Morning journal and courier., 1880-10-19
OCTOBER l9. 1880.
A REMARKABLE REIMBURSEMENT

A REMARKABLE ESTABLISHMENT. Schemes of cooperation under which l workmen share the profits of work with their employers have in many cases proved very disappointing to social reformers who expected much from them. But there is an I instance of such cooperation in Paris which has had such prolonged and brilliant suc-
 cess as to be very encouraging to those who \ believe in the system. This is the Leclaire establishment Gone of the largest Parisian es- ! tablishments engaged in the business of l house decoration) which, though it has been l managed on the cooperative plan for nearly I forty years, has not attracted the notice due ! it in this country or in England. It was lately examined with much care by an Eng llsh visitor, who has communicated the fruits of his inspection to the Ninetee1aM Century. The visitor was allowed free access to the accounts of the establishment and to every | source of information, and he had abundant | opportunities of eliciting a candid expression 1 of opinion from the workmen themselves. | His investigation shows that the business has been carried on not only to the material in- tellectual and moral advantage of the en- ployed, but to the signal pecuniary advantage l of the employers. The profit aecruing to the ! workmen connected with the Leclaire insti- 1 tuition is of a most substantial nature and of many kinds, comprising yearly bonus of 15 per cent. on their aggregate wages life pension of $2O0 annually from the fftieth year of age and twentieth year of work, one- half of which is continued to the employees widow for her life; an insurance of $2OO,
 payable to his family at his death, and the
 certainty that if disabled by accident en- countered when on duty workman will be
 placed beyond the reach of want, and that
 if he be killed his family will not be left
 without some permanent means of support.
 This is the material side of the situation
 On the other hand, habits of industry and
 forethought are developed by the fact that
 profits are proportioned to the amount of
 wages earned, while the whole mental and moral character is improved by direct par ticipation in the management as well as the profits of the business
 It was in 1S42 that E. J. Leclaire announced his intention of dividing a share of the years profits with those whom he employed At that time $2, 375 were distributed among A par ticipants, giving average of more than $50 a man. During the six following years an average sum of $3, ,750 was apportioned be- tween some 80 persons. The amount divid- ed and the number of workmen have steadily increased since those earlier years, until at the last pay day, in June, 1880, bonus of $32, ,000 was shared among 1,125 employees. The individuals share of profits varies, as we have said, with the yearly total of wages earned; but it must not be supposed that the establishment constitutes close corpo- ration, and that only those permanently en- gagged are entitled to receive a bonus. On the contrary, every casual employe, though he may have worked but single day, is en- titled to his proportionate allotment of the years gains, and, moreover, if killed or dis abled during his one days employment, he is awarded the same provision as the rest
 The capital of the Leclaire establishment amounts to $S0,000 one-half of which is the property of two managing partners and the other of the Workmen's Mutual Aid Society The whole fund of this society is not less than $22o,0O0 that part of it which is not invested or lent on interest to the house being placed in Government securities. The annual profits of the business are distributed as follows.
 The two managing partners receive each a salary of $1, POO for superintepdence Inter- est at per cent. is paid to them and to the workingmens society on their respective capitals. Of the net gains one-quarter goes to the two partners jointly, another quarter to the relief society, and the remaining half is divided among the employees individually in the ratio of the wages paid to each during the year. The administration of the institution is in the hands of a council, of which the employees con- stitute large majority, and a vacancy among the managing partners is filled by the appointee of the workmen themselves. To guard against the disqualification through want of capital of manager selected by them, it is provided that the capital of the outgoing partner shall not be withdrawn till after such lapse of time as shall permit it to be replaced out of the profits accruing to his successor, a time which, according to re- cent experience, would not exceed three years.
 To show that under this system the work man does not necessarily impoverish the em- ployer, 1t is stated that Leclaire, who died a few years ago, was worth $24O,O0O at the time of his death, and he was of the opinion that he never could have attained the same pecuniary position by the beaten track of routine.