The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-05-28
sperinsnt which the lowest viIl repeat

- 1919 - N44A ION
experiment which the lowest win repeat
after them. u a..'
Once 6rmly gras'ed. this truth throws q
Mood OF light on history, and makes clear
wat at frst sight ia 50 Obscure the un-
broken, continuous progress Of society.
we see taat even in. the ,so-called dark
ases, vhaa. the splendor of Roman civiliza.
son appeared to be extinguished BY the
Ssroarian-when science. srt, aud Etera-
turs we're lost apd ioI gotten, aud the world
seemed to have retregradsd ten centuries
even then, in that dsrk hour, our race wss
accemplishing the most decided step for
ward that was ever made. when the
philosophers and poets sad artists Of Gresee
vsre laSishing their immortal works os
small communities Of free meu-when the
warriors and statesmen Of Rome were
building ny the most splendid political
fabric that the wsrld has seen-the masses
were sunk in state Of brutal slavery. Bot
when savage tribes, with unccuth names
and mannsrs, bad poured ever Europe,
when q sqnalid bskbarism bad snperssdsd
ths allegiance and luxury Of sueisnt society,
when kings could not read, sud priests
could NOT write, when trade Aad commerce
had relapsed into oriental simplicity, whsn
men thought tbss the end Of q dscayed
and dying world wag eusely nearZsbeu
were the masses, the working men, accom-.
pllshing unnOticed their 6rst, great step
IRON slavery to ssrfdom. N, h-s .r-.
Whist / have already said amounts 10
tins: shas the inProvsnent Of the condition
Of the working class is the most important
element Of human progress-so important
that even 1t we were 10 make it the sole OBJ
jecs and test Of our public life we could not
justly be said to be taking cne-sided view
OF political and social questions shall
endeavor presently 10 draw picture of the
vorkman's life, as it ought to be, and, %
believe, il win be IN the future. But l
must first examine some Of the means By
which the transition is being effected.
1 will put aside the various schemes Of
Socialists andC Communists, which have found
50 many supporters on the Continent.
Widely as they differ from one another. l
believe that they all agree in demanding
that the State shall intervene, more or less,
in the direction Of industry. Now that
opinion has never found much favor in Ea-
gland, nor is there at the present time any
large body Of workmen who support it. In
France the first idea of every reformer or
innovator is to act through the Govern
ment. The tendency arises party from The
jealousy with which al Governments in that
eouatry have repressed voluntary associa-
ten, but partly also from che logical and
orderly character Of the French mind. which
abhors anything partial or patchy either in
thought or action. But in England, where
there has always been considerable facility
for private and associated action, it is our
way rather to depend upon ourselves than
to wait till we have q government Of our
way of thinking. Hence the only two
methods which have any serious pretentions
to promote the elevation of workmen in
England have both Of them sprung, not
from the brains of philosophers, but from
the practical efforts Of workmeu themselves.
This is shown by the very language we en-
ploy to describe them. In France the Ia
Dor question has meant the discussion Of the
rival sohool, the Ecouomic School, the
Eno5f of s6g FOURIER the SCBdof' u Proud
bon, the school Of Louis Blanc, of Cabet
Of Perrie Leroux, and SO on. In England
We do not talk Of schools, but Unionism
and Cooperation, which begun in practi-
cal form, and have continued practical
There can be no doubt that all workmen
who care for the future Of their class are
looking on to one Of these two methods for
The realization of their hopes. Here, as on
he Continent, there is no lack Of thinkers
With elaborate schemes which, in the opin-
ON Of their authors, would ensure univer-
MI happiness. But whereas the French
philosophers, whom I have mentioned, had
ZACH bus thousands Of ardent admirers among
he workmen, our theorists cannot count
ber disciples by dozens, and are therefore
ire not worth taking into account. But
and Unionism are real forces,
md to pass them over in silence would be I,
o deprive this lecture of all practical value
md interest for such an audience as | am
addressing. .:...- -.-. ...
The first thing to be noticed about Co
'peration is that the word is used for two
'ery different things. The theory, as you
Znow, is that there should be no employer
,laes, that the workmen should divide the
,ro6ts of production among themselves, and
hat whatever management is necessary
'bould be done by salaried officers and
committees. Cooperation, however, in that
'ense, does not get beyond theory. The
,oble minded men who founded the cele-
,rated mill at Rochdale did indeed for some
7ears manage to pot their principlesin in prac
ice but even their own society at length
ell away from them, and began to employ
Forkmen who were not shareholders ut the
market rate of wages and believe there
: not in England at the present moment, q
dngle cooperative society in which work
men divide the profits irrespective Of their
ssings sAsssb0lders Cooperation in this
ense, then mag be, dismissed from consider
ltion with as little ceremony as the Socialist
md Communist theories before alluded to-
like them It supposes degree Of unselfsh-
hess and devotion which we do not find in
lverage men. and it does not attempt to
'reate those qualities. or supply their place
~ tbe only Influence that can keep societies
II men for any length Of time to high
Of morality, the influence Of an or
sanised religion. s-t ner
The Oooperatiou which actually exists,
md rs IN important feature Of modern in
iustry is something very different. We
must strip it mercilessly of the credit it
'orrows from its name, and its supposed
,onnection with the theory above described.
[t 10 nothing more than the extension Of the
oint stock principle Iu what respect does
.ka Ill.