THE ECONOMIC POSITION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BRITISH LABOURER. 
 
Camfitttiffe: 
 
 PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
THE ECONOMIC POSITION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BRITISH LABOURER. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY FAWCETT, M.P. 
 
 'i 
 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY HALL, AND PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 
 
 IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 L I. B U A li \ 
 
 UNI VKKSI ^^• OK 
 
 CAUKOlfNlA. 
 
 ^ambnOge anD SonDon: 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 1865. 
 

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PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages form a portion of a Course of 
 Lectures, which I delivered in the University of 
 Cambridge in the autum of 1864. For the conve- 
 nience of the general reader, I have divided the 
 various subjects discussed, into separate Chapters. 
 It was necessary in addressing a class of students, 
 to expound many of the elementary principles of 
 Economic Science; I have thought that many of 
 these expositions might be here admitted. 
 
 In the Chapter on Trades Unions and Strikes, 
 an allusion is made to the trade outrages at Shef- 
 field. I think it is only fair to state that I have 
 
vii Preface. 
 
 recently visited Sheffield, and after many inter- 
 views with both the Employers and the Employed, 
 I have come to the conclusion, that these outrages 
 have for some years been discontinued, and that 
 they are now most heartily discountenanced by the 
 working men. 
 
 Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 
 October 1865. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introductory Remarks ..... i 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 The Land Tenure of England . . . io 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Cooperation . . . . . .71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Causes which regulate Wages . . 119 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Trades Unions and Strikes . . . .162 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Emigration ...... ^01 
 
L I i^ IJ -^ 
 
 \ 1 
 
 THE ECONOMIC POSITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BRITISH LABOURER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Introductory Remarks. 
 
 I PURPOSE in the course of the following Lec- 
 tures to describe the position of the British la- 
 bourer. The subject, if I can do adequate justice 
 to it, must be particularly interesting, and one 
 which I consider to be peculiarly appropriate for 
 discussion from a Chair of Political Economy. This 
 science has often had to incur the reproach of being 
 unpractical. The business man assuming a confi- 
 dence which ignorance alone can give, contemptu- 
 ously sneers at political economy, and assumes that 
 
 I 
 
2 TJic Economic Position 
 
 he Is in possession of a superior wisdom which en- 
 ables him to grapple with all the practical affairs of 
 life, unhampered by theories and unfettered by 
 principles. Our science will therefore in some de- 
 gree vindicate its claim to utility, if it can show 
 that connected with the position of the British 
 labourer there are rapidly arising questions which 
 are destined to exert a powerful influence upon the 
 production of wealth and upon the distribution of 
 property in this country. Men of business are 
 proverbially acute in observing causes from which 
 result temporary fluctuations in the price of com- 
 modities, but they are the last to recognise the 
 slow, but not less inevitable working of more per- 
 manent causes, which may perhaps be destined to 
 remodel the social state of a country, or to revolu- 
 tionise the conditions upon w^hich commerce may 
 be carried on. 
 
 One moment's reflection will suggest some of 
 the economic problems which may arise for solu- 
 tion during the next few years. Ireland is becom- 
 ing depopulated. The Irish have hitherto supplied 
 much of the lowest kind of labour required in Eng- 
 land. Our corn has to a great extent been reaped 
 by them, but the day is probably not far distant 
 when Ireland will require English labourers to reap 
 her own harvest. Again, it may be observed, that 
 as the commerce of England has developed, a line 
 
of the British Labourer. 3 
 
 of demarcation more definite and more difficult 
 to be passed has arisen between the employers 
 and the employed. This separation between capi- 
 tal and labour is unnatural, and must be pernici- 
 ous. The hired labourer, as a general rule, has no 
 pecuniary interest in the success of the work in 
 which he is engaged ; his faculties are not stimu- 
 lated, his energies are not evoked. His life is 
 passed without hope, and a discontent must thus 
 be too frequently engendered, which, if not cor- 
 rected, may jeopardise the stability of our con- 
 stitution. If for an instant w^e consider the past, 
 we shall see how great are the changes which 
 have been wrought in our national industry. In 
 former times the English farmers generally culti- 
 vated their own freehold estates. They were the 
 old yeomen of England who played so proud a 
 part in the annals of our country, and the yeoman 
 and his labourers often lived together, and thus 
 became attached to each other by some of the ties 
 of family affection. But three distinct classes, be- 
 tween whom no relation now exists except a pecu- 
 niary one, are at the present time concerned in the 
 cultivation of the soil. The landowner obtains the 
 greatest rent he can from his tenant, and the tenant 
 obtains from his labourers the maximum of work 
 for the minimum of wages. The employers and 
 employed are parties to a keenly contested bar- 
 
 I — 2 
 
4 The Economic Position 
 
 gain, and the labourer therefore naturally endea- 
 vours to obtain the maximum of wages for the 
 minimum of work. I do not make this contrast 
 between the past and the present in the vain hope 
 of recalling a state of society which is irrecoverably 
 gone, and which could not exist at the present 
 time ; I do not wish to praise the past at the ex- 
 pense of the present. I am an earnest believer in 
 progress, but I have endeavoured by comparison 
 to exhibit in a striking light some of the salient 
 features in our present national economy, in order 
 to show that many circumstances of vast import- 
 ance in their ultimate consequences are beginning 
 to affect the position of the British labourer. For 
 instance, are our agricultural labourers likely to re- 
 main permanently contented with their present 
 lot ? Theirs is a life of incessant toil for wages 
 too scanty to give them even a sufficient supply 
 of the first necessaries of life. No hope cheers 
 their monotonous career: a life of constant labour 
 brings them no other prospect than that when 
 their strength is exhausted, they must crave as 
 suppliant mendicants a pittance from parish relief. 
 Will generation after generation be content to pass 
 the same dreary existence, when in other countries, 
 with a climate as healthy as our own, with institu- 
 tions as free, they may at once become landed- 
 proprietors, and they may see definitely placed 
 
of the British Labourer. 5 
 
 before them a career of affluence and prosperity ? 
 Are there not sufficient indications to make us 
 reflect that if things continue as they are, an 
 English exodus may be imminent ? England has 
 safely weathered the storms of political revolu- 
 tions. Centuries have passed away since the 
 foreign invaders stepped on these shores, but our 
 greatness cannot be maintained, our wealth can- 
 not be produced, if our labourers in large numbers 
 leave our shores ; for it is their strong arms and 
 their acquired skill which have achieved the mar- 
 vels of our material greatness, and which have 
 won for England glorious victories in every quar- 
 ter of the world. 
 
 Whenever our labourers emigrate, it may be 
 safely concluded that they are prompted to do 
 so in order to improve their material condition. 
 People have often been driven from their country 
 by the despotic acts of their rulers ; but an English- 
 man does not expect to find in other countries a 
 government more free, and he loves his native 
 land so dearly that he cannot leave it without 
 enduring many a bitter pang. Political Economy 
 is therefore intimately concerned with any discus- 
 sions which relate to the condition of the labourer ; 
 for the object which this science has in view, is to 
 investigate the laws which regulate the production 
 and distribution of wealth. On every side we are 
 
6 TJie Economic Position 
 
 met with the most conclusive evidence that the 
 production of wealth in this country is so vast 
 and so rapidly augmenting that it is idle to say 
 poverty exists because enough wealth is not pro- 
 duced. I will not weary you with figures, I will 
 only remind you that during the last twenty years 
 our foreign trade has more than trebled ; and if 
 you wish for any further proof of the increase 
 in our national wealth you can yourselves observe 
 the vast manufactories and warehouses which have 
 been erected, the mighty docks which have been 
 opened, and the rapid extension throughout the 
 country of railways, which bring wealth to every 
 district through which they are carried. Ever^'- 
 thing therefore concerning the amount of wealth 
 produced appears to be satisfactory, but a very 
 different picture is exhibited if we reflect upon 
 the way in which this vast wealth is distributed. 
 This augmentation of national wealth has not 
 arrested the Irish exodus. Many classes of la- 
 bourers have still to work as long, and for as 
 little remuneration as they received in past times, 
 and one, out of every twenty inhabitants of England 
 is sunk so deep in pauperism that he has to be 
 supported by parochial relief The advance in the 
 material prosperity of Liverpool, of Glasgow, and 
 other centres of commerce is unprecedented, yet 
 in close contiguity to this growing wealth there 
 
of the British Labotu^er. y 
 
 are still the same miserable homes of the poor, 
 the same pestilential courts and alleys, where 
 fevers and other diseases are bred which deci- 
 mate the infantile population with unerring cer- 
 tainty. Here then is a political economical ques- 
 tion of surpassing interest and importance to solve, 
 and the solution of which will form the basis of 
 our investigations. How is it that this vast pro- 
 duction of wealth does not lead to a happier 
 distribution } How is it that the rich seem to be 
 constantly growing richer, whilst the poverty of 
 the poor is not perceptibly diminished } 
 
 In attempting to work out this problem, I shall 
 endeavour carefully to abstain from indulging in 
 any vituperation against either employers or em- 
 ployed. The chief object which I shall have in 
 view will be to describe the different economic 
 systems which may regulate the production and 
 distribution of wealth, and according as any eco- 
 nomic system may prevail, I shall attempt to 
 explain what arrangements may be adopted so 
 as to bring the greatest happiness to the com- 
 munity in general. Thus in our own country 
 three distinct classes usually share the proceeds 
 of agricultural industry, viz. landowners, farmers, 
 and labourers. I shall compare this agricultural 
 economy with that of other countries where the 
 land is cultivated by its owner. Again, with regard 
 
8 The Economic Position 
 
 to our commerce and trade, the capital is almost 
 invariably supplied by the employer, and the em- 
 ployed consequently work for hired wages. When 
 the produce which the land yields is distributed, 
 between the landowners, farmers, and labourers, 
 the amount which is allotted to each of these 
 three classes is regulated by definite laws which 
 no artificial arrangements can permanently con- 
 trol. When the capital and labour which any 
 industry requires is supplied by distinct sets of 
 individuals, the relative amount which the em- 
 ployer receives as profits, and which the employed 
 receive as wages, is also determined by precise 
 and well ascertained laws. We shall therefore 
 be naturally led to consider the condition of the 
 labourer under two distinct aspects. We must 
 not only investigate the various circumstances 
 which may affect his position if he continues sim- 
 ply to work for hire, but we must also attempt 
 to trace some of the many consequences which 
 will ensue if the labourer advances into a different 
 social position, and supplies some of the capital 
 which his industry requires. Hence some of the 
 topics can be readily suggested which will fall 
 within the scope of our inquiries. For instance, I 
 shall describe to you the landed tenure which pre- 
 vails in England with the view of showing what are 
 its effects on the cultivation of the soil, and what 
 
of the British Labourer. 9 
 
 is the influence it exerts upon those who are en- 
 gaged in agriculture. I shall give you a detailed 
 account of the Co-operative movement, and the 
 facts which I shall adduce will prove that a new 
 industrial era has been inaugurated. I shall en- 
 deavour carefully to explain the functions of capi- 
 tal, with the view of showing you the causes which 
 regulate the remuneration of labour. You will 
 then be able to perceive that employers and em- 
 ployed would both be benefited by the introduction 
 of some system of Co-partnership between capital 
 and labour. I shall illustrate the necessity of im- 
 proving the relations between masters and men, 
 by considering the influence which is exerted by 
 Strikes and Trades Unions. Finally, I believe the 
 full importance of the subject we are discussing 
 will be understood when some of the considerations 
 connected with emigration are laid before you. 
 Many countries are now competing for British 
 labour ; if therefore the condition of our indus- 
 trial classes does not improve, that labour which 
 creates our wealth, and maintains our greatness, 
 will be attracted to other lands. 
 
 f r. [ 1! ({ A \i ; 
 UN J VKHSITY OF 
 
 ' VLJK()h>MA. 
 
10 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 TJie Land Tenure of England. 
 
 It is an admitted fact that at the present time 
 in England the average size of farms is increasing, 
 and that a large proportion of the aggregate land 
 in the country is gradually passing into the hands 
 of large proprietors*. Before we trace the conse- 
 quences of these changes, it will be well to enquire 
 whether they are produced by artificial regula- 
 tions, or whether they are due to natural causes. 
 It will not be difficult to distinguish between the 
 natural and artificial causes which exert an in- 
 fluence to accumulate the landed property in this 
 country in the hands of a smaller number of pro- 
 prietors. Those causes which are artificial are the 
 laws which affect landed property, and these laws 
 cannot be justly continued if it can be shown 
 that they are not advantageous to the general 
 
 * It has been calculated that a century since, there were three 
 times as many landed-proprietors in England as there are at the 
 present time. 
 
The Economic Position of the British Labourer. 1 1 
 
 community. The theory of our constitution as it 
 now exists, Is based upon the supposition that it is 
 desirable that one of the powers in the State should 
 be an hereditary aristocracy, and it is assumed 
 that an hereditary aristocracy cannot be main- 
 tained unless they are the owners of large landed 
 estates. Our law therefore confers on a landed 
 proprietor facilities for preventing the subdivision 
 of his estate, and everything Is done to encourage 
 the feeling that it is desirable that landed pro- 
 perty should not be subdivided. If a man dies 
 without a will his landed property passes intact 
 to his heir, whereas his personal property will pass 
 in part to his widow, and the remainder is divided 
 equally amongst his children. If he had no chil- 
 dren, his property would be distributed in certain 
 fixed proportions amongst his relations. We must 
 therefore inquire what are the effects which these 
 laws of property produce upon the general in- 
 terests of the nation. 
 
 I am desirous to make my remarks as little 
 political as possible, and I will therefore assume 
 that we unanimously admit the impolicy of making 
 any radical .change in our constitution. We are 
 anxious that our Parliament should continue to 
 consist of two assemblies, one elected and the 
 other permanent. The history of the past has 
 repeatedly shown that if legislative power is en- 
 
12 TJie Economic Position 
 
 tirely confided to an elected assembly, there may 
 be no influence to withstand the outbursts of popu- 
 lar passion. We will therefore admit that nothing 
 ought to be done to jeopardize the existence or 
 to weaken the influence of the House of Lords, 
 so that there may be always a power in the State 
 to exercise calm and deliberate wisdom, if the 
 representatives of the people, reflecting the excite- 
 ment of their constituencies, should be hurried into 
 hasty and unjust legislation. But if we make 
 these admissions, does it follow that in order to 
 have an assembly which shall possess the functions 
 of the House of Lords, we must maintain laws 
 whose avowed effect is to keep intact the estates 
 of our landed aristocracy ? Every feeling in our 
 nature is opposed to the idea that one child in 
 a family should be selected for special favour, and 
 that he should be enriched, whilst his brothers 
 and sisters are made comparatively poor. If a 
 man had ^100,000, and left ^90,000 to his eldest 
 son, and divided only ^10,000 amongst his four 
 remaining children, every one would denounce 
 such a disposition of property as most unjust and 
 most unfair ; but if a man had an estate worth 
 ;^ 100,000 and left the whole of it to his eldest 
 son, he will do exactly what our law would do for 
 him, if he died without a will; for the law of 
 England interprets a man's natural desire to be. 
 
of the British Labottrer. 13 
 
 that all his landed property should pass to his 
 eldest son, even although his other children may be 
 left entirely unprovided for. 
 
 Since the inheritance of landed property by 
 one child to the exclusion of others, although 
 encouraged and facilitated by our law, is mani- 
 festly opposed to all our conceptions of justice, 
 it follows that primogeniture cannot be defended, 
 unless it can be clearly proved to bring to the 
 State some decidedly compensating advantages. 
 Those who assume that the House of Lords can- 
 not exist without primogeniture, may argue that 
 our constitution cannot be preserved unless this 
 institution is maintained. But I believe that the 
 assumption implied in this argument is not cor- 
 rect. In order to secure the permanence of the 
 House of Lords, nothing is so important as that 
 there should be in this assembly some of the 
 ablest men in the country. The intelligent people 
 of England would quite as soon place faith in the 
 divine right of kings, as they w^ould be induced to 
 believe that a man inherits by birth any claim to 
 legislate for. them. The existence of the House 
 of Lords will never even be threatened as long as 
 it can be shown that its "functions are exercised 
 wisely and efficiently. At the present time 428 
 peers have a right to sit in that assembly. And 
 yet out of that number perhaps not more than 
 
14 The Economic Position 
 
 40 or 50 have either the taste, or the IncHnation, 
 or the capacity to take the sHghtest part in its 
 dehberations, even when the gravest pohtical ques- 
 tions are discussed. If hostihty should ever be 
 shown towards the House of Lords, it will not 
 be because the English nation desires the abolition 
 of a permanent legislative assembly ; but no one 
 need be surprised if the day should arrive when 
 the nation will not tamely submit to see the for- 
 tunes of the state controlled by the votes of men 
 who give their proxies to a party leader, because 
 they are too careless or too indolent to be present, 
 when questions of the gravest importance upon 
 which they have to decide are discussed. The 
 House of Lords would have been long since de- 
 stroyed by those peers, who either from indolence 
 or incapacity do not perform their hereditary legis- 
 lative functions, had not that assembly been con- 
 stantly renovated by illustrious commoners who 
 have achieved distinction either in arms, litera- 
 ture, politics, or science. In a free and enlight- 
 ened country no body of men will be permitted 
 to exercise legislative power simply because they 
 have inherited rank and wealth. The friends of 
 an hereditary aristocracy advance a dangerous 
 argument, if they assert that the existence of the 
 House of Lords depends upon the maintenance 
 of the large landed estates of our peers. Edu- 
 
of the Bj'iiish Labourer. 15 
 
 cated people will rebel against such opinions ; it 
 will reasonably be said, that ability, education, and 
 leisure, may give a man a claim to be a senator; 
 but that any principle of inheriting political power, 
 unless it secures these qualities, cannot be advan- 
 tageous to the State. The remarks which have 
 just been made may, I think, be considered to 
 lead to the two following conclusions : first, the 
 maintenance of the House of Lords does not de- 
 pend on primogeniture ; secondly, our laws of real 
 property which facilitate the inheritance of land 
 entirely by the heir, cannot be maintained upon 
 the plea that they tend to preserve the constitution 
 in its present form ; for our House of Lords would 
 be more permanent and more efficient if such a 
 large proportion of its members were not placed 
 there simply because they inherited rank and 
 property. 
 
 I think therefore enough has been said to jus- 
 tify the conclusion that no political considerations 
 of paramount importance demand that our present 
 laws of real property should be maintained. As 
 we have now disposed of the political part of this 
 question, we have next to investigate the economic 
 consequences which result from permitting such a 
 disposition of land as now prevails in England. 
 
 I have already referred to the extraordinary 
 circumstance that if a man dies without a will, 
 
1 6 The Economic Position 
 
 our law interprets his desire to be, that his landed 
 property should pass intact to his heir. In the 
 case of intestacy, a broad line of demarcation is 
 drawn between land and all other kinds of pro- 
 perty; in fact, the law seems to be framed with 
 the view of encouraging the opinion that a landed 
 estate ought to pass undivided from generation to 
 generation. You will observe how these senti- 
 ments have affected the whole law of this country, 
 as we proceed to consider the control which a man 
 who makes a will is permitted to exercise over the 
 future disposition of his landed property. Thus 
 a landowner can leave his estate to an unborn 
 child. A, we will suppose, leaves an estate to his 
 son B, on the condition that at ^'s death the 
 estate should pass to i?'s eldest son. This is what 
 is termed entailing an estate; and amongst- our 
 landed aristocracy it is almost invariably the cus- 
 tom to create successive entails. Thus, when E^ 
 eldest son comes of age, the estate is again settled 
 upon his eldest son, who may be a child unborn. 
 Now it is at once evident that this power of entail 
 prevents a great part of the landed property of the 
 country ever being brought into the market. For 
 instance, i>, who inherits a landed estate from A, 
 has only a life-interest in it, and until his eldest 
 son comes of age he cannot dispose of his estate as 
 a freehold; he can simply sell his life-interest in it. 
 
of the British Labourer. \J 
 
 Of course when the eldest son does obtain his 
 majority, he has a direct interest in preventing 
 the sale of an estate which is settled upon him. 
 It therefore clearly follows, that entailing estates is 
 an artificial arrangement which prevents a great 
 part of the land of a country ever being brought 
 into the market. Now it appears to me that the 
 government has a clear right to interfere if landed 
 proprietors do anything with their land which is 
 opposed to the general welfare of a country. The 
 primary condition of individual freedom is usually 
 assumed to be, that a man should do as he likes 
 with his own ; but I conceive that if this meaning is 
 given to ownership of land, no one can be fairly 
 considered to be the owner of land. Parliament is 
 repeatedly affirming, that a landed proprietor has 
 not a right to do what he likes with the land in his 
 possession. Landowners, for instance, are con- 
 stantly protesting against a railway passing through 
 their property, but by Parliament these protesta- 
 tions are disregarded, and the railway is permitted 
 to be made, because public convenience requires it. 
 Again, history shows that from the earliest times 
 the possession of landed property was always con- 
 sidered to carry with it some obligations to the 
 state. William the Conqueror seized a great part 
 of the land of this country, and distributed it 
 amonsfst those of his followers who had most dis- 
 
1 8 The Economic Positiott 
 
 tino-uished themselves in the field of battle. But 
 William never entertained the idea of giving any 
 one a single acre of land unfettered by any con- 
 ditions ; he seems to have thought that those to 
 whom he gave the land, held it in trust for the 
 general good of the State; upon the landowners 
 devolved the duty of defending the country, and 
 he therefore ordained that they should be at all 
 times prepared to supply properly equipped sol- 
 diers, the number of whom should be fixed ac- 
 cording to the quantity of land they possessed. 
 
 It is evident that the whole feudal system, 
 which so powerfully affected the constitution of 
 society throughout the middle ages, was based on 
 the principle that the ownership of land carried 
 with it certain obligations to the State. When 
 the feudal system was destroyed these obligations 
 were forgotten, and the numerous personal rela- 
 tions which formerly attached the baron to the 
 crown, and the vassal to the lord, were entirely 
 replaced by a series of pecuniary bargains. The 
 land-tax represents the armed support which the 
 feudal lord was bound to give to the crown. No 
 personal services now exist between landlords, 
 tenants, and labourers. The tenants simply pay 
 the rent, and the labourers receive the wages. I 
 have made these remarks, in order to show that 
 property in land was never originally conferred 
 
of the British Labourer. 19 
 
 without certain obligations being enforced. It 
 therefore seems to have been conceived that there 
 was a fundamental distinction between property in 
 land and all other kinds of property, and this dis- 
 tinction, though perhaps not avowed, is clearly 
 recognised at the present time. Thus, reverting to 
 a former example, the State does not hesitate to 
 take land for railway purposes when the public 
 convenience demands it, although the owner may 
 have the strongest objection to this appropriation 
 of his property; but it would be an interference 
 with individual freedom, which would not be toler- 
 ated, if the State should in the least degree at- 
 tempt to dictate what a man should do with his 
 personal property. Furniture, money, and every- 
 thing else which is defined as personal property, 
 is owned in the sense that a man can do what he 
 likes with it. I therefore conceive that property 
 has been permitted to be acquired in land, upon 
 the condition, either expressed or implied, that the 
 government should have an undisputed right to 
 interfere if land is devoted to any purpose which 
 may prove detrimental to the general interests of 
 the nation. It therefore follows, that any law 
 which affects the distribution of landed property 
 should be immediately altered, if it can be shown 
 that it does not promote the welfare of the com- 
 munity. This at once leads us to inquire whether 
 
 2 — 2 
 
20 TJie Economic Position 
 
 we can establish any principle which will guide us 
 in determining the consequences which result from 
 the laws which, at the present time, regulate the 
 disposition of real property in England. 
 
 It seems to me to be a self-evident truth that 
 it is for the interest of the whole community that 
 the land should be cultivated with maximum effi- 
 ciency, because it is indisputable that the more 
 efficiently land is cultivated the more abundant 
 will be food and all the other products of the soil. 
 National wealth will consequently be increased, 
 labour will be better remunerated, and the poverty 
 of the poor will be greatly diminished. We must 
 therefore ask ourselves whether or not primoge- 
 niture, so far as it is permitted and encouraged in 
 England, promotes the efficient cultivation of the 
 land. The avowed object of those of our laws which 
 maintain primogeniture is to prevent the subdivi- 
 sion of large landed properties. I have already 
 explained that land when it is once entailed can- 
 not for a considerable period be brought into the 
 market. A great part of the land of our country 
 is therefore in the position that it cannot be sold ; 
 the consequences which result from these restric- 
 tions can easily be shown, by describing one or two 
 cases which have probably occurred within the 
 experience of us all. A nobleman, we will suppose, 
 and it is no imaginary example, is the tenant for 
 
of the British Labourer. 21 
 
 life of a large landed estate worth ^^ 20,000 per 
 annum. This estate is entailed, or in other words, 
 settled on his eldest son. The nobleman has many 
 other children. His position requires an expen- 
 sive style of living, and he therefore spends nearly 
 the whole of his annual income. When he dies 
 his eldest son will be the heir to a great property, 
 whilst his brothers and sisters will be extremely 
 poor. We do not wish to dwell upon this in- 
 equality, which is contrary to all our feelings of 
 natural justice; we wish here rather to inquire 
 w^hether the estate owned by a person in the posi- 
 tion we have just described is likely to be culti- 
 vated with maximum efficiency. The owner, though 
 possessing a large income, must be considered to 
 be a poor man, because, since all his property is 
 settled upon his heir, he is able to make no 
 adequate provision for his other children. A poor 
 landowner has not the requisite capital to carry 
 out improvements on his estate, and even if he has 
 the capital he has every inducement not to spend 
 it, because by doing so he enriches the eldest son, 
 who will be wealthy, at the expense of his younger 
 children, who will be comparatively poor. We can 
 readily understand how powerfully these motives 
 may operate ; for instance, the owner of an entailed 
 estate may have certain land which it will be most 
 profitable to irrigate. ;^ 20,000 expended in irriga- 
 
22 The Economic Position 
 
 tion may double the aggregate produce obtained, 
 and may yield a profit of 15 per cent, on the outlay. 
 Although the owner of such an estate may fully 
 understand how profitable such an outlay would 
 be, yet he may fairly say, I am not justified in 
 spending the money, because, in order to improve 
 the property of my eldest son, I diminish the 
 amount which I shall have to leave to my younger 
 children. The whole nation therefore suffers a loss, 
 because land, which might be made fertile, is thus 
 kept in a state of infertility. 
 
 There are numerous other ways in which the 
 entaihng of an estate may impede the production 
 of wealth; thus, the owner of such an estate may 
 know, that it would be extremely profitable to 
 plant a certain portion of his land. For instance, 
 there has been for some years a rapidly increasing 
 demand for railway-sleepers ; consequently many 
 highland proprietors have found it much more re- 
 munerative to convert pasture into larch forests; 
 but if they do so, they are of course obliged to 
 make a temporary sacrifice in order to realize a 
 large ultimate gain. The owner of an entailed 
 estate may therefore feel that he cannot in justice 
 to his younger children make this temporary sacri- 
 fice of income ; for if he should die before his 
 larch trees came to maturity, his eldest son would 
 enjoy the whole profit which would result from 
 
I 
 
 of the British Labourer. 23 
 
 the sinking of a certain amount of capital, which 
 might have been distributed amongst his younger 
 children. Numerous other examples can be readily 
 suggested, all of which combine to prove that the 
 entailing of estates frequently prevents the efficient 
 cultivation of land. 
 
 Again, it can be easily demonstrated that It Is 
 most highly detrimental to the general welfare of 
 the nation, that the land of our country should be 
 so rarely cultivated by those who own it. Large 
 landowners seldom trouble themselves with farm- 
 ing. They may perhaps have a model farm near • 
 their country mansion, but the great bulk of their 
 land is let at a fixed rent to tenants. It is im- 
 possible that such an arrangement can promote 
 eood cultivation, because the farmer who rents 
 land has not so great an inducement as he ought 
 to have, either for the outlay of capital, or for the 
 exercise of energy and skill. Tenant farmers may 
 very reasonably say. We would most gladly spend 
 more capital in improving our farms, if we had 
 any security that at the expiration of our leases 
 our rents would not be so much raised, that our 
 landlords would be able to appropriate to them- 
 selves the whole of the improvement which has 
 been effected on their land by the outlay of our 
 own capital, or by the exercise of our energy and 
 skill. This feeling has not unnaturally stimulated 
 
24 The Economic Position 
 
 the farmers of Ireland to demand a tenant-right. 
 They say the law ought to provide a security that 
 a tenant farmer should enjoy the full benefit of 
 the improvement which he may have conferred 
 upon land by the application of his capital and 
 skill. This demand for a tenant-right has always 
 been refused by the English Parliament as a 
 most revolutionary proposal, but in one province 
 of Ireland, viz, Ulster, the landlords, either from 
 fear or from a sense of justice, have so universally 
 conceded this tenant-right, that it has now become 
 a custom which has almost assumed the authority 
 of a law. The evil which this tenant-right at- 
 tempts to cope with is no doubt a real one, and 
 may be regarded as denoting a very serious defect 
 in our national economy. It is however an evil 
 which has to a great extent been created by the 
 power of entailing land, for the avowed object of 
 an entail is to prevent the subdivision of estates; 
 and as long as so great a portion of the area of 
 this country is aggregated into large properties, 
 land will continue to be cultivated as it is now, 
 almost invariably by those who do not own it. 
 
