for  profits.  And  I  know  both  co-operators  and  Chartists 
who  were  loud-mouthed  for  social  and  political  reform,  who  now 


CONTESTS   FOR   PRINCIPLE.  159 

care  no  more  for  it  than  a  Conservative  Government ;  and  decline  to 
attend  a  public  meeting  on  a  fine  night,  while  they  would  crawl, 
like  a  serpent  in  Eden,  through  a  gutter  in  a  storm  after  a  good 
security.  They  have  tasted  land,  and  the  gravel  has  got  into  their 
souls. 

Yet  to  many  others  these  societies  have  taught  a  healthy  frugality 
they  never  else  would  have  known  ;  and  enabled  many  an  industri- 
ous son  to  take  to  his  home  his  poor  old  father,  who  expected  and 
dreaded  to  die  in  the  workhouse,  and  set  him  down  to  smoke  his 
pipe  in  the  sunshine  in  the  garden,  of  which  the  land  and  the  house 
belong  to  his  child. 

These  fine  instances  of  benefit  are  not  to  be  obscured  by  cases  of 
selfishness  which  always  occur  in  the  transitions  state  of  men  from 
bad  to  better.  As  Tacitus  says  :  "There  are  more  willing  slaves 
who  make  tyrants  than  there  are  tyrants  who  make  forced  slaves  ! " 
There  are  always  people  who  are  born  mean,  and  who  like  to  crawl 
and  to  be  kicked.  When  such  men  get  money  they  mostly  turn 
out  fools.  But  this  class  of  people  are  a  good  deal  generated  by  the 
greed — which  never  knows  when  to  stop — which  they  see  in  the 
classes  above  them.  And  it  is  a  great  credit  to  any  class  of  men 
who  set  a  better  example  than  they  find  around  them. 

In  the  last  letter  1  received  from  Mr.  Cooper,  he  criticised  a 
remark  in  the  ' '  History  of  Co-operation  in  Halifax,"  to  the  effect 
that  in  the  Brighouse  Society  they  had  not  an  average  of  the 
intelligent  working  men  join  as  members.  "If  this  be  true,  I  con- 
clude," wrote  Mr.  Cooper,  "  that  the  Brighouse — like  some  other 
societies — has  made  a  mistake,  for  the  very  opposite  of  this  ought 
to  take  place,  and  does  in  the  best  societies.  Where  there  are  no 
news-rooms,  libraries,  or  educational  objects  connected  with  a  store, 
the  intelligent  workman  may  be  expected  to  go  elsewhere,  if  his 
needs  are  not  met  at  the  Co-operative  Society,  but  stores  wise 
enough  to  provide  news-rooms,  are  sure  to  attract  those  who  seek 
food  for  the  understanding.  The  libraries  and  reading-rooms  of 
the  Rochdale,  Oldham,  Bury,  and  some  other  societies  draw  a  class 
of  members  which  would  not  come  for  the  money  dividend  alone." 

In  the  same  letter,  Mr.  Cooper  refers  to  a  letter  I  had  published 
for  him  in  favour  of  continuing  open  the  Rochdale  news-room  on  the 
Sunday.  A  member  has  made  a  motion  that  "  I  (William  Cooper) 
be  instructed  to  apologise  to  some  half-dozen  members  of  the  Society 
who  six  months  ago  made  a  motion  to  close  the  Society's  news- 
rooms on  Sunday.  However,  the  meeting  did  not  pass  the  motion 
that  I  make  an  apology.  As  our  members  are  not  anxious  to  be 
gagged  themselves,  so  they  agreed  that  I  also  might  be  allowed  to 
speak  or  write.  I  think  those  are  misguided  and  misguiding  mem- 
bers who  wish  to  establish  a  censorship  in  co-operative  societies  to 
interdict  freedom  of  speech  or  pen  to  servants  and  members  there- 
of." 

Mr.  Bamford,  in  answer  to  inquiries  addressed  to  him  by  me, 


160         HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

says  : — "  You  ask  me  to  write  you,  as  if  you  were  an  ignorant  out- 
sider, understanding  nothing,  and  wanting  to  know  everything  and 
see  everything,  as  people  on  the  spot  see  it.  I  will  endeavour  to  do 
so.  On  the  part  of  what  has  now  become  a  large  section  in  the 
Society  there  is  a  natural  fear  lest  too  much  credit  be  given  to  a 
few  individuals  for  having  brought  the  co-operative  system  to  what 
it  is  in  Rochdale.  Those  who  come  into  a  movement  after  the 
rough  work  has  been  got  through,  and  who  by  their  numbers  give 
magnitude  to  it,  are  apt  to  claim  more  credit  for  its  successes  than  is 
their  due. 

"  The  early  minute  books  are  certainly  an  interesting  study,  and 
give  to  the  student  an  idea  of  the  type  of  men  who  carried  this 
movement  through  its  early  struggles.  There  was  a  spirit  of  earnest 
reality  about  them  that  found  unequivocal  expression  in  curt  re- 
cords. The  following  minute,  passed  by  the  committee  in  June, 
1854,  is  an  apt  illustration  of  this.  It  is  as  follows : — '  That  Cooper, 
the  cashier,  be  exempt  from  coffee  grinding.'  What  a  curious  com- 
bination of  duties  that  would  be  thought  to-day.  Fancy  the  smart 
cashier  at  one  of  our  large  stores  taking  his  turn  at  the  coffee  mill. 
Yet  it  appears  these  men  had  to  fulfil  the  functions  of  clerks, 
committee-men,  coffee-grinders,  and  shopmen.  I  wonder,  if  circum- 
stances required  it,  whether  the  present  generation  of  co-operators 
would  be  found  equal  to  that." 

About  this  period,  twenty  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Store,  a 
new  set  of  men  appear  to  be  brought  upon  the  stage.  And  there  is 
about  the  records  a  different  class  of  entries  from  those  the  Society 
has  recorded  before.  The  storm  is  over,  the  battle  has  ceased,  the 
ground  won  is  being  steadily  occupied,  and  the  new  generation 
have  chiefly  to  cultivate  their  inheritance  and  bury  the  old  Pioneers. 
Before  we  quit  the  field  let  us  take  a  last  look  at  the  watercourses 
which  brought  it  fertility. 

One  of  the  skilful  explorers  for  materials  who  have  aided  me  in 
this  final  narrative  has  been,  like  Mr.  Stanley,  to  the  Ujiji  of  early 
stores — namely,  to  Rochdale,  and  investigated  the  archives  there. 
The  minutes  there  kept  may  be  likened  to  the  tributary  streams 
which  fed  from  the  first  the  great  Nile  of  co-operation.  He  first 
comes  upon  a  curious  little  rivulet.  On  April  4,  1861,  a  resolution 
of  the  Board  decides  that  "  William  Cooper  have  a  month's  notice 
to  leave." 

But  at  the  next  meeting  he  was  re-engaged.  What  follows  no 
doubt  sufficiently  explains  this. 

At  a  quarterly  meeting,  October  7th,  1861,  the  following  resolution 
was  passed  : — "  That  the  president  of  this  Society  be  instructed  to 
entirely  repudiate  the  statement  appearing  in  the  Counsellor,  Sep- 
tember, 1861,  which  statement  is  said  to  have  been  furnished  by  Mr. 
Cooper,  the  secretary  of  the  Society."  This  repudiation  prepared  by 
the  president  (Mr.  Howard),  approved  by  the  Board,  read  at  the 
monthly  meeting,  and  at  the  subsequent  quarterly  meeting,  by  a 


CONTESTS  FOR  PRINCIPLE.  l6l 

special  resolution,   was  entered  in  the  minute  book.     It  was  as 
follows : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — You  will  excuse  me  while  I  draw  your  attention  to 
an  article  which  appeared  in  the  Counsellor  for  September,  headed 
'  The  Sects  among  the  Co-operators,'  containing  statements  (said  to 
be  facts)  leading  your  readers  to  believe  that  some  sectarian  influence 
has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the  discussion  of  a  certain  question 
[the  Labour  Question]  which  was  a  short  time  ago  under  con- 
sideration in  this  town,  and  warning  new  co-operative  bodies  from 
accepting  members  who  are  connected  with  certain  religious 
denominations  [no  such  warning  was  given]  which  are  there  named. 
The  article  has  been  much  condemned  and  deplored,  so  much  so  that, 
on  its  being  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  our  quarterly  meeting 
on  Monday  night,  the  7th  inst,  a  resolution  was  moved  and 
carried — '  That  our  president  be  instructed  to  entirely  repudiate 
a  statement  said  to  be  furnished  by  our  financial  clerk,  Mr.  Wm. 
Cooper,  and  which  appeared  in  a  publication  denominated  the 
Counsellor,  for  September,  1861,  such  statement  being  considered 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  this  Society  ;  also  that  the  people  of 
this  country  in  forming  new  co-operative  societies,  be  recommended 
to  seek  their  members  from  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men.'  I 
beg  to  inform  your  readers  that  the  principles  of  the  Rochdale  Co- 
operators  are — 1st,  not  to  inquire  into  the  political  or  religious 
opinions  of  those  who  apply  for  membership  into  ours  or  any  of  the 
various  co-operative  societies  in  our  town  ;  2nd,  that  the  considera- 
tion of  the  various  political  and  religious  differences  of  the  members 
who  compose  our  societies  should  prevent  us  from  allowing  into  our 
councils  or  practices  anything  which  might  be  construed  into  an  ad- 
vantage to  any  single  one  of  each  sect  or  opinion.  The  result  of 
these  principles  has  been  that  in  the  discussion  and  determination 
of  all  the  great  questions  which  have  divided  us,  there  might  be 
seen  ranged  on  both  sides  men  of  various  creeds  and  opinions. 
That  our  policy  has  been  such  I  need  only  quote  from  an  article 
which  appeared  in  the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society's  Almanac,  for 
1860,  where  the  writer  is,  for  the  time  being,  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
Society.  He  says — 'The  present  co-operative  movement  does  not 
intend  to  meddle  with  the  various  religious  or  political  differences 
which  now  exist  in  society,  but  by  a  common  bond,  namely,  that  of 
self-interest,  to  join  together  the  means,  the  energies,  and  talents  of 
all  for  the  common  benefit  of  each.'  The  co-operator  does  not  seek 
to  inforce  or  carry  out  any  particular  doctrines  of  any  particular 
individual.'  We  think  that  all  such  statements  and  recommenda- 
tions [Mr.  Cooper  made  none]  in  your  article  of  September  can 
only  be  followed  by  mischievous  effects,  and  ought  not  to  have 
been  made  by  those  professing  themselves  the  dearest  friends  of 
our  hitherto  successful  principles.  I  recommend,  in  the  name  of 
the  Pioneers  and  Co  operators  of  Rochdale,  all  new  societies  never 
to  inquire  what  politics  or  what  religion  the  persons  applying  for 

L 


162         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

membership  are,  but  take  all  those  who  are  willing  to  subscribe  to 
the  rules. — I  am,  dear  sir,  on  behalf  of  the  Society,  yours  most 
respectfully,  ABRAHAM  HOWARD,  President." 

This  letter  was  published  by  me  for  Mr.  Howard,  I  being  editor  of 
the  Counsellor,  a  quiet  quarto  journal,  in  which  secular,  co-operative, 
political,  and  religious  writers  endeavoured  to  give  counsel  to  work- 
ing men  on  public  affairs,  without  dictation,  assumption,  arbitrary 
authority,  or  invective.  Those  who  gave  advice  or  suggestions  in  it 
were  understood  to  examine  both  sides  of  the  question  on  which 
they  presumed  to  offer  an  opinion.  At  that  time  Mr.  William  Cooper, 
on  my  solicitation,  wrote  a  paper  on  the  Manufacturing  Society  in 
Rochdale,  which  was  then  a  co-operative  company,  and  which  had 
for  three  years  been  regarded  with  satisfaction  and  pride  as  such. 
But  there  had  sprung  up  a  set  of  Aaron-rod  shareholders,  who 
thought  work  should  have  bare  wages,  and  capital  swallow  all  the 
profits,  just  as  that  hungry  rod  of  Aaron  swallowed  up  all  the  other 
rods.  Mr.  Cooper  divided  the  capitalists  into  two  classes — monop- 
olising capitalists  and  participating  capitalists.  He  was  afraid  the 
monopolists  would  out-vote  the  participators,  which  they  eventually 
did.  I  asked  him  to  give  me  an  account  of  the  sects  among  the  co- 
operators  in  Rochdale.  Mr.  Cooper  did  not  volunteer  the  information, 
I  asked  him  for  it.  There  was  no  concealment  of  the  source,  for  I 
mentioned  his  name  in  the  Counsellor,  None  of  us  were  under- 
ground agitators,  we  always  worked  above  board.  I  wanted  to  know 
how  far  different  classes  of  Christians  in  the  Rochdale  Society  were 
in  favour  of  industrial  partnerships,  so  that  when  you  knew  the 
religious  composition  of  a  society  you  might  know  what  the  prospects 
of  the  recognition  of  labour  in  manufacturing  might  be.  Mr.  Cooper 
gave  me  this  information,  particularising  the  sects  who  supported  the 
principle,  and  those  who  were  against  it. 

This  was  the  little  playful  communication  against  which  Mr. 
Howard  levelled  his  grave  official  letter.  In  a  note  upon  it,  I  said, 
"It  concluded  with  some  sentiments  I  very  cordially  agreed  with, 
and  had  never  transgressed  against."  There  was  not  a  word  of 
criticism  or  inculcation  of  any  sectarian  principle  in  anything  I 
published.  All  I  sought  was  an  estimate  of  the  tendencies  of  sects 
in  regard  to  industrial  partnerships,  just  as  the  chemist  would 
estimate  the  specific  gravity  of  the  different  liquids  with  the  view  to 
determine  their  value  in  different  experiments.  *  I  always  coun- 
selled co-operators  to  be  tolerant  of  each  other's  opinions,  and  to 
remember,  with  Paul,  that  charity  was  greater  than  faith  or  hope. 

The  other  day  a  new  cafe"  was  opened  near  St.  Mary's  Church,  in 


DEAD  PIONEERS.  163 


the  Strand,  by  two  clever  Swiss  gentlemen.  Probably  a  thousand 
pounds  have  been  spent  in  fitting  up  the  place,  and  no  handsomer  or 
completer  cafd  has  been  opened  in  London.  The  interior  is  quite 
that  of  another  country  than  this,  yet  it  has  only  one  penny  inkpot, 
and  a  halfpenny  pen  in  it,  and  if  a  visitor  requires  it  he  has  to  wait 
while  the  proprietor  finishes  his  letter  to  his  grandmother.  It  is 
quite  right  the  old  lady  should  be  written  to,  but  it  is  a  loss  of  time 
to  have  to  wait  every  day  while  it  is  done.  I  thought  how  often  a 
splendid  conception  is  marred  by  a  small  omission.  So  it  is  with  co- 
operative stores  which  have  no  propagandist  department.  Rochdale 
would  not  be  famous  as  it  now  is,  nor  would  co-operation  be  what 
it  is,  had  not  the  early  Pioneers  wisely  provided  for  the  propagation 
of  their  principles. 

In  an  open  space  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Roche,  and  in  the 
most  public  thoroughfare  in  the  town,  is  a  drinking  fountain  erected 
by  the  Society  and  made  over  to  the  town  authorities  on  April  19th, 
1855,  in  the  following  terms: — "To  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and 
burgesses  of  Rochdale  :  On  behalf  of  the  members  of  the  Rochdale 
Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  we  beg  to  present  to  you,  for  the  use  of 
the  inhabitants  of  and  strangers  visiting  the  town  of  Rochdale,  the 
bronze  drinking  fountain  and  lamp  erected  at  the  bottom  of  Drake 
Street,  opposite  the  Wellington  Hotel.  Hoping  that  you  will  accept 
the  same  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  given,  and  that  it  may  long  be 
a  use  and  an  ornament  to  the  town,  is  the  sincere  desire  of  yours, 
very  respectfully,  on  behalf  of  the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers' 
Society,  "  JOHN  COCKCROFT,  President. 

