Litchfield enquirer., 1874-03-19

1 q cost Of E45, ,O0O. The mill was fitted with the best machinery, and was com. 1 plete in every respect. So confdent were 1 the workmen of the success of the scheme
 that the outlay involved in the erection
 of this mill did not exhaust the capital
 they were willing to invest, and accord ingly second mill was soon commenced
 These mills had scarcely time to get into | full working, when the breaking out oi 1 the civil war in America brought the cot l ton trade of Lancashire into state of un.
 precedented depression. Long after many surrounding manufactures had | been closed. the cooperative mills cour- ageously struggled on.
 As the cotton trade gradually revived after the close of the American civil war, many cooperative cotton mills were es- tablished in different pnrts of Lancashire They have obtained q. varying amount of success. One of the most prosperous of these manufactures appears to be the Sun Mill at Oldham. Cooperation cer- town than Ill any other place except Koch dale. It has been calculated that the working classes of Oldham have not less than e500, GOO invested in various co-ope- ratiye undertakings. Of this amount not
 
 Mill. During the last few years this a profit of twelve and half per cent.
 In these manufactories which have been established by associations of workmen, the plan has been very generally depart ed from of allotting to labor share of the profits. The question whether labor should enjoy any share of profits is still being keenly disputed amongst co-opera- tors, and it is difficult to say how 1t will ultimately be determined
 Prosperity and diversity seem to suc- ceed each other Ill regular cycles, for if exceptionally high profits are realized for two or three years, there Is sure to be 8 period of corresponding depression when scarcely any profits at all can be secured. As an example, 1t may be mentioned that from the published accounts of the Sun Mill, at Oldham, 1t appears that the aver age profits during the last three quarters of 1869 were only 9 per cent, whereas the profits during the three quarters of 1870 were 2 per cent. Sometimes the profits are more than three times as great in one quarter as ln the quarter immediately preceding or succeeding it. Thus, in the quarter ending in June, 1872, the profits were returned at no less than 30 per cent. :, whereas in the quarter ending in Septem- Der, In the same year, they sank to 9 per cent.
 One great obstacle to the success of cooperative production Is no doubt re moved when the necessary capital requlr- ed for carrying on business can be en- tlrely provided by those who also supply the requisite labor. Many very success full cooperative societies have been estab- lished in Paris, and in these the rule has generally been observed that the workmen employed should supply the capital re- quired, none being subscribed by a body of shareholders who are not employed as laborers. \ society of cooperative ma sons was founded in Paris in the year 1S48: for the societies which were assisted by the Government, in almost every in- stance, proved to be failures. The coop efative masons endured many vicisssi- tudes, and in the year 1852 they determ- lned to reorganize their society. It then consisted of only seventeen, and possess ed no capital. They resolved to create a capital by depositing in common chest one-tenth of their daily earnings. At the end of the first year capital of e14 los was in this manner created. At the end of the year 1854 the capital had increased to 96S0; and in 1860 the society consisted of 1O7 members; and the capital possess by them was e14, 300.
 No laborers, except shareholders, are employed by this society. The laborers are paid the ordinary wages current in the trade, and the net profits realized are apportloned i'll the following manner i: Two-tifths of these profits form a fund, from which the annual dividend on capi- tai IS paid; and the remaining three-fifths are appropriated to provide an extra bo- nus on labor. The bonus which each la- borer thus receives Is proportioned to the amount oflabor he has performed through out the year. No arrangement that could be devised would more powerfully pro- mote the efficiency of labor. Another French cooperative trading society may with advantage be described, in conse- quence of the remarkable circumstances which attended its formation. In 184S, fourteen pianoforte-makers of Paris re- solved to form themselves into an asso- clatlon. They were as poor as men could be; they had no capital, and scarcely any tools, and they were also refused any loan from the State. After bravely en- during the most severe hardships, they succeeded in saving e45; with this they determined to commence business. They at first rented a very small room in an ob- scure part of Paris Fortunately tim Der merchant was so much impressed in their favor, that he was induced to give them some credit. For many months they denied themselves every luxury; in fact it was impossible to live on more frugal fare. One incident will illustrate the difficulty of their position. They joy fully accepted an offer from a baker to purchase piano for e19, and to pay them for in bread. This bread for a consider able time was their chief means ofsupport. All obstacles were, however, one by one, surmounted: and their progress, though gradual, was steady and sure In a few years the members of the society increas- ed to thirty-two; they had left their first humble room, and were then renting commodious building at ESQ a year; at this time their stock was worth e1 ,6O0 They have latley become the owners of a large freehold manufactory, which is fur nished with the most improved machin- cry; the business which they now annual ly transact exceeds e8,000. This piano forte association has obtained a well-de- served reputation for the excellence and cheapness of its work.
 It is particularly observed that the re- markable success obtained by the two so- cieties first described has been entirely self-created; no reliance whatever was placed upon any extraneous aid. They did not obtain help from the State, they did not waste their energies in declaim- ing against the present constitution of so- ciety. Instead of entering into costly conflict with capital, by the exercise of great self-denial, they saved sufficient to supply their industry with all the capital they required, and they thus became en- titled to enjoy the entire fruits of their labor. When it is observed that those who created these and other similar socie- ties were not aided by single exception ally favorable circumstance, but had, on the contrary, to struggle in the first in- stance with the most trying difficulties, there is reason to feel great confidence in the steady progress of cooperation. There is nothing whatever to prevent hundreds of thousands of workmen doing what was done by those who founded these societies.
 Hitherto cooperation has never been