 I^rom these considerations, I think it must be 
 concluded that the system of entail is economi- 
 cally very disadvantageous, because whether large 
 farming or small farming is adopted, the land will 
 be rarely tilled with maximum efficiency, if he 
 
of the British Labourer. , . 2*5 y^^ - 
 
 who cultivates the soil is not also its owner ; 
 moreover, it appears to me self-evident, that if /' , 
 entails were not permitted, a much greater amount; y^ ^^ 
 of land would be brought into the market. If ^ ' 
 however it is admitted that land would be gene- 
 rally cultivated better by its owner than by a 
 tenant, it might be further concluded, that a man 
 who purchased land with the view of cultivating it, 
 would be able to afford to pay a higher price for 
 it, than a man who wished to purchase the land 
 with the view of letting it. It will perhaps be 
 rejoined, that although we have a law of entail 
 at the present time, yet land is constantly brought 
 into the market to be sold to the highest bidder, 
 and that therefore nothing prevents those farmers 
 purchasing land who possess the requisite means, 
 and who also desire to become landed proprietors. 
 But a farmer who buys land with the view of cul- 
 tivating it will look upon the transaction simply as 
 a commercial one, and will not therefore become a 
 purchaser if the price of the land is artificially raised 
 by any extraneous circumstances. Now the desire 
 to possess land is inherent in man. Its ownership 
 f^ratifies some of our most natural and admirable 
 tastes. An opportunity is thus often given to 
 study Nature in her most pleasing aspects, and the 
 ownership of land enables all those pleasures of a 
 country life to be enjoyed which are so thoroughly 
 
26 The Economic Position 
 
 congenial to Englishmen. The possession of a 
 large estate gives social position, and also often 
 confers considerable political influence. The suc- 
 cessful trader, or the lucky speculator, may try in 
 vain to advance his social position even by the 
 most lavish expenditure of wealth in London; but 
 if he becomes a large landed proprietor, his posi- 
 tion in society will be rapidly ensured ; he is soon 
 made a county magistrate; he will then rank as a 
 country gentleman, and his sons may perhaps 
 reasonably look forward to represent the county ; 
 and they will thus gradually enrol themselves 
 amongst the landed aristocracy. 
 
 All these advantages which we have enume- 
 rated as belonging to the ownership of land, of 
 course possess a pecuniary value, because people 
 are willing to pay a price for whatever may give 
 them enjoyment. The price which is paid for 
 these collateral advantages which attach to the 
 possession of land depends on demand and sup- 
 ply. If there are five such successful traders or 
 lucky speculators as those we have described, all 
 anxious to purchase a particular estate on account 
 of those indirect advantages which it will confer 
 upon them, the price of the estate must rise far 
 above its agricultural value : it is therefore mani- 
 fest that this rise in price must be greatly increased 
 by the law of entail, because when entails are 
 
of the British Labourer. 27 
 
 permitted, a much smaller number of estates are 
 brought into the market. Again in England the 
 price of land will each year rise more and more 
 above its agricultural value, because the popula- 
 tion and wealth of England are rapidly increasing. 
 The pleasures of a country life were never so 
 highly esteemed as they are now ; railways give 
 men facilities for combining town occupations with 
 residence in the country ; it therefore follows that 
 each year there are a greater number of people 
 desirous to possess land, and each year they are 
 willing to pay a higher price for it ; consequently 
 the price of land in England has a constant ten- 
 dency to rise above its agricultural value : its 
 agricultural value being determined by three cir- 
 cumstances, the value of agricultural produce, the 
 expense of cultivation, and the current rate of 
 profit. Hence it appears that the price of land 
 is being constantly forced beyond its agricultural 
 value by powerful causes, some of which are natu- 
 ral, and some artificial. The artificial ones are 
 those which can, and ought to be controlled. 
 Those who desire to purchase land with the view 
 of cultivating it, cannot afford to pay a price which 
 greatly exceeds its agricultural* value. An addi- 
 tional argument is thus suggested against our 
 present system of landed tenure; for the amount 
 of land annually brought into the market is much 
 
28 TJie Economic Position 
 
 less than it would be if the power of entail was 
 restricted, and if primogeniture was not encou- 
 raged by our laws of intestacy. But if the quan- 
 tity of land annually sold is diminished, land 
 becomes a commodity so scarce that it assumes 
 the character of a monopoly, which the rich will 
 purchase as a luxury; under these circumstances, 
 it is evident that land can be rarely acquired by 
 those who desire to obtain a livelihood from its 
 cultivation. 
 
 In our previous remarks It has been tacitly 
 assumed that the cultivator is a capitalist farmer 
 who employs hired labourers ; but in many coun- 
 tries a great part of the land is occupied by pea- 
 sant-proprietors, who may be regarded as small 
 farmers cultivating their own land. The peasant- 
 proprietors were formerly a numerous class in 
 England ; they were the ancient freeholders who in 
 bygone ages played a proud part in our history ; 
 they were loyal, but they loved freedom dearly ; 
 they were the constant defenders of our liberty, 
 and in many a hard-fought battle they made the 
 name of England honoured and respected. But 
 the class has now become almost extinct. Its last 
 representatives are some small proprietors in the 
 lake-districts, who are termed states-men. I know 
 many villages where a century since there were 
 thirty or forty of these small freeholders, whereas 
 
of the British Labotcrer. 29 
 
 now the whole land of the parish has been aggre- 
 gated into one large property. Political econo- 
 mists and agriculturists of high authority express 
 the most opposite opinions with regard to the 
 effects which result from peasant-properties. Eng- 
 lish writers, who are opposed to a system of small 
 farming, are often induced to speak disparagingly 
 of small landed properties. It is however most im- 
 portant to remember that there is a fundamental 
 distinction between the small farmer who rents 
 his land and the small farmer who owns the land 
 which he cultivates. In this distinction are in- 
 volved all the advantages which various writers 
 have attributed to peasartt-properties. 
 
 I am quite ready to admit that when land is 
 rented, large farming compared with small farm- 
 ing is every year, in this country at least, becoming 
 more advantageous. Costly machinery is nov/ 
 used in agriculture with the most beneficial results. 
 Almost the whole of our corn is now thrashed by 
 steam, and the flail will soon be a forgotten relic. 
 The steam-plough is being gradually brought to a 
 state of perfection, and the greater part of our 
 land will doubtless in a few years be cultivated 
 entirely by steam. The steam-plough requires a 
 considerable area to work upon; it is almost use- 
 less in small enclosures, and it is moreover a very 
 expensive implement. It could therefore with 
 
30 TJie Economic Position 
 
 difficulty be applied if the country was split up 
 into small farms, and a small farmer would rarely 
 have sufficient means to purchase so costly a ma- 
 chine ; and even if he borrowed one his appliances 
 would be inadequate to employ it profitably. 
 There are also numerous other disadvantages 
 which attach to small farming. A flock of sheep, 
 whether numbering 300 or 600, requires an expe- 
 rienced shepherd, and therefore the wages paid for 
 superintending a flock of 600 would be little more 
 than half the wages which would be paid if the 
 farm was divided into two and a flock of 300 
 was kept on each. Again, the work which a 
 farmer who employs labourers does himself may 
 be regarded as labour of superintendence, and a 
 farmer can probably superintend 600 acres as well 
 as he can superintend 300 acres. From these and 
 various other considerations we are led to the 
 conclusion that large farming is more economical 
 and more advantageous than small farming. But 
 in comparing these two difl'erent systems of agri- 
 culture, it has been assumed that the large as 
 well as the small farmer employs hired labourers; 
 and if this is so, I think that the efficiency of both 
 these systems of agriculture may seriously be 
 impeded by a circumstance which though rarely 
 dwelt upon yet seems to me to be one of radical 
 importance. 
 
of the British Labourer. 31 
 
 The agricultural labourers of this country usu- 
 ally work for fixed hired wages. The farmer sup- 
 plies the capital, and he is entitled to all the 
 produce which the land yields after paying all 
 the expenses of cultivation, which include rent to 
 his landlord and wages to his labourers. The 
 fundamental defect in this arrangement arises from 
 the fact that the labourers, because they do not 
 participate in the profits which their industry yields, 
 have no interest in the work in which they are 
 engaged. The labourer has no pecuniary motive 
 to work with energy and skill ; there can there- 
 fore be little mutual sympathy between the em- 
 ployer and the employed. They too frequently 
 regard each other as antagonists in a keenly con- 
 tested bargain; for it is the interest of the em- 
 ployed to do as little work for the wages he 
 receives, and it is the interest of the employer 
 to get work done at the smallest cost. It is diffi- 
 cult to form any adequate conception of the evil 
 consequences which result from this antagonism 
 between employers and employed. Work is fre- 
 quently badly done, labourers do not exert energy 
 and skill, and the production of wealth is thus 
 seriously interfered with. Employers perhaps only 
 half recognise the loss which is thus inflicted upon 
 them when they complain that their labourers are 
 listless, that they shirk their work, and that they 
 
32 The Economic Position 
 
 care nothing for their master's interest. These 
 complaints are more frequently, and probably more 
 justly, made by farmers than by any other class of 
 employers. Agriculture offers peculiar facilities 
 for the negligent and indolent workman to escape 
 detection. The labour is too scattered to be con- 
 stantly watched. Every room in a cotton mill has 
 an overlooker, who can at once see whether all the 
 operatives are working as they ought, but the 
 labourers on a farm are simultaneously engaged 
 in various operations, and it is impossible that all 
 of these can be properly superintended by the 
 farmer or his bailiff. 
 
 I have now described the two most prominent 
 defects in our present agricultural economy; the 
 first of these arises from the fact that land in this 
 country is so seldom cultivated by its owner. I 
 have endeavoured to show that the only practical 
 remedy which can be applied is to remove all 
 restrictions which limit the amount of land that 
 is brought into the market. The second great 
 defect in our agricultural economy I have attri- 
 buted to the fact that the industry of agricultural 
 labourers is inefficient, because they merely labour 
 for hire, and enjoy no share of their master's pro- 
 fits. It is therefore quite clear that these two 
 defects are completely remedied when agriculture 
 is carried on by peasant-proprietors. A peasant 
 
of the British Labourer. 33 
 
 proprietor may be regarded as a labourer who 
 owns the land which he cultivates. But now this 
 question is suggested, Do any counterbalancing 
 disadvantages arise from the cultivation of the land 
 by peasant proprietors? In proceeding to discuss 
 this question, we seem to be almost bewildered by 
 the opposite opinions which have been expressed 
 by writers of high authority. Our leading English 
 economist, Mr John Stuart Mill, has collected the 
 most elaborate evidence on the subject, and the 
 conclusion which he has arrived at, is extremely fa- 
 vourable to peasant proprietors. On the continent 
 the most eminent political economists, as well as 
 the most eminent writers on agriculture, have been 
 as decided in their approbation of peasant proper- 
 ties as Mr Mill. An opposite opinion, no doubt, 
 very generally prevails in England ; but it should 
 be remembered, that continental writers speak with 
 the authority which personal observation gives ; for 
 in many European countries, such as France, Plan- 
 ders, Italy, Switzerland, and in parts of Germany, 
 a great portion of the land is cultivated by peasant 
 proprietors, whereas these small properties cannot 
 be now considered to form a part of the agricultural 
 economy of England. I will endeavour to give a 
 brief summary of the arguments which have been 
 urged on each side of the question ; and I think I 
 shall at least be able to show, that it is most unde- 
 
 3 
 
34 l^he Economic Position 
 
 sirable that our Government should sanction any 
 law, which virtually operates as an obstacle to pea- 
 sant properties. 
 
 The discussion of this subject seems to me to 
 involve a comparison of advantages and disadvan- 
 tages. On the one hand, there are the advantages 
 which arise from land being cultivated by its owner 
 without the assistance of hired labour; on the other 
 side, there are the disadvantages which result from 
 farming on a small scale, because a peasant pro- 
 prietor must necessarily be a small farmer. This 
 being the position of the argument, a decision can 
 only be arrived at by appealing to experience. 
 We will therefore see what light can be thrown on 
 the subject by the consideration of undisputed 
 facts. The well-known Arthur Young, who is per- 
 haps the most eminent of our writers on agriculture, 
 was a most decided opponent of small farming. 
 Any opinion which he expresses in favour of small 
 farming is therefore entitled to peculiar considera- 
 tion. In describing his travels through France he 
 makes the following observations : " Leaving Sauve, 
 I was much struck with a large tract of land seem- 
 ingly nothing but huge rocks, yet most of it en- 
 closed and planted with the most industrious at- 
 tention. Every man has an olive, a mulberry, 
 an almond, or a peach-tree, and vines scattered 
 amongst them, so that the whole ground is covered 
 
of the British Labourer. 35 
 
 with the oddest mixture of these plants and bulg- 
 ing rocks that can be conceived. The inhabitants 
 of this village deserve encouragement for their in- 
 dustry; and if I were a French minister they should 
 have it. They would soon turn all the deserts 
 around them into gardens. Such a knot of active 
 husbandmen, who turn their rocks into scenes of 
 fertility {becaiise, I suppose, their owii) would do the 
 same by the wastes, if animated by the same om- 
 nipotent principle." Again, "Walk to Rosendal 
 (near Dunkirk), where M. Le Brun has an improve- 
 ment on the dunes, which he very obligingly showed 
 me. Between the town and that place is a great 
 number of neat little houses, built each with its 
 garden, and one or two fields enclosed, of most 
 wretched blowing dune-sand, naturally as white as 
 snow, but improved by industry. The magic of 
 property turns sand into gold." 
 
 There would be no difficulty in obtaining from 
 other countries an abundance of similar evidence 
 with regard to the " magic effect of property," and 
 I think that such testimony clearly proves that 
 peasant properties are favourable to the produc- 
 tion of wealth. In every country in which they 
 exist on a large scale, it has been remarked by the 
 most competent observers that the land is well cul- 
 tivated, and yields more net produce than under 
 any other system of landed tenure. Although 
 
 3—2 
 
36 The Economic Position 
 
 the facts which have been brought forward to sup- 
 port this opinion may challenge refutation, yet it 
 will not be surprising if they do not bring convic- 
 tion to the English reader; for he probably will 
 plausibly urge, that a great part of the land of 
 England would soon be occupied by peasant pro- 
 perties, if they were economically so advantageous 
 as we have here represented them to be. If the 
 cultivation of land by small proprietors was more 
 remunerative, land when divided would realize a 
 higher price, and consequently whenever a large 
 estate was sold, it would be split up into a great 
 number of small properties; yet in England it is 
 observed that exactly the reverse of this takes 
 place; landed estates are growing larger instead of 
 smaller; for, as we have before said, a tendency 
 seems constantly to be at work, which causes a 
 great number of small freeholds to be merged into 
 one large estate. Our previous remarks will how- 
 ever explain this seeming anomaly. The agricul- 
 tural value of an estate is not the only circum- 
 • stance which affects its price. A considerable por- 
 tion of the value of an estate arises from the social 
 distinction or political influence which it confers, 
 and also from the opportunity which it affords to 
 enjoy the pastimes and pleasures of a country life. 
 Any cause which limits the amount of land brought 
 into the market, pro ta?ito, raises its price above its 
 
of the British Labotirer. 37 
 
 agricultural value; and in a country like our own, 
 the price of land constantly advances more and 
 more above its agricultural value, because, as the 
 accumulation of wealth increases, a larger number 
 of people can afford a greater outlay, in order to 
 enjoy the pleasures which are associated with the 
 possession of land. 
 
 There is also another circumstance which exerts 
 no inconsiderable influence, and which prevents 
 land being divided into small properties. Our 
 method of conveying land is most cumbrous and 
 most expensive, and in order to obtain a secure 
 title the same elaborate processes must be gone 
 through, whether the land is considerable or incon- 
 siderable in extent. If, therefore, an estate of 1000 
 acres was sold in lots of 20 acres each, the aggre- 
 gate expense of conveying these 50 small proper- 
 ties would form a very appreciable portion of the 
 whole value of the land. It is therefore evident 
 that in England the subdivision of land is im- 
 peded by various causes, some of which are natural, 
 and others artificial. Even if it were desirable, it 
 v/ould be impossible to control those causes which 
 are natural, for the owner of a large estate ought 
 certainly to be permitted to sell it as a whole, if he 
 thinks that by doing so, he can obtain a higher 
 price. But the public and our legislators ought 
 seriously to consider, whether those artificial restric- 
 
38 The Economic Position 
 
 tions can be justly maintained, which prevent the 
 acquisition of landed property by the people. I 
 assume it has been proved by the facts here ad- 
 duced, that small landed properties promote good 
 cultivation, and therefore conduce to the produc- 
 tion of wealth ; but I shall be able to urge a still 
 more powerful plea in favour of small landed pro- 
 perties, when I compare the social and material 
 condition of the peasant proprietors with our own 
 agricultural labourers. 
 
 Before I mention any special facts bearing upon 
 the social effects which result from peasant proper- 
 ties, it may be well to remark, that the condition of 
 a man who can enjoy the entire fruits of his own 
 labour is in every respect superior to the condition 
 of one who is simply a hired labourer, and who, 
 consequently, has no direct interest in the work 
 upon which he is employed. The faculties of the 
 latter are never fully stimulated, his hopes are not 
 excited by success, his energies are not called forth 
 to contend with the difficulties and disasters to 
 which every employment is liable; his life is, in 
 fact, one of dull routine. It may be said that he is 
 spared many anxieties with which the labourer 
 who is his own master has to contend. But it is 
 almost a truism to assert that these cares and 
 anxieties are the most valuable instruments of edu- 
 cation, and that without them the human faculties 
 
of the British Labourer. 39 
 
 can never be adequately developed. These general 
 observations may be corroborated by actual expe- 
 rience, at least in the case of an agricultural com- 
 munity. All writers on peasant proprietors bear 
 the most decided testimony to their incessant and 
 intelligent industry. In Switzerland, France, Flan- 
 ders, and the Rhine-land, we are told that the 
 small proprietors who cultivate their own land eco- 
 nomise their time with the most scrupulous care; 
 they earnestly strive to turn every half-hour to the 
 utmost possible advantage; they work early and 
 late, and their labour exhibits a watchfulness, and 
 a fostering attention, which is never acquired by 
 hired labourers. Magical is the influence which the 
 feeling of property exerts, and truly indeed has it 
 been said by Arthur Young, that it is potent enough 
 to turn sand into gold, and convert a desert into a 
 garden. So great is the industry of peasant pro- 
 prietors, that some writers have alleged that they 
 are too industrious ; that they are in fact too much 
 engrossed in the business of life. But it is with 
 
 o 
 
 reference to the prudential virtues that they oft'er 
 the most striking contrast to our hired labourers. 
 The worst paid workmen in this country are so 
 thoroughly reckless, that they seldom show any 
 foresight for the future; and many consequently 
 who are impressed with this fact have maintained, 
 that higher wages effect no permanent improve- 
 
40 The Economic Position 
 
 ment in the condition of the poor. They do not 
 save their increased earnings, but spend their money 
 either in drink or luxurious living. That this should 
 be the case can be a matter of no surprise what- 
 ever. There is no effect of ignorance more certain 
 than an almost entire absence of foresight; and the 
 life of a hired labourer can exert no influence what- 
 ever towards cultivating any of the habits of pru- 
 dence. His poverty is so great, that he naturally 
 indulges in somewhat better living when he has 
 the means; and even if he should, by dint of 
 great sacrifice and exertion accumulate a trifling 
 amount of money, he very seldom has any eligible 
 opportunity of investing these savings. No defi- 
 nite prospect is held out to him that his savings 
 will ever enable him to occupy a difTerent social 
 position. If a hired labourer saves twenty pounds, 
 he has no chance of investing it as capital in some 
 profitable employment; the only purpose to which 
 he can devote it is to place it in the savings-bank, 
 where he obtains something below the current rate 
 of interest. How much more powerfully would pru- 
 dence be stimulated, if a definite prospect were held 
 out, that a labourer might in the course of time, by 
 means of his saving, secure a small landed pro- 
 perty! The value of such an acquisition to the 
 labourer is not to be estimated by the amount of 
 wealth with which it enriches him. It makes him. 
 
of the British Labourer. 41 
 
 in fact, a different man ; it raises him from the po- 
 sition of a labourer, and calls forth all those active 
 qualities of mind, which are sure to be exerted 
 when a man has the consciousness that he is work- 
 ing on his own account. 
 
 These remarks are corroborated by the unani- 
 mous testimony of the most competent authorities ; 
 for it has been repeatedly afhrmed that peasant 
 proprietors are invariably a most thrifty class, and 
 so anxious are they to accumulate capital that the 
 style of their living has often been erroneously 
 supposed to denote poverty, when it is simply the 
 result of great economy. The advantage to be 
 derived from saving is brought most distinctly 
 home to them. A small proprietor knows that if 
 he can save a few pounds, he shall be able to have 
 another horse or cow, or perhaps some new imple- 
 ment, and he is able clearly to foresee the profit 
 which he shall derive from such a purchase. Let 
 a man once feel how efficient the wealth which 
 he saves may become in producing more wealth, 
 and he is sure in future to exert himself actively 
 to accumulate capital. Mr Browne, who was a 
 fev/ years since the English Consul at Copen- 
 hagen, has made some most interesting observa- 
 tions, with reference to the peasant proprietors of 
 Denmark. He bears the most decided testimony 
 to their thrift, and . also to the superior comfort 
 
42 TJic Economic Position 
 
 in which they Hve. Thus he says, ''The first 
 thing a Dane does with his savings is to pur- 
 chase a clock, then a horse and cow, which he 
 hires out, and which pay a good interest. Then 
 his ambition is to become a petty proprietor, and 
 this class of persons is better off than any in 
 Denmark. Indeed, I know of no people in any 
 country who have more easily within their reach 
 all that is really necessary for life than this class, 
 which is very large in comparison with that of 
 labourers." 
 
 A system of small landed properties has some- 
 times been condemned, because it has been sup- 
 posed to encourage a reckless increase of popula- 
 tion. Upon this point the late Mr Richard Jones 
 was most strong in his denunciation ; but although 
 this political economist collected many most valu- 
 able facts, yet he was prone to make unsupported 
 statements, and without assigning sufficient evi- 
 dence, often called upon his readers to reject a 
 theory, or to assent to some particular opinion. 
 Mr Jones says, that the peasant proprietors are 
 " exactly in the condition, in which the animal dis- 
 position to increase their numbers is checked by 
 the fewest of those balancing motives and desires, 
 which regulate the increase of superior ranks, or 
 more civilized people." But he gives no reason 
 for this opinion, nor does he. attempt to support 
 
of the British Labourer. 43 
 
 it by specific facts. Many other writers, besides 
 Mr Jones, have maintained that small landed pro- 
 prietors must become gradually impoverished, in 
 consequence of the continued division of the land 
 amongst the children of each generation. It is 
 not unfrequently assumed, that a man will marry 
 directly he acquires a small landed property, a 
 large family will have to be maintained, and that 
 the father will be able at his death to make 
 little or no provision for his numerous children, 
 unless he either divides the land which he owns 
 amongst them, or else leaves the land to one of 
 his children, heavily encumbered with annuities, 
 to be paid to the rest. In order to disprove such 
 suppositions, we will in the first place, show tliat 
 all a priori reasoning would lead us to conclude 
 that the acquisition of property will act more 
 powerfully than any other circumstance to make 
 a class prudent with regard to marriage ; we shall 
 in the second place adduce specific facts, bearing 
 upon the slow rate of the increase of population 
 amongst peasant proprietors. 
 
 The most casual observer may have remarked 
 that the poorest classes in this country show the 
 greatest imprudence in regard to marriage. As 
 a general rule, a man does not marry in the 
 middle and upper classes, unless he believes that 
 he shall at any rate be able to give his children 
 
44 ^-^^^ Economic Position 
 
 as good an education as he has himself received, 
 and be also able to place them in a social posi- 
 tion, similar to that which he himself occupies. 
 The majority of men are accustomed to some 
 particular style of living ; and they generally re- 
 frain from marriage, if the increased expenses of 
 married life would compel them to live in a man- 
 ner which would not give them what has been 
 aptly termed *' their habitual standard of comfort." 
 But the very poor are not influenced by any such 
 considerations; they are not restrained from mar- 
 riage by a desire to preserve a certain standard 
 of comfort. What standard of comfort could the 
 miserable cottiers of Ireland have had .'' Those 
 who are accustomed to poverty, do not attempt 
 to exercise any restraint with regard to marriage ; 
 and amongst such persons, population is only re- 
 strained by the great mortality which prevails 
 amongst the very poor, and more especially 
 amongst their children. But when a labourer be- 
 comes a landed proprietor, he is at once influenced 
 by the same motives which render the middle and 
 upper classes prudent with regard to marriage. 
 A person in the middle class appreciates the value 
 of the position he occupies ; and he will not marry, 
 if marriage will so impoverish him as to render 
 it necessary for him to resign his social position. 
 A small landed proprietor must be quite as forcibly 
 
of the British Labourer. 45 
 
 convinced of the superiority of his own position, 
 compared with that of a hired labourer ; and he 
 will be equally careful not to marry, If he con- 
 siders that the expenses of a family would force 
 him to give up this position, and would compel 
 him to sell his land, and return to the ranks of 
 the ordinary labourer. 
 
 We have moreover abundant evidence to prove 
 that peasant proprietors are acted upon by these 
 motives. Sismondl, perhaps more than any other 
 writer, has been impressed with the evils which 
 result to the poor from over-population, conse- 
 quent on imprudent marriages; and his strong 
 advocacy of peasant proprietorships Is principally 
 based upon the conviction, that the system acts 
 powerfully to restrain population. His testimony 
 with regard to France is extremely important, 
 because in France the system of small proper- 
 ties Is put to the most severe test, by the ope- 
 ration of the law, which enforces the equal di- 
 vision of landed property. Sismondl says, '' There 
 is no danger lest the proprietor should bring up 
 his children to make beggars of them. He knows 
 exactly what Inheritance he has to leave them ; 
 he knows that the law will divide it equally 
 amongst them ; he sees the limit beyond which 
 this division would make them descend from the 
 rank which he has himself filled; and a just 
 
46 The Economic Position 
 
 family pride, common to the peasant and to the 
 nobleman, makes him abstain from summoning 
 into life children for whom he cannot properly 
 provide." 
 
 In contrast with these results, the effects of 
 our own system of landed tenure may be correctly 
 characterized in the following manner. The land 
 is owned by comparatively few great landlords ; 
 it is occupied by tenants who have sufficient 
 capital to cultivate large farms, and the labour is 
 supplied by hired labourers, whose wretchedness 
 is proverbial, and between whom and their em- 
 ployers there is none of that personal sympath}-^ 
 which can alone be secured by the feelings of 
 common pecuniary interest. I know our agricul- 
 tural labourers well, I have long lived amongst 
 them, and I can therefore describe their condi- 
 tion with confidence. In those localities which 
 are not contiguous to the manufacturing districts, 
 the wages of an agricultural labourer during the 
 winter months do not exceed ten shillings a week ; 
 he works hard, he is often exposed to inclement 
 weather, and with these wages he cannot procure 
 for himself and his children a sufficiency of the 
 necessaries of life. He rarely if ever tastes meat 
 more than once a week. I have known many able- 
 bodied men, who have to go through a long day's 
 fatigue, have nothing for dinner, day after day> 
 
of the British Labotcrer. 47 
 
 except tea and bread and butter; their strength 
 is prematurely exhausted, and they often become 
 old men at an age, when if they were better fed, 
 they would be in the prime of life. Their con- 
 dition always verges on pauperism. From such 
 scanty wages, it is impossible to make any pro- 
 vision for old age or sickness. An agricultural 
 labourer can rarely be found who has saved even 
 a few pounds ; he has to work with the regularity 
 of a machine. No hope of more prosperous days 
 cheers his monotonous career ; a miserable pro- 
 spect stands before him ; for he knows that when 
 his strength is exhausted, he must come to the 
 parish as a suppliant mendicant for relief. The 
 cottages of these labourers are frequently so bad, 
 that they scarcely deserve the name of human 
 dwellings ; all the children of the family are com- 
 monly huddled together in one bedroom; every 
 decency of life must be ignored and forgotten ; and 
 against the vices thus engendered, an antidote is 
 supposed to be provided by the Church, the 
 school, and the patronising speeches which may 
 be delivered by the resident proprietor at an agri- 
 cultural dinner. I have no hesitation in saying 
 that if labourers became in the same way as 
 horses, the property of their employers, it would 
 be advantageous in a pecuniary sense, to feed and 
 house them better. It is no consolation that the 
 
48 The Economic Position 
 
 labourers of other nations endure as much poverty 
 as our own labourers ; it must be remembered 
 that in England wealth is accumulated far more 
 rapidly than in any other country, and the misery 
 of our poor becomes more deplorable to contem- 
 plate when it is contrasted with our vaunted pro- 
 gress in civilization, and in material prosperity. 
 