"RosT.  BKIGGS,  Secretary." 

This  gift  was  accepted.  The  utilitarian  monument  stands  on  the 
spot  proposed  for  it.  As  the  parched  Oriental  traveller  from  Egypt 
or  India,  visiting  the  earliest  shrine  of  co-operation,  enters  the  town 
of  Rochdale,  he  passes  by  the  Pioneers'  fountain,  and  can  quench 
his  thirst  before  exploring  the  wonders  of  the  great  Store. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

DEAD    PIONEERS. 

IT  may  seem  to  contemporary  co-operators,  who  know  how  largely 
the  present  development  and  prosperity  of  the  movement  is  owing 
to  the  new  generation  of  advocates,  that  too  much  credit  is  given  to 
the  former  generation,  who  set  it  going  and  laid  down  the  lines 
upon  which  it  has  proceeded,  and  that  these  pages  are  of  the  nature 
of  a  partisan  history.  But  the  reader  will  find  that  this  is  not  so. 
The  Apostles  never  made  Christianity  what  it  is.  George  Stephen- 


164         HISTORY  OF   THE   ROCHDALE.  PIONEERS. 

son  had  no  idea  of  the  railway  system  as  we  now  know  it.  But  had 
there  been  no  intrepid  and  enthusiastic  Apostles  to  travel  and  preach 
and  suffer  martyrdom,  in  evil  days,  there  had  been  no  Christianity  ; 
and  had  not  George  Stephenson  thought  and  toiled  and  plotted  for 
railways,  amid  ignorant  capitalists  and  an  unfriendly  public,  railways 
might  now  be  regarded  as  a  mere  mechanical  craze.  Not  to  give 
honour  to  these  originators  would  be  injustice ;  not  to  recognise  the 
intrinsic  merit  of  their  successors  would  be  blindness.  It  happens 
to  be  a  matter  of  historic  fact  that  co-operation  grew  out  of  the 
famous  social  theories  promulgated  in  the  early  part  of  this  century, 
and  the  gallant  and  practical  co-operators  who  first  put  their  in- 
dustrial scheme  in  operation  planned  its  method  of  procedure  and 
worked  for  it,  stood  by  it  and  defended  it  against  a  world  of  un- 
friendly adversaries,  until  it  was  accepted  and  adopted  by  others — 
were  themselves  inspired  and  animated  by  the  ideas  of  eminent 
theorists  who  went  before  them.  I  did  not  invent  them  ;  I  found 
them.  I  did  not  derive  their  names  from  hearsay  ;  I  knew  them. 
They  were  of  all  religions  and  all  opinions — political,  social,  and 
speculative ;  but  all  stood  on  the  side  of  that  socialism  which  sought 
social  improvement  by  creating  new  arrangements  of  production  and 
distribution,  by  honesty  in  trade,  and  equity  in  the  distribution  of 
profits. 

Mr.  Charles  Howarth  died  on  the  last  day  in  June,  1868,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Hey  wood  Cemetery.  He  had  died  at  28  Wilton  Street, 
Heywood.  He  went  down  in  the  mid-year  time. 

There  were  present  a  concourse  of  his  friends,  mostly  co-operators. 
The  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  was  represented  by  the 
president  and  two  of  the  committee,  beside  some  twenty  other  co- 
operators  from  Rochdale,  who,  with  those  from  other  places,  formed 
a  numerous  procession.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Fox  (of  Heywood)  read  the 
burial  service,  after  which  Mr.  Councillor  Smithies  (of  Rochdale) 
said  that  before  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  deceased  separated, 
a  few  remarks  would  be  made  by  Mr.  William  Cooper,  at  the  partic- 
ular desire  of  Mr.  Howarth.  Mr.  Cooper  then  spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  Our  friend  who  is  now  interred  here  was  known  and  respected 
by  all  of  us,  and  we  regret  that  he  has  not  lived  many  years  longer 
amongst  us,  who  have  held  him  in  high  estimation.  Our  companion 
who  now  rests  here  has  been  distinguished  by  sound  judgment,  and 
for  holding  advanced  opinions,  and  has  laboured  with  steady  earnest- 
ness in  many  causes  for  the  freedom  and  benefit  of  himself  and  his 
fellow-man.  I  have  known  him  for  upwards  of  thirty  years.  He 
formerly  was  connected  with  the  Radical  movement,  which  aimed  at 
obtaining  political  rights  for  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland ; 
and  he  just  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  opinions  which  he  long 
advocated  when  they  were  opposed  by  both  Whig  and  Tory  states- 
men, become  the  law  of  the  land.  At  least,  every  householder  is  a 
citizen  ;  but  the  ballot,  which  he  also  claimed,  is  not  yet  conceded. 
Some  of  us  may  live  to  see  this  measure  granted,  to  be  freed  from 


DEAD  PIONEERS.  165 


coercion  and  oppression  by  the  capitalist  and  employer  classes. 
Let  us  look  at  what  he  did  as  a  socialist  reformer.  Having  common 
sense  and  a  strong  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  working  class, 
he  always  laboured  to  reduce  his  plans  and  principles  to  practice  for 
their  benefit.  He  became  a  disciple  of  the  late  Robert  Owen,  and 
an  active  member  of  the  Socialist  body,  and  assisted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  communities  of  united  interest,  or  a  New  Moral  World 
where  each  should  work  for  the  good  of  all,  and  knowledge  and 
plenty  reign,  and  ignorance  and  want  be  unknown.  But  these 
noble  objects  being  in  advance  of  the  people  generally — could  not 
then  succeed.  Yet  they  remind  those  amongst  us  who  are  here,  and 
who  then  made  common  cause  with  him  in  these  objects,  of  the  calm, 
temperate,  and  sound  judgment  which  he  brought  to  bear,  and  the 
dignified  and  steady  perseverance  which  he  applied  to  make  the  faith 
which  was  within  him  a  living  practice.  He  was  a  warper  by  trade, 
in  a  cotton  mill,  and  saw  the  hardships  and  injury  to  health  which 
the  long  hours'  system  in  tainted  atmosphere  produced.  He  took 
a  prominent  part  in  the  agitation  for  the  Ten  Hours  Factory  Act, 
making  speeches  at  public  meetings  in  its  favour,  and  collecting 
subscriptions  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  short  time  movement. 
He  laboured  mostly  amongst  his  Rochdale  townsmen.  He  was  sent 
as  a  delegate  to  London  to  confer  with  members  of  Parliament  and 
watch  the  Ten  Hours  Bill  while  before  the  House  of  Commons.  In 
those  days  employers  of  labour  were  not  in  favour  of  legislation  as 
between  themselves  and  their  workpeople.  On  one  occasion  he  was 
called  into  the  office  by  his  employers,  and  they  made  the  proposal 
that  he  should  remain  in  the  office,  and  they  would  send  for  the 
hands  one  by  one  out  of  the  mill  and  put  the  question  to  each 
whether  he  wanted  the  Ten  Hours  Bill  with  a  reduction  in  wages 
corresponding  with  the  shorter  time.  By  this  means,  said  they,  it 
could  be  ascertained  whether  a  majority  of  their  workpeople  were 
in  favour  or  against  the  proposed  Ten  Hours  Factory  Act.  Mr. 
Howarth  agreed  so  to  do,  provided  his  employers  would  first  con- 
sent for  him  to  have  a  meeting  with  the  workpeople  in  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  mill  to  explain  to  them  the  subject.  The  em- 
ployers did  not  assent  to  this,  so  there  was  no  meeting  of  the  work- 
people or  calling  them  into  the  office.  Our  friend  saw  many  evils 
in  society,  and  like  a  skilful  reformer,  sought  remedies  for  them. 
"The  people's  earnings  were  in  part  absorbed  by  middlemen ;  they 
were  also  in  debt  with  the  shopkeepers,  and  adulterations  of  food 
detrimental  to  their  health  were  being  imposed  upon  them.  To 
rectify  these  evils,  Mr.  Howarth  propounded  that  the  working 
classes  should  become  their  own  purveyors  and  shopkeepers.  The 
Pioneers'  Society's  rules  were  mostly  drawn  up  by  him,  and  the 
principle  of  dividing  profits  on  purchases  in  proportion  to  each  mem- 
ber's trade  was  his  proposal.  The  rules  further  provide  that  the 
government  of  the  Society  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  members, 
the  management  being  vested  in  a  committee  elected  by  and  from 


166        HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

amongst  themselves.  Mr.  Howarth  also  assisted  in  drawing  up  the 
constitution  of  the  Rochdale  District  Corn  Mill  Society.  Later  still 
he  assisted  in  forming  the  North  of  England  Co-operative  Wholesale 
Society,  Limited,  of  58  Dantzie  St.,  Manchester,  and  was  one  of  its 
first  directors  ;  and  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  was  a  director  of  the 
Co-operative  Insurance  Company.  In  life  he  was  a  useful  citizen  ; 
a  free-thinker  in  religion  ;  in  political  and  social  questions  an 
advanced  and  consistent  reformer  ;  a  good  husband  and  father  ;  a 
true,  constant,  and  faithful  friend." 

Mr.  Cooper,  not  long  after,  needed  a  friend  to  speak  at  his  own 
fjrave. 

William  Cooper  was  one  of  the  "twenty-eight."  The  Rochdale 
papers  gave  a  long  report  of  the  proceedings  at  his  grave.  The 
most  complete  narrative  appeared  in  the  Social  Economist  of  London, 
then  edited  by  myself  and  Mr.  E.  O.  Greening  (a  journal  which  was 
discontinued  by  arrangement,  that  the  Co-operative  News  might  be- 
come the  official  and  chief  organ  of  Co-operation). 

It  was  in  the  October  following  the  death  of  Mr.  Howarth  that  Mr. 
Cooper  died.  He  was  the  first  cashier  of  the  Toad  Lane  Store. 
He  carried  the  gold  to  the  bank  when  it  was  so  light  a  quantity  that 
a  rabbit  might  have  drawn  it ;  and  he  carried  it  when  it  was  so 
heavy  a  load  that  it  produced  a  rupture,  from  which  the  carrier 
suffered  ever  after.  The  classic  athlete  trained  himself  by  carrying 
a  calf  daily  as  it  grew,  and  his  strength  gradually  increasing  with 
the  weight  of  his  load,  he  was  eventually  able  to  carry  the  cow. 
But  Mr.  Cooper  was  not  so  fortunate.  His  death,  however,  came 
by  typhus.  He  had  lost  a  child  by  it ;  its  nurse  (a  relative)  then 
suffered ;  the  mother  was  seized,  but  happily  recovered  ;  then  Mr. 
Cooper  was  stricken.  He  got  about  again,  when  a  relapse,  thought 
to  be  occasioned  by  too  early  exposure,  killed  him  on  the  31st  of 
October,  1868.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  the  Oldham  Road, 
Rochdale.  The  Store  salary  did  not  do  much  for  the  cashier  in  its 
earlier  days,  and  it  always  bore  small  proportion  to  his  services. 
"His  death,"  the  Rochdale  Obsewer  said,  "took  the  town  by  sur- 
prise," which  meant  that  all  the  town  knew  hirn,  which  was  true. 

He  was  interred  in  the  Rochdale  Cemetery,  when  a  public  funeral 
was  arranged  by  the  Society.  The  day  was  most  unfavourable. 
Besides  mtmrning  coaches,  almost  every  coach  in  the  town  was  en- 
gaged to  protect  his  friends  from  the  pitiless  rain  ;  and  the  pro- 
cession, as  it  passed  from  his  residence  through  the  town,  was 
watched  by  crowds  of  people  at  the  corners  of  the  various  streets. 
The  co-operative  establishments  were  partially  closed  from  the  time 
of  his  death,  and  a  flag,  half-mast  high,  floated  from  the  roof  of  the 
centre  Store  in  Toad  Lane. 

The  funeral  procession  was  as  follows  :— Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake,  Mr. 
Lloyd  Jones,  Mr.  James  Smithies,  Mr.  Abraham  Greenwood,  Mrs. 
Cooper  and  family  ;  the  Clerks  ;  the  President  and  Committee  of 
the  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society  ;  of  the  Library  ;  of  Mitchell  Hey 


DEAD  PIONEERS.  167 

Mills  ;  of  the  Corn  Mill  Society  ;  Mr.  Wm.  Nuttall  of  Oldham  and 
others ;  Committees,  Managers  of  the  various  departments ;  and 
the  co-operative  workpeople. 

Mrs.  Cooper  wished  me,  as  a  near  friend  of  her  husband,  to  speak 
at  his  grave.  <  )wing  to  the  heavy  rain  the  address  was  delivered  in 
the  chapel  of  the  cemetery.  Standing  at  the  reading-desk,  I  said  : — 

"  We  depart  from  the  ceremonies  usual  on  these  occasions,  from  a 
preference  for  others  which,  to  us  of  the  school  of  thought  to  which 
Mr.  Cooper  belonged,  are  simpler  and  more  sincere.  I  have  not  for 
many  years  come  to  the  interment  of  any  one,  not  of  my  own  blood, 
for  whose  death  I  have  felt  a  sharper  or  deeper  regret  than  for  that 
of  Mr.  Cooper.  In  this  assembly  there  are  many  who  will  have 
honoured  names  in  the  history  of  co-operation,  but  I  think  I  may 
say  safely  that  there  will  be  no  one  who  will  earn  it  by  more  patience, 
by  more  self-sacrifice,  by  more  ceaseless  toil,  than  Cooper  has  done. 
I  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  him  as  the  drudge  of  co-operation. 
When  visitors  arriving  in  London  from  abroad  have  applied  to  me 
for  information,  or  for  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him,  I  was  always 
sure  that  Cooper  would  be  at  their  service.  It  was  one  of  the  satis- 
factions, it  was  part  of  the  pride  I  had  in  Rochdale,  that  there  were 
persons  in  this  town,  beyond  those  in  any  other  town,  who  not  only 
cared  tor  the  principles  they  had  chosen  to  promote,  but  who  would 
take  trouble  to  diffuse  them.  Cooper  was  not  only  the  drudge,  he 
was  the  newsman  of  co-operation.  He  was  always  ready  for  service 
in  any  way.  I  have  wondered  at  the  unwearied  way  in  which  he 
wrote  letters.  That  was  his  self-imposed  mission.  It  was  his  dis- 
tinction that  he  had  a  passionfor  writing  letters.  Whoever  wanted  in- 
formation could  obtain  it  from  Cooper.  He  spared  himself  no  trouble; 
he  gave  the  leisure  of  his  mornings,  of  his  mid-day,  of  his  evenings, 
and  of  bis  Sabbaths,  freely  and  ungrudgingly  to  sending  replies  to  the 
most  distant  or  unknown  person  in  any  part  of  the  country,  or  in 
any  part  of  the  world,  who  asked  him  for  co-operative  news.  Now, 
that  unnoticed  work — that  trouble  which  so  few  people  think  of, 
which  so  few  perform,  and  fewer  still  regard — that  sort  of  service 
it  was  Cooper's  pride  and  pleasure  and  credit  to  render.  Knowledge 
of  the  equity  of  co-operation  he  cared  to  diffuse  abroad.  He  saw 
that  equity  was  the  soul  of  co-operation,  and  was  anxious  for  it  to 
prevail.  He  thought  much  higher  of  the  benefits  co-operative  prin- 
ciples would  render  morally,  than  of  the  mere  pecuniary  benefits 
they  would  confer.  Who  now  will  do  what  he  did  so  long  and  did 
so  well  ?  His  letters  were  of  necessity  often  reiterative,  but  they 
were  always  direct,  relevant,  and  instructive,  written  with  a  purpose ; 
and  they  might  always  be  relied  upon.  He  had  also  another  claim 
upon  our  regard  for  services  which  must  have  been  to  him  in  his 
latter  days  a  source  of  great  personal  satisfaction.  When  the 
question  of  the  freedom  of  the  slave  hung  in  the  balance,  and  rested 
upon  what  was  done  by  the  working  classes  of  this  part  of  England, 


1 68         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

he  had  a  zeal  which  an  American  abolitionist  would  have  been  proud 
of,  to  preserve  a  right  public  opinion  on  that  question.  He  had 
never  seen  those  dusky  millions  of  men  who  were  held  in  slavery, 
and  who  might  have  been  again  precipitated  into  it  but  for  the  tone 
and  feeling  taken  in  this  country  ;  yet  he  cared  for  them  with  al- 
most the  vehemence  and  sympathies  of  a  woman.  His  zeal  was 
personal  and  persistent.  Having  chosen  his  own  principles,  he 
advanced  them  with  singleness  of  purpose.  That  must  have  been  a 
satisfaction  to  him  in  the  presence  of  death.  I  do  not  know  that 
better  credentials  could  be  presented  by  anyone  hereafter  than  those 
of  a  life  of  earnest  and  sincere  work  intended  for  the  benefit  of  others. 
What  we  witnessed  in  this  town  as  we  came  here — despite  the  dreari- 
ness of  the  day,  and  its  inclement  unfitness  for  any  persons  to  be 
abroad — the  number  of  people  who  assembled  to  witness  his  remains 
pass  by,  testify  to  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen.  In  other  towns  in  Great  Britain,  in  Germany,  in  France, 
in  America — in  all  rising  centres  of  co-operation — his  death  will  be 
deplored  by  co-operative  inquirers.  Those  who  were  nearest  and 
dearest  to  him  may  take  some  consolation  in  the  consciousness  that 
the  services  which  he  so  generously  rendered  have  been  so  widely 
useful,  so  widely  known  and  regarded." 

