Institute of Pacific Relations

Progress of Cooperative Movement in JapanAuthor(s): M. S. F.Source: Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 5, No. 5 (Feb. 26, 1936), pp. 49-50Published by: Institute of Pacific RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3023007 .

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1936 Soviet Gold Production: CooPerative Movement in Japan 49

the unification of rate schedules of the S.M.R. and the State Railways operated by it. The reduced rates apply mainly to long hauls, particularly on export products. Special rates have also been set to promote the open? ing up of the remote regions of North Manchuria. This rate reduction will do something to stimulate the de-

pressed export trade, since the freight rates have long

been criticized as high. The unification of rates and business methods of the S.M.R. and the State Railways is significant in view of the suggested reorganization of the S.M.R. on the basis of a separate company to

operate all the Manchoukuo railways under a unified

system. J. R. S.

LARGE INCREASE IN SOVIET GOLD PRODUCTION

The Soviet plan of gold production for 1935 was fulfilled on November 28th of last year. While the 1935

output can only be estimated, it is certain that not only has the Soviet Union kept its position as second gold producing country of the world, but has also materially increased its output over 1934. The output through November 1935 was announced as 24% greater than for the corresponding period of the preceding year. The importance of an increasing gold reserve both from the point of view of defense and of trade hardly needs to be pointed out.

All estimates as to Soviet gold production must be based on the official announcement in December 1933 that the output for that year approximated 114 million

gold rubles, or 2.8 million fine ounces. Preceding that time there had been no official absolute figures pub- lished later than 1927 and since 1933 only percentages of increase have been given. The situation is further

complicated by uncertainty as to whether the increases announced by the Soviet Gold Trust include the pro? duction of the individual prospectors, who are or?

ganized into artels and who work mostly on a grub- stake plus percentage basis. The production plans of

the Trust do not include the output of the prospectors. It is however safe to state that Soviet gold output for 1935 was at least around 5 million ounces. This com-

pares with 3.2 millions for Canada and 3.5 for the United States.

The output of South Africa, world's leading producer, is estimated at 10.7 million for 1935. To reach first

place, which is its aim, the Soviet Union has to more than double its present output, or to quadruple 1933

production?the task set by Stalin at the end of 1933. Soviet authorities are convinced that this is possible due to the richness of their gold reserves. The industry as a whole has been raised to a high level of mechaniza?

tion, and at the present time particular attention is

being paid to the necessity of providing mechanical aids for the individual prospectors. They are of consider? able importance both in uncovering new deposits and for working in places where large-scale mechanized pro? duction is unfeasible. The recent finding of two large nuggets of gold in the Urals?one nearly 37 troy pounds and the other, the record size for this century, of nearly 49?was credited to brigades of these prospectors.

K. B.

PROGRESS OF COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN JAPAN

The visit to this country of Toyohiko Kagawa, Japa? nese apostle of cooperation, has called attention to the

progress of the cooperative movement in Japan. Dr.

Kagawa's dynamic leadership and insistence upon the

larger social ends of the cooperative movement are credited with much of the responsibility for its expan- sion since the World War. In 1933, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 14,651 cooper? ative societies with a membership of 5,247,541, repre- senting, with their families, over one third of the total

population. Agriculturists formed (in 1932) 71% of the total membership, shopkeepers 11%, artisans 5% and fisherman 2%. The total capitalization of these societies was ?1,838,511,469. Local societies are united in several national federations, including the Central Union of Cooperative Societies, the Central Bank of

Cooperative Societies, the Cooperative Wholesale Soci-

ety, the Japanese Raw Silk Cooperative Federation, the National Federation of Cooperative Rice-grain Marketing Societies and the National Federation of

Cooperative Raw Silk Societies.

The major functions performed by the societies are four: cooperative credit, marketing, purchasing and

"utility" or use of machinery of production. Gener?

ally the same society performs several of these func? tions : thus 85% of all the societies are engaged in credit

operations, 71% in marketing, 80% in purchasing and

53% in "utility." Credit societies make loans to mem- bers at somewhat less than the commercial rates; such loans during 1933 amounted to ?1,010,244,501. In

addition, the Central Bank of Cooperative Societies makes loans to national federations. Cooperative mar?

keting is applied mainly to rice and other grains, co? coons and raw silk, but also on a smaller scale to other agricultural, forest and fishery products and to a few manufactured articles such as mats and potteries. In 1933, raw silk to the value of ?27,190,641 and rice to the value of ?47,387,820 were sold through national

cooperative federations, which indicates that they still handle a comparatively small share of the total trade.

Purchases made by the cooperatives for their mem- bers are about evenly divided between producers'

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50 Cooperative Movement in Japan February 26

goods, such as fertilizer, seeds and machinery, and

consumers' goods. The total value of such sales to

members in 1932 was ?134,546,834. In addition, sales

by consumers* cooperatives were ?18,972,429. The

"utility" side of the movement is the least developed, but a large variety of rice-cleaners, manure-crushers

and other agricultural implements are thus cooper- atively owned. There were, in 1933, 502 cooperative raw silk filatures. Under this heading, also, might be

placed cooperative agricultural storage warehouses and

the new but growing movement for cooperative medicine.

Like so many other things in Japan, the cooperative movement owed its origin largely to official stimulation and aid. The law regulating the forrnation of cooper? ative societies, first promulgated in 1900, provides for

registration and government supervision of the soci?

eties, which is carried out by the ministries of agricul? ture and finance as well as by local authorities. By

exemption from certain business taxes and by state loans the government has encouraged the movement.

In its early, semi-official phase the movement con? fined itself principally to credit operations, and this

type of activity still holds the center of the stage. Credit unions have met with little opposition as they form a welcome addition to the country's banking sys? tem. However, the criticism has been advanced that

the credit societies tended to benefit the well-to-do

rather than the poor, since entrance fees were high and

rich people joined in order to escape paying taxes. Since the War, more attention has been paid to the

field of retail distribution, where opposition has of

course been encountered from shopkeepers.

Kagawa in particular has laid great stress on con-

sumers* and producers' cooperatives as being more

likely to aid the underprivileged. With him coopera- tion is a social philosophy, standing midway between

the right and the left, aiming at a gradual transforma-

tion of capitalism but setting its face definitely against

revolutionary movements. Especially where consum-

ers' cooperatives have grown up in cities among the

working class, often under trade union auspices, there

has been some f riction between the followers of Kagawa and those who wished to make the movement a tool

of a more militant philosophy, with the former school

in the majority. The cooperative movement has hither-

to eschewed any form of political action. Its person- nel, however, is to some extent interchangeable with

that of the Farmers' Union and labor groups, which

Kagawa helped to organize. Recent reports indicate

that the cooperatives themselves may enter the parlia-

mentary arena, apparently because they fear that gov? ernment measures for the control of the rice and silk

industries may hinder the progress of the cooperative movement. M. S. F.

Bound volumes of the FAR EASTERN SURVEY, Volume IV, 1935, will be available shortly. (Only a

limited number.) Price and details furnished on request.

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