The Express.
London, England, 1847-09-08 00:00:00

of then it at 3i, the 1 i per cent. accumulating fax
c rill
tbo of the institution. It seems im-
le any subscriber can blind himself to the
that between borrower and lender there is a 'seri-
flee or contribution of a sum, which, as we have said
of the payments for shares, was theirs to keep if it was
theirs to invest in a speculation.
We are well aware of the contrast which may be
drawn between the town artisan and the independent
cottager. We suppose that chartists will not be per-
suaded that if the produce of the land was doubled,
while the labour expended upon it was quadrupled,
there would be a loss and not a profit on the change
—a Ices which the small occupiers would be the fird
to feel. A co-operative system, judiciously managed. I
might indeed correct some of the defects of cilium.
tion which arise from subdivided ownership. The
cattle and manure which the French peasant mud
dispense with on his little patch of soil, the bads cI 1
burden and agricultural implements which are Mem-
eary to economies labour, might be held as the joint
property of a body of neighbouring cultivators ; bat
allotments of two and four acres are nemmily
wasteful. The occupiers have no object in economis-
ing their labour, a commodity of which they have
more than enough. The labour of fiftyabw.famitz
cannot, under any system of agriculture yet
be profitably employed on two hundred mores d Ina
The answer to the political reasons which the
chartist leaders urge, to induce their followers to be-
come freeholders, is that they cannot afford to spend
money on acquiring a franchise. If a landowner
chooses to diminish the produce of his farm by pre-
serving genie, or a wealthy tradesman to sink 1001. in
a faggot vote, he knows that he is gratifying his taste
at a certain expense, which he is willing to incur :
bat the shareholders in the land company ought to
make the best possible investment of their means
without looking to any but a pecuniary return. A
preference for agreeable speculations is a natural but
expensive taste. We have prophesied in a former article
that even if the new freeholders obtained votes, they
would not long exercise political power. Our opinion
is founded on considerations quite independent of
their present intentions or their future wishes. It is
impossible for the land to compete in political in-
fluence with great towns, except when it is repre-
sented by large owners and wealthy cultivators. A
population of small freeholders must be, by the ne-
cessity of the case, adscripti gkbee.
We believe that the co-operative system, as applied
to the purchase and cultivation of land, may, never-
theless, be in some cases beneficially practised. The
mall tradesmen and superior mechanics of Tillages
and country towns are at present too much excluded
from a share in the soil. In the neighbourhood at
great cities we fear its price will long keep it out d
their reach; but elsewhere the principal difficulty
is to find small purchases within a convenient
distance. The Welsh, who in most respects are
behind their neighbours, have greatly the advan-
fte of them in this respect. From the small
value of land in remote hill districts, from
the number of ancient encroachments on the
wastes, and the occasional opportunities of pur-
chasing lots at enclosure sales, the class of persons
of whom we speak have in Wales often possession of
one or two fields each, which they cultivate in addi-
tion to their regular occupation. A baker or a wheel-
wright
in a country village, has generally time to I
spare, and sometimes the command of a little money, I
which he can apply to the improvement of his land.
It is partly, perhaps, a consequence of this state of
things, that while a Welsh labourer is worse paid
worse fed, and a worse workman than an English-
man, a far larger proportion of Welshmen rise above
the class in which they were born. The habit of
looking to a change of condition as possible, leads
them often to try their luck at the mines, or in London
or Birmingham, and, of course, in some cases, the
Mature is rewarded with success.
If those persons in a small market town who have •
little money to spare, were to unite first in purchasing
a farm within a convenient distance, which is generally
to be obtained cheaper than small plots of land, and
afterwards to keep, at their joint expense, for the
common use, such horses anti utensils as might be
necessary; by assisting each other at harvests and
similar occasions, and cultivating their own allot-
ments in other respects independently, we believe that
1 they would enjoy the best of savings banks, and add
at the same time to their means and to their enjoy-
ment of life. The county franchise in such hands
would be a just contingent reward for the energy
and economy which they had shown in acquiring
property, which they were not imprudent enough to
purchase for the sake of the franchise.
