dignity. With wonderful rapidity the associated workpeople have learnt to correct those of the ideas they set out with, which are in opposition to the teaching of reason and experience. Almost all the associations, at first, excluded piece-work, and gave equal wages whether the work done was more Chavonne, Cour St. Joseph, Faubourg St. Antoine) already in 1851 amounted to 5713 franes, and the assets of the association, debts due to them included, to 24,000 francs. Since then the association has become still more flourishing, having resisted all the attempts made to impede its progress. It does the largest business, and is the most considered, of all the houses in Paris in the trade. Its business amounts to 400,000 francs a year." Its inventory in December 1855 showed, according to M. Villiaumé, a balance of 100,398 francs 90 centimes in favour of the association, but it possessed, he says, in reality, 123,000 francs. But the most important association of all is that of the Masons. "The Association of Masons was founded August 10th, 1848. Its address is Rue St. Victor, 155. Its number of members is 85, and its auxiliaries from three to four hundred. There are two managers, one for the building department, the other for the pecuniary administration: these are regarded as the ablest master-masons in Paris, and are content with a moderate salary. This association has lately constructed three or four of the most remarkable mansions in the metropolis. Though it does its work more economically than ordinary contractors, yet as it has to give long credits, it is called upon for considerable advances: it prospers, however, as is proved by the dividend of 56 per cent which has been paid this year on its capital, including in the payment those who have as. sociated themselves in its operations. It consists of workmen who bring only their labour, of others who bring their labour and a capital of some sort, and of a third class who do not work, but contribute capital only. "The masons, in the evening, carry on mutual instruction. They, as well as the arm-chair makers, give medical attendance at the expense of the association, and an allowance to its sick members. They extend their protection over every member in every action of his life. The arm-chair makers will soon each possess a capital of two or three thousand francs, with which to portion their daughters or commence a reserve for future years. Of the masons, some have already 4000 francs, which are left in the common stock. "Before they were associated, these workmen were poorly clad in jackets and blouses; because, for want of forethought,and still more from want of work, they had never 60 francs beforehand to buy an overcoat. Most of them are now as well dressed as shopkeepers, and sometimes more tastefully. For the workman, having always a credit with the association, can get whatever he wants by signing an or less. Almost all have abandoned this system, and after allowing to every one a fixed minimum, sufficient for subsistence, they apportion all further remuneration according to the work done: most of them even dividing the profits at the end of the year, in the same proportion as the earnings.* order; and the association reimburses itself by fortnightly stoppages, making him save as it were in spite of himself. Some workmen who are not in debt to the concern, sign orders payable to themselves at five months date, to resist the temptation of needless expense. They are put under stoppages of 10 francs per fortnight, and thus at the end of five months they have saved the amount." The following table, taken by M.Cherbuliez from a work by Professor Huber (one of the most ardent and high-principled apostles of this kind of co-operation) shows the rapidly progressive growth in prosperity of the Masons' Association up to 1858: "Of this last dividend," says M. Cherbuliez, "30,000 francs were taken for the reserve fund, and the remaining 100,000, divided among the shareholders, gave to each from 500 to 1500 francs, besides their wages c salaries, and their share in the fixed capita of the concern." Of the management of the associations generally, M. Villiaumé says, "I have been able to satisfy myself personally of the ability of the managers and councils of the operative associations. The managers are far superior in intelligence, in zeal, and even in politeness, to most of the private masters in their respective trades. And among the associated workmen, the fatal habit of intemperance is gradually disappearing, along with the coarseness and rudeness which are the consequence of the too imperfect education of the class." Even the association founded by M. Louis Blanc, that of the tailors of Clichy, after eighteen months trial of this system, adopted piece-work. One of the reasons given by them for abandoning the original system is well worth extracting. "Besides the vices I have mentioned, the tailors complained that it caused incessant disputes and quarrels, through the interest which each had in making his neighbours work. Their mu tual watchfulness degenerated into a real slavery; nobody had the free control of his time and his actions. These dissensions have disappeared since piece-work was introduced."