CO-OPERATION IN PREHISTORIC TIMES—EARLY TEUTONIC CO-OPERATION—THE SCOTTISH CLAN SYSTEM—THE PRESENT CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM—FENWICK AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES—EARLY CO-OPERATIVE BAKERIES—THE GLASGOW BAKING SOCIETIES—EARLY METHODS OF CONTROLLING PRICES—STIRLINGSHIRE AND THE HILLFOOTS—BAKING SOCIETIES IN FIFE AND THE NORTH—CO-OPERATIVE BAKING IN THE BORDERLAND—GLASGOW SOCIETY—CO-OPERATIVE BAKING IN 1866—THE FIRST FEDERATED BAKERY.
The Co-operative principle is as old as human intelligence. As soon as man became possessed of the first faint glimmerings of reason he began to seek communion with his fellows, and began, also, to take concerted action with them for mutual protection. It was natural that this should be so. The world must have been a terrible place for the human race in those early days. On land, in the sea, and in the air it was peopled with monsters, against whose attacks the unaided strength and skill of a solitary human were of no avail. Only by combination could he hope to survive. Results have proven that combination—Co-operation—is the law of life; that the men, the animals, the insects even which have learned to combine, have progressed in the scale of evolution; while the solitary monsters of past ages have disappeared, and are known only from a bone found here and a partially complete skeleton there.
That the human race gathered together in communities very early in its history there is abundance of evidence. In some of our cliffs there are caves which bear traces of human habitation; while scattered here and there over the world are immense mounds of shells, extending sometimes to a depth of many feet and acres in width, on what is believed to have been the seashore of prehistoric times, which show that, for a long period, these places were frequented by communities.
This community living has continued all down the ages. The “commune” system in vogue amongst the Teutonic races was an imperfect system of Co-operative farming by an agricultural community, which finally ceased in Germany during the nineteenth century. It was introduced into this country by the invading Teuton races in the early centuries of the Christian era; and, with various modifications and adaptations, was still in being at the time of the Norman conquest. From that date it gradually declined, until, by the end of the sixteenth century, it had all but died out in England, but was still alive in parts of Scotland in the clan system. There the old community spirit continued to prevail until after the rebellion of 1745, when the common lands of the clans were given to the chiefs. In the lowlands, also, some trace of this principle continued to be visible amongst the farming community.
CO-OPERATION AS WE KNOW IT.
When or where Co-operation, in the sense in which the word is used to-day, first came into being there is no means of knowing. Mr Maxwell, in his “History of Co-operation in Scotland,” tells the story of the old society originated by the weavers of Fenwick one hundred and fifty years ago, before Robert Owen was born; but, although this is the oldest Co-operative society of which any record remains, it by no means follows that others did not exist even earlier. Indeed, Mr Maxwell himself mentions that traditions of other old societies exist in various parts of the country. Of these, no records remain. It is only ten years since there vanished from the ken of the people of Govan a society which kept proudly painted over its door a record of the fact that it was established in 1777—eight years later than Fenwick. There still exists in Glasgow a society which dates back to the first year of the nineteenth century, and the Lennoxtown Society celebrated its centenary seven years ago. All over Scotland there exist societies which are nearing a century of life, and Mr Maxwell has rescued from oblivion the names, and sometimes part of the records, of others which long ago disappeared.
In their practice these old-time societies differed in material points from the practice which takes its name from the Lancashire weaving town where it originated—Rochdale—but the spirit which inspired those pioneers and the broad principles of self-help in Co-operation under which they worked, are the spirit and principles of the Co-operators of to-day. They were, in fact, the spirit and principles which combine to make progress possible, and in the absence of which come stagnation and decay.
CO-OPERATIVE BAKERIES.
Like the inception of Co-operation itself, the beginnings of baking Co-operatively are lost in the misty past. Where the first Co-operative bakery was started, or when, there is no means of knowing.
Research has shown that, in the early years of last century, bread was being produced and distributed by Co-operative bakeries in Glasgow, but how many in number these bakeries were, where exactly they were situated, or what turnover they had it is not possible to discover; indeed, it is probable that we should never have known of their existence, except as a tradition, had it not been for the fact that a Glasgow writer, who published in 1816 a book in two volumes dealing with the affairs of Glasgow, thought it necessary to defend the private bakers of the city at that time against any possible accusation of overcharging for bread, by describing the methods which were adopted by the Co-operative societies, and emphasising the fact that they sold bread at the cost of production, and only to their own members.