We believe that the artisans of the great towns
would do far better in turning their attention to the
passibility of making a co-operative factory profitable.
We are not prepared to say that such a speculation
Gould succeed, but we consider that it would be a
more feasible enterprise than that of the land com-
pany, and we should be glad if it could be carried
set. Savings banks are a great improvement on old
"hid in the roof; and investments, not at in-
with a view to the profits of trade for those
who wan willing to incur the risks of trade, would
be almost es great an advance on savings banks. It
is a great hardship on the working classes that they
have little opportunity of sharing proportionately to
their savings in the wealth produced by accumulated
capital. It is hopeless for small capitals to compete
with great, but every facility ought to be afforded to
small capitalists to contribute to great joint-stock
capitals. It was with this object that a recent writer
advocated the subdivision of shares in railways
and other public undertakings so as to bring them
within the reach of the smallest holders of money.
It would be still more desirable to enable workmen to
invest their savings in their own trade, and share in
the fortunes of the works which they carry on. Their
money-capital, and the skill and industry which is
their chief capital, would thus be employed in the
same undertaking , and it is not unreasonable tomp- 1
pose that the direct interest of the operative in the 1
prosperity of the factory would increase his activity,
and stimulate hie ingenuity in such a manner as to
compensate for some of the obvious drawbacks with
which a factory owned by its "hands" would have
to contend. The great recommendation of a manu-
factory in preference to agriculture for a co-operative
experiment, is to be found in large and quick returns,
and in the mach larger demand for labour in propor-
tion to the fixed capital. A farm of 200 acres, worth
5,0001., would at most bear an expenditure of 3001.
in labour. A manufacturer with anequal capital would
pay a large portion of it in wages in the course of a year.
The rent and profits of land divided among the labourers
who work upon it would perhaps, on an average, add
to their wages nearly twice their amount. The profits
of a cotton factory similarly disposed would in no
case, we should think, increase by 30 per cent. If
we are right in this rough estimate, it is evident that
the smaller advantage is the more attainable. La-
bourers must live chiefly by labour. If out of the
profits of their little capitals they can add a per cent-
age to their wages, so much the better ; but when
their incomes double their wages, they will probably
cease to bslabetwers. The con ideration which leads
us to advise operatives rather to look to factories than
to agriculture is the same which accounts for the re-
commendations to emigration which excite our see-
2=dent's indignation. In Australia and New
d, labour is the great requisite ; and a
ma who oan use his legs and arms is
imperatively rich. On an English farm, la-
bour is, in comparison, a drug, and capital, which
tin obsstista have not, is the chief requisite. A
onissastory may hold an intermediate position.
The 11nditure on labour is great, and the capital
rsquind is also considerable.
Wo do not to enter into any further con-
cha with ingiseters of the Land and Bank
dingo&Wo ion endeavoured to point oat to
Ana et Ilee ellainniss which the laws of nature,
kin tin sanest escape, and of political
which is anew name for nature in one Cl
bizeats, seam to oppose to their success. We
all=lnone in addition. On the contrary, we
isaccess, and would much rather deal with
their hoped for political power when they have got it,
than keep any man or any set of men poor because
they may make use of a competence to propagate or
enforce what appear to us fantastical political theories.

lx another column will be found a letter from Mr.
SOLLY, one of the surgeons to St. Thomas's Hospital.
We said, when commenting upon that gentleman's
evidence at the Mansion-house, and we now repeat,
that it was not our intention to impeach the
skill or judgment of the surgeons of St. Tho-
mas's. Mr. SOLLY is favourably known to
the profession and the public as an accomplished
medical man, and the author of an elaborate
book on the brain. Mr. SoCTH is equally well—