-Feugueray, p. 88. One of the most It is the declared principle of most of these associations, that they do not exist for the mere private benefit of the individual members, but for the promotion of the co-operative cause. With every extension, therefore, of their business, they take in additional members, not (when they remain faithful to their original plan) to receive wages from them as hired labourers, but to enter at once into the full benefits of the association, without being required to bring anything in, except their labour: the only condition imposed is that of receiving during a few years a smaller share in the annual division of profits, as some equivalent for the sacrifices of the founders. When members quit the association, which they are always at liberty to do, they carry none of the capital with them it remains an indivisible property, of which the members for the time being have the use, but not the arbitrary disposal: by the stipulations of most of the contracts, even if the association breaks up, the capital cannot be divided, but must be devoted entire to some work of beneficence or of public utility. A fixed, and generally a considerable, proportion of the annual profits, is not shared among the members, but added to the capital of the association, or devoted to the repayment of advances previously made to it: another portion is set aside to provide for the sick and disabled, and another to form a fund for extending the practice of association, or aiding other associations in their need. The managers are paid, like other members, for the time which is occupied in management, usually at the rate of the highest paid labour: but the rule is adhered to, that the exercise of power shall never be an occasion for profit. Of the ability of the associations to compete successfully with individual capitalists, even at an early period of their existence, M. Feugueray said, "The associations which have been founded in the last two years" (M. Feugueray wrote in 1851) "had many obstacles to overcome; the majority of them were almost entirely without capital: all were treading in a path previously unexplored; they ran the risks which always threaten innovators and beginners. Nevertheless, in many of the trades in which they have been established, they are already formidable competitors of the old houses, and are even complained of on that account by a part of the bourgeoisie. This is not only true of the cooks, the lemonade sellers, and hairdressers, trades the nature of which enables the associations to rely on democratic custom, but also in other trades where they have not the same advantages. One has only to consult the makers of chairs, of arm-chairs, of files, and one will learn from them if the most important establishments in their respective trades are not those of the associated workmen." The vitality of these associations must indeed be great, to have enabled about twenty of them to survive not only the anti-socialist reaction, which for the time discredited all attempts to enable workpeople to be their own employers-not only the tracasserics of the police, and the hostile policy of discreditable indications of a low moral con- but in addition to these obstacles, all the government since the usurpation— dition given of late by part of the English the difficulties arising from the trying working classes, is the opposition to piece. work. When the payment per piece is not condition of financial and commercial sufficiently high, that is a just ground of ob- affairs from 1854 to 1858. Of the pros jection. But dislike to piece-work in itself, except under mistaken notions, must be disperity attained by some of them even like to justice and fairness; a desire to cheat, while passing through this difficult by not giving work in proportion to pay. period, I have given examples which Piece-work is the perfection of contract; and contract, in all work, and in the most must be conclusive to all minds as to minute detail-the principle of so much the brilliant future reserved for the for so much service, carried out to the utmost principle of co-operation.† extremity is the system, of all others, in the present state of society and degree of civilization, most favourable to the worker; though most unfavourable to the non-worker who wishes to be paid for being idle. pay • Pp. 37-8. In the last year or two, the co-operative morement among the French working classes has taken a fresh start. An interest The original capital of the Rochdale Society consisted of 281., brought together by the unassisted economy of about forty labourers, through the slow process of a subscription of twopence (afterwards raised to threepence) per week. With this sum they established in 1844 a small shop, or store, for the supply of a few common articles for the consumption of their own fami lies. As their carefulness and honesty brought them an increase of customers and of subscribers, they extended their operations to a greater number of articles of consumption, and in a few years were able to make a large investment in shares of a Co-operative Corn Mill. Mr. Holyoake thus relates the stages of their progress up to 1857. It is not in France alone that these | this and other means has been given associations have commenced a career to facts so encouraging, is causing a of prosperity. To say nothing at present rapid extension of associations with of