Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/193

Rh leagues, formed annually before 1892, was fifty. After this date, the tempo of the development became more rapid, and the average number of charters granted annually during the last decade of the nineteenth century was over one hundred. The development was even more rapid during the first decade of the present century, so that by January 1, 1913, the number of consumers' leagues in Russia was 7,578.

In the course of the last ten or fifteen years, the separate cooperative organizations began to unite into larger groups. The largest of these associations of cooperative groups was the Moscow Union of Consumers' Leagues, which, by July 1, 1915, was made up of 1,390 member leagues, with a total capital of 345,761 roubles. The business done by the leagues in 1915 amounted to 22,855,407 roubles. In 1911 the Warsaw Union of Consumers' Leagues was organized, and in 1912, the Perm Union. The center of the cooperative credit organizations is the Moscow People's Bank, the business of which, in 1914, amounted to 110,221,081 roubles. Compared with the business done in 1913, the above figure shows an increase of 54,214,911 roubles. The business done during the first nine months of 1915 amounted to 141,513,030 roubles.

Among the factors that were responsible for the rapid development of the Russian cooperative movement, were the two All-Russian Cooperative Congresses. The first was held at Moscow in 1908, and was attended by 1000 delegates; the second was held at Kiev, in 1913, and was attended by 1,500 delegates. At both of these Congresses it was definitely shown that the Russian cooperative movement had already outgrown the obsolete legislation which is still applied to it. The two Congresses thus pointed out precisely the weak spot in the organization of the Russian cooperative movement. It is interesting to note that the model for the first Russian cooperative organization was brought over from Germany at the time when the ideas of Schulz-Delich were still popular there. But, while Germany passed, in 1868, an imperial law providing that a mere declaration is sufficient for the formation of a cooperative organization, or a union of such organizations, Russia still has an absolutist system, and no cooperative society can be established without permit. Not very long ago such permits were not granted, in many cases, until three or four years after the