New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-18

four additional shares as payment Of the dividend on
his stock and 5000 he actual sum paid to each oper
alive who was also stOckhOlderl as his DIVIDEND OH
labor. b. received one additional share as his dlvl-
dend on his stock, and 5000 as his diVi-
dend on his labor. All labOrers share alike OF the
excess of profits over ten per cent. The man who
fills the furnace gets as large dividend ION labor"
as the skilled molder OF mounter; the stockholder
who is not laborer gets equal dividend on labor
as the others although he may have performed no
work whatever.
THE RESULTS so FAR.
81 have no faith said prominent labor party
man TO me, "n the honesty OF men who exeialm
against the capitalists for the immense percentage
they make and yet who when in the same SITUATION
take such profit as SO per cent on their capital
Why do they not undersell their rivals, employ more
men, and extend their trade 7"
The gentleman was hasty, as found on examining
the matter In the first place as to the employment
of more men, this difficulty occurs. Cooperation as
applied TO manufactures is materially different from
cooperation as applied to the purchase of food cloth
ing Goals &c A cooperative foundeTy is very DIS
tinct from cooperative store The fewer the stock
holders in the foundery the greater its success; the
more numerous the stockholders and customers OF
the store the greater success For this reason the
cooperative printers at New-YOrk and the founders
at Troy have confined their membership TO only as
many as their capital will give constant labor ms
is the first basis OF the scheme IT is held by coOpera
tves that their system is superior because IL gives
constant work at regular wages if the stockholders
were unlimited in number then every mechanic see.
ing the success of cooperative establishment would
wish. as one of them expressed it, Ito take
whack Mt itD Tho capital and labor would
soon be out of all proportion, and half the
stockholders would lie idle In the Troy
foundery the number of stockholders has been IN
creased as rapidly as the accumulation OF capital
would Justify, until there now Il members All
of these find constant work In the buster seasons
outsiders" employed as in any other shop MI
Name tells me that outside OF their dividends on
stock aud labor, the molders, fDishers mounters,
&c. in the Cooperative foundery earn not less than
$3.50 a wear more than the same men ut tho same
wages would or could earn in any foundery in Troy
| conducted as q private enterprise. This great
difference is due 60 the fact that the employment is
from year to year. not day to day; the men are not
thrown out by every little slack Of business, and
forced like the old English pltmen. to follow the
wark -" losing days of time in hunting other sltua-
TONS Besides the holidays do not interfere to Keep
them idle at the whim of the ronmaster who chooses
| 10 close up his foundery such days Tins, every
one of the co6peratives in the Troy foundery last
| year made $2jO (excess of wages, and sos labor
dividend or $3.50 more besides their stock dividend
than they would have made in any other foundry.
Is not this as remarkable a in this system OF
| manufacture rs was the Rochdae experiment on
! the poor weaveT's system of tradingf l have not
put too bright face on it, there are Il Instances oil
this success at Troy alone
| CAUTIOUS POLICY.
As TO underselling their rivals and thus extending
their trade il IS very doubtful if in the end II would
pay for struggling men just entering business to PRO
| woke such hostility as would naturally rise out OF
4 A much safer
method of extending their business has been adopted
by these men in making the dividends thus far stock
dividends only. The profits have not been paid ont
TO the individuals and scattered abroad but addi-
tiona stock has been issued and the money retained
10 enlarge the business. When q mans stock has &C
| cumulated until he had more than the legal number
Of shares 5O the surplus has been bought in and re-
issued to new members. Thus the increased capital
| has given employment to more men and the business
| naturally and safely enlarged The force now en-
ployed is nearly treble what it when the works
| began operation. The Dimensions of tho foundery
! have been more than trcbled. When action was de-
cided upon in May 1866 $3.50 Of the capital was ex-
pended in the purchase of a number of lots near the
! northern limits of the city, A molding-room 20 by
| 40 feet and mOunting-shop 3ixl2O, were erected
! within two months. Out Of tie first years profits
another lot of ground was bought for 5000, and
| building 4Ox12O and embracing four floors was built
| The third year another molding-shO 75x12O was
! built and other buildings now i'll contemplation.
Further than this the coGperatiyes argue IN extern
| uatiOn Of their cause Of making money too rapidly
than this large percentage of profit results from the
economy of the SYSTEM and not the ordinary en-
! plOyment Of capital.
"Out of 200 tuns Of pig Ton," said Mr.. Name in
illustration of the economy which the foundeTy Is
conducted or rather conducts itself without effort on
tbe mart of the managers and foreman, out OF 200
| tuns of pig iron, we make, using the same pat
tern 100 more tuns of stoves than any private esab-
! lishment in Troy"
This rather astOunded me, and asked to know
! how II could be done.
| Because every man Of MS recognizes that il is TO
| bis direct individual interest to all he can
| There is almost 10 wasage Of iron. not more than
| One-duarter of what there is in other shops; the
smallest scrap is gathered up aud placed in heap
all ewes are in search of these scraps, and all fingers
| bent TO clutch them When the mechanic has no in
dvdual interest in saving material the loss in waste
| iron il enormous 1t does not take 20 men long to
save 100 tuns when their thoughts Are bent such
| economy. / venture to say that our expense for
sand plumbagO patterns files, and tools OF every de-
scriptlon are 80 per cent less than any other es-
Enlistment in Troy simply because each man feels
that il is his interest TO in every way possible
II take a contract to make 1900 tuns OF pig iron
| into stoves charge the usual percentage for mold
| ing &c. and return 200 TINS of stoves but tun
of pip iron is 224O pounds while tun of stoves is
! 1000 pounds The difference IL allowed for wastage
| dross &C. But by the practice of this economy
will have after getting out the POO tuns of stoves
not less than 100 uns of scrap iron, which will make
rne 100 tnns Of stoves This 100 tuns of stoves is
profit | defy any other kind of fOundery than CO
| oneratiye foundery 10 uroduce, with the best