The  editor  of  the  Co-operator,  in  a  notice  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Cooper,  quoted  these  apposite  lines  : — 

"  There  is  no  death  :  what  seems  so  Is  transition  ; 

This  life  of  mortal  breath 
Is  but  the  suburb  to  the  life  Elysian, 
Whose  portal  we  call  death." 

Let  us  hope  all  this  is  true.  So  hard-working  and  zealous  a  co- 
operator  as  Cooper  had  as  good  claims  as  anyone  to  be  in  Elysium. 
And  if  there  be  a  post-office  on  his  side,  and  anyone  in  want  of 
information  about  the  movement  on  this  planet,  he  will  be  very 
happy  in  furnishing  it. 

Next,  news  came  to  me  of  the  death  of  Samuel  Ashworth  in  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Nuttall.  Being  characteristic  of  the  writer,  and 
containing  facts  honourable  to  Mr.  Ashworth  not  otherwise 
mentioned,  I  quote  it  here  : — 

"  Samuel  Ashworth  is  dead.  The  youngest,  I  believe,  of  the 
Rochdale  'twenty-eight.'  He  was  only  46  years  of  age.  He  was 
the  buyer  and  manager  for  the  Rochdale  Pioneers  for  about  twenty 
years,  and  gave  up  that  position  to  take  another  still  higher  in  the 
co-operative  world,  viz.,  the  North  of  England  Co-operative  Whole- 
sale, which  he  retained  to  his  death.  In  both  positions  he  made 
many  friends,  and  I  question  whether  any  enemies.  When  he  left 
Rochdale  Society  (in  1866)  its  figures  stood  thus  : — members,  6,246  ; 
capital,  £99,989 ;  annual  trade,  £249,122  ;  and  profit,  £31,931 ; 


DEAD  PIONEERS.  169 


while  for  1870,  four  years  later,  the  following  decreases  appear — 
members,  5,560  ;  funds,  £80,291  ;  annual  trade,  £223,021 ;  and 
profit,  £25,209.  Ash  worth's  loss  will  be  felt  at  the  Wholesale  many 
days.  He  had  the  confidence  of  both  buyers,  masters,  and  servants. 
His  word  of  advice  to  the  former  was  always  relied  on  and  respected, 
and  rarely  indeed  was  he  mistaken.  When  he  undertook  the  buying 
at  the  Wholesale  Society  its  annual  trade  was  at  the  rate  of  £180.000 ; 
at  his  death  it  was  £800,000.  Although  he  took  no  part  in  its  for- 
mation, yet  when  placed  in  a  position  where  his  business  tact,  sterling 
honesty,  sound  judgment  and  firmness,  without  rudeness,  enabled 
him  to  serve  the  movement,  he  did  it  thoroughly.  Reared  in  the 
'  market  world, '  he  was  no  theorist,  but  some  trouble  to  theorists 
until  their  plans  were  matured,  when,  being  convinced,  he  was  a 
good  and  useful  supporter.  He  hated  changes  and  changers,  had 
strong  convictions,  and  long  ones,  which  frequently  troubled  his 
best  friends.  A  more  faithful  servant  never  lived.  He  died  yesterday 
morning,  and  leaves  nine  of  the  active  workers  of  the  '  old  twenty- 
eight  '  who  are  known  to  have  made  the  world  move.  Within  three 
years  there  have  now  passed  from  amongst  us — 

'CHARLES  HOWARTH,  aged  50. 
'WILLIAM  COOPER,  aged  46. 
'JAMES  SMITHIES,  aged  50. 
' MILES  ASH \VORTH  (Father),  aged  76 
'SAMUEL  ASHWORTH  (Son),  aged  46.'' 

Mr.  Nuttall  has  the  genius  of  figures.  He  marks  Mr.  Ashworth's 
merit  by  an  exhibition  of  financial  facts,  showing  declensions  occur- 
ring in  the  Society  which  he  left,  and  the  growth  of  that  which  he 
next  joined.  Had  Mr.  Nuttall  been  an  apostle,  he  had  estimated 
Christianity  by  the  number  of  its  miracles.  But  he  marks,  in  well 
chosen  terms  that  we  all  well  know,  that  Mr.  Ashworth's  death  made 
another  gap  in  the  ranks  of  the  famous  Rochdale  Co-operators. 
Many  men  die  and  it  does  not  matter ;  when  a  man  like  Ashworth 
dies  it  does  matter.  Men  miss  him,  and  to  be  missed  is  distinction 
and  praise. 

James  Smithies,  the  chief,  one  may  say,  of  the  Fighting  Pioneers, 
is  also  gone.  During  the  years  1855-6  there  appears  to  have  been  a 
continuous  struggle  against  the  imposition  of  the  Income-tax.  Mr. 
Smithies  was  always  chosen  to  fight  the  battle  in  the  courts  and 
before  the  Commissioners.  The  committee  seem  to  have  become 
tired  of  the  fruitless  representations  made  by  them,  and  they  passed 
the  following  resolution: — "That  we  do  not  pay  the  Income-tax 
until  we  are  made."  The  week  following  they  entered  a  not  less 
decisive  minute,  namely,  "  That  the  Income-tax  Commissioner  take 
his  own  course."  The  said  Commissioner  did  so,  and  desisted  from 
his  bewildered  work.  To  receive  6,000  letters  demanding  the  re- 


I7O         HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

turn  of  the  tax,  to  inquire  into  them  and  return  the  amount  illegally 
gathered  was  a  discomforting  prospect. 1 

James  Smithies  was  the  only  one  of  the  Pioneers  belonging  to  the 
"  twenty-eight "  who  obtained  municipal  honour.  He  was  one  of  the 
Town  Council  in  his  later  years.  In  some  important  respects  he 
was  the  greatest  of  the  Pioneers.  Without  him,  Mr.  Howarth  had 
devised  principles  in  vain.  Without  him,  Mr.  Cooper  had  had  a 
limited  sphere  of  propagandism.  Without  him,  Mr.  Greenwood  had 
had  to  labour  much  longer  before  he  had  got  the  Wholesale  to  go. 
It  was  Mr.  Smithies'  measureless  merriment  which  kept  co-operation 
in  good  countenance  in  the  evil  days.  He  laughed  the  Society  into 
existence,  gave  the  timid  courage,  and  made  the  grim-faced  members 
genial.  His  happy  nature,  his  wise  tolerance,  his  boundless  patience 
with  dulness,  ignorance,  and  discontent,  made  him  to  exercise  the 
great  influence  which  kept  the  Society  together.  He  was  my  first  friend 
among  the  Pioneers.  In  his  house,  among  the  wool,  I  had  my 
home  in  all  the  earlier  years  when  I  was  a  wandering  lecturer  in 
Rochdale.  It  was  he  also  who  caused  me  to  maintain  the  theory 
that  human  nature  was  different  in  Rochdale  to  what  it  was  else- 
where in  England.  It  was  Smithies  who  made  the  difference. 
What  merriment  we  have  had  by  his  pleasant  fireside  !  Ah,  how 
sad  I  was  when  I  looked  last  in  his  bright  face  on  his  dying  bed — 
which  not  even  death  could  darken,  nor  dim  the  hope  and  generous 
ardour  which  inspired  his  last  injunction  to  a  friend,  "  Stick  to  Toad 
Lane."  What  watchfulness,  what  fervour,  what  resources,  what  in- 
cessant toil,  what  ceaseless  service,  what  radiant  enthusiasm  he 
displayed  !  How  generous,  how  self-denying,  how  self-regardless  he 
was  !  If  portrait  be  painted  or  bust  carved  of  the  old  Pioneers, 
Smithies  should  first  be  taken.  I  hope  that  to  Mrs.  Smithies  it  may 
long  be  consolation  to  know  that  her  husband's  devotion  to  co-opera- 
tion, which  in  earlier  years  cost  her  many  attentions,  and  her 
pleasant  hospitality  to  her  husband's  friends  are  not  unregarded  or 
forgotten. 

This  narrative  ought  to  include  some  notice  of  Mr.  Alderman 
Livsey,  one  of  the  earliest  public  friends  of  the  Pioneers.  In  their 
service  he  was  ready  all  the  days  of  his  life  in  counsel  and  defence. 
As  the  speech  made  in  the  Public  Hall  after  his  burial  took  place 
mainly  at  the  desire  of  the  Pioneers  as  a  public  expression  of  their 
regard  for  him,  I  venture  to  include  in  this  story  some  record  of  it, 
more  especially  as  it  affords  glimpses  of  the  local  life  of  the  town, 
which  has  notable  features  besides  that  of  co-operation.2 

1  What  would  be  the  effect,  in  the  case  of  Rochdale,  where  there  were  then  about 
6,000  co-operators,  of  levying  that  tax  upon   the  transactions  of  the  Societies  ?    The 
managers  would  advise  the  members,  the  vast  majority  of  whom  were,  by  the  smallness 
of  their  income,  not  liable  to  the  tax,  to  apply  for  its  return,  as  paid  upon  their  propor- 
tion of  the  profits.    The  collectors  found  that  to  levy  this  tax  would  give  them  Infinitely 
more  trouble  than  it  was  worth,  and  they  wisely  thought  it  better  to  take  it  from  the 
people  where  they  were  liable  to  pay  it,  individually.—  Speech  of  E.  0.  Greening,  Society 
of  Arts,  London. 

2  An  interesting  record  of  the  Life  and  Times  of  the  late  Alderman  Livsey  has  been 
published  by  Miss  M.  R.  Lahee.    Abel  Heywood  and  Son,  Manchester,  I860. 


DEAD  PIONEERS.  17 1 


Mr.  Alderman  Livsey,  born  June  17th,  1815,  the  year  of  the  Peace, 
died  in  January  25th,  1864.  For  some  time  before  his  death 
there  was  a  strong  desire  in  the  town  to  see  him  elected  mayor. 
Had  it  not  been  for  his  failing  health  the  honour  would  have  been 
accorded  him.  A  public  meeting  was  held,  at  which  the  burgesses  ex- 
pressed their  wish  that  the  civic  chair  should  be  offered  him  by  the 
Town  Council.  The  Tories,  uniting  against  it,  turned  the  balance 
against  the  proposal.  Livsey  was  not  a  favourite  in  that  quarter. 
On  November  18th,  1863,  at  a  great  meeting  at  the  Public  Hall, 
an  address  was  presented  to  him  by  his  townsmen  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  public  and  political  services,  Mr.  Bright  bearing  testimony 
to  thirty  years'  knowledge  of  his  exertions  on  behalf  of  the  town  and 
un-enfranchised  classes.  His  death  two  months  later  was  really  a 
matter  of  town  sorrow.  Even  the  party  politically  opposed  to  him 
regretted  the  loss  of  the  quaint,  vigorous,  original  character,  which 
had  often  won  attention  and  respect  for  Rochdale,  of  which  his 
qualities  were  taken  to  be  representative. 

The  Mayor,  Mr.  Samuel  Stott,  wrote  a  public  letter  to  Mrs.  Livsey 
and  her  daughter,  expressing  condolence  and  regret  at  Mr.  Livsey/s 
death.  Mr.  Bright — who  would  have  attended  the  funeral  had  he 
not  been  detained  by  political  duties  at  Birmingham — wrote  to  say 
that  "he  would  like  to  join  in  raising  a  sum  of  money  to  erect  a 
modest  memorial  over  the  grave  of  a  man  who  had  been  useful  both 
to  the  town  and  country/'  and  added,  "  Tom  Livsey  was  a  diamond, 
though  not  highly  polished."  Mr.  Cobden  wrote  from  Midhurst 
valued  words  of  tribute.  He  said  : — "  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  there  were  no  working  men  in 
Rochdale  who,  if  they  believed  themselves  aggrieved  by  those  in 
authority,  did  not  turn  their  footsteps  instinctively  towards  the  door 
of  Mr.  Livsey  for  advice  and  assistance  ;  and  if  their  grievance  was 
a  just  one,  not  otherwise,  they  found  in  him  a  self-sacrificing  friend 
and  protector." 

Mr.  Cobden  was  a  representative  who  took  interest  in  every  class 
of  his  constituents.  Mr.  Alderman  G.  L.  Ashworth,  who  spoke  at 
the  opening  of  the  Central  Stores,  related  that  when  he  took  Mr. 
Cobden  to  see  the  library  and  news-rooms  of  the  Pioneers  he  said, 
"  These  co-operators  have  advantages  which  could  hardly  be  sur- 
passed by  any  club  in  London." 

In  a  letter  I  some  time  ago  addressed  to  Co-operative  Societies,  I 
have  mentioned  that  at  one  time  I  had  views  of  obtaining  a  settle- 
ment in  the  parish  of  Rochdale.  The  following  passage  in  the  life 
of  Livsey  in  part  explains  this  choice.  Mr.  Livsey  had  the  strongest 
aversion  to  the  Poor  Law,  as  subjecting  honest  indigence  to  penal 
treatment,  and  he  resisted  any  attempt  to  erect  a  "  Bastile,"  as  a 
poorhouse  was  then  called,  in  Rochdale.  The  Poor  Law  Inspector 
of  that  day,  Mr.  Mayne  Waring,  insisted  upon  this  being  done. 
Mr.  Livsey  was  equal  to  half-a-dozen  inspectors,  but  impatient  of 
wasting  weeks  of  correspondence  with  red  tapists  he  decided  at  once 


1^2         HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

to  appeal  to  Cyesar  himself.  In  the  winter  of  1858  he  went  to 
London,  and  by  Mr.  Bright,  M.P.,  and  Sir  A.  Ramsay,  M.P.,  was 
introduced  to  Mr.  Sotheron-Estcourt,  the  then  president  of  the  Poor 
Law  Board.  It  was  to  this  interview  that  Mr.  Alderman  Livsey 
referred  with  so  much  just  pride  and  gratification  at  the  Public 
Hall,  when  presented  with  the  address  of  the  burgesses.  The 
Rochdale  Observer  said  : — "  We  cannot  do  better  than  give  the  conver- 
sation in  Mr.  Livsey's  own  words — 'Mr.  Sotheron-Estcourt  said  to 
us,  "Oh,  but  yours  are  not  workhouses,  you  know  ;  they  are  alms- 
houses."  "Yes,"  I  replied,  "that  is  exactly  the  word  ;  they  are 
almshouses,  and  they  are  not  intended  to  be  workhouses  in  your 
sense  of  the  word.  They  are  intended  as  homes  for  the  homeless 
poor."  That  was  one  of  the  most  pleasurable  moments  I  ever  re 
member,  to  hear  Mr.  Estcourt  acknowledge  that  our  workhouses  so- 
called  were  almshouses.' " 

When  his  burial  day  came  all  the  town  was  literally  in  the  streets, 
showing  regard  to  his  memory.  A  large  assembly  afterwards  met  in 
the  Public  Hall,  when  Mr.  Alderman  George  Healey,  a  valued 
colleague  of  Mr.  Livsey,  presided,  and  I  spoke  upon  Mr.  Livsey'a 
public  character  and  services  to  social  as  well  as  political  reform. 
The  following  is  the  substance  of  what  appeared  in  the  forgotten  or 
inaccessible  newspaper  reports  of  the  time  : — 

"  Our  common  friend,  the  late  Mr.  Alderman  Livsey,  loved  public 
life.  Next  to  his  home  he  was  happiest  on  the  platform.  Here  the 
people  were  accustomed  to  meet  him.  It  is,  therefore,  fitting  that 
we  should  here,  in  this  hall,  where  we  so  lately  greeted  him  in  life, 
prove  that  the  words  then  addressed  to  his  own  ear  were  not  the 
mere  political  compliments  of  the  hour,  but  the  echo  of  feelings 
having  that  stamp  of  sincerity  which  exists  beyond  the  grave.  We 
owe  it  to  ourselves  to  show  this  ;  hearing  no  longer  that  hearty 
voice — missing  evermore  that  co-operation,  that  untiring  devotion, 
given  to  the  good  of  others  which  we  all  knew  so  well  in  him. 

