Year: 1870

|
may be disposed of, its proceeds will be


divided as follows: 1st, Such deductions
| Will be made from it for taxes, general
expenses, education, and the support of |
the destitute and infrm as may be neces-


sary for those purposes, or as may, from |
time to time be prescribed by competent |
authority. I'd, A certain portion (usual-


ly, and on the average, one third, win be
| allowed for the use Of capital, and will be


set apart to pay dividends to stocknold- |
ers; and Sd. The residue will be credited |
to the group for distribution among its
| several members.


This distribution is an interesting and |
important feature of our proposed indus


trial organization, for it is the application


IN practice of that principle which we


have pronounced fundamental, of reward


according to production or, as it may be


called with equal propriety, reward accor-


ding to Industrial merit. The determine


ton of this reward belongs, in strictness,


exclusively to the group, and not at all
to any Board or officer of the Commune.


The Treasurer or general accountant of the
Commune viii indeed transfer the general
credit which group may have on his
| books to the individual credit of its sepa-
rate members whenever their respective
shares shall be duly reported to him, and
the accountant of the group will be assis-
tea, II necessary, IN making the required
computations. But the group keeps its
own accounts with its membeos, and has
the sole right of determining in what pro
| portions they shall severally be remunera-
ted Tor their labor, the criterion of remu-
nerauon being the amount of time devo-
ted to work by each, compounded with


his relative efficiency, or, more simply sta
| ted, the amount which his labor and skill
have Ib1faA fC he, yl,,oR Il. ~.


group has created For industrial eff
cheney is made up of two very different
elements, first the physical force expen-
ded, and second, the skill or aptitude with
which this force Is applied to effect its
purpose. Consideration is also due to the
skill of supervision by which industry is
directed into productive channels, or by
which efficient industrial methods are de-
vlsed; and hence the Captain or Chief of
group should have an allowance more or less
| considerable on account of his superior
competency IN superintendent, for with
out such superior competency he is not
ntted for his position, and it may be pre-
| sumed would not have been projected to
1t. The unequal distribution of prize
money among the officers and privates of
a man Of war is based upon this principle,
and the principle would be correctly ap-
Piled II naval rank were always exactly
proportioned to merit and capacity, as it
by no means Is But in the case of an
industrial group the co-operators, being
perfectly familiar with each others work,
Will always know how to estimate each
others efficiency accurately, and will
moreover be prompted by their votes to
rate 1t justly, since if they should do 9th
erwlse the member wronged might be
provoked to quit the group, as he is at
OF b, i. i L /
the service of some other group in which
his cooperation will be properly appreci-
ated, If group sheuld do serious injus-
tlce to any of its members 1t would en-
danger its industrial efficiency upon which
Its reputation depends, a risk which it
Will not dare to incur, especially when it
shall be IN active competition with rival
groups, as it will be as soon as industrial |
organization advances beyond its rudi-
mentary stages. On the other hand, it
might happen that a member, by reason
Of an exaggerated estimate of his own
usefulness, might take offence if rated
justly, an lntirmity to which some persons
are liable, and for which there is no more
etfectual antidote than seeking in vain to
get his services more highly estimated
elsewhere. 1t Is possible indeed that q
co-operator may, IN some exceptional case,
get into group in which he does not be-
long, IN consequence of mistaking his in
dustnal capacity, in which case It is de-
slrable that he should find in some other
group a position to which he is better ad-
apted. If an unfortunate associate can
ind no group which will accept his Coop
GRAFTON, he may be permitted to labor on
his own account, or for wages and if he
cannot, IN any way, be made useful, he
must be regarded as IN a state of iTre- |
tyleUa6le Fnsbecility, and, if entitled to the
rights Of a full member of the Commune,
must be cared for and subsisted as the
young and helpless are


The following mode is suggested for de-
termlnlng the relative industrial efficien-
cy OF the several members of a group, it
being understood that it is suggested only
as a provisional mode to be used until It
may ne superseded by better, and that
the group will always have the right to
adopt any mode which it may prefer At
stated times vote of the group will be ta-
Ken, when each member will prepare a
ticket or ballot rating each of his indus
trlal companions occording to his estimate
OF their respective merits, and will deliver !
1t to confidential officer or committee
appointed for the purpose with his name
lndorsed thereon. l use the epithet con-


tdef1tIGE IN this connection to indicate
that the ballot Is secret, that is, is not to
be made known except by the voter him
self or with his consent


Votes to determine industrial rank NAV
be taken by each group as often as it
thinks proper, and, at first, while indus
trial capacities are not only imperfectly
understood by reason of being fmperfectly
tested, but may also be rapidly changing
by practice IN a new vocation, and under
new circumstances, such votes may per-
haps be taken as often as once in every
week in which the group has performed
any labors


Industrial rank may be indicated on the
ballot thus: Let the highest rate be de-
noted by -. The Captain of the group
will probably be entitled to this extreme {
rate, and possibly one or two others: the
inferior efficiency Of other members will
be expressed by lower numbers according
to the voters opinion of the merits of
| each. Perhaps come one OF more of the
co-operators may be boys lust entering
upon their industrial career whose rate
may approximate zero. Whether voter
| viii be permitted to use fractions of one


half IN order to discriminate very minute
| differences IS question to be decided by


experience, and by each group for itself


We have now come to the proper place


to announce another important principle
of our proposed organization, and also a


novel one, being yet untried in popular


elections, and never thought of, perhaps,
by any political reformer II is that, votes !
should have force or efficiency in pro-


portion to the interest of the voter, that |
is, in proportion to the amount he has at |
stake IN the issue which his vote and the |


votes of others will decide; a.force which, |


beng measured by the voters actual |
achievements in industry, will correspond |


approximately with the voters industrial |


capacity. The task of those who canvass |


the ballote is therefore more complex than |


the mere counting of them, since each |


vote has a special rate Of its own, and |


perhaps different from that of any other, |


for the rate depends upon the previous |


industrial rank of the voter as determin-
ed at the next preceding ballot, or in


some other proper way, a statement of
} which must be IN possession of the can


vassers to enable them to ascertain and
announce the result This rule is applied
IN voting for Chiefs of groups, in deter