The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-07-31

London Cooperative Congress.
Second Day. Tuesday, June I.
suossER AiaAs or co-opERATioN And HOW
| TO REALISE ThEM.
DIR. Travers read the following paper on
the " Higher aims Of co-operation, and how
to realise them:
CO-ope ration, fully understood, is NOT
merely system by which working men or
others become their own sbopkeepers, and
share among them the profits which are
commonly obtained by private shopkeepers /;
or by which the workmen are allowed to
lave shares to small amount in the estab-
lishments in which they are employed or
by which companies Of working men are en-
aciei to carry on their ordinary business
without depending upon their masters, and
20 forth, in the midst of system Of compe-
tition. These are all extremely useful. But
their chief use is-thst they are preparatory
means to open the eyes of the public to the
necessity for . far higher Development OF
Cooperation, bY which the working classes,
and all others, will be enabled to emancipate g
themselves from the competitive system,
with aiF ITS injustice, fraud, and oppression,
and consequent widespread poverty, aud
almost universal fear Of poverty. These are
natural effects Of system Of competition, or
Of divided and opposing interests. And this
system is the natural effect Of mans insiinc-
tive desire for the happiness Of self, while
that cesire is not regulated by the higher
feelings Of his nature, and BY the knowledge
0f IN nf vn0rml arA n0A a
evil.
The higher aim Of Co-operat'o1 Is the
emancipation Of mankind from this system.
What, then, are the means by which this
result 10 to be effected Man must obtain
knowledge the requisite development aud
direction OF the moral elements Of mis- nature,
and, through these, Of those other parts OF
his nature which, when they are not so d.
recte !, are not improperly called his lower
opensities-Although when they are rightly
subordinated to his moral and intellectual
nature, they will be rs excellent Of their
kind, ~ essential for the attainment Of q
highly elevated and happy existence as any
other faculties with which be has been en-
dowed. All other needful means exist al
ready in immense supeI6uity, either actually
or potentially.
Those who are the first to acquire the
needful information must proceed, under the
guidance Of this knowledge, and Of the feel
lngs OF justice, benevolence, honesty, truth
fulness, and conscientiousness, enlightened
by this knowledge to form new arrange
ments fer production and distribution and
education. For this purpose they must es-
tablish self-supporting agricultural, horti-
cultural, and manufacturing villages, in
which production and distribution shall be
arranged in the most beneficial manner pos
sibls for NIL, and with perfect justice to ali
instead Of being conducted in the blundering
and excessively ibjurIt III and unjust manner
In which they are Carried on m the cOmpet-
tive world. And they must combine wi:h
the new arrangements for production and
distribution, n wise system OF educa ton, BY
which the children in these villages may be
really veil educated-phy sically, intelIectu-
ally. morally and practIcally-instead Of
being educated, a. all have hitherto been
upon an erroneous principle, and being thus
caused to acquire, to . very great extent,
must injurious habits Of thought, and feeling
lzkh me pFbpossd Hrranssmznts az.
mand snd supply will no longer be depend
ent upon the laws" of q competitive
system Of buying and selling, by which
thousands are reduced to pauperism, or to a
miserably limited subsistence, in the midst
Of q superfuity Of means TO provide abun-
dantly for all, and by those very means. 10
the present competitive system the producer,
and every one who desires to be employed,
must be able to sell his productions, or his
services, before he can make them available
for the supply of his various requirements.
And as. owing TO the immense powers of
production which now ex st, there are al
ways many more persons who are desirous
to sell, whether productions or services, than
are required to supply the demand which
exists for that which they have to sell
there are always many candidates for EN-
ploymenL who are hustled aside in the
81 Market" either partially or entirely, and
who are thus compelled to experience most
miserable prvations In the midst Of plenty
and OF immensely superabundant means to
enable all to obtain q cOmfoI table and secured
subsistence And the demand for produc-
tons and services is lessened, again, by the
limited ability to buy in those whose ability
to sell, and by selling to obtain the means
Of buying, 10 thus restricted. And By the
competition Of sellers with each other, even
those who are able to sell are compelled to
do 90 in many cases for q miserably low re-
muneration-a disadvantage for which they
are very poorly compensated by being able
to buy some things Of others-so far rs they
are able 10 obtain them at all-at similarly
restricted cost. All this is necessary con-
sequence Of the competitive system, and it
can only be slightly and partially pAllated
NJ Co-Onerativo Stores and Tnduafr,al Part
nerships, &c. 1t is dreadful to contemplate
the misery and the moral degradation which
are thus produced, both Ia those who are
the chief sufferers in this competing strife,
and in those who are most successful or
fortunate. And this is only one among
many prolific sources Of moral and physical
evil, which arise from the competitive con-
stitution Ct ocIety-or rather from the want
OF knowledge and the erroneous ideas from
which this system proceeds.
But ali these evils have hitherto been in
evitabe. For no one could be aware that
this miserable state Of things may be RENE
died aud in fact it could not be rernedied
while the means were unknown by which
different arrangement Of human affairs can
be organised, aud by which the character Of
man may be humsnIsed, and cordial union
between man and man may thus be made
practicable. And it is only now that the
knowledge of these means is dawning upon
The world.
In the proposed Cooperative villages, SUD-
ply will be systematically adapted to oe-
mand, and demand will be determined by
the extent Of the reasonable wants of the
population Of the villages, and BY the means
inh rztn 20