K .•••*••■ 
 
 
 -:^i^ 
 

 
 L I E) RAR.Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N I V LR.S ITY 
 
 or ILLl NOI&
 
 CO-OPERATIVE PRODUCTION. 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ANNUAL CONEEEENOE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CO-OPERATIYE SOCIETIES. 
 
 HELD AT HALIFAX. 
 
 THOMAS BEASSEY, M.P. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 LONGMANS, GEE EN & 0. 
 
 1874.
 
 LONDOK "■ 
 WATBELOW AIO) SONS, PRiyTEBS, GKEAT WIXCHESTSH STEBRT, 
 B.C.
 
 Errata. 
 
 Pp. 66 and 68. For " Society of Arts" read "Charity Organisa- 
 tion Society."
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 ON 
 
 CO-OPERATIVE PEODUCTIO]N^ 
 
 Societies 
 
 Eefore I enter upon the main topics of my address., Opportunity 
 I desire to express my grateful thanks to the Com- Co-opcratm 
 mittee of the Co-operative Congress Board for the 
 opportunity they have afforded me of taking a part 
 in their proceedings. The welfare of our working- 
 people, whether in their material, their social, or 
 their moral condition, should be, and indeed I may 
 afi&rm that it is, the object of my most earnest 
 sympathy. It is to me a source of sincere regret 
 that, in consequence of my inability to carry on 
 the business of a railway contractor, I experience 
 a difficulty in maintaining those intimate personal 
 relations with the working class, which afford the 
 readiest means of preserving a friendly union be- 
 tween the employer and the employed. Such an 
 opportunity as that which I enjoy to-day, of ex- 
 changing ideas with the leading members of the 
 co-operative societies is, therefore, the more welcome 
 hecause it cannot frequently occur.
 
 4 
 
 Co-o])erative Production. 
 
 Here I may appropriately observe that the 
 absence of large employers of labour on occasions 
 sucli as this should not be construed, as if it im- 
 plied any want of interest in our proceedings, or 
 unwillingness to take trouble to promote the ad- 
 vancemeot of the manufacturing population. The 
 true interpretation is to be found in the exceeding 
 pressure, to which, in the keen competition of 
 industry and commerce in the present day, every 
 man of business is inevitably subjected. Every 
 moment of his time, all his powers bodily and 
 mental, are exhausted in the race ; and the task of 
 aiding and encouraging the self-helping efforts of 
 the people, a task, in which I venture to say most 
 employers would, if they could, most gladly take 
 their part, must of necessity remain in the hands 
 of their more fortunate brethren, who have leisure 
 to devote to social and philanthropic work. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to insist on the vast 
 development of our co-operative organisation. The 
 tabular return, recently presented to Parliament on 
 the motion of Mr. Morrison, one of the most earnest 
 and judicious friends of co-operation, sets forth the 
 statistical result in a most remarkable enumeration. 
 It is generally dull work to listen to figures : but 
 figures, when they represent facts, have an oratorical 
 power of their own, which is often more striking 
 and persuasive than the richest eloquence. If I 
 am to narrate to you in a compendious form the 
 story of your past achievements, I cannot accom- 
 
 it 
 
 <«**^ 
 
 UIUC ^;
 
 Co-0'peratwe JProduction. 5 
 
 plish my task without tlie aid of arithmetic. The 
 number of Co-operative Societies iu England and 
 "Wales is 746 : the number of members, 300,587 ; of 
 whom 60,000 Avere admitted, and 32,000 withdrew 
 in 1872. The share capital amounted at the end of 
 1872 to £2,784,000, and the sums of £10,176,000 
 were paid, and £11,379,000 received during the 
 year in cash for goods. The disposable net profit 
 realised from all sources amounted to £807,748. 
 
 The enormous sums I have enumerated give proof 
 that the principle of Co-operation, in its application 
 to the Distribution of Commodities among con- 
 sumers, is convenient and practicable, and effects 
 a considerable saving of expense. 
 
 It cannot, therefore, be doubted that the co- Policy of 
 operative system tends to diminish the business of 
 that large class who earn their livelihood in the 
 retail trade of the country. As the co-operative 
 system is more and more generally adopted, many 
 who might have earned an income as shopkeepers 
 must seek out another career. In the transition 
 stage some suffering may be experienced by indi- 
 viduals. I trust, however, that changes will proceed 
 gradually ; and that there may be ample time for 
 the absorption into other channels of the labour and 
 capital displaced by co-operation. 
 
 Eurther, it is to be observed that the retailers 
 may, by a better system of trading, find themselves 
 able to afford their customers the same advantages 
 which they now receive at the co-operative stores.
 
 6 Co-oj^erative T^^oduction. 
 
 Retail prices have been enhanced by the unwhole- 
 some system of long credits. The business of the 
 individual retailer has generally been so small, that 
 a decent livelihood could be earned only by making 
 a high profit on a limited number of transactions. 
 If the retailers' business were concentrated in fewer 
 hands, and the credit system were abolished ; if the 
 sound commercial principle were adopted of looking 
 for a large aggregate gain by means of small profits 
 but quick returns, and by making a small per- 
 centage on a large tiu'nover ; I think it highly 
 probable that the public might find that the excep- 
 tional advantages it now offers need not be confined 
 to the co-operative system. 
 
 I am confident that I do not misinterpret the 
 views of the friends of the co-operative movement, 
 when I say that the great object at which they aim 
 is not to concentrate the whole business of supply- 
 ing the public at a few stores, under the control 
 of that special organization which they direct, but 
 rather to secure to the great body of consumers the 
 means of obtaining the necessaries of life at the 
 lowest practicable cost, and of the best quality. So 
 long as this object is attained, it matters not 
 whether it be accomplished through the co-operative 
 associations, or by the agency of the ordinary 
 retailer. 
 
 The management of a Co-operative Store is a 
 task not without difficulties. The members who 
 withdrew from these societies in 1872 — the returns
 
 Co-operative Froductioti. 7 
 
 for 1873 are not completed — were half as many in 
 number as those who joined. The retailers may, 
 therefore, reasonably infer that they are competing 
 with rivals who have serious problems to solve ; and 
 instead of idly complaining, they must meet the 
 competition of the Co-operative Stores by an im- 
 proved organization of their own trade. 
 
 If they succeed in holding their own, as I confi- 
 dently anticipate that they will, the community 
 will be the gaiuers, and there can be no other feeling 
 but one of good- will for those who are competing 
 with each other to promote the advantage of all 
 consumers. 
 
 I pass from co-operative distribution to Co- Co-operativi 
 operative Production : and I may here observe that a remedy 
 to me this other branch of the movement is far of capiitar^ 
 the most interesting. The equitable distribution 
 of profits between labour, capital, and the inventive 
 faculty which creates, and the commercial and 
 organizing faculty which conducts a business, is 
 the most important, as it is undoubtedly one of the 
 most diflS.ciilt of the social problems of our age. 
 My hearers probably belong, in a large proportion, 
 to the class whose interest it is to secure what they 
 conceive to be justice to labour. I belong to the 
 class interested in the rights of capital. 
 
 I know that there must be many here who think 
 that, in the actual organization of productive in- 
 dustry, there is a disproportionate assignment of 
 profits to capital. As instances of individual success
 
 8 Co-qperatwe Froduction, 
 
 are multiplied, so this conviction of the injustice of 
 the existing order of things in the commercial world 
 will be strengthened and confirmed. Whatever 
 political economy may teach, however easy it may 
 be to explain the operations of trade, between 
 wealth and necessity there still exists a contrast, 
 which mingles with the possession of riches a dark 
 alloy, and cannot but make the burden of the poor 
 man harder and heavier to bear. We may be able 
 to prove that the capital of the large capitalist 
 ordinarily receives but a moderate return, and in- 
 deed is freely employed on easier terms than a needy 
 man would exact; but it is not less true that, 
 measured by the strict necessities of life, an accu- 
 mulation of wealth must, under all circumstances, 
 be a superfluity. The sentiments, so naturally 
 aroused by the spectacle of this ungracious contrast 
 between wealth and poverty have found an illus- 
 trious, though not unprejudiced exponent in the 
 poet Wordsworth : — 
 
 " Slaves cannot breathe in England — yet that boast 
 Is but a mockery ! when from coast to coast, 
 Though fettered slaves be none, her flooi-s and soil 
 Groan underneath a "weight of slavish toil, 
 For the poor many, measured out by rules 
 Fetched with cupidity from heartless schools. 
 That to an idol, falsely called ' The Wealth 
 Of Nations,' sacrifice a people's health. 
 Body and mind and soul ; a thirst so keen 
 Is ever urging on the va«t machine 
 Of sleepless Labour, 'mid whose dizzy wheels 
 The power least prized is that which thinks and feels."
 
 Co-operative Frodtiction. 9 
 
 Socialism is the protest of labour against the un- 
 equal distribution of the profits of production ; but 
 the system of absolute equality is against the law 
 of nature. Whatever poets, sentimentalists, and 
 agitators may say, there cannot be equality in a 
 society composed of individuals unequally endowed 
 in knowledge, natural aptitude, and in physical and 
 mental power. But while there cannot be equality, 
 tliere must be justice. 
 
 Viewiner the subiect in the liarht indicated in these ^J co-opera- 
 
 '-' " <-• tivo produc 
 
 observations, I earnestly wish success to the ex- tionastandarl 
 
 * ^ ^ may be esta- 
 
 periment of adapting the co-operative principle to tiished for th. 
 
 ^ r o r r r adjustment o 
 
 productive industry. In a co-operative mill, or wages. 
 ■workshop, or farm, the producers unite the double I 
 
 functions of capital and labour. The handicraftsman I 
 
 sits in judgment on the claims of the capital pro- 
 vided by his own thrift and past labours ; and 
 while he is not likely to appropriate an inadequate 
 rate of interest to a fund obtained from such a 
 source, he cannot, at the same time, apportion too 
 much to capital without doing an injustice to him- 
 self in another capacity. 
 
 If it be practically developed on an extensive 
 scale, co-operative production ought to save many 
 disputes concerning the rates of wages. In the co- 
 operative establishments there cannot, in the nature 
 of things, be any contention between a body of 
 workmen and an individual, whom they regard with 
 unfriendly eyes as a selfish monopolist. Nor will 
 the benefits be confined to co-operative establish-
 
 lO Oo-ojperative Introduction. 
 
 ments alone. They will ameliorate the relations 
 between employers and employed in cases where, as 
 it commonly happens, the conflicting interests of 
 capital and labour are represented by different 
 individuals. But the difference between those 
 interests will be more easily adjusted, when the 
 capitalist is enabled to refer the labourer to the rates 
 of wages prevailing in co-operative establishments, 
 Vvhere they have been determined, not by a single 
 individual, suspected of being without sympathy for 
 the labourer, but by those very men who, in the 
 capacity of workmen, become the earners of wages, 
 fixed and paid by themselves. 
 
 The desideratum in all labour disputes is a 
 standard, set up by an impartial tribunal, by which 
 it may readily be decided what constitutes a fair rate 
 of wages. When co-operative production has been 
 introduced into all branches of industry successfully 
 and on a sufficiently extensive scale, we shall then 
 have the universal gauge or measure of the work- 
 man's rightful claims. From the day when the 
 workman will take his part in the deliberations, 
 which accord to capital its fair rate of interest, and 
 to the wage earner his due, from the day when the 
 workman may count with certainty on a just and 
 equal participation in the profits of every enterprise 
 in which he is engaged, in proportion to his merits, 
 strikes, it is to be hoped, will cease, and workmen 
 will be devoted to the successful prosecution of the 
 industry in which they find their employment. If
 
 Co-operative Production. 11 
 
 it should appear an exaggeration of tlie powers 
 of human nature to adopt the principles on which 
 Eourier insisted, and to regard all labour as a 
 pleasure ; it is possible to conceive conditions, in 
 which labour would appear more alluring and 
 attractive than hitherto. The labourer might have 
 more satisfaction in working under the direction of 
 persons, selected by himself, than he now experiences 
 under the authority of an eniployer, upon whom he 
 is entirely dependant as the distributor of wages. 
 
 It has been asserted by prominent advocates of Generous j 
 
 " ■•- settlements ' 
 
 the labour interest that among capitalists there is a towards the 
 
 . working cla 
 
 universal desire to acquire wealth, and but little among j 
 disposition to pay due regard to the rights of others. 
 There may be cases in which these allegations are 
 true ; but they do not correctly represent the general 
 tone and temper of the employers of this country, 
 among whom a higher spirit prevails than some ill- 
 natured critics are ready to allow. 
 
 In France and Germany similar representations 
 have gained many credulous converts. In those 
 countries, and especially in the former, there is much 
 hostility between masters and men. Even when 
 kind and considerate acts are done, tliey are regarded | 
 
 with suspicion, and are not accepted as the fruits 
 of a generous impulse, or as meriting grateful 
 recognition. 
 
 Happily there is no such hostility of class and ^^"Jrait^- 
 class in this country. That it does not exist is J^J^g^^"' 
 conclusively proved by the support given by multi- ^^^^^ ^j * 
 
 tion.
 
