The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-07-16 00:00:00

FILIE.NDLY SOCIETIES AT :HOME
AND ABROAD.

Mr. Thutiow, her Majesty's Secretary of Legs.
tion at the Hague. has written a book which is
, of interest and importance to the working classes
of our own end foreign countries. It owes its
i origin to the 1 atcroational Workmen's Exhild-
-n held last yrar at Amsterdam, hut it (boils
with existing facts which cannot but exert a con-
siderable influeo..e on the future. Daring this
there was a competition of trades onions and co-
operative associAtious, supported by Ibe Ram
caey of their respective champions. Mr. Thur.-
' low now places before the reader the salient
bets thus adduced. in so far as they affect the
position of the working classes. The jury of
thirteen who made the awards sppear to have
open actuated in the main by sound judgment
They heartily disapproved of what may be called
business philanthropy. Advances of money to
workpeople by their employers, even for the such
purposes as procuring sewing•machines, were re •
garded with disfavour, as placing the workman
too much in the power of his benefactor. They
considered that it was midersirable to sever the
happy combination of the employer and the be•
nefactor, but thought that the benevolence should
come spontaneously—not as the result of a treaty
between Capital and labour. And most of OflF
readers will heartily ag,ree with this view
There is very little philanthropy in our own
country, and workmen are all the better for it.
but many can call to mind the evils that the sys-
tem used to entail in Connection with the weav-
ers and their looms.

InFranee, as in our country, the law permits
combination among workmen to raise or to pre•
vent the failing of wages, and in both countries
workmen largely swill themselves of it. But
Franco sets us a lesson in adopting a recognised
system of arbitration. Their eoessiis
hommer, or councils of masters and men, do a
great deal in preventing or arranging trade dice
pees. A somewhat shoilar systeia has made
some way anougst ourselves; it has worked very
well as far as it as it has been tried, and we be-
lieve it would be to the interest of employer and
employed if the system were developed. Ott ex.
rimming Mr. llinrlow's elaborate reports we
come to the conclusion that Germany is in ad.
vauce of ourselves iii co•operutie movements
among the wonting classes for the improvement
of social position. Gi tonally is studded with
people's banks, holding four millions and a half
sterling of working men's money; " societiesfin-
the production and consumption," and for or-
ganising and promoting education and recrea-
tion. Our own working men do not at all take
kindly to anything of the latter kind, but then
we ffive the certainty sooner or litter of a
therough systsin of national educatien, while so
to recreation our working people pretty well uo-
derstand co operation for that purpose', though
they may not do it with the systametic organiza
tion of the Germans. We too have our people's
banks in the ordinary Post Office savings banks.
with Govemmet security, and as to the societies
for production and consumption, or in oth• r
words co-operative societies we are leskitig sums
progress. In Belgium co•operation Las pro-
duced a wonderful effect in regard to workmen's
dwellings. In one large firm there, says Mr.
Thurlow, 63 per cent, of the workmen are pro-
prietors of their Own houses, threugh a "system
of advances." Well, we cannot show anj thing
like that in our own country, but the operation
of our building societies enables many of the tip-
per section of the working classes to buy houses
in which to reside. There is a ,elf-dependence
about one system, and an ultimate cotuparative
independence, which is more congenial to our
working men thau would be a 'system of ad-
vances" from employers; nut gin our building
society machinery is not worked to anything
like the extent that ought to be the case.
The objects and working of the friendly socie-
ties of the Continent differ to sonic extent from
each other, and from our own. Continential
workmen stride to unite provision for amuse-
ment with providing against sickness and death
in a way that our working men do not under-
stand, and certainly would not appreciate. Even
the sedate and sober Dutch workman subscribes
money simultaneously for recreation, and as a
provision against sickness and death. The
Blacksmiths and sronworkers' Association at
the Hague is an example. This is purely abe
nefit soaiety, though the members consider
dancing among the benefits. The funds are ex
elusively applicable to maintaining the sick,
burying the dead, amid promoting good feeling
in the society. These objects are sought by the
giving of as many fetes in the course of the year
as the funds at their disposal will allow; and
there is at least one ball given to the wives and
sweethearts of members in the course of the
year. We do not think this union of pleasure
for tde present and provision against future cal-
amity would work well in our own country ; and
where the combination has been attempted
among ourselves, if has too often been found
that funds which should have been stored up
against the time of pain, sickness, and death.
Lave been ser,oudy trenched upon for purposes
of amusement. Our working classes certa:nly
do not have too much amusement usd recreation,
Out the funds to provide them should not be
drawn from tkose who should be sacred to more
important objects. In one point, however, Con•
tisiential friendly societies are on the whole bet-
ter worked than our own. 'I he members of the
former take a more active interest in their tif•
. fairs then our own members do, and ass conse•
quauce there is far less likelihood sf those de-
falcations which occasionally woik such havoc
among ourselves. This is an important consid-
eration, and one on which members of our
friendly societys woulc do well to act. Facili-
ties for defalcation are undoubtedly given among
ourselves by the carelessness with which the
aontrol of the affairs of large societies is left to
a few individuals, who in their turn prac ically
allow one of their number to have the entire
management. Dinpute this as the reader may,
the asssrtion has bean proved over and civii.
again,liy inquiries when too late. This is a week
point in our friendly societies ; and among the
lessons to be learned from the work to which
we have alluded, not the lutist important is the
duty of our working men to take an active and
intelligent interest in the management of those
funds on which the welfare of themselves and
their families BO much depends.