Germany, Piedmont, or Switzerland similar objects in Lancashire, York(where the Consumers' Union of Zurich shire, London, and elsewhere. is one of the most prosperous co-operative associations in Europe), England can produce cases of success, rivalling even those which I have cited from France. Under the impulse commenced by Mr. Owen, and more recently propagated by the writings and personal efforts of a band of friends, chiefly clergymen and barristers, to whose noble exertions too much praise can scarcely be given, the good seed was widely sown; the necessary alterations in the English law of partnership were obtained from Parliament, on the benevolent and public-spirited initiative of Mr. Slaney; many industrial associations, and a still greater number of co-operative stores for retail purchases, were founded. Among these are already many instances of remarkable prosperity, the most signal of which are the Leeds Flour Mill, and the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. Of this last association, the most successful of all, the history has been written in a very interesting manner by Mr. Holyoake; and the notoriety which by ing account of the Provision Association of Grenoble has been given in a pamphlet by M. Casimir Périer; and in the Times of November 24, 1864, we read the following passage: "While a certain number of operatives stand out for more wages or fewer hours of labour, others, who have also seceded, have associated for the purpose of carrying on their respective trades on their own account, and have collected funds for the purchase of instruments of labour. They have founded a society-Société Générale d'Approvisionnement et de Consommation. It numbers between 300 and 400 members, who have already opened a "co-operative store" at Passy, which is now within the limits of Paris. They calculate that by May next fifteen new self-supporting associations of the same kind will be ready to commence operations; so that the number will be, for Paris alone, from 50 to 60. Self-Help by the People-History of Cooperation in Rochdale. An instructive account of this and other co-operative associa tions has also been written in the Companion to the Almanack, for 1862, by Mr. John Plummer, of Kettering; himself one of the most inspiring examples of mental cultivation and high principle in a self-instructed working man. "The Equitable Pioneers' Society is divided into seven departments: Grocery, Drapery, Butchering, Shoemaking, Clogging, Tailoring, Wholesale. "A separate account is kept of each business, and a general account is given each quarter, showing the position of the whole. "The grocery business was commenced, as we have related, in December 1844, with only four articles to sell. It now includes whatever a grocer's shop should include. "The drapery business was started in 1847, with an humble array of attractions. In 1854 it was erected into a separate department. "A year earlier, 1846, the Store began to sell butcher's neat, buying eighty or one hundred pounds of a tradesman in the town. After a while, the sales were discontinued until 1850, when the Society had a warehouse of its own. Mr. John Moorhouse, who has now two assistants, buys and kills for the Society three oxen, eight sheep, sundry porkers and calves, which are on the average converted into 1201. of cash per week. "Shoemaking commenced in 1852. Three men and an apprentice make, and a stock is kept on sale. 'Clogging and tailoring commenced | Board for the use of from twenty to also in this year. "The wholesale department commenced in 1852, and marks an important development of the Pioneers' proceedings. This department has been created for supplying any members requiring large quantities, and with a view to supply the co-operative stores of Lancashire and Yorkshire, whose small capitals do not enable them to buy in the best markets, nor command the services of what is otherwise indispensable to every store--a good buyer, who knows the markets and his business, who knows what, how, and where to buy. The wholesale department guarantees purity, quality, fair prices, standard weight and measure, but all on the never-failing principle, cash payment." In consequence of the number of members who now reside at a distance, and the difficulty of serving the great increase of customers, "Branch Stores have been opened. In 1856, the first Branch was opened, in the Oldham Road, about a mile from the centre of Rochdale. In 1857 the Castleton Branch, and another in the Whitworth Road, were established, and a fourth Branch in Pinfold." The warehouse, of which the original Store was a single apartment, was taken on lease by the Society, very much out of repair, in 1849. "Every part has undergone neat refitting and modest decoration, and now wears the air of a thoroughly respectable place of business. One room is now handsomely fitted up as a newsroom. Another is neatly fitted up as a library. Their newsroom is as well supplied as that of a London club." It is now "free to members, and supported from the Education Fund," a fund consisting of 2 per cent of all the profits divided, which is set apart for educational purposes. "The Library contains 2200 volumes of the best, and among them, many of the most expensive books published. The Library is free. From 1850 to 1855, a school for young persons was conducted at a charge of twopence per month. Since 1855, a room has been granted by the thirty persons, from the ages of fourteen to forty, for mutual instruction on Sundays and Tuesdays. "The corn-mill was of course rented, and stood at Small Bridge, some distance from the town-one mile and a half. The Society have since built in the town an entirely new mill for themselves. The engine and the machinery are of the most substantial and improved kind. The capital invested in the corn-mill is 8450, of which 37311. 