 12" Co-operative JProduction. 
 
 tudes of working men at the recent general election 
 to Conservative candidates, who, among other claims 
 to favour, are supposed to be the chosen defenders 
 of the rights of property. 
 
 One thing I unhesitatingly affirm, that the dispo- 
 sition to be liberal towards workmen is developed, as 
 a general rule, in proportion to the extent of the 
 business and the capital of the employer ; that there 
 is- the most intense love of gain among certain 
 smaller employers ; and that some of the least 
 generous members of the class are those, who have 
 most recently been transposed from the capacity of 
 workmen to that of employers. This is only as it 
 ought to be. Those, who have been nursed in ease 
 and security from care, may well afford to deal in a 
 more generous mood with their dependants. 
 
 It would not be well that capital should be favoured 
 at the expense of labour, nor yet would it be for the 
 advantage of the working class to diminish the mo- 
 tives to accumulate that fund, which in truth is the 
 only source whereby enterprise can be encouraged, 
 and employment created. The ordinary interest 
 upon capital in England is lower than in any other 
 civilised country. The temptations to English 
 holders of capital to invest elsewhere are already 
 sufficiently great. All the countries of Europe, and, to 
 a yet greater extent, the United States, are constantly 
 bidding for the use of our resources. Capital em- 
 ployed in agriculture and railway enterprise in the 
 United States yields a return at least one-third higher
 
 Co-operative Production. 13 
 
 than the like investments in England ; and I should 
 accordingly view with considerable anxiety any 
 serious depreciation of our current rate of interest. 11 
 
 It has been allesjed that in England the class of sizo of farmiJ 
 
 .... in England 
 
 persons is gradually beini? diminished, who without and the 
 
 ^ . , . United state 
 
 large means enjoy the advantage of holding a 
 position of independence. Theirs is an order essen- 
 tial in a happily-constituted society, as the connect- 
 ing link between the rich and poor. They are 
 defenders of the rights of property, while in their 
 modest and frugal households there is nothing, 
 which obtrudes itself in painful contrast to the con- 
 dition of the less independent wage- earners among 
 whom they live. It is said that the monopoly of 
 capital is gradually leading to the extinction of the 
 small farmers and the small shopkeepers, and that 
 there is a gloomy prospect of a society, in which a 
 painful gulf will separate the privileged few from 
 the mass of the community. What does the recent 
 census teach on this subject ? It is true that the 
 number of large farms is increasing, and the acreage 
 of farms under one hundred acres diminishing ; but 
 the process of change is slow. The number of farms 
 of 200 acres and upwards, in 1851 and 1871, 
 is within a fraction the same; and it is a most 
 remarkable circumstance that, while the average 
 size of the farms in seventeen representative counties 
 of England was ascertained to be 152 acres, the 
 average size of the farms of the United States, 
 according to the census of 1870, was 154 acres. 
 There is in the United States a boundless terri-
 
 14 Co-operative Production, 
 
 tory available for agricultural occupations, and the 
 laws offer every facility for the purchase and trans- 
 fer of land. We may therefore safely infer that, 
 as there is a coincidence in point of size between 
 the farms of England and the United States, the 
 acreage has in each case been determined by con- 
 siderations of convenience. If smaller holdings had 
 been found to offer equal advantages ; I am satisfied 
 that no obstacle would have been raised on the part 
 of the landowners to a more minute subdivision. 
 
 The average size of farms has been determined by 
 long experience, and has been settled as between 
 landlord and tenant by a countless number of inde- 
 pendent negociations, each party to the bargain 
 looking mainly to his own interests in the trans- 
 actions. Hence, so far at least as agriculture is 
 concerned, there appear no sufficient grounds for 
 the assertion that there are impediments here — not 
 found elsewhere — to the existence of a class of 
 farmers cultivating small holdings, but not fur- 
 nished with capital enough to do justice to a large 
 extent of land. 
 more equal J clo uot dcuv that it mis^ht bc a benefit to society 
 
 stributionof . 
 
 jaith to be that Capital should be distributed among a greater 
 ay be ob- number of individuals ; and it is because co-operative 
 icrativepro- productiou would tcud to promotc that result, that 
 I sincerely desire to see it extenderl. 
 
 Let me not, however, be misunderstood. There 
 is a power for good in large accumulations of capital 
 in the hands of a single individual; if he be stead- 
 fastly determined to make a right use of his re- 
 
 action.
 
 Co-operative Production, 15 
 
 sources. It is by such men that some of the most 
 judicious operations have been carried out in this 
 country for developing the mineral resources of an 
 untried district, for the advancement of agriculture 
 hy costly drainage, for the comfort of the poor by 
 the erection of convenient dwelling-houses, for the 
 improvement of our towns and cities by the destruc- 
 tion of unwholesome habitations and the erection 
 of others, furnished with all the contrivances of 
 modern sanitary science, or for the extension of the 
 boon of railway communication into thickly-peopled 
 districts. Works such as these, however profitable 
 in the long run, generally involve a protracted lock- 
 up of capital ; and the ordinary investor, who can- 
 not afford to lose for a long period the interest upon 
 a comparatively slender capital, is slow to under- 
 take them. 
 
 Apart, however, from such exceptional cases, Disaavau- 
 the argument in favour of a more equal partici- porato man 
 pation in profits may be admitted as theoretically 
 incontrovertible; and the co-operative system of 
 production is a means to the end we have in view. 
 At the same time while highly commending the 
 system in principle, it cannot be denied that in its 
 practical application there are grave difficulties. 
 
 In deliberation the opinions of many councillors 
 serve to estabKsh sound conclusions in the mind ; 
 but when you proceed to carry out a decision thus 
 arrived at, when you have to govern and administer, 
 all experience proves the infinite superiority of 
 individual over corporate management. " There be 
 
 aR-f-mcnt.
 
 16 Co-operative Production. 
 
 three points of business," says Lord Bacon, — " the 
 preparation, the debate or examination, and the 
 perfection. Whereof, if you look for dispatch, let 
 the middle only be the work of many, and the first 
 and last the work of few." 
 
 The following opinion of iMr. Erastus Bigelow, of. 
 Massachusetts, quoted by Mr. Harris Gastrell, may 
 be cited in support of the view I have ventured to 
 express ; — 
 
 "The Corporation system has been a serious 
 hindrance to the proper diversification of our 
 manufactures. * * * * i ^jh point 
 out briefly some of the disadvantages. When men 
 who are occupied with other pursuits decide to 
 invest capital in manufacturing corporations, it is 
 usually done on grounds of general confidence. 
 They invest because others are investing. They 
 believe, without exactly knowing why, that such 
 investments are safe, and will be profitable ; or they 
 follow the lead of some friend, in whose knowledge 
 and judgment they confide. They do not act on 
 their own acquaintance with the nature and require- 
 ments of the business ; for such an acquaintance can 
 be made only by careful investigation or actual 
 experience. The natural consequence of all this is 
 that capital for the extension of old or the projec- 
 tion of new manufacturing enterprises can seldom 
 be obtained at those times, when it is most needed 
 and might most profitably be employed. This 
 single feature of the system is fatal to any true and 
 healthy progress under it.
 
 Co-operative JProduction. 17 
 
 The capital thus raised must be expended. An 
 agent is employed and enters on his work. Those 
 capitalists, who have invested under the stimulus of 
 high profits are impatient for results, and urge him 
 to hasty action on ill-considered plans. A sudden 
 and unnatural demand for operatives is thus created, 
 raising the rate of wages and greatly enhancing the 
 cost of goods. Lastly, unity of purpose and action, 
 without which no business can be successfully 
 prosecuted, can hardly be expected under the 
 divided responsibilities of a large corporate organiza- 
 tion." 
 
 A ready means of applying the principle of Eesaitsof 
 
 . . 1 . Joint Stock 
 
 limited liability to all descriptions of business was companies 
 created by the Joint Stock Companies Act of 1862. 
 That enactment gave great facilities, for the sale of 
 their property to Joint Stock Companies, to men at 
 the head of large concerns, who were tired of hard 
 work, and anxious to hand down to their families an 
 inheritance, secured from the risks and fluctuations 
 of trade. 
 
 And, while there were many seeking to exchange 
 the wear and tear of business for the comparatively 
 easy life of the country gentleman ; there was a large 
 body of inexperienced and sanguine investors, who 
 had deluded themselves with the belief that it was 
 possible to conduct the most intricate operations 
 of industry successfully, without experience and 
 without that constant personal devotion to adminis- 
 trative details, which the individual manufacturers 
 whose property they had purchased, had found it 
 
 essential to bestow. 
 
 2
 
 18 Co-operative Troduction. 
 
 It is well known that in numerous instances the 
 purchasers have sustained a serious loss. In some 
 cases tlie prices paid have been excessive, and the 
 failure has resulted from the exascsreration of the 
 capital account. But the explanation is more 
 commonly to he found in the imperfect control 
 exercised by a board of Directors, assisted by a 
 salaried manager, as compared with the administra- 
 tion of the individual employers. 
 
 Even in the choice of an agent, representative, or 
 Uianager, a private individual has advantages over 
 a board. Take the case of a railway contractor. 
 The contracts for .a long line of railway are sub- 
 divided, for the purposes of the supervision of the 
 work, into sections rarelv exceedins: eis^ht to ten 
 miles in length. If the works are unusually heavy, 
 the sections are shorter in proportion. A sub-agent 
 is placed in charge of each section, and an experi- 
 enced agent has the general direction of the whole 
 contract. The principal contractor for the under- 
 taking, by paying frequent visits of inspection, has 
 opportunities of becoming acquainted with every 
 sub-agent in his employ. He observes the progress 
 made on his section. He can test his capability of 
 dealing with every kind of practical engineering 
 dif&culty, by moving him from railway to railway, 
 and putiing him in charge of work in districts 
 totally dissimilar in their physical character and 
 resources. Gradually, those employed in a subordi- 
 nate capacity have an opportunity of showing their 
 powers ; and yet, while there is ample scope for
 
 Co-operative Troductioiii, 19 
 
 individual merit, the supervision of the agent, 
 having the general charge, will prevent the mis- 
 takes of a subordinate from producing very serious 
 consequences. Thus, with the lapse of time, and 
 without any grave risk of loss, the contractor maj'" 
 form an opinion as to who are his most trustworthy 
 sub-agents, and can select principal agents from 
 among their number with confidence ; because their 
 powers will have been thoroughly tested in a sub- 
 ordinate capacity. Here it will be obvious that long 
 experience and continuity of management are 
 essential. A board will make appointments upon 
 the faith of testimonials. The private individual 
 will trust to personal observation. 
 
 Again, administrative success depends upon the Knowledge 
 
 dcttiil. 
 
 knowledge and management of details. . The art of 
 organising large bodies of workmen will only be 
 obtained by previous experience on a smaller scale. 
 The general supervision of subordinates will be 
 most effectually exercised by one, who, by close 
 observation on the spot, whether in the tunnel, the 
 workshop, or the factory, has learned how to dis- 
 charge in his own person the duties he has delegated 
 to others. The greatest commanders and adminis- 
 trators have ever been consummate masters of detail. 
 Napoleon's arrangements for the marches, under- 
 taken by his vast armies, are admirable for the fore- 
 thought and the care wisely bestowed upon details. 
 A council or a board, only occasionally meeting, 
 cannot manage a business ; and, unless efficiently
 
 20 
 
 Co-operative Froduction. 
 
 represented by their officers and servants, they are 
 practically powerless. In a commercial point of 
 view, great profits in productive industry are 
 generally obtained by infinite small economies. 
 Directors in a board room can effect nothing in this 
 way. Every economy of expenditure must be 
 suggested by close and constant observation of the 
 processes, by which materials are prepared, and 
 labour applied to the execution of the work. 
 
 In the organisation of co-operative production, it 
 is essential to secure the services of individuals 
 competent to take the general management. I am 
 confident that the manual operations will be skil- 
 fully and probably more diligently performed in a 
 co-operative establishment. The personal interests 
 of the workmen will be so directly advanced by 
 their application aAd perseverance, that they will 
 naturally work hard. But their best efforts will 
 fail to ensure a satisfactory result, unless the general 
 organisation is perfect also. 
 
 This organising faculty is a rare gift, and it must 
 bo combined with long experience and excellent 
 judgment, or the commercial result cannot be satis- 
 factory. Many there are who possess, in an eminent 
 degree, inventive skill, and have ])owers of per- 
 suasive speech, which enable them for a time to 
 command great influence in financial circles. When, 
 however, they come to deal with practical questions, 
 they fail ; because mechanical and scientific ability 
 Avill not command success, unless united with the 
 qualities of prudence and diplomatic tact in the
 
 Co-operative Production. 21 
 
 conduct of negotiations, both with the trade out of 
 doors and with the workmen in their employ. 
 Above all there must be integrity and high-minded 
 resolution to withstand the temptations that come 
 from the love of money, and operate so strongly on 
 the minds of men of slender means and great 
 ambition. 
 