 I think, therefore, that it is the imperative duty 
 of our legislature, to abolish all those artificial re- 
 strictions which impede the division of land into 
 small properties; for the observations which have 
 been made in these pages, though by no means 
 exhausting the subject, have established two pro- 
 positions : — 
 
 First, when land is cultivated by small pro- 
 prietors, it is at least as well cultivated, and as pro- 
 ductive of wealth, as when a system of landed 
 tenure like our own prevails. 
 
 Secondly, the condition of the peasant pro- 
 prietor is in every respect superior to that of our 
 own agricultural labourers, both in its social, mate- 
 rial, and moral aspects. 
 
 Many may very naturally suppose, that unless 
 the land is compulsorily subdivided, small pro- 
 prietors, cultivating their own land, can never again 
 exist as a numerous class in England. But whether 
 this may be so or not, justice and policy would 
 still equally demand that all artificial restrictions 
 
of the British Labourer. 49 
 
 which limit the amount of land that is sold, should 
 be abolished, so that every one may have the great- 
 est possible facility of acquiring land. The first 
 care of Government, and its ultimate end, should 
 be to promote the happiness of the people, and it 
 cannot be denied that the nation at large would be 
 more happy, if the soil which has been given to 
 it by nature was enjoyed by many, instead of 
 being possessed by few. 
 
 I should be the last to advocate the compulsory 
 division of land ; I would not confiscate one single 
 right of property; but I regard the aggregation of 
 land in the hands of a diminishing number of 
 proprietors, as a national misfortune; and I there- 
 fore think that our laws should no longer be per- 
 mitted to encourage this growing evil. No one 
 can deny that primogeniture is facilitated by the 
 existing power of entail, and that it is also pro- 
 moted by the high sanction which is given to it, 
 by a law of intestacy, which afiirms as a principle, 
 that if a man dies without a will, natural justice 
 dem.ands, that all his landed property should 
 devolve to his heir. So wicked and mischievous 
 a principle ought no longer to be enunciated by 
 the law of England: I do not desire that a man 
 should be prevented leaving his property to one 
 child if it is his wish to do so ; but if he leaves no 
 will behind him, then I maintain that our law 
 
 4 
 
50 TJic Economic Position 
 
 ought not to make the shghtest distinction be- 
 tween real and personal property. It may be 
 urged that such an alteration in the laws of intes- 
 tacy, as is here proposed, would produce very little 
 effect ; probably it will be said that men frequently 
 now abstain from making a will, because if they die 
 intestate, their property will be distributed in exact 
 accordance with their desires. It will be therefore 
 argued that if the existing laws of intestacy were 
 changed, the great majority would at once make a 
 will; and that therefore this change in the law 
 would produce little effect, because intestacy would 
 become extremely rare. But this argument, even 
 if its truth is admiitted, provides no valid reason 
 in favour of the maintenance of those distinctions, 
 which our law upholds, between real and personal 
 property. Men's actions are controlled by custom, 
 and social morality is often tested by conven- 
 tionality. A man cannot instinctively feel that he 
 ought to leave all his real property to his eldest 
 son, and thus enrich one child and impoverish all 
 the rest; custom and conventionality can alone 
 justify such a course of conduct; and is not the 
 custom perpetuated, and does not primogeniture 
 receive the sanction of conventional morality, when 
 the State, having to give effect to what ought to 
 be regarded as a man's right intentions and natural 
 desires, declares as a principle, that personal pro- 
 
of the British Labourer. 51 
 
 perty ought to be equally distributed, but that 
 landed property should pass intact to the heir? 
 
 A change in the law of intestacy, ought to be 
 the first department of the land question, which 
 should be discussed in the House of Commons. 
 Such a question could be brought forward with 
 peculiar advantages. Its settlement would destroy 
 a bad and mischievous principle, and would in its 
 place establish a right and beneficial one. More- 
 over, it may be regarded as peculiarly fortunate 
 that this important result could be achieved 
 without in the least degree interfering with any 
 right of property; for no one can think that he 
 is harshly dealt with, if the fullest freedom is 
 given to him, to devise his property as he likes. 
 When this question has been settled, there will 
 arise another, perhaps more complicated and dif- 
 ficult ; for sooner or later. Parliament must consider 
 whether or not the interest of the country demands, 
 that the existing power of entail should be in any 
 way limited. I have already explained that entails 
 are at the present time created by settling estates 
 upon unborn children. Consequently it can be 
 readily shown that the only real effectual limitation 
 upon entails would be to decree that no estate 
 should be vested in an unborn child. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to repeat that by 
 the operations of the system of entails, a con- 
 
 4—2 
 
52 TJie Economic Position 
 
 siderable portion of the land of this country may 
 be regarded as a commodity which cannot be 
 sold. There are however other disadvantages con- 
 nected with entails to which I will briefly allude. 
 I have already remarked that the great cost 
 involved in the transfer of real property in this 
 country acts as a severe impediment upon the 
 acquisition of small landed estates. Every one 
 who has ever drawn a conveyancing deed, will be 
 prepared to admit that although a registration of 
 titles would prove extremely beneficial, yet the 
 conveyance of land must always be complicated 
 and expensive whilst such a vast number of inter- 
 ests are allowed to be created in a landed estate. 
 Without entering into a technical legal discussion, 
 it must be evident that the creation of these mul- 
 tifarious interests is greatly facilitated by permit- 
 ting land to be left to a number of persons who 
 are as yet unborn. Hence two objects would be 
 effected by the limitation upon the settlement of 
 landed property which we have here proposed. In 
 the first place a greater quantity of land would be 
 brought into the market; secondly, the acquisition 
 of land in small plots would be rendered more 
 easy, because the cost of conveyancing would be 
 diminished. Moreover, the other legislative mea- 
 sure which we have advocated would tend to pro- 
 duce similar results; for if the laws of intestacy 
 
of the British Labourer. 53 
 
 were altered, the number of landed proprietors in 
 this country would inevitably be increased, because 
 primogeniture would operate with continually les- 
 senino; effect if it ceased to obtain encouragement 
 by receiving a high sanction from the law of this 
 country. 
 
 Before proceeding to consider whether the legis- 
 lative changes which have been here suggested 
 would be accompanied with counterbalancing dis- 
 advantages, I would briefly summarise some of the 
 remarks which have been made upon the results 
 which arise from the aggregation of land in great 
 and increasing estates. In the first place I en- 
 deavoured to convince you that these large es- 
 tates naturally lead to a bad and mischievous 
 system of agricultural economy. A great portion 
 of the land of this country is settled either upon 
 unborn children or upon minors; those who are 
 in possession of the land have consequently often 
 only a modified interest in it. They are therefore 
 discouraged from investing capital in agricultural 
 improvements, and they have no power to sell the 
 land to others who might have the inclination and 
 the means to improve it. Again, estates are so 
 laree, that the land can rarely be cultivated by 
 those who own it, and I have sought to prove to 
 you that this separation of the cultivation from 
 the ownership of the soil must be inevitably an 
 
54 TJie Economic Position 
 
 obstacle to good agriculture. But I have Vv'Ith par- 
 ticular emphasis described to you the condition of 
 those who are engaged as labourers In the agricul- 
 ture of England, because I regard this as the most 
 important part of the whole subject. If capitalist 
 farmers find It each year more difficult to become 
 the owners of land, how remote must be the chance 
 that the labourer can ever obtain the possession of 
 a plot of ground. I have adduced facts vv'hich I 
 believe prove that the peasant proprietors of the 
 continent enjoy a prosperity which our own agri- 
 cultural labourers can now never hope to attain. 
 There are however other manifold evils which re- 
 sult from our present agricultural economy. You 
 have no doubt often heard lamentations about the 
 improvidence of our labourers. If they are more 
 reckless than other classes of the community, de- 
 pend upon it this Is due to some cause which must 
 be attacked, if we desire to remedy the evil. The 
 cause can be easily discovered; for can we suppose 
 that self-denial and prudence vvIU be practised by 
 those who feel that they cannot descend to much 
 greater poverty, and who also cannot see definitely 
 placed before them any real hope of raising their 
 condition.'* How rapidly would the character of 
 this portion of our population be changed If a man 
 could say, A few years of steady industry, accom- 
 panied with prudence, will enable me to save suf- 
 
of the British Labourer. 
 
 DD 
 
 ficient to purchase a plot of ground, and thus ov/n 
 the soil which I cultivate! 
 
 I cannot better illustrate the powerful eftect 
 which such sentiments produce upon men's cha- 
 racter than by relating to you a most suggestive 
 anecdote. A friend of mine, a very intelligent tra- 
 veller, met, whilst in Italy, the agent of one of our 
 largest railway contractors. This agent had 12,000 
 labourers at work upon his various contracts. My 
 friend asked him whether he preferred as labourers. 
 Englishmen or Italians. His reply was as follows: 
 " I have no hesitation in saying, that I like em- 
 ploying Italians better than Englishmen ; the latter 
 have, no doubt, greater strength and energy, and 
 have the power of getting through more work in a 
 day, but they often cause me much trouble and 
 loss, on account of their intemperate and imprudent 
 habits ; on the other hand, I have always found the 
 Italians, from whatever part of the country they 
 come, are sober, thrifty, and industrious ; they seem 
 invariably influenced by the strongest desire to 
 save sufficient to enable them to purchase a plot of 
 o-round, and this makes them exceedingly frugal 
 and industrious. I am quite convinced that the 
 prospect of securing the possession of a small plot 
 of land exerts a most powerful and beneficial in- 
 fluence on their character." 
 
 Experience has in fact always shown that there 
 
56 The Economic Position 
 
 is no taste more firmly implanted in man's nature 
 than the desire to become the owner of land. This 
 being the case, I venture to put this serious ques- 
 tion to those who uphold the present restrictions 
 Avhich impede the acquisition of land in this coun- 
 try: — I will ask them whether they have considered 
 to what an extent our national greatness and hap- 
 piness may be imperilled if the elite of our labour- 
 ing population should be attracted to the United 
 States, and to our Colonies. In those regions 
 land is cheap, labour is highly remunerated, and 
 the desire to become a landed proprietor is one 
 which can be easily gratified. 
 
 I trust you will not think that I desire to forbid 
 primogeniture; if a man wishes to leave all his real 
 property to his heir, I would give him the fullest 
 power to do so; but it will perhaps be said, that 
 the maintenance of our constitution requires that 
 primogeniture should be encouraged. I have al- 
 ready anticipated this argument, and I again assert 
 that, in these days, the possession of land does not 
 give the House of Lords its power. The chief 
 enemies to the House of Lords are some of the 
 Peers themselves ; the stability and permanence of 
 this venerable assembly is ever liable to be under- 
 mined by those who show to the country that they 
 are too careless, too ignorant, or too much absorbed 
 in pleasure, ever to exercise the legislative func- 
 
of the British Labourer. ^ , ^."J 
 
 //. 
 
 tlons to which they are born, except by placiijg a / 
 proxy in the pocket of their party-leader. Thos6,.; , ^ 
 on the other hand, who cause the House of Lords ' . < 
 to be honoured and revered by the nation are 
 those who have proved their power and capacity 
 either in the camp, in the forum, or in the arena of 
 politics. A Lyndhurst, an EUenborough, a Dal- 
 j housie, or a Canning, might check the hasty legis- 
 
 lation of an elective assembly reflecting the excite- 
 ment of the people ; but who will pretend to say, 
 that the influence which such Peers as these could 
 wield is one jot strengthened by the possession 
 of landed property.^ The House of Lords would 
 soon fall into a state of pitiable feebleness, if that 
 j assembly was not constantly renovated and invigo- 
 
 ! rated by men who have won peerages by illustrious 
 
 services. If there be any one who wishes to see 
 that venerable institution swept away, he would 
 soon have his desire accomplished, if primogeniture 
 was allowed full scope, and none were admitted to 
 that assembly but those who had inherited the 
 right to be there. The people will never again 
 consent to think that the Peers have a right to ex- 
 ercise legislative power and to claim obedience, 
 simply because they are a landed aristocracy. The 
 House of Lords will be honoured and obeyed, as long 
 as it proves to the people that it possesses delibe- 
 rative wisdom, and calm and temperate judgment. 
 
58 TJie Economic Position 
 
 I have dwelt as little as possible upon the poli- 
 tical aspects of the question, and I will now pro- 
 ceed to consider some economic tendencies, which 
 may be regarded as likely in this country to pre- 
 vent the increase of small landed properties. 
 Although I have spoken very favourably of pea- 
 sant properties, yet I have endeavoured impar- 
 tially to compare the relative advantages of large 
 and small farms. In many departments of agri- 
 culture, large farms when compared with small 
 ones are likely to become gradually more remu- 
 nerative as machinery is more extensively applied 
 to the cultivation of the soil. In som^e cases how- 
 ever small farming will always continue to be 
 productive, for experience has proved that if an 
 industrial occupation requires constant care, deli- 
 cate skill, and minute attention to details, these 
 qualities are most efficiently supplied by the indi- 
 vidual who is prompted by self-interest to be 
 watchful and energetic. As an example, the vine 
 and the olive cannot be successfully cultivated, 
 unless their growth receives a tender and fostering 
 care; hence those vineyards and olive-gardens suc- 
 ceed the best, which are not too large to be super- 
 intended by the Vv'atcliful eye of the proprietor. 
 Again in our own country, dairy-farming demands 
 the utmost attention to minute details, and con- 
 sequently a dairy is not likely to be very profit- 
 
of the Br it is J I Labourer. 59 
 
 ably conducted if it is too large to be properly 
 looked after by its owner. It therefore appears 
 that the advantages which arise from producing 
 on a large scale, are not equally marked in all 
 departments of agriculture; it has however been 
 shown by the experience derived from continental 
 countries, that the disadvantages of farming on 
 a small scale, are more than compensated by the 
 many and varied beneficial consequences, which 
 result from the association of ownership with the 
 cultivation of the soil. 
 
 But even if it is admitted that large farming is 
 more profitable than small farming, it is still of 
 the utmost importance that land should, as far as 
 possible, be made a marketable commodity. The 
 most significant circumstance connected with the 
 industry of this country during the last few years 
 has been the establishment and growing develop- 
 ment of cooperative institutions. No one who 
 has watched this extraordinary movement can 
 doubt that as our labourers advance in intelligence 
 and moral worth, a greater portion of our industry 
 will be carried on by that union between capital, 
 and labour which is implied in the word Coopera- 
 tion. The subject is so important that I shall 
 proceed in a future lecture to discuss it with great 
 care. After I have described to you the remark- 
 able success which has been obtained by many 
 
6o TJie Economic Position 
 
 of these cooperative societies, and after I have 
 shown to you the conditions which mainly tend to 
 secure the permanent prosperity of these industrial 
 combinations, I am sure that you will agree with 
 me in thinking that agriculture is perhaps more 
 likely successfully to be carried on by associations 
 of labourers than any other industry. When you 
 become acquainted with some of the results which 
 have been already effected by these industrial 
 combinations, you will see that the day is not far 
 distant, when labourers who have the means and 
 the inclination to acquire land will be able to 
 surmount the disadvantages of small farming, by 
 uniting themselv^es into an association, in order to 
 purchase a tract of land sufficiently extensive to 
 be most profitably cultivated. We, who ven- 
 ture to express such opinions, shall no doubt be 
 encountered with the old objection, that we are 
 conjuring up visionary and impracticable schemes; 
 but we have facts on our side, for I shall show you 
 that in many departments of industry, where diffi- 
 culties were met with, which would not have to be 
 encountered in agriculture, associations of labourers 
 have become the founders and conductors of esta- 
 blishments which are rapidly extending in im- | 
 portance and prosperity. These considerations will 
 greatly strengthen the demand which the people 
 of this country can urge in favour of abolishing 
 
of the British Labourer. 6i 
 
 all restrictions which impede the acquisition of 
 land. As labourers gradually advance they will 
 feel that they have the power and the capacity 
 to raise themselves into an entirely different social 
 condition by forming cooperative combinations; 
 in this way, they will supply the capital which 
 their labour requires; they will thus become their 
 own masters, and enjoy all the profits, which 
 their industry yields. Our rural labourers will 
 rapidly show an anxiety to join the movement by 
 applying the cooperative principle to agriculture; 
 and if in agriculture the movement is checked 
 by artificial restrictions which would tend to 
 prevent these associations of labourers acquiring 
 the necessary area of land, then we may depend 
 upon it that these men will not stay here to en- 
 rich us by their industry, and to augment our 
 national greatness by their growing wealth and 
 prosperity; they will seek a home in far distant 
 regions where land is abundant, and where they 
 will prove that, if an Englishman has fair scope 
 for his energy and skill, he will soon raise him- 
 self from the poverty by which he may have 
 been depressed; and he will show, that he has 
 that in him, to entitle him to take the foremost 
 place amongst mankind. 
 
 Before closing these remarks upon the land- 
 question, I think I ought to direct your atten- 
 
62 The Economic Position 
 
 tlon to one or two topics which are intimately 
 connected Avith the subject we have been dis- 
 cussing. You will remember that I have com- 
 mented upon the diminution in the number of 
 landed proprietors in this country ; the record 
 however of this diminution will entirely fail to 
 give an adequate idea of the extent to which our 
 people have been divorced from the soil; not only 
 were our freeholders in past ages a numxcrous and 
 important class, but in those days the inhabitants 
 of almost every village, even if they did not own 
 land, possessed certain proprietary rights which 
 were valuable in themselves and from which re- 
 sulted many social advantages. Formerly there 
 was scarcely a parish in England, which had not 
 its common. This was, as its name implies, a 
 tract of land, vv'hich was the joint property of all 
 the inhabitants of the village. Here they could 
 graze a cow or feed poultry, and here too was a 
 recreation-ground, so delightful that the pleasures 
 of the 'village green' have been immortalized by 
 some of our greatest poets. Unfortunately in the 
 year 1836 an Act of Parliament was passed with 
 the view of facilitating the enclosure of commons. 
 I believe that the legislature never passed a law 
 which will ultimately do more irremediable mischief. 
 The commons are being rapidly swept away. 
 Cottagers have now no means of keeping a cow, 
 
of the BritisJi Lahoiircr. 63 
 
 a pig, or poultry ; the village games are gone ; 
 every acre of ground is carefully fenced, the beaten 
 path of the frequented high-way cannot be left 
 without committing the crime and incurring the 
 penalties of trespass, and I have been too often 
 pained to find that the turnpike road is now the 
 only recreation-ground for village children. But 
 perhaps it will be said that Political Economy 
 oueht to favour these enclosures because in this 
 
 o 
 
 way land, vvhich was comparatively waste, has been 
 properly cultivated and thus the wealth of the 
 country has been increased. But I doubt the fact 
 that these enclosures have augmented the national 
 wealth, and even if it could be proved that they 
 have done so, Political Economy would not supply 
 a single argument in their justification, if it could 
 be shown that this augmented wealth has tended, 
 not to promote, but to diminish the comfort and 
 happiness of the people. For various reasons I 
 am inclined to doubt that the enclosure of com- 
 mons has caused a greater production of material 
 v,^ealth. In the first place I would observe that 
 pasture land is every year becoming more valuable 
 than arable land; the price of stock and dairy- 
 produce must continue rapidly to advance with 
 the growth of population, whereas the price of 
 corn may be kept low by foreign importations. 
 Many of these commons were rich pastures, and 
 
64 TJlc Economic Position 
 
 the country may now be said peculiarly to want 
 the produce which they used to yield. Thus from 
 the commons at Cottenham was made the cheese 
 which has obtained such celebrity. These rich 
 pastures have been enclosed and many of them 
 cultivated ; the additional corn which may be 
 grown there does not compensate the nation for 
 the loss of this dairy produce ; wheat can be im- 
 ported, but our own country must supply us with 
 the dairy produce which we may require. But if 
 augmented wealth has not resulted from these en- 
 closures, nothing remains to be attributed to themi 
 but unmixed evil. Those who owned these com- 
 mon ' rights,' received in the first instance some 
 compensation which was generally most inade- 
 quate. The compensation which v/as thus received 
 could be, and Vv^as generally spent, and thus the 
 next generation obtained not the slightest remu- 
 neration for the loss. But as long as the com- 
 mons remained those who had rights in them 
 possessed a property which could not be alienated. 
 Moreover the labourer who could keep a cow or 
 some poultry enjoyed luxuries which daily wages 
 will never place within his reach. A great injury 
 has thus been inflicted upon the poor, because 
 every one Vv'ho knows the working classes will tell 
 you hov/ much their children suffer, when they are 
 unable to obtain milk to give additional nourish- 
 
of the British Labourer. 65 
 
 ment to their scanty food. Important however as 
 these considerations may be, yet in some cases, evils 
 of incomparably greater significance have resulted 
 from the enclosure of commons. I will explain 
 my meaning by taking one striking example. 
 
 You are doubtless aware that Epping Forest 
 was a large tract of woodland country so near 
 to the metropolis, that in bygone days Royalty 
 here found a convenient place to enjoy the pas- 
 times of the field. Those who lived in the neigh- 
 bourhood had the right of pasturage. The Crown 
 however retained the right to keep and hunt deer, 
 and hence not a single acre of the forest could 
 be enclosed without the permission of the Crown. 
 The deer have of course long since vanished 
 before the advancing tide of population. The 
 proprietary rights of the Crown remained, and 
 consequently the people represented by the Crown 
 have for years considered that it was their un- 
 disputed privilege to walk through the pleasant 
 dades, and to wander about undisturbed amongst 
 the beautiful scenery of Epping Forest. But un- 
 fortunately, either through jobbing or blundering, 
 government officials have permitted a very con- 
 siderable portion of the forest to be appropriated 
 by private individuals. Seldom is government 
 carelessness likely to prove more mischievous ; for 
 who can estimate the extent to which the toiling 
 
 5 
 
66 The Economic Position 
 
 myriads of the metropolis will be socially and 
 morally injured by the loss of such a delightful 
 recreation-ground? How can the health of dense 
 masses of population be maintained, if they can 
 never feel and breathe the air of Heaven unim- 
 pregnated by noxious vapours ? How can a peo- 
 ple continue to be contented and happy, if they 
 can never reinvigorate their exhausted energies by 
 some of the pleasures and amusements which the 
 country can alone afford? And finally let me ask. 
 How can human conceptions be elevated, how can 
 human tastes be raised above mere sordid and 
 worldly pleasures, when there is no opportunity 
 of feeling that inspiration which is derived from 
 the contemplation of the beauties and glories of 
 Nature ? Fortunately all the commons in the 
 neighbourhood of the metropolis have not yet 
 been destroyed. A considerable tract still re- 
 mains. Let us hope that a warning has been 
 given in time, and that the government will never 
 again be permitted to barter away, for an insig- 
 nificant sum, which would be wasted in one use- 
 less military experiment, proprietary rights which 
 have a value beyond price, not only to countless 
 thousands who are now living, but which may 
 be still more precious to the millions who in 
 future ages are destined to uphold the industrial 
 fabric of this nation. 
 
of the British Labourer. 6/ 
 
 Whilst we are considering the vital importance 
 of obtaining open spaces of ground as public pro- 
 perty in the neighbourhood of large towns, we are 
 naturally led to notice another aspect of the land 
 question. It is one which suggests topics of grave 
 and pressing significance. It can be scarcely ne- 
 cessary to remark to you that the land on which 
 a city is built, must rapidly become more valu- 
 able, as its population and wealth increase. Lon- 
 don may now be regarded as the great emporium 
 of the world's commerce. History furnishes no 
 parallel of such an accumulation of wealth, and 
 this wealth seems to be so distributed that the 
 rich grow rapidly richer, whilst there is no per- 
 ceptible advance in the comfort enjoyed by the 
 industrial classes. I do not of course deny that 
 money wages have been augmented by this in- 
 crease of capital, but this apparent advantage is 
 to a great extent lost, because many of the ne- 
 cessaries of life are becoming dearer. The great 
 difficulty with which the labourers in our large 
 towns have to contend is the scarcity of house- 
 accommodation ; moreover this is a difficulty which 
 is to a great extent created by our material 
 prosperity, and it is one which grows with the 
 growth of wealth ; for what is the spectacle which 
 London presents at the present time.? Land is 
 there becoming too valuable, either for the erec- 
 
 5—2 
 
68 The Eco7ioinic Position 
 
 tion, or the retention of humble dwelHngs. The 
 homes of the poor are being rapidly swept away, 
 in order to make room for offices, shops, ware- 
 houses, and all the other appliances of increasing 
 commerce. The suburbs of the metropolis are 
 being covered with the villa residences of the 
 wealthy, and thousands of labourers' houses have 
 been destroyed by the railways which now inter- 
 sect London, and which are absolutely required 
 in order to circulate the augmented traffic. You 
 will readily understand the sad consequences which 
 ensue. A greater number of human beings have 
 to find accommodation in a smaller number of 
 houses; overcrowding with all its attendant evils 
 is inevitable, the comfort of the poor is diminished, 
 morality cannot thrive when people are compelled 
 to huddle together regardless of every decency of 
 life ; all the conditions upon which health depends 
 are ignored, and typhus and other diseases assume 
 the constancy of an epidemic. But you will per- 
 haps ask whether an efficient remedy can be sug- 
 gested. I cannot hope that any remedy will be 
 completely effectual ; I do however maintain that 
 where such evils are more or less the natural ac- 
 companiments of our present commercial deve- 
 lopment, they should, as far as possible, be coun- 
 teracted, and not encouraged by our legislature. 
 It is evident that what is wanted, is land upon 
 
of the British Labourer. 69 
 
 which dwellings for the industrial classes could be 
 erected. I do not advocate any undue Government 
 interference, but I think that the remarks which 
 have been made upon this subject supply not the 
 least forcible arguments in favour of those altera- 
 tions in the law of real property, which would, as 
 we have shewn, facilitate the acquisition of land. 
 Natural causes are each year tending to make land 
 in the neighbourhood of our large towns more and 
 more scarce ; let not therefore this scarcity be pro- 
 moted by laws which prevent land being brought 
 into the market, and which also augment the 
 cost of transferring land from one proprietor to 
 another. It is more than probable that the dif- 
 ficulty of supplying house-accommodation for the 
 poor will become so great that some other legisla- 
 tive interference will be needed. The industrial 
 classes will each year be compelled to live at a 
 greater distance from their work, and the question 
 will therefore arise, whether the Government ought 
 not to compel the metropolitan railways to run 
 special cheap trains for the convenience of working 
 men. At the suggestion of Lord Derby, a standing 
 order has been passed, which will secure that these 
 cheap trains should be run on each new railway 
 which is brought into London. Let us hope that 
 the same provision will be extended to all the 
 existing metropolitan railways. No one can fairly 
 
JO The Economic Position of the British Labourer. 
 
 say that the rights of private property will be thus 
 unduly interfered with; for when permission to 
 make a particular railway is granted, a monopoly 
 is conferred upon the proprietors of the railway, 
 and the legislature has an indisputable right to 
 make those who accept and enjoy a monopoly, use 
 it in such a way as will most effectually promote 
 the well-being of the country. 
 
( ;i ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Cooperatiojt. 
 
 In the last chapter an incidental allusion was 
 made to the industrial projects which have been, 
 and may be carried on by associations of labour- 
 ers. Our national economy is at the present time 
 characterised by a complete separation between 
 capital and labour. One class, termed employers, 
 supply the capital w^hich industry requires, and 
 another class, who are the employed, supply the 
 requisite labour. The proceeds of industry are 
 divided into two distinct shares; the one share is 
 the wages which the labourer receives as his remu- 
 neration, and the other share is given to the 
 capitalist in the form of profits; these profits re- 
 ward him for the investment of his capital and for 
 his labour of superintendence. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that the labourer will enjoy the whole proceeds 
 of his industry, or in other words, that profits as 
 well as wages will be allotted to him, if he, instead 
 of obtaining a supply of capital from another. 
 
'J 2 The E con 01) lie Position 
 
 provides all the capital which his labour may 
 require. Thus the peasant proprietor owns the 
 land which he cultivates, and also furnishes the 
 necessary capital, and consequently the whole 
 produce yielded becomes his property. Formerly 
 the artisan capitalists who worked on their own 
 account, and not for a master, were a numerous 
 class: but many of the causes which have swept 
 away the small freeholders of bygone days, have 
 also operated to destroy those domestic manu- 
 factures which once represented so large a portion 
 of the industry of this country. 
 
