The morning call., 1890-05-07
woEKMEN,s ASSOCIATIONS.

A certain number of workmen at Los
Angeles have formed a LabOrers' Co.
operative Company, and have obtained
from the city a contract for a sewer The
men work for Is cents an hour. and put in
eight hours, or as many hours per day as
they choose; at the end of the Job they
divide any profit which remains, and we
presume if there is no profit, in conse-
quence of an error in their calculations,
they divide the loss This appears to be a
sensible enterprise. In Europe, workmen's
cooperative societies have occasionally
succeeded, to the satisfaction of their pro-
mOters
There is no reason why workmen should
not be their own bosses. The boss for
whom they generally work was formerly
one Of themselves. No change took place
in his mental or physical attributes when
he ceased to work for wages and began to
employ others TO work for him. He was
simply a little smarter than his fellows:
he realized his opportunities and turned
them to account. Lots OF men in his ser
vice are as capable as he, and would sue
coed as we'll if they possessed the same am
bition.
The trouble with cooperative societies of
workmen arises from the difficulty of main
tanning discipline. The normal tendency of
every member Of each society is to want to
boss the job. and as all the members can
not be bosses, the societies often 60 to
pieces from internal discussions. This is a
tendency which the growth Of intelligence
IN the Wage-eaTning class should gradually
overcome. Each member of the society
can exercise his influence in selecting Off
GERS; but this done his authority ends. He
must work for the boss CT his selection as
faithfully and as uneomplainingly as if he
was taking his orders from 2 stranger who
paid him wages ana could discharge him at
will. When workmen learn this simple
duty they will become their own en-
ployers, and the class Of contractors who
grow rich out of the toll of their employees
vii! find their vocation gone.
1t Is singular that workmen have not per-
ceived that this plan would solve the diff
cult problems Of hours of labor and rates of
wages. Under the present system, antag-
onism is the normal relation Of the con-
tractor and his hands. The former tries to
get the most work out of his men for the
least money. The latter try to give him
the least work for the most money The
result is chronic friction, varied by sporadic
outbreaks. Now, if the employer class
were removed from the area of conflict and
the labOrer, questions Of wages and hours
Of labor would be settled by the latter as he
cnose. without conflict or controversy. 1t
is quite immaterial to the man who builds
house whether the carpenters and masons
and nainters VINO work on it put in eight or
six or ten hours day, or how they divide
the money which he pays for the COM
pleted structure. In their society the men,
bers would decide how many hours they
could afford to work per day SO as to make
a fair profit on the job; and they would de-
termine the length of their days work &C
oordinglY. The man who was to own the
house would have nothing to say in the
matter. If their working day was too
short, the man who wanted the house
might not choose to wait so long, and the
society would not get the contract. 1t
might go to some other workmen's associa-
ton. Competition would regulate the mat
ter.
In France and Belgium, where co-opera-
tive societies of workmen have fiourished
for many years, the men have experienced
difficulty in obtaining the capital necessary
to establish plants for such enterprises as
iron fOundries. But finance is backward
in those countries. The fashion of hoard
ing savings in old stockings still obtains,
and keeps large amounts Of money out OF
use. In this country savings are us ually
placed where they will fructify, and large
body of intelligent, industrious workmen
can always borrow little money to start
works with, and gradually increase them
as the profits of their business grow. There
are few workmen's associations in North
ern France which began with nothing, and
which now are so wealthy that shares of
stock in the associations command a pre-
MUM. There is hardly doubt of the sue
cess of similar combinations in this country,
provided the original members start on
sound principles, and keep clear of politics
and wild theories of social reform.