The Republican journal., 1886-05-06
Cooperative Industry.
BY c. S. GRIFFIN.

The present labor agitation is making two
distinct demands i'll addition to cooperation
One is the equality of wages, and the other is
| for substitute for the wage system. We can
| easily understand how an equality of wages
can be arranged for this only requires that a
| fixed sum shall be paid for an hours work,
| whether the work be mental or physical, and
| whether done by male or female, Old or young,
| skilled or unskillcd. Under present conditions
| it is easier to understand this than endure it. A
| system that would only establish equal pay for
| equal time would be most unequal in its re-
| suits. Nature has created the human race,
each person differing from all others as much
| in tastes and requirements us in looks, and
equal pay for equal time will not supply each
| persons peculiar wants at the same price. A
| persons happiness depends upon whether his
own peculiar wants are supplied or not. If
| his wants happen to he of those things easily
| supplied his happiness may be abundant, but if
| his nature Graves those things that require
much time to produce them, they will be too
| costly for him to possess This shows that the
| wage sy>tcm, no matter how arranged, cannot
| produce equality, or an equal opportunity for
| happiness. and this is why the abolition of the
| wage system is demanded; but it has been
| quite generally admitted that the wage system
| cannot be abolished without first making the
| wages equal. We will proceed on this princi-
| pie, and to those who do not believe the wage
| system can be abolished we will call their at
! tention to the fact that Il husband does not pay
| his wife wages. neither do they pay their chill
! dren wages, yet they live and prosper. The
! fact that Il family of a dozen persons can live
| As one body leach working for all and all for
| each'' and no one paying wages to the Others,
| is but miniature of what the great family of
| the race should be under one father. The fact
| that dozen can live so shows how with Il lit
| tie sklful arranging a hundred dozen can con-
| stitute one family without the wage system.
| And on the same principle the number can
easily be multiplied without limit. The wage
| system is simply the halfway point between
| slavery and freedom; between scrfdom and
equality; and the wage system will be abolish
ed for that great system of the brotherhood of
| man, as taught by the founder of Christianity
He organized himself and followers intoa COM
mune and all lived from one purse and in com
mon, but after his cruciiNion, ignorance led
the commune into moral corruption and to its
final downfall; but the principles upon which
it was organized are still sound and practical
and are the true foundation for the great broth
erh0od of man. Judging from some of the
scahing remarks Of st. Paul and the more bit
ter dcnunciationS of Jude the commune at
tempted TO and did hold their wives and hlIs-
bands in common; thus destroying the only
binding force of the family circle. Love grows,
ripens and decays naturally as the trees do
and by the same law, and blossoms and bears
fruit and blossoms and bears fruit over again
with perfect order and harmony; and this law
cannot be tritlcd with without breeding moral
| and physical corruption. Some think there is
no natural law for marriage for men and Wo-
men any more than for cattle. But this idea is
easily exploded. Though cattle do not marry,
birds and squirrels do and lions and many
other animals are said to marry also. If some
species of birds did not marry they would soon
be extinct. Among the squirrels they have to
have nests and lay up stores for winter. The
male can help build the nest and lay up the
store Thus the male can help the female feed
the young. Cattle lay up no stores. have no
houses and the male can in no way help the
young 10 food or shelter. There are consc-
quentv no family ties among cattle. Not so
with the birds. The male bird helps build the
home, which nature provides they must have.
The male feeds the female while hatching the
young. Helps shelter the eggs and Young in
nights and through storms. Helps feed the
young and helps teach them to fly. These
provisions of nature induce birds to marry,
and for the want of these natural provisions
many animals do not marry. The marriage
law is Il divine and not Il human institution.
Human beings are subject to the same laws but
more OF them in proportion to their superior
intelligence. There is a peculiar law of affinity
that operates stronger among human beings
than it can among less intelligent animals.