 We have the most conclusive evidence that the 
 administrative powers, of which I speak, are as rare 
 as they are essential, in the high salaries, which 
 men possessing such qualifications often obtain. I 
 do not now refer to the managers connected with 
 the large joint-stock companies, whose technical 
 and practical experience is indispensable to supply 
 what is wanting in a board of directors, appointed 
 by shareholders to manage a business, of which they 
 have no knowledge. I speak of private firms, 
 where the partners, with the most complete practi- 
 cal knowledge of the qualification required, give 
 high salaries ; because it is for their interest to do so. 
 When shall we find co-operative shareholders ready 
 to give <£5,000 a year for a competent manager ? 
 Arid yet the sum I have named is sometimes readily 
 paid by private employers to an able lieutenant. 
 
 It is because there has been in co-operative estab- 
 lishments a reluctance to pay what is necessary to 
 enlist first-rate ability in the management of the 
 business, that their operations have hitherto been 
 attended with very partial success. I believe that 
 only personal experience of the difficulties of the 
 task would induce a body of workmen to reserve
 
 22 
 
 Co-operative Production. 
 
 from their earnings a sum sufficient to secure tlie 
 services of competent leaders. 
 
 I would, therefore, earnestly advise those inter- 
 ested in co-operative production to discourage 
 attempts to commence on a large scale a husiness 
 difficult to manage. The policy suggested is more 
 practicable as well as more prudent. A moderate 
 capital is easily obtained. Large funds are not 
 rapidly procured. Where only a few hands are 
 engaged, the government may be conducted on a 
 purely democratic basis. "Where the energies of a 
 multitude are to be combined, there must be an 
 enlightened despotism. 
 
 In the case of a co-operative establishment, the 
 persons entrusted with plenary powers must, as a 
 matter of course, be subject to the control of the 
 contributors of the capital ; but their control should 
 be exercised only at stated, though sufficiently fre- 
 quent intervals. It was rightly pointed out by Mr. 
 Morrison, in the debates at the last conference of 
 Co-operative Societies, that, without the concentra- 
 tion of management among a limited number of 
 persons, it would be impossible to preserve the unity 
 of tradition and administration, which are essential 
 to establish the reputation of a factory or workshop, 
 and to secure for the articles, therein produced, the 
 high prices consumers are always ready to pay for 
 goods of undoubted quality. 
 
 The appointment of the manager by popular 
 election, — the electors being the hand Avorkers, who 
 are to serve under the chief, selected by themselves.
 
 Co-operative JProductioii. 23 
 
 ' — is quite compatible with contiauity of manage- 
 ment. In a trading concern, the acting partner or 
 manager, who has personal control, is rarely 
 obtained by hereditary succession. It is seldom 
 that a man of commercial genius has a worthy suc- 
 cessor in his son ; hence it may be anticipated that 
 the elective principle will be at least as well calcu- 
 lated as the hereditary to protect the workmen from 
 the disasters, which must inevitably be caused by 
 incapacity in the management. 
 
 These considerations would have led to the more The msep 
 rapid establishment of Co-operative Societies of pro- ties have 
 duction ; unless there had been tlie formidable diffi- SpS^ '' 
 culties already set forth, to be surmounted. The most co-opemt 
 recent report shows that the number of these Societies ^^^ "^ ^°^ 
 may almost be counted on the fingers. Though 
 some of the experiments actually tried have been 
 successful, thefailureshave beenmore numerous than 
 the successes. The Paisley Manufacturing Society, 
 the Hebden Bridge Eustian Society, the Eccles Quilt 
 Manufacturiug Society, the Lurgan Damask Manu- 
 facturiug Society, are examples of co-operative 
 production successfully conducted ; but they are on 
 a small scale, and probably their success is partly 
 attributable to the wisdom of the promoters in not 
 attempting their operations on a too ambitious 
 footing. The Printing Society of Manchester is a> 
 greater eflPort, and it is highly flourishing. It in 
 possible that the business is of a kind, which depends 
 less on the administrative ability of the manager, 
 than on the individual exertions of the workmen. I
 
 24 Co-operative Production. 
 
 fear, however, that the Co-operative Printing Society 
 recently established in London has failed to com- 
 mand a business sufficient to produce a return upon 
 the capital expended. 
 
 ?rVs"^^ "^ The most important experiment in co-operative 
 production hitherto attempted in this country is that 
 of the Ouseburn Engine "Works. But this Company 
 has sustained a severe loss ; and, strange to say, 
 there has been a strike for higher wages on the part 
 of the workmen employed in one department of the 
 concern. The occurrence of a strike in a co-opera- 
 tive establishment proves the difficulty, I by no 
 means imply the impossibility, of conducting an 
 undertaking on a democratic system, when you 
 have to deal with many classes of workmen, possess- 
 ing diflPerent and unequal qualifications. 
 
 icuity Theadiustmentof the rates of washes in a case, in 
 
 a. for work- ^ " 
 
 I to adjust which some members of the co-operative body must 
 be paid at considerably higher rates than others, 
 requires on the part of the latter no common 
 measure of self-denial. It is sometimes hard to 
 recognise the superior merits of others, even when 
 we have the means of forming an independent 
 opinion on their claims ; but when workmen, brought 
 up in one trade, are required to assign much higher 
 wages to artisans practising another trade, of the 
 exact nature and difficulty of which they have no ex- 
 perience, they are naturally prone to doubt whether 
 a sufficient reason exists to justify a distinction, 
 inevitably involving a personal loss to themselves. 
 ^o???r^ ^^^ Thus, the inequality in the earnings of different 
 °^~' trades, and of the same trades in different countries.
 
 Co-operative Production. 25 
 
 is a common cause of dissatisfaction among tliose 
 wlio receive the least liberal rates of pay. It does not 
 follow that the complaints are reasoDable. Where 
 there are no special circumstances to redress the 
 balance, such an inequality ought to be removed ; 
 but in most cases it will be found that the condition 
 of those who are in receipt of lower wages, is more 
 enviable than that of their rivals in other respects. 
 Compare the hardy peasant with the tired denizen of 
 a dismal alley in a great city, to whom the returning 
 spring brings with it none of the glad sights and 
 sounds which surround the country village as with 
 a sweet enchantment. The rustic labourer has a 
 garden gay with flowers. The leafy shades protect 
 him from the noon-tide glare, and his ears are 
 soothed by the melodious minstrelsy of nature : 
 
 " The moan of doves in immemorial elms, 
 And murmuring of innumerable bees." 
 
 His labours are performed in the free fresh air. 
 They are varied and interesting. They tend to in- 
 vigorate rather than to exhaust his physical powers- 
 The term of his life is longer. His health is more 
 easily preserved. 
 
 The charms of the rural life, as sung by the poet, 
 and painted by the brush of a Linnell or a Birketfc 
 Eoster, are to some natures inexhaustible. The 
 golden corn, the purple heather, the sunny fore- 
 ground, and the mellow distance, — how great a con- 
 trast between a landscape so composed, and the dull 
 red walls and close canopy of smoke, in which the 
 factory operative is confined ! Can any difference
 
 26 
 
 Co-operative Production. 
 
 in the rate of wages fully compensate for the priva- 
 tions that he suffers ? 
 
 To return, however, to the Ouseburn Company, 
 the causes of the early losses were frankly and 
 ably explained by Dr. Eutherford in bis speech, 
 delivered on the occasion of the visit of this con- 
 gress to the works, at their last conference. Orders 
 had been booked at too low a price. The manager, 
 by whom the directors were advised, was much at 
 fault. The head of the undertaking should have 
 been, as Dr. Kutherford so justly urged, a practical 
 engineer, as well as a philanthropist. To secure 
 the services of a competent manager the remune- 
 ration required should have been measured, not by 
 a few hundred, but by a few thousand pounds. The 
 history of the Ouseburn works is an illustration of 
 the principles already laid down. The early failure 
 is attributable to the want of that experience and 
 technical and practical knowledge, which can only 
 be supplied by the appointment of a highly- qualified 
 engineer. When such a man has been found, all 
 will go well with the Ouseburn Company. 
 
 There has been a Quixotic idea among co-operators 
 that a percentage on the price charged to customers 
 should be returned. The policy of competing for 
 business by underbidding rivals, placed in exactly 
 the same relative position, in regard to the cost of 
 materials and labour, should be followed with the 
 greatest caution. Keen competition in every depart- 
 ment of our trade has already brought down profits 
 to the lowest point. The aim of the co-operators
 
 Co-operative Froduclion. 27 
 
 sliould be to follow the example of those sagacious 
 and experienced men of business, who always insist 
 on full prices for their work, and endeavour to pro, 
 tect themselves against competition by superior 
 excellence in the quality of their productions. 
 
 Prom the valuable reports of Her Majesty's Encouraging 
 
 ••■ examples of 
 
 Secretaries of lea^ation I can quote, for the en- co-operation 
 
 '^ ^ abroad. 
 
 couragement of English co-operators, many suc- 
 cessful applications of the co-operative principle. 
 
 It is stated by Mr. Pord that the Executive Com- 
 mittee of the Tailors' Union in New York, on 
 notifying the cessation of a strike, in which the 
 trade had been engaged in 1869, declared that their 
 policy would thenceforward be to abandon the sys- 
 tem of strikes, and to fight with a stronger weapon 
 of co-operation. 
 
 The co-operative principle has been adopted by 
 those strange religious sects, the Mormon', Shakers, 
 Economists, and Prefectionists ; and, however we 
 may differ from their creed, it must be admitted 
 that they have attained to great success in the 
 organisation of labour. The Mormons at Salt Lake 
 City have transformed " a wilderness into a garden," 
 and I can speak from personal knowledge when I 
 say that the Shakers are excellent farmers. 
 
 Co-operative foundries have been established in 
 New York and Massachusetts. There is an Iron 
 Poundry at Troy, in New York, which was started 
 in May, 1866, with a capital of £2,700 paid-up. 
 The shares were fixed at £20, and limited in num- 
 ber to 2,000. In the first year thirty-two men, in
 
 28 Co-operative Production. 
 
 the second seventy -five, in 1869 eighty-five men were 
 employed in the works. A dividend of 10 per cent, 
 was made in the first year, and 30 per cent, more 
 was paid on labour. The second year the dividends 
 on stock and labour amounted to 89 per cent., and 
 in 1869 they reached 100 per cent. The most 
 skilled trades earn, owing to their steady employ- 
 ment, 35 per cent, more than the same classes of 
 workmen would earn at similar wages in any private 
 foundry. Great economy has been effected in the 
 use of materials, and the strictest discipline is 
 enforced. Up to the date of Mr. Ford's report, all 
 the profits due to individuals had been paid to them 
 in shares, with the view of applying the additional 
 capital to the enlargement of the works. 
 
 The co-operative movement, thus happily begun, 
 has been since followed up with energy and spirit. 
 Mr. Archibald, our Consul-General in New York, 
 writing in 1872, says — " During the past year, co- 
 operative concerns have been organised in several 
 departments of business, but with far greater success 
 in industrial than in commercial matters. The 
 "Working Men's Manufacturing Company, with a 
 capital of £25,000, has been formed at Emraaus. 
 It is to be conducted on the co-operative principle, 
 and will erect extensive works, including a foundry, 
 forge, and two machine shops, employing at the 
 commencement about 200 hands." 
 
 In Austria, the majority of the printers, though 
 in theory advocates of the views of Lassalle in 
 favour of Government workshops, in practice have
 
 Co-operative Production. 29 
 
 adopted the sound doctrine inculcated by Schultse 
 Delitscli, the eminent German economist, that every 
 man should trust to self-help, rather than place his 
 dependence on the Government. The printers of 
 Vienna have established a co-operative press ; and 
 Lord Lytton states in his report that 1,500 printers 
 were, in 1869, negotiating for the purchase of 
 another office. 
 
 Mr. Jocelyn, in his report of 1869, refers to the 
 progress of co-operative production in Sweden, and 
 says that this most difficult form of labour organ- 
 isation has been particularly successful in that 
 country. He attributes this fortunate result to a 
 spirit of independence highly honourable to the 
 Swedish workman. They will willingly risk their 
 savings for the sake of seizing an opportunity of 
 rising from a dependent position to the freedom of 
 co-operative industry. It has been found in Sweden 
 that the smaller undertakings of this nature are 
 the most prosperous. Where, on the other hand, 
 many are associated upon an equal footing for the 
 promotion of manufactures requiring unusual skill, 
 there is great danger of the whole becoming de facto 
 the property of a few of the original founders, while 
 the rest sink back into the condition of simple 
 workmen under their command.* 
 
 While the efforts to establish co-operative pro- when great 
 
 . . undertakings 
 
 duction m this country have not thus far been aroincontem 
 
 i 1 1 • J.1 1 a piation co- 
 
 at tencled witli a large measure of success ; the operations 
 
 importance of the principle at stake is so great, that I introduced in 
 
 should deprecate most earnestly the abandonment secTions or 
 
 parts.
 
 30 Co-operative JBroduction. 
 
 of further attempts in the same direction. The 
 wiser course will be to avoid, as it has been abeady 
 suggested, commencing undertakings on a large scale. 
 When the business is of a kind that cannot be carried 
 out advantageously on a moderate footing, the co- 
 operative principle should be applied to the execu- 
 tion of sub-contracts for portions of the work, to the 
 supj)ly of a part of a large order, or to the execution 
 of a single process in a complicated manufacture. 
 
