The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-28
An Experiment in Cooperation.

ital purposes for many years to come!
An Experiment In Cooperation.
The arrangement by which the great
Northern Railroad Company has set
apart portion of its stock for its en-
ployees. to be by them purchased at its
par value, is step In the direction OF
practical Industrial cooperation. which
at least points the way to the proper
manner of achieving that end. II It
works out satisfactorily, 1t may ulti-
mately and with profit be followed by
other large employers Of labor.
There are two things to be noted in
this connection; one that the savings Of
the wage earners In the United States
reach an enormous aggregate every
year, the other that the opportunities
of safe and profitable investment Of
such small sums as the individual saw
ings are rare. In communities where
thrift Is an everyday virtue, the surplus
above living expenses, as a rule, finds
its way into the savings banks. The
returns are necessarily small, for under
rigid control of savings institutions, in
most states. they can invest in nothing
but the highest class Of bonds, where
security is absolute, the risk Of loss Is
eliminated, and the interest correspond
ingly low. 1t is asserted. and the fig
ures show that the statement ap-
proaches the truth, that the deposits in
New England savings banks. owned to
great extent by wage earners, aggre-
gate sum nearly sufficient to dupli-
cate the factories of these states, II
they were devoted to that purpose.
On the other hand, industrial cooper
alton, on the theory Of cooperation in
the management, has almost uniformly
proved a. failure. 1t would seem, there
fore, that the ideal investment for the
savings Of the wage Garner would be in
the stock Of the institution with which
he Is connected. He is familiar with
it's workings, and to some extent with
its management. He has a fair oppor-
tunity to Judge whether 1t is honestly
and economically conducted, and
whether 1t is so equipped and managed
as to insure its holding its own with its
competitors in the same line Of business.
Such an investment, would make his in
terests more nearly identical with those
of his employer or rather IT would open
his eyes to the fact that their interests
are more nearly in common than he has
heretofore realized.
To the managing heads of the great
industrial and transportation corpor-
ations, the stock of which Is always
more or less widely distributed. 1t would
certainly be Of advantage to have con-
siderable portions of 1t held by the men
in the employ of the corporation. The
manager Of such an enterprise is TO
some extent buffer between the stock
holders and the employees, with some
times the difficult task of endeavoring
to reconcile differences Of opinion as to
the proper distribution of earnings; the
stockholders naturally desiring more
dividends and the employees higher
wages.
AS both workingmen and employers
become better educated in the great law
of identity of interest, we may expect
to see opportunities for such investment
more generally offered and gladly ac-
copied. 1t is a practical method of
profit sharing. 1t Is a substitute for the
savings bank. 1t is concrete industrial
cooperation. From the need Of expert
management and the other need of per-
sonal interest in its success on the part
Of every employe, industry as far as we
can see will never escape. If this meth
cd of combining all engaged in a COM.
mon occupation is not final develop.
ment of cooperation, 1t Is at least a
step forward. We hope to see 1t more
generally adopted and look to 1t for ex-
cellent results in greater forbearance
by one party to the Industrial compact
and larger sympathy and generosity by
the other.
When there is no important war news
in the London papers their columns
seem to be given up to the engagements
of the military experts.