INTERNATIONAL LABOUR
OFFICE
GENEVA

Studies and Reports
Series H
No. 2

September 2S'h ±9-20,

Seventh Congress
of the Belgian Co-operative Office
(Office Coopératif Belge)

The Seventh Congress of the Belgian Co-operative Office
(Office Coopératif Belge) opened at Charleroi on the 28//z August under the presidency of M. Louis Bertrand, President
of the Federation of Belgian Co-operative Societies (Fédération
des Sociétés Coopératives Belges), assisted by M. Henri Léonard,
President of the Union of Co-operative Societies of the Charleroi
Basin (Union des Coopératives du Bassin de Charleroi), and by
M. Victor Serwv, Secretary-General of the Belgian Co-operative
Office.
About 150 delegates were present as well as representatives
of the British Co-operative Union, the English and Scottish
Wholesale Societies and the French Federation of Consumers
Co-operative Societies (Fédération Française des Coopératives
de consommation).
Consideration of the items on the agenda, together with the
report of the Co-operative Office, caused the Congress proceedings to cover the whole of the co-operative movement in Belgium.
CENTRAL ORGANISATIONS. — 1. Federation 0/ Belgian Co-operative Societies : The Federation of Belgian Co-operative Societies (Fédération des Sociétés Coopératives Belges)
(F. S. C.) was founded in 1901 with the object of buying wholesale or manufacturing the goods required by its affiliated societies. Difficulty in obtaining these had greatly restricted its operations during the war and in 1918 its annual turnover had
fallen to less than a million francs.
Immediately after the Armistice a delegation of the F. S. C.
went tn Great Britain and obtained from the Wholesale Societies
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of Manchester and Glasgow a credit of three million francs.
In February, 1919, the F. S. C. received on this credit a certain
quantity of goods and was able to resume a progressive activity.
Its turnover for 1919 was 15,869,276 francs, and against 975,669
francs recorded for the first three months of 1919 it shows
13,624,781 francs for the corresponding period of 1920.
The F. S. C. recently entered the field of production by purchasing a hosiery factory which belonged to a producing co-operative society. It is also considering taking over two other
producing co-operative societies — a chicory factory and a
syrup factory.
2. The Belgian Co-operative Office. — From the start the
F. S. C. had organized, .under the name of "Office Coopératif
Belge", an office that dealt particularly with co-operative propaganda and the "moral" direction of the movement. Increasing
business rendered it necessary to appoint a special secretary
to this office in 1909. At the suggestion of the Executive Committee of the F. S. C. the Office was now made autonomous. It will
be turned into a Society quite distinct from the F. S. C, but,
to secure the necessary coordination of commercial and "moral"
activities, at least 7 of the 15 members composing its Governing
Body are to be nominated by the F. S. C. The remaining members
will be appointed in such a manner as to provide representation
for the various regions.
In accordance with the statutes adopted by the Congress,
the 0. C. B. will take the form of a co-operative society. Every
society becoming a member of it must take up at least one
50 francs share and also make an annual contribution calculated
at the rate of 30 centimes per member. The representation of
each society at general meetings will be calculated at the rate
of one delegate for every thousand members, or fraction of
a thousand members. The Office budget for 1920 amounts to
123,000 francs, including 20,000 francs for special propaganda
in Flanders. Expected receipts include contributions from
societies, payments for accountancy services rendered to societies, profits from sale of Office publications and a subsidv of
60,000 francs from the F. S. C.

CO-OPERATIVE STATISTICS. — With the exception of
certain neutral co-operative societies, the Belgian co-operative
movement is closely bound up with the Socialist and Catholic
Parties. By the terms of their statutes the F. S.C. and the O. C. B.
confine their membership to co-operative societies which have
given their adhesion to the Belgian Labour Party. According
to the latest statistics compiled in 1912 by the Co-operative
Office, the Socialist Co-operative Societies numbered 205 with
170,748 members, having a total annual turnover of 47, 573,587
francs, that is to say about two-thirds of the members and

