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    Avo. 2, 1851J ffll) * 3Lt&tltt+ 721

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    Mr. Coningham's Lecture At Brighton. Gen...

    Cooperation is of two kinds : —first , simple cooperation , which takes place when several persons combine to help each other in the s ame employment ; and , secondly , complex cooperation , when several persons help each other in different employments . The advantage of simple cooperation has been happily illustrated by the case of two greyhounds running together , which will kill more hares than fotlr greyhounds running separately ; and so in a number of occupations , the produce of labour is , to a certain extent , in proportion to such mutual assistance among workmen . Thus simple cooperation is the first step in social improvement .

    Comp lex cooperation is that which takes place when one body of men having combined their labour to raise more food than they require , another body combine theirs also for the purpose of producing more clothes , and with the surplus clothes buying the surplus food of the other body of labourers ; and thus , by means of exchange , both bodies obtain the capital necessary for setting more labourers to work in their respective occupations . Increase of capital , though it tends to diminish profits , produces at the same time increased competition for labour ; and capital is as necessary to labour as labour is to capital—one of the objects of Association being to capitalize labour for the benefit of the labourer , and thus secure for him a share of profits now monopolized by the capitalist .

    The problem is to obtain the efficiency and oeconomy of production on a large scale without dividing the producers into two parties with hostile interestthe employers and the employed . An increasing power of cooperation has long been considered oneof the surest tests of the progress of civilization . "We are told that the condition of the savages of New Holland , who never help each other even in the most simple operations , is hardly superior to that of the wild animals ; and we may expect as mankind improves , that joint enterprises of many kinds , which are now considered impracticable , will be successivel y brought into operation , thus indefinitely augmenting the powers of man .

    The business of manufacturing playing cards is a remarkable example of the important results which may be obtained by concert in the division of labour . Each card—that is , a piece of pasteboard of the size of the hand—before it is read y for sale , undergoes no fewer than seventy operations . In . a card manufactory , where thirty workmen were mployed , they have been known to produce daily 15 , 500 cards , being above 500 cards for each workman . It maybe assumed that if each of these workmen were obliged to perform all the operations himself , he would not , perhaps , complete two cards in a day ; and thus the thirty workmen , instead of 15 , 500 cards , would onl y be able to produce sixty .

    Thus much on the advantages to be derived from a judicious cooperation and division of labour , which no one perhaps in the present day will be prepared to deny ; but the particular form of it , which we have now to consider , has in this country , at least , a very limited number of supporters and many violent opponents . It has been , however , a common practice to remunerate those in whom some peculiar trust was reposed by means of a per centage on profits . This principle has been applied with great success to

    the sailors in the American ships trading to China ; and to the Cornish miners , where " each man / ' it is said , " seems to feel as a partner in his little firm , and meets his employer on equal terms . " The payment of the crews of whaling ships is made on similar principles ; and the profits arising from fishing with nets on the south coast of England are thus dividedone-half the produce belongs to the owner of the boat and net , and the other half is divided in equal portions between the persons using it , who are also bound to assist in repairing the net .

    At Sables d'Olonne , on the coast of Poitou , in France , the owner of a fishing-boat mans her himself with two other fishermen and a cabin boy , or mousse , " and the boat , when on shore , is intrusted to the care of a woman , there called a " gareonne " TI ^ AVrV " , ? . ^ P boat cI ™» . i » Bido and out . 1 he take of fish is divided into six parts-the boat , « Lth lntft ' ab 8 OTbs two *««««« , and the owner takes eachtT ftrC af UWOl kt'r ; tho two othor JishormoH betwJ , ; i ° « 8 hUfC ; »» dt »>« l » Bt is equally divided b u Ct r . . ? ' >» u « , o" and the << gar < onne . " This

    caint . u ! n ' l > " « cij > le of cooperation between S ! , ° th ° t «< - ' !> would be for the workmg fishermen to purchase shares in tho boat out ot tluir savings or wages , and then would be formed M T , P working-m « ui ' cooperative association . venrT , ? ' ? " Btcr Painter in 3 > ' uifl > "dopted •<>»« XL ? i - , " 7 which »»" h workmen shared in the wmll . J 1 ) U 81 ne 8 M . »"» th « ratio of their annual w s ? , ° Y T ,- ?" . « xP «« ment « f " H »» Har kind rTow ( . ° ' \ lam "'" l leans Railway , « nd iH

