, 1866-07-02

7. Never depar. from 'he rrlncp'e Of buying and
tel'irg for reany money.
g Beus1e Of lony reckoninEs. Quarterly &C
counts are 'he best, and should os adopted ~hen
.. For inc tssc Of seeunsy, always have the &C.
counted vaiue Of tie ''dxtd -,ock" At feast one.
tcur1h ictt than IL n ut.Eesab'e yaine. ~.
10 Let member. 1ake care 1ba, the accounts arc
properly andIi. BY nen Of their own chooslo9, :
ii. Let comuitte es OF management alwaTs have
inH tmna1ian9 aaa .; .9,tus1fa y M seo 's''
IL. Do 20, coast oppos1tion or publicity, nor fear
II when l. Genes. ....
can ir1-., al Ineu rive Them yonr confidence.
Co-operative trading establishments ioten-
sify many Of the advantages which laborcrs
dtIive from cooperative stores. They tend,
In particular. to nentralfze the growing ad-
yantnges of large capitalists over small, and
they Bring ont The energy and activity ot the
working man, who has adirect interest 10 the
societies. other laborers than shareholders
are employed. They are then likely to be-
come ordinary joint stock companies. A
hostility Of interests ls 1iat,le to be created,
which II is the main purpose Of cooperation
to prevent, for the shareholders Of tho socl-
ETY. who are not lahorcrs soon say, Why did
We give up portion OF the profits to those
who only labor, and who haye supplied no
capital. We have no difficulty in obtaining
operatives, even without this gratnfty. and
we are therefore mixing free gilt which VIC
might appropriate to ourselves. This I'M
portant question is stu much IN debate. at
d meeting Of one Of the most prosperous Of
tie ce.opera1ivc factories, the other day, the
following remarks were made:
Mr.. i. B, Mckerow thought the system Of
dividing profits with those work people who
were not shareholders. was both fmp7littc
and unfair, because It lockcd the profits Of
the shareholders. and encouraged the nom
shareholders in improvidence and the men
were not likely to incur any possible risk from
OF tie profits without it. Would 1t not also
militate against capitalists subscribing large
ly? He would prefer to give any money he
could spare for the promotion Of morality,
&C., In a direct way. rather than as a bonus
to work people, The principle OF allowing
the work people to become shareholders Was
Mr. Thos. Hughes, n. F., {author Of" Tom
Browns School Days'Y, replied that be
thought 1t would be unwtse, II not unjust, to
exclude those workers from q share in the
profits Who were not shareholders. Tue prln-
ciple they ought to keep steadily in view was
that while the work Of former generations,
which had accumulated, and which was rep.
resented by capital, was entitled to fixed
amount Of interest, the lahor OF the men who
combined TO produce that result ought to be
credited with portion Of tho business pro-
1ts; and If SO, where must they draw the
line? Would they cut off all who were not
shareholders. when the vitality OF this part
ncrship priuciplc was In regarding a1l as part
wise, and from his experience be believed 1t
won1d be dangerous 10 do 1t.
Cooperative Ettrcs Afford the working
classes good investment for their savings,
project them from the c,lrse Of debt, and pro-
mote healthy social intercourse between
worknlcn. In London, my own observation
has been that mechanics and artizans nte
sadly suspicious Of each other. They are
ready, on the slightest pretext, to believe
eyil OF those whom they have themselves
chosen to conduct common enterprise.
Anything which will check this must be q
benefit. By cooperative enterprises they ac-
qujre new powers Of industrial combination,
snd grow In habits Of mutual trust. The
worth Of the whole process, considered mere
Die, md it IS quite certain that by m-ans
of II they arc qualifying, themselves
for undertaking. at a future. period,
schemes OF wider scope and greater difficulty,
There is no class Of the English population
whichcontafns stronger elements or character
than that OF the artiznns or skilled 1nborers.
The upper md MIDDLE classes know them
chiefly from what takes place IN strikes. and
misjudge them accordingly. Combinations
and strikes arc the result OF their deep con,
Sicfion that the interests OF capital are In
irreconcilable opposition to those Of labor,
md that IN the present industrial arrange.
ments Of society they get less thau justice
Many thoughtful men arc startled and dis,
mayed by tho indications of social danger
which every one Of the strikes which are hap'
pcDing every month, though not on large
scale, furnishes. The broad fact which every
such contest makes apparent is this, that ii
the region Of the most active industry, society
is split into two hostile camps, and that the
only tranquility which subststs between them
isthat Of convenient but hollow truce which
may be broken at moments warning. The
vast industrial system Of which this Is CON
ditlon, seems sometimes to stand, as Burke
said Of the English Constitution, "on nice
cquipoise, with steep precip'ces and deeI
waters on all sides Of it.'' Never was pollcj
more clear than that Of removing from wf.at
Is so situated, tho elements Of internal dis
order, and this am persuaded. the encourage
mcnt Of working partnerships will 10 lar te
do.