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three-fourths of the turnover of the whole of the Belgian cooperative movement.
The Belgian Co-operative Office has undertaken a new census,
the results of which will be known by the end of 1920. The Secretary of the 0. C. B., after having reminded the societies of the
urgent necessity of replying to the questionnaires which had been
sent to them, communicated to the Congress the results of the
steps which he had taken with a view to obtaining an official
statistical enquiry into Belgian Co-operative Societies as a
whole. He announced to the Congress that the Minister of Industry, Labour and Food, M. J. Wauters, had informed him of
his intention of creating a special Department of Co-operation
which would be engaged in collecting every kind of information
on the co-operative movement.
DEPOSIT AND LOAN BANK. — The Belgian Co-operative Office, in agreement with the General Council of the Belgian Labour Party (Conseil général du Parti Ouvrier Belge) and
its Trades Union Commission (Commission Syndicale) has
floated a co-operative bank called "Deposit and Loan Bank"
(Comptoir de Dépôts et de Prêts), situated at Ghent, which
commenced operations on the 1st June last. Its Governing
Body and its Committee of Supervision are composed of delegates of the co-operative, trade union and political organizations. On the 31st July, its capital amounted to the sum of
84,700 francs subscribed by 46 members, among which were
20 co-operative societies and 10 trade union organizations.
It had already received at the same date 411,000 francs in deposits. This organization proposes centralizing the individual
savings of the workers and the disposable funds of the trade
unions, co-operative and friendly societies, for the purpose of
using them either for co-operative objects or for any other objects of interest to the working classes.
AUDITING OF ACCOUNTS. — The Belgian Co-operative Office has organized a service for the auditing and verification of accounts. This service has been particularly active
since the armistice. It audits accounts of affiliated societies,
furnishes financial reports necessary for the opening of credits
with the F. S. C. or with the Comptoir de Dépots et de Prêts, and
in the case of amalgamations may be called upon to make
reports on the value of the property brought into the common
fund, for the guidance of the liquidation meetings.
INCREASE OF SUBSCRIPTIONS. — The auditing of
accounts has shown that a very large number of societies were
in a somewhat precarious financial position, owing to the small-

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ness of their capital and reserves. Too often societies have had
to ask for credit from the firms supplying them, or obtain
advances from moneylenders.
A special report presented to the Congress by F. Logen dealt with
the necessity of raising the price of shares to 100 frs.This amount
had already been adopted before the war by several societies of
the Liège district, but in other districts the share is still fixed
at a lower figure. In the provinces of Xamur, Hainault and
Brabant the share is 10 francs, and it has even happened that
the value of shares has fallen to two francs and one franc among
some of the co-operative societies of Flanders. In 1912 the
paid-up capital amounted, on an average, to 12 francs per cooperator. Even before the war this was too small a proportion,
as Belgian Co-operative Societies generally have part of their
capital sunk in industrial works, such as bakeries and breweries,
or in labour halls (maisons du peuple). Now that the rise in
prices necessitated an available capital three or four times
the pre-war figure, it is manifestly necessary to increase subscriptions.
The Following conclusions of the reporter were supported
by the Secretary of the Office and adopted by the Congress :
" The Congress decides :
That all the Co-operative Societies affiliated to the Co-operative
Office shall insert in the agenda of their next general meeting a proposal fixing the amount of the participatory share at 1(10 francs.
The suhcriptions shall be paid up within two years from the 1st
January, 1921, by monthly payments of at least 1 francs, or if
necessary by retention of returns.
With a view to avoiding any complication in the records as a
consequence of the withdrawal of shares, the Congress decides
to advise against the practice of plurality of participatory shares.
A report on the result of the voting on the proposition shall be
addressed to the Co-operative Office within a reasonable period."

