Notes (1986)
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This document has been made available in electronic format
by the International Co-operative Alliance ICA
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May, 1986
(Source: Co-operative Principles, Today &
Tomorrow by W.P. Watkins, pp.159-162)
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Notes
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Preface
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1. Edward Vansittart Neale (1810-1892) Christian Socialist;
promoter of workers' co-operative productive societies;
first General Secretary of the British Co-operative Union
from 1873 to 1890; joint author of `A Manual for Co-
operators', a classic of co-operative ethics and economics.
2. Henry J. May (1866-1939) Parliamentary Secretary of the Co-
operative Union from 1908 to 1922; General Secretary of the
International Co-operative Alliance from the Glasgow ICA
Congress (1913) until his death.
Chapter One
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1. Horace Plunkett (1854-1932) pioneer of agricultural co-
operation in Ireland who after 40 meetings established the
first Irish Co-operative creamery. His lifework is
commemorated by the Plunkett Foundation for Co-operative
Studies, Oxford.
2. G.J. Holyoake (1817-1906) Co-operative leader and
secularist. A prolific author of books on Co-operation. His
opinions as a Freethinker and atheist led to his
imprisonment in 1842. A founder of the British Co-operative
Union, his name has been given to the Union's headquarters
in Manchester.
3. Georges Fauquet (1883-1953) Doctor of medicine. First chief
of the Co-operative Section of the International Labour
Office; author of `The Co-operative Sector'.
4. Robert Owen (1771-1858) often described as `The Father of
Co-operation', his Co-operative ideas provided a stimulus
to the Rochdale Pioneers and many other co-operators. A
prolific author on co-operative and related questions.
Founded a number of co-operative communities but without
success. Active also as an educationist, advocate of
factory legislation and a founder of British trade
unionism.
5. F.C.M. Fourier (1772-1837) French socialist who advocated
the establishment of self-supporting co-operative
communities called `phalanxes', the members living in a
beautiful and commodious centre called a `phalanstery'.
Many Fourierist communities were started in France and the
USA but did not succeed.
6. Charles Gide (1847-1932) Professor of Political Economy in
several French universities and Professor of Co-operation
in Paris in the 1920's. In his economic writings he
emphasised the importance of the consumer.
Chapter Two
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1. William Thompson (1785?-1833) Owenite Socialist and author
of books defending the workers' right to the whole produce
of their labour and giving practical directions for the
formation of co-operative communities.
2. Dr. William King (1786-1865) Brighton physician and co-
operative thinker who wrote and published the famous `The
Co-operator', a monthly tract which appeared from May 1825
to August 1830. This four-page publication had great
influence on early co-operators and was certainly read by
some of the Rochdale Pioneers.
3. Claude Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825) French philosopher who
taught that individualism and social strife must be
superseded by association and social organisation.
4. Philippe Buchez (1794-1863) originally a disciple of Saint-
Simon but became an advocate of working men's productive
associations for those whose industries had not yet been
mechanised.
5. Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch (1808-1883) from 1849 onwards
organised German artisans in co-operative credit societies
known as `people's banks' and purchasing associations for
raw materials. He was a great popular educator and his co-
operative movement spread rapidly in Germany and Austria
where it is still strong today.
6. Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818-1888) provincial
administrator who organised credit relief for poverty-
stricken and indebted German peasantry. Between 1849 and
1862 he worked out a suitable form of credit society based
on co-operative self-help. This grew into the largest Co-
operative Movement in Germany. Since 1920 co-operative
credit societies have been established in many other parts
of the world.
7. J.C. Gray (1854-1912) appointed General Secretary of the
British Co-operative Union in 1891. Was joint honorary
secretary of the ICA. Advocated that all existing British
Co-operative societies be combined into one national
society.
8. E. Poisson (1882-1942) eminent French Co-operative leader
and author. Became Secretary of the french Co-operative
Union in 1912 and was eventually appointed Vice President
of the ICA - an office he held until his death. His `Co-
operative Republic' was translated into English by W.P.
Watkins.
Chapter Three
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1. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) author, essayist, poet and
critic. Compiler of the great `Dictionary of the English
Language'. Subject of James Boswell's Life of Samuel
Johnson', regarded as the greatest biography in English
literature.
2. Dr. J.B. Tayler, Christian missionary and lecturer in
mathematics at Chinese universities. Took an active
interest in the Co-operative Marketing of Cotton in China.
3. Albert Thomas (1879-1932) French Socialist politician and
Co-operator. Director of the International Labour Office
1920-1932. Created the Co-operative Section of the ILO and
appointed Dr. Fauquet to head it.
4. John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) British economist.
Originator of the economic theory of `Keynesianism' which
had great influence on monetary and employment policy in
Britain and elsewhere after the Second World War.
Chapter Four
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1. Marcel Brot (1887-1966) eminent French Co-operator. He was
simultaneously President of the Co-operators of Lorraine,
President of the National Federation of Consumers' Co-
operatives of France and from 1955 to 1960 President of the
International Co-operative Alliance.
2. Independent Commission of Inquiry. Set up by the British
Co-operative Movement in 1995, it was headed by Hugh
Gaitskell, then leader of the Labour Party, with C.A.R.
Crosland, later Foreign Minister, as Secretary. The
Commission reported in 1959 on the Movement's main
weaknesses and put forward radical proposals for its
reorganisation.
3. Laiteries Reunies. United Diaries - the milk producer in
partnership with the Geneva Consumers' Co-operative.
Chapter Five
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1. Nassau Senior (1790-1864) British economist whose
theoretical writings are still held in esteem but whose
practical proposals earned him the justified criticism of
Karl Mark and others.
Chapter Eight
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1. This beverage is an Irish black beer producer under the
trade name of Guinnes. The advertising slogan `Guinnes is
good for you' became famous throughout Britain and Ireland,
although it would not be allowed under current advertising
legislation.
Chapter Nine
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1. Charles Henri Barbier (1901-1984) French by birth but
resident in Switzerland. Vice-President of the Swiss Co-
operative Union and member of the ICA Executive Committee
which he represented on UNESCO.
2. Dr. Alex Laidlaw (1908-1980) General Secretary of the Co-
operative Union of Canada. Served on the Central and
Executive Committees of the ICA and was appointed to
prepare a keynote paper on `Co-operatives in the Year
2000'. His forecasts and warnings made a profound
impression on the subsequent ICA Congress in Moscow (1980).
General
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Since the text of this book was written, structural changes in
the French Movement have meant that the federal organisation
Federation Nationale des Cooperatives de Consommateurs has ceased
to exist.