"  Never,  except  in  London  when  some  royal  head  was  laid  low,  has 
there  been  witnessed  such  thronged  streets  as  filled  this  town  at  his 
burial.  '  Tom  Livsey,'  to  use  the  affectionate  term  of  Mr.  Bright, 
'  was  carried  to  his  last  home  with  honour.  He  lived  among  the 
people  like  a  man,  he  fought  for  them  like  a  hero,  and  they  buried 
him  like  a  king.' 

"  We  all  felt  the  earnestness  and  appropriateness  of  the  addresses 
at  the  cemetery  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lewis  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burchell. 
Nor  do  we  pass  unnoticed  the  pleasant  Christian  feeling  with  which 
tho  reverend  vicar,  Dr.  Molesworth,  cancelling  the  ancient  Church 
Rate  feud  with  our  lost  friend,  Mr.  Livsey,  made  calls  of  kindness 
upon  him  in  his  illness,  and  caused  the  muffled  bells  of  the  church 
to  peal  at  his  death  ;  acts  which  carried  with  them  the  influence  of 
many  sermons. 

"The  characteristic  of  Mr.  Livsey  was  that  he  not  only  meant  to  do 


DEAD   PIONEERS.  173 


good — he  did  it.  He  had  not  only  the  will,  he  had  the  power,  to  be 
useful.  He  was  a  strong  man  in  his  place.  He  was  no  fireside  re- 
former. He  sacrificed  his  ease — he  gave  his  time — he  spent  his 
means  to  accomplish  what  he  thought  beneficial  to  his  townsmen 
and  his  countrymen.  He  gave  himself  trouble  to  serve  the  people. 
Many  think  they  do  a  great  deal  if  they  take  in  a  paper  which  tells 
them  of  public  affairs.  Mr.  Livsey  helped  to  make  the  affairs.  He 
did  rough  work,  without  which  no  public  affairs,  worthy  of  the 
name,  are  made.  Ha  ring  a  manly  and  generous  heart,  he  could 
never  rest  while  he  knew  that  any  man  was  suffering  from  an 
injustice  which  he  thought  he  could  redress  or  abridge. 

"I  think  much  of  municipal  service.  I  wish  to  increase  the  respect 
in  which  municipal  distinctions  are  held.  The  Corporation  is  the 
wholesome  part  of  our  town  life — it  carries  the  soul  over  the  counter 
and  causes  private  men  to  take  interest  in  public  affairs— it  con- 
verts the  artisan,  the  tradesman,  the  merchant,  into  the  citizen. 
It  is,  therefore,  in  my  mind  praise  to  say  that  Mr.  Livsey  was,  as  an 
alderman,  worth  caring  for,  and  was  one  who  kept  his  principles 
with  his  elevation.  He  always  stood  by  the  honest  'Old  Charter.' 
He  loved  men  who  meant  something.  I  know  that  when  illustrious 
exiles — when  Mazzini,  or  Kossuth,  or  Garibaldi,  or  Louis  Blanc 
wanted  the  aid  of  English  public  opinion  to  raise  an  oppressed  nation, 
Livsey  was  to  be  counted  upon  to  aid,  as  were  others  here.  He 
was  foremost  among  those  who  helped  to  connect  the  public  men  of 
England  with  the  public  life  of  the  world — by  the  living  bond  of 
political  sympathy.  The  working  men  of  this  town  have  made 
Rochdale  a  place  of  mark.  I  have  myself  given  letters  of  intro- 
duction here  to  professors  and  political  economists  from  France, 
Spain,  Germany,  Italy,  Russia,  and  India.  When,  however,  the 
idea  of  co-operation  was  in  its  infancy  in  this  place,  Thomas  Livsey 
was  the  first  man  of  the  master-class  who  gave  it  his  encouragement 
and  serviceable  support  ;  and  he,  until  the  last,  fitly  represented 
its  sagacity,  its  perseverance,  and  cordiality,  as  he  did,  in  his  society 
and  station,  represent  the  best  qualities  of  the  intelligence  and 
sturdy  honesty  of  his  native  town. 

"  Of  the  achievements  of  his  active  life  two  deserve  special  remem- 
brance— his  efforts  to  procure  the  Ten  Hours  Bill  and  to  fix  at  a 
democratic  amount  the  municipal  franchise  in  this  town.  The  Ten 
Hours  Bill  has  proved  to  be  a  signal  act  of  domestic  humanity. 
For  such  a  purpose  as  limiting  the  hours  of  labour  of  children  no 
Act  of  Parliament  ought  ever  to  have  been  needed.  No  parent  of 
common  sense  and  spirit  ought  to  have  ever  permitted  a  child  to  be 
excessively  worked.  But,  since  it  was  permitted,  it  was  the  right 
thing  to  put  it  down  by  force.  Mr.  Livsey  gave  years  of  labour  to 
aid  in  this.  The  result  has  increased  the  health  and  the  stature  of 
this  generation. 

"None  but  a  democrat  who  knew  what  his  principles  meant  would 
ever  have  fought  the  '  Three  Wards '  battle  in  this  town,  which 


174         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

ended  in  reducing  the  municipal  franchise  lower  than  in  any  other 
town  in  the  kingdom.  By  this  measure  Mr.  Livsey  extended  the 
boundary  of  freedom  in  this  country.  Democracy  signifies  respect 
for  the  equal  liberty  of  others — its  spirit  is  that  of  confidence  in  the 
good  sense,  the  self-respect,  and  instinct  of  order  in  your  own 
countrymen.  The  more  there  are  brought  within  the  pale  of  the 
constitution  the  better.  He  who  is  not  recognised  by  the  State  is 
not  responsible  to  it.  It  is  a  crime  in  all  who  withhold  the  vote  ; 
it  is  a  crime  in  all  who  do  not  wish  for  it.  The  one  party  imposes 
slavery,  and  the  other  consents  to  it.  Who  says  the  workmen  of 
England  are  not  to  be  trusted  with  the  franchise  ?  The  Government 
takes  one  or  another  of  the  common  people  from  the  streets.  In 
the  dark  day  of  Inkerman  he  turns  up  in  the  bloody  defiles  of 
that  fatal  field,  and  leaderless  and  alone  he  protects  the  honour  of 
England  with  his  solitary  sword.  On  the  burning  plains  of  Hin- 
dostan,  in  the  swamps  of  China,  at  any  lonely  or  distant  post,  the 
English  plebeian  pours  out  his  blood  with  as  much  promptness  and 
bravery  as  any  nobleman — his  courage  is  as  high,  his  faithfulness 
as  inviolable — neglect  does  not  move  him,  death  does  not  deter  him. 
Are  not  men  of  this  order,  whose  swords  carve  our  renown,  who 
make  our  history,  who  save  our  empire,  worthy  of  a  vote  in  the 
choice  or  rejection  of  the  titled  charlatan  who  shall  sit  in  the  House 
of  Commons  to  levy  or  dispose  of  our  taxes,  or  plunge  us  into  new 
wars  ?  It  was  against  this  discreditable  exclusion  that  the  late 
Alderman  Livsey  set  his  face  with  indignation.  He  had  '  that 
greatness  which  belongs  to  a  life  spent  in  struggling  against  power- 
ful wrong.'1  He  had  an  insurgent  nature.  He  regarded  injustice 
as  infamous,  and  as  an  imputation  on  all  who  submitted  to  it,  and 
he  conspired  against  it  resolutely.  Prayer  is  well  meant,  and  con- 
solation is  kind,  yet  holier  are  those  acts  which  bring  deliverance 
and  make  sorrow  unnecessary.  To  trample  down  some  haughty 
wrong — to  build  up  some  generous  improvement — bring  good 
thoughts  in  death.  A  thousand  prayers  are  condensed  in  one 
material  improvement  for  the  good  of  humanity. 

"Let  us  not  forget  that  there  is  one  tribute  which  it  is  in  the  power 
of  all  to  pay  in  some  degree,  and  which,  if  neglected,  would  render 
all  works  of  praise  very  poor,  and  that  tribute  is  the  continuance  of 
the  work  upon  which  he  set  his  heart.  The  best  applause  to  give 
to  a  man  of  worth  is  to  imitate  him. 

"We  live  in  the  main  under  a  government  of  reason — not  in  a  very 
brilliant  form  yet,  but  that  is  what  it  comes  to.  Denunciation  of 
persons  we  do  not  want,  but  denunciation  of  wrong  we  do  want. 
Honest  agitators  are  not  demagogues,  they  are  advocates  ;  and 
advocates  are  very  much  wanted.  Revolution  is  no  longer  neces- 
sary in  English  politics.  We  had  some  wise  forefathers  in  old 
times,  of  whom  modern  Radicals  in  many  towns  know  too  little, 

*  George  Eliot. 


DEAD   PIONEERS.  175 


who  laid  broad  foundations  of  freedom  in  our  midst.  It  only  needs 
that  we  build  upon  these  resolutely,  and  the  English  educated 
classes,  who  always  move  in  the  grooves  of  precedent,  will  acquiesce 
with  a  reasonable  readiness.  Mr.  Livsey  had  this  knowledge. 
With  all  his  abruptness  of  speech  at  times,  he  had  deference  to  the 
opinions  of  others,  with  the  instinct  of  a  gentleman.  I  never 
witnessed  a  more  conspicuous  instance  than  when  he  last  stood  in 
this  hall.  The  manly,  uncomplaining  grace  with  which  he  alluded 
to  and  accepted  his  defeat  of  the  mayoralty ;  his  refusal  to  allow  it 
to  be  a  cause  of  difference  in  the  Liberal  party,  which  needs  always 
to  be  united,  struck  me  at  the  time  as  a  sign  of  superior  nature — 
'ealous  not  to  put  himself  or  his  personal  claims  in  the  place  of  his 
•*ause. 

"  What  could  indicate  higher  practical  quality  in  a  reformer  than 
his  successful  exertions  in  transferring  the  gas  company  from 
private  hands  to  those  of  the  Corporation  ?  This  step,  accomplished 
by  three  years  of  costly  advocacy  to  himself,  saved,  as  Mr.  Alder- 
man Healey  computed  on  a  late  occasion,  £30,000  to  this  town  ; 
and  enabled  valuable  improvements  to  be  effected  without  the  im- 
position of  taxes  for  the  purpose.  In  no  town  in  England  has  the 
same  thing  been  done  to  the  same  extent.  This  example  has  a 
higher  value  than  the  saving  even  of  so  large  a  sum  of  money — it 
proves  that  Radicalism,  in  wise  hands,  is  not  declamatory,  but  prac- 
tical ;  it  proved  that  the  most  democratic  corporation  of  England  is 
the  best  capable  of  self-government — strengthening  the  argument 
in  favour  of  trusting  the  people.  I  am  glad  that  Rochdale  has  wise 
honour  to  give  to  the  memory  of  such  a  townsman  as  she  has  lost. 
If  good  feeling  did  not  prompt  it,  it  would  be  good  policy,  in  these 
days,  not  to  let  public  and  personal  worth  like  his  pass  to  the  grave 
unrecognised.  Those  do  well  who  try  to  preclude  degeneracy 
among  reformers.  As  I  go  over  the  towns  of  the  empire,  I  find  in 
many  places  that  the  sons  are  not  equal  to  their  fathers.  Families 
of  whom  the  last  generation  honourably  heard  have  no  representa- 
tives in  this.  The  race  continues,  but  the  spirit  is  extinct.  It  is 
necessary  to  give  attention  to  the  public  education  of  young  men. 
Otherwise,  Mr.  Livsey  caused  Rochdale  to  be  respected  wherever 
he  has  acted  in  its  name.  His  townsmen,  low  and  high,  have  pro- 
fited alike  by  his  exertions  and  his  example.  His  work  will  live 
after  him,  and  his  name  become  part  of  the  best  wealth  of  his  native 
town. 

"  I  do  not  speak  of  him  so  because  he  shared  opinions  which  I 
sometimes  express.  We  never  spoke  together  upon  religious  topics. 
We  always  met  on  those  happier  platforms  where  the  common 
purpose  of  the  common  good,  so  far  as  we  could  promote  it,  was  the 
sole  creed  exacted.  I  always  regarded  him  as  an  honest  Christian 
gentleman,  who  saw  in  Christ  the  servant  of  the  poor,  and  in 
Christianity  the  consecration  of  practical  sympathy  for  the  op- 
pressed, whether  near  or  afar  of,  of  whatever  colour  or  clime.  I 


176         HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

knew  him  as  one  whose  trust  was  in  doing  right — whose  worship 
was  work — whose  grace  and  privilege  were  charity.  I  have  lived 
long  enough  to  know  that  bigotry  or  intolerance  is  merely  the  out- 
ward sign  of  inward  narrowness  and  self -distrust — warning  you  that 
there  are  men  whom  it  is  no  moral  good  to  know.  Mr.  Livsey,  like 
all  men  who  have  an  intelligent  honesty  of  their  own,  respected  that 
of  others. 

"  '  They  nothing  know  to  fear, 
And  flothing  fear  to  know.' 

"  Those  of  us  who  come  from  afar  knew  him  as  one  of  the  forces  of 
opinion  in  these  parts.  Like  your  own  great  townsman,  whose 
eloquence  has  given  a  new  splendour  to  the  English  tongue,  Mr. 
Livsey  had  '  firm  words  to  put  in  slippery  places  that  the  country 
might  be  helped  across  into  purpose  and  a  definite  policy  of  free- 
dom.' When  the  public  occasion  required  men  of  purpose  you 
looked  around  and  you  always  saw  Livsey  well  up  in  the  front.  If 
all  who  meant  work  could  count  on  his  co-operation,  all  who  meant 
public  mischief  had  to  count  upon  his  opposition.  There  are  many 
men  who  have  a  conscience,  but  it  totters  in  its  steps  ;  there  are 
many  who  have  a  just  will,  but  it  is  feeble.  The  world  is  full  of 
people  who  are  not  exactly  ill-meaning  ;  their  fault  is  that  they 
have  no  meaning,  and  when  they  act  at  all  they  act  for  themselves. 
If  a  fellow  creature  is  in  the  water  they  will  help  him  out — if  they 
can  do  so  without  much  trouble.  They  do  not  see  why  they  should 
put  themselves  into  his  situation  to  assist  him.  They  are  sorry  for 
him,  but  they  will  run  no  risk  to  save  him.  They  see  people  strug- 
gling in  poverty  which  will  never  end — in  ignorance  which  will 
never  be  dispelled — in  unhealthy  circumstances  which  should  be  at 
once  improved,  suffering  under  pressure  of  unequal  laws  which  bore 
upon  their  fathers  and  will  depress  their  children,  but  these  persons 
give  no  care,  or  money,  or  time,  or  trouble  to  alter  all  this.  Them- 
selves comfortable  or  content,  they  leave  things  to  alter  as  they 
may,  and  leave  those  to  suffer  who  must,  and  those  to  help  who 
will.  With  the  laborious  meetings,  the  anxious  agitations,  the 
costly,  unrequited  exertions  by  which  men  are  instructed  and  their 
social  condition  improved,  these  do-nothings  will  have  nothing  to 
do.  If  you  want  to  know  how  numerous  these  people  are,  think  of 
any  good  cause  and  count  up  those  who  do  not  help  it.  Go  to  any 
public  meeting  for  a  noble  object  and  count  up  those  you  know  who 
are  absent,  and  then  you  will  learn  amid  what  a  crowd  of  people 
without  heart  we  live.  To  such  no  man  owes  honour — for  them  we 
feel  no  love.  When  they  die  we  do  not  miss  them.  We  do  not 
mourn  them,  and  when  they  are  buried  none  care  where  they  lie. 
Their  unhonoured  graves  awaken  no  emotion  that  we  wish  to 
know. 