CONSTITUTION OF LARGE REGIONAL SOCIETIES.
— On the eve of the war the Seraing Congress (26th and 27th
July, 1911) charged the Co-operative Onice with the conduct
of an enquiry for the purpose of preparing a methodical plan
for the amalgamation of the small local societies and the Organization of large societies with branches.
Begun during the actual course of the war, the concentration
of the co-operative forces is progressing rapidly. The Co-operative Union of Liège (Union coopérative de Liège) has absorbed 50
local societies, possesses at present 330 branches and realized
in 1919 a turnover of 35 million francs. The "General Warehouses' Society (Les Magasins généraux), situated at Philippeville,
has brought about the amalgamation of the 11 local societies
of the district between Lhe Sambre and the Meuse (région de
l'Entre Sambre et Meuse) and has at present 50 business houses
with a turnover in 1919 amounting to ten million francs.

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A certain number of local societies have also been absorbed
by the Union des Coopératives du Bassin de Charleroi, by l'Avenir du Centre of La Louvière, by the Union des Coopérateurs of
Tournaisis and by the Centrale des Coopérateurs of Peruwelz.

PROVISIONING. — While recognizing the efforts of M.
J. Wauters, the Minister of Food, the Congress regretted that
the Government had not been able to take all the measures
necessary to deal with the increase in the cost of living. A motion
was adopted asking that State importation of wheat, frozen
meat, butter and fish should be continued, and that the importation of eggs and also of manures should be organized. The
Congress moreover passed a resolution that trade unions and
co-operative societies should be represented on the distribution and control services, that the co-operative societies
should be given preferential treatment as regards the sale of
products imported by the State, and that the public authorities should encourage the development of co-operative societies
by placing at their disposal the capital necessary for assuring
the provisioning of the population at the lowest price.

COMMUNAL WAREHOUSES. — A great number of
Communes have created "Communal Warehouses" during the
war for the distribution of provisions and especially of rationed
provisions. The question of ascertaining whether these war
institutions ought to be maintained or possibly developed was
brought before the Congress. It had an immediate interest for
the co-operative societies belonging to the Belgian Labour
Party on account of the approaching communal elections. A
note presented by the Brussels "Maison du Peuple" declared
that for a much smaller financial outlay than that necessary
for the creation of communal warehouses, the municipalities
could obtain a better return by an understanding with the cooperative societies. The note suggested that warehouses might
be established at the expense of the Communes, the working
of them being undertaken by the co-operative societies on the
condition that the latter pay the interest on the capital invested
and the depreciation of the plant. No special resolution was
adopted, but on the proposition of the President the Congress
gave, its unanimous adhesion to the opinion expressed by the
delegate Carlicr, that the communal warehouses have rendered
services during the war in the application of rationing measures,
but that at the present time the. duty of socialist municipalities
is to favour in preference the development of the co-operative
societies.

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SPURIOUS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND STORES.
— The Belgian co-operative societies derive their legal status
from the law of the 18th May 1873 concerning partnerships
(sociétés), Section 6 : "Concerning Co-operative Societies".
A Co-operative Society is therein defined as "A society composed
of members, the number and contributions of whom are variable, and whose shares are not transferable to third parties".
The Law also stipulates (Art. 89) that in default of special statutory provisions all members shall have an equal vote at meetings
and that profits or losses on each year's working shall be
divided among the members, half by equal division per head, and
the other half in proportion to the amount of stock held. As a
result of the optional character of these provisions, which,
moreover, as regards the divisions of profits and losses, are not
strictly in conformity with co-operative principles, it is evident that Belgian legislation allows of the inclusion under the
designation of "Co-operative Societies", societies which co-operators have good reason to consider as spurious. The report
presented to the Congress in this connection contained the
following observations :
" The war made the idea of co-operation very popular. Public
authorities have had recourse in numerous instances to the cooperative form in founding commercial entreprises in the general
interest. The workers, too, grouped themselves more and more
into co-operative societies for the purpose of combating the increased cost of living. But along with these, many private capitalist concerns have sprung up in the last two years which have nothing whatever to do with co-operation.
Either an attempt is being made to deceive the public, or recourse is had to this form for the purpose of escaping the statutory and fiscal restrictions imposed on limited companies (Sociétés anonymes).
The so-called Co-operative Societies of the Liège district and the
Charleroi Basin, founded directly by big manufacturers or with
their financial help, stand similarly condemned. They were factory
stores (économats) prior to 1914 and their new title of " Co-operative Societies " merely represents a change of name. "

