3. The co-operative society or association for the ordinary purposes of industry.—Co-operation for some time made comparatively little progress in production, but when we consider the low point from which the movement started, only about sixty years ago, and how painfully capital, experience, and skill had to be acquired by the poor workers, we should rather be surprised at the advance that has been made in so many progressive countries. It is only a partial realisation of the socialistic ideal, but it is well founded, solid, and most promising. Its strongest point is that it has arisen directly out of the people and remains in close touch with them. In England a co-operative society is usually a group of workers who manage distribution with their joint capital in their own interests. The group is entirely democratic, open to every one, organised on the principle of one man one vote, and choosing their own committee or executive; the manager is a social functionary; no member can legally hold more than £200 of capital in any society. Production, especially for domestic consumption, has now made very great progress. In 1907 the movement had 1566 registered societies and 2,434,000 members. By that date the £28 with which the movement started in 1844 had expanded into a capital of £32,000,000, with an annual turnover of £105,000,000, and an annual profit of £12,000,000. It provides for the consumption of one-fifth of the population. The co-operative movement in Great Britain is already an industrial and economic power of no mean order. If it has not solved the social question, it has at least done much to clear the way towards a solution. The movement is also making rapid progress in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, and Italy, and its greatest successes are in other fields than distribution. In Denmark the co-operative system is one of the brightest features of recent history. More recently a co-operative movement of great promise has begun in Ireland. The co-operative society, therefore, is a self-governing group of workers, which has already made very considerable progress in controlling the economic interests of the labouring class. Not a little disappointment is felt that it has not accomplished greater results; as we believe, without good ground. It might reasonably have been expected that human nature would survive among co-operators, and that the self-regarding principle would continue to be the mainspring of individual action. Better social arrangements can only provide for it a more efficient system of regulation.