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the beneficial effects anticipated by its promoters , and predict that it must end in disastrous failure ; yet , at the same time , the public is warned by their lugubrious vaticinations of its inevitable results , terminating in iW-Republicanism , Communism , and Anarchy . They may reconcile , if they can , these conflicting assertions . . . Cooperation , however , is no novel theory , nor of recent application ; neither does it appear to have xcited alarm , even in timid minds , until of late , when applied to labour for the benefit of the operatives themselves . Joint-stock banks , joint-stock societies of all kinds , freehold-land associations , have been encouraged and promoted by the " middle
classes , " so long as the element of labour—the creative power of capital—were excluded . But no sooner is the same principle , which greatly augments the productive power of labour , applied to the formation of cooperative societies , in which every member is bound to contribute his own industry and manual skill—the latent form of capital—than a complete revulsion in their sentiments and views takes place . Cooperation , in the eyes of the middle-class Econonomists and Free-traders , immediately becomes a dangerous conspiracy against property and order ; and an imaginary spectre is conjured up , which , like the baselcssTabric " of a vision , instantly vanishes when examined by the fear-dispelling light of
reality . Whether English operatives have yet acquired sufficient powers of self-control and self-denial to organize themselves and work together in concert , by a self-imposed division of employment and of labour , of pay and of profit , under leaders elected from among themselves ; whether they will consent to remunerate these leaders adequately for head work—that peculiar talent which is requisite for the direction and management of their manufacture or trade—and thus raise themselves to the social dignity of freedom as opposed to licence , still remains
to be proved by time and experiment—the only practical test . Why , then , raise such an outcry against cooperative association—only a modified form of competition—while the manufacturer or employer who possesses industrious habits , larse selfishness , and a vigorous intellect , with just sufficient moral feeling for the profitable direction of his inferior powers , is highly applauded by society if he acquire great wealth ? This accumulated capital he is allowed to transmit to his heirs without let or hindrance , although it may have been acquired by exacting longcontinued and excessive toil from the artisan he has
employed , who , stimulated by high wages perhaps , or constrained by necessity , may have prepared for himself only a premature grave , in which , exhausted and worn out in body and in mind , he is laid more like a jaded hoi so than a human being . Will any man , or any class of men , therefore , dare to assert that the aitu-an shall not freely be permitted to cooperate with his fellows , in order to secure himself , if possible , against so fatal a destiny ? It may be replied , that the artisans will still compete with each other , and thuB wear themselves out by an excess' of * elf-imposed labour . This , however , is highly improbable , and could then no longer be enforced by any harth and unrelenting master . Far from wishing to abolish the competitive principle , I , for my own part , am convinced that
competition , within rational limits , will be found necessary , to check the rank growth of Mokoioi , y , which is constantly upriiiging up afiesh : it is the abuse of the competitive principle which tends to generate monopoly in its worst form—the monopoly of unscrupulous capitalists . By means of association , however , the economical advantages of production , as well as of distribution on a large scale , may be combined with an equitable syhtem of remuneration for the operative . But Social Reform—such , for instance , as that of converting the truck-shop into the cooperative stoic — can only Le introduced gradually , although the progressive evolution ol mental power renders it probable that men possess a greater capacity for improvement than experience would , at first sight , lead us to suppose .
Every duy brings to light fresh evidence of the pernicious effect ot hostile , and reckless competition , —especially in making contracts for the charge and upportof the poor . At an important meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association , recently held in . Brighton , 1 read the following account , given by the president , J ) r . Jenks , of the sufferings inflicted by this unprincipled content on the poor-law medical officers , and on the poor , Avho are , in fact , the greatest sufferers : —
" If ( continued Dr . Jcnks ) we look needfully at the condition of miuiy of our poorer brethren , capeciully ia the ruml districts , over-woiked , badly reinuncruieil , cruell y opprcubed by hard taokmastera , or perchance ruined by the reckless competition of interlopers , wo ahull ACt . abundant necessity for a Benevolent Fund . Much of this evil is to be attributed to the adverse administration of the poor laws . It would have given He great pleasure if 1 could have announced any improvement in the relative position of medical union oilicera and their oppressors , the guardians of the poor the y are called ; hut I am soriy to say that the Committee of the Convention of Poor Law Medical Officer * oate impended . th * ir mcet ^ a through want of support .
