The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-05-14
someIhIne Betler .han strikes.
An Article for worh1nEmen.
HM The pn,,

I
the present age Is that CT combination
among wol kingmen. 1t has manifest
ed itself in various forms, and the prin-
ciple which II embodies may be alike
observed in the phenomena Of strikes,
and In trades unions and co operative
societies. 1t has for its aim the better
ing of the posirion of those who gain
their livelihood by manual labor.
Working for this object by the direct
and violent means known as a strike,
1t brings itself immediately into a
hand .to-hand contest with the capital
OF employers. A strike is necessarily
a wastefuI and costly proceeding, what
ever its result. If it is successful, the
loss sustained by the employers causes
them to bear a grudge toward their
men; If it fails, the men are impover-
ished, and, compelled totWork from me-
cessity, are likely to perform their
tasks in sloYenly and wasterul man
ner.
Strikes, that is to say, are the rudest
means ofadjusting the relations be-
tween capital and labor, and deciding
upon the share of the profits which
shall form the reward of the workmen.
This has not escaped the attention of
ywOrkmen, especially in England, where
for several years the trades Organiza-
tions have been bent by. men OF. per-
tinacity, but of small knowledge OF
economical principles, to the attain
ment of an object hurtful to society,
and'tO the body of workmeu, These
organizations aim to keep up the rate
of wages in the trades to which they
belong, cost what it may to employers
or employed; and with this thoroughly
selfish purpose, they have adopted a
rule that all the members in a trade
hfnI 1FHAn1sRlHVnnH 20 n
possible amount of work for the great
est possible amount of wages. Nor
will they allow one man to work more
skillfully than his fellows. The result
of such a System, it Is needless to say,
must necessarily be to reduce the most
Industrious and skillful wOrkmen TO
the level of the most idle and clumsy, to
make good and durable work an Inn
possibility, aud effeclually to extin-
guish the spirit OF enterprise and ambi-
tion to excel which are the true salt of
the workingmau's character.
On the other hand, there are not want
ing among the laboring population of
England those who possess a greater
degree of foresight, and u nobler pur-
pose, than either thestrades unionists
or the ead vocates of strikes. The pro-
mOters OF! cooperative societies have
most clearly recognized the Intimate re-
lations which exist between capital
and labor-between the employer and
the employed. Far from endeavoring
to curtail the power of capital, as the
Unionists would do, by limiting the
supply and degrading the quality OF
the labor, they earnestly endeavor to
foster both the demand and the supply;
and instead Of desiring an open breach
between the employers and the en-
ployed, they render 1t impossible, by
uniting the several functiOnsi of these
classes in the same Individual.
AT the cotton manufacturing town of
ROchdale, in1Laneashire, some twenty-
two years ago, an association for the
purpose of uniting the money, labor
and skill of its'members, and trading
and dividing the profit or loss which
might accrue from such trading, among
themselves, was formed by some poor
cotton spinners and weavers.
1t occurred to them, that In order that
the small retail dealers who supplied
them with clothes and provisions might
live, they must exact a higher rate of
profit on the small amount, of inferior
and Rdulterated articles In which they
charge in selling superior commodities,
in large quantities, 10 the rich man.
Such state of things they hoped might
be bettered by their having store of
their own, which they would be able to
stock with well chosen goods, at whole-
sale prices, and could retail to their
families at rates considerably under the
exorbitant charges ofthe country DEAL
ers. Their difficulties must have been
considerable; but they did, by putting
a small sum aside weekly, from their
wages-that is, by very stringent self
denial-Rt last succeed In raising sum
about equal TO two hundred and forty
dollars. They began on "A very small
scale, and they neither gave nor took
credit. Honest and true in their deal
ings with their customers, who at first
were confined to the members Of their
own association, they were also true
to themselves, and Though sorely
tempted at times to depart from
their fundamental rules, they ul-
timately found their advantage in OBJ
serving them with the utmost fidelity,
Their sell f-denial had made them capt.
talists, and the vantage ground thus
dearly bought they have never relin-
quished. gAtss length prosperity began
to dawn on them, and their members
began to share in the profits of co-ope-
ration. Their mode Of dividing their
gains was not the least characteristic
feature in the scheme. Each customer,
on making purchase, received a tick
ct on which was represented the amount
which had been expended. At the end
of the quarter, after defraying the cost
of repairs, and making good the dete-
Iteration of the stock-in-trade of the
society, a dividend at certain per
eentage was declared, which the mem
bers received on the aggregate sum
which they held for tickets. =, sI,.
81 Good and honest management caused
the affairs of the society to prosper.
Numbering two thousand members in
1855, they had increased to upwards of
six thousand in 1866. Their gross
profits last year were more than
Sl90, 900, and their dividends returned
to purchasers in the manner described
above, was at the rate of twelve per
cent.
But this cooperative society did not
contine itself to the management of
store for the supply of household wants.
Acting on the same principle "a shoe
making and a tailoring department
were established, and a corn mill was
subsequently started, the profits on
which daring last year exceeded 81
600. - ~ : = "a - L is '--- -
The success which attended this So
cietyof R0ohdRle Weayers Is not to be
attributed merely to their shrewdness
and thrift. All their selE-denial,, all
their good work, and all their sagacity
would have availed them but little II
they had not combined among them
selves. Nor would combination have
served them, had it been effected mere
ly for the purpose of dictation to the
owners of capital or for the purpose of
restricting the amount of their produc-
tive power so as to give 1t fictitious
value. Approaching most completely
the power and strength of the capitalists
they simply desired to become capital
lists themselves. tLIEE5B gEEEL
The example of the Rochdale weaV-
ers, and their success, deserve the at
tentive study of American mechanics,
who will find in such cooperation
the best remedy for the evils they COM
plain of. l' u '- 49,