The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-07-28
DAILY PRESS
PORTLAND.

FRIDAY, JULY %, 1871


We rejoice most sincerely in the beiel ln''
there is sueh,a thing as a genuine -:
inans cause. Its fundamental lde"
al of the riabtfulpess of the mopopoy vi Une
tm;ts of toll by nor-producers. lts ann Is 10
,.ef,ot i'm some vay the distribution OF the re-
wards of labor among laborlhg men. In its
,,,ost radical form it is communistic in its ten
dencv All wealth being the product of la
bor. present OF past, few radicals in this
country and many in Europe holo that there
should be an equitable redistribution of prog
erty, or that it should be held in common
But by far the greater part of labor reform
ers have reference in their plans only to fair
division of future earnings. The most def
nlte and Ineligible method of reaching this
end yet devised is cooperation. There are 9TH
er methods, but this is the only one that so far
has proved at all successful. Trades unions
and strikes seem to us to be perfectly legiti-
mate ways of obtaining for laborers as large a
share as possible of what they produce, but
they accomplish most imperfectly what they
undertake, and are uneven, uncertain and vi
client in their operation. Besides they keep
up the old antagonsm between capital and
labor. Cooperation avoids all this frict ion by
making the employer and employee one
Sometimes cooperative enterprise is initial
ed by the association of workngmen who,
unaided make their labor theiI capital, super
intend their own mandatory, sell their own
products and divide their own gains. Some
OF the most successful cooperative enterpris-
es ever started have taken their rise in this
way. Sometimes a generous and sagacious
capitalist gives his employees an interest in
the profits of manufacturing industry, thus
establishing kind of cooperation that is US
ually beneficial to himself as well as to his
hands. But cooperation is still in its infancy.
The horny hands of labor are yet unaccus-
toned to the delicate management of intri.
cate and extensive business details and the
unraveling of complicated financial problems
Workngmen have not yet learned to be their
own masters. When labor learns selfgovern.
ment the great problem is solved. We be-
lieve that the only cooperative association
ever formed in this State was little compa
ny of shoemakers in Vassalboro, who gave up
in despair after few months trial. The
failure was not due however, to any weakness
necessarily incident TO the plan they adopted
but to special disadvantages growing out o
the nature of the business in which they en-
gagged and the time at which they began.
Ten hour laws, eight hour laws and meas.
ures for insuring the education of laborer
are valuable auxiliaries of labor reform. ANY
thing calculated to increase the general intel
ligence of the working classes increases theil
power to combine and to avoid the payment
of such ruinous wages lin the form of prof
its) for mere superintendent.
This is what genuine labor reform is. DC
casionally great capitalist who. is ambition
of political distinction affects to adopt tn,
advocacy OF the cause. Some crazy Georg,
Francis Train, or foolish Senator Sprague, O
unprinciped Gen. Butler, though a heav,
capitalist, and making no movement towart
changing the old unjust relations between
capital and labor Oy the smallest personal sac
rihce, sets up as champion of the working
men. His object is to get the votes of hi
fellow citizens, and unabashed at the specta
Gle OF his own gross Inconsistency, he rants
about the oppression of the poor, and the
wrongs of labor till his hearers rashly con.
cude that there is nothing but crazy sham
and insincerity about labor reform and its
advocates. The whole cause is brought into
contempt, and workinemen suffer infinitely
from the unprincipled conduct of their self
appointed advocates.
We do not hold that the Spragues, Trains
Batlers, KimbalPs and other 'labor-reform
capitalists are bound to sacrifice their gains
or any part OF them cut of regard to the in
terests of workingmen. They would be jus
as good as other capitalists, if it were not TO
the manifest insincerity of their professions
Men who are everyday growing richer by tn,
employment of laborers who receive but
trifing part of the fruits of their toll may b,
excellent men but they are not entitled Il
call themselves labor reformers.