After a statement of their difficulties and proceedings , they conclude their report by urging The Poor Law Medical Officers and the profession in general to consider how much the redress wh ch is sought , and for which so large a sacrifice of money , exertion , and time has been made by some of their brethren , ia within their voluntary grasp , but that it can never be hoped for so long as the degrading and ill-paid appointments are not merely accepted but made the objects of eager competition . ' Let it be remembered that by this ruinous competition for poor-law appointments the real thrift and progress of the profession are seriously injured ; that , by undertaking more than they can perform , medical officers share the guilt of neglecting the poor with the so-called 9 than just reward for
guardians ; that , by receiving Ies a their services , they degrade themselves and damage not only the interests of their fellow-labourers with their own , but indirectly those of every practitioner in the kingdom . A competition unlimited like this , degenerates into unlicensed selfishness , which can only be checked by judicious combination . These rival principles may both be considered useful when properly balanced . Some degree of honest rivalry or emulation is needful to develop the energies of mankind , and some degree of combination equally so to protect the interests of class or profession . The one is a duty we owe to ourselves , the other to our neighbours . The lemedy for thi 3 debasing system of poor-law competition is chiefly in the hands of the union officers themselves ; but much
might be done by a Government acting upon public principles for the public good , and especially the good of the indigent poor , who , in the main , are the greatest sufferers by these irregularities . " As long as we pursue this short-sighted policy , and neglect or omit to remove the causes of pauperism , — as long as we chiefly confine our efforts to making cheap contracts , —so long will there be a constant succession of paupers to be maintained . If we turn from the medical profession to that of
artists , we find in their history during the last century abundant proof of the sufferings entailed upon them , and particularly upon engravers , by improvidence and want of friendly cooperation : a state of social anarchy which terminated in the establishment , in 1768 , of a crushing monopoly . This monopoly has exercised a very injurious influence on society , by degrading art to a mere trading speculation , by lowering the social position of the great body of British artists , and by raising in the minds ot" the manufacturer and artisan a false standard of merit .
Under the academic system of annual exhibition , the artist has degerated into an art-maiiufactuer , and the Royal Academy into an auction-room , where the ignorant are imposed upon by factitious social distinctions , which are not recognized in the Republic of Art . The history of the Incorporated Society of the Artists of Great Britain ( an association formed for their mutual protection and support ) is well known , and the sudden termination of its career by a court intrigue . In consequence of the success of the 44 cabal , " the great body of our artists were left at the mercy of an irresponsible society , trafficking for profit , yet entrusted with very extensive public powers and privileges , although chiefly occupied
with the private and sordid interest of its members , who shamelessly neglected their duties , and corruptly administered the delegated authority with which they had been invested for the encouragement of fine art , and the foundation of a training school for artists worthy of the British nation . Instead of the gentle foster-mother of arts and of artists , as warranted by royal diploma , Monopoly turned out a meretricious Haunting ju-de , tricked out in the latest caprice of fashion—bestowing her dearly purchased favours upon court sycophants and fribbles , and her patronage on the pet forcible-feeble" of the day . But court and aristocratic patronage have been ever fatal to the arts ; while I am inclined to believe that the size and splendour of the national repositories of art should be considered a fair teat of the
knowledge and mental culture of a people , and aa a type of the state of urt ; for nothing can be more conducive to the true dignity or worthlesHiicBs of the nation than the mode in which it expends that superfluous wealth , which exceeds what is necessary for its existence ; aa it in from thi . s source that real prosperity diffuses itself throughout the land , in proportion to the quantum of nutriment supplied The English engravers , a very talented body of men , were at fiist excluded fioin the Academy , although received with distinction on the Continent , where their works have been always highly appreciated . Thc .-y were afterwards admitted in extremely limited numbers , but upon such detruding terms
that , for u time , no engruver . s could be found base enough to accept the very questionable titles of honour which the Monopolists were willing to bestow . But gradually they sank into a btate of dependence : on tin ; publishers and printuellers ; und when the gieut publishing house of Hurst and KobiiiHon failed , the engravers for a timo were actually prostrated . An attempt wan then made by a generous friend , who advanced £ . ' { 000 for the purpose , to rescue them from their distressing bituution , and enable them , by means of cooperative utinociatioii , to undertake the publication , on their own account , of an important national work . 'Ihifl attempt failed , from the uhgenoe yf thq zeal and
earnestness necessary for success in their common enterprise . The print sellers and publishers have been wiser in their generation than the engravers , and have now formed themselves into an " Association , " their design being , in the words of their own circular , " to elevate the character and promote the welfare of . the print sellers and publishers of the United Kingdom , and to watch over the interests of the trade in general . " This association now exercises a powerful and stringent authority over the whole body of the English engravers . - If association , therefore , confer such important advantages on the printsellers , why not also on the printmakers , of the United Kingdom ? At all events , let the trial be made .
