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Leader (1850-1860), 8th May 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 443, Untitled Article

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      that time , and fears for thieir safetybeginning to be entertained , grounded cliiefly : op . the circumstance that , as ships rarely toiiclied the Fuegan . coast , they had little chance of receiving supplies , should their own resources fail , instructions were issued by the Admiralty in October , 1851 , ordering ^ Captajin ^ Morshead , of her Maiesty ' s ship Dido * to touch at Tierra del Fuego ' < m his war to the Pacific , and ascertain , if possible , the fate of the ifcissioriaries . Captain Morshead reached the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego about th 6 9 th of January in the present year j and after some ten or twelve days of search ,

      during which signals were made , and guns fired at erery likely point of the coast , traces of the missionaries were found at the place of their first landing—Picton . Island . On a rock by the side of a stream near the shore of this island , the searchers found written these words : — " G-o to Spaniard Harbour / ' To Spaniard Harbour , accordingly , Captain Morshead went- — -a . harbour on the coast or the Fuegan mainland , opposite Picton Island . He reached it on the 21 st of January •• ¦; and here , on the same evening , near a boat lying on the beach , in the near vicinity of fiund the uriburied bodies

      a large cavern , were > of Captain G-ardper and Mr . Maidnient . Next dayyat a little distance of about a Mile and a half along the coast , two other unburied bodies were found beside the other boat , supposed to be those of Mr . Williams , the surgeon , and John Pearce , one of the Cornish fishermen . The papers and other relics left by the unfortunate men were secured ; their bleached remains were buried ; three volleys of musketry were fired over their graves in token of respect , and the Dido continued her voyage ^

      The sfcory of'the mission , as gathered from papers found in Captain * Gardiner's handwriting ' , was printed in the newspapers last week , and is by this time known to all our readers . Driven away by the natives wherever they attempted to land , the missionaries went backwards and forwards for some time in their boats between Picton island and the Fuegan mainland j and at last took refuge in Spaniard harbour as the only spot where they could be safe . Here they lived for eight months , parity in one of their boats which they hauled up oh the beach , partly in a cavern swept by the tide . After incredible suffering , three of them died of sickness ; the others were literally starved to death - Four months elapsed between the death of the last of them and

      the finding of their bodies by the crew of the Dido . What , now , are we to say of all this P We may very well say , at least , with Captain Morshead , that the mission was ill-planned . " There could not be a doubt , " says the captain , " as to the ultimate success of a mission nere , if liberally supported ; " ( mark that !) "but I venture to express a hope that no society will hazard another , without entrusting their supplies to practical men acquainted with commercial affairs , who

      would have seen at a glance the hopeless improbability of any ship , not chartered for the occasion , sailing out of the way , breaking her articles , and forfeiting her insurance , for the freightage of a few stoves from the Falkland Islands . " This is perfectly sensible , and every one , whether a member of a missionary society or not , must «; groo with it . But the Times , tspeaking for Englishmen in general , gives the speculation a different turn . " Misdirectod energy . " " What Jiavo wo to do with tho PatagoniansP" " Have

      wo no misery , no heathenism at homo , that we must waste our energies on a horde of savages , separated from ua by every lino of demarcation which Providence can set between human beingaP " Such are tho phrases of the Times , commenting on . this Patagonian tragedy 1 Shallow ! we say in reply , shallow !—true , and not true ! In JJio first place , as wo have already hinted , tho sentiment involved in such phrases may J . Just , may . be wholesome ; but all tho quib-Wln

