New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-07-19
COMPREHENSIVE 1T GIN DO.

A Mr.. William West writes to The World
condemning Cooperation as an inadequate and
impracticable remedy for the wrongs and re-
dress for the grievances of Hired Labor. lie
proposes instead the wholesale employment of
Labor by the State, whereby he evidently pre-
sumes that high wages, short days work, and
good times generally may be secured to the
Laboring Class. Perhaps they might for a
time but, in our judgment, this scheme, if
carried into effect, would speedily work out its
own overthrow and ruin through the bank
ruptcy of the State, after the State had sucked
dry all its property holding citizens
Mr.. Vests verdict against Cooperation is
justified by him by assumptions and deduc-
tons therefrOm as follows:
"WOrkingmen urged to become Their own en-
poyer by establishing cooperative workshops and
ufactOres. This is way, plan, easily devised
than It is executed The entire earnings Of the aborer
are as threefourths 10 sevenenths OF the united pro-
ducts OF labor and capital The accumulated profits Of
capital ninety one-hundreths to ten one-hund-
redths OF the savings OF labor The capitalists consti-
tue threeenhs and the labOrers seventenths Of the
people. The former, then, can more readily combine
than the latter and, being more intelligent and bet
ter educated lin the management OF business at lest
as well richer it is idle to suppose that the latter
successfully compete with the former In the end vol
untary cooperative associations OF workingmen must
succumb to vast private monOpolies. Voluntary CO.
operation therefore-so much lauded a Of
persedng private captalists-is utterly inadequate.
How, then, can theIproposed object be attainedi"
Comments By The Tribune.
In our view the first question to be an
swered in discussing Cooperation is this
HoU came 1t about that some men are employers
of Labor uhle larger number are WOrkers for
,caqeS? Those who think and act with
Mr.. West will generally answer" Some were
"born rich and able while others entered
"upon responsible life comparatively poor and
"weak: the former constitute the employing
"class, the latter the employed" but facts
glaringly refute this assumption. A large ma
jority of those who now employ labor in this
city or in this country were born poor and en-
ioyed no special advantages of education or
social position, nor were they nearly all persons
of remarkable ability: for many of them are
Intellectually mediocre and some decidedly
stupid. The point whereon they vitally differed
from those who now work in their factories,
shops, or warehouses, was this: They had the
instinct of Saring-the ambition to get on in
the world, which their often cleverer and more
brilliant schoolmates and playmates did not
share. On the contrary, these chose to
live as they go"-to have good time gen.
orally, and to spend in drink and dancing,
ball-play, and loose company, that portion of
their earnings which the other class from the
outset habitually saved and invested. A ma
iorty of the successful merchants of this city
first entered stores penniless on salaries of 81
to So per week and, so soon at least as their
wages were increased to s. per week, they be-
gan to save money This saving was the foun-
dation and the assurance of their subsequent
success. On the other hand, those boys who
entered stores under what seemed far more
favorable auspices-as younger brothers, sons,
or favored nephews of prosperous merchants
and thus received more liberal wages from
the outset, melting them to habits of lavish
expenditure, have generally failed. To-day.
there are thousands saving money in our city
out of total income of $40 per week, while
there are other thousands of whom each sup
ports nobody but himself, who receive $50 per
week, and yet do not save cent.
Now, our decided condemnation of the
Wages system is largely based on the fact
that it tends to imUroyidelce and unthrift.