This magnetic power of attracting and absorbing to
themselves the various rural activities which the properly constituted
co-operative societies have, makes them develop rapidly, until in the
course of a decade or a generation there is created a real social
organism, where the members buy together, manufacture together, market
together, where finally their entire interests are bound up with the
interests of the community. I believe in half a century the whole
business of rural Ireland will be done co-operatively. This is not a
wild surmise, for we see exactly the same process going on in Denmark,
Germany, Italy, and every country where the co-operative seed was
planted. Let us suppose that in a generation all the rural industries
are organized on co-operative lines, what kind of a community should we
expect to find as the result? How would its members live? What would
be their relations to one another and their community? The agricultural
scientist is making great discoveries. The mechanical engineer goes
from one triumph to another. The chemist already could work wonders in
our fields if there was a machinery for him to work through.
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