The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
RUSSIAN COOPERATION.
Outline of the Peculiar system Of Combina
tians Existing in Russia.

Outline of the Peculiar system Of COmbina-
tions Existing in Russia.
In these days of profit-sharing and CO.
operative movements in this country, it
Is well to look to the success of older
movements in other countries. Colonel
Wright has done servive in present
ing in his recent report of the Massa-
chusetts Labor Bureau comprehensive
summary on cooperation in Great
Britain. We think it would be we'll if
the systems of other European countries
were presented in future reports.
The Russian people have a peculiar
form of cooperation, the following out
line of which will prove of interest to
the readers. 1t consists of combina-
ton Or club, called artell, and is, to
certain extent, akin to the cooperative
societies of West Europe. They might
almost be called temporary associations.
In nomadic communities, artells are
unions of handicraftsmen, carriers, serv-
ants, ETC., the object of which is to pro-
vide work, and sometimes even food, for
all its members. There are, therefore,
different kinds of artells. In this way
the Custom-house officers and mer-
chants provide work for the artells, con-
tracing with them for the supply of
members to look after their goods, the
loading and unloading of the same, etc.
Such unions are also found in barracks
to provide for the soldiers; travellers
who accidentally meet on the road, and
who separate after certain time, form
an artell and defray their travelling ex-
penses and the cost of their food out of
the common treasury.
An artell is sometimes formed even
for few hours-as, for example, in the
case of servants who have accompanied
their masters to ball. These form an
artell to look after the property, and
then distribute the gratuities received.
The workmen engaged in erecting
building. or in doing any other kind of
work, join together to form an artell.
LIE Play, in his work Lies Ouvriers
Europeans. says: "In Russia every per-
son belonging to the working class is
surrounded throughout his life by nu-
merous family, with which he lives in
absolute community as guard against
oil misfortunes which might happen if
they were isolated. The workmen who
60 abroad and into the large towns to
undertake different kinds Of work, and
who are deprived of this protection for
the first time, hasten to repair the loss
by forming voluntary associations,
which are known by the name of ar
ellis"
This writer then describes an associa-
ton of this kind. He says: Zone work
man, on his arrival in St. Petersburg,
joined about forty parcel carriers, each
of whom had put a certain sum of
money in the common treasury of the
artell. Four members were then APP
pointed to carry out the general bust
ness; the 'artelltschik, who had to look
outfor work, to settle the price for which
it was to be undertaken, and to divide
the work; the 'cloutschik,' who had
charge of the treasury, betrayed the
common expenses, and divided the
wages; and two 'starchi,' to whom was
intrusted the control of, the chief and
tiaS tkOttoulOls nu tllC OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
of the winter the artelI, which consisted
then of sixty-tive members, was again
dissolved The work which had been
done consisted in the loading and un-
loading of ships, and in looking after
gardens in the town. The meals were
taken together, and the cost betrayed by
tie artell treasury. On the unionbeing
dissolved the sum of money remaining
in the treasury was equally divided, the
amount of work done by each individual
not being taken into account at all"
The savings of each member amounted
to about twenty-five dollars in our cur
rency.
The disposition for associations,
deeply rooted in the Sclavonic race,
penetrates the whole Russian working
class. As soon as any one commences
to learn q handicraft the other work.