 I have already shewn, that as the implements 
 of agriculture have been improved, farming on a 
 large scale has become more profitable. For similar 
 reasons the handloom weavers, the pillow lace- 
 makers, and many others v»'ho once carried on 
 manufactures in their own homes, were inevitably 
 destined to succumb to the new order of thincrs 
 which was created by such modern inventions as 
 those which were achieved by the genius of Ark- 
 wright and Watt. When lace was made on a 
 pillow, and when woollen and cotton cloth were 
 woven by hand, manufactures could be carried on 
 in the houses of the labourers. Then no advan- 
 tage resulted from collecting a great number of 
 operatives under one roof The present, however, 
 is peculiarly an age for production on a large 
 
of the British Labourer. y2> 
 
 scale; manufactories are Increasing in size; their 
 machinery is becoming more extensive and costly, 
 and within certain limits the rate of profits realized 
 from a business seems to augment as the scale 
 upon which the business is conducted is increased. 
 Many of those who have been most successful in 
 commerce have not unfrequently a capital of 
 ;^ 100,000 invested in their industrial occupations. 
 It would therefore seem that all the tendencies of 
 modern times combine to make it more impossible 
 for the artisan to become his own master, and thus 
 advance himself beyond the position of a hired 
 labourer. Suppose, for instance, that a cotton 
 operative should by great prudence and self-denial 
 save ^200. With such an amount of capital it 
 would be absurd of him to think of commencing 
 manufacturing cotton on his own account ; he might 
 of course undertake some small business, say, a 
 retail shop, but he would then be embarking in a 
 business which he did not understand, and all that 
 wonderful skill which has only been acquired by 
 the training of years would be of no further use to 
 him. But suppose there are 250 operatives, who, 
 like the one we have been describing, have saved 
 ^200; they agree to unite their joint savings in a 
 common fund. A capital of ^50,000 would thus 
 be created; this amount Avould be amply sufficient 
 to enable them to become the proprietors of a 
 
74 TJie Economic Position 
 
 cotton-mill, as large as any of those in which the 
 greatest profits have been realized. These 250 
 operatives might further agree to supply the la- 
 bour which this mill required. Hence they would 
 provide both capital and labour. The whole pro- 
 ceeds of their industry would be their own pro- 
 perty; wages and profits would be merged in the 
 aggregate remuneration which they received, in- 
 stead of being allotted to reward two distinct 
 classes, viz. the employers and employed. A com- 
 plete union of capital and labour would thus be 
 established, and this union has been termed Co- 
 operation. 
 
 I purpose to describe to you the various phases 
 through which Cooperation has passed. I shall 
 shew you that many of the schemes which are 
 known as cooperative, only deserve the appella- 
 tion in a modified sense. I shall endeavour to 
 compare the benefits which will result from co- 
 operation, with the disadvantages and difficulties 
 which may impede its progress. This union of 
 capital and labour was first crudely suggested by 
 the earliest and most distinguished Socialists and 
 Communists, amongst whom may be ranked 
 Fourier, St Simon, and our countryman, Owen. 
 These men are too frequently despised, because 
 their particular schemes have not been practically 
 successful. Let us, however, do justice to their 
 
of the Bj'itish Labourer. 75 
 
 memory. They were no doubt visionary and 
 enthusiastic, but they were men who were emi- 
 nently good and noble ; their lives moreover were 
 not spent in vain. They were the first to recognise 
 the evils which are associated with our present in- 
 dustrial economy. They perceived that so far as 
 the production of wealth was concerned, society was 
 tending to separate itself into classes which were 
 kept apart by the rivalry of self-interest, and they 
 therefore sought to establish communities where 
 there should be no' antagonism between capital 
 and labour, but where all should feel that they 
 were working for the common good. I need not 
 stay to describe to you the details connected with 
 the inevitable failure of such schemes; I should 
 not have referred to them, did I not feel that if I 
 passed them by unnoticed, I should have done 
 injustice to the memory of the earlier Socialists: 
 for amongst those who joined these ill-fated 
 communistic schemes, there were some who ob- 
 tained an invaluable experience, which has enabled 
 them to become the originators of the Cooperative 
 movement. 
 
 Many of the earlier disciples of Communism, 
 although they had to witness the failure of their 
 schemes, yet became permanently impressed with 
 the advantages which working men would obtain 
 by uniting for a common object. The first attempts 
 
y6 The Economic Position 
 
 which were thus made to cooperate were rude and 
 simple; but although the commencement was im- 
 perfect and unpretending, yet a great social and 
 economic movement was commenced. Already 
 great results have been achieved, although coopera- 
 tion may be regarded as being yet in the infancy 
 of its development So much is this the case in 
 our own country, that scarcely any of the societies 
 which are termed cooperative deserve the title; 
 for up to the present time the principle has been 
 almost entirely applied to the distribution, and not 
 to the production of wealth. Thus the most ex- 
 tensive and most prosperous Cooperative establish- 
 ment in England is the celebrated Rochdale Pio- 
 neers' Society. But this society ought to be re- 
 garded as a Store, from which produce is distributed ; 
 and in this case, it cannot be said that labourers 
 combine their capital in order to produce wealth. 
 I will however briefly describe the progress of this 
 remarkable Society. Its history possesses singular 
 interest, and I shall then be able to make you more 
 clearly perceive the difference between a coopera- 
 tive store and a cooperative trading establishment. 
 This distinction, although generally ignored, is still 
 very important. 
 
 In 1844, twenty-eight poor Rochdale weavers 
 appeared to be impressed with the conviction, that 
 their lot might be improved if they adopted some 
 
of the British Labourer. yy 
 
 united action. They had seen that generation after 
 generation of working men had supported various 
 schemes which had ended, either in disaster or in 
 disappointment. Communism had failed as a prac- 
 tical measure, and those who had joined a popular 
 agitation for a new political charter had received 
 no adequate compensation for the self-sacrifice 
 which they were often compelled to endure. These 
 poor Rochdale weavers were shrewd and intelli- 
 gent. After they had calmly reflected upon the 
 various modes which had been propounded for im- 
 proving the lot of the labourer, they calmly arrived 
 at the conclusion that they had little chance of im- 
 mediately increasing their income, although it was 
 easily within their power to economise their expen- 
 diture. They knew that they purchased the com- 
 modities which they consumed at a price which 
 greatly exceeded the wholesale price; moreover 
 adulteration was not unfrequently resorted to ; and 
 thus it often happened that the articles which the 
 labourer purchased were not only dear, but also 
 impure. These weavers therefore determined to 
 create a sufficient sum by weekly contributions to 
 enable them to purchase, on the same terms as the 
 wholesale trader, a few simple commodities, such as 
 tea and sugar. In the first instance each of these 
 twenty-eight weavers agreed to give twopence a 
 week to the common fund. They were so poor 
 
yS TJie Economic Position 
 
 that it was not without a struggle that this weekly 
 contribution was raised to threepence a week. At 
 leneth the amount thus collected somewhat ex- 
 ceeded £'2-0, and trading operations were com- 
 menced. A room was taken as a store in Toad 
 Lane; this store was in the first instance opened 
 only for a few hours during one day in the week. 
 At the outset some preliminary difficulties were 
 encountered; thus a few of the subscribers who 
 lived at a distance from the store found some in- 
 convenience in dealing there, and consequently the 
 amount of business transacted was not quite so 
 great as anticipated. But the sound and admirable 
 principles which regulated the management of the 
 concern soon caused every obstacle to be sur- 
 mounted, and this humble society in a few years 
 advanced with sure and steady steps to the most 
 extraordinary prosperity. At the close of 1845 
 the Society numbered eighty members, its capital 
 was ^182, and its weekly sales averaged ;^ 30. In 
 1847 — 48, the cotton-trade was greatly depressed, 
 and severe distress prevailed amongst the opera- 
 tives. It might have been reasonably anticipated 
 that necessity would have compelled the working 
 men to withdraw their capital from this Pioneers' 
 Society, but these forebodings were not realized; 
 the difficulties were weathered so triumphantly, 
 that from that time the permanent prosperity of 
 
of the British Labourer. ^ 79 
 
 the society might be regarded as insured. As dis- 
 tress pressed upon the operatives, they were more 
 and more desirous to economise their reduced 
 Avages, and they consequently enrolled themselves 
 as members of the society. The result was, that at 
 the end of 1848 the members had increased to 140 
 In number, the capital was £Z97y and the weekly 
 receipts were ^180. The progress from this time 
 was rapid. In 1850 the number of members 
 amounted to 600, they possessed a capital of ;^ 2299, 
 and their weekly returns were £ZZ^' Each year 
 seemed to bring continually increasing prosperity. 
 The society has grown into a vast commercial con- 
 cern; for at the present time (the close of 1864) Its 
 capital is ;;^62,ooo, Its annual business amounts to 
 ;{;■ 1 74,900; the annual profits are ^^ 22,700, and Its 
 members number 4747. 
 
 The humble room where the enterprise was 
 first started has now grown into a large warehouse, 
 to which are affiliated sixteen branch stores. At 
 first grocery was alone sold ; now the working man 
 can purchase from this store every article of food 
 and clothing which he may require. They not 
 only have butchers' shops, but they make shoes, 
 and almost every article of wearing apparel. They 
 have also erected steam-flour-mllls, and they are 
 thus enabled to be their own millers and bakers. 
 But the benefits which this society has conferred. 
 
So The Economic Position 
 
 upon the working man are not confined to mere 
 pecuniary gains, for he has had brought within his 
 reach social and educational advantages, which he 
 could never have obtained without such an union 
 of effort. Two and a half per cent of the aggregate 
 profits realised are set aside to support a reading- 
 room and a library. The library consists of 4000 
 volumes, and has been admirably selected; not 
 only the members of the Society, but also their 
 wives and families, are freely admitted to the read- 
 incr-room, which is well warmed, and furnished 
 with a bountiful supply of newspapers, reviews, and 
 maps. It thus appears that pecuniary profit con- 
 stitutes only a portion of the advantage which may 
 be derived from such institutions as the one v/e 
 have been describing. The working men who thus 
 combine soon become united to each other by 
 many social bonds. In this reading-room they 
 enjoy the pleasures of conversation and society. 
 They occasionally arrange amongst themselves ex- 
 cursions into the country; microscopes and other 
 scientific instruments are provided by the society 
 for those who may happen to have a taste for 
 natural science. When men are thus brought to- 
 gether they lose much of that selfishness which is 
 sure to be engendered in those who never leave the 
 domestic circle. The Rochdale Pioneers have fre- 
 quently shewn that they possess a generous pa- 
 
of the British Labourer. 8i 
 
 triotlsm, for when a public object deserves their 
 support, they have again and again proved that 
 they are ready to assist it with a handsome sub- 
 scription. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought that this society, 
 starting from so humble a commencement, could 
 have never achieved such great results, if it had 
 not been assisted by some exceptionally favour- 
 able circumstances. We will therefore investigate 
 the principles of management which were adopted, 
 and then we shall be able more fairly to conclude 
 whether similar schemes would in other localities 
 obtain corresponding success. The Rochdale Pio- 
 neers have always strictly observed the rule, that 
 no credit should be either given or taken, they 
 both buy and sell their goods for ready money. 
 Even a shareholder cannot make the smallest pur- 
 chase without paying for it across the counter. 
 It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the 
 advantages which have been secured by strictly 
 adhering to this ready money principle. For in- 
 stance, no bad debt can ever be made, and thus 
 one important item of serious loss is avoided. 
 Since ready money is always paid, the goods 
 which the society purchases can be bought on the 
 most favourable terms. Again, when no credit is 
 given, there is no money locked up in book debts, 
 and a very large business can be done with a 
 
 6 
 
82 The Economic Position 
 
 comparatively small capital ; the permanent sta- 
 bility of the society is thus secured, for if its 
 business should suffer from distress amongst the 
 operatives of the district, its trade operations 
 could be contracted without loss, when there are 
 no outstanding credit obligations. The working 
 men who are thus encouraged to make their pur- 
 chases for ready money, are emancipated from one 
 of the chief dangers which threaten their welfare 
 and prosperity. The facility with which credit is 
 given has caused the ruin of many thousands of 
 labourers. They perhaps in the first instance begin 
 by getting into debt for a small amount ; they 
 become almost the slaves of the tradesman to 
 whom they owe money ; they are no longer free 
 to deal where they like, and they are often com- 
 pelled to pay a high price for very inferior articles. 
 The labourer becomes gradually more and more 
 involved. As his difficulties accumulate, his reck- 
 lessness increases ; at last he perhaps resorts to 
 the public-house, in the hope that he may there for- 
 get his misery, and lose sight of his impending ruin. 
 After the Pioneers had agreed neither to give 
 nor to receive credit, they next directed their 
 attention to the principles which should regulate 
 the distribution of profits. The plan which was 
 adopted was most wisely conceived. It was de- 
 cided that the first charge upon the profits should 
 
of the British Labourer. 83 
 
 be a fixed dividend of 5 per cent, on the capital, 
 and the remaining profits were divided amongst the 
 shareholders, in proportion to the amount of their 
 purchases. The register of these purchases is kept 
 in a very ingenious manner. Each customer when 
 paying for his goods, receives some tin tickets or 
 tallies, which record the amount he has expended. 
 At the end of each quarter he brings these tickets, 
 which are the registers of his aggregate purchases, 
 and which show the portion of the profits due to 
 him. The drawback thus given on the amount of 
 money expended has often amounted to i^. ^d. 
 in the £. Many of the shareholders leave their 
 portion of the profits as capital in the society, 
 and in some cases very considerable sums have 
 thus been accumulated. 
 
 I think that this brief sketch of the Rochdale 
 Pioneers will convince you that from such societies 
 the working men may derive inestimable advan- 
 tages. I should however be sorry to conceal from 
 you the fact that many similar institutions have 
 been established, and that the same success has 
 not always been obtained. To take a striking 
 example, it may be said that these societies have 
 to a ?reat extent failed in London. Let us inquire 
 
 o 
 
 why a trading institution which is so eminently 
 prosperous in Rochdale, should wither and fade 
 in the metropolis. This inquiry will be moreover 
 
 6—2 
 
34 The Economic Position 
 
 instructive, because it will show us the real nature 
 of these societies, which I think have been erro- 
 neously called cooperative. For instance, I believe 
 that the Rochdale Pioneers' Society ought pro- 
 perly to be regarded as a Joint-Stock Company. 
 A number of individuals, not necessarily working 
 men, subscribe a certain sum as capital for the 
 purpose of trading. The business Is conducted by 
 paid managers and other paid servants. Such an 
 establishment is therefore, a joint-stock company, 
 created by uniting the small capitals of the poor ; 
 the company is not one of production, but it fulfils 
 the functions of distribution, which are carried on 
 by the retail trader. In a business which simply 
 consists of distribution, there cannot be that union 
 of capital and labour which in my opinion consti- 
 tutes the essence of cooperation. 
 
 As we have now ascertained the real nature of 
 the societies which are termed cooperative stores, 
 we shall be able more accurately to estimate the 
 causes which m.ay on the one hand assist, and on 
 the other hand, retard the progress of such institu- 
 tions. The father of Economic Science, Adam 
 Smith, has propounded an exhaustive analysis of 
 the advantages and disadvantages, which are asso- 
 ciated with the joint-stock principle. He rightly 
 concludes that the paid manager of a company is 
 seldom likely to be so efficient a man of business 
 
of the British Labourer. Z^ 
 
 as the individual trader, who is constantly prompted 
 to activity and energy by the powerful feeling of 
 self-interest. Experience has consequently shown, 
 that a business which requires constant watchful- 
 ness and an unflagging attention to minute details 
 is not likely to be carried on successfully by a 
 joint-stock company. It might appear that the 
 retail trades which are embraced in the dealings of 
 a cooperative store, belong to that particular class 
 of business which is peculiarly unsuited to a 
 joint-stock company. It might therefore seem that 
 these cooperative institutions unless aided by spe- 
 cial circumstances would be unable to compete 
 with retail traders. This conclusion is strikingly 
 corroborated by facts, for the cooperative stores 
 have prospered in those towns where they have 
 been assisted by favourable circumstances, and 
 they have failed in those localities, where these 
 favourable circumstances have been unable to 
 operate. As an example, let us consider how dif- 
 ferent is the position of one of these stores in 
 Rochdale, and one in London. 
 
 The success of the Rochdale Pioneers' Society 
 is no doubt due to the following causes: — First, no 
 credit is given. Secondly, the society has been 
 managed by men of rare business qualifications, 
 and implicit confidence has been most wisely re- 
 posed in these managers. Thirdly, the shareholders 
 
S6 The Economic Position 
 
 of the Society constitute a body of customers, who 
 will deal at the Store without being specially at- 
 tracted to it. Hence no expense for advertise- 
 ments need be incurred, no costly shop-fronts are 
 required; the business need not be carried on in 
 crowded thoroughfares, where rents are high; its 
 appropriate situation being in the centre of the lo- 
 cality where the labourers reside. 
 
 There is obviously no reason why the first and 
 second of these advantages should not be secured 
 by any cooperative Store wherever it may be 
 situated. It is at least not too much to say that 
 they are essential elements of success. If these 
 societies either give or receive credit, their failure is 
 inevitable. Again, failure would be equally cer- 
 tain, if the shareholders of the society have not the 
 wisdom to appoint as managers those who are 
 best qualified. It will be perceived that the last of 
 the three classes of advantages which have been 
 enumerated, is in a certain degree dependent on 
 locality. Rochdale is, comparatively speaking, a 
 small town, and the shareholders of the Pioneers' 
 -Society are not so widely scattered as to make it 
 inconvenient for them to deal at the Store. But 
 in London the members of a similar society would 
 probably live several miles distant from each other, 
 and consequently when the Store was started, a 
 considerable portion of the shareholders would live 
 
of the British Labourer, 8y 
 
 at too great a distance to deal with it. Hence, in 
 London, it is probable that such a society, at its 
 first commencement would not have a sufficient 
 number of customers. Of course it may be said 
 that many would soon become customers who were 
 not shareholders of the society. But if it was thus 
 necessary to rely upon the general public, the co- 
 operative Store would immediately be brought into 
 direct competition with the retail shops, and those 
 expenses would have to bp incurred which are re- 
 sorted to with the view of attracting purchasers. 
 Experience has proved, as might have been anti- 
 cipated, that in such a competition the retail shops 
 are likely to prove successful. Hence in large 
 towns it would be advisable to commence a co- 
 operative Store, on so comparatively small a scale, 
 that the majority of those who join it may live in 
 the same neighbourhood. The difficulty of securing 
 customers would in this way be obviated. An 
 humble commencement need be no cause for dis- 
 couragement; it should always be remembered 
 that the Rochdale Pioneers began with a weekly 
 subscription of twopence from twenty-eight mem- 
 bers. Perhaps the most satisfactory feature con- 
 nected with these institutions is, that the scale on 
 which they are conducted does not apparently af- 
 fect either the success they obtain, or the advan- 
 tages which they confer. In many villages co- 
 
88 The Economic Position 
 
 operative Stores have been established, and have 
 prospered greatly. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought that I should have 
 given more encouragement to cooperation, if I 
 had not laid so much stress upon the fact that 
 these Stores are ordinary Joint-Stock Companies. 
 I have however had a distinct purpose in view. I 
 feared that some might think that associated with 
 cooperation, there was some special virtue which 
 would at once dissipate the difficulties which beset 
 the path of ordinary industry. It therefore be- 
 comes most important not in the least degree to 
 disguise the real nature of these societies; they, 
 like other joint-stock companies will succeed, if 
 managers can be secured, who will be as active, 
 intelligent, and watchful, as individual traders. But 
 these societies will inevitably fail if bad debts are 
 permitted to absorb profits, or if the general body 
 of the shareholders should so much interfere with 
 those who manage the business, that their energy is 
 hampered, and their superior judgment and know- 
 ledge over-ruled. It has now however been con- 
 clusively proved, that in a vast number of towns 
 and villages these cooperative Stores have suc- 
 ceeded most admirably, and working men have 
 therefore now abundant experience, from which 
 they may obtain not only encouragement, but also 
 guidance and instruction. They, if they like to 
 
of the B litis h Labourer^ 89 
 
 make the inquiry, will be emphatically told by 
 
 those who have become members df /sif ch a society 
 
 as the Rochdale Pioneers, that these institutions 
 
 give the labourers an opportunity 6i S9if'-help ; and 
 
 if they really wish to improve their condition, they ' h^ 
 
 must chiefly rely upon their own efforts, and hot ) jl 
 
 upon the favour or kindness of others. 
 
 A moment's reflection will show how great is 
 the influence exerted by a Cooperative Store. In 
 the first place, it affords the labourers an eligible 
 investment for their capital. Improvidence has 
 hitherto been the great bane of our industrial 
 classes. Nothing however has so much tended to 
 foster this vice, as the difficulty of obtaining an 
 eligible investment for small sums of money. The 
 Savings-Banks have been admirable institutions, 
 and the country owes a debt of gratitude to the 
 present Chancellor of the Exchequer for having 
 given the poor an opportunity of depositing their 
 savings, with all the security which the credit 
 of the State can give. But when money is thus 
 invested, the interest obtained is only about 2\ per 
 cent, and this small return frequently does not act 
 as a sufficiently powerful motive to induce pru- 
 dence. In contrast with such an indifferent invest- 
 ment, the Rochdale Pioneers obtain a fixed divi- 
 dend of 5 per cent, on their capital, and in addition, 
 they receive a drawback on their purchases, which 
 
90 The Economic Position 
 
 frequently amounts to \s. 3^. in the £. But this 
 difference in the aggregate return to their capi- 
 tal, great as it may be, is not the most striking 
 feature of the contrast. The working man who 
 has £^Q deposited in a Post Office Savings-Bank 
 receives his half-yearly dividend, which amounts to 
 I2J-. 6d., with the strictest punctuality; he however 
 derives no other advantage from the investment. 
 The working man who has ^50 invested with the 
 Rochdale Pioneers, has hitherto received much 
 larger dividends with equal regularity, but the 
 benefits which he derives from this investment are 
 by no means confined to pecuniary profits; he be- 
 comes a member of an agreeable artisans' club; he 
 and his family have the use of an excellent read- 
 ing-room and library; he is thrown into pleasing 
 social relationship with many of his fellow-la- 
 bourers. A sympathy, a brotherly kindness, and a 
 generosity of spirit are thus engendered, which by 
 elevating the mind and character, give to life its 
 greatest happiness. The working men also thus 
 receive a training and education which may be in- 
 valuable to them in after life; they have to exercise 
 discrimination in selecting the best men as the 
 managers of the society, and they have to show 
 forbearance and firmness in obeying and upholding 
 the authority of those who are appointed to manage 
 their affairs. These are the qualities which must 
 
of the British Labourer. 91 
 
 be possessed by our industrial classes, if they are 
 ever to be raised above the condition of labourers 
 working for hire. 
 
 The truth of this last remark will be amply 
 verified, as we proceed to consider the consequences 
 which result from cooperation, when it is applied 
 not simply to the distribution, but also to the pro- 
 duction of wealth. It has already been stated, that 
 the store whose progress and prospects we have 
 been describing, cannot rightly be called coopera- 
 tive, for this word implies an union between capital 
 and labour. If, for instance, the labourers who 
 work in a cotton-mill, own all the capital em- 
 barked in the business, it is obvious that in this 
 case there will be a complete union between 
 capital and labour, and the manufactory will be 
 conducted on pure cooperative principles. Although 
 institutions of this kind are extremely rare in Eng- 
 land, yet in France many have been carried on 
 with remarkable success. So far as our own coun- 
 try is concerned, Rochdale seems to be the centre 
 of all the various phases of the cooperative move- 
 ment. The leading members of the Pioneers' So- 
 ciety were so encouraged by their success, that 
 they were naturally induced to extend the principle 
 of union, and they resolved to unite their capitals, 
 in order to commence trading on their own ac- 
 count. They perceived that in this way the whole 
 
92 The Economic Position 
 
 fruits of their industry would become their own. 
 The promoters of the scheme were chiefly cotton- 
 operatives, and they therefore resolved to continue 
 the business to which they had been accustomed. 
 The experiment was commenced very cautiously. 
 It was determined in 1855 to begin the scheme by 
 renting a shed, which contained a certain number 
 of spindles and other requisite machinery. The 
 success immediately obtained was so great, that the 
 scheme was rapidly extended. The humble shed 
 was soon relinquished, and it was determined to rent 
 a portion of a mill. The capital at that time pos- 
 sessed by the society amounted to ^5000. The 
 principles of management were most wisely conceiv- 
 ed ; those who laboured were paid the wages current 
 in the district, and the profits were divided according 
 to the following plan : — A dividend of 5 per cent, on 
 the capital invested was the first charge upon pro- 
 fits, and after this charge had been liquidated, one 
 half of the remaining profits was given as an extra 
 dividend on capital, and the remaining half was 
 given as a bonus to labour, each operative's share 
 of this bonus being in proportion to the aggregate 
 amount of wages which he had received. The an- 
 nual profits realised were on the average about 13^ 
 per cent, and the profits distributed amongst the 
 labourers amounted to a very considerable sum. 
 Such prosperity naturally inspired the greatest 
 
of the British Labourer. 93 
 
 confidence, and consequently it was soon resolved 
 to be in no way dependent on others ; it was there- 
 fore determined to erect a mill. The foundation 
 stone of this building was laid in 1856. The ope- 
 ratives of the district felt such confidence in the 
 undertaking that many eagerly subscribed all the 
 money which they either possessed or could save; 
 and the supply of capital was so abundant, that the 
 mill was completed in about three years ; it was 
 filled with the best machinery; its whole cost was 
 ;^45,ooo; and competent authorities have unani- 
 mously af^rmed, that there is not a better or more 
 complete mill in the district. After the building 
 and machinery had been paid for, the capital which 
 was left, was amply sufficient to carry on a large 
 and enterprising business. Just at the time when 
 this cooperative manufactory was completed, the 
 American Civil War began; we were deprived of 
 our chief supply of raw cotton, and the cotton trade 
 was prostrated. The scheme therefore has as yet 
 had no chance of achieving the full extent of its 
 possible success. The trials which it has had to 
 bear throughout this period of unparalleled adver- 
 sity, have been so triumphantly surmounted, as to 
 justify a confident belief in the future of such un- 
 dertakings. Whilst the American Civil War con- 
 tinued, the industry of Lancashire was paralysed; 
 few indeed of the wealthiest manufacturers could 
 
94 I^Jic Economic Position 
 
 work their mills whole time, and many were obliged 
 to close their mills altogether. Tens of thousands 
 of operatives were thrown out of employment ; they 
 were too independent to ask for alms until they 
 were compelled to do so by dire necessity. When 
 assistance had to be sought, even the charity of 
 a generous and wealthy nation was insufficient, 
 and the State was obliged to supply relief. But 
 throughout this melancholy period, the Rochdale 
 Cooperative Mill struggled on manfully; it could 
 not have borne up more bravely against the diffi- 
 culties of the times, even if it had been backed by 
 the capital of a millionnaire. With the exception of 
 about four or five months, the mill has kept Vv'ork- 
 ing full time; the operatives employed in it have 
 been paid their wages with the utmost regularity ; 
 and during the crisis, the dividend on capital was 
 on the average about 5 per cent. The whole capi- 
 tal now embarked in this undertaking is ^^ 92, 000. 
 Even in the darkest days of this gloomy period, so 
 little were the operatives discouraged, that a second 
 mill was commenced and rapidly completed. 
 
 But whilst congratulating the working men on 
 this splendid achievement, I cannot help feeling 
 great regret that the principles upon which this 
 undertaking was commenced, have been materially 
 changed. I have already told you that it was at 
 first wisely decided, that profits should be distri- 
 
of tJie British Labottrer. 95 
 
 buted between capital and labour. About three 
 years since, this method of distribution was altered, 
 and it was then resolved, that henceforth labour 
 should not participate in the profits. The society 
 has thus lost its cooperative character; it is now an 
 ordinary joint-stock company; a portion of whose 
 capital happens to be owned by those who are em- 
 ployed as labourers in the concern. 
 
 I think however that this departure from the 
 principle of cooperation ought to cause neither sur- 
 prise nor discouragement ; for let us for a moment 
 consider the position in which the shareholders of 
 this cotton-mill were placed, and we shall then be 
 able to estimate the seductive power of the temp- 
 tation, which they were called upon to resist. It 
 must be borne in mind that many of the operatives 
 employed at this mill had no capital invested in 
 the Company; moreover, a considerable portion of 
 the capital was owned by those who had been 
 trained to other branches of industry; and who 
 would of course never seek employment in a cotton 
 mill. These particular shareholders would very na- 
 turally say. In no manufactory in the country are 
 higher wages paid than in ours ; in none is employ- 
 ment more regular; and no similar building can be 
 better ventilated, and in every respect more com- 
 fortable. Operatives therefore will most gladly 
 work for us, if they simply receive the current rate 
 
96 The Economic Position 
 
 of wages ; why therefore should we distribute an- 
 nually amongst them many hundreds, or perhaps 
 thousands, as an additional gratuity for which we 
 get no return? The most Avealthy manufacturers 
 never perform such acts of generosity ; the money 
 thus voluntarily appropriated is our own property ; 
 we have every right to enjoy it; and it would ma- 
 terially increase the returns yielded to the capital, 
 which we were unable to save without great self- 
 sacrifice. It is not surprising, that influenced by 
 such arguments as these, a considerable majority 
 of the share-holders were induced to pass a resolu- 
 tion, which declared that labour should not parti- 
 cipate in the profits realised. A minority sternly 
 opposed the resolution, and have since made many 
 fruitless attempts to rescind it. In this minority 
 there were many who were early members of the 
 Pioneers' Society; these men were so devoted to 
 the cooperative principle, that they would willingly 
 make some sacrifice on its behalf; they were men 
 whose training had made them prudent and intel- 
 ligent, and they could recognise the occasions 
 when prospective advantage demanded the relin- 
 quishment of some present profit. 
 