"  Yet,  in  this  Egyptian  darkness  of  self  and  sordidness,  no  sooner 
does  a  man  of  nobler  impulse  appear  than  men  discern  him  by  the 
moral  light  which  he  diffuses.  The  very  path  is,  in  a  sense,  lumm- 


THE   ROCHDALE  CONGRESS  OF    1892.  177 

ous  on  which  he  treads.  His  unselfish  aims — his  care  for  the  good 
of  others — make  gladsome  all  places  which  know  him.  His  spon- 
taneous words  of  sympathy  for  distress,  which  has  no  personal 
claims  upon  him,  check  crime  in  the  ignorant  and  prevent  despair 
in  the  educated.  His  daily  efforts  of  service  to  others,  notwith- 
standing the  weariness  and  thanklessness,  loss  and  pain,  are  wor- 
ship, song,  and  prayer.  The  very  grave  is  sacred  where  we  lay 
him.  The  visitor  to  it  treads  on  the  ashes  of  honest  men.  The 
very  spot  is  an  inspiration  in  future  time.  In  the  unforeseen 
disappointments  and  sadness  which  beset  our  lives,  we  remember 
such  men  with  relief,  and  turn  from  courts  and  conventionalities, 
and  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  fashion  and  greed,  and  give 
our  best  homage  to  the  memory  of  the  generous  dead." 1 

If  I  may  speak  of  myself  for  once  in  this  narrative  it  is  to  relate 
a  circumstance  I  remember  with  pride.  When  I  next  met  Mr. 
Cobden  in  the  House  of  Commons  he  spoke  of  Livsey  with  much 
regard,  and  mentioned  having  read  this  address  in  terms  which 
gave  me  much  pleasure,  and  he  showed  me  frequent  marks  of 
friendship  until  the  end  of  his  life.  The  last  note  I  received  from 
him  was  from  the  platform  in  the  great  mill  in  Rochdale  where  he 
spoke  for  the  last  time  before  his  death.  I  recall  that  on  the  night 
referred  to  at  the  House  of  Commons  he  said,  "  Come  with  me  and 
allow  me  to  introduce  you  to  a  young  man  from  whom  I  think  great 
usefulness  is  to  be  expected."  It  was  Mr.  Henry  Fawcett,  whom 
the  public  have  since  known  as  Professor  Fawcett,  M.P. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  KOCHDALE   CONGRESS  OF   1892. 

BEING  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  forty-fourth  anniversary  of  the 
Rochdale  Society,  the  large  meeting  then  assembled  passed  unani- 
mously on  the  motion  of  Thomas  Cheetham,  president,  and  Abram 
Greenwood,  the  following  message  of  sympathy  to  Mr.  Bright : — 

"  That  this  assembly,  celebrating  the  forty-fourth  anniversary  of 
the  Rochdale  Equitable  Pioneers'  Society,  desires  to  send  to  Mr. 
Bright  a  message  of  regard  for  acts  of  neighbourly  friendship  and 
counsel  to  the  early  Pioneers,  and  for  his  aid  in  Parliament  in  pro- 
curing legal  protection  for  societies  of  self-help  in  their  unfriended 
days.  The  Rochdale  members  send  him  their  grateful  wishes. 
They  know  he  is  sustained  by  a  simple  and  noble  faith,  and  by  a 

1  Weiss— written  of  Theodore  Parker. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 


conscience  rich  in  a  thousand  memories  of  services  to  those  who 
dwell  in  cottages  or  labour  in  our  towns.  The  days  of  one  who 
gave  his  strength  for  the  benefi  t  of  the  people  ought  to  be  '  long  in 
the  land,'  and  they  who  send  him  this  message  are  glad  to  believe 
that  his  days  will  be  yet  long  extended." 

This  was  the  only  message  to  Mr.  Bright  in  his  last  illness  which 
had  no  dash  of  the  undertaker  in  it.  The  usual  resolutions  of  con- 
dolence sent  him  all  had  a  foreboding  implication  in  them.  It  gave 
him  pleasure  to  receive  the  Pioneers'  message. 

On  a  visit  to  Rochdale  shortly  before  I  spent  a  few  hours  at  One 
Ash.  It  was  the  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  Bright.  He  showed  me  his 
presents  from  America — spoke  of  Wendell  Phillips  and  others 
whom  I  had  visited  in  America,  and  pointed  out  the  portraits  on 
his  walls  of  members  of  his  family  whom  I  had  known.  On  the 
day  of  our  message  I  went  up  to  his  home,  arresting  the  cab  outside 
the  grounds,  as  I  knew  he  would  hear  the  sound  of  wheels  at  his 
door,  ask  questions  and  send  a  message  when  repose  was  better  for 
him.  I  wished  that  he  should  learn  only  incidentally  of  my  call  of 
inquiry. 


In  1892,  forty-eight  years  after  the  formation  of  the  famous  Store 
in  1844,  the  Co-operative  Congress,  which  had  been  since  1869 
wandering  over  the  United  Kingdom,  for  the  first  time  found  its 
tardy  way  to  Rochdale. 


VISIT  TO   THE   GRAVE   OF  MR.    BRIGHT. 

The  Rochdale  Observer  related  that,  after  the  opening  of  the 
Congress  Exhibition,  on  Saturday,  June  4th,  a  party  of  about  thirty 
earnest  co-operators  and  Radicals,  headed  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holy- 
oake  and  Miss  E.  A.  Holyoake,  proceeded  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  grave 
of  the  late  John  Bright,  in  the  quiet  unpretentious  and  secluded 
burial-ground  of  the  "Friends,"adjoining  the  meeting-house  in  George 
Street.  Standing  at  the  foot  of  Mr.  Bright's  grave,  Mr.  Holyoake 
said: 

"There  is  the  grave  of  the  great  Tribune.  I  was  once  with  him  at 
the  grave  of  his  sister.  I  found  him,  as  we  all  knew  him,  simple  and 
unassuming.  The  reason  why  co-operators  should  pay  a  visit  to  this 
grave  is  that  Mr.  Bright  was  the  ready  and  effective  defender  of  co- 
operation in  Parliament,  and  was  the  first  who  raised  his  voice  there 
on  behalf  of  that  system.  He  believed  in  the  principle  of  com- 
petition, and  thought  that  justice  would  come  thereby,  but  if  it  came 
by  other  means  which  were  honest  he  was  content.  What  he  most 
cared  for  was  the  comfort  and  competence  of  the  working  class,  as 
you  may  read  on  his  monument  in  the  Square  we  have  just  left. 


THE  ROCHDALE  CONGRESS  OF   1892.  179 

The  people  for  whom  he  spoke  were  not  the  rich,  but  the  poor,  who 
could  make  him  no  requital  for  his  efforts  on  their  behalf.  As 
Carlyle  observes  :  '  A  man  cannot  be  a  saint  in  his  sleep.'  Serving 
his  country  as  Bright  served  it  could  only  be  done  by  a  saint  awake. 
What  we  want  in  co-operation  is  that  good  speeches  shall  be 
followed  by  consistent  acts.  Mr.  Bright  was  one  of  the  few  persons 
in  Parliament  of  whom  it  could  be  said  they  had  a  conscience.  He, 
Gladstone,  Cobden,  Stansfeld,  Trevelyan,  were  of  this  class.  I  do 
not  say  that  none  others  had  consciences,  but  if  they  had  it  has 
been  so  little  apparent  in  public  affairs  that  we  never  knew  it.  Mr. 
Bright  was  trusted  because  he  had  a  conscience  in  public  affairs. 
In  contests  for  principle,  whoever  wants  inspiration  let  him  come  to 
this  grave.  In  the  stormy  battles  against  slavery  and  for  the 
English  franchise  Mr.  Bright  was  the  chief  person  assailed.  For 
the  last  two  years  of  the  contest,  I  witnessed  in  the  House  of 
Commons  that  Tories  and  Liberals  with  Tory  tendencies  attacked 
him  until  it  appeared  to  be  a  calamity  to  any  public  question  that 
Mr.  Bright  favoured  it.  Yet  all  the  while  his  adversaries  were 
convinced,  and  screamed  their  opprobrium  to  conceal  their  conver- 
sion. How  few  are  they  who  will  be  at  trouble  to  obtain  advantages 
they  do  not  need  for  themselves.  Mr.  Bright  would  do  that. 
What  could  be  nobler  than  that  he,  a  manufacturer,  should  seek  to 
restore  to  workmen  the  participation  in  profit  of  which  they  had 
been  deprived  at  Mitchell  Hey  Mill  ?  Had  the  principle  been  estab- 
lished in  practice  there  we  might  have  seen  it  introduced  into  his 
own  mills  at  Conkey  Shaw,  as  the  son  of  his  great  friend  Thomasson 
did  at  Bolton.  On  personal  as  well  as  on  public  ground  we  do  well 
to  come  to  this  grave  to  testify  our  regard.  His  noble  taste  was  to 
dwell  among  his  own  people,  and  it  was  by  his  wish  that  he  was 
buried  here  among  them.  He  endowed  Rochdale  with  his  reputa- 
tion and  hia  country  by  his  services." 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  OLD  PIONEERS. 

The  next  day,  at  the  sermon  in  the  parish  church,  the  Rev.  Vicar, 
the  Venerable  Archdeacon  Wilson,  courteously  announced  that  at 
the  close  of  the  service  Mr.  Holyoake  intended  visiting  the  graves 
of  the  Old  Pioneers,  and  invited  the  company  of  those  like-minded 
to  meet  him  at  the  church  gates. 

The  procession,  on  arriving  at  the  cemetery,  proceeded  to  the  tomb 
of  William  Cooper,  the  first  cashier  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  Holyoake  said  that  yesterday  he  invited  such  delegates  to 
the  Congress  as  had  honour  in  their  hearts  for  Mr.  Bright,  to 
accompany  him  to  the  grave  of  the  great  Tribune,  who  put  conscience 
into  politics.  Cooper — and  Smithies,  whose  grave  they  would  next 
go  to — put 

Conscience  into  Co-operation  in  their  sphere. 


ISO        HISTORY  OF  THE   ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

They  put  principle  first,  of  which  we  heard  little  now  in  Rochdale. 
They  cared  not  merely  for  the  wages  of  workmen,  they  cared  for 
the  emancipation  of  labour.  Cooper  ran  more  risks  than  others  in 
those  days.  He  cared  for  the  public  more  than  he  cared  for  friend- 
ship or  himself.  He  was  always  willing  to  go  on  to  platforms,  and 
speak  or  write,  in  defence  of  Liberalism  of  Co-operation  and  of 
Labour.  Twenty  or  more  years  ago  a  great  number  of  people  came 
to  that  place  at  his  death  to  do  honour  to  his  memory.  They  cared 
for  him  because  he  was  entirely  honest ;  because  his  principle  of  co- 
operation meant  equity,  not  merely  in  the  store  but  in  the  work- 
shop. 

"  Cooper  !  if  thou  canst  hear  our  voices  over  thy  tomb,  we  come 
to  tell  thee  that  thy  protests  for  justice  to  the  unrequited  worker  are 
not  dead,  that  the  memory  of  thy  generous  zeal  still  lives  in  our 
hearts.  Like  the  fire  of  Moiitezuma  kept  burning  for  three  centuries 
in  the  temple  of  his  followers,  the  light  of  thy  example  is  still  kept 
burning  in  the  grim  and  unadorned,  but  not  less  sacred,  Temples  of 
Labour. 

"The  great  Lord  of  this  Vale  said  to  the  Greeks  : 

"  '  You  have  the  Pyric  dance  as  yet ; 
Where  is  the  Pyric  phalanx  gone  ? 

' '  The  battles  of  labour  though  less  classic  are  not  less  noble  than 
those  of  war,  and  we  over  thy  grave,  Cooper,  demand  of  thy  towns- 
men who  now  profit  by  self-regardless  efforts — 

"  '  You  have  the  Toad  Lane  Store  as  yet, 
Where  is  the  Toad  Lane  workshop  gone  T 
Of  two  such  lessons  why  forget 
The  nobler  and  the  manlier  one  1 ' 

"  Let  us  hope  that  the  co-operators  of  Rochdale  who  set  the  people 
a  nobler  lesson  in  the  past  will  not  forget  the  '  manlier  one '  in  the 
future.  Now  let  us  go  to  Smithies,  whose  grave  1  have  not  yet 
seen." 

Near  the  entrance  to  the  chapel  mortuary,  said  the  Observer, 
is  the  grave  of  James  Smithies — that  containing  the  remains  of 
Cooper  is  just  at  the  back — and  here  the  crowd  went  in  response  to 
Mr.  Holyoake's  last  sentence.  Arrived  there  he  proceeded  : 

"  Someone  said  the  other  day  that  Smithies  threw  himself  into  the 
movement,  but  he  did  more  than  that ;  he  made  the  movement. 
There  was  no  movement  for  any  man  to  throw  himself  into,  in 
the  days  of  Smithies  and  Cooper.  Smithies  was  the  leader  of  the 
fighting  Pioneers.  Whether  on  the  platform  or  at  our  discussions, 
or  in  the  meeting  rooms  of  the  Mitchell  Hey  Mills — wherever  prin- 
ciple was  to  be  upheld,  or  the  enemy  to  be  confronted,  there 


THE  ROCHDALE  CONGRESS  OF    1892.  l8l 

Smithies  was.  He  often  said  that  Smithies — such  was  his  shadow- 
less  vivacity — laughed  co-operation  into  existence.  A  disciple  of 
Robert  Owen,  he  had  learned  that  the  errors  and  apathy  of  men 
proceeded  less  from  malice  of  mind  than  from  want  of  knowing 
more.  He  understood  that  mankind  are  moulded  by  a  destiny  that 
went  before  them,  and  a  wise  man  will  look  on  his  fellow-men 
with  unexpectant  eyes  wondering  what  manifestation  of  taste,  ideas 
and  conduct  they  will  make.  Thus  to  him  a  hateful  manner  was  a 
misfortune  to  him  who  had  it,  to  be  met  not  with  anger  but  com- 
passion. Error  he  confronted  with  instruction,  not  disdain  ;  there- 
fore he  was  always  light-hearted  and  trusting.  When  shareholders 
from  the  town  came  into  the  Mitchell  Hey  Mill,  allured  by  interest 
being  paid  them  twice  over,  they,  aided  by  a  few  false  co-operators, 
seized  all  the  profits  of  the  workers.  Smithies  was  the  leader  of 
those  who  withstood  them,  not  alone  in  meetings,  but  in  the  town. 
He,  like  Cooper,  shortened  his  days  by  his  zeal  for  the  rights  of  in- 
dustry. Look  down  from  this  hill  at  quarters  of  the  town  where 
the  smoke  of  factories  ascend  like  the  smoke  of  the  bottomless 
pit.  Think  of  the  infernal  din,  the  dust,  the  grease,  the  poisonous 
air  in  which  the  workmen's  days  are  spent.  Traverse  the  cheer- 
less, hideous,  hopeless  streets  and  alleys  in  which  the  workman's 
family  is  reared.  It  was  for  them  Smithies  cared.  It  was  to  endow 
them  with  the  right  of  profit  of  their  labour  that  he  devoted  his 
unwearying  energies.  It  was  to  raise  them  as  a  class  that  he  came 
to  his  grave  before  his  days  were  spent.  Therefore  we  honour  his 
memory — therefore  we  come  here  to  tell  him  that  the  names  '  Co- 
operation' and  'Perseverance,'  which  he  gave  to  the  engines  of 
Mitchell  Hey  Mills,  before  they  were  perverted  into  a  Joint-Stock 
Society — express  principles  in  our  hearts  which  we  will  vindicate 
as  our  best  tribute  to  the  honour  of  the  dead.  Smithies  would  ask, 
Why  should  men  spend  their  cheerless  lives  in  making  profit  for 
others  and  have  none  for  themselves  ?  We  answer,  They  shall  yet 
have  it.  Now,  in  all  Rochdale  there  is  not  a  single  profit-sharing 
workshop.  But  we  came  here  to  tell  Smithies  that  the  principle  is 
not  dead.  If  he  can  hear  us  it  will  rejoice  him  that  the  sounds  of 
equity  and  justice  to  labour  are  spoken  over  his  grave.  Let  none 
here  believe  that  a  principle  will  live  because  it  is  true — unless 
it  is  sustained.  Do  not  believe  that  justice  always  comes  upper- 
most. It  never  does  until  it  is  made  to  come.  The  Old  Pioneers 
knew  this.  I  told  Smithies  that  if  they  stood  their  ground  their 
story  should  be  known  to  the  world  so  far  as  I  had  power.  Now  it 
is  published  in  the  six  European  languages.  Their  heroism,  un- 
regarded in  their  day,  has  made  Rochdale  known  to  the  workmen  of 
the  world,  and  though  long  years  have  elapsed  since  their  death,  we 
come  to  their  graves  to  do  them  honour." 