15s. 2d. is subscribed by the Equitable Pioneers' Society. The cornmill employs eleven men.' At a later period they extended their operations to the staple manufacture itself. From the success of the Pioneers' Society grew not only the co-operative corn-mill, but a co-operative association for cotton and woollen manufacturing. "The capital in this department is 4000l., of which sum 20421. has been subscribed by the Equitable Pioneers' Society. This Manufacturing Society has ninety-six power-looms at work, and employs twenty-six men, seven women, four boys, and five girls in all forty-two persons. "In 1853 the Store purchased for 7451. a warehouse (freehold) on the opposite side of the street, where they keep and retail their stores of flour, butcher's meat, potatoes, and kindred articles. Their committee-rooms and offices are fitted up in the same building. They rent other houses adjoining for calico and hosiery and shoe stores. In their wilderness of rooms, the visitor stumbles upon shoemakers and tailors, at work under healthy conditions, and in perfect peace of mind as to the result on Saturday night. Their ware houses are everywhere as bountifully stocked as Noah's Ark, and cheerful customers literally crowd Toad Lane at night, swarming like bees to every counter. The industrial districts of England have not such another sight as the Rochdale Co-operative Store on Saturday night. Since the disgraceful "But it is not," adds Mr. Holyoake, which either writer or reader will take the "the brilliancy of commercial activity in deepest interest; it is in the new and im failure of the Rochdale Savings Bank | 1860 from the Almanack published by the Society, shows the pecuniary result of its operations from the commencement. in 1849, the Society's Store has become the virtual Savings Bank of the place. The following table, completed to proved spirit animating this intercourse of trade. Buyer and seller meet as friends; there is no overreaching on one side, and no suspicion on the other.. These crowds of humble working men, who never knew before when they put good food in their mouths, whose every dinner was adulterated, whose shoes let in the water a month too soon, whose waistcoats shone with devil's dust, and whose wives wore calico that would not wash, now buy in the markets like millionnaires, and as far as pureness of food goes, live like lords." Far better, probably, in that particular; for assuredly lords are not the customers least cheated, in the piesent race of dishonest competition. " They are weaving their own stuffs, making their own shoes, sewing their own garments, and grinding their own corn. They buy the purest sugar and the best tea, and grind their own coffee. They slaughter their own cattle, and the finest beasts of the land waddle down the streets of Rochdale for the consumption of flannel-weavers and cobblers. (Last year the Society advertised for a Provision Agent to make purchases in Ireland, and to devote his whole time to that duty.) When did competition give poor men these advantages? And will any man say that the moral character of these people is not improved under these influences? The teetotallers of Rochdale acknowledge that the Store has made more sober men since it commenced than all their efforts have been able to make in the same time. Husbands who never knew what 104,012 0 0 152,063 0 0 it was to be out of debt, and poor wives who during forty years never had sixpence uncondemned in their pockets, now possess little stores of money sufficient to build them cottages, and to go every week into their own market with money jingling in their pockets; and in that market there is no distrust and no deception; there is no adulteration, and no second prices. The whole atmosphere is honest. Those who serve neither hurry, finesse, nor flatter. They have no interest in chicanery. They have but one duty to perform-that of giving fair measure, full weight, and a pure article. In other parts of the town, where competition is the prin ciple of trade, all the preaching in Roch dale cannot produce moral effects like these. "As the Store has made no debts, it has incurred no losses; and during thirteen years' transactions, and receipts amounting to 303,852., it has had no law-suits. The Arbitrators of the Societies, during all their years of office, have never had a case to decide, and are discontented that nobody quarrels." The latest report to which I have access is that for the quarter ending Sept. 20, 1864, of which I take the following abstract from the November number of that valuable periodical the Co-operator, conducted by Mr. Henry Pitman, one of the most active and judicious apostles of the Co-operative cause. The number of members is 4580, being an increase of 132 for the three months |