The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-08-17
co-oPERATIVE SOCIETIES.

gent and influential man who told ME thaI IL
had completely converted him."
co-oPERATIvE SOCIETIES.
We are pleased to observe that the several
articles on the subject of cooperative stores
that have appeared in our columns, have at
tracted considerable attention among the
working men of this city-more especially the
mechanics. Inquiry has been set on foot, and
one or more cooperative societies are now IN
process of formation. We hope our friends
will 90 to work cautiously in this matter, and
make every effort to secure the counsel and
cooperation of practical business men OF ap-
proved character. For however prevalent
the popular delusion that there are some things
which everybody can do, such as running
plantation or newspaper, teaching school,
or keeping store, experience has long since
demonstrated that this supposed intuitive
capacity is mere hallucination, which sooner
or later, in almost every instance brings lts
subjects to grief A knowledge of business
no more comes by instinct than knowledge OF
Latin, of engineering, or of watch making.
There are self-taught men, to be sure, IN
all these branches. But the apprenticeship
cannot be foregone. Experience certainly Is
the best school, though it is said to be dear one.
But by combining the two, the experience
that can alone be derived by practice, together
with patient acquisition Of the lessons to be
learned by careful observation Of the max
inns laid down by those whose position entitle
their opinions to respect and authority, the
result aimed at is reached in less time, by
easier gradations, and to greater degree OF
ultimate success and satisfaction.
The working man usually is but little fitted
for the jjudicious management of the details OF
business. Neither his education nor his knoWl-
edge of life qualify him for this responsible
and arduous undertaking Still there are Ger
tain fundamental principles in connection with
the subject which are selfevident, and which
commend themselves therefore to his earnest
attention. One of these is, that he knows
there are certain persons in the community,
who live without manual labor, who gain
subsistence by acquiring, in the way of trade,
title to a portion Of his earnings, and those
of his fellow mechanics and farmers or labor
ers. He naturally thinks that if there is any
process by which this waste can be avoided,
by which he can have the full benefit of the
entire product of his labor, he must be the
bow 10 and a1w0yS
has been, how to accomplish this.
We are no advocates of that high tory con-
servative maxim whatever is is right, but
we conscientiously believe that good reasons
underlie the existence of every institution OF
society The experience of over forty centu-
ries has proved conclusively that there can be
no great degree of civilization without division
of labor; that the same man cannot well make
his plough and his hoe, his axe and his scythe,
his cart and his mill, his cloth and his leather,
his hat and his boots to say nothing of the
thousand other wants of modern civilized
life. 1t has been found that the more cir
cumscribed the field of any ones labor, the
greater the probability of his doing his work
well, and of such work redounding to his
profit. And just as towns and cities are
necessary, so also is division of labor, for
the former depend for their very being upon
this principle.
So much by way of explanation and apology
for the institution of commerce. But while
the necessity of trade and of merchants is
thus acknowledged, there is still room for
doubt whether this business could not be SO
managed by any given number of individuals,
as to control its operations, and enable each of
them to secure q proportionate share in the
profits This the Cooperative Societies pro-
pose to effect; and as we have seen in the re-
view of the book on this subject, this they
have effected with most brilliant success, in
England, France, Germany and Switzerland.
In the United States, also, in several of the
large cities of the North, the system has been
tried, but so far not with the same gratifying
results. The reasons for this are various.
One of them, and perhaps the principal, is,
that the people of this country are wasteful by
nature almost. There is no thrift, frugality or
economy, observable anywhere in the United
States, as these virtues are understood in Eu-
rope. A degree of luxury and extravaganza
obtains here, no where else known lin the
same ranks of society on the face of the globe.
This is the only country in the world, where
all classes dress alike, where the poorest are
seen in as gay, and often as costly attire as
their most wealthy neighbors. Whether this
is the natural outgrowth Of our democratic
institutions, or owing to the natural wealth of
the country and its inexhaustible resources,
we are unable to say and will not stop to in
quirc But certainly, the ideas of economy
prevalent here are altogether different from
those to be found on the Eastern shores
of the Atlantic. There, the proverb 50
penny saved penny made" is daily
acted upon. Here beggar is in
suited if you offer him copper cent; and
although nominally the cent is our unit of
currency, it is well known that for all prac-
tical purposes, even before the war, the dime
was the minimum as circulating medium
and would purchase but little more in the mar
ket than one cent would in some parts of Eu-
rope. This has the same general effect on the
consumer, as an 'inhation of currency," for
he imapines himself richer than he is, and
while he, perhaps, would be glad to save dol
lars. he generally disdains to be spennywise."