The delegates from Liège explained that these "Co-operative
Societies", organized by the manufacturers, sold below cost
price and thus set up a formidable competition with the true
co-operative societies. The Secretary of the Office insisted
on the necessity of obtaining a more precise legal definition of
"Co-operative Societies", and recommended to the Congress the
following resolution, which was adopted.
" With reference to the capitalistic and limited liability stores
now masquerading as co-operative societies this Congress declares
that the working class must found co-operative societies for themselves and by themselves, free from all capitalistic influence. It
hopes to see a very active effort on the part of t r a d e union organizations against these spurious co-operative societies, the object
of which is to divert the labour movement from its aim of emancipation. "

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CO-OPERATION AND TRADE UNIONISM. — The fact
that the number of organized workers is about 700,000 while
the workers' co-operative societies only number about 200,000
members had caused the Secretary of the Office to approach
the Trades Union Commission (Commission Syndicale), the
central organ of all Trade Unions, connected or not with the
Belgian Labour Party. He now laid a report on this subject before the Congress. A week of propaganda in favour of co-operation will be organized at the end of September by the Co-operative Office and the Trades Union Commission jointly. The Congress adopted the following resolution :
" The Congress addresses its warmest congratulations to the
Trades Union Commission on the enormous progress accomplished
during the last two years.
It considers t h a t the continuous increase of wages is incapable
of solving the constantly increasing difficulties of existence, and
t h a t the proper course is to endeavour to reduce the cost of living
by an increase of production, by a perfecting of machinery, by a
considerable diminution of capitalist and trading profits, and more
especially by the entrance of the organized workers into the cooperative organizations.
Co-operation is the means to which every individual should have
recourse for combating the increased cost of living.
Accordingly the Congress requests the Trades Union Commission
to canvass all its members to join the co-operative movement. "

An amendment to the effect that the co-operative societies
should employ for preference workers belonging to the trades
unions was also adopted. The Congress also pronounced in
favour of the organization of a Joint Commission charged with
preventing and, where they arose, of settling conflicts between
co-operators and their employees. A commission of this kind
has already been organized at Liège by the Co-operative Union
and the local trade unions. In this connection rates of remuneration of working bakers have given rise to frequent communications between the Co-operative Office and the Central
Food Society (Centrale de l'Alimentation). The resolution in
which the Socialist Bakery Co-operative Societies explain their
position in regard to their employees is as follows :
" The Socialist Bakery Co-operative Societies, assembled on the
31st March, 1920, at the Maison du Peuple at Brussels on the initiative of the Belgian Co-operative Office, consider it their duty
to remind their employees that more than 35 years ago they were
the initiators in Belgium of the eight-hour day and the minimum
wage, and that the best conditions of labour both as regards hygiene
and as regards remuneration have had their origin in their works.
They think they have the right to recall t h a t at the time of the
recent increase of wages they were the first to unite with the workers in the bakery trade in the demand for the wage of two francs
an hour, and t h a t they have always allowed their employees conditions of labour and remuneration superior to those which they
could obtain in the competing bakehouses.
They point out to the organized workers that at the present time
the conditions imposed by the Ministerial Decree of the 19th February, 1920, are far from being applied, thus favouring the capi-

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talist bakehouses, with the consequence t h a t the future of the Cooperative Bakery Societies is endangered.
That the first duty of the Trade Unions is to obtain from private establishments conditions of labour and wages equal to those
of the workers in co-operative bakehouses.
They declare unanimously t h a t they are always ready 4 to examine all the claims of their employees and to avoid conflicts, on
condition, however, t h a t t h e former are presented in reasonable
time and in accordance with Trade Union practice, and t h a t every
difference be examined with the fact kept in view that the cooperative organization represents workers' interests as legitimate
as those of the workers considered as producers.
They consider t h a t no modification in the present conditions of
labour can be carried out without a revision of the ministerial decree
of the 19th February, 1920, fixing the conditions for the production of bread.
They resolve to transmit the present resolution to the Trade Union
Commission and the Centrale de l'Alimentation. "

PENSION FUND FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES. — A report relating to the creation
of a pension fund for co-operative society employees provoked
interesting discussion. Speakers were in favour of granting
pension rates at least equal to those being claimed at the present time by organized Belgian labour. Nevertheless, financial
considerations and general prudence caused the Congress
to decide, with only two dissentient votes, that employees
should pay part-contribution towards pensions. The drawing-up
of a scheme on an actuarial basis was referred to commission.

