The examiner., 1886-03-20
BAZZERSON,.S CO-OPER4-

As Cooperation is now the great question debated in the industrial world as the only solution of the vexed problem of the reconcilement of Capital and Labor, and as much has been said, and is still continuing to be said of the cooperative plan proposed by MT. James G. Patterson, of Hartford, in the management of his quarry at Westerly, R. l., and as some of our readers have asked for the main features of this plan, we propose to cite them as briefly as possible.
 MT. Batterson's idea is to consider the labor aE market price as so much capital. Of the profits at the end of the year one third shall be saved as a reserve to cover possible losses, and the other two-thirds shall be divided between stockholders and laborers in proportion to their interest in the bus mess.
 No officer, overseer, or agent shall be allowed to participate in profits. All work done by machinery shall be counted alike to the credit of labor and capital, and divided by the same sellfsrsr1I4; s4;l d uays WdtrK, and all prices per day, or for piece work shall be fixed by mutual agreement, on or before Jan. 1st. of each year. All disagreements to be settled by arbi- tration. No Workmen discharged unless for good cause, and no drunk c1 o1 cho h<a profits. If the guarantee fund against losses-the one-third-is inefficient for that purpose, the stockholders, themselves, are to make it up.
 These are the main features, and certainly they seem very fair-and looking at them from the standpoint of the capitalist, who will not say along with that, very generous. Yet, there are those amongst industrial reformers who do not look upon this plan with favor. They are rather suspicious of its author, we presume, and this creates suspicion of his plan.
 Our opinion is asked. We give ii freely. Mr. Batterson's plan is a vast improvement on the present wage system, providing it is carried out with a faithfulness and honesty of purpose. The wages are to be fixed by mutual agreement or arbitration. This is good so far as 1t goes. But there is nothing said as to the method of fixing salaries-at least nothing we now remember. If we are correct in this, then here comes the point on which hinges the weakness of the plan, if it does not portray the insin- cerity of the author. After the wages point is agreed upon, there is nothing to prevent the management from fix ing the salaries at a point where the profits will all disappear; consequent ly there will never be any to go back to those who worked the hardest to produce them.
 But we cannot look upon voluntary cooperation by association of individ- uals, as at all capable of Accomplishing ] the purpose referred to at the begin ming of this article, for tie reason, that there is nothing to prevent war of competition between the different associations, and competition is the very thing tacitly admitted by all who accept Cooperation, as the cause of the troubles they desire to avoid. In the light of our Investigations of the subject, we see no halfway house or halting place between Competition as we know it,and the Cooperative com monwealth we seek for-an industrial government in which there shall be no competition for the right to labor and live-no incentive for one man to op. press his brother-none outside the circle of exchange who desire to be within it.
 This may be radical doctrine to uphold. Grant it. But there is noth. ing right that IS not radical; and a that is not perfect will not work. The same is true of the ma chinery of human government.
 Gail Hamilton's latest aphorism is that there are times in womans life when she does not feel like learning language ,r saving soul" One of the times is H..