 When a railway contract has been taken, the 
 principal contractor usually subdivides the works, 
 and lets them out to sub-contractors. On a long 
 line of railway eveiy cutting, bridge, tunnel, embank- 
 ment, and station, is executed by one or more sepa- 
 rate contractors ; and thus the co-operative system 
 may readily be applied to the construction of every 
 section of the largest undertaking, after it has been 
 sufficiently subdivided. The same remarks apply 
 to shij^building and many other branches of industry 
 with the details of which I am less familiar, but 
 where I am equally confident that the subdivision 
 of the work will give ample scope for the ajjplica- 
 tion of the co-operative system, when, from the 
 jiature of the case, superior administrative skill and 
 large resources at the fountain head are indispens- 
 able. 
 
 It may be interesting to men, who are engaged in 
 a great eflPort to organise a new and better system 
 for the application of capital and labour to produc- 
 tion, to hear some details of the methods adopted 
 by the English contractors, who have been engaged
 
 Co-operative Production. 31 
 
 in the execution of great railway contracts both at 
 home and abroad. In the conduct of these works 
 the main object in view has been to give to the 
 workmen a personal interest in the performance of 
 an adequate quantity of w^ork in return for the 
 waf?es received. In the case of the contractor it 
 was especially important to attain this object by 
 making it the interest of the labourer to do his fair 
 share of work, rather than by placing reliance on a 
 close personal inspection of liis conduct. With the 
 development of railway enterprise, tlie practice was 
 adopted of inviting English contractors with com- 
 petent resources to undertake railway and other 
 works, not only in their own country, but in every 
 quarter of the globe. Tiie difficulties of supervision 
 of necessity increased with the enlarged area of 
 their operations; and it was essential to devise some 
 plan by which it should, if possible, be made an 
 advantage to every individual concerned to perform 
 his share of the common task to the best of his 
 ability. 
 
 Thus the system of sub- contract and piecework, 
 originally adopted by the pioneers of railway con- 
 struction, was extended to every operation where it 
 was possible to apply it. The general character of 
 the arrangements may perhaps bo best explained by 
 the selection of an example taken from actual prac- 
 tice. On the contract for part of the London and 
 South "Western Railway, between Basingstoke and 
 Winchester, there was an unusual proportion of ex- 
 cavation to make, amounting to some 3J millions of
 
 32 Co-operative Production. 
 
 cubic yards on a length of eighteen miles. Not only 
 were the works of a heavy and costly nature, hut 
 the time allowed for the completion was so short as 
 to render the utmost diligence and energy neces- 
 sary. The operations were carried on night and day, 
 and 1,100 workDien were employed. 
 
 There was one particular cutting near Winchester, 
 which, in the deepest part, was from 90 to 100 feet 
 in depth. Here, in spite of severe and imfavourable 
 weather, the works were pushed on with the utmost 
 dilis^ence and determination. This was done even 
 at a considerable pecuniary sacrifice; because the 
 contractor was anxious, above all things, to maintain 
 and increase the good reputation he had already 
 begun to establish, and of which he was wisely 
 jealous as the surest guarantee for his future success. 
 At Micheldever there was one immense embank- 
 ment, about 85 feet in height ; and at Popham 
 Beacons there was a short cutting, not more than 
 10 chains in length, intervening between two tun- 
 nels, of such a depth that 100,000 cubic yards were 
 excavated in order to make the cutting. 
 
 The whole of these works were executed by sub- 
 contract. Tlie amount of work let to a particular 
 sub-contractor was determined by the appreciation 
 formed by the principal contractor or his agent of 
 the ability of the individual to carry out the work. 
 A man of superior qualifications was allowed to take 
 a sub-contract for an amount of work, increasing in 
 magnitude, in proportion to the confidence enter- 
 tained in his ability Some of the sub-contractors
 
 Co-operative JBroduction. 33 
 
 would take contracts for work costing in the total 
 £15,000 to £20,000, and employing from 150 to 
 200 men. 
 
 Frequently the sub-contractor would again let Butty Gangf 
 his work to the navvies at so much a yard. They 
 worked in what were called butty gangs, or parties 
 of from six to twelve men. The navvies would take 
 a contract under a sub-contractor for excavating so 
 many yards of earth at so much per yard ; and they 
 would divide the earnings equally amongst each 
 other. Disputes would frequently arise between the 
 butty gangs and the sub-contractors upon the ques- 
 tion of measurement, and in such cases the resident 
 agent or representative of the principal contractor 
 was required to arbitrate. 
 
 "When the work was organised in the manner 
 I have described, the function of the principal 
 contractor was rather that of a practical engineer, 
 superintending the execution of the works by a 
 number of smaller contractors. The principal con- 
 tractor, being responsible to the engineer for the 
 faithful performance of the contract, had to watch 
 very closely the work done by the sub- contractors, 
 and to see that it was executed in such a manner as 
 to satisfy the requirements of the engineer ; but he 
 was not directly the employer of the workmen or 
 the navvies. 
 
 The policy was to avoid, as far as possible, en gag- Piecework. 
 ing a large number of workmen by the day, and to 
 pay every man concerned in proportion to results. 
 
 " If little labour, little are our gains : 
 Man's fortunes are according to his pains." 
 
 3
 
 34 Co-operative Production. 
 
 The system of sub-contract was carried so far, that 
 I have been informed by the same experienced 
 person, from whom I have derived the facts abeady 
 quoted, that the very scaiiolding, raised for the 
 purpose of putting together the iron-works of the 
 bridges of the Severn Valley Railway, was mostly 
 erected by sub-contractors. A carpenter would take 
 a sub-contract for the erection of such scaffolding, 
 fixing his price by the cubic foot. 
 
 It is always satisfactory to build our general 
 principles, especially those which guide our action 
 in the graver affairs of life, on as broad a foundation 
 as possible. 
 
 The following observations, coming from one of 
 the most eminent shipbuilders of the United King- 
 dom, will be perused with interest by students of 
 the labour problem, whether from a speculative or a 
 practical point of view. 
 
 The opinions of the writer, from whom I quote, 
 fully substantiate the conclusions drawn by my 
 father from a large experience in a totally different 
 field of industry : — 
 
 " Your book and pamphlet on ' Work and Wages,' 
 you kindly gave me, have interested me very much, 
 and directed my attention 'particularly to the past 
 and present of my trades. I say * particularly,' as, 
 although I knew roughly how they stood, your 
 writings set me to make out with considerable, if 
 not perfect, accuracy, some statistics which I felt 
 sure would interest you as much as myself. I have, 
 accordingly, put these into shape, premising you are
 
 Co-operative Froductlon. 35 
 
 at liberty to use them in your ' work/ but without 
 mentioning names or otherwise, further than as illus- 
 trating your views. The busiuesses in which I am 
 directly or indirectly engaged are shipbuilding, 
 engineering, forgiug and founding — in fact, evory- 
 think to complete steamships from the rough cast 
 or malleable iron. I have seen no reason to res^reb 
 keeping these several departments under separate 
 heads and management. 
 
 " I purpose, however, now takiug up iron ship- 
 building only, as being much the largest department, 
 and to compare two distinct periods or years — 1868 
 and 1873. In 1868 we had no piecework. Between 
 then and 1873 we introduced it, with some little 
 difficulty, into the iron department and blacksmith 
 work. We have not yet succeeded in bringing it 
 into play in the ship-carpenter and joiner, and some 
 minor branches, but we bide our time. Pully half 
 our pays go to piecework, leaving the balance for 
 time payment. It is because we only build high- 
 class passenger steamships, that we continue to pay 
 so large a number of men by the day rather than by 
 the piece. I may observe that the wood department 
 runs much higher in proportion to iron than in yards 
 mostly devoted to sailing ships or cargo steamers. 
 The steamships we built in 1868 and 1873 were 
 almost identical in style of finish though differing in 
 tonnage. We had much trouble about 1868 with 
 our iron hands. It was difficult to get men, the 
 demand exceeding the supply. The introduction of
 
 36 Co-operative Froduction. 
 
 the piece system, that is to say the payment by 
 results, led to hard, or at least fairly hard work, on 
 the part of the skilled men, and to ingenuity on their 
 part and ours to save unskilled labour by the intro- 
 duction of machinery. The result has been that 
 skilled and unskilled men make 50 per cent, to 75 
 per cent, more earnings. We get the work per ton 
 of iron in the ships about 20 per cent, cheaper ; and, 
 from a much smaller number of men being required, 
 the supply is approximately equal to the demand. 
 Since we introduced piecework we can estimate to 
 within a fraction what the iron and blacksmith work 
 will cost, and we could never do so before. Here I 
 would observe that all this has been accomplished 
 with working time in 1873 reduced to 54 hours per 
 week, whereas in 1868 the men worked 60 hours a 
 week. As to the skilled hands — and they are all 
 highly skilled men — in the wood departments, we 
 had to pay higher wages in 1873 for 54 hours' work 
 than in 1868 with 60 hours'. We have, however, 
 met this by the introduction of machinery. Our 
 joinery and cabinet department is now like an engi- 
 neer's shop, with tools for every description ofioork. 
 I may say in every part of onr work, during the past 
 three or four years, we have been introducing 'steam' 
 and other appliances where we could ; and there 
 has been generally sharper supervision and attention 
 on the part of those in charge, and our manager over 
 them. 
 
 "I may now come to results. In 1868 we
 
 Co-operative Production. 37 
 
 launched nine steamships, in round numbers aggre- 
 gating 13,000 tons. I take gross new measurement 
 in each case for the purpose of comparison. The 
 wages hill was £78,963 ; average number of men and 
 boys employed, 1,776. In 1873 we launched seven 
 steamships, in round numbers aggregating 18,500 
 tons ; wages bill, £91,838 ; average number of men 
 and boys employed, 1,550. In 1868 the average 
 wage earned per week of 60 hours was about l7s. Id. 
 In 1873, per week of 51 hours, about 22s. 9d. In 
 1873 the '^cost per ton, gross new measurement, in 
 wages only, was fully 20s. cheaper than in 1868, but 
 this reduction is due to the piecework departments. 
 "We consider it something to have met the increase 
 in wa2:es and diminution in hours of tlie ' time- 
 workers ' by the means already mentioned. 
 
 " I am not clear that these time-workers work , 
 harder whilst they are at it than they did before the 
 advance in wages and the decrease in hours, but we 
 may have gained something from sharper over- 
 looking. As I have said, we have effected consider- 
 able economies by the introduction of steam 
 machinery and other labour-saving appliances. 
 
 *' The piecework system keeps us clearer of dis- 
 putes and trouble with our men than we were 
 under the old method ; and men and employers 
 alike make abetter result. I look to * payment by 
 results ' as a system calculated to put an end to 
 many trade disturbances, but Trades' Unions are 
 opposed to it. As ours is practically a non-union-
 
 38 Co.-operative Trochictlon. 
 
 yard, we hope in time to oyercome the obstacles ia 
 our Tray, and to make the one system universal. 
 Piecework in the iron department of shiphuikliu o^ is 
 now general in the Clyde district. 
 
 " As this year will complete my thirtieth in the 
 employment of labour you will see that my experi- 
 ence of it is somewhat large." 
 
 On theoretical grounds, I would advocate strongly 
 the adoption of the co-operative principle pure and 
 simple ; hut I would also commend to those in- 
 terested in the cordial alliance of labour and capital 
 the methods of payment, so successfully applied by 
 Messrs. Briggs, and Fox, Head and Co., as worthy 
 of attentive examination, and as affording, if only 
 a partial, still a much easier, solution of the labour 
 problem than that proposed by the advocates of a 
 purely co-operative system. 
 
 The principles of the scheme of Messrs. Pox, 
 Head and Co. have been explained by themselves, 
 in a circular addressed to their workmen, in the 
 following terms : — 
 
 " This scheme has been prepared and adopted for 
 the purpose of preventing the occurrence of dis- 
 putes between employers and employed, which often 
 arise, it is believed, from a mistaken estimate on 
 the part of the employed of the amoimt of profit 
 capable of being made. Hence a tendency to dis- 
 satisfaction with current rates of wages. 
 
 " Tlie principles of the scheme are as follows : 
 
 " That everv person employed shall have a pecu-
 
 Co-operative Production. 39 
 
 niary interest in the success of the business, 
 and the profits to be made ; that interest being 
 as far as possible in proportion to the services 
 rendered. 
 
 " That the labour employed, whether of workmen, 
 clerks, foremen, managers, or partners, shall be 
 remunerated by wages or salaries at the rates cus- 
 tomary in the district. 
 
 " That the capital employed shall be remunerated 
 by a specified rate of interest. 
 
 " That the works and plant upon which the capital 
 has been expended shall be kept up in a perfect 
 state of repair, and that to cover renewals and 
 depreciation a reasonable allowance shall be made 
 out of the profi.ts of manufacture. 
 
 "That a fund shall be created and maintained 
 as a provision against loss by bad debts. 
 
