have erected expensive steam flour-mills, and the society occupies eighteen branch establishments in Rochdale. Libraries containing more than 15,000 volumes, and classes in science, language, and the technical arts, attended by 500 students, have been maintained. The extension of the Rochdale store led to the necessity of a wholesale establishment of their own. It is now a large institution with branches in London and Newcastle. “It owns manufactories in London, Manchester, Newcastle, Leicester, Durham, and Crumpsall; and it has depots in Cork, Limerick, Kilmallock, Waterford, Tipperary, Tralee, and Armagh, for the purchase of butter, potatoes, and eggs. It has buyers in New York and Copenhagen, and it owns two steamships. It has a banking department with a turn-over of more than £12,000,000 annually.”317
The following figures for England and Wales tell their own story as to the progress of co-operation:318
| 1862. | 1881. | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of members | 90,000 | 525,000 |
| Capital: Share | 428,000 | 5,881,000 |
| Capital: Loan | 55,000 | 1,267,000 |
| Sales | 2,333,000 | 20,901,000 |
| Net profit | 165,000 | 1,617,000 |
Several persons each subscribe a sum to make up