The Arizona sentinel., 1886-07-24
RUSSIAN COOPERATION.
Outline of the Peculiar system of COmbina-
 tions Existing fin Russia.

Outline of the Peculiar system of COmbina-
 tiOns Existing fin 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 well if the systems of other European countries were presented in future reports.
 The Russian people have peculiar form of cooperation, the following out line of which will prove of interest to the readers. It consists of combina- ton or club, called artell, and is, to a 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, carters, 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- tracting 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 a 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 a ball. These form an artelI to look after the property, and then distribute the gratuities received. The workmen engaged in erecting a building. or in doing any other kind of work, join together to form an artell.
 Le 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 a guard against all misfortunes which might happen if they were isolated. The workmen who go 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 ,ells."
 This writer then describes an associa- ton of this kind. He says: ''One 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 ap- pointed to carry out the general busi- ness; the 'artelItSchik, who had to look out for 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, defrayed the common expenses, and divided the wages; and two 'starchi, to whom was intrusted the control of the chief and the treasurer. At the commencement of the winter the artell, which consisted then of siXty-five 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 defrayed by tte artell treasury. On the union being dissolved the sum of money remaining ir 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 handicraft the other work