 " That these provisions being satisfied, any surplus 
 profit shall, at the end of each year, be ascertained 
 and certified, and the amount thereof divided into 
 two equal parts — the one to be paid to the capitalist, 
 and tlie other to be divided among all those engaged 
 in the manufacture, in proportion to the amounts 
 earned by them during such year in wages and 
 salaries." 
 
 In the establishments to which I refer, and which 
 are so well known to all who take an interest in co- 
 operative production,the employers have endeavoured 
 to give to the workmen a direct personal advantage 
 from the success of the business, while retaining in 
 their own hands the absolute power of directing the
 
 40 Co-operative JProductimi. 
 
 general policy and management. Keenly alive to 
 all the evils arising from divided responsibility, and 
 the admissions of workmen inexperienced in com- 
 mercial affairs to an equal authority with their 
 employers, they have sought to protect themselves 
 from the ill effects of corporate management, and 
 yet to give to the workmen a full share of the profits, 
 in proportion to their skill and diligence. 
 
 It is some eight years since Messrs. Pox, Head 
 and Co., brought out their scheme. In that inter- 
 val, amid the many fluctuations to which their trade 
 is always subjected, they have paid between £6,000 
 and £7,000 to their workmen, by way of bonus ; 
 and the result has been eminently satisfactory to 
 the employers. They think they have a superior 
 class of workmen, and that they stay longer at the 
 works. They obtain the best prices for their manu- 
 factures. They have no disputes, and pay no con- 
 tributions to standins: committees or courts of con- 
 ciliation. Thus, the employers are well content 
 with the arrangements they have made ; and the 
 conduct of the workmen shows that a feeling of 
 mutual satisfaction prevails. 
 
 I need not describe in detail the system adopted by 
 Messrs. Briggs. In August of last year (1873), they 
 distributed among 1,754 workmen, employed by 
 their Company, upwards of £14,250, as their share 
 of profits for the previous year. It is stated by Mr. 
 H. C. Briggs that several miners received £30 each ; 
 and that, since the distribution, they have had appli- 
 cations from their workmen for about 700 additional
 
 Co-operative Production, 41 
 
 shares in the Company ; though they were asking 
 £10 premium on the shares, on which only £12. 10s. 
 have been paid. About half the sum paid as bonus 
 has thus been returned to the Company by the work- 
 men, in premiums on the shares applied for. Eor 
 several years a workman director has sat on the 
 board, who is qualified by holding one share in the 
 Company, and by the receipt of weekly wages. This 
 representative of labour is annually elected by the 
 votes of shareholders actually in receipt of weekly 
 wages. He was formerly one of their most bitter 
 opponents ; but the Messrs. Briggs believe that the 
 insight he has lately gained into the difficulties of 
 conducting large industrial undertakings, will effec- 
 tually deter him from renewing the strife of former 
 days. 
 
 Monsieur Godin, of Guise, has adopted the follow- Monaiom- 
 
 . . Godin. 
 
 ing scheme of paying his workmen, with a view to 
 giving them an interest in the success of the business, 
 in which they are employed. Capital, invention, 
 and labour, being alike essential to the production 
 of wealth, the problem to be solved is the apportion- 
 ment of the profits equitably among the several 
 interests concerned. In determining the rate of 
 interest due to capital, the workmen, in the opinion 
 of M. Godin, should be previously consulted ; and 
 the rate should be determined with due regard to 
 the risks of the trade, and other circumstances. In 
 the scheme, adopted in the establishment of 
 M. Godin, capital receives a clear 15 per cent, 
 interest ; the workman is paid his ordinary wages ;
 
 42 Co-operative Production. 
 
 and provision is made to cover the charges for 
 administration and mechanical inventions. These 
 necessary expenses having been provided for, the 
 balance over, if any, is regarded as the net profit ; 
 and it is apportioned, one-third to the reserve fund, 
 and the remaining two-thirds to capital and labour, 
 in proportion to the fixed amounts, payable to 
 each from the earnings, before the net profits were 
 ascertained. The practical operation of the system 
 may be illustrated by an example. Assume that 
 the sums payable had been : — 
 
 Wages... ... ... ... £9,000 
 
 Interest on £40,000 at 15 per cent. 6,000 
 General charges ... ... 1,000 
 
 £16,000 
 
 Then if £2,400 be the net profit, one-third, or 
 £800, equal to 5 per cent, on the fixed expenditure, 
 is set aside to reserve ; and the balance of £1,600 is 
 appropriated to capital and labour, in proportion to 
 their respective shares in the fixed earnings. Thus, 
 the sum of £900 is added to the earnings of the 
 wage-receivers, the sum of £600 is payable as bonus 
 to the capitalist, and £100 to the management. 
 Under the system usually adopted, capital would 
 have claimed the whole of the £1,600. 
 
 The evils of a general pay day are well understood 
 by persons at the head of great industrial establish- 
 ments. The drunkenness and disorder, the wasted 
 earnings, the subsequent irregularity of attendance, 
 are the familiar yet regrettable incidents of a general
 
 Co-operatwe Production. 43 
 
 distribution of wages to a numerous body of work- 
 men. M. Godin pays liis workmen every fortniglit, 
 but he lias divided tbem into sections, and each 
 section is paid separately. The pays take place 
 three times a week, and one section only of the 
 workmen is paid on the same pay day. By this 
 arrangement, the irregularities, inevitable when a 
 general distribution of wages takes place, are 
 avoided. The small proportion of men receiving 
 their pay on any one pay day, are kept in order by 
 the example of steadiness afforded by their fellow 
 workmen, who are not disturbed by a recent pay- 
 ment of money. 
 
 With these encouraging examples before them, PoUtic to snr- 
 
 render some 
 
 many employers may be glad to follow the same profits to 
 
 secure 
 
 course. Any plan by which workmen may be made harmony. 
 to realise that they row in the same boat with their 
 employers, should not be lightly set aside. It is 
 good policy to forego a portion of the profits of a 
 prosperous year, in order to avert the calamity of a 
 - strike, with all its attendant evils of loss of profit, 
 and bitterness and strife between masters and men. 
 Capital and labour are essentially necessary and 
 interdependent elements of product ion; and the man 
 of business, not less than the philanthropist, must 
 desire to see the representatives of those two in- 
 terests closely allied. Experiments 
 
 I remind this conference of these and other operation the 
 efforts to combine the principle of co-operation with 5^°^° ^Euse 
 the undoubted advantages of undivided responsi- mair^rmcnt 
 bility in the administration of a large undertaking; gpe'^^aWe*^^^
 
 44 Co-operative Production. 
 
 because I am satisfied that the corporate system is 
 not always applicable. 
 
 Where no special personal infliienca is needed, 
 for the purpose of securing clients and customers, 
 and where the internal economy of an establish- 
 ment can be conducted by a regular routine, there 
 will be no practical disadvantage in the management 
 of a board or council. But when no transaction can 
 be comjDleted without long and difficult negotiations ; 
 when an undertaking is of a kind that cannot be 
 conducted in accordance with fixed rules, and the 
 emergencies, which must from the nature of the 
 case arise, are always unforeseen, and must be met 
 on the spot by an administrator, upon whose skill 
 and conduct all will depend, in such a case, tlie 
 co-operative system, pure and simple, becomes im- 
 possible ; and the attention of masters and work- 
 men, wishing to work together in friendly alliance, 
 should rather be employed to devise schemes, 
 whereby the equitable distribution of profits among 
 the workmen may be combined with the necessary 
 concentration of authority in their employer. 
 
 There must always be peculiar advantages in the 
 personal supervision (to borrow a French expression) 
 of an experienced " chief of industry." The earlier 
 railways of this country were completed with great 
 expedition. There was an anxious demand for im- 
 proved arterial communications by the new method, 
 the superiority of which was universally acknow- 
 ledged, so soon as it had been proved practicable. 
 In those days the difficulties of the pioneers of the
 
 Co-operative Production. 45 
 
 railway system were great. The best metliods of 
 surmounting the engineering problems encountered 
 were not yet perfectly ascertained. In driving a 
 tunnel through a quicksand, in forming a high 
 embankment, or excavating a deep cutting in 
 treacherous and yielding soil, in carrying a line of 
 railway over the trembling bog, the contractor 
 sometimes endured the mortification of seeing the 
 labour of weeks destroyed in a moment. 
 
 When in trouble and anxiety, when a difficulty 
 in the execution of the works presented itself, his 
 representatives on the spot would seek for the valu- 
 able advice of their chief. In such an emergency 
 he assumed the management of the works ; and his 
 was in fact the directing mind to which his subor- 
 dinates referred, and by which they were guided. 
 Nor did they ever recur to him without obtaining 
 valuable counsel, the fruits of a wider and more 
 varied experience than their own. It would, in fact, 
 have been impossible for any individual to accumu- 
 late the same knowledge, without having the same 
 exceptional opportunity of keeping a continual watch 
 over a large number of operations simultaneously 
 in progress. 
 
 In a time of discouragement the personal visits 
 of the master, the words of kindness to the dis- 
 heartened workmen, the novel yet practical sugges- 
 tions evolved from a fresh and vigorous mind, 
 brought to bear upon a problem, which had baffled 
 the men more immediately concerned, would never 
 fail to cheer up tlie industrial army, and arouse
 
 46 Co-operative Production. 
 
 tliem to neWj and in tlie end, always victorious 
 efforts. 
 
 These details will have sufficiently explained the 
 relations, in which the railway contractor, or any 
 other large employer, should stand to the members 
 of his numerous staff. To me it seems that no 
 hoard or council could ever take the place of an 
 individual fitted by character and experience for his 
 work, when such operations as I have described are 
 to be carried out successfully. The inspiration given 
 to subordinates under trying circumstances, the 
 stores of knowledge and experience of the engineer- 
 ing art, the confidence imparted to engineers and 
 directors and shareholders by the personal reputa- 
 tion of their contractor —these were advantages in- 
 separable from purely personal management and 
 responsibility ; and they never w^ould have been 
 obtained from the cumbrous machinery of a board. 
 Por complicated undertakings co-operative orga- 
 nisation will often prove ineffectual. A council of 
 war never fights ; and no difficult task in the field 
 of peaceful labour can be brought to completion, 
 without a trusted leader. 
 )-operation One moro suggestion, and I close my remarks on 
 Lre there ^ this aspcct of the case. In many descriptions of 
 n™ddaysm enterprise the commercial result cannot be ascer- 
 ofitT^ tained until after an interval of time has elapsed, 
 too long to be tolerable to a body of workmen 
 dependent on their weekly wages. I again choose 
 an illustration from the experiences of the railway 
 contractor. Take the case of a concession for a
 
 Co-operative JProdiwtion. 47 
 
 long line of railway on tlie Continent. Tlie first 
 conception of the project will probably come from 
 some local engineer. He makes a rude preliminary 
 survey of the country to be traversed. He comes 
 to England with his rough studies to seek the finan- 
 cial aid and larger professional experience of one 
 of our eminent engineers or contractors. The 
 negotiations proceed, and the English promoters 
 make a second and more careful examination of the 
 scheme, involving a repetition of the original survey. 
 Plains and an estimate are prepared at considerable 
 expense, and negotiations are thereupon commenced 
 with the Government within whose territories the 
 proposed railway will pass. Weary months, and 
 sometimes years, elapse before a decision is obtained. 
 T will assume the decision to have been favourable, 
 and that a concession has been granted. Then fol- 
 lows the execution of the works which, if the length 
 of the railway is considerable, may probably occupy 
 a period of three years. While the construction is 
 progressing, financial arrangements must be made, 
 in order to form a company, to take over the con- 
 cession from the contractors, and to raise the capital 
 for the line by public subscription. The subscrip- 
 tion may possibly be only partly successful. In 
 that event, the contractor must meet a large propor- 
 tion of the expenditure from his private resources. 
 Before he has succeeded in disposing of his propor- 
 tion of the shares or bonds allotted to him, a Euro- 
 pean war may have broken out. In that case, an
 
 48 Co-operative JProduction, 
 
 indefinite period must elapse before tlie securities 
 are realised. 
 
 I have here sketched no imaginary picture. In 
 the business, with which my name is identified, the 
 history of every transaction is a repetition of the 
 story I have narrated. I am not exaggerating, 
 when I say that an interval of ten years ordinarily 
 elapsed, between the opening of communications 
 with the original promoters and the final payment 
 for the construction of the works. You may easily 
 imagine the hazards and uncertainties of an enter- 
 prise of this nature ; and you will, I am confident, 
 be of opinion that no true friend of the working 
 classes would recommend them to risk their hard 
 earnings iu such adventures. 
 
 The general business of the country, however, is 
 of a more stable and methodical character. Here, 
 then, the co-operative principle is more easily 
 applied, and I therefore say, "let the Co-operators 
 pursue their noble task, undaunted by difficulties, 
 and inspired by a worthy ambition for indepen- 
 dence." 
 