On  the  assemblage  leaving  the  cemetery,  it  stood  before  the 
monument  to  Thomas  Livsey,  which  stands  near  the  entrance  ;  here 
the  last  speech  was  made. 


182         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS. 

Mr.  Holyoake  said  :  "  Here  lies  '  Poor  Tom  Livsey,'  as  Mr. 
Bright  affectionately  called  him.  'He  was,'  said  Cobden,  'an 
unpolished  gem.'  Livsey  was  entirely  that.  He  had  fire  and  light 
in  him  which,  though  no  lapidary  magnified,  no  circumstances  could 
obscure.  '  He  came  up  to  London  when  meetings  of  resistance  to 
Lord  Palmerston's  Conspiracy  Bill  were  being  held.  Everybody 
said,  no  speeches  so  English,  so  bold,  so  inspiring  were  made  by  any 
one.  Did  you  not  all  know  him  as  the  friend  of  the  Chartists  in 
this  town  when  they  had  no  friend  else  of  official  position  ?  He  was 
the  friend  of  the  Socialists  who  preceded  the  co-operators,  and  he 
was  the  personal  friend  of  the  Pioneers.  He  was  one  of  those 
friends  of  the  people  who  stood  up  for  their  interest,  and  forgot  his 
own.  Like  your  great  townsman,  Bright,  and  your  illustrious 
member,  Cobden,  Livsey  had  a  private  affection  for  public  affairs. 
Therefore  we  offer  grateful  homage  to  his  memory.  Now  we  leave 
the  dead  Pioneers  and  their  honoured  friend. 

•  They  are  gone,— the  holy  ones 

Who  trod  with  me  this  lovely  vale ; 
The  strong,  star-bright  companions 
Are  silent,  low,  and  pale.'  " 

SPEECH  AT  THE   STORE   HALL. 

On  the  last  speaking  night  of  the  Congress  it  fell  to  me  to  deliver 
the  last  speech  at  the  Conversazione  in  the  great  meeting  hall  of  the 
Central  Stores,  when  I  said  :  "It  has  long  been  my  wish  to  live 
until  our  Congress  met  in  Rochdale,  where  co-operation  as  we  know- 
it  began.  The  devices  of  the  Pioneers  gave  to  this  movement 
commercial  vitality  which  it  had  never  known  before.  They  did 
more  than  that,  they  put  conscience  into  co-operation — conscience 
which,  though  of  slower  growth  than  profit,  is  far  more  honourable 
and  enduring.  In  their  day  it  was  easy  to  get  conscience  into  co- 
operation ;  our  difficulty  is  to  keep  it  there.  (Applause.)  It  was 
the  merit  of  the  Equitable  Pioneers  that  they  sought  not  merely  the 
better  remuneration  of  labour,  but  its  emancipation.  They  did 
their  best  to  establish  co-operative  industiy  in  Rochdale,  and  though 
they  were  defeated  their  principle  was  not  killed.  It  is  represented 
now  at  Hebden  Bridge.  Thanks  to  Mr.  Ruskin  and  Mr.  George 
Thomson,  it  is  established  in  Huddersfield.  It  is  seen  in  Coventry, 
in  the  hosiery  and  '  Eagle  Brand '  works  of  Leicester,  in  Kettering, 
and  in  many  other  places.  In  Scotland  it  has  notable  official  re- 
cognition. Leaders  of  co-operation  there  discern  principles  where 
in  England  some  see  only  an  '  impracticable  sentiment.'  But  the 
sentiment  of  the  emancipation  of  labour  is  real,  and  is  part  of  co- 
operation itself.  Our  stores  give  the  principle  not  only  of  recogni- 
tion, but  sympathy,  the  sympathy  of  preferential  purchases.  The 
inspiration  of  profit-sharing  by  labour  belongs  to  this  movement,  to 
this  town  ;  and  by  this  movement  it  is  destined  to  be  carried  out. 


THE  ROCHDALE  CONGRESS  OF    1892.  183 

We  have  done  much  to  introduce  honesty  into  trade.  We  have  yet 
to  establish  honesty  in  industry.  The  adulteration  and  overcharges 
in  provisions  are  as  nothing  to  the  adulteration  of  workmanship, 
and  under  payment  of  wages.  We  who  have  done  so  much  to  stop 
the  higgling  of  the  market,  have  now  to  arrest  the  higgling  of  the 
workshop.  The  cheating  in  trade  can  be  avoided  by  intelligent 
buyers — the  cheating  in  labour  no  man  can  avoid,  whose  wages  are 
regulated  by  his  destitution.  The  hired  hand  must  do  fraudulent 
work  if  he  is  so  ordered  by  his  employer.  The  workman  is  under 
hourly  espionage.  Mr.  Schloss  has  shown  in  his  book  on  '  Industrial 
Remuneration '  that  the  competitive  workshop  is  a  daily  conspiracy 
by  the  employer  to  get  from  the  worker  the  largest  amount  of 
labour  for  the  lowest  amount  of  pay.  Are  we  going  to  conduct  a 
movement  for  the  consumer  only,  and  do  nothing  for  the  labourer  ? 
Hard  by  here  is  the  grave  of  Mr.  Bright,  who  took  a  lion's  part  in 
destroying  the  monopoly  in  corn.  But  the  corn  monopoly  was  not 
half  so  baleful  and  disastrous  to  the  workman  as  is  the  monopoly  of 
profit  by  capital.  The  corn  monopoly  made  bread  dear — the  mono- 
poly of  profit  by  capital  makes  wages  low  and  keeps  them  low  in 
every  workshop  in  the  land.  This  we  know,  since  every  man  who 
has  a  larger  income  than  he  could  obtain  by  his  own  labour,  must 
derive  it  from  the  underpaid  labour  of  others.  Co-operation  is  in- 
tended— and  if  it  be  not  a  fraudulent  thing  it  is  pledged  to  put  the 
fruits  of  work  into  the  hands  of  the  workers.  It  is  intended  to  do 
what  Mazzini  told  the  Italian  workmen  co-operation  could  do — 
'  Unite  Capital  and  Labour  in  the  same  hands.'  Addressing  the 
artisans  Mazzini  said .  'You  were  once  slaves — then  serfs — then  hire- 
lings' — as  workmen  are  now.  '  The  remedy,'  he  continued,  '  is  the 
association  of  labour  and  the  division  of  the  fruits  o£  labour  between 
the  producers  in  proportion  to  the  amount  and  value  of  the  work 
done  by  each.'  What  hinders  this  division  being  general  now  ? 
We  are  in  the  same  position  with  regard  to  labour  as  the  Americans 
were  with  regard  to  slavery.  Their  constitution  declared  '  all  men 
free  and  equal,'  but  they  drew  the  line  at  colour.  Freedom  was 
construed  as  applying  only  to  white  men,  and  it  took  a  civil  war  to 
amend  that  infamous  interpretation.  So,  with  us,  co-operative 
principles  declare  that  division  of  profits  applies  not  only  to  pur- 
chasers but  to  producers.  Yet  in  our  movement  we  see  the  official 
line  drawn  at  labour.  It  will  involve  a  long  contest  to  efface  that 
line,  but  it  will  be  effaced.  Two  men  in  America — Wendell  Phillips 
and  Lloyd  Garrison — effaced  the  line  drawn  against  the  equality  of 
the  coloured  slave,  and  co-operation,  in  the  name  of  equity,  will 
efface  the  line  drawn  by  capitalism  against  the  white  slave  in  our 
own  country.  Profit-sharing  is  opposed  by  precisely  the  same 
arguments  and  in  precisely  the  same  language  as  were  used 
against  the  emancipation  of  slave  labour  in  America.  The 
subjection  of  the  slave  was  defended  by  a  pretended  law  of 
'economic  subordination.'  That  was  the  way  the  philosophers  of 


1 84         HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE   PIONEERS. 

slavery  put  it  at  last.  We  have  all  heard  this  doctrine  of  capitalism 
and  cupidity  defended  in  our  movement  in  the  name  of  'econo- 
mic science.'  Here  Howarth  and  Smithies,  Cooper  and  Kershaw 
plotted,  and  made  countless  speeches  and  journeys,  to  create  for 
labour  a  better  future  than  it  knew  in  their  day.  They  created  the 
movement  which  we  celebrate,  though  we  may  not  live  out  its 
spirit.  Lord  Tennyson  said — 

" '  Our  little  systems  have  their  day ; 
They  have  their  day,  and  cease  to  be.' 

K  But  no  ;  they  do  not  cease  if  they  are  necessary  and  jusb.  The 
Rochdale  system  of  co-operation  was  the  littlest,  the  obscurest,  the 
most  unfriended,  the  most  disregarded,  most  contemned,  the  least 
hopeful,  the  least  likely  to  succeed  of  any  system  ever  devised  by 
man.  Yet  it  has  not '  ceased  to  be.'  On  the  contrary,  it  continues 
to  grow,  and  it  is  even  now  the  most  prosperous  system  yet  devised 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  workers  of  England.  How  did  the 
Pioneers  bring  this  to  pass  ?  What  was  their  inspiration  ?  They 
had  no  learning  of  the  schools,  but  they  had  that  genius  which  enters 
the  hearts  of  honest  men.  They  knew  as  well  as  Archbishop  Whateley 
that  it  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world  whether  you  put  truth 
first  or  second.  They  put  principle  first  and  profit  second,  believ- 
ing that  principle  was  the  foundation  of  all  honourable  profit,  and 
the  only  honest  source  of  it.  It  was  not  dividend  which  mainly 
inspired  them,  for  they  had  never  seen  it,  and  they  detested  the 
competitive  underhandedness  by  which  they  saw  others  acquiring 
profit.  Like  Diogenes,  they  went  in  search  of  honest  profit  by  the 
light  of  principle,  and  they  found  it  in  honest  co-operation.  Let  us 
keep  to  their  methods  and  we  shall  see  the  day  which  they  desired 
to  see — when  principle  shall  rule  in  this  movement,  when  the  humilia- 
tion of  hired  labour  shall  cease,  when  worker  as  well  as  purchaser 
shall  share  in  the  profits  created,  when  the  penury  of  the  many  shall 
terminate,  and  the  scandalous  fortunes  of  the  few  be  impossible, 
under  the  co-operative  law  of  the  common  interest,  inspired  by 
goodwill  and  governed  by  equity." 


THB   END. 


Printed  by  Cowan  &•  Co.,  Limited,  Perth, 


INDEX. 


FAOK 

t,  but  put  to  death      ...        .».        107 

Adventures  of  a  Burial  Society 120 

Adulteration,  popularity  of  it  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ..  121 

Agitations  preceding  the  Stores  67-68 

Almanac  manifestoes       38 

characteristics      ...         133 

the  golden            136 

fourfold  advice  of           136 

Andre,  Le  Chevalier  St.             53 

Aspects  of  Rochdale        60 

Ashworth,  Samuel,  death  of      ...         168 

Mr.  Nuttall's  estimate  of  his  character         169 

Audit,  a  remarkable  one           141 

Bad  trade  increases  members 19 

Bamford,  Sam      124,  129 

Banker's,  the,  testimony           ..         ..  32 

Beaumont  Somerset,  M.P.        115 

Bent,  John            10 

Bernat,  Dr.  St ~         is 

Branches,  the  first          16 

how  they  arose  in  Rochdale 143-5 

Bright,  Jacob,  M.P.,  replies  to  political  shopkeepers        97 

Bright,  John,  his  services  to  the  Store          88 

letter  from          88 

favours  profit  sharing  at  Mitchell  Hey  Mill           113 

his  financial  suggestion            140 

message  from  the  Pioneers  to 177 

visit  to  his  grave           178 

Byron,  Lord,  his  questions  to  the  Greeks ...  180 

CAMBIBB,  M.  0 viii 

Cashier,  a,  at  the  Coffee  Mill 160 

I85 


1 86  INDEX.       . 

