CHAPTER III.

Cooperation.

IN the last chapter an incidental allusion was made to the industrial projects which have been, and may be carried on by associations of labourers. Our national economy is at the present time characterised by a complete separation between capital and labour. One class, termed employers, supply the capital which industry requires, and another class, who are the employed, supply the requisite labour. The proceeds of industry are divided into two distinct shares; the one share is the wages which the labourer receives as his remuneration, and the other share is given to the capitalist in the form of profits; these profits reward him for the investment of his capital and for his labour of superintendence. It is evident, however, that the labourer will enjoy the whole proceeds of his industry, or in other words, that profits as well as wages will be allotted to him, if he, instead of obtaining a supply of capital from another,

provides all the capital which his labour may require. Thus the peasant proprietor owns the land which he cultivates, and also furnishes the necessary capital, and consequently the whole produce yielded becomes his property. Formerly the artisan capitalists who worked on their own account, and not for a master, were a numerous class: but many of the causes which have swept away the small freeholders of bygone days, have also operated to destroy those domestic manufactures which once represented so large a portion of the industry of this country.

I have already shewn, that as the implements of agriculture have been improved, farming on a large scale has become more profitable. For similar reasons the handloom weavers, the pillow lacemakers, and many others who once carried on manufactures in their own homes, were inevitably destined to succumb to the new order of things which was created by such modern inventions as those which were achieved by the genius of Arkwright and Watt. When lace was made on a pillow, and when woollen and cotton cloth were woven by hand, manufactures could be carried on in the houses of the labourers. Then no advantage resulted from collecting a great number of operatives under one roof. The present, however, is peculiarly an age for production on a large

scale; manufactories are increasing in size; their machinery is becoming more extensive and costly, and within certain limits the rate of profits realized from a business seems to augment as the scale upon which the business is conducted is increased. Many of those who have been most successful in commerce have not unfrequently a capital of £100,000 invested in their industrial occupations. It would therefore seem that all the tendencies of modern times combine to make it more impossible for the artisan to become his own master, and thus advance himself beyond the position of a hired labourer. Suppose, for instance, that a cotton operative should by great prudence and self-denial save £200. With such an amount of capital it would be absurd of him to think of commencing manufacturing cotton on his own account; he might of course undertake some small business, say, a retail shop, but he would then be embarking in a business which he did not understand, and all that wonderful skill which has only been acquired by the training of years would be of no further use to him. But suppose there are 250 operatives, who, like the one we have been describing, have saved £200; they agree to unite their joint savings in a common fund. A capital of £50,000 would thus be created; this amount would be amply sufficient to enable them to become the proprietors of a

cotton-mill, as large as any of those in which the greatest profits have been realized. These 250 operatives might further agree to supply the labour which this mill required. Hence they would provide both capital and labour. The whole proceeds of their industry would be their own property; wages and profits would be merged in the aggregate remuneration which they received, instead of being allotted to reward two distinct classes, viz. the employers and employed. A complete union of capital and labour would thus be established, and this union has been termed Cooperation.

I purpose to describe to you the various phases through which Cooperation has passed. I shall shew you that many of the schemes which are known as cooperative, only deserve the appellation in a modified sense. I shall endeavour to compare the benefits which will result from cooperation, with the disadvantages and difficulties which may impede its progress. This union of capital and labour was first crudely suggested by the earliest and most distinguished Socialists and Communists, amongst whom may be ranked Fourier, St Simon, and our countryman, Owen. These men are too frequently despised, because their particular schemes have not been practically successful. Let us, however, do justice to their

memory.

They were no doubt visionary and enthusiastic, but they were men who were eminently good and noble; their lives moreover were not spent in vain. They were the first to recognise the evils which are associated with our present industrial economy. They perceived that so far as the production of wealth was concerned, society was tending to separate itself into classes which were kept apart by the rivalry of self-interest, and they therefore sought to establish communities where there should be no antagonism between capital and labour, but where all should feel that they were working for the common good. I need not stay to describe to you the details connected with the inevitable failure of such schemes; I should not have referred to them, did I not feel that if I passed them by unnoticed, I should have done injustice to the memory of the earlier Socialists: for amongst those who joined these ill-fated communistic schemes, there were some who obtained an invaluable experience, which has enabled them to become the originators of the Cooperative

movement.

Many of the earlier disciples of Communism, although they had to witness the failure of their schemes, yet became permanently impressed with the advantages which working men would obtain by uniting for a common object. The first attempts