International trade there must always be. It is one of the
means by which the larger solidarity of humanity is to be achieved; but
that will never come about until there is a nobler and more human life
within the states, and we must begin by perfecting national life before
we consider empires and world federations. So in this essay only the
national being is considered.
I desire to unite countryman and townsman in one movement, and to make
the co-operative principle the basis of a national civilization. How are
we to prevent them fighting the old battle between producer and
consumer? I think that this can best be brought about by co-operative
federations, which will act for both in manufacture, purchase, and sale,
and with which both rural and urban associations will find it to their
interest to be affiliated. Now the townsman cannot to any extent supply
food for his stores by buying farms. To control agricultural production
in that way would necessitate a financial operation which the State
would shrink from, and which it would be impossible for urban
cooperators to finance.
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