    "A W "C 8 hal 1 carrv UH at ° nco to Paris . of Vr « V <> f hlt > t A * ) ril 1 HUlrttid thr tho c « l » ital POKHil , , n dtiU ; nn " 1 <>< l to «« c « rtuiu for myself , it KSirii ' n V ° Cm ! P ° micRl condition of the M 1 ; * 1 V Uder tbo '"' litary government of

    As the principle of cooperative labour had always appeared to me an eminently practicable one , it was not without surprise , tempered however by distrust , that I read in the columns of the daily press accounts of the successive downfall of the Paris Associations with the secret memoirs of the last of the cooperative cooks . If my surprise were great , it was marvellously increased when , on my arrival in Paris , I discovered that , like Mr . Landor ' s conversations of other celebrated personages , the memoirs were purel y

    imaginary , and that , far from the cooks being on their last legs , and the fraternal fires extinguished , cooperative broils of the most peaceful character still saluted the nostrils of the weary pedestrian , with a social and savoury odour quite peculiar to themselves . In short I found that there were in Paris upwards of forty associations of cooks—danger even of that proverbial multitude reputed to be so fatal to the proper confection of broth . I moreover discovered that the much-abused fraternal association of

    tailors , first established in the old debtors ' prison of the Kue de Clichy , by M . L . Blanc himself , far from being defunct , had realised a fund of 70 , 000 f ., and opened a range of large , well-lighted , and well-ventilated shops and workrooms in the Faubourg St . Denis , and instead of being at the mercy of either sweaters or middlemen , their business skilfully managed by functionaries elected by the associates from among their own members—their original statutes greatly modified however , and the system of piecework adoptedindeed so far from the cooperative principle being extinct , I found it rapidly spreading through the provinces , and the most skilful and intelligent of the

    workmen actively engaged in forming associations , and doing so with a sincerity of purpose and devotion to the cause which is beyond praise , and with that self-denial without which all fraternal cooperation is impossible . The practical success of the self-organized cooperative associations in France has thus raised the question from the domain of theory to that of fact , and forced it upon the attention of her legislators . Indeed an official report on the subject will shortly be presented to the National Assembly . France ( and the whole of Europe ) , in the middle ages was covered with agricultural associations , which existed during several centuries , and largely

    contributed to the redemption of the soil and to the enfranchisement of the People . These agricultural communities w ' ere founded for the mutual protection of their members , and obtained possession of the soil under the protection of their feudal lords . They were composed of several peasant families , who held in common large tracts of land , which they cultivated for generations together , under the leadership of a single chief , elected from among themselves ; and they lived altogether on the fruits of their united labour , sharing their food , land , and expenditure in community , a " commun pot , sol , et depense . " Living and toiling together on a common fund , these societies assumed a patriarchal character . No deed

    or written contract was necessary , the iact of dwelling together for a year and a day demeuranee d ' un an et jour , " by the old French law , was sufficient to legalize the Association , from this called " taisible , " or tacit . The associates took the name of " Parconniers , " or partners . They ate of the same huge loaf . The " chanteau , " a " cantle , " or great hunch of bread ; hence they were also called " compani , copain . " The great common loaf became the emblem of these primitive societies , and when the " copains" determined-to separate , the patriarch of the tribe was wont to take the " chanteau , " and solemnly divide it into several portions ; and this was the form , or ceremonial observed when the community was dissolved . Thus , the head of the community was called , the master of the " chanteau . " lie had control over all tho affairs

    of the society , and with lua " compareoniers , " or copartners , who were always consulted upon important occasions , somewhat resembled a modern association , of which he was the " gcrant , " or manager . It was the custom also to elect a mistress to rule tho household , but she was seldom the wife or sister of the " mantel , " lest she should favour his interests to the injury of the otherH . ( The monasteries . "

    eonvenientiir , " hence , " convontun , " were in fact agricultural associations ; and M . (« uizot remarks in his lliitory of Civilization , that the Benedictines were the " defrieheurs , " or redeemers of the soil , and associated agriculture with preaching . " Qui laborat , orat . " 1 would refer you also to the first chapter of Sir Walter Hcott ' w Alonnstcri / , for a curiouH account of tho "fouars , " or church vassals , of the sixteenth century in Scotland . )

    One of these singular peasant communities was still in exigence in 1810 , at a place called Jault , in the NivcriraiH , and M . Dujnu . the president of tho National Assembly , gave a full account of it m a letter to a M . Kticnue , which wan published in the newspapers . Thin community of Jault consisted of thirty-six persons—men , women , and childrenand had been established from time immemorial . The name <> f the chief or master was Claude . Notwithstanding the dowers granted to the women who had i" / r « <> Ut of tho iiunl [ y ( sometimes amounting to I . M 0 IrimcB , £ M Hterling ) , the patrimonial domain wuh tlion uHtimutud to be worth 200 , 000 francs ( £ 8000 sterling ) , m . Dupin states that theao peoplo wore

    very charitable ; the poor never applying for food in vain , and the chief 8 aid to him , " The bread goes fast in this house . " But the community of Jault is no longer in existence , and with it has vanished the last vestige of these curious rriedieeval institutions , which flourished from the seventh to the seventeenth century . It now remains to be seen whether self-supporting agricultural associations may not under a different form be again established in France .

