The Republican journal., 1886-04-22
Cooperative Industry.
A UNION OF LABOR AND CAPITAL.
BY c. 5. GRIFFIN.
III :" % UNIT NJ
(No. y

The employment of labor by capital does not
always represent a union of labor and capital |
for union in its true sense represents work.
ing together for mutual good. The capitalist |
who goes into the labor market and hires labor
at the smallest possible price for the longest |
possible days, and the helpless laborcrs who
must accept the situation offered or starve with
his family, represents no union of capital and |
labor 1t represents only a kind of civil war |
between capital and labor in which capital is |
carrying off the booty. Such war cannot |
long continue either civil or bloodess for cap
ital will keep up its collection and make its
position more and more tempting; and labor |
will increase in misery more and more for |
desperate attack upon the boarded pile of
tempting booty. This certainly is no enviabIe |
position for either party, and civilization can
| not be founded upon it in safety. Yet this |
represents too much of the present condition
of labor and capital. The capitalist has no i'll
terest in the welfare of any one laborer. He |
| only knows the laborers by numbers and when |
a few disappear, no matter how, he knows |
there is sufficient number left who will be |
clamoring at his door for employment, or
| those disappearing. A capitalist dying or fail !
ing is missed by the laborer only as a slave |
misses his master. lie only wonders which of
the heirs will inherit the old masters pile and
continue to demand their service. This cond- |
| ton of things has already gone far enough to
Jcopardizc the peace Of the American Republic |
and put the balance of the world in less en-
riable condition. 1t is time to provide rem
edy. But this can only be done by first eXan- |
ming the remedies suggested then trying them
i'll small and cautious way to prove their
value before the world can be induced to accept
them as whole.
The advocate of cooperative industry says.
the way to induce Il capitalist to invest his
money at the disposal or control of the laborer
is to assure the capitalist that bis money will
| be safe will return and return dividend. and
can be got out in case the capitalist becomes
| dissatisfied with the investment. The laborer
wants to know that the capital cannot be with
| drawn or controlled that it can in any way
| cripple his industry. These things being as
sured, capital and labor can and will cooperate.
| A way to accomplish the object is this Five
| persons should organize themselves into Il cor
| poration, according to law, for the purpose of
general industry. The corporation should then
| issue Il thousand shares of membership stock
at five dollars per share. A person wishing to
join the corporation would first have to deposit
| five dollars with the company when applying
| to become member; and furnish proof as far
| as possible of good character and habits and of
| such accomplishments AS the applicant may
| possess. The company would then vote to
elect or reject the applicant. If elected he
| would receive the membership certificate Of
| stock which would make him a full member of
| the company the same as the original incorpor
| atorS, and the five dollars would go into the
| company's treasury; if rejected, his five dollars
| would be returned. The company would 90
on in this manner, making up its membership
| to any number it saw fit, not being limited by
| the thousand membership certificates first is
sued. The first money in the treasury would
be used to reimburse the five original ncorpor-
ators for the expense of incorporating and
| printing certificates. less, of course, five dollars
| from each of them for their membership.
| When the company had reached a member
ship of one thousand it would proceed to elect
|
tract of land to locate the Cooperative Colony
upon. The company would then make an esti-
mate of their intended outlay for land. build
| ing> stock, tools. machinery, etc. for the first
| year and be careful to make the estimate large
enough to cover everything. Then issue
mortgage to cover it all, which one great mort
| gage must be divided into fractional parts of
| ten dollars each. Each part is to be numbered
and dated as issued, aSsignabe to definite per-
| sons or to bearer, as the purchaser might re-
| guirc; and to be known as first mortgage bonds
on the entire estate of the Colony. These bonds
| would be put upon the market at par to be
| purchased by whom>oever might buy them.
whether members of the Colony or not.
Owning these bonds, or amy number of them.
would give the owner no right to vote in the
| affairs of the Colony. The members alone
| would have the right to conduct the affairs OF
the Colony. Each member, male or female,
Old or young would have one vote in the affairs
of the company long as they held a member
| ship certificate. whether they held any of the
company'S bonds or not. The sale of the bonds
and the turning over of the funds to pay for
| the land, machinery, etc., should be conducted
| through some bank. When enough OF the
bonds had been subscribed for to purchase the
! land. day should be set for the paying in of
| the money, upon which day the deeds of the
| land should be delivered TO the company and
| paid for then and there with the money re-
ccyed for the mortgage bonds, and on the same
| day the deeds should be recorded to the com
pany, and all the mortgage bonds then sold and
| held for future sale should he recorded rs the
one great mortgage against the company. Sup
| pose one-tenth part of this great mortgage was
disposed of in bonds on this day. the other
nnc-tenthS would be held in the Colony's
treasury. and the property of the Colony would
only be held liable for the amount that had
been sold. The ninc-tcnthS part held in the
treasury would be held by the company without
a consideration, and would therefore be worth
less in law until sold and a consideration re-
| ceivcd for it.
After bond has been sold and the company
has received the money for it. then when the
company buys it in again the company will
hold it as mortgage against itself, and would
share the benefits with other creditors in case
of foreclosure. Conducted through Il third
party like a bank in the manner above tes-
scrbed, the capitalist who put his money into
those bonds would simply be investing money
ill a sound mortgage real estate If the In
dustrial Corporation should at any time fail or
fall to pieces, the capitalists money would be
safe, because by the bond he would hold the
land and all upon it, including improvements,
to the full satisfaction of his claim.
1t may be urged that Shrewd business man
would not let money mortgage that was
big enough to represent the full value of the
farm. He wants some margin to 90 and come
on in case he has TO forcclo!e and sell at Il Sacri-
flee. His margin is amply provided for The
| character Of the members Of the company. their
faith in the enterprise, and the fact that they
all have Il small investment and their employ
mcnt at stake on its success, and the fact that
the property was bought in large lump for
cash inSures the fact that it will sell for all il
cost. The corporation cannot know that ii
must fail, if it must, within at least year from
starting In this time improvements will be
made of necessity. Outside settlers will be
drawn around it in the time, which will also