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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