New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-12
SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
AND PHILANTHROPY.

INDUSTRIAL AND PHILANTHROPlc.
RAILWAYS AND THEIR Employees BY ! s 0ssia5
ASHLEY pr gresssentc S nj un The Railway Age
and Northwestern Railroader
THE AGED POOR IN ENGLAND AMP WAC ca
BY Charles Booth PIP go Macnl'''"
THE LABOR QUESTION. BY T, G. spyers Up.
5is La fondon: swan Sonnenschein Co; New
York: Charles Scribners Sons.
COOPERATIVE PRoDucTl0,N by BY f H pyse
xcland. Pp $50 oxford: The Clarendon Press
Macmillan Co.
THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRY; BY Henry Henry
Dyer c. E.. NJ A.. D. Sc. etc PIP. 800. Mac
milan & CO.
Doubtless those propagandists Of Socialism VINO
regard capitalism as a crime, who reckon 'hei'-
selves to have monopoly of all industriai WIS
DOM and who hold all capitalists to be seinsh
ogres intent only upon gorging themselves Will
the lifebood Of the people" will be surprised TO
find that railroad president has actually written
a book on industrial reform. Still more VIII 'hey
be amazed II they do him the justice 10 READ MS
hook. TO discover that It is not a mere defence OF
Capitalism nor indiscriminate remuneration
Of organized labor but plea for the rights OF
labor and FOR the lettering OF the conoitlon Oh
workingmen Yet that is just the sort OF book
Mr. Ashley has produced lie writes as railroad
man 10 railroad men. both employers and en-
Moves In fact the beginning OF his book was an
ESSAY contributed by him TO The Railway Age
His discussions of railroad labor problems are
equally applicable. however, TO other departments
OF the Industrial world. and are worthy or careiui
consideration by all who are striving for progress
In that world.
The plan Of reform which in the interest OF the
vorkingman Mr.. Ashley outlines comprises
system OF promotions. cooperation and proht-
sharing Of insurance and pensions the nrst OF
these needs no argument In Its favor. In nearly
all industrial establishments eelf-interest II not
sense OF Justice leads employers TO I'LL hlgher
p,aces as far as possible. by promotions from
lower ones II is true that In most cases. as the
cadets at Benny Havens's complained Of the
Army. "promotion's very slow" But that Is In
evitabIe Privates must always Outnumber field
rarshels As TO cooperation and protit-sharing.
these have hitherto been tried both in production
and in trade: more widely in England than IN
America. but sufficiently here to make manifest
both the advantages and the weak points OF the
system Mr. Ashley unerringly indicates the
weak points People do not accept the system
"for better or for worse" They buy at their CO.
operative stores just as long as they can do so
more cheaply than elsewhere. But the moment
some rival concern Of the universal provider
tyne. for the sake Of advertisement. puts some or
its prices a trife lower they flock thither. and the
"co-Op." is deserted. 80 IL Is III pIoHI-S""'''S
Men are glad to share gains but neither will
ing nor able to share losses Yet, all well kno"
losses are frequent and must be borne by some
body Certainly II the employees are to share the
profits and to have voice in the direction or the
business the employer must not be expected 10
endure alone the burden of Improbable seasons
Power and responsibility must not be separated
Until the employers are ready. If ever. TO share
losses as we'll as profits. Mr.. Ashley thinks. they
must be contented to have their gains conditioner
upon promotion for length and faithfulhess oi
service and upon the euccess OF their e'hplo!el'
There is 20 be added however. for their pehehI II
system Of pensions and insurance Ihis Is al
ready In vogue in great enterprises ana
seems TO work well. and Mr.. Ashley argues earn
estly in favor of its general adoption lie ooes
not mean for the workmen themselves OUT VI
their own wages to accumulate fund for that
purpose He would have the employers create II
ont Of the capital Of the concern and increase 1t
yearly by regular appropriations from the pron's'
Startling as the proposition may at first seem for
q cornoration 10 set aside $4,000 100000 year
as q practicaI gift to its employees he thinks II
1yould he not merely justice hut sound and profit
able business policy. securing more faithful. efh-
Gent and contented service and doing away WIN
strikes The administration Of such fund should
he Of course. largely conditioned upon the length
of service Of the benefciaries. and thus 1t would
powerfully conduce TO that permanency Of force
through which the best industrial results are to
be gained.
There is not the least incongruity in Mr. Ash
!. )ey's adding to these pleas for the interests or
u labor an equally earnest criticism of Socialism.
Indeed his attack upon Socialism is made from
the workngmans point Of view. Socialists dwell
upon the great fortunes that have been accumu-
lated and the unequal distribution Of wealth.
That is true But suppose all existing wealth
were equally distributed. how small would be
each individuals share and how impossible 1t
would be for any great enterprise to be carried
forward There is a familiar story of one Of the
Rothschilds who was one day approached by
counIe of militant Socialists with demand for
IAN equal division all around" Certainly, gen.
4Iemen" said he. MY fortune amounts TO 10000
coo francs There are 100000 people in Paris
That is Just rs francs apiece. Here are your
shares % francs for each Of you. Now you are.
OF course fully satisfied. Good day" Nor IS that
oil the disappointment an equal division would
mean A great proportion OF the worlds wealth
has been accumulated through individual intia-
tive energy, ambition. and-to put IT extremely
greed Under Socialism IL never would have come
into existence Under Socialism some Of the most
nowerful incentives to productive energy would
be abolished Wealth making would be discour-
aged and would decline. The wealth OF the nauoii
or Of the world would rapidly decrease ana inc
end would be universal poverty. That wouid De
the case unless human nature could be 50 trans
formed by act of Congress that every man would
labor as earnestly and vigorously for the common
good alone as he now does for the common good
and also for the good Of himself and his family.
Perhaps men ought to do that. But they never
have done so 10 any general extent, and are not
likely 10 do 50 until the millennium. The practical
bic and the true scheme is TO retain individual
Initiative and incentives TO effort and at the same
ornart,,nLties md II prnXide for