The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-06-30

of Parliament, who had said "What il this
business Of GreeniBg ana Company" and
in answer to that he had said he was MT
only going down to support them, but ~
was shareholder. (Cheers) He had also
told members of Parliament that the concern
was not public one, because The company
gave q bonus to the men who worked for il.
Hear, hear.) Another gentleman had sug-
fgested that there was no use for the concern
because IF It's teing so little, but he had re-
Piled that ii was well to begin gradually be-
cause no great things had ever been done
! by jump. (Hear, hear.) Everything that
was worth maintaining must grow gradually ".
Some mer invested their money in houses
ard horses. lie had answered objections u
co operation by saying tl,at if he had any
spare cash he should invest it in co-opera-
ton, aud if he lost it he should have lost il
in a very good cause. clear, hear.) But
what was likely to be the fact Instead oi
losing money, they actually IN hat httle
company declared dividend Of Is per cent.
l lCheersl He did not think that anything
could be more satisfactory than that. He
would contrast the cooperative movement
at the present moment TO that which exist
ed in Manchester fifteen years ago. at that
time several friends in London came down
to Manchester on the invitation Of working
men IN different parts Of The country, who
we're endeavoring, and in some cases had
succeeded, in setting up and working differ
ent sorts Of cooperative societies. There
was very great difficulty then in working
these societies; and there was no law what
ever under which so iieties OF this kind
could be registered. The old partnership
law existed, which MADE every person who
vas allowed to take part n societies Of this
description partners to all intents and pur
poses; the consequence was that any one Of
these partners, or any memter Of society,
could enter into contracts W thout the con-
sent Of his brother member. might take
away the goods Of the socIety. and there
was no way Of getting justice, except by the
tedious machinery Of a suit in ChanceTY It
was perfectly clear thar such a state Of
things could not satisfactorily prevail ans
the great object Of calling the conferenrc W. :
to see how the law could be amended ID Ie-
gallse these new partnership associations
and cooperative stores which are spnnginz
up in many parts Of the country The first
meeting in Manchester was held at tha
Moulders' Arms, and most Of the members,
and there were only about thirty or forty,
wore fustian jackets, and there was hardly
any bIoadcloth in the room. The meeting,
however, was a very satisfactory one. Con-
trast that period with the present time
Now they were met on the same business,
and see what a meeting they had there that
2 ght; and they had heard letters read from
aany or the most eminent men il the coun
trv, expressing their decided appreciation
and sympathy with the movement. The
change in this respect was very great, but
look at the change which had taken place in
the law. Now there was every facility,
whereas fifteen yea ago there was no fa-
cilty whatever for such an industrial coon
Grafton as that. The recent act gave the
power to divide the profits of the concern
amongst the members according to the
amount Of capital contrsuteI. The prin-
ciple Of the Jont-stock Companies Act was
the division Of the cap.s-l into shares, ana
the payment Of all profits upon those shares
in proportion to the capital Of the person to
whom the shares belonged the principal Of
the Industrial Society's Act was payment Of
whatever was earned among The workers
who earned those profits. (IIear, hear. }
Many acts had since been passed which had
enabled those societies to register, or 10 get
the benefits Of legal Standing otherwise than
under thst Act and he believed that many
of them bad avaied themselves Of those
Acts. II was quite competent now for those
societies 10 take either one line or the other.
II was competent to carry out % such an
extent as members might think advisable
the principle of sharing the profits between
all those who contributed to the general
work, and the result Of the experience Of
many years in these matters was that the
latter principle had his most cordial assent
and adoption. Mr.. Hughes took exception
to an article which haa appeared in the
Fortni1hHy Rsrier, opposing cooperation,
and accepted the challenge 10 produce with
In period Of twenty years one plain case
Of labor being employed on juster or more
favorable principles than il was under the
old system. He said he knew severA, cases
within the last twenty years in which labor
had been employed upon juster and more
favorable principles tran on the old system
and mentioned one which occurred some
eight years ago, when he was a member Of
the Workingmen's College, London. In the
coffee room of that college the subject Of CO.
operation mad been good de41 talked About
A man Of the name Of Newton, q carver and
glider, went away very quietly, and, with
out any assistance or consultation with the
other men Of the college except the advice
which had been given, started little asso-
ciation of carvers and gilders. The associa
ton found the greatest difficulty in carry inc
out their work through the influence of mid
dlemen but they lived through ali these
and achieved an unequivocal
success. Mr.. Hughes, after few general
observations, concluded amid much applause
Want OF Courage.
Sydney Smith, in his work on moral phil
osophy, speaks iu this wise Of what men