During the last few years the co-operative movement has been making rapid progress in this country. The Department of Agriculture has published a statistical report which shows that there are now between fourteen and fifteen thousand co-operative organizations in the United States, and among these, three thousand are operated by consumers. These latter co-operatives buy products and merchandise directly from the producers, and sell them to the consumers, thus eliminating the middleman. The total annual turnover of these undertakings amounts to two hundred million dollars.

Both in cities and in the country there are now numerous co-operative stores. About one thousand are operated by and for farmers, and some two hundred co-operative workshops have been established by industrial workers. Four thousand grain and corn storehouses (two hundred of them in Illinois), two thousand cheese manufacturing plants, three thousand dairies, and many other 2agricultural enterprises are operated on the co-operative plan. It is gratifying to see the interest in this system which is being shown by farmers and city workers.

Up to now co-operatives in this country have limited themselves almost exclusively to the distribution of food products and other necessities, and unbiased observers agree that the results obtained have been beneficial. But the field is almost unlimited, and it is expected that in its course of development the co-operative movement will expand its scope of activities, and eventually will include production. If such expectations materialize, the movement should have a great future in America.