    M . Feugueray , in his interesting little work upon " Industrial and Agricultural Association , " suggests that the communal domains , which form a tenth of the taxable portion of the soil , be devoted by the state , to this purpose . It would not be very difficult , in England , where , in the time of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers , the land was also covered with a network of agricultural communities , designated by the name of Mark , or Shire , to make the

    workhouses self-supporting , by means of an amended poor-law , and thus convert these pauperizing antisocial institutions into national schools of industry . Montesquieu says , that " the state owes to every citizen a proper nourishment , convenient clothing , and a kind of life not incompatible with health . " But this guarantee of subsistence can only be practically kept up when work is enforced , and the increase of mankind placed under the deliberate guidance of a judicious foresight .

    In France there are four kinds of trading societies recognized by the commercial code : — The first is one in which all the associates are individually responsible , both as to their persons and property , for the liabilities of the society , which is registered in the name of one or more of the associates ; and these become the " raison sociale " or representatives of the society . This is the ' Societe en . nom collectif . " In the second , one or more of the associates become personally responsible for the society , and the remainder are liable only for the amount of their shares . This is called a " Societe en eommandite . "

    In the third , as in some of our joint-stock companies , the associates are liable onl y for the amount of their respective shares . The special sanction of the Government , however , is necessary for its formation . This is called the " Soeiete anonyme . " The "Societe en Participation" is a society formed only for a limited period , for some specific operations , and it is not adopted for cooperative labour . In founding cooperative associations , the great difficulty to be overcome at the outset , is the acquisition of the necessary instruments of labour , and the still larger outlay sometimes indispensable for the purchase of raw or manufactured material , which , in

    some trades , that of the upholsterer , for instance , necessitates an amount of capital possessed by few working-men . This capital must there / ore be raised either out of the savings of the associates , or by a loan from private individuals , or from the state , which last I think a questionable mode ; and , generally speaking , the best-managed and most prosperous associations are those which , receiving no assistance whatever , have commenced with an extremely limited capital , and thus passed through a severe ordeal ; for , as Lord Bacon says , in lus beautiful essay on Adversity— " Prosperity doth best discover vice , but adversity doth best discover virtue . "

    The working-classes in Kngland already possess an enormous capital of ! $ () , 000 , 000 in the Savings Banks , which might be made available for the purpose of establishing a cooperative bank . Onesixtieth of this fund would be more than sufficient for the purpose—advances to be restricted to cooperative societies in very limited sums lor three , six , or twelve months . And as soon a . s the associations have accumulated real property , an Insurance Society might be formed for the advance of fixed capital upon security .

    The great success of the associations in Paris has , to a certain extent , removed this difficulty and established their credit ; and in Home quartern of the town the pay tickets of the associations , which are cashed at the end of every month , pass current among the tradespeople , and thus servo the double purpose of currency and of advertisement . An active promoter ( if the cooperative movement informed me that he had advanced : {/» , 000 francs to different associations of working-men , every far thing of which had been punctually repaid . The associates are naturally very particular in selecting members , tuul the candidates lor admission have to pans through an experimental apprenticeship before they are balloted

    for ; and the superior comfort , contentment , and order which prevail in these establishments in very striking . Nevertheless , obstacles and difficulties will nritio , and must be overcome Associates lira nln <> liable to human infirmity ; and the finst nix monthn tout the worth both of tho men and of thoir principles very severely . Some of tho hhhoouiUoiis have been in full operation for hcvvrnl years ; and , though jealousies huvo nriwim " « tc » the management ; , and tlutro appvnrn to ho a dieinchr . ation on tho part of the workmen adequately to remunerate headwork ( which is nuno costly uh it is more HCiirco and productive than more lUmd work ) , still thoir opponents have boon couapollod

    Avo. 2, 1851j Ffll) * 3lt&Tltt+ 721

    Avo . 2 , 1851 J ffll ) * 3 Lt & tltt + 721

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 2, 1851, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02081851/page/5/