The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-11-17


has been eliminated. Chemically pure,
whisky for medical purposes CAN be
secured at a small cost The system
works we'll. A few oppose the law be-
cause it deDrives them of a profitable
business, but large majority of the
respectable, law abiding people Of the
state are it's stanch supporters.
Ihe time is near at hand when CO.
operation will permeave and control
every department. Of the industrial
world. One business after another
will pass out of the hands of the indi-
Vldual and out of the hands of the cor
poratlon into the control of the public
Many cities have already taken charge
or their WaterWOrks, electric light
plants and street railways. The next
step Will be to establish cooperation
III the stores. workshops and factories.
Finally cooperation will HE itself to
the farm and wake up the Rip Van
Wrinkles from their century sleep on
every plantation in the United States.
What is meant by establishing COOP
GRAFTON in the stores? 1t is very easy
to relate. The small retail store is rap
idly giving way to the large depart
ment store which employees great
many clerks. The proprietor of the de-
partment store finds it difficult to get
the clerks to take the same interest in
the business that he himself takes, and
in seeking a remedy he has about come
to the conclusion that the clerks must
own stock in the store. That is a wise
conclusion. There is. in fact. no other
remedy.
There is a big difference between the
hlred man and the proprietor. The
one is slave, the other is free One
has to be watched and the other has
to 90 the watching. But the moment
the clerk becomes a joint proprietor
there is a complete transforma ton
The magacian's wand could work no
greater change. The shackles have
fallen from the limbs of the servant.
and he stands erect in the wide. free
air, "as if there flowed in his veins the
blood of a hundred kings
The owners Of cotton mills are trying
to discover a method of preventing
strikes and of increasing the efficiency
of the operatives. Many have already
Eascertained that the remedy lies in CO.
operation. They know that strikes
Will be thing of the past when the
operatives become joint owners Of the
mill. Already several mills are oper-
ated on this plan, which is productive
| OF the very best results. It is hoped
that at no distant day every dollars
worth of stock in every factory in the
United States will be owned by the
operatives the men who do the work
Workingmen are anxious to know
how they are to secure possession of
| the, industries Of the country. They
are entitled to the information. The
first thing to do Is to organize. Force
y h the country to
h
r,,5st use glireTt persuasion
| and whatever coercio Oh that d may be
necessary to bring all into the organi-
zatiOn. When that is DONE if it should
| ever become necessary for union men
| to strike for higher wages, there would
not be a single non-union man any,
where to take the place of a striker.
Then all the WOrkingmen in the United
States could act as a unit and would
| be In position to demand the whole
product of their toll. When that has
been accomplished, they will have the
|means to build and operate factories of
itheir own, and corporation will be the
established law of the land Then all
WOrkingmen will be capitalists and
all capitalists will be workingmen.
Wage slavery is retreating before the
invincible forces of cooperation. The
chains Of the slave will soon be bro
ken, and he will breathe at last the
pure air Of freedom.
! In the language of a noted writer
The spirit Of progress is rushing with
incredible speed through cycles of civi-
lization and glory. y."-John Allen Mette
in Augusta (Ga.) Voice of Labor.