 This minority forcibly argued that the chief 
 guarantee for the permanent prosperity of their 
 manufactory would be destroyed, if the labourer 
 was permitted to enjoy no share of the profits rea- 
 
of the British Labourer. 97 
 
 lised. A cooperative establishment in common 
 with all joint-stock undertakings, has to encounter 
 some disadvantages which do not to the same ex- 
 tent affect a business which is conducted by an in- 
 dividual capitalist. For instance, as I have already 
 said, it can scarcely be expected that a paid mana- 
 ger will be so energetic, and in every respect so 
 efficient, as the owner of a business, whose activity 
 and zeal are constantly stimulated by so powerful 
 an incentive, as self-interest. But this disadvan- 
 tage is far more than counterbalanced, if a joint- 
 stock company is carried on upon the cooperative 
 principle; for if labourers are permitted to partici-. 
 pate in the profits, they at once become interested 
 in the prosperity of the business, they are conse- 
 quently prompted to exert themselves to the ut- 
 most, and hence, as has well been said, cooperation 
 will attract the most efficient labourers, and will 
 secure their best and most skilled efforts. In this 
 way, the most glaring defect in our present indus- 
 trial economy will be remedied, and we may be sure 
 that labour cannot be efficient, and industry cannot 
 permanently thrive, if employers and employed 
 do not become more united by some of the feelings 
 which result from common pecuniary interest. 
 
 These considerations induce me to agree with 
 those who think that the Rochdale Cooperative 
 Cotton Company, in thus departing from the co- 
 
 7 
 
98 TJic Economic Position 
 
 operative principle lost one great element of suc- 
 cess ; yet, in spite of this, its present wonderful 
 prosperity has been achieved. I therefore think 
 that this society affords the most gratifying and 
 conclusive evidence, that associations of labourers 
 can successfully carry on trading operations, even 
 when they simply constitute themselves into an 
 ordinary joint-stock company. How much more 
 confident of success may we feel, when the advan- 
 tage of making these associations cooperative shall 
 be fully recognised ! Perhaps it will be thought 
 that in selecting this Rochdale Manufactory, I have 
 taken an exceptionally favourable case. I should 
 be sorry to ignore a single case of failure, but I 
 have been obliged to describe the Rochdale Mill in 
 some detail, because, in England; it is the only in- 
 stance in which labourers have combined on so large 
 a scale with the view of trading on their own ac- 
 count. In several branches of industry, where pro- 
 duction is naturally on a small scale, associations 
 of labourers have been successfully formed. Thus, 
 in Manchester, there is a cooperative society for 
 making hats, and in London, there is one for mak- 
 ing picture-frames. If, however, we desire to ob- 
 tain the fullest information on the subject, we must 
 turn to France ; for in that country, there are many 
 associations of labourers which carry on trade upon 
 pure cooperative principles. 
 
of the British Labourer. 99 
 
 Socialism and Communism made a much deep- 
 er impression upon the French nation than upon 
 our own people. The French have been so much 
 accustomed to dwell on these theories, that the 
 working men of that country believed, that their 
 condition could only be improved, and society 
 could only be regenerated, by introducing different 
 economic relations between capital and labour. 
 When therefore the revolution of 1848 dethroned 
 the monarch, and placed supreme power in the 
 hands of the people, the popular leaders who formed 
 the Provisional Government, directed more atten- 
 tion to the formation of social schemes, than to the 
 construction of a new political constitution. Al- 
 though the schemes which were thus started were 
 ill conceived and mischievous in their tendencies, 
 yet it was intended that the same objects should 
 be attained as are supposed to be accomplished by 
 cooperation. Louis Blanc, who might be regarded 
 as representing the social economy element in the 
 Provisional Government, has always undoubtedly 
 been a sincere, yet mistaken friend of cooperation. 
 He determined to carry the principle into practical 
 effect by calling in the assistance of the State ; he 
 wished to make the labourers enjoy the whole 
 fruits of their industry ; he saw that they could not 
 do so, unless they became possessors of capital; 
 Louis Blanc seemed to forget that capital was the 
 
 7-2 
 
100 The Economic Position 
 
 result of saving; possibly too, his benevolent heart 
 shrank from asking the poor to save; and perhaps 
 too, he thought that even if they did save, it would 
 be so slow a process, as too long to delay the social 
 regeneration which he so eagerly anticipated. He 
 therefore resolved, that associations of labourers 
 should be permitted to borrow from the State suf- 
 ficient capital, to enable them to commence business 
 on their own account. Hence national workshops 
 were established. A more mischievous scheme was 
 never conceived; it was essentially unjust; the 
 capital which was thus lent to workmen, had of 
 course to be procured by taxation, and this taxa- 
 tion was imposed upon the general community, 
 many of whom would be thus compulsorily obliged 
 to give pecuniary support to schemes which would 
 inflict the most direct injury upon them; for it is 
 evident that employers of labour would be injured, 
 if those whom they employed were attracted to 
 these national workshops. The injustice was not of 
 long continuance ; for, as might have been antici- 
 pated, the whole affair proved a disastrous failure. 
 Immediately this State assistance was granted, the 
 labourers lost their self-dependence ; the unfortu- 
 nate opinion was impressed upon them that they 
 need not rely upon their own efforts now that 
 the maintenance of their prosperity was recog- 
 nised as the first duty of the Government. When 
 
of the British Labourer. loi 
 
 Louis Napoleon gained supreme power, and made 
 the people and the institutions of France obey his 
 individual will, these national workshops were swept 
 away, because it was thought that they might be- 
 come dangerous political organizations. But even 
 if they had been left undisturbed, they could not 
 have long survived. A social structure raised upon 
 a basis of economic delusions and fallacies was 
 soon destined to totter and fall, and its ruins would 
 serve as sad, yet instructive memorials of the dis- 
 asters which result from unwise and misdirected 
 government interference. 
 
 Whilst inevitable misfortune was impending 
 over these State Societies, some Parisian workmen 
 were associating, determined to rely entirely upon 
 their own efforts. The very difficulties which, in 
 the beginning they had to encounter, gave them 
 an experience, which ensured future success. The 
 Parisian workmen when forming these associa- 
 tions usually adopted a rule, which made it more 
 easy strictly to adhere to the cooperative prin- 
 ciple; for in most cases it was decided, that 
 none but shareholders should be employed as la- 
 bourers. The adoption of this rule to a great 
 extent obviated the difficulty which has so much 
 tended to thwart the efficiency of the Rochdale 
 Cooperative Manufactory; for if all the labourers 
 employed are shareholders, the hostility which is 
 
102 The EcoJiornic Position 
 
 supposed to exist between capital and labour would 
 be greatly weakened ; these two interests would be 
 more united, and there would then be little chance 
 that labour would be refused all participation in 
 the profits realised. Moreover, when the labourers 
 have capital in the business, no very great evil 
 would result from appropriating all the profits to 
 capital. The great industrial advantage of coope- 
 ration would still operate, since all the labouring 
 shareholders would be directly interested in the 
 prosperity of the business. The cooperative trad- 
 ing societies in Paris are very numerous. I will 
 proceed to describe the progress of one or two of 
 them, and the details of their prosperity will prove 
 to you, that a way has now been discovered by 
 which a labourer may raise his own condition, and 
 may make his life what it has never been before. 
 
 In the year 1852, seventeen Parisian masons 
 determined to form themselves into a cooperative 
 society; they had then a capital of only ^14. \os., 
 which they had accumulated by saving one-tenth 
 of their daily earnings. At the end of the year 
 1854, the capital had increased to £6%o\ and in 
 i860 the society consisted of 107 members, and the 
 capital possessed by them was ;^ 14,500. The fol- 
 lowing are some of the important buildings which 
 have been erected in Paris by this society: — The 
 Hotel Fould, in the rue de Berry; the Hotel Rou- 
 
of the British Labourer, 103 
 
 her, in the Champs Elysees; the Hotel Frescati, 
 rue de RIcheheu; the Square d'Orleans, rue Tait- 
 bout, etc. : and lately these cooperative masons were 
 building an hotel for M. Girardin, on the Boulevard 
 of the king of Rome; an hotel for M. Arsenne 
 Haussage, on the Boulevard de I'Empereur; and 
 an hotel at Montrouge for M. Pacotte. The la- 
 bourers are paid the ordinary wages current in the 
 trade, and the nett profits realised are apportioned 
 in the following manner: — Two-fifths of these profits 
 form a fund, from which the annual dividend on 
 capital is paid; and the remaining three-fifths are 
 appropriated to provide an extra bonus on labour. 
 The bonus which each labourer thus receives, is 
 proportioned to the amount of labour he has per- 
 formed throughout the year. No arrangements 
 that could be devised would more powerfully pro- 
 mote the efficiency of labour. This is the secret of 
 the remarkable success of this society. The coope- 
 rative masons have fairly entered into the great 
 field of commercial competition ; they have striven 
 to do their work cheaper and better than others; 
 and it is because they have proved that they can 
 work cheaper and better, that they have been em- 
 ployed to build residences for such persons as 
 M. Girardin, and the others we have enumerated. 
 
 The next Parisian Society which we shall de- 
 scribe is also one which, in its infancy, had to 
 
104 ^-^^^ Economic Position 
 
 struggle against most formidable difficulties. In 
 1848, fourteen pianoforte makers resolved to form 
 themselves into an association; they were as poor 
 as men could be; they had no capital, and scarcely 
 any tools, and they were also refused any loan 
 from the State. After bravely enduring the most 
 severe hardships, they succeeded in saving ;^45, 
 and with this they determined to commence busi- 
 ness. They at first rented a very small room in 
 an obscure part of Paris. Fortunately a timber 
 merchant was so much impressed in their favour, 
 that he was induced to give them some credit. For 
 many months they denied themselves every luxury ; 
 in fact it was impossible to have lived on more 
 scanty or frugal fare. One incident will illustrate 
 the difficulty of their position. They joyfully ac- 
 cepted an offer from a baker to purchase a piano 
 for £\% and to pay them for it in bread. This 
 bread was for a considerable time the chief means 
 of their support. All obstacles were however one 
 -by one surmounted, and their progress, though 
 gradual, was steady and sure. In 1850, the mem- 
 bers of the society increased to 32 ; they had left 
 their first humble room, and were now renting a 
 commodious building at ^^ 80 a year; at this time 
 their stock was worth ^1600. Within the last few 
 years they have become the owners of a large free- 
 hold manufactory, which is furnished with the most 
 
of the British Labotirer. 105 
 
 improved machinery, and the business which they 
 now annually transact exceeds ;^ 8000. This Piano- 
 forte Association has obtained a well-deserved 
 reputation for the excellence and cheapness of its 
 
 work. 
 
 Other examples might be enumerated, with the 
 view of showing the rapid growth of cooperative 
 societies in Germany and various continental coun- 
 tries. I think however, that from the facts which 
 have been adduced, you will be able to under- 
 stand the real nature of this new social and eco- 
 nomic movement. The instances which have been 
 brought forward, clearly demonstrate that the poor- 
 est artizans, by forming themselves into Associa- 
 tions, may raise themselves above the position of 
 hired labourers and become successful traders. I 
 do not however disguise from myself the fact 
 that these associations require from the labourer 
 many virtues and qualifications, which are perhaps 
 unfortunately to be regarded as rare endowments. 
 He must be thrifty and prudent; he must have 
 the courage to bear at the outset many sufferings ; 
 he must have the discrimination to select the best 
 men to be managers of the association; and he 
 must without cavil obey those whom he has placed 
 in this position of responsibility. He must more- 
 over accept the lessons of experience, and thus 
 learn when trade is good to set aside a portion 
 
io6 The Economic Position 
 
 of the profits, In order to tide over the depression 
 of bad times. It may In fact be briefly said that 
 the members of prosperous cooperative societies 
 are men who possess a character which entitles 
 them to be considered the ehte of the labouring 
 population. No one therefore who is acquainted 
 with our own country, can suppose that the ma- 
 jority of our working classes could Immediately 
 establish cooperative societies with a fair chance 
 of success. I should be the last to make this 
 statement with any feeling of reproach against 
 those who live by daily toil; for when we reflect 
 upon the circumstances which too often surround 
 the youth and the manhood of our labourers, we 
 need not be disheartened because intemperance 
 and improvidence are frequent. If there is crime, 
 we must remember that a considerable number of 
 the humbler classes of this country are unedu- 
 cated, and statistics have Indisputably demon- 
 strated, that Ignorance and crime are inseparably 
 associated* If drunkenness abounds, we must 
 not forget that the public-house will always prove 
 attractive. If the labourers' dwellings are too mise- 
 rable to aflbrd any of the comforts of a home. 
 If many working men are reckless with regard to 
 
 • The Judicial Statistics of 1863, show that out of 129,5-27 
 persons committed to prison in England and Wales during that 
 year, only 4829 could read and write well. 
 
of the British LaboiLver, 107 
 
 the future, we must recollect, that unless the mind 
 is trained, man will always be powerfully influ- 
 enced by mere animal instincts; self-indulgence 
 becomes his controlling passion, and if the intel- 
 lect remains dormant, a prudent foresight with 
 regard to the future, will rarely act with suffi- 
 cient force to induce the sacrifice of any temporary 
 enjoyment. 
 
 When therefore we consider the present con- 
 dition of our labourers, I think we must conclude 
 that as they step by step improve, cooperation 
 and other systems of industrial economy, superior 
 to those which now exist, will be gradually intro- 
 duced. Before any considerable portion of the 
 trade of this country can be conducted on the 
 cooperative principle, I believe that the labourers 
 must be trained and educated for this new state 
 of things, by passing through several transitional 
 economic phases. Thus it seems probable from 
 many events which have recently occurred, that 
 a very general introduction of what has been 
 termed copartnership, may be one of the first 
 changes in our national industry. A copartner- 
 ship is said to exist, when an employer agrees to 
 distribute a portion of his profits amongst those 
 whom he employs. I shall hereafter show that 
 whenever this system has been tried, it has proved 
 most beneficial both to masters and men. Unfor- 
 
io8 The Economic Position 
 
 tunate disputes, such as strikes, which so greatly 
 impede the prosperity of trade, are thus effectually 
 obviated; the employed become directly interested 
 in the success of the work in which they are en- 
 gaged; their zeal and activity are stimulated; hence 
 their labour becomes so much more efficient, that 
 the employer is abundantly recompensed for the 
 portion of his profits which he agrees to relinquish. 
 The two systems of copartnership and cooper- 
 ation are very happily blended in some of our large 
 commercial concerns, when they are converted into 
 joint-stock companies. The owners of the business 
 become directors of the company, and retain a 
 large portion, say two-thirds of the capital. The 
 shares, which represent the remainder of the capi- 
 tal, are first offered to those who are employed in 
 the establishment, and the working men who take 
 up these shares are permitted to choose two or 
 three directors ; this arrangement enables every 
 labourer to become in part a proprietor of the 
 business or trade in which he works. Capital and 
 labour thus become to a great extent united ; the 
 working men, when called upon to elect directors, 
 are trained to the exercise of discrimination ; they 
 are also taught most invaluable economic truths; 
 for as they are made acquainted with the details 
 of business, they will soon comprehend the true 
 nature and functions of capital. It is impossible 
 
of the British Labourer. 109 
 
 to conceive any training which is more fitted to 
 qualify labourers for the successful establishment 
 of such an institution as the Rochdale Cooperative 
 Manufactory. 
 
 I cannot leave this subject without referring to 
 a novel and most interesting application of the 
 cooperative principle to the cultivation of land. 
 A Suffolk gentleman, Mr Gurdon of Assington 
 Hall, was greatly struck with the deplorable po- 
 verty of the labourers, employed on his own, and 
 neighbouring estates. He long endeavoured to 
 discover some efficient remedy; and about thirty 
 years since he commenced a scheme, the success 
 of which promises vast good to our labouring po- 
 pulation. Mr Gurdon resolved to make the labour- 
 ers his tenants ; he let the land to them, charging 
 them the ordinary rent which would be paid by a 
 tenant-farmer. He advanced them sufficient capital 
 to cultivate the land, and this capital was to be re- 
 paid in a certain number of years. Mr Gurdon has 
 now been repaid all the capital which he originally 
 advanced, and these farms are in the highest state 
 of cultivation. The labourers, as at Rochdale, 
 select from amongst their own body a committee 
 of management, and those who are employed, 
 receive the ordinary agricultural wages. The pro- 
 fits are divided according to a plan very similar 
 to that which has been adopted at Rochdale. The 
 
1 10 The Economic Position 
 
 labourers who cultivate these farms, have been soci- 
 ally, materially, and morally so much improved, 
 that it can be scarcely believed that they were 
 once in the same miserable condition as the ordi- 
 nary agricultural labourers in the surrounding dis- 
 trict. 
 
 It seems to me that there is only one danger 
 which can imperil the continued success of this 
 scheme. The labourers who cultivate these farms 
 are tenants, and they therefore possess no security 
 of tenure. Mr Gurdon is far too benevolent ever 
 to disturb them, but it is possible that his succes- 
 sor might be anxious to appropriate to himself all 
 the additional value which has been given to the 
 land, by the careful cultivation of these labouring 
 tenants. This possible danger ought perhaps not to 
 be regretted ; for it may induce the scheme to as- 
 sume a higher developement. It must be admitted 
 that by this experiment it has been conclusively 
 proved, that associations of labourers can success- 
 fully cultivate land, even when they rent it. How 
 much greater then would be the success achieved, if 
 such associations owned, instead of rented the land 
 which they cultivate. There would then be no 
 difficulty about insuring fixity of tenure, and the 
 labourers could never be in the least degree dis- 
 couraged, by feeling that the improvements which 
 their careful culture effected in the land might be 
 
of the British Labottrcr. 1 1 1 
 
 at any time appropriated by the individual to 
 whom the land belonged. Such an association 
 would be a true cooperative society ; cooperation 
 is for many reasons particularly adapted to agri- 
 culture; this branch of industry offers few tempta- 
 tions for speculation, and its profits are not subject 
 to great fluctuations ; the cotton-trade on the other 
 hand has always been characterised by recurring 
 periods of great prosperity, and of corresponding 
 adversity. 
 
 All these various industrial schemes may be 
 regarded as affording evidence, that the present 
 economic relations between employers and em- 
 ployed have been proved to be unsatisfactory, and 
 are therefore destined to be modified. It would 
 be idle to attempt either to describe the exact 
 form which this modification will assume, or to 
 predict the rapidity Avith which the change may 
 be wrought. I have merely striven to show you 
 the benefits which result from new economic ar- 
 ranements which have already been partially 
 adopted. If we desire to hasten the change, we 
 can only do so by bringing into operation what- 
 ever agencies may tend to give the labourer those 
 qualities which the new state of things requires. 
 I have already expressed an opinion that the 
 labourer's defects chiefly arise from a want of edu- 
 cation. But it may perhaps be said. What can be 
 
112 
 
 The Economic Position 
 
 done to promote education? Books are cheap, 
 teachers are abundant, and schools are numerous 
 and good. If however all this is admitted, it only 
 seems to bring the following question more forcibly 
 home to us. Ought the government to extend to 
 the whole labouring population those compulsory 
 provisions, which have secured the education of the 
 factory children .? No child, under nine years of 
 age, is permitted to be employed in a cotton or 
 woollen manufactory, and a child between nine 
 and thirteen years of age is only allowed to work 
 so many hours a week, and the employer of the 
 child can at any time under a severe penalty, be 
 called upon to produce a certificate, that the child 
 has attended school so many hours in each week; 
 the school moreover must be one, which the in- 
 spector has declared to be in a satisfactory state. 
 The employers were at first bitterly opposed to 
 this legislation and vehemently affirmed that 
 such interference on the part of the State would 
 utterly destroy their manufacturing industry. 
 These predictions have been as signally falsified, as 
 were the predictions of the protectionists, who were 
 never tired of declaring that the land of this 
 country could not be cultivated under a free-trade 
 tariff. Protectionists have long since become free- 
 traders, and the manufacturers now readily admit 
 that the Factory Act has effected incalculable advan- 
 
of the British Labourer, 113 
 
 tage. The physical deterioration of the operatives 
 has been arrested. Young children who are kept 
 closely to work for ten or twelve hours a day, have 
 a blight thrown over the freshness of youth, and 
 they grow up with sickly constitutions and with 
 distorted limbs. The daily training of the mind 
 helps the development of the body, and it has 
 been conclusively proved that the children who are 
 at school half the day, and are at work the remain- 
 ing half, acquire vigour, energy, and intelligence ; 
 the efficiency of their labour is thus so much 
 increased, that they really do more work in a day 
 than used to be done by those children who were 
 employed zuhole time, and whose strength and ac- 
 tivity were exhausted by such excessive toil. 
 
 Similar legislation must be applied to agricul- 
 ture and to other branches of industry, if it is 
 determined that a large portion of our population 
 shall no longer continue in a state of pitiable 
 ig-norance. I have before said that the educational 
 appliances which are liberally provided at the 
 present day do not reach the root of the evil; 
 there are many localities which possess most 
 excellent schools, and yet the children of the 
 surrounding population, and especially the boys, 
 do not possess even the simplest rudiments of 
 knowledge. I know agricultural villages which are 
 supposed to be well cared for, where the ministers 
 
 3 
 
114 -^^^^ Economic Position 
 
 of religion are zealous, where the resident gentle- 
 men are charitable, where the schools are well 
 managed and supported, and yet there Is scarcely 
 a youth in these villages who can read with 
 sufficient facility to enable him to understand 
 a newspaper. This melancholy state of things is 
 due to one single circumstance. A father who 
 has a large family to maintain on ten or eleven 
 shillings a week, cannot resist the temptation of 
 taking his children from school directly they can 
 earn the smallest pittance. A child of eight or 
 nine years of age receives threepence a day for 
 holloaing at crows, and a ploughboy of about 
 the same age obtains two shillings a week; the 
 father, although he does an irreparable injury to 
 his children, yet perhaps scarcely deserves to be 
 blamed. In the first place, he is himself ignorant, 
 and he therefore cannot estimate the blessings of 
 education; and secondly, two shillings added to 
 his income, Increases it by nearly 20 per cent. ; 
 he cannot therefore forego this augmentation of 
 his resources without an amount of self-denial, of 
 which we can form no conception. Ignorance 
 will consequently continue from generation to ge- 
 neration, if education is not enforced by some 
 compulsory regulations. The experience of the 
 Factory Acts is most valuable ; it shows that 
 education can not only be promoted but secured 
 
of the British Labourer. 115 
 
 by proper legislation, and the gratifying result is 
 also demonstrated, that neither parents nor em- 
 ployers suffer any pecuniary loss if the children 
 are made to attend school a certain number of 
 hours per day; their labour becomes so much 
 more efficient, that the employer can afford to pay 
 them the same wages for a smaller number of 
 hours of work. It is however possible that some 
 temporary pecuniary loss may have to be borne; 
 thus the employers may have to pay a somewhat 
 higher price for juvenile labour, because its aggre- 
 gate supply would be virtually diminished by these 
 restrictions. A parent may also have to endure 
 some temporary sacrifice, if he is not permitted to 
 exercise absolute control over the labour of his 
 children. But any such temporary disadvantage 
 becomes insignificant when it is compared with 
 ulterior consequences. A man who is allowed to 
 grow up with his mind entirely neglected has 
 inflicted upon him a grievous wrong ; he is cut 
 off from the surest and noblest sources of happi- 
 ness, and even if he is regarded simply as an 
 agent for the production of wealth, he is made by 
 ignorance comparatively useless and inefficient. 
 An unintelligent labourer is like a machine which 
 works roughly, because no care was taken about 
 the putting together of its various parts, which, 
 perfect themselves, might have been so combined 
 
 8—2 
 
1 1 6 The Economic Positio?t 
 
 that the machine would achieve completeness in 
 all Its operations. Consequently, Ignorance, by 
 impairing the efficiency of labour, Inflicts upon the 
 nation a most serious pecuniary loss. But this 
 Is not all; crime, and that Improvidence which 
 inevitably produces destitution, are in a great 
 degree caused by ignorance. Our criminal and 
 our pauper population involve an expenditure 
 which Is an onerous burden upon our Industry. 
 Hence If our labourers were better educated, the 
 nation would be relieved from some of Its most 
 severe imposts; labour would become more effi- 
 cient, and thus the production of wealth would be 
 stimulated; the people would then possess suffix- 
 dent intelligence to enable them to combine and 
 to cooperate for a common object; the condition 
 of the industrial classes would thus be regene- 
 rated, and the happiness and glory of the country 
 would grow, as its poverty and crime diminished. 
 We ought not to rest contented with our civiliza- 
 tion, whilst nearly 130,000 criminals are annually 
 convicted In England and Wales, and whilst one 
 out of every twenty of our population Is a pauper. 
 The last fact is perhaps a more melancholy one 
 than the first. A crime Is often the result of some 
 sudden outburst of passion; but wide-spread 
 pauperism exhibits a settled evil which is perma- 
 nently in operation. The existence of this poverty 
 
of the British Labourer, 117 
 
 is in itself a reproach, and its legalized relief is 
 fraught with manifold evil. Many of those who 
 claim parochial support, are, and will always con- 
 tinue to be the indolent, the profligate, and the 
 intemperate; many too have become paupers, 
 either because their parents have neglected them, 
 or because they have been stricken down by 
 diseases which have been chiefly generated by 
 insufficient food, and by the pestilential air of un- 
 wholesome dwellings. These causes which produce 
 poverty will gradually cease to operate, as the 
 labourers become sufficiently advanced to raise 
 their condition by cooperative efforts; then they 
 will not be dependent on others to relieve them 
 either in old age or in sickness. Now, when a 
 man's strength is exhausted, either by old age or 
 sickness, it seems to be considered that his proper 
 destiny is to live upon the parish rates. Until 
 that day comes, when a life of toil shall lead to 
 some happier result than this, every Englishman 
 should feel that a heavy stigma rests upon his 
 country. This is one reason why I so earnestly 
 desire some change in our existing economic rela- 
 tions; as long as the labourer simply works for 
 hire, I know his condition will not be materially 
 improved ; I also know, that if the efficiency of 
 labour is to be maintained, and if England is to 
 continue to grow in wealth, happiness, and pros- 
 
1 18 The Economic Positio?t of the British Labourer. 
 
 perlty, the labourers must participate in the profits 
 yielded by their industry. The object I have had 
 in view in this Chapter has been to show you, 
 how Cooperation in its various forms will enable 
 this participation in profits to be accomplished. 
 
119 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Causes ivJiich regulate Wages. 
 
 It is essential to our Investigations, that a clear 
 conception should be obtained of the causes which 
 regulate the wages which are paid in any employ- 
 ment. It is not unfrequently assumed, that wages 
 are only controlled by the arbitrary caprice of the 
 employer. If therefore they are supposed to be 
 too low, he alone is blamed; and he is often de- 
 nounced, as if greed and selfishness prompted him 
 to deprive the labourer of his just reward. Such 
 opinions as these are often maintained by well in- 
 tentioned men, and consequently their philanthropy 
 becomes a futile and misdirected effort. These 
 opinions are also the origin of much of that ill- 
 feeling which exists between employers and em- 
 ployed ; for accusations will constantly be made 
 against employers, if labourers believe that the 
 amount of wages they receive is solely determined 
 by the will of those for whom they work. It is 
 therefore' most important to show that wages are 
 
120 The Economic Position 
 
 regulated by fixed and well ascertained laws ; and 
 that these laws are as certain in their operation, as 
 those which control physical nature. If a body is 
 in motion, and you wish to change its direction 
 and velocity, you can only do so by acting on 
 some of the causes which produce this motion. 
 In the same way, if you wish to alter the wages 
 paid to any class of labourers, you can only do 
 so by first ascertaining, and then acting upon some 
 of the causes which determine the particular rate 
 of wages which may happen to be paid. I will 
 therefore proceed to consider the various cir- 
 cumstances which regulate the remuneration of 
 labour. 
 
 I think that you are all sufficiently acquainted 
 with the elementaryprinciples of Political Economy, 
 to know that the circulating capital of a country is 
 its wage-fund. Hence if we desire to calculate the 
 average money wages received by each labourer, 
 we have simply to divide the amount of this capital 
 by the number of the labouring population. It is 
 therefore evident that the average money wages 
 cannot be increased, unless either the circulatinef 
 capital is augmented, or the number of the labour- 
 ing population is diminished. ''I have used the ex- 
 pression * money wages,' because the price of com- 
 modities is one element, in determining the actual 
 remuneration which the labourer receives; for it is 
 
of the British Labourer. ' / , 121 
 
 manifest, that if the articles which he is/accustorhed 
 to purchase advance 20 per cent, ^n price, his real 
 wages w^ould be diminished, though his wages, 
 estimated in money, might have increased 10 per 
 cent. In order to avoid complexity of language, I 
 shall assume, that there is no change in the prices 
 of commodities, and hence the word wages will sig- 
 nify both the real and the pecuniary remuneration 
 of the labourer. Since therefore it has been shown 
 that the average rate of w^ages is regulated by a 
 ratio between capital and population; we are na- 
 turally led to consider the causes which effect the 
 increase and decrease both of capital and popu- 
 lation. 
 