 It may not be necessary to dwell on this occa- 
 sion on the many powerful but familiar arguments 
 in favour of the co-operative principle. It is certain 
 that the system must be more congenial to ordinary 
 human nature than the more usual organization of 
 labour, under which the workman has no voice in 
 the management of the business, by which he 
 earns his livelihood. The love of liberty and inde- 
 pendence is universal in civilised society, and
 
 Co-operative Frochictmi. 49 
 
 it is as keen in the factory and workshop as in the 
 senate. 
 
 And now I ninst pass on to consider other develop- Co-operative 
 ments of the co-operative principle, second only in ^' 
 
 their importance to co-operative production, and 
 perhaps more practicable in execution. 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of 
 adopting every means of enabling the labourer to 
 lay out his scanty resources to the best advantage. 
 The co-operative stores furnish him with supplies 
 on the most advantageous terms. 
 
 But this is not the only object at which we ought Fuel. 
 to aim. Economy in consumption is scarcely less 
 desirable. Take, for example, the consumption of 
 fuel. Captain Galton has expressed an opinion, 
 based on much investigation, that five-sixths of the 
 coal consumed in our houses is absolutely wasted. 
 If we had a more effective description of grate 
 than that in ordinary use, instead of consuming 
 32,000,000 tons per annum for domestic purposes, 
 our consumption would be reduced to 5,000,000 tons. 
 Captain Galton says that with only moderate 
 economy not more than from 12,000,000 to 
 16,000,000 tons need be used. This economy in 
 the household consumption of coal would enrich 
 the nation to the extent of from £20,000,000 to 
 £30,000,000 annually. 
 
 The co-operative societies should exert them- 
 selves to bring into use among the working classes 
 the very best grate and cooking range that can be 
 contrive 1, and I believe that the merits of that 
 
 4
 
 50 Co-operative I^rodiiction. 
 
 invented by Captain Galton are v»'ell worthy of 
 their attention, 
 i^g- As in the use of fuel, so in the art of cooking, 
 
 there might he effected an almost incalculable 
 economy of food if our English housewives were 
 as skilled in cookery as the peasantry of France. 
 The co-operative associations should organise 
 the means of imparting a complete knowledge 
 of culinary matters to the mass of the popu- 
 lation. In all great towns workmen's restaurants 
 might be established on a large scale. The 
 more extensive the arrangements, the more easy it 
 would be to introduce the utmost possible economy. 
 The mid-day meal might be eaten by many artisans 
 and factory operatives at the restaurant itself; and 
 for others who wished to enjoy the comforts of their 
 own firesides, dinners and suppers might be cooked 
 at the restaurant, and taken Iiome to be eaten. 
 Abroad, arrangements of the kind I have indicated 
 have been long established in every large town, and 
 especially in France and Italy, and they have been 
 found to work most conveniently and economically. 
 ■. Coiman's As au cxamplc of the great results, which can be 
 tchen. accomplished in a well-managed restaurant for 
 working men, I give the following details relating 
 to the establishment, created by Mr. Colman, M.P., 
 for the benefit of those employed in his extensive 
 manufactory of starch and mustard. 
 
 "When first started," I quote from a letter re- 
 cently received from Mr. Colman, " the aim was 
 rather to meet a want felt by the workmen. It was
 
 Co-operative Production. 51 
 
 not calculated that the Carron Works Kitchen would 
 pay its way. The iirm, therefore, still hears the 
 cost of rent, coals and gas, as well as the general 
 charges of wear and tear on utensils, hut not the 
 wages of the attendant. 
 
 "Yet, while it cannot be said that the kitchen is 
 entirely self-supporting, it may with equal truth be 
 said that, by making the tea and coffee rather 
 weaker, or with a reduced price of meat and sugar, 
 neither of which seems altogether an improbable 
 event, all expenses would be paid. 
 
 " The Carron "Works Kitchen was commenced in 
 March, 1868, and is for the use of the Carron work- 
 people exclusively. The bill of fare consists of 
 coflFee served at 5*45 a.m., when the workmen are 
 assembling for work, and a second supply at 8*30 
 (the breakfast time). On two mornings in the week 
 we provide tea instead of coffee at 8 '30. 
 
 " Por the early breakfast at 5*45 we find the men 
 prefer coffee to tea, as more nourishing. Some of 
 them said they should take beer in preference to tea 
 before coming to work, but they should like coffee 
 better than either. Our object in providing this early 
 coffee is to check the habit of drinking beer in the 
 morning. We only commenced the early breakfast 
 six months ago, but it seems likely to be very popu- 
 lar. The price for tea or coffee is Id. a pint, with 
 milk and sugar. 
 
 " The dinners consist of four different kinds, but 
 only one kind is prepared on the same day : — 
 
 " I. A j-lb. of roast meat with gravy and vege-
 
 52 Co-operative Production. 
 
 table and a ' Norfolk dumpling ' {i.e. a half penny- 
 worth of boiled bread) is served for ^d. 
 
 '' II, A stew of Enghsh meat and vegetables, with 
 dumpling, 3d. 
 
 " III. A stew of Australian meat and vegetables, 
 with dumpling, 2d. 
 
 " IV. A pint of soup. Id. 
 
 " We use the Australian cooked meat, which is im- 
 ported in tins, and only requires to be warmed up. 
 We have used about £60 worth, during the last 
 year, of the Australian meat. 
 
 " As to the increase in the consumption, it is, in 
 round numbers, as follows : — 
 
 *' April 1st, 1868, 
 
 Tea and Coffee, Dinners. 
 
 to 
 
 Pints. 
 
 
 March 31st, 1869, 
 
 9,677 
 
 13,990 
 
 1869-70 
 
 20,645 
 
 11,107 
 
 1870-71 
 
 27,017 
 
 13,977 
 
 1871-72 
 
 30,313 
 
 13,473 
 
 1872-73 
 
 55,210 
 
 20,957 
 
 1873-74 
 
 76,117 
 
 25,776 
 
 " The kitchen is nearly self-supporting. 
 
 " The following is a list of ihQ principal items of 
 
 expenditure for the 
 
 year 1872-3. 
 
 The accounts for 
 
 1873-4 are not yet 
 
 made out. 
 
 
 Paid 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 *' English meat 
 
 . . 3 ... 
 
 86 7 11 
 
 Australian meat 
 
 53 2 6 
 
 Dumplings 
 
 rried forward 
 
 24 12 9 
 
 Ca 
 
 £164 3 2
 
 Co-operatwe Production . 
 
 t>o 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 " Paid Brought forward 164 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 Coffee .. ... ... 12 
 
 19 
 
 3 
 
 Tea ... ... ... 11 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 Sugar ... ... ... 80 
 
 
 
 41. 
 
 Wages... ... ... 35 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 Sundries ,.. ... 15 
 
 11 
 
 5 
 
 Flour ... ... ... 3 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 £383 
 
 10 
 
 Oi 
 
 Milk ... 
 
 
 
 Vegetables 
 
 
 
 Rent .. 
 
 
 
 Coals and Gas ... 
 
 
 
 "1872-3.— Eeceived:— 
 
 
 
 Tea. Coffee. Dinners. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Pints. Pints. 
 
 
 
 21,805 30,405 2,852 at 4d. 
 
 
 
 1,717 „ 3d. 
 
 
 
 7,255 „ 2d. 
 
 397 
 
 11 
 
 9,133 „ Id. 
 
 
 
 20,957 Dinners. 
 
 
 
 " Cash Accounts. 
 
 
 
 ''Dr. £ s 
 
 d. 
 
 
 To cash received ... 397 13 
 
 L 
 
 
 £397 11 
 
 

 
 54 
 
 Co-operative 
 
 By payments 
 Balance in hand 
 
 Froduction. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 ... 383 10 
 
 14 
 
 d. 
 
 114 
 
 
 £397 11 
 
 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Stock in hand 
 Cash in hand... 
 
 £ s. 
 
 ... 11 11 
 
 14 
 
 d. 
 
 9i 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 £25 12 
 
 9 
 
 Balance in favour of kitchen towards paying for 
 milk, vegetables, rent, coals and gas." 
 
 The results attained at the Carron Works must 
 he admitted to he eminently satisfactory. By an 
 excellent organisation, mainly due to the kind- 
 hearted and intelligent exertions of Mrs. Colman, 
 a great boon has been conferred on a multitude of 
 workmen ; and the only contribution required from 
 the employer has been the personal attention devoted 
 to the initiation of the system. 
 
 Among manv recent efforts to ameliorate the 
 condition of the working-class, one of the most 
 original and spirited has been made by Monsieur 
 Godin, the founder of the familist^re, or general 
 dwelling-house, for his operatives and their families 
 at Guise. The principles of the scheme, and the 
 mode in which the attempt to develop these princi- 
 ples has been conducted, are set forth by M. Godin 
 in his interesting volume, entitled, "Solutions
 
 Co-operative Production. 55 
 
 Sociales," from which the following details are 
 extracted : the originality of the plan and the 
 general idea, underlying the whole conception of 
 the founder of the institution, that the condition of 
 the masses can be elevated only by their mutual action 
 for the common good, will be essentially acceptable 
 to the friends of the co-operative movement. 
 
 Whether the familistere is a judicious application 
 of the principle is another question. 
 
 There have been many isolated efforts in Trance 
 and Belgium to improve the habitations of the 
 working class. At Mulhausen especially a large 
 number of houses for workmen have been erected, 
 constituting what has been called a Cite Ouvriere. 
 M. Godin objects to the dwellings erected at Mul- 
 hausen, as being too cramped in dimensions, and he 
 states that, the workmen having been encouraged to 
 purchase their cottages, the founder of the Cite 
 Ouvriere has lost all poAver of direction and control 
 that the rooms, originally barely sufficient for the 
 wants of a family, are sublet as lodgings ; that pig- 
 sties are constructed in the tiny garden attached to 
 each cottage; and thus dirt and noxious odours are 
 allowed to pervade the suburb. M. Godin, not with- 
 out some justification, finds fault with the term Cite 
 Ouvridre ; and he, perhaps justly, says that the name 
 implies the separation of those, who, by their labours, 
 are the creators of wealth, from those who enjoy 
 the use of that wealth by inheritance or by successful 
 speculation.
 
 56 Co-operatke FrocUictimi. 
 
 A more favourable opinion of the Cite Ouvri^re 
 of Mulhausen has been formed bj? Lord Brabazon, 
 who saySj in his able paper on the industrial classes 
 in "France, that^ " The condition of the lease granted 
 to the Avorkman, allowing him, after a certain num- 
 ber of years to obtain the freehold of his house, has 
 an immense moral influence. His self-respect in- 
 creases, and he is enlisted on the side of order. The 
 absence of supervision removes a fruitful soiu'ce of 
 irritation. The cites ouvrieres erected for the work- 
 men of Paris, though possessing every advantage 
 of space, air and light, have never been popular, 
 because the strict discipline maintained, — as, for 
 example, the closing of the gates at ten o'clock at 
 night, — is an irksome restriction to the exciteable 
 and pleasm'e-seeking population of the Prench 
 capital." 
 
 The criticisms applied to the Cite Ouvriere at 
 Mulhausen may be applied with greater reason to 
 London and the great towns of our own country. The 
 rich gather together in the most eligible situations. 
 The price of land in certain positions becomes so 
 enormous, that it is impossible to erect houses at 
 rates which, while not exceeding what workmen 
 can afford to pay, will be remunerative to the owners 
 and builders. Hence the working class are com- 
 pelled to occupy more remote suburbs. They live 
 in daily contact with no other class but their own, 
 and a consequent danger is incurred of social dis- 
 union. This state of things is practically inevi-
 
 Co-operative Froduction. 57 
 
 table under our existing system ; but it is not tbe 
 less a regrettable incident of the great increase in 
 our population. 
 
 M. Godin suggests that it is a paramount obliga- 
 tion of the wealthy to organise means for securing 
 to the. masses a larger measure of the luxury and 
 comfort created by their toil and labour. 
 
 The tendency of modern industry has beeUj and 
 will continue to be, towards the concentration of 
 capital in large private or corporate establishments, 
 and to production by machinery, in substitution for 
 manual labour. The use of machinery, necessarily 
 operates unfavourably to the interests of small 
 manufacturers without the resources of capital. 
 This general tendency of our industrial organisation 
 has been promoted by the railway system. Con- 
 sumers have been enabled to obtain their supplies- 
 from the cheapest markets, irrespective of those 
 considerations of transport which in former times 
 more than neutralised the advantages of different 
 localities for special branches of trade. Before the 
 introduction of railways it was essential to obtain 
 the more bulky articles from the local producer. 
 Now the consumers are enabled to go to the localities 
 where the articles required can be produced of tbe 
 best quality and at the cheapest rale. 
 
 The attention of the employers has hitherto been 
 concentrated on the organisation of the factory and 
 the workshop, on the great scale required in the 
 present day, in order to carry on competition in 
 manufactures with success. But though much has
 
 58 Co-operative Froduction. 
 
 been clone to organise the production, nothing has 
 been done to organise the consumption and the use 
 of products. 
 