Central  Store,  description  of    ...        „.        146 

Speech  day  at  the  opening      ...        .„        146-7 

"  Chambers's  Journal,"  editor  of         .«        ...         .„,        ..          ...        x 

Chartist  and  Teetotal  projects „         10 

and  Co-operators  in  Council 81 

Cheap  book-keeping  brings  the  bailiff  30 

Children  do  marketing  at  the  Store 40 

Christian  Socialists         1,52 

their  many  services 139 

Cobden,  Richard,  M.  P.  for  Rochdale 87 

Placards  at  his  election  ...        ...        ...         ...         ...      97 

his  political  catholicity  171 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  on  the  influence  of  necessarianism  8 

Colliers,  how  they  doubled  their  wages        69 

Co-operation  among  the  billows  78 

a  telescope  for  discerning  prophets 149 

principles  of        ...         108 

Cooper,  William,  the  propagandist ...       13 

on  London  co-operation  59 

his  address  at  Charles  Howarth's  burial       164-166 

address  at  his  funeral  (1868) 167 

oration  at  his  grave  (1892)      180 

Coningham,  William,  M.P.,  a  friend  in  the  Corn  Mill  panic        ...      58 

Abraham  Greenwood's  letter  to  him  138 

Corn  Mill  troubles          .'.      29 

its  first  friends 115,118 

saved  by  the  Pioneers 119 

conditions  of  Corn  Mill  success          121 

forty-two  years  of  profits       ...        ..         ...        ' 122-3 

"  Counsellor,  The,"  curious  letter  to 161 

Cowen,  Joseph - viii 

Crabtree,  James,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Wholesale          129,  130,  133 

Credit,  fine  against  giving  or  taking  it          134 

Croakers,  great  meeting  of       117 

"  DAILY  NEWS,"  editor  of        1 

Daly,  James,  early  advocate     ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  10,15 

Dangerous  legality  of  debt         ...         ..          ...         ...         ...         ...  150 

Debate  with  the  Clegg  Hall  man        72 

Democracy  necessitates  deference  to  equals 174 

Derby,  Lord,  fairness  with  the  Famine  Fund          104 

Dedication  to  Lord  Brougham v 


INDEX.  187 

PAOE 

Dedication  to  Rev.  William  Nassau  Molesworth,  M.A 76 

Difficulties  of  progress,  the  two  19,  20 

of  serving  the  poor        ...  23 

Discontented  with  capital         140 

Doffers  defined     14 

Door  of  a  Store 37 

Domestic  difficulties  of  Pioneers        118 

Dunlop's  premises           ...        ...         ...         ...         ...        ...         ...  13 

EARLY  Rules  of  the  Society     17 

Educating  tastes 33 

Educational  Fund,          50,  153 

Elliot,  Ebenezer,  his  epigram 8 

Equitable  Pioneers,  origin  of 3,13 

Equity  in  the  workshop  garrotted       108 

Estcourt,  Sotheron,  M. P.,  letter  from  89 

his  gift  of  £500 153 

Exeter,  Bishop  of,  his  omission  8 

FALLACY — an  "  exploded  fallacy  "  pays         «         ...      28 

Fawcett,  Prof.,  Mr.  Cobden's  introduction  of  him 177 

Forty-eight  years  of  progress ...     142 

Fourteen  features  of  the  Rochdale  Store       156, 157 

Frugality  in  speech        124 

GAKRIDO,  Fernando '    ...     vii 

Godin,  Madame    ...         ...         ...        ...        ...        ...        ...        ...     viii 

Goodrich,  Lord,  advice  by        66,  67 

Gratitude  of  the  Pioneers          88 

Greeley,  Horace vii 

Greenwood,  Abraham,  early  services  to  the  Store 19 

totheCornMill 30 

to  the  Wholesale  Society        128 

Greening,  E.  O.,  joint-editor  of  the  "  Social  Economist"  ...       146,  156 
Greg,  W.  R.,  on  co-operative  education 62 

HALL  of  Science,  Manchester M        8 

Hantschke,  Herr  H ix 

Healey,  Alderman  George         172 

Heroic  members 32,  42 

Hinton,  Col  R.  J.          146 

Holme  Mill  115 


1 88  INDEX. 

PAOH 

Holmes,  John       „         ...  121 

Howarth,  Charles,  deviser  of  modern  co-operation 10,  15,  165 

advocate  of  the  Corn  Mill  movement           28 

his  early  calculations ...  71 

the  "  sea  lawyer  "  of  the  Store           115 

becomes  security  for  it 73 

his  great  discovery        148 

Cooper's  address  at  his  grave  ...         165 

Howard,  Abraham,  his  wholesome  mottoes  ...         ...         ...         ...  135 

letter  to  "  Counsellor  "            161 

Hughes,  Thomas,  M.P 146 

INCOME  Tax  question     49,  61 

Intelligence  an  investment        159 

JONES,  Lloyd,  adviser  and  defender  of  the  movement        ...        8,  9,  35 

Jones  and  Jones  debate 80 

Jumbo  Farm 130 

KERSHAW,  John,  on  the  days  before  the  Store        .„ 67 

tract  distributor  and  vindicator        ...          ..          ..  71,72 

Killing  half  a  cow  44 

Knowledge,  two  thousand  hours  of,  for  twopence, 135 

LAST  speech  of  the  Rochdale  Congress          ...         ...         ...          182-3-4 

Libraries  of  the  Store     ...         155 

Livsey,  Thomas,  Alderman,  career  and  character 172-176 

oration  at  his  grave       "...     182 

Logic  of  superior  people 96 

London  co-operation       ...         ...         ...         ...         59,  61 

M'GuiNESS,  Mr viii 

Mallalieu,  William,  the  "millionaire"        ' 16 

Manufacturing  Society,  its  days  of  hope        66 

Marcroft,  William,  proclaims  Jumbo  Farm 130-1 

Mazzini,  Guiseppe,  promoter  of  Working-Men's  Associations      ...  152 

his  co-operative  advice  to  workmen  ...         183 

Members  of  the  Opposition       22 

Miall,  Edward,  M.P 2 

Mill,  J.  S.,  his  "Principles  of  Political  Economy  "           25 

wise  words  by     ...         63 

"  Milldam  Chronicle,  The "      5 

Miller,  a  mad       ...          ..         ...         ...         ...         32 


INDEX.  189 


PAQl 


Mitchell,  J.  T.  W 132, 141 

Morality  of  Co-operation          51 

Morrison,  Walter,  M.P.,  his  suggestions  for  the  preservation  of 

the  Toad  Lane  Store            _  86 

Morrison,  Walter,  his  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Central  Store  147 

Molesworth,  Rev.  W.  N.,  presentation  to 92 

NEALE,  E.  Vansittart,  notable  letter  from 90,  146 

Neutrality,  co-operative  rule  of           20 

Newsrooms  begun           19 

Newman,  Prof.  F.  W.,  against  shop  debts 11 

on  Lateser  faire 34 

cites  a  letter  printer's  distrust  62,  107-8 

"  New  Moral  World,  The  "      9 

"  Northern  Star,  The  " 9 

Nnttall,  William,  his  statistical  measure  of  merit ...  169 

O'CoxxoB,  Feargus,  his  land  scheme 25 

Official  Pioneers 54 

Old  Pioneers,  graves  of 177 

Original,  the,  twenty-eight,  names  of            86 

rules         114 

Origin  of  Stores 59 

of  the  Wholesale            123 

of  the  Rochdale  Loan  Fund 153 

Owen,  Robert      \t  >jt  9 

PAST  Presidents,  from  1844  to  1892    ... 156 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  his  memorable  advice        1 

People  who  mean  well  and  nothing  more      176 

Pitman,  Henry,  editor  of  the  "  Co-operator "          131 

Pioneers,  characteristics  of       33-4-5 

Placard  assailants           65 

Place,  Francis ...         ...  79 

Pleas  of  debt         45 

Policy  towards  shopkeepers      ...         ...         ...  26 

Ponti,  Signor  Lorenzi     ix 

Portman,  Lord,  letter  from       89 

Potter,  Thomas  Bailey,  M.P.,  testimony      158 

Power,  conditions  of       5g 

Pratt,  Tidd,  vetoes  education 73  147 

Presidents  of  the  Pioneers        156 

Principle  put  to  death    ..,         _  JQQ 


IpO  INDEX. 

PAQB 

Progress,  a  legal  nuisance          ...     11 

needs  no  repression 21 

Profit  made  by  participation 112 

made  in  dangerous  years         103 

made  independently  of  shopkeepers 101 

Pulpit  and  Store 40 

"  QUARTERLY  REVIEW,  The  " x 

REOLUS,  M.  Elie viii 

Remarkable  minutes       ..  13 

Resentful,  a,  house  society       137 

Rochdale  agitations        ...         68 

Congress  there  at  last 178 

human  nature  different  there 1 

SAVINGS  of  members        42-3-4 

Science  classes  of  the  Store       154 

Sects  among  co-operators          162 

Self-made  difficulties       ...         ...         ... 14 

Shaw,  Sir  Charles,  police  testimony  of           8,9 

Sick  Society,  dry  members  pay  best  ...          ...  137 

Slaney,  Hon.  Robert,  M.P 30 

Smiles,  Dr.            ix 

Smith,  Prof.  Goldwin 146 

Smithies,  Councillor  James       10,  28 

letter  from          51 

stands  by  the  Corn  Mill           29 

his  steadfastness  to  principle  ...         117 

chief  of  the  fighting  Pioneers  ...         ,         ...         ...  169 

career  and  character     170 

oration  at  his  grave       ...  181 

Socialism,  its  influence 8 

Socialist  theory,  the        112 

Spindle,  Tom        5 

Splendid  factories  and  squalid  workers         63-4 

Store,  a  famous  scheme 12 

a  run  upon  it      31 

statistics  of         41 

supersedes  the  Savings  Bank 30 

Stocking-foot  banks  re-opened 31 

"  Strap  "  book,  the         ...  24 


INDEX.  Ipl 

PAGE 

Stott,  Samnel       36 

Subscriptions,  difficulty  of  collecting 12 

Success,  effect  on  suspicion       23 

TALAJTDIEB,  Prof.  A vii 

Temperance,  a  co-operative  question  ...        ...         12 

"ThatPozzi"      95 

Theological  neutrality,  wisdom  of       162 

Theorists  who  made  Co-operation       94 

"Times"  Commissioner  at  Rochdale 101 

Toad  Lane  in  1844          13 

on  Saturday  night         39 

Tomlinson,  Ambrose,  controversy       80-1 

Trade  Union  deputation,  a        ...         ...         ...         ...        ...        ...  4 

Unionists,  an  attempt  to  bell  the  cat           6 

jealousy,  a  brilliant  bit  of       127 

UGLINESS,  dearness  of 138 

Under  a  government  of  reason 174 

Universal  purveyor        38 

VEJTOMOTIS  political  shopkeepers         96 

Vigano,  Prof viii 

WATTS,  Dr.  John,  services  on  the  Famine  Fund  Committee        ...  105 

Weir,  William,  editor  of  the  "  Daily  News  "          1 

Street  Mill          119 

Wholesale  Society,  its  origin 34 

saved  by  Act  of  Parliament 36 

first  laws  of        ...  124 

its  early  promoters        124 

its  principal  originator 131 

its  other  promoters       132 

Wives  selected  from  the  Store 45 

Workmen  as  masters      106 

Workers,  public  disregard  of 70 

World-making  proposals           ...         ...         12 


tbe  same  Hutbon 


THE  HISTORY    OP    CO-OPERATION    IN   ENGLAND: 
Its  Literature  and  its  Advocates,    in  Two  Volumes. 

"The  book  is  one  of  the  greatest  value.  Mr.  Holyoake  has,  too, 
a  quaint  eloquence  which  is  full  of  charm,  and  there  falls  at  moments 
from  his  pen  now  most  amusing  anecdotes,  and  now  phrases  worthy 
of  his  foe,  Lord  Beaconsfield." — Athenaeum. 

SELF-HELP  A  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO.    In  the  «  Social 
Science  Series." 

"  '  Self- Help  a  Hundred  Years  Ago '  L  the  most  complete  account 
in  existence  of  the  origin  of  the  co-operative  movement.  The  new 
volume  contains  much  that  will  be  entirely  fresh  even  to  those  who 
have  made  a  study  of  the  subject.  .  .  .  The  author  must  have 
reached  an  advanced  age,  but  his  style  is  as  bright  and  vigorous  as 
ever. " — Manchester  Examiner. 

THE  CO-OPERATIVE  MOVEMENT  TO-DAY. 

"  Mr.  Holyoake's  bright,  crisp  style  and  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  more  obvious  features  of  co-operation  render  this  book  very 
attractive." — Glasgow  Herald. 

SIXTY  YEARS  OF  AN   AGITATOR'S   LIFE,     in  Two 

Volumes. 

"This  book  is  full  of  varied  interest,  and  reveals  a  character  of 
great  force,  of  sturdy  independence,  of  real  elevation,  and  of  genuine 
generosity.  It  is  in  many  respects  a  valuable  contribution  to  the 
political  social,  intellectual,  and  even  revolutionary  history  of  our 
time." — Times. 

"  This  is  a  book  which  veteran  reformers  will  read  with  great 
interest,  and  from  which  the  Liberals  of  the  younger  generation 
may  derive  much  profit  and  instruction. " — Daily  News, 


SOCIAL   SCIENCE   SERIES. 

SCARLET   CLOTH,    EACH  2s.    Grl. 


1.  Work  and  Wages.  Prof.  J.  £.  THOROLD  ROGER*. 

"  Nothing  that  Professor  Rogers  write*  can  fail  to  be  of  interest  to  thoughtful 
people."— Atkeiue**. 

1.  Civilisation :  its  Cause  and  Core.  EDWARD  CARPBNTB*. 

"  No  passing  piece  of  polemics,  bat  a  permanent  possession."— SeoUuA  Rene*. 

8.  Quintessence  of  Socialism.  Dr.  SCHAPTU. 

"  Precisely  the  manual  needed.    Brief,  lucid,  fair  and  wise." — Brititk  Weti-ly. 
4.  Darwinism  and  Polities.  D.  G.  RITCHIE,  M.A.  (Oxon.). 

New  Edition,  with  two  additional  Essays  on  HUMAN  EVOLUTION. 
"  One  of  the  most  snggestfye  books  we  hafe  met  with."— literary  World. 
6   Beligton  of  Socialism.  E.  BRLTOBT  BAX. 

I.  Ethics  of  Socialism.  E.  BELPORT  BAX. 

"  Mr.  BAX  is  by  far  the  ablest  of  the  English  exponents  of  Socialism."—  WettTtuntter 
•ssism 
7.  The  Drink  Question.  Dr.  KATE  MITCHELL, 

"  Plenty  of  interesting  matter  for  reflection. '-»  >oj>Awr. 

I.  Promotion  of  General  Happiness.  Prof.  M.  MACMILLAN. 

"  A  reasoned  accoont  of  the  Jiost  adranced  and  most  enlightened  utilitarian  doc- ' 
trise  in  a  clear  and  readable  lona."—Seottman. 

9.  bgland's  Ideal,  *e.  EDWARD  CARPENTER. 

"  The  literary  power  is  unmistakable,  their  freshness  of  style,  their  bilinear,  and 
their  enthusiasm. "—Pall  Mall  fkuetu. 

M.  Socialism  in  England.  SIDNEY  WEBB,  LL.3. 

"  The  best  general  riew  of  the  subject  from  the  modern  Socialist  side." — Athrnaia*. 

11.  Prince  Bismarck  and  State  Socialism.  W.  H.  DAWSON. 

"  A  succinct,  well-digested  renew  of  German  social  and  economic  legislation  since 

1870. "— Saturday  Jtarinr. 

IS.  Godwin's  Political  Justice  (On  Property).  Edited  by  H.  S.  SALT. 

"  Shows  Godwin  at  his  beat ;  with  aa  interesting  and  informing  introduction  "— 
Slatvo*  Herald 

18.  The  Story  of  the  Preach  Revolution.  E.  BELFOBT  BAX. 

"  A  trustworthy  outline." — StoUma*. 

14.  The  Co-Operative  Commonwealth,  LAUBESCB  QBONLUNC 

"  An  independent  exposition  of  the  Socialism  of  the  Marx  school."— Co.im«porary 
Review. 

15.  Essays  and  Addresses.  BERNABD  BOSAWQUET,  M.A.  (Oxon.). 

"  Ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  eTery  student  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  spirit."— 
Mdu>. 

"  No  one  can  complain  of  not  being  able  to  understand  what  Mr.  Bosanqoet 
meana."— Pail  Ma.ll  Satan. 

1C.  Charity  Organisation.  C.  8.  LOCH,  Secretary  to  Charity  Organisation 

Society. 

"  A  perfect  little  manual."— At\ma*m. 
"  Deserres  a  wide  circulation."— Sc*t*ma*. 

17.  Thoreau's  JLnti-Slayery  and  Reform  Papers.  Edited  by  H.  S.  SALT 

"  An  interesting  collection  of  essays."— i«Z«niry  World. 

18.  Self-Help  a  Hundred  Tears  Ago.  Q.  J.  HOLTOAKR. 

"  \\  ill  be  studied  with  much  oenefit  by  all  who  "are  interested  in  the  ameHo.- . 
of  the  condition  of  the  poor."—  Morning  ~Po$!. 

it.  The  Hew  York  State  Reformatory  at  Elmtra.  ALESANDEB  WINTML 

With  Preface  by  HAYELOCK  ELLIS. 
*•  A  TaiuabU  contribution  to  the  literature  of  penology-"— &<><*  <""*  ff^t. 


SOCIAL    SCIENCE    SERIES— (Continued). 

it.  Common  Sense  about  Women.  T.  W.  Hieonoou. 

"  An  admirable  collection  of  papers,  advocating  tn  the  most  liberal  spirit  the 
emancipation  of  women."—  Woman't  Herald. 