 In a wealthy country such as England, far 
 more capital is accumulated than her own industry 
 requires. There is scarcely a government to whom 
 we have not lent money, and scarcely any great 
 public work, in any quarter of the world, for which 
 English capital is not freely subscribed. By our 
 aid, railways will be carried within sight of the per- 
 petual snows of the Himalayas ; our steamers will 
 traverse the remote regions of central Asia, and 
 even young countries commencing a career of pro- 
 gress seek the aid of England's capital; for in- 
 stance, it has been shown that England supplied 
 ;^ 13,500,000 for the Grand Trunk Railway of Ca- 
 nada; whereas Canada, and the United States to- 
 
122 The Economic Position 
 
 gether, scarcely subscribed ;^ 500,000. From these 
 remarks, it is evident that only a portion, and per- 
 haps not a large portion of the wealth which is 
 annually saved in this country, is invested in our 
 oWn industry. If wages therefore are at any time 
 very low, this cannot be due to an insufficient sup- 
 ply of capital, because the wage-fund could be 
 immediately greatly increased if we limited the 
 amount of capital which we annually embark in 
 foreign investments. In this respect, less wealthy 
 countries offer a striking contrast when comj^ared 
 with England. Thus the capital hitherto possessed 
 by India has been most inadequate for the develop- 
 ment of her vast natural resources; and labour in 
 India has consequently been worse remunerated 
 than probably in any other country. The ryot 
 could do little more than supply himself with the 
 barest necessaries of life. The importation of capi- 
 tal into India would therefore necessarily augment 
 the wage-fund, and would increase the remunera- 
 tion of labour. Capital has been constantly flowing 
 into India from England during the last few years. 
 Since 1853, we have subscribed not less than 
 ;^ 40,000,000 for Indian Railways. A considerable 
 portion of this sum has been paid to native labour- 
 ers, and the result has been, that wages in the dis- 
 tricts which are traversed by these railways, have 
 certainly within a short time, advanced not less than 
 
of tJie British Labourer. 123 
 
 100 per cent. But If foreign countries should send 
 capital to England, it would produce no perceptible 
 effect upon the current rate of wages in this country. 
 The capital thus sent would probably be invested 
 in our leading securities ; their price would rise, and 
 English holders would thus be induced to sell out, 
 and would probably invest their money in some 
 foreign undertaking. We must have all observed, 
 that directly the rate of interest declines in this 
 country, or, in other words, the supply of capital 
 becomes abundant, it seems that the signal is at 
 once given for the introduction of a foreign 
 loan, or some other undertaking, which will soon 
 cause the surplus capital to be absorbed. It is 
 therefore evident, that the aggregate wealth which 
 is annually saved in England is divided into two 
 portions; one portion is employed as capital to 
 maintain our industry, and the other portion is 
 exported to foreign countries. This conclusion will 
 naturally lead us to inquire, whether it is possible 
 to ascertain the causes which determine the rela- 
 tive magnitude of these two portions, into which 
 the wealth Avhich we annually save is divided. 
 
 Experience has abundantly proved, that varia- 
 tions in the amount of capital accumulated, depend 
 upon the profit which can be realised upon this 
 capital, or, in other words, upon the rate of interest. 
 If the general rate of interest should rise, a greater 
 
124 The Economic Position 
 
 Inducement would be offered, to abstain from any 
 expenditure which is not absolutely necessary, and 
 hence more wealth would be annually saved. Since 
 therefore a connection exists between the amount 
 of capital accumulated, and the profit which can be 
 obtained upon this capital, it consequently follows, 
 that the amount of capital invested in any industry 
 is primarily determined, by the average rate of 
 profit which this industry returns. Suppose, for 
 instance, that the woollen trade becomes suddenly 
 prosperous, as it has done during the last four 
 years ; every woollen manufacturer will be anxious 
 to extend his business as much as possible. Capital, 
 which before he might have invested in some fo- 
 reign speculations, he will now employ in his own 
 business, and he will use his credit to borrow capi- 
 tal from others, who will be induced to lend it him, 
 in consequence of the high rate of interest which 
 he can now afford to pay them. If therefore the 
 profits in any branch of industry increase, the 
 capital employed in it might soon be doubled; 
 capital will in a similar way be withdrawn, if trade 
 is depressed by adverse circumstances. During the 
 continuance of the American Civil War, the manu- 
 facture of cotton yielded no profit. Immense sums 
 of capital previously employed In this industry, 
 have consequently been sent to the London Money 
 Market to be invested in various securities, both 
 
of the British Labourer. 125 
 
 home and foreign. This caused the supply of capi- 
 tal to be so abundant, that an unprecedently large 
 number of new loans and various joint-stock com- 
 panies were started. 
 
 The two examples to which allusion has just 
 been made, clearly show that as the profits of any 
 trade decrease or increase, the capital employed in 
 it will be either immediately diminished or aug- 
 mented. But although there is thus a supply of 
 capital always ready to satisfy any demand, yet 
 additional labour, if it is required in any trade, 
 cannot be provided with the same facility. The 
 various processes which are carried on in any in- 
 dustry need a particular skill, which cannot be ac- 
 quired without previous training and practice. No 
 one can visit a cotton manufactory, without observ- 
 ing how marvellously delicate are some of the ma- 
 nipulations which human hands perform, as the raw 
 material is gradually spun and woven into cotton 
 cloth. In other branches of industry, human dex- 
 terity shows equally astonishing results. I have 
 often stood and watched with almost bewildered 
 amazement, the glass-blowing which can be daily 
 seen at Birmingham. A man places a blow-pipe 
 in a cauldron of molten glass. He seems instinc- 
 tively to dip up the precise quantity of glass he 
 requires. His object, we will suppose, is to make 
 a wine-decanter, similar in every respect to one 
 
126 The EconoDiic Position 
 
 which has been made before. He begins blowing, 
 twirhng and twisting, and in a few moments the 
 decanter is made, and the nicest eye fails to dis- 
 cover the slightest difference in size or shape, be- 
 tween it and the one which has served as a model. 
 Yet whilst he was doing his work, apparently with 
 careless ease ; his eye, his hand, and the power of 
 his breath, must have adjusted and controlled va- 
 rious forces, which are far too complicated in their 
 operation to be traced by the most refined mathe- 
 matical analysis. But this skill of the Lancashire 
 cotton operative, or the Birmingham glass-blower, 
 is special ; and if either was to change his employ- 
 ment for that of the other, it would be long before 
 he was little better than a useless bungler. 
 
 The impossibility of immediately augmenting 
 to a great extent the labour adapted to carry on 
 a particular branch of industry, produces some very 
 important results, which may be best illustrated by 
 an example. Let us suppose, and it is really what 
 has actually occurred during the last four years, 
 that the woollen trade has suddenly been made ex- 
 tremely active, by a large increase in both the home 
 and foreign demand for woollen goods ; prices rise, 
 and perhaps it is not too much to assume, that 
 the profits of the manufacturers are soon doubled. 
 Every one consequently endeavours to extend his 
 business as much as possible ; labour is eagerly 
 
of the British Labourer. 127 
 
 competed for, and wages greatly increase. But 
 this rise in wages would not take place if the 
 additional labour which is required, could be ob- 
 tained from other employments ; since a manu- 
 facturer would naturally say: if I require ad- 
 ditional labour, I would rather give, fifty per cent, 
 more to one who has been accustomed to the 
 industry, than employ a bungler who has never 
 been in a woollen mill before, for such a labourer 
 will probably injure the machinery, and be a 
 hindrance to others. It therefore follows, that 
 within certain limits, the wages which any class 
 of labourers receive, depend upon the average rate 
 of profit which may happen to be realised in the 
 trade in which they are engaged ; because, if pro- 
 fits increase, more capital will be invested in this 
 particular branch of industry, and consequently the 
 wage-fund will be augmented. 
 
 In stating this proposition, I have been careful 
 to employ the qualifying phrase ^within certain 
 limits' since it can be readily proved that unless 
 artificial restrictions are imposed, there is a certain 
 rate of wages w^iich may be said naturally to 
 belong to each employment, and towards this 
 natural rate, wages are constantly tending to ap- 
 proximate. Thus although a sudden improvement 
 in the woollen trade may cause wages to advance 
 fifty per cent, yet this rise cannot be permanently 
 
128 The Economic Position 
 
 maintained ; for if this particular kind of labour 
 receives such exceptionally high remuneration, 
 more and more labour would be gradually at- 
 tracted to the trade, and a greater number of 
 children would be trained to follow it. The sup- 
 ply of labour would thus be steadily augmented, 
 and wages would consequently gradually decline. 
 
 It is not however difficult to show, that in some 
 branches of industry, labour must permanently re- 
 ceive a higher remuneration than in others. Some 
 trades, for instance, require great skill on behalf of 
 the workmen. This skill can perhaps only be at- 
 tained after a long and expensive training, and per- 
 haps training will not be sufficient, unless a person 
 is as it were specially endowed by nature; thus 
 those workmen Avho can grind a lens, or construct a 
 chronometer, with the mathematical accuracy which 
 is now demanded, are so few in number, that their 
 peculiar skill may be regarded as a monopoly, 
 which they can dispose of at an extremely high 
 price; the wages which they receive are not af- 
 fected by the competition of the general body of 
 labourers, but are chiefly determined by the price 
 which people are willing to give, for such delicate 
 and perfect instruments. Again, proficiency in 
 many kinds of industry can only be acquired after 
 long practice ; the young beginner in fact needs a 
 teacher, who must be remunerated. Thus in the 
 
r 
 
 of the British Labourer. 129 
 
 engineering trade, a youth has to pass an appren- 
 ticeship of seven years; during this time he re- 
 ceives scarcely any wages. During the last three 
 years of his apprenticeship, his labour may be- 
 come useful, and the employer is thus remunerated 
 for the trouble and expense of instructing him. 
 A parent would not of course make the sacrifice 
 which is required, if he thus apprentices his son 
 for seven years, unless he supposed that his son 
 would be abundantly compensated by receiving in 
 after life higher wages, than if he had been brought 
 up to some less skilled industry which needed no 
 apprenticeship. Some occupations are also much 
 more dangerous and unhealthy than others. Thus 
 miners incur many risks, and the average period 
 of their life is shortened by many years, in con- 
 sequence of the bad air which they are generally 
 obliged to breathe. A miner must consequently 
 receive higher wages than agricultural labourers, 
 in order to compensate him for these disadvan- 
 tages which are connected with his employment. 
 Some kinds of labour cannot be carried on if the 
 weather is unfavourable. Thus building is often 
 to a great extent stopped during the winter 
 months. The wages which are earned by masons 
 and bricklayers, must therefore be sufficient to 
 remunerate them for the time during which they 
 are kept out of work. It therefore appears that 
 
 9 
 
130 The Econoviic Position 
 
 the average remuneration which labour receives 
 in different employments is regulated by various 
 circumstances, such as skill, the regularity or irre- 
 gularity of the employment, and the healthiness 
 or unhealthiness of the occupation. Hence a cer- 
 tain rate of wages which may be termed a natural 
 rate, belongs to each kind of labour; although it 
 may be impossible to deduce from a priori reason- 
 ing, what may be the exact amount of this natural 
 rate in any particular case. Thus suppose agricul- 
 tural labourers earn ten shillings a week, we cannot 
 say beforehand whether miners in the same dis- 
 trict will earn fourteen or eighteen shillings a week. 
 We may however be quite certain that their wages 
 will be higher than those of the agricultural 
 labourers; and the additional amount which they 
 receive may be regarded as an adequate com- 
 pensation, for the various disadvantages which are 
 connected with mining, when compared with agri- 
 culture. 
 
 Now that we have established the- proposition, 
 that in different employments, different rates of 
 wages must necessarily prevail, let us next pro- 
 ceed to prove, that the wages paid In any industry 
 are not the result either of caprice or chance, but 
 are regulated by principles, which are as certain 
 in their operation, as are the physical forces from 
 which all natural phenomena result. In order 
 
of the British Laboiircr. 131 
 
 to illustrate this truth, let it be supposed that the 
 wages of the agricultural labourer are ten shillings 
 a week, and that no artificial impediments prevent 
 him from offering his labour wherever it will be 
 best remunerated. It may with justice be affirmed, 
 that every able-bodied m^n in our country, ought 
 to be able to obtain more than ten shillings a week 
 for his labour; such an amount will not provide 
 him and his family a sufficiency of the neces- 
 saries of life. It is impossible for him to make 
 any adequate provision for old age or sickness, 
 and hence he and those who are dependent on 
 him, are constantly verging on a state of pauperism. 
 The result is, that no insignificant portion of our 
 population are paupers; a fact which is a serious 
 disgrace to a country so wealthy as our own. A 
 man who only earns ten shillings a week is so poor, 
 that he is almost compelled to make his children 
 labour directly they can obtain even the smallest 
 wages. His children are constantly sent to work 
 when they are only eight or nine years old ; they 
 have not acquired even the first rudiments of 
 education, and it is consequently no exaggeration 
 to say, that our agricultural population as a general 
 rule can neither read nor write. Improved schools 
 and large educational grants entirely fail to attack 
 the real source of this evil, and it is a truism to 
 say that ignorance is one of the chief causes of 
 
 9—2 
 
132 The Economic Position 
 
 intemperance and vice. But pauperism, intem- 
 perance, and vice, are not only a disgrace to the 
 nation, but entail upon it a heavy pecuniary 
 burden. The whole community may therefore be 
 considered to suffer if any class of labourers are 
 unable to earn sufficient wages. When therefore 
 we contemplate the miserable condition of the 
 agricultural labourers, this question is naturally 
 suggested. Is there any one who at the present 
 time can be fairly blamed for the existence of 
 this poverty? Are their employers hard-hearted 
 and unjust? And since it has been shown that the 
 State is interested that no class of labourers should 
 be underpaid, ought the law to interfere and decree, 
 that no able-bodied man should receive less than 
 fifteen shillings a Aveek? I shall endeavour to 
 prove to you, that such State interference would 
 not only be futile, but would be also highly per- 
 nicious, and I shall also seek to prove, that the 
 employers who pay these small wages cannot be 
 fairly blamed. 
 
 It follows from our previous remarks, that the 
 amount of capital employed in agriculture, and 
 therefore the aggregate amount of wages distri- 
 buted amongst the agricultural labourers, depends 
 upon the profits which farming yields. A person 
 when he takes a farm, calculates as nearly as pos- 
 sible what his profits will be, after he has paid his 
 
of the British Labourer. . 133 
 
 rent, the wages of his labourers, and all other 
 expenses. He will not of course take the farm, 
 if he does not think he will obtain a proper rate 
 of interest for his capital, and for his labour of 
 superintendence. We will assume that the farm 
 he intends to take is one of 800 acres, and that 
 he requires a capital of ^^6000 for the proper culti- 
 vation of this farm ; he pays his able-bodied 
 labourers ten shillings a week, and the aggregate 
 amount he spends in wages during the year is 
 ;^8oo. His profits are ;^6oo, or, in other words, 
 10 per cent, on his capital. We believe that these 
 assumed figures represent with considerable accu- 
 racy a real case. Now it cannot be said that 
 10 per cent, is too large a trade profit, and there- 
 fore the farmer by no means realizes large gains, 
 although his labourers are underpaid. Let it now 
 be supposed that the law interferes, and decrees 
 that no able-bodied labourer shall receive less than 
 fifteen shillings a week. The farmer would, if he 
 employed the same number of labourers, now pay 
 ;^I200 a year, instead of ;^ 800 a year in wages, 
 and his profit would be reduced from ;^6oo to 
 ^200: This would only represent an interest of 
 3^ per cent, on his capital, and he of course would 
 not under these circumstances continue such an 
 unremunerative occupation, since he could obtain 
 a larger interest on his capital without any trouble 
 
134 ^^^^ Economic Position 
 
 or risk, if he invested his money in some ordinary 
 security, such as bank or railway shares. The 
 absurdity of legislating to control wages is thus 
 clearly demonstrated. 
 
 It may however perhaps be argued, that if the 
 farmers were compelled by law to raise their wages, 
 they might be compensated, either by a rise in the 
 price of their produce, or by a reduction in their 
 rents. Let us in the first place consider, whether a 
 rise in the price of produce thus artificially created, 
 would really attain the objects sought. It is not 
 difficult to show, that it would be impossible to 
 maintain an artificial rise in the price of any pro- 
 duce. The price of a commodity is regulated by 
 demand and supply, and the demand, as well as 
 the supply, are influenced, not by the market of 
 one country, but by the market of the whole world. 
 Thus, if manufacturers were compelled to increase 
 the price of their goods by lo per cent., in order 
 to compensate themselves for the higher wages 
 which the law or any other power decree that 
 they should pay; the. demand for these goods 
 would be most seriously diminished; a successful 
 competition could probably be no longer carried on 
 with other countries either in the home or foreign 
 markets; their trade might in this way be almost 
 ruined ; their operations would at any rate be 
 greatly restricted; they would consequently em- 
 
of the British Labourer. 135 
 
 ploy much less labour, and although they might 
 pay higher wages, the aggregate amount which 
 they would distribute in wages would be greatly 
 diminished. Consequently the labourers would be 
 injured instead of benefited, if an increase in the 
 price of commodities, was the result of artificial 
 arrangements to raise the rate of wages. 
 
 It would be equally futile, to attempt to raise 
 the wages of agricultural labourers by a compul- 
 sory reduction in the rent of land. There is al- 
 ways a great deal of land which is so poor, that 
 it only just pays the expense of cultivation. This 
 land therefore would be thrown out of cultivation, 
 if the cost of tilling it was greatly augmented, 
 by an enforced rise in wages. A considerable area 
 of land would also be laid down in pasture, if the 
 cost of labour was considerably enhanced. Hence 
 less labour would be employed in agriculture, and 
 the aggregate amount distributed in wages amongst 
 agricultural labourers would be diminished. It 
 therefore appears, that the consequences would 
 ultimately be equally disastrous to the labourers, 
 whether rents were reduced or the price of produce 
 increased, as the result of an augmentation of wages 
 produced by compulsory measures. Consequently 
 any attempt to regulate wages by compulsory 
 enactments would either be futile or would be 
 highly injurious to those who were intended to be 
 
T36 The Economic Position 
 
 benefited. All therefore that the legislature can 
 do, is to watch with scrupulous care, that nothing 
 prevents wages being freely controlled by demand 
 and supply. It should be considered that the 
 working man has a commodity, namely, his labour, 
 to dispose of, and it is most desirable that' he 
 should have the fullest opportunity of disposing 
 of his labour, on the best possible terms. We 
 shall presently inquire whether or not some of 
 the conditions connected with our poor law sys- 
 tem operate in such a manner, that many at least 
 of our labourers are virtually restricted to a dis- 
 trict, and cannot therefore obtain so high a price 
 for their labour, as if they were freely permitted to 
 offer it in the open market. 
 
 If it was more clearly understood, that the 
 price of labour was regulated in the same way 
 as the price of any commodity such as wheat, 
 by demand and supply, professed philanthropists 
 would cease to talk idle nonsense about hard- 
 hearted employers, and the labourers themselves 
 would at once see what is the origin of their 
 poverty, and what are the means which would be 
 effectual in improving their condition. If a com- 
 modity declines in price, it must be because the 
 demand for it is diminished, or its supply is in- 
 creased. If it is desired to advance its price, the 
 demand must be augmented, or the supply dimi- 
 
of the British Lahoitrer. 137 
 
 nished. In the same way, if it is desired to raise i| 
 the rate of wages, either more capital must be in- I 
 vested in industry, or the number of the labouring J \ 
 population must be diminished. If the capital in- 
 vested in industry increases more rapidly than the 
 number of the labouring population, wages must 
 advance. The progress of England during the 
 last few years,, has been marked by a great in- 
 crease both in wealth and population. It can 
 however be conclusively proved that capital has 
 increased more than population, and wages con- 
 sequently have advanced. This advance in wages 
 has been greater in some employments than in 
 others. The vast extension of our foreien trade 
 and commerce, has caused a great demand for 
 manufacturing and building operatives, artizans, 
 shipwrights, &c.; and their wages have conse- 
 quently advanced in a much greater ratio than 
 the wages of agricultural labourers. It becomes 
 very important to consider, whether labour is likely 
 to continue to obtain a larger remuneration; and 
 we will therefore proceed to investigate various 
 circumstances which bear upon this question. 
 
 It is evident from the remarks I have already 
 made, that the amount of capital invested in in- 
 dustry, is mainly regulated by the amount of 
 profit which can be realized. We must therefore 
 endeavour to ascertain, what are the circumstances 
 
138 The Economic Position 
 
 which are likely to affect the future rate of trade 
 profit. It will also be necessary to consider some 
 of the various circumstances, which may cause 
 either an increase or a decrease in our population. 
 On the one hand, marriages amongst our labouring 
 population have hitherto varied with their pro- 
 sperity ; but, on the other hand, it is possible that if 
 their condition was improved, they would become 
 more prudent with regard to marriage. An im- 
 mense number of the working classes during the 
 last few years have emigrated. We must conse- 
 quently inquire, whether it is probable that this 
 emigration will continue, on a larger or smaller 
 scale. The poverty of our poor has in various ways 
 exerted a most powerful check upon population. 
 The poorer children of this country have been al- 
 most decimated by diseases engendered, not only 
 by want of food, but also by the air which they 
 are compelled to breathe, in dwellings which are 
 not fit for human beings to live in. These and 
 various other circumstances must be discussed, if 
 we seek to form an estimate of the probabl»e in- 
 crease in our population, compared with the pro- 
 bable future accumulation of capital. 
 
 When considering the remuneration which la- 
 bour is destined to receive, the essential distinc- 
 tion between real and money wages must be very 
 carefully borne in mind. It is evident that if the 
 
of the British Labourer. 139 
 
 commodities which the labourer ordinarily pur- 
 chases advance in price 20 per cent., his real wages 
 would be seriously diminished, although nominally 
 they might be advanced 5 or 10 per cent. It 
 therefore appears that the price of food, and also 
 the price of the various other commodities which 
 the labourer purchases, has a very essential bear- 
 ing upon our investigations. Let it for instance 
 be assumed, that the manufacturing operative earns 
 forty shillings a week, and that owing to an advance 
 in prices, this forty shillings will only exchange for 
 the same quantity of commodities as could for- 
 merly be purchased for thirty-five shillings. In 
 order therefore that the labourer might not be 
 worse off, his wages ought to be advanced from 
 thirty-five to forty shillings a-AV^ek. But who is to 
 pay these extra wages t If the manufacturer pays 
 them, his profits will decrease, and he will be in- 
 duced to diminish the amount of capital invested 
 in his business; whereas it would be necessary to 
 increase the amount of capital, because if those 
 whom he may employ are to receive higher wages, 
 the wage-fund must be augmented. Again, if the 
 manufacturers advance the price of their goods 
 in order to pay their labourers higher wages, their 
 trade would manifestly suffer, because the demand 
 for a commodity depends upon its price. But if 
 the trade suffered, the labourers must be injured, 
 
140 The Economic Position 
 
 since manufacturers would contract their opera- 
 tions and employ fewer hands. It therefore fol- 
 lows that a rise in the price of the commodities 
 which the labourers purchase, must inflict a real 
 loss upon them, because this rise in price does not 
 produce any advantage to the employer, which 
 would enable him to compensate his labourers 
 for the greater expense which their living now 
 entails. 
 
 I will however bring forward some further con- 
 siderations, in order to show you, that of all the 
 causes which promote the prosperity of the la- 
 bourer, none are more efficient than cheap food 
 and cheap clothing. I have frequently remarked, 
 that the amount of capital which is invested in 
 our industry, depends upon the amount of profit 
 which can be realised. This proposition is more- 
 over of special applicability, with regard to such 
 a country as England; each year the capital which 
 we accumulate is more freely embarked in foreign 
 investments. The aggregate savings of the coun- 
 try are therefore divided into two portions, which 
 are diverted into distinct channels. One of these 
 portions represents the capital which we send to 
 other countries, the other portion represents the 
 capital which we invest in our own industry. The 
 relative magnitude of these two portions will evi- 
 dently be determined by the returns which are 
 
of the British Labourer. 141 
 
 yielded upon capital when invested abroad, com- 
 pared with the returns which are yielded when 
 it is invested at home. If, for instance, the rate 
 of profit increased in India, and declined in Eng- 
 land, a greater portion of our national capital 
 would be sent to India, and a smaller portion 
 would be retained, to be invested in our own in- 
 dustry. Hence the rate of profit which prevails 
 in England, not only influences the amount of 
 capital which is saved, but also determines what 
 portion of this capital shall be retained in this 
 country. It therefore at once becomes evident, 
 that the employed are as much interested as are 
 the employers, in the maintenance of the rate of 
 profit, because it has been conclusively proved, 
 that if the rate of profit is diminished, there will 
 not only be less capital accumulated, but an in- 
 creasing portion of that which is accumulated will 
 be exported to foreign countries. Let us there- 
 fore seek to discover some of the circumstances 
 which exert the most powerful effect in sustaining 
 the rate of profit. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that any 
 circumstance which increases the efficiency of la- 
 bour will tend to augment the rate of profit; for 
 if labour is made more efficient, more wealth will 
 be produced ; hence there will be more to distri- 
 bute both amongst the employers and employed, 
 
142 The Economic Position 
 
 and' consequently wages and profits may both be 
 augmented. But if on the other hand, those com- 
 modities which the labourers chiefly purchase 
 become more expensive, one of two things must 
 occur. In the first place, if his wages are not 
 advanced, the real remuneration of his labour will 
 be diminished; all the articles which he is accus- 
 tomed to purchase will have advanced in price, 
 and he will have no more money to expend than 
 he had formerly. Secondly, his employers may 
 seek to compensate him by advancing his wages. 
 But even if this were done, a heavy loss would 
 ultimately fall upon the labourer, because it has 
 been proved, that the employed are as much in- 
 terested in the maintenance of the rate of profit 
 as are the employers. The rate of profit will 
 evidently decline, if it becomes necessary to in- 
 crease wages, in order to compensate the labourers 
 for an augmentation in the cost of the necessaries 
 of life. It therefore appears that a supply of cheap 
 food obtained either by foreign importation, or by 
 agricultural improvements, is of vital importance 
 to our country. Dear food would perhaps more 
 than any other circumstance imperil our national 
 prosperity; for if the cost of living became rela- 
 tively greater in this country than in others, one 
 of two things, each of which would be equally 
 disastrous, would occur. In the first place, if wages 
 
of the Br it is J L Labourer. 143 
 
 were not advanced, the condition of our labourers 
 would deteriorate; they would thus be induced to 
 emigrate, and we might be gradually deprived of 
 that supply of skilled and specially trained labour, 
 without which our wealth could not be produced. 
 In the second place, as I have already remarked, 
 the rate of profit in this country would decline, if 
 wages were advanced sufficiently to compensate 
 the labourers for the increase in the cost of liv- 
 ing ; but if the rate of profit diminished, a greater 
 portion of our capital would be drawn from our 
 own industry, and would be embarked in foreign 
 investments. 
 
 As we have shown that the price of food, and 
 of the other ordinary necessaries of life is one im- 
 portant element in determining the real remunera- 
 tion which labour obtains, it will be interesting to 
 make a few remarks upon the future probable price 
 of those commodities, in the purchase of which 
 working men chiefly spend their wages. It must 
 however be carefully borne in mind, that if we 
 speak of food becoming dearer, we refer to an 
 increased cost of production, and not to a change 
 in the value of money. Thus many competent 
 authorities have affirmed, that the recent gold 
 discoveries in Australia and California, have al- 
 ready caused a marked depreciation in the value 
 of this metal. This depreciation has been variously 
 
144 T^J^^ Economic Position 
 
 estimated at between ten and thirty per cent. Let 
 us assume it to be twenty per cent. ; five sovereigns 
 Avill now be worth no more than four sovereigns 
 were worth, before the discoveries were made. The 
 money value or price of every commodity will 
 have advanced in a corresponding ratio. There 
 is however no reason to suppose that the labourer 
 would be affected by such a change in the value 
 of money, because his w^ages, representing the price 
 of labour, would increase in the same proportion 
 as the price of commodities. 
 
