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

!
| CO-OPERhTIvE SOCIETIES.
|
We arc pleased to observe that The several
that have appeared in our columns, hnvc at
tracted considerable attention nmong the
| working men of this city-morc especially the
mechanics. Inquiry has been set on foot and
one or more cooperative societies are now in
.proccss Of formation. We hope our friends
will so 10 work cautiously in this matter anu
mnkc every effort 10 secure the counsel anu
cooperation Of practical business men Of np-
proved character. For however prevalent
the popular ,lclusion that there are some things
which everybody can DO, such rs "running n
plantation or newspaper, teaching u school,
or keeping store, experience has long since
demonstrated that this supposed iutuitivc
| capacity is n mere lallucinatinn, which sooner
or later, in almost every ins,nucc brings its
subjects to grief. a knowledge Of business
no more comes by instinct thnn knowledge Of
! Latin, OF engineering, or Of watch making
There nre " scl[-tnught men, to be sure, in
| NIL these branches. But the apprenticeship
cannot he forcgone. Experience ceranly is
the best school, though it is said to hca dcar one.
lsut by combining tie 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 entilc
| their opinions TO respect and authority, the
| result aimed nj is reached in less Time by
easier gra'laiions, AMI TO n grenier degree of
| ultimate success and satisfaction.
The working man usually is but little fitted
for the jndicious management Of tho details Of
| business. Neither his education nor his knowl-
edge of life qunlify him for this responsible
and arduous undertaking. Still there are GER
tain fundamental principles in conacction with
| the subject which sclf-cvident, and which
commend themselves therefore to his earnest
| attention. One Of these is, that he knows
| there orc certain persons in the community,
| who live without manual labor, who gain n
Subsistence by acquiring, in the way of trade,
a title to portion of his earnings, and those
| of his fellow mechanics and farmers or labor
ers. lie 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
gamer. The difficulty, however, is and always
has been, how TO accomplish this.
We are no n'lvocates Of that high tory con-
scrvativc maxim F." whatever is is right,"-bnl
| we conscientiously believe thnt good reasons
underlio the existence of every institution of
| society. The experience of over forty cent,l-
ries has proved conclusivcly that there cnn he
no great degree Of civilization without division
| nf lnbnr al LII.
his plough and his hoe, his nxe and his scythc,
his cart and his mill, his cloth and his leather,
his hat and his boots; to sny nothing of tho
thousand other wants of modern civilized
life. II has been found tint the moro cir
cumscribc, the field of any ones labor, the
greater the probability Of his doing hia work
we'll, and Of such work redounding 10 his
profit. And just us towns and cities nro
necessary, so also is n 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 90
managed by nny given number of individuals
as TO control its operations, and enable each of
them TO secure proportionate share in The
profits. This the Cooperative Societies pro-
pose to effect; and wo have seen in the re-
view Of the book on this subject, this They
have effected with most brilliant success, in
EnglRnd, France Germany and Switzerland.
! In the United States, also, in several of the
lnrge cities of the North, the system Inns boen
tried, but 80 far not with the same gratifying
| results. The reasons for this arc various.
One Of them, md perhaps the principal, is,
that the people of this country are wastcful by
nature almost. There Is no thrift. frugaliiy or
economy, observable anywhere in the United
States, ms these virtues aro understood in Flu
rope. dcgroo of luxury and extravaganza
obtains here, no where else known lin tho
snmc ranks Of society on the face of tho globe
This is the only country in tho world. where
oil classes dress alike, where the poorest aro
seen in ms gay, and often rs costly attire as
their most wealthy neighbors. Whether this
is tho natural outgrowtll of our democratic
institutions, or owing 10 tho natural wenlth of
the country and lis inexhauslible resources,
we nrc unable TO sny, and will not stop 10 in
prevalent here arc altogether different from
| those 10 be found on the Eastern shores
of the Atlantic. There, tho proverb "a
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 we'll known that for all prac-
| ticn1 Durnooes nven hefore tbe ,yor tha dina
was tho minimum rs circulating medium
and would purchase but little more in the mar
ket than ono cent would in some parts Of Eu-
rope. This has the same general effect sn the
consumer, as an "inaation of CURRENCY" for
no imaginos himself richer than no ia, md
j while he, perhnns would he Glad To an xn dol