 The problem of domestic consumption has been 
 solved in the opinion of M. Godin, by the erection, 
 close to his workshops at Guise, of an edifice -which 
 he calls a social palace. It is a vast barrack, capa- 
 ble of containing 900 inhabitants. The building is 
 several stories in height, and consists of three large 
 courts, surrounded by galleries communicating with 
 the rooms. Each room is let separately, so that the 
 lodgers can regulate the rents in exact and constant 
 proportion to their requirements. The unmarried 
 and the married, according to the number of their 
 family, can occupy a greater or lesser number of 
 rooms. The building cost £40,000, and the capital 
 expended has been divided into shares of small 
 amount, with the view of inducing the workmen to 
 purchase them, and thus to become their own land- 
 lords. The rents of the rooms give a return of 3 
 per cent, upon the capital, and the profit upon the 
 sale of provisions gives an additional per-centage of 
 the like amount. 
 
 M. Godin quotes the principles advocated by 
 Pourier as the foundation of his system. Courier 
 thought, that by grouping many families together, 
 each individual might undertake, for the general 
 service of the community, that special function in 
 which he excelled. Cooking, and all the domestic 
 duties would thus be performed by persons specially 
 selected. At the familist^re there are genera
 
 Co-operative JProduction. 59 
 
 kitchens for the whole establishment, from whi(3li 
 the meals ordered by lodgers are supplied. The 
 children, as soon as they can leave their mothers, 
 are brought up first of all in infant schools, and then 
 in more advanced schools, where they receive an 
 excellent education. 
 
 It is contended that under this system the working 
 men enjoy by combination, to a great extent, those 
 advantages which must otherwise be the exclusive 
 privilege of wealth. Cooking is often badly done 
 for the rich, a fortiori, it is to be expected that it 
 will be unskilful in the homes of the poor. To 
 command the services of efficient persons, whether 
 in the capacity of nurses or cooks, is regarded by 
 M. Godin as among the greatest advantages of 
 ample resources. By combination the occupants 
 of the social palace at Guise are enabled to place 
 their children even at a tender age under the care 
 of well- trained nurses, and to obtain their own food 
 properly cooked. 
 
 "Where the working men live apart from each 
 other in small houses, they are necessarily widely 
 scattered. They are at a distance from their work ; 
 and their children are so far from school that their 
 attendance is always difficult,and often most irregular. 
 
 In case of illness the services of a medical man 
 may not be easily obtained, and medical comforts 
 cannot be provided, as they can be in an establish- 
 ment having a well-equipped dispensary for the 
 general use of the inmates. 
 
 The social palace at Guise stands in the midst of
 
 60 CO'Operative Production. 
 
 extensive and well-kept pleasure grounds on the 
 banks of the Oise. It has an excellent theatre, 
 ■where dramatic representations and concerts are 
 frequently giren by associations, formed for the 
 purpose, by the operatives. 
 
 The internal management is carried on by com- 
 mittees, composed of twelve men and twelve women. 
 The men devote themselves specially to questions 
 relating to the amelioration of the conditions of the 
 workmen, the rates of wages, and the formation of 
 provident societies. The women supervise the 
 quality of the provisions supplied from the co- 
 operative stores and butchers' shops connected with 
 the social palace. They also superintend the 
 management of the children and the arrangements 
 for preserving order and cleanliness. 
 
 It is alleged that there is an entire absence of 
 crime in this singular community ; and that public 
 opinion, the more sensibly felt when all dwell together 
 under the same roof, has raised the tone of conduct 
 and morals above the standard generally maintained 
 among persona of the same class living in private 
 dwellings. 
 
 A system of domestic economy, not widely dis- 
 similar from that adopted at the familist^re, has 
 been extensively followed in the United States by 
 the well-to-do classes. To avoid the difB.culties and 
 extra expenditure of a separate household, many 
 married couples permanently reside at the large 
 hotels. They secure similar advantages, and suffer 
 similar inconveniences, to those experienced by the
 
 Co-operative JProdtwtion. 61 
 
 inhabitants of tlie social palace at Guise. The 
 want of privacy and retirement, tlie loss of much 
 that we should value and cherish in family life, are 
 grave disadvantages inseparable from the quasi 
 collegiate system, of which the operatives of M. 
 Godin have been induced to make a trial. 
 
 Life in common is more congenial to some indi- 
 viduals than to others. It would probably succeed 
 better in Prance than in England. On the other 
 hand there are many serious drawbacks in a too 
 great isolation. On the whole, I venture to give 
 an opinion that, as a marked success would seem to 
 have attended the experiment at Guise, it deserves 
 the most attentive consideration on the part of our 
 working people in this country. They have already 
 proved the value of the co-operative system for ob- 
 taining their supplies. The so-called social palace 
 is a further development of the same principle, and 
 in numerous cases it might be found to offer most 
 important advantages of comfort and economy. 
 
 The co-operative principle may be beneficially Sj''^^*''**^^* 
 applied not merely to productive industry or 
 economy in consumption, it may be extended to the 
 important work of providing higher amusements 
 for the people. In Vienna the dramatic art is still 
 maintained at a high standard. The theatres are a 
 favourite resort of the people, and the representa- 
 tions include pieces calculated to raise the moral 
 tone and improve the taste of an audience. The 
 novelties latterly introduced into the English 
 theatre tend to degrade the stage. With many
 
 62 Co-operative Proclmtion. 
 
 illustrious exceptions, it may be said that inferior 
 plays and players liave been too easily accepted ; and 
 that some stage managers have sought to make money 
 by appealing to those lower tastes which cannot 
 be indulged without injury to the national character. 
 I should be glad to see an effort made by those, who 
 have led the way in other co-operative undertakings, 
 to apply themselves to the cultivation of the musical 
 and the dramatic arts. 
 
 The choral associations are a delightful and most 
 elevating source of amusement in every town in 
 Germany. Already, in many of our manufacturing 
 towns, music is being widely and highly cultivated. 
 The drama may offer greater difficulties, chiefly on 
 the score of expense ; but the means at the dis- 
 posal of many co-operative associations might be 
 applied to a limited extent, yet with great advantage, 
 to promote a taste for dramatic representations of 
 the better sort among the people. 
 
 The English have been reproached, perhaps not 
 unjustly, as a nation destitute of resources for 
 amusement. Indulgence in eating and drinking 
 has been the only recreation the uninstructed 
 labourer has been capable of appreciating. It is a 
 lesson many of us have yet to learn, that time given 
 to innocent pleasure is not wasted ; and that there 
 are other things besides fame and money, for which 
 it is worth our while to Uve. It is not well to con- 
 centrate all the thoughts on work, and take no pains 
 to organise the means of pure and elevating enjoy- 
 ment.
 
 Co-operative Production, 63 
 
 I am not here to speak of politics. But for Mr. ^^J^^^Ji^J^.^- 
 Gladstone and Mr. Eorster, and for their supporters people for 
 
 ^ ^ co-operative 
 
 in the last Parliament, I claim the merit they well organisation. 
 deserve for a measure of infinite value to co-opera- 
 tion in the passing of the Education Act. Whether 
 this or that provision he approved or disapproved, 
 the substantial result must he to qualify all the 
 working men of the rising generation to embark 
 their savings, with more confidence than before, 
 in a society for co-operative production. Until they 
 have mastered the art of book-keeping, and have 
 acquired the hahit of reading those trade reports 
 affording the only clue to their true position, the 
 co-operative workmen are too dependent on the 
 opinions of others. Being ignorant, they are incKned 
 to be suspicious ; and they are reluctant to reward 
 generously services they are unable to appreciate. 
 
 At the same time, I sincerely hope that the 
 progress of education in England may not be at- 
 tended with the regrettahle consequences that have 
 followed from a wide diffusion of knowledge in 
 other countries. 
 
 In the United States, the result of universal 
 education has been to make the native-horn Ameri- 
 cans averse to manual labour. The dignity of the 
 pen is so much more highly regarded than that of 
 the hatchet or the hammer, that the youth of 
 America universally prefer to take much smaller 
 pay as clerks, rather than earn the wages, douhle 
 their own in amount, which are given to skilled 
 artisans. The false estimate they have formed of
 
 Gii Co-operative Frodtwtion. 
 
 the prestige of a sedentary occupation is due to 
 their education. Even in Germany it has been 
 found that foremen in workshops, notwithstanding 
 their higher responsibilities, do not receive propor- 
 tionate wages ; because the general diffusion of 
 education has made most artisans competent, and 
 has made all desire to undertake duties of super- 
 vision, and thus escape the indignity of manual 
 labour. 
 
 Education in Greece is practically gratuitous, and 
 
 thousands of men think themselves fitted for some 
 
 calling more intellectual than that of the manual 
 
 labourer. Hence it is, that while every Deputy 
 
 in the Rej^resentative Chambers, and every member 
 
 of the Government is besieged with applications for 
 
 the smallest posts in the public service, the labour 
 
 market is largely supplied from Crete and Turkey. 
 
 The remedy must be to withdraw a part of the 
 
 ^subsidy now given to the University, and to apply 
 
 the funds to instruction in the practical arts. The 
 
 mental energies of Greece should no longer be 
 
 devoted to purely intellectual, to the exclusion 
 
 of practical work. 
 
 Arguing from these examples, it may be appre- 
 hended that the advances of national education may 
 not be an unmixed benefit to a people, hitherto pre- 
 eminent in the practical arts, unless public opinion 
 be firmly set against the tendency to regard the 
 labour of the hands as derogatory. 
 
 An infinite number of plans might be proposed 
 to ameliorate the condition of the people. The
 
 Co-operative Production. 65 
 
 Government may, without weakening t]ie spirit 
 of independence, introduce the system described by 
 Mr, Gould, and adopted with so much advantage in 
 Switzerland, of establishing a people's bank, under 
 the guarantee of the State, in every village. In the 
 Swiss banks deposits of the smallest amount, even 
 of a few pence, are received. Intending depositors 
 bind themselves to pay into the bank a weekly sum. 
 The minimum is fixed at ninepence half-penny, 
 and the maximum at two pounds. The payment 
 is to be continued during three consecutive years. 
 Interest is allowed at ^\ per cent, on all sums above 
 four sliillings. I am of opinion that the rate allowed 
 in our own savings banks is too low ; that it might 
 be raised without loss to the Government, and that 
 a higher rate would materially increase the induce- 
 ments to save. 
 
 Every description of banking business is trans- 
 acted by the Swiss banks ; but the special feature is 
 that loans are made to depositors on the security of 
 their deposits, provided the loan does not exceed 75 
 per cent, of the amount at credit. Interest is charged 
 at 6 per cent. At the end of three years the 
 deposits are returned with the accrued interest, 
 and a proportionate share of the profits of the 
 bank. The amounts so returned may be re -invested 
 in the bank in £4 shares, bearing ii\ per cent, 
 interest, and entitling the holder to a participation 
 in the profits. The first of these banks was founded 
 so recently as 1865, and they have been most 
 successful.
 
 66 
 
 Co-operative Production. 
 
 A mode of perfecting another great social reform 
 has been put forward by the Committee of the So- 
 ciety of Arts on Dwellings for the LabouringOlasses. 
 They have recommended that the Government should 
 endeavour to afford facilities for providing better 
 habitations for labourers. Many private agencies 
 exist for this purpose. The Peabody donations, which 
 now amount to £600,000, may be quoted as a 
 crowning instance of individual munificence ; while 
 the Metropolitan Association, the Industrial Dwell- 
 ings Company, established by Sir Sydney Waterlow, 
 which has invested nearly £250,000 in the erection 
 of workmen's habitations, and the London Work- 
 men's Dwellings Company, founded in 1862, may 
 be selected as examples of extremely beneficial, 
 and at the same time, fairly remunerative organisa- 
 tions. The societies here mentioned have paid steady 
 dividends of 5 per cent. By wise arrangements 
 it is asserted that the work of re-construction need 
 not be unprofitable. The valuable sites in the centre 
 of large towns are not economised as they ought to 
 be. It is stated by the Metropolitan Association 
 that, whilst the population of Westminster is only 
 235 persons to the acre, in the dwellings they pro- 
 vide, including in the area large court-yards and 
 gardens attached, the population is upwards of 1,000 
 to the acre ; and that the rate of mortality is, never- 
 theless, only two-thirds of the average of the whole 
 of London. 
 
 The Committee of the Society of Arts are of opinion 
 that large powers for the compulsory purchase of
 
 Co-operative JProductian. 67 
 
 condemned property should be conferred on some 
 suitable authority, — in the Metropolis, a central 
 municipal authority, — and that the land purchased 
 should be offered for sale or lease to private or asso- 
 ciated building agencies. " They quote, as an instance 
 of the conspicuous success of such a policy, the action 
 taken by tlie municipality of Glasgow, under a Local 
 Improvement Act passed in 1866. Availing them- 
 selves of their powers, the civic authorities have bor- 
 rowed and expended upwards of £1,000,000 in the 
 purchase of property, a portion of which had been 
 re-sold, while the greater part was let, and yielding 
 £24,000 a year. The building had been conducted 
 throughout by private agencies. At the outset a rate 
 of sixpence in the pound hud been anticipated, and 
 a loss of capital of £200,000. The rate had actually 
 been kept at sixpence only for one year. It remained 
 at fourpence for two years ; and had since been re- 
 duced to threepence, with the prospect of an early 
 reduction to twopence ; while the capital loss was 
 not now expected to exceed £50,000 at most. 
 