 These considerations however make it difficult 
 to decide to what extent the real w^ages of labour 
 have advanced during the last few years. As it 
 has been already stated, it is easy to show by statis- 
 tics, that in almost all employments there has been 
 a considerable increase in money wages. But if 
 those who maintain, that gold has been depreciated 
 twenty per cent, are correct, it is evident that a 
 considerable rise in money wages would not ne- 
 cessarily indicate any increase in the real remu- 
 neration of labour. The gold question is far too 
 intricate and complicated to be discussed here; 
 but after a careful investigation, I certainly incline 
 to the conclusion, that there has been a depreciation 
 in the value of gold, although it is almost im- 
 possible to estimate its exact amount. The reason 
 of this difficulty can be very easily explained. 
 
of the British Labourer. 145 
 
 Directly It is attempted to compare the present 
 prices of com.modities with their prices previous to 
 the gold discoveries, it is found that there has not 
 been a uniform change in price. Some commodi- 
 ties have increased in price much more than others, 
 whereas the price of others has decreased. This is 
 due to the fact that circumstances have occurred, 
 independently of any change in the value of gold, 
 which have tended to lessen the cost of produc- 
 ing some commodities, and to increase the cost 
 of producing others. Thus, to take an example ; 
 our commerce was released from its protective 
 fetters just at the time when the gold deposits in 
 Australia first became known. The market of 
 the world became thrown open to us ; immense 
 quantities of wheat were imported, and this im- 
 portation has of course exerted an influence to 
 reduce the price of corn. But then this question 
 still remains unanswered, Would the price of wheat 
 have been still lower than it is at the present time, 
 if there had been no change in the value of gold.^ 
 Again there has been a marked rise in the price 
 of meat ; this no doubt has been partly caused by 
 an increased demand for meat ; and this demand, 
 in consequence of the great expense of bringing 
 live stock from a distance, cannot be supplied by 
 foreign importation. If therefore we wish to form 
 a correct estimate of any change which may have 
 
 10 
 
146 The Economic Position 
 
 taken place in the real remuneration of labour, our 
 only course is by a detailed examination, to as- 
 certain whether the wages now received will obtain 
 a greater quantity of those commodities which the 
 labourer is accustomed to purchase. 
 
 Apart from any change in the value of the pre- 
 cious metals, which would alike affect the price of 
 all commodities, it must be remembered that we 
 have proved that the labourer must/r^ tanto suffer, 
 if there is an increase in the cost of producing the 
 commodities which he consumes. We have just 
 alluded to certain circumstances which have exerted 
 an influence upon the cost of two of the principal 
 articles which he consumes, namely, meat and 
 bread. We have shown that bread has been 
 cheapened by the large importation of wheat which 
 has resulted from free trade; this importation may 
 be greatly augmented, since improvements in the 
 means of communication are gradually developing 
 the vast natural resources of many hitherto almost 
 inaccessible regions. For instance, Lord Dalhousie 
 stated in a minute which gave a graphic account 
 'of the remarkable deeds achieved during the 
 period of his Indian administration, that if railways 
 and good roads were constructed, and if the navi- 
 gation of the rivers was improved, the Punjab 
 would be able to supply England with wheat at 
 less than twenty shillings a sack. The valley of 
 
of the British Labourer. 147 
 
 the Mississippi could grow sufficient wheat for the 
 whole world. It is even found to be remunerative 
 to send wheat from California, if it realizes twenty- 
 five shillings a sack in the London market. It may 
 therefore fairly be concluded, that on the average of 
 years, the cost of wheat will not increase, although 
 as our population advances, the demand for wheat 
 will steadily augment. No proposition of more 
 fundamental importance than this can be estab- 
 lished, Avith regard to the future position of the 
 British labourer. Political Economists have again 
 and again proved, that corn and all agricultural 
 produce will gradually become more expensive as 
 our population increases, and that therefore the 
 condition of the labourer gradually deterior'ates as 
 population advances. This no doubt would be true, 
 if we were restricted to our own soil for obtaining 
 our supplies of food, because with a larger popula- 
 tion, there would be a greater demand for agricul- 
 tural produce. This additional demand would have 
 to be satisfied, by bringing inferior soils into culti- 
 vation, and produce would consequently be raised 
 from it at a greater cost. This prospective augmen- 
 tation of the cost of food in an advancing country, 
 has thrown a gloom over the speculations of those 
 Political Economists, who apparently failed to fore- 
 see the great results of Free Trade. It may now 
 without exaggeration be said, that nothing will 
 
148 TJic Economic Position 
 
 exert a more powerful influence in maintaining the 
 progressive prosperity of this country, tlian an im- 
 portation of cheap corn, for it is thus that our 
 population will be able to increase, without any 
 deterioration in the condition of the labourer. 
 
 The tendency which agricultural produce has 
 to increase in cost as population advances, is cor- 
 roborated by a decided rise in the price of meat. 
 Live stock, as we have before said, cannot without 
 great difficulty be imported from a distance. Our 
 own soil must therefore produce nearly all the 
 fresh meat which we require ; it may consequently 
 be regarded as almost certain that fresh meat will 
 continue to advance in price, although much more 
 live stock will probably be kept on our own soil, 
 when the English farmer who is always slow to 
 perceive a change, is fully impressed with the fact, 
 that wheat is likely to be always very cheap, and 
 meat comparatively dear. When this fact is re- 
 cognised, our system of agriculture will be changed ; 
 less wheat will be grown, and a greater quantity of 
 beef and mutton will be produced. 
 
 From these considerations we may perhaps 
 fairly conclude, that cheap corn will compensate 
 the labourer for the increased dearness of meat. 
 The improvements which have been effected in 
 manufacturing industry, since the general introduc- 
 tion of steam, have considerably diminished the 
 
of the Br it is J I Labourer. 149 
 
 cost of most articles of wearing apparel. Machinery- 
 is now so perfect, that we can hardly anticipate 
 that the processes of manufacturing are likely to 
 be considerably cheapened. There will therefore 
 be no counteracting influence to prevent a rise in 
 the value of manufactured goods, if raw material 
 should become more expensive, and if the manu- 
 facturing operative should be better paid. With 
 regard to one great branch of our industry, there 
 seems to be every prospect that the raw material 
 will not, at any rate for a long time to come, be so 
 cheap as it was a few years since. Slavery has 
 now been happily abolished in the United States. 
 The cultivation of cotton which was carried on 
 almost entirely by slave-labour, has received a rude 
 shock, and many years must elapse before this in- 
 dustry can be restored to its former prosperity. I 
 have however little doubt that ultimately this in- 
 dustry, supported as it will be by free labour, will 
 obtain a greater prosperity than it has ever enjoyed 
 before; the labour of the slave must be compara- 
 tively unproductive, for when a human being is 
 de2"raded to the condition of a brute, he cannot 
 possess skill, energy, prudence, or any other indus- 
 trial virtue. It may however be reasonably ex- 
 pected, that a considerable time will be required to 
 consummate this economic transition from slave to 
 free labour, and during this transitional period, raw 
 
150 The Economic Position 
 
 cotton will probably be dearer than it has been 
 in past years. There are other reasons which 
 strengthen the opinion that cotton goods are likely 
 to be permanently dearer than they have been. 
 Many of the operatives who have been lately 
 thrown out of work, have been drafted into other 
 employments, and have settled in new localities. 
 Many thousands have also emigrated; the cotton 
 trade has therefore to a great extent lost its skilled 
 and trained labour, and this will tend to increase 
 the cost of manufacture. 
 
 With regard to other branches of manufacturing 
 industry, there has lately been an extraordinary 
 advance in the value of the raw material. It is of 
 course natural that this should have occurred ; the 
 demand for wool and flax must be greatly aug- 
 mented, as the supply of raw cotton becomes 
 diminished. Other circumstances moreover will 
 tend to increase the value of wool and flax ; for 
 considering our own country alone, the demand for 
 woollen and linen cloth has during the last few 
 years been greatly augmented. Between 1847 
 and the present time, our export trade has been 
 nearly trebled, and in no department of industry 
 has this growth of our foreign trade been more 
 strikingly exhibited, than in the export of manu- 
 factured goods. I therefore think that the balance 
 of evidence will certainly support the opinion, that 
 
of the British Labourer. 151 
 
 woollen, cotton, and linen cloths, are likely to be- 
 come dearer. 
 
 Next to food and wearing apparel, the chief 
 item in a working man's expenditure is his house 
 rent. Now there can be no doubt that house rent 
 has greatly increased during the last few years. 
 As population advances, the demand for houses 
 becomes greater; as towns extend, land becomes 
 more valuable, and the space which was formerly 
 occupied by labourers' dwellings, fs gradually en- 
 croached upon by warehouses, shops, streets, &c. 
 So much has this been the case in our large towns, 
 that there is now a positive dearth of houses suit- 
 able to labourers ; as a consequence, house rent has 
 not only greatly advanced, but a worse evil than 
 this has arisen, for labourers are huddled and 
 packed together in a manner which destroys health, 
 and which ignores the decencies of life. This evil 
 is at the present time so glaring in London, that it 
 has aroused the attention of the legislature ; a pro- 
 vision has therefore been wisely enacted, that all 
 new railways which enter the metropolis, shall be 
 compelled to issue weekly tickets for a shilling, so 
 that labourers who are employed in London, may 
 be able to live at a considerable distance from the 
 metropolis. I anticipate important results from 
 this legislation ; for it seems to remove one of the 
 greatest difficulties which the working man has to 
 
152 The Economic Position 
 
 contend with; since at the present time, It is al- 
 most impossible for him to obtain a healthy and a 
 comfortable house, at such a price as he can afford 
 to pay. 
 
 I have now considered some of the chief cir- 
 cumstances which affect, or are likely to affect, the 
 cost of living, so far as the working man is con- 
 cerned. On such a subject I know it would be 
 rash to make positive predictions, but I cannot 
 help inclining to the opinion, that the labourer 
 ought to expect, that the cost of living in this 
 country is more likely to increase than to decrease. 
 I state this conclusion independently of any change 
 in the value of money; such a change need neces- 
 sarily only aftect those who have fixed money pay- 
 ments, either to make or to receive. If gold becomes 
 depreciated, the price of labour would rise propor- 
 tionately to the rise in the prices of all commodi- 
 ties; and this rise in money wages need not di- 
 minish the profits of the emplo}-er, because the 
 money value of these profits would also advance 
 proportionately to the general rise in prices. But 
 much more serious consequences will ensue, if the 
 commodities which the labourer consumes become 
 more expensive to produce, and thus increase 
 his cost of living. If this should occur, he cannot 
 hope to be compensated for the loss which he 
 would then suffer; for we have shown that if his 
 
of the British Lab our a\ \ 15^^ 
 
 wages were advanced, his master's piTofits wotild.fcie 
 diminished. This diminution of pfQfits\^(/uld cause' 
 less capital to be invested in industry, and there- 
 fore in the end, a less aggregate amount would be 
 distributed in wages. 
 
 The labourer may receive an adequate compen- 
 sation for the loss which he will suffer from an in- 
 crease in the cost of living, if his labour can be 
 made more productive; for then higher wages 
 might be paid to him, without encroaching upon 
 the employers' profits. Let us therefore inquire, 
 what is the prospect that industry may be rendered 
 more efficient. I have already dwelt somewhat em- 
 phatically upon the many evils which result from 
 the labourer having no share in the profits which 
 are realised by his industry. I have endeavoured 
 to show, that whilst he remains in this position, it 
 cannot be reasonably supposed that he will work 
 with great energy, intelligence, or care. Employ- 
 ers naturally complain that their labourers feel no 
 concern about their masters' interest. I again 
 repeat that this must always continue to be the 
 case, whilst employers and employed are not united 
 by any of the feelings which arise from common 
 pecuniary interest. Every employer who has 
 thought upon this subject will bear me out in the 
 opinion, that it is difficult to exaggerate the loss 
 which he suffers from his labourers' being in many 
 
154 The Economic Position 
 
 respects so inefficient. I have constantly heard 
 employers say, that they would willingly pay a 
 large annual sum, If they could feel sure that the 
 labourers would do everything in their power to 
 promote their masters' interest. This being the 
 case, it seems to me somewhat singular that em- 
 ployers do not endeavour to create some common 
 pecuniary interest between themselves and those 
 whom they employ; for it is the absence of this 
 which causes those evils, in regard to which com- 
 plaints are so often heard. If the owner of a 
 business feels that its success mainly depends upon 
 the activity of some one whom he has appointed 
 to be manager, he knows that the best plan to 
 stimulate this manager to exert himself to the ut- 
 most, is to promise him, in addition to a fixed 
 salary, a certain share of the aggregate profits 
 which are realised. This plan has been constantly 
 adopted in joint-stock companies; for It has been 
 often proved that the prosperity of a joint-stock 
 company chiefly depends upon its manager; in fact, 
 wherever it has been felt to be peculiarly impor- 
 tant that any one connected with a business should 
 put forth all his energies and all his powers, he is 
 encouraged to do so, by a promise of a share of 
 the profits realised. The shipowner knows that 
 upon the captain of a vessel, the success, or failure, 
 of a voyage depends ; he therefore encourages the 
 
of the British Labourer. 155 
 
 zeal or enterprise of the captain, by making him a 
 participator In the profits which may be obtained. 
 Why therefore should not the same principle be 
 extended to others who are engaged in a business? 
 Why should not the labourer, in the same way as 
 the manager, be made more energetic, more intelli- 
 gent, and more zealous, by sharing the profits 
 which his industry yields? It may of course be 
 argued, that the aggregate profits which the em- 
 ployer obtains would be diminished, if he gave his 
 labourers a certain portion of these profits. We, 
 however, on the contrary, maintain that the in- 
 dustry of the labourer would In every respect be 
 rendered so much more efficient, and therefore so 
 much more productive, that the employer would 
 be far more than compensated for the portion of 
 his profits which he might thus relinquish in favour 
 of his labourers. I am not aware that the sharing 
 of profits between employers and employed, which 
 may be termed copartnership, has ever been at- 
 tempted in our own country, except In the partial 
 way to Avhich we have already alluded, where a 
 certain share of the profits has been occasionally 
 given to such persons, as the manager of a joint- 
 stock company, or a sea-captain. But in Paris, a 
 copartnership such as we have described, has 
 achieved the most gratifying and most encouraging 
 results. The circumstances under which the expe- 
 
156 The Economic Position 
 
 riment was made have been often described; but 
 they are so interesting and so instructive, that I 
 venture briefly to repeat them once more. 
 
 M. Leclaire was a house-decorator, who carried 
 on a very large business, and employed 200 men. 
 He, like so many other employers, found that his 
 trade was suffering, and that he was subject to 
 great annoyance, in consequence of the carelessness 
 and apathy of his men. The evil had grown to 
 such an extent, that he had resolved to relinquish 
 his business, if some improvement could not be 
 effected. He felt that some decided remedy was 
 required. He therefore assembled his men, told 
 them that they had hitherto shown no anxiety to 
 promote his interest, and that he was desirous to 
 create some common sympathy between them and 
 himself, by making them, to a certain degree, par- 
 ticipate in the profits realised. He therefore pro- 
 mised annually to distribute amongst his workmen, 
 a certain portion of his aggregate profits. M. Le- 
 claire most positively affirms, that he has been, even 
 in a pecuniary sense, abundantly recompensed for 
 the share of the profits which he thus gave to his 
 workmen. An entire change was produced in their 
 conduct and in their demeanour. A certain esprit 
 de corps seemed to be created amongst them, which 
 prompted each one to exert himself to the utmost. 
 Their work was now always well done ; and it was 
 
of the British Labourer. 157 
 
 quite unnecessary to have anyone to overlook 
 them. 
 
 I will allude to one other similar instance of 
 copartnership. The Paris and Orleans Railway 
 Company pay their employees the ordinary wages; 
 but, in addition, they distribute amongst them a 
 small portion of the aggregate profits realised. The 
 prospect of obtaining this additional rev/ard pro- 
 duces a marked effect upon the conduct of all the 
 servants on this railway. Slight as this pecuniary 
 incentive may be, it seems to attach them to the 
 Company, and they consequently take a lively in- 
 terest in everything which may tend to promote its 
 prosperity. 
 
 I believe that the most beneficial results would 
 follow, if this system of copartnership was more 
 largely introduced into English industry. It has 
 been repeatedly stated that an advance of wages, 
 which diminishes the profits of the employer, can- 
 not be permanently beneficial to the labourer, 
 because when profits are decreased, there is a 
 smaller inducement to invest capital in industry, 
 and the wage-fund will consequently be diminished. 
 But if labour can be rendered more productive, 
 there would then be a greater amount to distribute 
 amongst both the employers and the employed, 
 and the profits of the employer and the real 
 remuneration of the labourer may both increase. 
 
158 The Ecojtojnic Position 
 
 I do not know any circumstance which would 
 more increase the productiveness of British indus- 
 try, than if the labourer could be cured of those 
 defects, which are no doubt due to the present 
 complete antagonism of interests between the 
 employers and the employed. How can work be 
 efficiently done, when those whose joint and united 
 efforts are essential, do not labour in cordial unison, 
 but are divided into opposing- sections, and are 
 kept asunder by many of those petty feelings 
 which are engendered in those who higgle over 
 a hard-fought bargain? The ordinary objection 
 may be urged, for it Avill probably be said that 
 such copartnership as we have advocated will 
 never succeed in practice. To such an argument, 
 the only reply that we need make is, that the 
 success of M. Leclaire's experiment, favoured by 
 no special circumstances, may be regarded as con- 
 clusive ; moreover, I can say, with some confidence, 
 that it is impossible to mention any instance where 
 copartnership has been attempted, and has failed 
 to produce the results which we have attributed 
 to it^. 
 
 * I have lately received intelligence of some most interesting 
 experiments, based upon the principle of copartnership, I am rejoiced 
 to find that these copartnerships between employers and employed, 
 are being much more rapidly and extensively introduced in our own 
 country, than could have been anticipated from our a priori reason- 
 ing. The proprietors of some of our largest commercial concerns 
 
of the British Labourer. 159 
 
 We will now proceed to consider what is the 
 efifect of many of those expedients for raising 
 
 are changing their establishments into joint-stock companies ; they 
 retain the largest portion of the shares in their own possession, and 
 the remaining shares are then offered to those who are employed 
 either as managers, foremen or workmen. The Messrs Crossley 
 of Halifax, Yorkshire, are the owners of probably the largest carpet 
 manufactory in the world. They propose to change their vast esta- 
 blishment into a joint-stock company, the capital of which will be 
 X 1,650,000. The Messrs Crossley retain in their own possession 
 shares which represent four-fifths of this capital, the remaining 
 shares they offer to the 4,400 workmen whom they employ ; every 
 labourer will thus have an opportunity of becoming a partner. In 
 order still further to explain some of the plans of copartnership, 
 which are proposed to be adopted, we v.n'll briefly describe a scheme 
 which has been most admirably devised by the Messrs Briggs, who 
 are large coal proprietors at Methley, near Leeds. They propose to 
 dispose of their coal mines to a joint-stock company, the capital of 
 ■which, £135,000, is raised by 9000 shares of £15 each. The 
 Messrs Briggs will retain two-thirds of the whole number of shares, 
 and the remaining one-third will be first offered to those who are 
 employed at the mines. The workmen will be able to have on the 
 directory some of their own body to represent them. It is further 
 proposed that if the profits should exceed 10 per cent, after setting 
 aside a fair amount to reimburse capital, one-half the remaining sur- 
 plus profits shall be distributed amongst the labourers, and that each 
 individual share of this bonus should be proportional to the aggregate 
 wacres which he has earned. A most satisfactory cooperation be- 
 tween capital and labour will thus be secured. The Messrs Briggs, 
 who may be regarded as men of great experience, affirm that the 
 plan, even as a commercial experiment, is likely to prove eminently 
 successful. They say with great truth, that labourers who own 
 capital, and who participate in the profits realised, will never resort 
 to strikes, and those unfortunate disputes which have recurred with 
 such disastrous frequency in the coal trade will thus be prevented. 
 
i6o The Economic Positiojt 
 
 wages, which are most favoured by the labourers. 
 I need hardly mention, that in discussing this part 
 of the subject, I must chiefly direct your attention 
 to the consideration of Strikes and Trades Unions. 
 I feel that I am now approaching questions which 
 excite angry passions and bitter antipathies ; there 
 is therefore no subject which it is more essential 
 to treat with strict impartiality; it is moreover, 
 one of vast importance. A strike always exhibits 
 a dogged determination, which seems to show that 
 the combatants feel as if they were engaged in 
 a struggle for life or death. On the one hand, 
 employers believe that if they tamely submit to 
 the dictation which a strike implies, a fatal blow 
 will have been struck at the prosperity of the 
 capitalist class,; on the other hand, the employed 
 show an equal steadfastness of faith that strikes 
 are necessary, in order to secure to them a proper 
 remuneration for their labour. They embark on 
 
 Messrs Briggs also state, that labour in a coal mine can never be 
 properly superintended ; the portion of profits which may be distri- 
 buted as a bonus amongst the labourers will stimulate their energy, 
 and their industry will thus become more efficient. 
 
 There is one other example which I cannot refrain from men- 
 tioning. I have lately seen it reported, that the proprietors of the 
 Daily Nrais have just signalised the conclusion of a prosperous year, 
 by distributing a portion of the profits realised, amongst those who are 
 employed on this journal. Experience justifies a confident hope, 
 that such wise liberality will be abundantly rewarded. 
 
of the British Labourer, i6i 
 
 a strike, fully aware of the terrible cost it may 
 entail upon them, but they seem fully prepared to 
 endure the sacrifice and to bear the suffering, in 
 order to maintain a principle which they think is 
 essential to their w^elfare. 
 
 II 
 
1 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Trades Unions mid Strikes. 
 
 In my previous remarks, I have endeavoured to 
 make you distinctly perceive that wages are regu- 
 lated by demand and supply. The employers 
 and employed are just as much parties to a bar- 
 gain, as are the buyers and the sellers of any com- 
 modity. It therefore seems to me that the one 
 fundamental question to be decided with regard 
 to strikes, is simply this : Is the combination which 
 a Strike implies necessary, in order that the 
 labourer may have the same chance of selling his 
 labour dearly as the master has of buying this 
 labour cheaply t If it can be proved that without 
 strikes the working man would not be able to 
 obtain the best price for his labour, I think strikes 
 at once become justifiable. If, on the other hand, 
 it can be proved that as high wages would be 
 paid if strikes were never resorted to, the conclu- 
 sion cannot then be resisted that a strike is an 
 unmitigated evil. 
 
The Economic Position of the British Labourer, 163 
 
 I have stated the issue to be determined in as 
 simple language as possible, because the discussion 
 of this subject is often confused by the introduction 
 of many collateral topics. Thus most people decide 
 beforehand, that a strike implies everything that 
 is bad, because they assume that a strike is never 
 carried on, without resorting to physical violence 
 and unjustifiable coercion. I ajii quite prepared 
 to admit that the leaders of a strike have not 
 unfrequently been guilty of gross cruelty and 
 injustice towards those who refuse to join the com- 
 bination. The builders' operatives of London who 
 struck for higher wages in i860, often attempted 
 to use physical force against those who wished 
 to continue working. In Sheffield, trade outrages 
 have often assumed the form of dastardly murders, 
 and explosive bombs have been cast into the 
 houses of those who refused to submit to some 
 regulation, which a section of some of their fellow 
 working men were anxious' to enforce. But such 
 acts as these cannot fairly be regarded as the 
 inevitable consequences of combinations being 
 formed amongst working men; these acts of vio- 
 lence are illegal, and those who commit them 
 ought to receive the most severe punishment the 
 law can inflict. But experience has shown that 
 the largest combinations of working men have 
 often been formed without the slightest coercion 
 
 II — 2 
 
164 The Economic Position 
 
 of individuals, and without doing anything which 
 even bore the semblance of illegality. In order to 
 corroborate this opinion, I would particularly refer 
 to the great Preston Strike of 1854. Seventeen 
 thousand cotton operatives then struck for an 
 advance of 10 per cent, in their wages; not one 
 single individual was coerced to join this strike; 
 the vast combination was the result of a voluntary 
 effort. The strike continued during thirty-six 
 weeks. The rigour of a severe winter increased 
 the hardships that were endured. No complaints 
 were heard, no violence was attempted, but these 
 poor creatures bore their sufferings with a calm 
 resignation, and with a noble heroism, which even 
 those who were bitterly opposed to strikes con- 
 fessed were worthy of a better cause. Numerous 
 other examples could be quoted, which would still 
 further corroborate the opinion, that a strike has 
 often been simply a peaceful and voluntary com- 
 bination, and when such is the case, no one can 
 pretend that working men have not a clear and 
 undoubted right to join a strike. Individual free- 
 dom would cease to exist, if every man had 
 not the most complete liberty to decide whe- 
 ther he should or should not work for the 
 wages which were offered to him. For similar rea- 
 sons, a number of working men have an indis- 
 putable right to join in an unanimous determina- 
 
of the British Labourer. 165 
 
 tion not to work for the wages which are offered 
 to them. 
 
 If the manufacturers in any particular district 
 beheved that they were seUing their goods too 
 cheaply, no one could blame them, if they agreed 
 amongst themselves not to sell any more goods 
 until the price advanced. These manufacturers 
 would however act very foolishly, if in the end 
 they should discover that the price which they had 
 declined was the full price, and that consequently 
 no higher price could be secured after a heavy loss 
 had been incurred by withholding their goods from 
 sale, perhaps for many months. Since the manu- 
 facturers have a perfect right to do what they 
 like with their goods, those whom they employ 
 have an equal right not to sell their labour, if they 
 think it realises too small a price. The goods 
 which the manufacturers keep unsold, represent so 
 much capital remaining idle, but they suppose 
 that the increase of price which will ultimately be 
 secured, will compensate them for the profit which 
 this capital would have yielded if productively 
 employed. In the same way, the labourers suppose 
 that an ultimate advance in wages will recompense 
 them for the loss of wages which they suffer 
 during the time they are on strike. I have already 
 said that the manufacturers would do a very 
 foolish thing if they acted upon wrong calculations^ 
 
1 66 The Economic Position 
 
 and were unable at last to obtain a higher price 
 for the goods which they wished to sell. The 
 labourers would exhibit equal folly if they made 
 wrong calculations, and were thus unable in the 
 end to secure an advance in wages ; for they would 
 have suffered great pecuniary loss, and would have 
 probably endured much physical hardship, without 
 achieving the slightest compensating advantage. 
 The points therefore which we must decide are 
 these : Can a strike ever exert any influence in 
 advancing wages? If not, a strike must be con- 
 demned as a most pernicious economic fallacy. 
 If, on the other hand, it can be proved that in 
 certain circumstances a strike may succeed in 
 raising wages, we must carefully inquire what 
 these, circumstances are, in order to establish some 
 principles to guide the labourers. 
 
 In attempting to supply an answer to the first 
 of these two questions, it is necessary to revert 
 briefly to the circumstances which determine the 
 amount of wages received by any class of labour- 
 ers. It has already been remarked that with re- 
 gard to each separate industry, there is at any 
 time a certain rate of profit, and also a certain 
 rate of wages, which may be regarded as the natu- 
 ral rate. Thus one branch of industry may involve 
 a greater risk than another, and therefore on the 
 average of years, a larger rate of profit must be 
 
 I 
 
of the British Labourer, i6y 
 
 realised, in order that a compensation may be ob- 
 tained for the additional risk incurred. Again, 
 some classes of labourers always receive higher 
 wages than others. For instance, some employ- 
 ment may require particular skill ; some workmen 
 are only employed a part of the year; some kinds 
 of labour are more dangerous and unhealthy than 
 others ; these and various other circumstances 
 which have been enumerated in a previous lec- 
 ture, cause permanently different rates of wages 
 to prevail in different employments. 
 
 I think it will be admitted, that neither the 
 employers nor the employed can have any just 
 ground of complaint, if in the particular industry 
 in which they are jointly engaged, the natural rate 
 of profit, as well as the natural rate of wages are 
 both secured; for this result can be only brought 
 about when the law of demand and supply has 
 had free and unrestrained operation. Let us as 
 an example suppose, that in the cotton trade at 
 some particular time, a profit of fifteen per cent, 
 upon the aggregate capital invested, represents the 
 natural rate of profit, and that twenty shillings a 
 week paid to the able-bodied spinner represents 
 the natural rate of wages. It is easy to show that 
 as long as this industry remains in the position 
 iust described, it would be vain to attempt to raise 
 wages by any combination; for if wages were 
 
1 68 The Economic Posiimt 
 
 raised, the profits of the employer would be di- 
 minished; and I have assumed that he was pre- 
 viously obtaining just the requisite amount of 
 profit to remunerate him for interest, for labour 
 of superintendence, and for risk against loss; if 
 therefore his profits were diminished, he would be 
 placed in an unfavourable position compared with 
 other employers, and capital would consequently 
 be gradually withdrawn from this particular in- 
 dustry, and therefore a smaller amount would be 
 distributed in wages. Hence it appears that any 
 attempt to raise wages by diminishing profits 
 below the natural rate cannot be successful, and 
 will most probably cause a very serious perma- 
 nent injury to the labourers. For employers who 
 v/ithdraw capital from their business, because their 
 profits are unduly depressed by an unnatural 
 rise in wages, may not ag.ain invest this capital, 
 and thus the prosperity of the particular industry 
 may be permanently diminished. I think there- 
 fore it has been conclusively proved, that when a 
 trade is in a steady condition, or in other words, 
 when both the natural rate of profit is realised, 
 and the natural rate of wages is obtained, any 
 attempt to raise wages must be either futile, or 
 will in all probability be very injurious to the la- 
 bourers themselves. When the truth of this last 
 proposition has been admitted, writers on strikes 
 
of tJic British Labourer. ' i/'i^Q , 
 
 usually argue in the following wayx ^ Tliey. ^ay^ 
 and no doubt with perfect truth, that there is a,-/i\ 
 tendency constantly in operation to bring each'^ 
 trade into a state which we have described as 
 steady ; for profits and wages are constantly ap- 
 proximating towards the natural rate. These wri- 
 ters then not unfrequently assume, that a principle 
 has been enunciated, from which it can be at once 
 demonstrated that a strike can never exert any 
 effect in raising wages. They seek to substantiate 
 this opinion by adopting the following line of ar- 
 gument. If wages cannot be raised above their 
 natural rate Avithout diminishing profits below their 
 natural rate, and if profits and wages in every 
 branch of industry are constantly approximating 
 towards the natural rate, it follows as a necessary 
 inference that a strike cannot raise wages, because 
 the rise in wages would imply a reduction of pro- 
 fits below the natural rate ; this Is a result which 
 has been proved to be unattainable. 
 