Among the robins all males are of the same
color and size and apparently alike in all other
respects. The same is true of the female. The
same principle is true of all other marrying
birds and of all marrying animals. /; is law
of nature that like produces like and extremes
| meet. Nature provides standard of perfec-
ton for every specie according to the climate
it inhabitS. The robin goes north in the sum-
mcr and south i'll the winter and thus practi-
cally does not change climates. 1t is therefore
possible TO have standard of excellence
| among the robins. If a male robin should
be larger than the natural standard and fc-
| male should be smaller than the standard the
natural law that requires extremes to meet
| would cause these two robins to love and
marry, and their ;oung would be of the STAN
dard size. Any divergence from the standard
color would cause the extremes to marry and
rc-c>tabli>h the standard color, while all those
of the standard size love each other, and do
| not love those of either extreme. Here like
| draws like; but the moment the standard of
| excellence attained is dvergcd from then the
| extremes meet This is how the law of love
| keeps a species all of a standard size, color,
| etc. 1t cannot accomplish this in man. The
| American Indians and the Africans have been
| the nearest approach to standard race suited
| to their own localities. But man has ceased to
| be a local inhabitant, and this fact keeps the
| world full of extremes. A man darker than
| the average loves a woman best who is lust as
much lighter than the average. A man larger
| than the average loves best a woman lust as
much smaller than the average. A man of
average sizes loves Il woman of average size
| best, and What Is true Of men IS true of women
also. If man could be localized where the eli
| mate did not change and marry for love only
| the race would soon become as much alike in
| size, complexion and general appearance as is
| seen in the robins. But changing seasons and
| mans ability and love of roaming makes this
impossible. 1t therefore follows that men and
| women will always have their special atiini-
| ties, and cannot swap. their companions, as
perfected species might, and always get one
| equally lovely. An absolutely perfected species
| cannot be. The migratory birds tha keep in
| the same temperature, and the animals that do
not change their place of abode at all come the
! nearest to it. To say that human beings will
| not always marry or that their marriages will be
| lax and of short duration is ony Y to contradict
some of the plainc>t laws of nature. People
can live without clothing but for certain natur-
al reasons at the equator, at the poles, and be-
| tween these points, by the use of clothing they
| can take more comfort. The same may be
| said Of marriage. The race can survive with
out it, but they will have a good many more
| natural laws to contend with. Human beings
will not marry because they must but because
| they nlay and this principle will always oper-
ate. People as well as birds married long be-
fore they ever heard of marriage laws or we'd
| ding ceremonies, and they will continue to
marry after these things are forgotten. ..Whom
| God has joined together let no man put ;sun-
| der cannot apply to people who are living to-
| gether simply in obedience to statute law. If
| that command Whom God has joined togeti-
| cr let no man put asunder' had been strictly
| observed in that ancient commune above refer
| red to, it could not have fallen to pieces by its
own corruption. l could state several other
| natural laws that make the marriage fixed
| institution, but enough has been said to show
| that marriage must not only be sustained but
must be carefully guarded in Il cooperative in
| stitlltiOn or it cannot succeed even far enough
| to equallze the wage system which is much less
| than to abolish wages.
To arrange the equality of wages in the col
| ony the whole number of hours each person
works i'll year should be kept account of, and
| at the end of the year the company should take
its entire income and deduct from it all its eX-
pcnses including interest, taxes, insurance, if
any, sinking fund, repairs, improvements, and
| raw material, then divide the balance equally
| by the number of hours worked by all the
members in the year. Then deduct each mem
| ber's store bill from the amount due him and
pay him the balance in cash, or company's
| bonds, if he desires them, and the company
has some in the market.
| The next step toward equality would be to
make the food consumed by the members and
| their families a company charge, the same as
the sinking fund, food for cattle, repairs, ETC.,
and after paying for all food consumed as Il
company liability, then and not till then divide
| the balance by the number of hours worked
Food is not like clothing. One can only eat so
much, and all should have enough, but to make
clothing a free bounty for all in the same way,