      # m tho world will nofc convince any one wao knows what Christianity is , either essentially or V ^ oric ^ illy , that tho sentiment is not radically n nti-Ohrisliian . Moreover , it virtually assorts "gainst ; the mission-supporting part of the public a onargo which facts disprove . Telescopic charity , as it has boon called—charity in behalf of distant °# ») octs—does not imply a corresponding diminution of charitable energy in behalf of objects that ftJ * o noar . The Christian congregations and n « T a * tliafc oontrib « to most largely to Indian ana African missions and the like , are precisely

      those . that contribute most largely to all home charities too . ; and . thoseseven men who vfent to convert the savages in Tierra del Fuego were , we verily believe , men that would have shamed most of bur philanthropists by their activity among the heathen in St . Giles ' s . And why , then , in the name of common sense , did they not stay in St . Giles ' s P It is hard to say , in tJiename of common sense : but this at least we will venture to

      say in a higher name , that " the quality of mercy is not strained ; " which , being interpreted , means , as we believe , that inercy , like other electric forces , will capriciously leap from point to point , taking and rejecting as it chooses , and that all tMs caprice only subserves decree and law . Ah ! if charity proceeded only in concentric circles , never dashing at distant points till all the vicinity were organized andPNjeautiful , where had we otirselves been now ? tet the Times bethink itself ! On

      the bank of the Thames , where the Times office now stands , there once wandered British savages ; the Italian and German missionaries that came to Britain to convert these savages doubtless left much work undone in their own Italian and German homes ; nevertheless , was not this " misdirected energy , " as it mightthenhave been called , one of ^ fche things that have helped to make a Times newspaper , and all that is contemporary with it , possible ? True , our British forefathers were not Patagonians ; but the missionaries had to find that out .

      Such criticism as we should have to make on the Patagonian mission may be very well left to be supplied by the reflection of our readers . One thing only we will say in conclusion— -and it is becoming that we , in particular , should say itthat those seven men , who were starved to death on Tierra del Fuego , were heroes . Ah 1 and is there not a spirit in those antique Christian phrases in which they couched their heroism , that our jmodern forms of thought , our teeming funds of fin 0 opinion , have not as yet produced anything to equal P " Fearing that I

      might suffer from thirst , " wrote Captain Gardiner . in his boat two days before his death , and after he had been without food for four days , "I prayed that the Lord would strengthen me "to procure some water . He graciously answered my petition , and yesterday I was enabled to get out , and scoop up a sufficient supply from some that trickled down at the stern of the boat , by

      means of one of my India-rubber shoes . " Grod , " the " stern of the boat , " the " India-rubber shoe " —what a meaning in that quaint conjunction of words and things ! In the power of such a mental conjunction , and in nothing else , lies what we call Meligion . And what is characteristic of these days of ours is precisely this—that , while we see the " stern of the boat" and the " India-rubber shoe" plain enough , we do not recognise the " God'M

      Untitled Article

      THE PARIS CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS IN 1852 . ( Lettek I . ) ( To the Editor ' of the Leader !) " Nothing can bo more absurd than to imagine that mon in general would work less when they work for themselves , than when they work for other people . A poor , independent workman will generally be more industrious than oven a journoyman who works by the pieoe . Tho one enjoys the whole produce of his own industry , the other shareB it with his master . " Adam Smith . In tho Leader of August 2 , 1851 , you did mo tho favour to publish my lecture on tho " Self-organized Co-operutivo Associations in Paris , " and you now ask me for a report on their present position and prospects ; a request with which I willingly comply .

      Having recently devoted sovernl days to visiting my old friends , I am happy to say that tho result of my tour of inspection is highly satisfactory . Some of the associations , tho Coiffeurs and Limonadiers for instance , have been suppressed by tho Govornmont as political clubs ; but , with tho oxcoption of tho Tanners , almost all tho bond fide operative associations havo been enabled to withstand tho political storms , wliich , at one time , threatened them with destruction .

      My first visit , on tho morning , after my arrival in Paris , was to the pianoforte makers , Dotir of . O' ° , in tho Rue St . Denis ; in ' which I found that tho only change which had taken placo wus tho retirement of tho book-keeper—he had resumed hia original occupation as a cabinet-maker on his own account . They are now thirty-two in number , with a stendily incronaing trade , and have novor been out of work , nor oven on short time . They now find that their capital is too Binall for efficiently carrying on the ordinary business of tho establishment , and aro therefore about to

