The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-02-06
LABOR AND COOPERATION.

an American instinct bred iE men md IN
tensitied by the struggle to conquer new
country and fill the wants of new and
growing land The man wko "gets on in
the world " is, too nowadays, generally
the man Of influence, and al have long
ing for that as well rs for wealth for ats
own sake. II is a laudable ambition, sure.
ly.
To get much money for little work and
to get much work tor little money, is also
an instinct, universal, however, 10 its scope,
and by no means an American characters
tic. II IS rs old as the race, ana will char.
acterize the race as long as the world
stands and mems mental structure remains
as it il. This instinct is II. the bottom of
all labor troubles that have been and will
be the source Of all that shall be.
The labor question is one of the greatest
unsolved problems OF our national life, and
the settlement Of the differences between
capitol and labor is one that demands the
gravest thought of statesmen and econo.
mists, Every manufacturing nation loses
millions of money yearly by these misun.
dersttndings; and in our own it Is unmis.
taxable that the relations between the two
a e growing more and more unsatisfactory,
threatening the disastrous interruption Of
productive industry that have been seen in
the old county, estimated 10 have cost Eng.
land alone more than 200 millions of dollars
since 1870
Some weeks ago the dye Of Steel ad
dressed circulars on this subject to leading
manufacturers and economists OF the cCun
try, asking for opinions on the means Of
solving the difficulty A very large nun.
of replies were received and printed. 1t is
remarkable that the majority of the writers
point TO cooperation as the true basis OF
settlement, though the adoption of the sys
TEN in this country is deemed rather prob
lematic, actual former attempts having
proved far from successes.
Professor Waterhouse Of the Washing
ton University puts the case very plainly in
tAis W y:
Cooperation seems to be the most effec
tive means of insuring harmony between
capital and labor. But grave obstacles OBJ
struct its adoption. The successful conduct
of n large business requires a high order Of
talent But nm able han can make NOR.
money by himself, and will decline to shan @
with many the profits acquired by his on n
eagacity. He will claim the full reward
of the success which his foresight has won
But the management of large establish |
ment by incapable men is almOat certain 10
result in failure. Hence, unless phila,
thrOphy induces competent directors 20 SAC |
ritce for the public benefit part of their |
possible prontS, cooperative associations |
Will have tn be content with supprinten |
dents OF inferior ability. This necessity Is |
"A source OF weakness aud danger. But il |
often happens that men who are unable To |
conduct great business can successfully |
manage a small one, and the history of co. |
operative organizations shows that the |
smaller firms have quit uniformly been
most prosperous. The aggregate transac. |
ions of these partnerships are by means |
Last year the sales OF the |
stores of Great Britain amount |
Ell TO more than Sl2j,000,0OO. The Eng. |
ish cooperative societies now contain |
lbou. C5O00O members. France and Ger !
many rank next To Great Britain in the !
number and prosperity of these copartner |
,hips. Ia the United States such associa. |
ions have been lntrequently organized md |
-rely successful. But the experiments in |
Iii hnv
)rable conditions or compliant manage |
nent
That is cooperation direct, as It may be
allied. Another plan is that in operation
n the Pillsbury Mills at Minneapolis, of
which the manager says:
We have instituted an arrangement
among our employees for the distribution of |
surplus profits among them We set aside |
very year certain percentage OF our
profits for this pur Jose. The percentages |
ire distributed among our f0remen and |
heads Of departments and to all men who
,ccupy an especially important and trust
worthy position and to every man who has
been in our service FOR five years NJ matter
what his position may be The amount of |
his percentage is of course, regulated by
he character of the position occupied and
he salary paid 10 the individual men. We
nave no reason TO regret the amount of |
money which We have thus distributed
among our workmen, as ii has given us a
iery loyal and conscientious class of men
md we certainly do not think we are any J
poorer by the outlay. We never have the
east trouble with our employees or ,.isaffec
ion among them. We regret that we have
rot time To go into details and give YOU our
opinion Of the effect industrial partnership
If this character would have on the manu-.
acturing and commercial interests of the
but rs far AS We are concerned the
ystem We have adopted has worked ad.
nirably.
This is nearer the system which has been
a operation in certain large shops In
france for years, which has, 1t is claimed.
oncl isively shown that the system of in,
lustrial partnership. when correctly ap. II
lied, will result in vastly increased gaiis
o the laborer, and In actually increased
'rofits TO the employer, while the increased