82
III.—CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
Funds, including' Accident, Compensation, and Insurance Funds;
a dividend on purchases is in many cases paid to the customers of
the Society; capital in some cases gets a further share in profits
over and above the fixed rate of interest; and a portion of the
profits, varying in different cases, is usually allotted to the
employees in the shape of a bonus upon the wages earned by
them, this bonus being wholly or in part capitalised as shares in
the Society, entitling the holders to participate in the manage
ment of the concern: in addition, in a considerable number of
Societies, amounts are allotted out of profits to Provident Funds
for the benefit of their employees. The goods produced by these
Societies are in the main sold to Retail Distributive Societies, which
frequently provide a considerable portion of the capital employed,
and which share in the management by means of delegates
elected to the management committees of the Societies.
The number of the Workers’ Productive Societies which in the
years 1899-1910 shared profits with their employees, the number
of their employees participating in profits, the ratio of bonus to
wages, and the amounts allotted out of profits to Provident Funds
for the benefit of employees, are shown in the Table which
follows: —
Profit-sharing by Productive Associations of Workers,
1899-1910.
[ Compiled from Returns made to the Co-operative TJnion, to the Labour Depart ment,
and to the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies.']
All Societies
together.
Societies which shared Profits with their Employees.
Year.
No.
of So
cieties
at end
of Year.
No. of
Employees
at end
of Year.
No. of
Societies*
which
paid
Bonus on
Wages
in Year.
No. of
Employees
receiving
Bonus on
Wages in
Year.
Ratio
of
Bonus to
Wages
of Parti
cipants
in Year.
*No. of
Societies
which
all otted
Sums to
Provident
Funds in
Year.
Amount of
Sums
allotted
to
Provident
Funds
in Year.
1899 ...
99
6,731
46
4,635
Per Cent.
5-8
23
f
1,220
1900 ...
100
6,912
45
4,745
6-2
24
1,116
1901 ...
100
6,899
44
4,947
6-6
20
1,168
1,578
1902 ...
108
6,804
52
4,981
4-4
23
1903 ...
107
6,861
47
4,527
4'1
22
1,061
1904 ...
114
6,788
39
3,893
3-3
18
769
1905 ...
107
6,555
32
3,417
3-6
13
645
1906 ...
107
6,813
33
3,929
3-7
16
971
1907 ...
96
6,755
40
4,280
4-4
19
1,364
1908 ...
90
6,744
44
4,675
4-5
26
2,362
1909 ...
91
6,671
39
4,908
4-5
23
1^971
1910 ...
86
6,766
38
4,969
4-4
j
21
2,480
* Some of these Societies paid bonus on wages and also allotted sums to Provident
Funds ; this was the case with 19 Societies in 1910.
Out of the 86 Productive Associations of Workers in existence
at the end of 1910 there were 40 which allotted a share in their