      increase the amount of their shares from 401 . to 802 . In 1851 they sold one hundred and thirty-three pianos , at an average price ^ of 26 £ ; and in the first quarter of 1852 , the sale of pianos has risen to 38 , in spite of the cowp d ' etat . In 1851 , their profits amounted to 430 & , which were divided in . equal proportions among tho associates , who Work ten hours aday aw pieces . Wages range from four to ten francs a day . They have had ho disputes , and they all agreed that it would be now impossible for them to return to a state of servile dependence upon the will of others . By limiting the hours of labour , by sharing the amount of work among the whole of their members , and distributing production more equably throughout the year , they

      have been enabled to employ themselves fully and regularly . Instead of being worked to death by systematic overtime , under marchandeurs , or piece masters , and then turned into the streets , they have preserved their health , and gained time for study and recreation , and for the fulfilment of their social . duties , as well as for the enjoyments of domestic life . They are now self-employing , self-reliant men , no longer mere operative drudges , the . property of masters who not only claim a right to do what they like with their own , and to monopolize the whole profits of labour , "but might compel their workmen , with the alternative of the workhouse or the gaol , to sign away their birth-right as freemen , and to write themselves down slaves , although branding their employers as tyrants .

      The most important , perhaps , and certainly the most successful and prosperous of the Paris associations , is that of the arm-chair and sofa manufacturers , Auguste Antoine et Cje , in the Rue Charonne , which is constituted in a peculiar manner . Most of the French co-operative societies are registered en nom collectif , by which all the members become personally responsible for the liabilities of the association . But this establishment is managed by a permanent committee of nine members , who alone are responsible ; the rest of the associates ^ being commanditaires , and liable only for the amount of their respective shares . The gerant , or

      manager , however , has to pass through the ordeal of an annual election . He receives a fixed stipend of sixty pounds a year , with an allowance of twenty-four pounds for his travelling expenses . The caissier , or bookkeeper , has five francs for every day that he is employed . Each of the associates is required to work fifty-five hours a week , under the penalty of a fine , but no one is permitted to work more than eleven , hours a-day . Wages , which are paid at the end of every alternate week , range from 36 J . to 801 . a year .

      Twenty per cent , ( one hundred francs ) is deducted from the first twenty pounds earned by each member , and placed in the fond social . The hundred francs are refunded to him if the member retire from the association . Profits and losses are divided in the ratio of the annual rate of wages . Ten per cent ., however , is deducted for the "fond de retenue indivisible , " and forty per cent , for the "fond de reserve , " besides four hundred francs taken from the first profits of each of tho associates , which are capitalized , and form one of the elements of their success .

      The association opens a credit for each of its members , to tho amount of his first hundred francs deposit , paying in cash for tho goods supp ied every three months , and at tho same t ' mvo deducting from his wages a per centage sufficient to cover tho expenditure . This operation is performed in a regular manner , by means of a printed form , or hill , drawn , accepted , and endorsed ; and thus the society is enabled not duly to give employment to tho tailors , hatters , , shoemakers , and tho marchands de nouveauUs in tho faubourg , who supply tho wants of tho women and childron , but , its credit being good , and its notes in request , it acquires by this means a fond de ronlement , in cash or bullion , which increases its commercial power .

      Apprentices have to pass through a noviciate of from three to six months , before they are admitted into tho association , which is now composed of 112 members , of whom 16 nro carvers ; and in addition to those , 110 women and young persons are employed in polishing &c . When I visited them at tho beginning of April , they had work sufficient for 15 additional members , but unfortunately their shops wore full . This association was founded by six working men , on tho ICth of November , 1848 , with ft capital of 504 francs 20 conthnca ; namely , 135 francs in money , 30 f ) fbi . 00 cents , in tools , &c , and 54 fra . 20 cents , in goods ; and , at diitbront times , has obtained from tho government loans to tho amount of WOOL , ropayablo with intoroBi ;/ at 3 } per cont .,. in fourteen yearn

      Tho following extract from tho annual bnlunco-shcots , which aro , without exaggeration , modoln in tho art of > book-keeping , will Bhow a regular nnd progressive hh- ' provomont down to the present moment , Tho fbllo ^ - ^ ing was their " Avtif" or creditor account on tho 31 et - December , 1849 : — ' ¦ ' '

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 8, 1852, page 443, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1934/page/15/