or some part of the capital which their industry requires. Co-operative trading societies are those in which the workmen employed own the whole of the capital necessary for carrying on their business. In such cases it is evident that the antagonism between employers and employed ceases to exist, because both capital and labour are provided by the same individuals. There are several cooperative trading societies in Great Britain, but the most successful and consequently the best known of these institutions are in Paris. In the year 1852 seventeen masons, in Paris, resolved to carry on business with the aid of no other capital than that which they themselves could provide. They at first created a small capital by saving one-tenth of their daily earnings. With this small beginning they commenced business, and so successful were they, that in 1860 the society consisted of 107 members with a capital of £14,500. Many most important buildings in Paris have been built by this society. Every labourer employed in this society owns part of the capital. The ordinary wages are paid and the profits of the capital are distributed in the following manner :-two fifths are reserved to pay the annual dividend on the capital, and the remaining three fifths are distributed as a bonus upon labour. The amount of the bonus which each labourer receives is proportioned to the amount of work which he has done during the year. By this arrangement perfect identity of interest is established between capital and labour, and, at the same time, the earnings of each individual are proportionate to the amount of capital which he has in the concern, and upon the quantity of labour which he performs. The co-operative principle was applied with great success to agriculture, by the late Mr Gurdon, of Assington, Suffolk. About 40 years ago Mr Gurdon let some farms to an association of labourers; he advanced them the necessary capital, which they

agreed to repay in a certain number of years. The experiment has proved entirely successful; the farms are in a high state of cultivation; Mr Gurdon's capital has long since been repaid, and the condition of the labourers has improved in the most striking manner. The labourers appoint from among their own body a committee of management, and those who are employed receive the ordinary agricultural wages, and at the end of the year the profits are divided amongst all who own shares.

Copartnership. In England a modification of co-operative principles has been carried out in several instances with great success. One of the best known of these copartnerships of industry was that which was started by the Messrs Briggs, of Methley near Leeds. These gentlemen had long been large colliery proprietors; they were so harassed by constant disputes with the miners, and had suffered so much pecuniary loss from the frequency of strikes, that their profits were very seriously reduced, and they were almost determined upon relinquishing their business. They however finally resolved upon trying, as a last resource, the effect of a partnership between capital and labour. They accordingly converted their business into a joint-stock company, the capital of which was £135,000, in 9000 shares of £15 each. The Messrs Briggs retained 6000 of these shares, and the remaining 3000 shares were offered to the men employed in the mines. These shares were quickly taken up, and thus a workman, even if he owned but one share, was virtually a partner in the concern. The company is managed by directors, by whom all the shareholders are represented, the workmen appointing one of their own body. When the profits on capital exceed ten per cent., it has been agreed that half the surplus should be distributed as a bonus upon labour, each workman receiving a sum proportionate to the wages he has earned during the pre

vious year. This scheme worked with great success for nearly ten years; during a time when disputes between employers and employed in the surrounding district were bitter, when strikes were frequent and heavy losses were being made, the business of the Messrs Briggs was most prosperous, and the relations between them and their men were harmonious and friendly. It has, however, unfortunately happened that the principle of copartnership which weathered the storm of adverse times and slack trade, was not proof against the trial of a very large and sudden increase in the profits and wages in the coal trade. In the years 1871 and 1872, the degree of prosperity in the coal trade was quite unprecedented. Wages and profits were almost doubled. Under these circumstances a dispute arose at Methley on the manner and the proportion in which these greatly increased profits should be distributed between capital and labour; and the dispute resulted in the abandonment of the copartnership principle.

Although the experiment tried at Methley has been abandoned, it should be remembered that the circumstances under which it was given up were very exceptional. Copartnership has been adopted with uninterrupted success in several other departments of industry; for example, by the Messrs Crossley in their large carpet manufactory at Halifax, and by the late Lord George Manners on a farm which he cultivated near Newmarket.

The advantages of co-operation and copartnership may be divided into two classes. In the first place, strikes are avoided, and consequently great pecuniary loss is prevented. In the second place, the efficiency of labour is greatly increased, and consequently more wealth is produced. A workman too often has the feeling that it makes no difference to him whether he is industrious or idle, careless or careful of his employer's pro

perty. He and his employer look upon each other as natural enemies, one of whom tries to do as little work and get as much wages as possible, and the other tries to give as little wages and to get as much work as possible. In such a condition of things overlookers have to be engaged by the employer, to see that the workmen fulfil their share of the bargain; but however much they are overlooked average men will never work with the best energy they can give, unless they feel that they themselves are directly benefited by their own labour. The stimulus which copartnership gives to labour is too often overlooked. Every capitalist who has given copartnership a fair trial in his own business, is always ready to admit that it is most profitable in a pecuniary sense. The bonus distributed among the workmen does not represent so much taken away from the employer's profits; it represents part of the pecuniary value of the increased efficiency of labour.

We are constantly assured that strikes have imperilled and still threaten to destroy the commercial greatness of England. Strikes can never be prevented by discouraging trades' unions by adverse legislation. That plan has been tried for half a century, and strikes have become more and more frequent. Strikes are the result of the antagonism between capital and labour. Remove the antagonism, and strikes will die a natural death.

Boards of Arbitration. In some industries, especially in the lace and hosiery trades of Nottingham, the establishment of boards of arbitration has been most successful in preventing strikes. These boards are composed of an equal number of workmen and employers; they meet every month, and all disputes between masters and men are submitted to the arbitration of the boards. Nothing can be more beneficial than the operation of these boards when once a dispute has arisen; and by promoting friendly

intercourse between employers and employed, they may have some influence in preventing disputes; but it must be borne in mind that they deal with the symptom-the strike, and not with its cause-the antagonism of interest. They cannot therefore be regarded as complete and efficient remedies for strikes.

In

Co-operative Stores. Some misapprehension may arise by confusing co-operation with the so-called "co-operative" stores which have lately become so popular in London and other large towns. The real nature of cooperation is an union between capital and labour. such institutions as the Civil Service Store in the Haymarket, there is not necessarily any connection between capital and labour. It is a joint-stock company, the shares of which are owned, for the most part, by those who do not contribute by their labour to the success of the store. The shopmen and superintendents may own shares, but it is not an essential part of the undertaking that they should do so. A co-operative store relies for its success, not on an union of capital and labour, but mainly upon the ready-money principle. The prices of commodities sold in a co-operative store are less than those charged in an ordinary shop, because no bad debts are made, no expensive advertising need be resorted to, no costly shop-fronts need be kept up, and the cost of carriage of goods sold is not borne by the proprietors of the business. There is no reason, except the difficulty of overcoming the prejudice against anything new, why nearly all tradesmen should not conduct their businesses on the same principles as a co-operative store. The oldest and most celebrated of co-operative stores is that of the Rochdale Pioneers. In this society the ready-money principle is strictly adhered to, and the goods are sold at the ordinary retail prices. The accounts are made up quarterly, and the profits are divided in the following