 Equal success has marked similar efforts in Edin- 
 burgh and Liverpool. 
 
 The Artisans and Labourers' Dwellings Acts of 
 1868, which the country owes to Mr. M'Cullagh 
 Torrens, has already produced excellent results, and 
 under its provisions improvements in Liverpool have 
 been carried out. The Act originally contemplated 
 four purposes, — compulsory repair, removal, com- 
 pensation, and building. The powers of compensation 
 and re-construction were removed by the House of
 
 68 
 
 Co-operative JProduction. 
 
 Lords. The Committee of the Society of Arts re- 
 commend that those powers should be restored. 
 
 The rapid increase in the rate of wages has been 
 one of the most remarkable phenomena of our day. 
 The consequent rise in prices presses with a heavy 
 burden on every individual ; and unless there were 
 a concurrent rise of prices abroad, we should have a 
 gloomy prospect in view for the future of England. 
 No other country is so dependent on the superiority 
 of its workmen, both for excellence and economy of 
 production. In no other population is the propor- 
 tion of those who live by the fertility of the soil 
 so small, by comparison with the classes who live 
 by the application of skilled labour to the manu- 
 facture of goods for foreign markets. In the anxiety 
 and the inconvenience experienced from the advance 
 in wages, people are disposed to attribute the con- 
 cessions, made most reluctantly to the demands of 
 workmen, to some arbitrary cause, such as the 
 superior organisation of trades-unionism. They 
 mistake a manifestation of power for the actual 
 sources of power and strength. 
 
 There has been much outcry at the recent increase 
 in prices and in wages. There is nothing new to 
 economic science in our recent experience. All the 
 oscillations in the labour market can be fully ex- 
 plained by the long-recognised law of political 
 economy — that the rates of wages, like the price of 
 commodities, are regulated by demand and supply. 
 I will illustrate the operation of this rule in one 
 department of trade, that of shipbuilding. The
 
 Co-operative Froduction. 69 
 
 tonnage of the new vessels built in the United King- 
 dom in 1862 was 310,900 tons ; in 1865, 607,000 
 tons; in 1871, 391,000 tons ; and in 1872, 475,000 
 tons. In the latter year, therefore, there was a great 
 increase upon the tonnage of the first year included 
 in the period under review ; -while in the inflation of 
 the shipbuilding trade, which reached its climax in 
 1865, the amount of tonnage built was doubled in 
 three years. 
 
 It is clear from these considerations that there 
 has been a permanent increase, and occasionally an 
 enormous increase, in the demand by shipbuilders 
 for the supply of the highly-skilled labour required 
 for their trade. In the meanwhile the total number 
 of artificers employed exhibits no corresponding aug- 
 mentation. In the period embraced in the recent 
 census, 1861-71, the number of shipwrights and 
 shipbuilders has been slowly increased from 39,053 
 to 40,605 men. 
 
 Arguing from the reports published by the 
 " Economist" of the state of the shipbuilding trade 
 on the Clyde and the Mersey, we may reasonably 
 assume that in 1873 there was no diminution of 
 activity. The aggregate tonnage of ships built on 
 the Clyde was in 1870, 189,800 tons; in 1871, 
 196,200 tons; in 1872, 22^000 tons; in 1873, 
 261,500 tons. Of this tonnage, six steamers, of 
 18,200 tons and 3,300 horse power, were built for 
 the North German Lloyd's ; five steamers, of 
 13,325 tons and 2,100 horse power, forthe Peninsular 
 and Oriental Company ; three steamers, of 11,250
 
 70 . Co-operafive JProduciion. 
 
 tons and 1 ,500 horse power, for the Anchor line; three 
 steamers, of 10,500 tons and 1,800 horse power, for 
 the German Transatlantic Company of Hamburgh. 
 
 The demand for the supply of labour has been 
 more urgent, not only through the activity in build- 
 ing new ships, but also through the numerous 
 alterations of old vessels. It has been ascertained 
 that there is much economy in point of horse power 
 and fuel from an increase in the length of the ships 
 and the adoption of compound engines. It should 
 be observed, further, that the repairs constantly 
 required for our vast fleet of merchant ships must 
 necessarily be very extensive ; and in many ports 
 more workmen by far are employed in repairs than 
 in building additional tonnage. 
 
 In this marvellous activity ample explanation is 
 given for the rates of wages prevailing in Liverpool, 
 in London, and the Clyde, where ship carpenters are 
 sometimes earning eight shillings a day, and other 
 trades in proportion. Many masters are competing 
 against each other for the services of but few men. 
 The case would be rapidly changed, if there were 
 more men and less employment. Capitalists should 
 consider whether they themselves are not to 
 blame, ere they impute to the labourers the 
 responsibility for an augmentation in the cost of 
 production. Our workmen, too, should pause before 
 they proceed to make further demands. It is a 
 question for them to consider how far the advance 
 of prices has neutralised the benefits they derive 
 from higher wages.
 
 Co-operatwe Production. 71 
 
 I have the misfortune to he the holder of shares 
 in one of our largest lines of steamships ; and the 
 recent history of the Company affords a striking 
 instance of the need for the admonition I have ven- 
 tured to address to incautious capitalists. 
 
 Within a short space of time the Company in 
 question has doubled the tonnage of its vessels, 
 which are all powerful ocean-going steamers of the 
 first class, in dimensions, speed, equipment, and, as a 
 necessary consequence, in price. In 1873 the Com- 
 pany were supplied with nine steamers from the 
 Clyde alone — one was a vessel of 4,820 tons and 650 
 horse power — and the total tonnage and horse power 
 constructed for them amounted to 28,895 tons and 
 4,500 horse power. This was the largest amount 
 ever supplied to a single Company in one year. Eor 
 the same Company three steamers of the largest 
 •class were built last year by Messrs. Laird Brothers, 
 at Birkenhead. 
 
 . The construction of this great fleet for one concern 
 alone must have exercised a most appreciable influ- 
 ence on the rates of wages in the shipbuilding yards 
 on the Clyde, and made it sometimes difficult to 
 obtain the labour required for other similar con- 
 tracts. But the shareholders of this Company now 
 learn that the policy of increasing their fleet has 
 been, in a commercial point of view, injudicious. 
 Their trade has not increased with the increase of 
 their fleet, and they vrould have fared better, had 
 they been content to keep their undertaking within 
 its former limit and scope. Here, therefore, two
 
 72 Co-operative Prodiiction. 
 
 consequences have followed from the errors of cer- 
 tain capitalists. The course they have pursued has 
 tended to keep up, if not actually to raise, the price 
 of labour ; while they have also sustained a consider- 
 able loss from the depreciation in the value of their 
 shares. In the case I have quoted, as a warning and 
 illustration of the consequences to be apprehended 
 from errors of commercial judgment, the price of 
 labour cannot be assigned as the direct or indirect 
 cause of misfortune; and similar instances might be 
 indefinitely multiplied to prove that the many great 
 reverses, which chequer 'the history of our commerce, 
 must be traced not to the rapacity of the workman, 
 but to rash speculations. 
 
 While I am anxious to do equal justice between 
 labour and capital, and to vindicate the conduct of 
 workmen, when unfairly accused, it is my duty to 
 remind the working classes in England that their 
 employers are engaged in the closest competition 
 with all the manufacturing countries of the world. 
 The markets of the United States, almost monopo- 
 lised in former times by British productions, are now 
 principally supplied with American goods. The 
 tariff, established since the war, presents a formid- 
 able barrier to importations from England. If 
 those duties were removed, the difference in the 
 cost of labour would, doubtless, at the present time, 
 secure for England her former position. But it 
 must also be remembered that, assuming the co§t of 
 labour in the United States to be 25 per cent, in 
 excess of the cost in this country, the addition to
 
 classes. 
 
 Co-operatiiie Production. 73 
 
 the value of the product does not exceed 5 or 6 
 per cent. ; and, if the duties imposed iu the United 
 States on all raw materials should be repealed, and 
 if, as we may reasonably anticipate, the cost of 
 living should be materially lessened, the cost of 
 production, under those more favourable conditions, 
 would be so much reduced, that the present advan- 
 tages of the British manufacturer would cease, and 
 there would no longer be a sufficient margin to 
 cover the cost of exportation from this country to 
 America. 
 
 I cannot conclude these observations on the con- Solidarity 
 
 . p J 1 1 1 • 1 • between the ' 
 
 dition 01 the labouring classes, without reference to working 
 the important influence, that must eventually, and 
 it may be very rapidly, follow from the increasing 
 facilities of communication between distant centres 
 of industry. Poreign travel, in former times, was 
 the exclusive privilege of the wealthy ; but when 
 the working men begin to circulate more freely 
 from country to country, the class interests, which 
 they have in common, will inevitably tend to bring 
 them together, and make them regard with stronger 
 aversion those national struggles in which, from 
 motives of personal ambition, their rulers in past 
 ages have been too ready to engage. Already we 
 see in Germany a party being formed whose sym- 
 pathies are for Trance. The originators of the 
 movement are the artisans in the two countries ; 
 and, as their numbers will probably increase, they 
 may exercise a valuable iiifluence in promoting the 
 blessed work of reconciliation. 
 
 6
 
 74 Co-operative Production. 
 
 So, too, between England and the United States, 
 the solidarity of the two peoples is a surer guarantee 
 for a close and permanent alliance than the most 
 elaborate contrivances of diplomacy. 
 
 Our eminent writers appeal with equal success to 
 Anglo-Saxon readers in both hemispheres; and 
 when they visit the United States they are welcomed 
 as men, of whom the American people are proud, 
 because they have conferred distinction on the 
 whole English-speaking race. Our early history, 
 our language, our literature, are common to both 
 nations, and they are links which should unite us 
 together as no other peoples can be united. I have 
 elsewhere spoken of the workmen of the United 
 States as the competitors of the English, but I trust 
 that their rivalry may be always generous. 
 
 As union is most earnestly to be desired between 
 the same classes in different countries, so it is not 
 less desirable between different classes in the same 
 country. If it is hard for the privileged few to ap- 
 preciate the difficulties of the masses around them, 
 Avho are struggling forward in the battle of life ; it 
 is still harder, we may rest assured, for the poor to 
 appreciate the peculiar trials of the rich. We may 
 plead for princes their isolation, and for the nobly- 
 born the absence of many powerful motives which 
 fire the ambition of men of modest station and 
 lead them forward to a career of usefulness and 
 distinction. We may urge on behalf of the rich 
 that they are a tempting prey to designing men, and 
 can seldom earn the gratitude reserved for those who
 
 Co-operative Froduction. 75 
 
 are believed to practise the virtue of self-denial ; but 
 we may rest assured that the mass below them, eon- 
 tending for bare existence, have little sympathy to 
 spare, from the constant troubles of their own lives, 
 for trials that to them must appear artificial and 
 self-imposed. 
 
 Whatever the poor may feel towards the rich, the 
 duty of the rich towards the poor is too plain to 
 admit of misconception. Whether moved by con- 
 siderations of policy, or by the nobler impulses of 
 humanity, it must be the object of our universal 
 solicitude that no class in society should be exposed 
 to the fatal influences of despair. 
 
 " Full many a green isle needs must be 
 In tlie deep wide sea of misery, 
 Or the mai-iner worn and wan 
 Never thus could voyage on, 
 Day and night, and night and day, 
 Driftmg on his weary way, 
 With the solid darkness black 
 Closing round his vessel's track." 
 
 Multitudes there must be in every city contending 
 amid waves that threaten destruction ; and when, 
 with anxious glances, they seek a refuge from the 
 storm, can they descry the happy isles in which 
 they may repose ? The land, if seen, is far away, 
 their bark is sinking, and their only hope the aid of 
 those who have already gained the shore. 
 
 An idea prevails in certain quarters abroad that Generous 
 
 . sentiments 
 
 there is no sympathy between the affluent classes in prevailing i 
 England and the masses of their less fortunate fellow- socfety. 
 countrymen. Much more truly may it be affirmed
 
 76 Co-operative JProduction. 
 
 that in no other country is the same deep interest 
 felt in the welfare of the poor. There are philan- 
 thropic organisations innumerable for giving aid to 
 all who arc in sorrow. The ill-paid clergy, the de- 
 cayed gentlewoman, the wddow, the orphan, the 
 sick, the destitute, whether in mind, body or estate, 
 all are cared for; most are partially, and very many 
 are effectually relieved. The almoners of this 
 generous bounty are among the best and noblest in 
 the land. Many of their names are familiarly 
 known ; but there are a still greater number engaged 
 in the same good work, of whom the world never 
 hears. I have learned by experience that it is often 
 among those, who are most exposed to the tempta- 
 tions of ease and pleasure, that the purest charity 
 will be found. It is because this sympathy exists, 
 that in England we have as yet been spared the 
 miseries of social disunion ; and from this the most 
 dire calamity whi(;h can befall a nation, Heaven 
 i^rrant we mav remain for ever free ! 
 
 Walcrlow i Sons, Printers, Great Winchester Slreot, London E.G.
 
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