I would , therefore , also claim the right of Association , so freely exercised by the " middle classes " for their own partial emancipation from the thraldom of the privileged aristocracy , on behalf of the unprivileged operative class , whose progressive moral improvement during this giant half century is very striking , and was never more visibly manifested than on the occasion of the Whig Premier's •' No Popery" epistle . That dastardly attempt
to rouse the latent spirit of persecution and bigotry against our Roman CathoLc fellow-countrymen signally failed . It met with no responsive echo in the hearts of the magnanimous people , whose orderly behaviour of late has excited the admiration of the world , and formed an edifying contrast to that of the armed soldiers concentrated in the metropolis to maintain order , who were the only disorderly exceptions to the general rule .
But the people , who have shown themselves more enlightened and more tolerant than their rulers , have thus established the strongest claim to immediate social and political enfranchisement , which , indeed , can no longer prudently be denied by the dominant class in this country to those who have already proved themselves worthy of every privilege conferred by other states upon their citizens . The present condition of France should operate as a salutary warning
on our legislators ; and , as the social emancipation of the people is inseparably bound up with their political enfranchisement , let their stern and significant demand , on the new year of 1852 , be for universal suffrage—the only sure and permanent basis , for our social and religious liberties ; for toleration is not the opposite , but only the counterfeit , of intolerance . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , William Coxingham .
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TO THE WORKERS . Bradford , August 15 , 1851 . Fellow Operatives , —This is the age ot wonders . Our reforms of the first half of this century are but a step onwards . We have many steps to take yet before Ave reach the top ; but we are going up ; and though the road is round and round like the stone steps of a Cathedral tower , yet it is upwards ; and even whilst we are dizzy with the ascent , we feel that we are still mounting , and that is all we care for . Never mind the past . It is not necessary to look back upon that . We are in the stream , and have enough to do to mind the eddies ; a crisis is at hand for us , for we are acknowledged to be the 44 many , " and our labours are considered by all sides , and by all parties , to be of the utmost importance to the nation . Remember , it was for us that the Imperial Legislature passed the meabure of Free-trade . We are the manufacturers , about whose glory so much has been said , and for whose benelil there ia at present such great political contention .
We are they who are to beat foreign competition to the dust ; to eat the bread of foreigners , and to clothe them for it . There is , in fact , henceforward to be no other manufacturing nation living . We are to doit all . Hurrah , then for Free-trade ! lor it has made us somebody . If we have " achieved greatness , " we have also had greatness > l thrust upon ua ; " and whether we did it or it was done for us , we are somebody , and that is all we need care about .
Well , then , let us take up our position , and let us show what wo are . Let us joggle ourselves into the area of public opinion— " Somebody " ought to be head . 4 * Somebody " liau ii right to speak—Nobodies should " keep Hilence , that they may hear , " as Marc Antony said over the body of Great Civsor . Who are we ?—once again I ask that question . The mttny . Can there bo two Manyt > ? The world says no . Free-traders say no , too . If we , then , am tho many , who are the few ? Surely , then , the many have a right to be heard !
The difference between the many and the few seems to be this : that the few have all the money , and the many the mouths . What then ? We have tho greater means of telling what we think . J-e ( , " « , therefore , tell the few , that if we serve , wo fcel ; and that with Free-trude in corn there shall be Frco-trudo in speech . The sugar that i » made by slaves cannot consistently be eaten by the free . Have we property ? let ua ihfend it . Have wo
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 30, 1851, page 831, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1898/page/19/
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