21.  The  Unearned  Increment.  W.  H.  DAWSON. 

"A  concise  but  comprehensive  volume." — Echo. 

22.  Our  Destiny.  LAURENCE  GRONLtmD. 

"  A  very  vigorous  little  book,  dealing  with  the  influence  of  Socialism  on  moral* 
and  re:igion." — Daily  ChronieU. 

33.  The  Working-Class  Movement  in  America. 

Dr.  EDWARD  and  E.  MARX  ATKLINO. 

"  Will  give  a  good  idea  of  the  condition  of  the  working  classes  in  America,  and  of 
the  v  a  ions  organisations  which  they  have  formed." — Scots  Leader. 

24.  Luxury.  Prof.  EMILE  DE  LAVBLKTH. 

"An  eloquent  plea  on  moral  and  economical  grounds  for  simplicity  of  life."-- 
Academy. 

35.  The  Land  and  the  Labourers.  Rev.  0.  W.  STUBBS,  M.A. 

"This  admirable  book  should  be  circulated  in  every  village  in  the  country."— 

3fanchetler  Guardian. 

36.  The  Evolution  of  Property.  PAUL  LAFABQUB. 

"  Will  prove  interesting  and  profitable  to  all  students  of  economic  history."— 

Scotsman. 

37.  Crime  and  its  Cause*.  W.  DOUGLAS  MORRISON. 

"  Can  hardly  fail  to  suggest  to  all  readers  several  new  and  pregnant  reflections  er> 
the  subject." — Anti-Jaeobin. 

38.  Principles  of  State  Interference.  D.  G.  RITCHIE,  M.A. 

"  An  interesting  contribution  to  the  controversy  on  the  functions  of  the  State."-- 
Glasgow  Herald. 

29.  German  Socialism  and  F.  Lassalle.  W.  H.  DAWSOTI 

"  As  a  biographical  history  of  German  Socialistic  movements  during  this  centu:  • 
it  may  be  accepted  as  complete."—  Bmlsh  Weekly. 

80.  The  Purse  and  the  Conscience.  H.  M.  THOMPSON,  B.A.  (Cantab.  1. 

"Shows  common  sense  und  fairness  in  his  arguments."— Scotsman. 

81.  Origin  of  Property  In  Land.     FUHTEL  i>;:  COULANOES.      Edited,  with  a.t 
Introdaotory  Chapter  on  the  English  Manor,  by  Prof.  W.  J.  ASHLEY,  M.A 

"  His  views  are  clearly  stated,  and  are  worth  reading."— Saturday  Kevieie. 
i2.  The  English  Republic.  W.  J.  LINTON.     Edited  by  KINHTON  PARKF*. 

"  Characterised  by  that  vigorous  intellect  u  ility  which  has  marked  his  long  life  if 
literary  and  artistic  activity."— Glatgow  Herald. 

'"3.  The  Co-Operative  Movement.  BEATRICE  POTTER. 

"  Without  doubt  the  ablest  and  most  philosophical  analysis  of  the  Co-Operativ* 
Movement  which  has  yet  been  produced."— Speaker. 

84.  neighbourhood  Guilds.  Dr.  STANTON  COIT. 

"A  most  suggestive  little  book  to  anyone  interested  in  the  social  question."— 
Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

86.  Modern  Humanists.  J.  M.  ROBERTSON 

"  Mr.  Robertson's  style  is  excellent— nay,  even  brilliant— and  his  purely  literary 
criticisms  bear  the  mark  of  much  acumen."— Timei. 

86.  Outlooks  from  the  New  Standpoint.  E.  BELFOHT  BAX, 

"  Mr.  Bax  is  a  very  acute  and  accomplished  student  of  history  and  economics." 
— Daily  Chronicle. 

27.  Distributing  Co-Operative  Societies.        Dr.  LUIOI  PIZZAMIOLIO.     Edited  by 

F.  J.  SNBLL. 

"  Dr.  Pizzamiglio  ha»  gathered  together  and  grouped  a  wide  array  of  facts  and 
statistics,  and  they  speak  for  themselves."— fptaker. 

i8.  Collectivism  and  Socialism.         By  A.  KACQUET.     Edited  by  W.  HEAP-OKI 
"An  admirable  criticism  by  a  well-known  French  politician  of  the  New  isocialis. 
of  Marx  and  LaHsalle."— Daily  ChronieU. 


SOCIAL  SCIENCE   SERIES—  (Continued). 

99.  Th-5  London  Programme.  SIDNKI  WMB.  LL.B, 

"  Brimful  of  excellent  idea*."—  Anti-Jacobin. 

40.  The  Modern  State.  PADL  LKBOT  Bmtmaai. 

'•A  most  interesting  book;  well  worth  a  place  in  the  library  of  eyery  social 
Inquirer."—  .y.  £.  .Economist 

41.  The  Condition  of  Labour.  EEXBY  Gsoaos. 

"  Written  with  strihiug  abflit;-,  and  sure  to  attract  attention.'  —Seircottle  ChronicU. 

42.  The  Revolutionary  Spirit  preceding  the  French  Revolution. 

FELLS  KOCQUAIN.    With  a.  Preface  by  Professor  HOXIOST. 
•The  student  of  the  French  Revolution  will  find  in  it  an  excellent  introduction  to 
th?  study  of  that  catastrophe."  —  Scotsmen. 

43.  The  Student's  Harx.  EDWARD  AVEUXO,  D.So. 

"One  of  the  most  practically  useful  of  any  in  the  Series.  "  —  Otmiyow  Herald. 

44.  A  Short  History  of  Parliament.  B.  C.  Sxorroynt,  M.A.  (Oxon.). 

"  Deals  very  carefully  and  completely  with  thi*  side  of  constitutional  history.1"— 
Spectator. 

45.  Poverty  :  Its  Genesis  and  Exodus.  J.  G.  GODAIU>. 

"  He  states  the  problems  with  preat  force  and  clearness  "—  S.  B.  Seotumitt. 

46.  The  Trade  Policy  of  Imperial  Federation.  MAURICB  H.  HKBVZT. 

"An  interesting  contri:>'at;oa  to  the  discussion.  '  —  Pvb  ,ir>cri'  Circular. 

47.  The  Dawn  of  P.aaicallsra.  J.  BOWLES  DALY,  LL.D. 

"  Forms  an  admirable  picture  of  an  epoch  more  pregnant,  perhaps,  with  political 
instruction  than  any  other  in  the  world'*  history.""—  Daily  2'eufra^k. 

48.  The  DectUute  Alien  in  Great  Britain.    ARNOLD  "WHITE  ;  MONTABCS  CHACTU  •«- 

THORPE,  Q.C.  ;  W.  A.  M'ABTHUR,  M.P.  ;  W.  H.  WILXI- 
"Much  valuable  in(orni?-tion  concerning  a  burning  question  of  ttediv.'  —  Tim.i. 

49.  Iila^itimacy  and  the  influence  of  Season*  on  Conduct. 


We  have  not  often  seen  a  work  based  on  statistic*  which  is  more  continuously 
interesting.  *  —  Jfetttniiuter  Rtnew. 

50.  Commercial  Crises  of  the  nineteenth  Century.  H.  M.  HTNDMAH. 

"One  of  the  best  and  most  permaueutly  usetnl  volames  of  the  Series."  —  Literary 


61.  Toe  State  and  Pensions  In  Old  Aga.  J.  A.  SPBXDEB  and  ARTKUB  ACLAKD,  1I.P. 

"  A  careful  and  cautious  examination  of  the  question."—  Timet. 
S3.  The  Fallacy  of  Saving.  JOHN  M.  BOBKRT&OM. 

"  A  plea  for  the  reorganisation  of  our  social  and  industrial  system  "—Speaker. 
S3.  Tha  Irish  Peasant.  Ann*. 

'A  real  contribution  to  the  Irish  Problem  by  a  close,  patient  and  dispassioi.Ht* 
investigator."—  Daily  Chronicle. 

64.  The  Effects  of  Machinery  on  Wa£33.  Prof.  J.  8.  NICHOLSON,  D. 

"  Ably  reasoueJ,  clearly  stated,  impartially  mitten.  "—Literary  World. 

55.  The  Social  Horizon.  ANON. 

"A  really  admirable   little  book,  bright,    clear,    and   anconTentionaL"—  -Ikuiy 
Chronicle. 

56.  Socialism,  Utopian  and  Scientific.  FRE-P  EBICK  ENOELS. 

"  The  body  of  the  book  is  still  fresh  and  striking."  —  Daily  Chronicle. 

67.  Land  Nationalisation.  A.  R.  WALLACE. 

"  The  most  instructive  and  convincing  of  the  popular  works  on  the  subject."- 
Nat  tonal  Reformer. 

68.  The  Ethic  of  Usury  and  Interest.  Rev.  W.  BLISSABD. 

"The  work  is  marked  by  genuine  ability."—  -Vorti  Britiik  Agriculturalist. 
59.  The  Emancipation  of  Women.  ADZLB  CBEI  AZ. 

"  By  far  the  most  comprehensive,  luminous,  and  penetratice  work  on  this  question 
that  I  hare  yet  met  with."—  BxLrmcijnm,  Mr.  GLADSIOSB  s  Frtfaot. 
90.  Tne  Eight  Hours'  Question.  JOHN  M.  ROBERTSON. 

"A  very  cogent  and  sustained  argument  OB  what  i*  at  present  the  unpop&U' 
side."  —  Timet. 

61.  Drunkenness.  GEOBGE  B.  WILSON,  M.B. 

"  v.vil  written,  carefully  reasoned,  free  from  cant,  and  full  of  sound  sense."— 

Rational  Obtrrv.r. 

63.  The  Hew  Reformation.  HAMEDES 


. 

A  striking  presentation  of  the  nascent  religion,  how  best  to  realize  the  persoiuJ 
and  social  ideal."—  WeUMiiuUr  JUviev. 


S3    The  Agricultural  Labourer,  T.  E.  . 

"  A  short  summary  of  his  position,  with  appendices  on  wa^es,  education,  allot- 
men'.s,  etc.,  etc.* 
64.  Ferdinand  Lawalle  as  a  Social  Reformer.  £.  BKBNETUB. 

11  A  worthy  addition  to  the  Social  Science  SeriM."—  AOTIA  £ntit*  BeonomiMt. 


SOCIAL   SCIENCE   SERIES— (Continued}. 

(Jfi.  England's)  Foreign  Trade  In  XlXth  Century.  A.  L.  BOWL.HY. 

"  Full  of  valuable  information,  carefully  compiled."    Times. 

66.  Theory  and  Policy  of  Labour  Protection.  Dr.  SCEAFFLE. 

"An  attempt  to  systematize  a  conservative  programme  of  reform." — Man.  Guard. 

67.  History  of  Rochdale  Pioneers.  G.  J.  HOLYOAJLE. 

"  Brought  down  from  1844  to  the  Rochdale  Congress  of  1892."— Co-Op,  tines. 

68.  Rights  of  Women.  M.  OSTR.YOOBSKI. 

"An  admirable  storehouse  of  precedents,  conveniently  arranged." — Daily  Chron. 

69.  Dwellings  of  the  People.  LOCKE  WOBTHINGTON. 

"A  valuable  contribution  to  one  of  the  most  pressing  problems  of  the  day."— 
Daily  Ckronit:le. 

70.  Hours,  Wages,  and  Production.  Dr.  BBKNTANO. 

"Characterised  by  all  Professor  Brentano's  clearness  of  style."— Economic  Review 

71.  Rise  of  Modern  Democracy.  CH.  BORGEAUD. 

"A  very  useful  little  volume,  characterised  by  exact  research."— J)ailu  Chronicle. 

72.  Land  Systems  of  Australasia.  WM.  EPPS, 

"  Exceedingly  valuable   at   the  present  time   of  depression  and  difficulty." — 
Scots.  Mag. 

78.  The  Tyranny  of  Socialism.  Y  T.S  GUVOT.     Pref.  03-  J.  H.  LEVY. 

"M.  Ouyot  is  smart,  lively,  trenchant,  and  interesting. "—Daily  Chronicle. 

74.  Population  and  tha  Social  System.  Dr.  NITH, 

"  A  very  valuable  work  of  an  Italian  economist."—  W<  .it.  fitv. 

75.  The  Labour  Question.  T.  G.  SPYERS, 

"  Will  be  found  extremely  useful."— Timt*. 

76.  British  Freewomen,  C.  C.  STOPBS. 

"  The  most  complete  study  of  the  Women's  Suffrage  question."—  Enyiisk  Wom.  Rev. 

77.  Suicide  anb  Insanity.  Dr.  J.  K.  STBAHAN. 

"  An  interestesting  monograph  dealing  exhaustively  with  the  subject."—  Tiinet. 

78.  A  History  of  Tithes.  Rev.  H.  W.  CLARKE, 

"  May  be  recommended  to  all  who  desire  an  accurate  idea  of  the  subject."—/).  Ckrmt,. 

79.  Three  Months  in  a  Workshop.  P.  GOHRE,  with  Pref.  by  Prof.  ELY. 

"  A  vivid  picture  of  the  state  of  mind  of  German  workmen."—  Manch.  Guard. 

80.  Darwinism  and  Race  Progress.  Prof.  J.  B.  HAYCKAFT 

"An  interesting  subject  treated  in  an  attractive  fashion." — Glatyow  Herald. 

81.  Local  Taxation  and  Finance.  G.  H.  BLONDES. 

82.  Perils  to  British  Trade.  E.  BUROIS, 

83.  The  Social  Contract.  J   J.  ROUSSEAU.    Edited  by  H.  J.  TOZEK 

84.  Labour  upon  the  Land.  Edited  by  J.  A.  HOBSON,  M.A. 
86.  Moral  Pathology.                                               ABTHUH  E.  GILES.  M.D.,  B 

86.  Parasitism,  Organic  and  Social.  MA.SSAET  and  VANDEKV  si.uu. 

87.  Allotments  and  Small  Holdings.  J.  L.  GREW. 

88.  Money  and  its  Relations  to  Prices.  L.  L.  PRICK, 

89.  Sober  by  Act  of  Parliament.  P.  A.  MACKtxziK. 

90.  Workers  on  their  Industries.  F.  W.   GALTON. 

91.  Revolution  and  Counter-Revolution.  KARL  MAKX. 
92    Ovsr-Production  and  Crises.  K.  KODBERTI;<. 

93.  Local  Government  and  State  Aid.  S.  J.  Cn. 

94.  Village  Communities  In  India.  B.  H.  BADEN-POWELL,  M.A.,  C.LE. 
96.  Anglo-American  Trade.  S.  J.  CHAPMAN. 

96.  A  Plain  Examination  of  Socialism.  GUSTAVE  SIMONSON,  M.A.,  M.D. 

97.  Commercial  Federation  ft  Colonial  Trade  Policy.    J.  DAVIDSON,  M.A.,  Phil.D. 

98.  Selections  from  Fourier.  C.  GIDE  and  J.  Fiu:. 

99    Public-House  Reform.  A.  N.  Co;.\ax». 


DOUBLE   VOLUMES,    3s.  6d. 

1.  Life  of  Robert  Owen.  LLOYD  JOXES. 

2.  The  Impossibility  of  Social  Democracy:  a  Second  Part  of  "  The  Quintessence 

of  Socialism  ".  Dr.  A.   SCHAKKJ.I;. 

8.  Condition  of  the  Working  Class  in  England  in  1844.        FBEDEBICK  KNGKLS. 
4.  The  Principles  of  Social  Economy.  YVKS  ' 

6.  Social  Peace.  G.  VON  SCHULTZE-^ 

6.  A  Handbook  of  Socialism.  W.  D    P.  1'i.is*. 

7.  Socialism :  its  Gro\vth  and  Outcome.  W.  MORRIS  and  E.  B.  LAX. 

8.  Economic  Foundations  of  Society.  A.  LOHIA. 


SWAN   SONNBNSCHEIN   &   CO.,   LIM.,  LONDON. 

NEW  YORK:  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


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