WOMEN AND CO-OPERATION. — The participation of
women in the approaching communal elections gave a special
interest to the rôle of women in the Belgian co-operative movement. Reports were presented by two women co-operators,
Anna Malaise, member of the Governing Body of the Union
Coopérative de Liège and Fernande Coulon, an employee in
the " Progrès " of Joliment. They emphasised the necessity
of completing the co-operative education of women and
claimed admission to Governing Bodies and the various
co-operative delegations. The reports were endorsed by the
Congress.

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. — The
Secretary of the Office submitted a report to the Congress
of the result of the negotiations entered into under the auspices
of the International Co-operative Alliance with a view to the
establishment of commercial relations between the wholesale
societies of the various countries. In every country there will
be created as part of the central organisation an export section

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which will enter into relations with a central office established
at Manchester. However, until sufficient information has been
obtained on the advantages of the concentration of orders in
the hands of a single buyer, the central office will only act as
a correspondence office, and business will be conducted commercially between one wholesale society and another. The Secretary,
V. Serwy, who took an active part in the work of the Commission
leading up to this initial result, was able to announce to the
Congress that negotiations are in progress between the Federation of Belgian Co-operative Societies and the Wholesale
Societies of England and Scotland with a view to exporting to
those countries certain articles, such as baskets, nails, glasswork, cotton goods, matches, cigars, and grains for fodder.
Negotiations are also proceeding with the Swiss and Dutch
organisations for the exportation of chicory.

THE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE CONGRESS
AT BASLE. — The International Co-operative Alliance will
hold its next Congress at Basle.
The Secretary, V. Serwy, stated that the.revision of the rules
of the Alliance would doubtless be taken as an opportunity
for examining the tendency of the co-operative rnovement.
Recalling the history of international co-operative congresses
and the Alliance's policy of neutrality in political matters, he
did not consider it possible to induce co-operative organisations
in other countries to follow Belgium's example and adhere to
the Labour Party. Nevertheless, he added, "Co-operation cannot
attain its desires without the support of the working class.
The French General Confederation of Labour (Confédération
générale du Travail) appealed to the leaders of the co-operative
movement when founding its Economic Council of Labour.
Similar understandings are being brought about in other countries. This is the road we must follow". The Secretary's suggestion that the question "Co-ordination of proletariat activity
with a view to common action" should be inscribed on the
agenda of the Basle Congress, was approved.

RESOLUTION IN FAVOUR OF THE LEAGUE OF
NATIONS. — Before, separating, the Congress associated
itself with the resolution relating to the League of Nations passed
by the British Co-operative Congress held at Bristol on the
23rd and 24th May, and transmitted by the International Cooperative Alliance to all the national Co-operative Organizations for approval :
" That this Congress views with grave concern the delay of the
Allied Governments in bringing the League of Nations into effective operation.

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It recalls the declaration of the British Government t h a t the
supreme object of the entrance of this country into the war was
the establishment of public right in Europe, and subsequently its
equally emphatic adherence to the view t h a t the only effective
means of maintaining peace and the self-determination of the people would be through an alliance of every country of goodwill in
a league which nearly a year ago was made a principal part of the
Treaty of Peace. It further notes with supreme regret the continuance of a state of war and even sanguinary conflicts in many
parts of Europe, which serve as an excuse for the continuation of
the Supreme Council of the Governments constituted to prosecute war.
Believing t h a t the only hope of peace and the reconstruction
of civilization lies in an active alliance between the free peoples
of the world, it calls upon the British Government to urge, with
its allies, the immediate establishment of the League of Nations
and the handing over to it of the duties and responsibilities extended to it by the Treaty of Peace. "