 The above reasoning, though apparently so 
 plausible, involves an important fallacy. The ar- 
 gument would be conclusive, if profits and wages 
 in any employment were always exactly at the 
 natural rate. But it has only been affirmed that 
 profits and wages are constantly approximating 
 to their natural rate. The force of gravity never 
 ceases to exert a tendency to restore the moving 
 
I/O The Economic Position 
 
 pendulum to a position of equilibrium. The pen- 
 dulum may however be acted on by disturbing 
 forces, which may cause it to deviate greatly from 
 this position of equilibrium. In a similar way, 
 demand and supply may be regarded as a force 
 which is constantly tending to make wages and 
 profits attain a natural rate; disturbing causes 
 may however temporarily produce a great diverg- 
 ence from this natural rate, and v/e must therefore 
 enquire whether during the period that is required 
 to restore the wages and profits of any industry 
 to their natural rate, such a combination as a strike 
 implies, can succeed in securing a higher remu- 
 neration for the labourer. 
 
 Reverting to the illustration already given, v/e 
 will assume that the cotton trade has been for 
 some time in a steady state; the profits of the 
 employer are 15 per cent, and wages are so ad- 
 justed that the able-bodied spinner receives one 
 pound a week. Both the employers and the em- 
 ployed are satisfied, since each party to the bargain 
 obtains exactly what is his due. Let it now how- 
 ever be supposed that this trade becomes sud- 
 denly extremely prosperous. Some foreign coun- 
 try may perhaps have repealed a prohibitory 
 tariff; a new market for cotton goods may be 
 thus created; the demand for these goods wilh 
 consequently be increased, and their price will 
 
of the British Labourer. 171 
 
 rapidly advance. Under such circumstances, the 
 profits of the employer may at once be even 
 doubled or trebled. The employers can therefore 
 now afford to pay higher wages, and the question 
 arises, Will the labourer by entering into a com- 
 bination secure a larger portion of the additional 
 profits, which his master obtains in periods of 
 active trade.? Various arguments may be ad- 
 vanced on each side of the question; I will pro- 
 ceed to state them as briefly and as candidly as 
 I can. On the one hand it may no doubt be 
 urged, that wages are always regulated by demand 
 and supply, and that therefore it must be futile 
 to endeavour to increase them beyond the pomt 
 which would .be attained by the natural operation 
 of demand and supply. In support of this opinion, 
 experience may be appealed to, in order to show 
 that when any particular branch of mdustry be- 
 comes extremely profitable, those engaged in it 
 are sure to receive higher wages. For instance, 
 during the two or three years which preceded the 
 Civil War in America, the cotton trade of Lanca- 
 shire was in a state of unprecedented prosperity. 
 The profits were so immense, that large fortunes 
 were rapidly accumulated by the manufacturers. 
 It is however well known that the operatives 
 participated in this prosperity, and that much 
 greater wages were paid to them than they had 
 
1/2 The Economic Position 
 
 ever before been accustmed to receive. During 
 this period, no rumour of a strike was ever heard ; 
 and it may therefore be thought to be conclusively 
 proved, that a strike can exert no influence in 
 advancing wages during periods of active trade. 
 But before we accept this conclusion, let us con- 
 sider what really occurs under the circumstances 
 supposed. It is too often forgotten that those who 
 are engaged as employers in any particular business, 
 virtually form themselves in each district into a 
 combination, for the express purpose of regulating 
 wages. Go to Manchester, Halifax, Bradford, or 
 Belfast, and you will find in each of these towns, 
 the operatives are paid for the Avork done, accord- 
 ing to a uniform scale of remuneration. You may 
 often have observed in the public prints, that the 
 cotton manufacturers have held a meeting in Man- 
 chester, and have unanimously agreed to a certain 
 alteration in wages; and every employer in the 
 district at once adopts either the reduction or 
 the advance, which has been agreed upon at this 
 meeting. The same thing occurs in other branches 
 of industry. The proprietors of collieries hold a 
 meeting, at which they decide to alter the wages 
 they shall pay, and the alteration is immediately 
 accepted by every colliery owner in the district. 
 Sometimes the same object is not less effectually 
 attained, although the combination does not take 
 
of the British Labourer. . 173 
 
 the significant form of a public meeting. Thus 
 the same kind of agricultural work may be very 
 differently remunerated in Yorkshire and Dorset- 
 shire; but in the same locality, and within a cer- 
 tain area a uniform rate of agricultural wages 
 almost invariably prevails. Farmers when they 
 meet at market talk over what they shall pay 
 for particular kinds of work, and you will find 
 that a certain fixed price is at length agreed upon 
 for reaping, mowing, hoeing, &c. We must there- 
 fore consider whether the labourers who may be 
 regarded as one party to a bargain, can safely 
 trust the terms of this bargain to a combination 
 of employers. I believe it can be easily shewn 
 that the labourer is placed at a disadvantage, if 
 he attempts simply as an individual to arrange 
 this bargain, and I further believe that labourers 
 must show that they have the power of combining, 
 in order at all times to be able to sell their labour 
 on the best possible terms. 
 
 With the view of substantiating the opinion 
 which has just been expressed, I will suppose that 
 there has been a marked improvement in the cotton 
 trade; the profits of the manufacturers are greatly 
 increased ; they consequently agree to make a 
 general advance in wages of 10 per cent. Those 
 whom they employ may feel that this advance 
 is not sufBcient, and that their masters from their 
 
174 The Economic Position 
 
 additional profits could well afford to make an 
 advance in wages of 20 per cent. Operatives in 
 their individual capacity express their dissatisfac- 
 tion. A, B, or C may go to his employer and 
 say, I think you are not paying me sufficient 
 wages. The employer replies, that he and his 
 brother manufacturers have unanimously decided 
 what Avages they shall pay, and if any of their 
 workmen are not contented with the remuneration 
 that is offered to them, they are of course at 
 perfect liberty to discontinue working. The ope- 
 rative knows that further contention is useless ; his 
 master will not be induced to swerve from his 
 determination by an isolated protest, and there- 
 fore the operative is compelled to accept what is 
 offered to him, or else to relinquish his employ- 
 ment, because since wages are fixed on a uniform 
 scale, it is vain for him to expect to obtain more 
 from any other manufacturer. But let us see how 
 the case would be altered, if the workmen formed 
 themselves into a great combination and adopted 
 united action. It was plainly proved by the Pres- 
 ton strike, that such a combination can be formed ; 
 for then, all the operatives in a large district were 
 unanimous in their determination not to work, 
 unless their wages were advanced 10 per cent, 
 and this resolution was unwaveringly adhered to 
 during thirty-six weeks. When such a combina- 
 
of the British Labourer. 175 
 
 tion is formed, the leaders of the movement would 
 no longer speak to their employers as individuals, 
 representing no authority, and therefore possessing 
 no power, but they would then express the fixed 
 resolve of combined thousands. They might then 
 say to their employers, We place two alternatives 
 before you ; you must either accept our demands, 
 or you will be left without labour, and your mills 
 will be for a long time closed. If the employers 
 felt that they could afford to yield that which 
 was asked, it would be in all probability granted, 
 rather than incur the loss of being compelled tem- 
 porarily to discontinue their business. Each party 
 in the dispute of course ought to feel, that the 
 contest on which they were embarked, involved the 
 most serious consequences. The employers if they 
 were compelled to suspend their business would 
 have an immense amount of capital which before 
 was highly remunerative, at once made unproduc- 
 tive. On the other hand, the employed would if 
 their demands were refused be deprived of their 
 daily subsistence, and in order to support them- 
 selves when thrown out of work, they would be 
 obliged to spend those savings which had required 
 years to accumulate. We are free to confess that 
 these melancholy results have accompanied every 
 strike. The losses which have been inflicted upon 
 the employer have often seriously diminished his 
 
176 The Economic Position 
 
 capital, and his capital forms the fund from which 
 wages are supplied. The employed moreover have 
 not only spent their own savings, but have drawn 
 largely from their fellow workmen in other parts 
 of the country ; and those who, when in receipt 
 of their ordinary wages are accustomed to live 
 in comparative comfort, have been often compelled 
 to endure the greatest privations. During the 
 Preston strike, the operatives were reduced almost 
 to a state of starvation, and they no doubt suf- 
 fered the most terrible hardships. 
 
 It might seem, that if these are the sad results 
 of a strike, all combinations on the part of the 
 employed ought to be condemned, although an 
 occasional advance in wages may be obtained 
 from such combinations. I know that upon such 
 considerations the question is usually decided. It 
 is said that the workmen are almost always un- 
 successful in their strikes, and that this will con- 
 tinue to be the case, because the employers, al- 
 though their capital remains idle, do not really 
 suffer a tithe part as many privations as must 
 be borne by the employed when they are thrown 
 out of work. In order still further to prove that 
 a strike never ought to be resorted to, a com- 
 parison is made between those strikes in which 
 the workmen have failed, and those in which they 
 have succeeded, and it is shown that a heavy 
 
of the British La bourne 177 
 
 aggregate loss Is on the side of the workmen. I 
 am fully prepared to admit that this loss is really 
 much greater than it is usually represented to 
 be ; the labourers not only lose the wages which 
 they would receive if they were at work, but as 
 we have before said, the great cost which a 
 strike-entails upon the master, also ultimately falls 
 to a certain extent upon the labourer; because 
 it diminishes the capital from which the wages 
 of the labourers are paid. It seems to me how- 
 ever that a calculation of the outlay which strikes 
 necessitate, affords no assistance in determining 
 the real influence which they exert upon the 
 condition of the labourer. Costly armaments are 
 maintained In order to give security to life and 
 property, and it would be a fallacious argument 
 to say, that the millions which our army and 
 navy annually cost represent a useless expen- 
 diture ; they are useful because it Is owing to 
 them that no foreign power dares to make a 
 hostile attack against us. When we once embark 
 in war, the most complete triumph will give no 
 immediate pecuniary compensation for the Im- 
 mense expenditure which the contest has required. 
 The chief reward w^hlch a nation obtains from 
 carrying on a just and successful w^ar, arises from 
 the circumstance that peace Is in future more 
 effectually secured, for foreign nations are made 
 
 12 
 
1^8 The Economic Position 
 
 to understand the power which will be brought 
 against them, if they do any international wrong 
 either towards life or property. In a similar way, 
 I think it can be shown that a strike, although 
 its immediate consequences may be terrible, yet 
 may exert a powerful influence to place the future 
 relations between employers and employed on a 
 more peaceful and a more satisfactory basis. 
 
 As an example, the great Preston Strike of 
 1854, unmistakably demonstrated to the masters, 
 that the employed possess so complete a power of 
 combination, that all the operatives in a large dis- 
 trict can for many weeks keep firmly to the reso- 
 lution, that they will refuse to work unless certain 
 conditions are granted. If therefore, the masters can 
 really afford to do what is asked of them, I think 
 that they are more likely to grant the concession, 
 when they know what sad disasters a refusal would 
 bring, both to themselves and to the employed. I 
 have been assured by one of the prominent leaders 
 of this strike, that since this great contest has been 
 fought, everything has gone on most comfortabl}' 
 between the employers and the employed. Each 
 party feels what the other will do as a last re- 
 source; the operatives every year becoming more 
 intelligent by improved education, carefully watch 
 the price of the raw material and the price of ma- 
 nufactured goods, and are thus enabled to form an 
 
of the British Labour cr. 179 
 
 accurate estimate of their masters' profits. The 
 employers assume that the employed possess this 
 knowledge. When trade is good and profits in- 
 crease, a fair and reasonable advance in wages is 
 immediately made, and joyfully accepted; when 
 trade is bad and profits decline, wages are reduced ; 
 the reduction is looked upon as necessary, and is 
 therefore borne without murmur or complaint. In 
 times gone by, the relations between employers 
 and employed were perhaps more unsatisfactory in 
 the cotton trade than in any other industry. A 
 feeling of rancour and distrust existed between 
 masters and men, dastardly acts of violence were 
 sometimes resorted to, and a feeling of revenge 
 not unfrequently prompted the destruction of the 
 employers' property. But the Preston Strike of 
 1854 vras a great struggle, which taught each 
 party in the conflict the other's power, and in this 
 w^ay peace seems for the future to have been ef- 
 fectually secured; for since that time, although the 
 cotton trade has been characterised by the greatest 
 prosperity, and by an unprecedented adversity, 
 yet there has been no rumour of a strike; there 
 scarcely appears to have been even the semblance 
 of a dispute between masters and men. In 1858 — 9, 
 when the masters were realising enormous gains, 
 wages were advanced, and the operatives were sa- 
 tisfied with the additional remuneration which was 
 
 J 2 2 
 
I So The Economic Position 
 
 thus offered to them. When the Civil War com- 
 menced in America, the customary supply of raw 
 cotton was so much diminished, that the whole 
 trade was completely paralysed; wages were re- 
 duced, and manufactories were closed. A vast mul- 
 titude were thrown out of work ; and those men who 
 before were comparatively affluent were suddenly 
 reduced to a state of abject misery; their savings, 
 Avhich had been accumulated by a life's toil, were 
 soon exhausted, and the charity of the whole na- 
 tion had to be appealed to, in order to keep them 
 from starvation. But these sufferings, terrible as 
 they were, were borne with a calm resignation, and 
 with a noble heroism, which has made those who 
 perhaps suspected the political and social aspira- 
 tions of our working men, anticipate a glorious 
 future for our country. 
 
 Briefly summarising the opinions which I have 
 expressed on the subject, I think that the labourers 
 by showing that they have the power of forming 
 combinations, place themselves in a position which 
 enables them to obtain the best price for their la- 
 bour. When employers recognise the existence of 
 this power of combination, they will be careful to 
 advance their wages immediately they can afford 
 to do so; and they will not reduce wages, until 
 bad trade compels them to take this step. The 
 advantage which the labourers might thus obtain 
 
of the British Labourer. i8i 
 
 would, I conceive, be most dearly purchased, if it 
 was necessary frequently to resort to strikes, in 
 order to exhibit this power of combination. I 
 have, however, adduced the Preston Strike, as a 
 proof that a strike on a large scale, soon causes 
 this power of combination to be generally recog- 
 nised, and therefore a strike may be conceived as a 
 temporary evil, because it seems to create a gua- 
 rantee against its future recurrence. I am however 
 free to confess that the leaders of a strike, in as- 
 suming an attitude of hostility to their employers, 
 are usually misled by the most pernicious economic 
 fallacies. They talk wildly about the oppression of 
 capital, and the tyranny of competition; but let us 
 not deal too harshly with them ; if we think they 
 are wrong, let us try calmly to reason with them, 
 and to teach them the truth ; for we must remem- 
 ber that those who were the most educated, and 
 those who were supposed to be the most intelligent 
 amongst us, have professed their belief in economic 
 fallacies as glaring and perhaps more mischievous 
 than any which have been uttered by an agitator 
 for a strike. Not twenty years since, some of the 
 most intellectual men in this country, our greatest 
 statesmen, our leading writers, thought that our 
 national industry could not exist, unless it was 
 defended by a protective tariff. The advantages of 
 Free Trade are now so generally admitted that at 
 
1 82 The Economic Position 
 
 the present time a protectionist would be laughed 
 to scorn. In a similar way, working men are gra- 
 dually becoming more enlightened on economic 
 questions. The day is not perhaps far distant, 
 when they will indulge in no more rash talk against 
 capital and competition. We may hope that they 
 will soon understand, that capital is the fund from 
 which the wages are paid, and that they are 
 therefore benefited by any circumstance which 
 tends to increase capital. Moreover, competition 
 does not reduce wages; for when competition is 
 active, employers compete as actively for labour, 
 as labourers compete for work, and thus each indi- 
 vidual is more likely to sell his labour for exactly 
 what it is worth. 
 
 It has been already stated, that in the great 
 majority of strikes, the workmen have failed to 
 secure the object which they sought. The cause of 
 their failure is, no doubt, often due to the superior 
 strength which the employers in such a conflict 
 possess, on account of their greater resources. 
 Wealthy manufacturers incur a heavy loss, if they 
 are compelled to close their mills during many 
 weeks; but the loss which is thus inflicted upon 
 them, bears no comparison with the sufferings which 
 the labourers are obliged to endure. It may there- 
 fore be reasonably supposed, that in so unequal a 
 conflict, victory is most frequently with the strong. 
 
of the British Labourer. 183 
 
 But the labourers cannot attribute the repeated 
 failure of their strikes solely to the inferiority of 
 their resources. The erroneous opinions which they 
 entertain concerning the causes which regulate 
 waofes, often induce them to commence a strike, in 
 order to obtain an object, which neither injustice 
 nor reason, the employers can be expected to 
 o-rant. When a strike is commenced, the labour- 
 ers do not usually stay to inquire whether their 
 employers can afford to grant what is demanded 
 from them; but the language which is ordinarily 
 employed on these occasions is, that it is unjust 
 that wages should be reduced, or that the same 
 wages ought to be paid for a smaller number of 
 hours of work. It should be borne in mind, that 
 it implies a fundamental misconception to speak of 
 wages being just or unjust; it would be not less 
 idle to speak of the justice or injustice of a par- 
 ticular price being charged for bread; if bread is 
 made dear by artificial restrictions, then it is right 
 that these restrictions should be repealed; but 
 when the dearness is due to a natural scarcity of 
 corn, we must endeavour to remedy the evil by 
 making corn more plentiful. In the same way if 
 wages are reduced, because the profits of the em- 
 ployer are diminishing, or because the supply of 
 labour is increasing; it is no use talking about jus- 
 tice or injustice, for the evil can be cured only 
 
1 84 TJie Economic Position 
 
 by improving the trade, or by diminishing the 
 supply of labour. It is most important that the 
 labourers should never lose sight of the great truth, 
 that wages are not controlled by abstract justice; 
 but wages are regulated by causes, which are as 
 certain in their operation, as are the physical forces 
 which govern nature. If labourers more generally 
 understood these economic truths, strikes would 
 not be so frequently resorted to, in order to obtain 
 what the labourers have no valid reason to claim. 
 I have already admitted their undoubted right 
 fairly to participate in the additional profits which 
 their employers might obtain ; they are also clearly 
 justified in resisting a reduction of wages, if they 
 believe that there is no decline in profits to war- 
 rant labour being worse remunerated. We have 
 however again and again insisted, that the remune- 
 ration of the labourer is ultimately regulated by 
 demand and supply; and that a tendency exists, 
 although time may be required to complete its 
 operation, to make the wages and profits of every 
 employment approximate to the natural rate. It 
 may therefore be always reasonably concluded, that 
 both the natural rate of wages, and also the natu- 
 ral rate of profit prevail in a trade, if for somic 
 time nothing has occurred to produce any sud- 
 den variation in the returns realised from it. 
 
 Let us suppose that some particular employ- 
 
of the British Labourer. i8 
 
 ment, say the building trade, is in this position ; 
 and that those who are employed in it suddenly 
 become impressed with the conviction, that they 
 are working too many hours for the wages which 
 they receive. This was the point at issue in the 
 late great strike* amongst the building operatives 
 of London. I refer to this strike, because it hap- 
 pened that for a time, I was somewhat intimately 
 connected with the operatives, who were deputed 
 by their fellow-workmen to be their leaders and 
 their spokesmen. It is hardly necessary to remind 
 you, that almost all our leading newspapers at 
 once assumed, that the operatives were entirely in 
 error. The leaders of the strike were denounced 
 day after day in the most violent terms, for their 
 ignorance of the first principles of economic science ; 
 and the general body of the supporters of the 
 strike were commiserated as being poor deluded 
 creatures, who were influenced by designing agita- 
 tors. I recalled to mind, that we in the middle and 
 upper classes have often professed opinions, which 
 showed a complete ignorance of the principles 
 of economic science. I therefore thought it was 
 unfair to blame those for their want of know- 
 ledge, who have much less time for study than 
 ourselves. It seemed to me to be our duty to 
 
 * This strike occurred in the early spring of i860. 
 
1 86 TJie Economic Position 
 
 endeavour to instruct, rather than to blame. I there- 
 fore ventured to ask the men who were on strike to 
 meet me in a large public room in London, and 
 I told them that I would try to place the question 
 before them in its true economic aspects. When 
 addressing them on the subject, I was scrupulously 
 careful, to point out to them how extremely falla- 
 cious were many of the opinions which they ex- 
 pressed. Although I attacked many of their most 
 fondly cherished prejudices, yet their demeanour 
 indicated, that they were sincerely desirous to be 
 instructed. The point which I chiefly endeavoured 
 to urge upon them was this. You demand the 
 same wages for less work ; you have no right to 
 make this demand, unless you can show, that cir- 
 cumstances have recently occurred to increase your 
 masters' profits ; for unless a trade is suddenly im- 
 proved by exceptional causes, the competition of 
 capital insures that the profits realized shall closely 
 approximate, to what has been described as the 
 natural rate. If you compel your employers to 
 reduce their profits below this natural rate, by 
 increasing your w^ages, you will be really doing 
 yourselves far more harm than good; for capital 
 is withdrawn from a business when it does not 
 realise the ordinary rate of profit, and you will 
 attract more labourers to your trade, if you create 
 an artificial advance in your wages. You may there- 
 
of the British Labourer. 187 
 
 fore bring into operation two circumstances which 
 will ultimately injure you; because, in the first 
 place, you may diminish the capital which forms 
 the fund which is distributed in wages amongst 
 you; and, in the second place, you may increase 
 the number of those, amongst whom this fund is 
 to be distributed. I therefore urge you, for your 
 own sakes, not to act in this matter without calm 
 reflection. It would no doubt be a happy circum- 
 stance if your hours of toil could be shortened. 
 The marvellous increase in the production of 
 national wealth, cannot be a subject for much 
 congratulation, until it can be shown that this 
 greater wealth is so distributed, that the labourer 
 can more frequently cease from his toil either to 
 enjoy the pleasures of mind, or to admire the 
 glories which a bountepus nature has spread around 
 him. But anxious as we may be to see the hours 
 of toil shortened, yet we must remember that the 
 remuneration of labour is regulated by certain defi- 
 nite causes. If labour is made more efficient, mas- 
 ters and men may both receive a greater reward. 
 But if the employed attempt to augment their own 
 gains by unduly reducing the profits of their em- 
 ployers, capital will be withdrawn from business, 
 and a source of employment may be thus per- 
 manently closed. The builders' strike may be 
 regarded as suggesting one happy omen, for it 
 
1 88 TJie Economic Position 
 
 seems to indicate, that the labourers will hence- 
 forth be anxious to appropriate each advance of 
 wages to a reduction of the hours of their daily 
 toil. 
 
 I have already remarked, that people generally 
 suppose that unmixed harm must always result 
 from a strike. When considering such a subject, 
 I often call to mind the words of our great poet, 
 who says, 
 
 There is a soul of goodness in things evil, 
 Would men observingly distil it out. 
 
 If there is any truth in the views which I have 
 expressed, it is not difficult to see that there is a 
 '' soul of goodness" beneath all the rancour and the 
 suffering which are the usual concomitants of a 
 strike. I have striven to show that, when working 
 men possess the power of combined action, they 
 participate more readily and more certainly in 
 the prosperity and adversity of the particular in- 
 dustry, in which they may happen to be employed. 
 If profits increase, an advance of wages is at once 
 insured to them ; and if profits are depressed below 
 the ordinary rate, they will recognise the necessity 
 of immediately submitting to a reduction in their 
 wages. But if these are the relations which are 
 made to subsist between employers and employed, 
 is there not a copartnership created between them.-* 
 
of the British Labourer. 189 
 
 for when there Is a copartnership, the aggregate re- 
 muneration received by the labourer depends partly 
 upon the profits which his master obtains. The 
 great defect in our present national economy arises 
 from the fact, that between employers and em- 
 ployed there is no common pecuniary interest ; 
 an antagonism of feeling is thus often engendered ; 
 they strive against each other like hostile parties, 
 higgling over a bargain. The efficiency of our 
 industry is thus most seriously impeded, because 
 capital and labour ought cordially to cooperate 
 upon the work, which cannot be accomplished 
 without their united action. It Is evident that 
 this serious defect In our national economy would 
 be to a great extent remedied, if copartnerships 
 between employers and employed were more fre- 
 quent. I therefore think it has been shown, that 
 strikes have at least one happy and beneficial 
 tendency, because since they make labourers par- 
 ticipate in the prosperity and adversity of the 
 capitalist, they must also tend to create a copart- 
 nership between masters and men. Important as 
 may be the good which would be thus effected, 
 other results might ultimately follow, of still higher 
 consequence to the wellbeing of our labouring 
 population. Such a copartnership as has been 
 here described, would so train and educate the 
 labourers, as to enable them with a certainty of 
 
1 90 TJlc Economic Position 
 
 success to conduct Cooperative Trading Societies. 
 A copartnership would make the labourers more 
 intimately acquainted with the management of 
 a business; they would gradually learn to un- 
 derstand the various circumstances which con- 
 tribute to make any industry successful ; they 
 would have practically taught to them the va- 
 rious functions which capital performs ; they 
 would soon see how essential it was that the 
 managers of each department should be able 
 men, and that implicit obedience should be paid 
 to their authority. It would also soon be dis- 
 covered, that in almost every branch of industry 
 there are great fluctuations in the returns; good 
 years in which large profits are realised being 
 often succeeded by bad years, in which scarcely 
 any profit is obtained. These truths must be 
 known by the labourers, before cooperation, ap- 
 plied to trade, can achieve any general success. 
 
 You Avill observe that the title given to this lec- 
 ture is, ''The Influence exerted by Trades Unions 
 and Strikes." As yet little has been said about 
 Trades Unions, but as the two subjects have been 
 grouped together, I must try to explain to you 
 whether or not, there is any necessary connection 
 between a Trades Union and a Strike. A trades 
 union, as its name implies, is a society composed 
 of working men; and each of these societies com- 
 
of the British Labourer. . 191 
 
 prises only those who are employed in some parti- 
 cular business, or in some special department of 
 the business. Thus masons, carpenters, hatters, 
 gas-fitters, in fact, almost every class of labourers, 
 have their own trades union. It often happens 
 that in the case of a restricted branch of in- 
 dustry, such as wool-sorting, all those who are 
 employed in it, in different parts of the country, 
 belong to one central society, the management of 
 which is in London. But when the industry is 
 more extensive, numbers of these societies are 
 established in different parts of the country. For 
 instance, the masons in almost every large town 
 have a trades union of their ov/n, which as far as 
 management is concerned, is independent of any 
 central authority. A certain correspondence is 
 kept up between these different societies, and 
 occasionally they may consult together as to the 
 course of action which ought to be adopted in 
 certain junctures. But the masons who belong to 
 a trades union at Plymouth would not consider 
 themselves to be in the least degree bound to 
 demand higher wages, although the masons of a 
 trades union in Glasgow, in order to obtain this 
 object may consider themselves justified, in resort- 
 ing to a strike. There always exists a certain 
 feeling of sympathy between the workmen in the 
 same employment who happen to belong to a 
 
192 TJic Economic Position 
 
 trade society; and if, for instance, the masons who 
 Avere union-men happened to be on strike in one 
 locality, tlieir fellow unionists in other parts of the 
 country would almost feel it their duty to assist 
 them by subscriptions. The trades unionists in 
 other employments frequently support those who 
 are on strike. It has, for instance, been calculated, 
 that no less a sum than ^20,000 was sent by 
 working men to the Preston operatives who were 
 engaged in the great strike of 1854. 
 
 Trades Unions are almost invariably denounced, 
 because it is erroneously supposed, that the only 
 object they seek to attain is to supply an organiza- 
 tion Y\hich Avill enable labourers to enter into 
 combinations. It should be remembered that some 
 of the most important functions which these so- 
 cieties perform, are either prudential or charitable. 
 Thus each member of a trades union subscribes 
 so much a w^eek to a common fund, an<5 in return 
 for this, an amount is each w^eek paid to him if he 
 is thrown out of employment, either by dullness of 
 trade, or by illness. When the member of a trade 
 society dies, his family often receives a certain sum 
 to defray the cost of the funeral, and to cover 
 other expenses which may have been incurred 
 during his illness. Hence a trades union effects all 
 the objects which are sought to be obtained by 
 friendly societies. Such societies when well man- 
 
of the British Labourer. 193 
 
 aged, are regarded as most excellent institutions ; 
 and, as a general rule, the funds of a trades union 
 are administered with strict integrity. But to the 
 Political Economist the most curious and most 
 important point to be considered in connection 
 with trades unions, is the effect which is exerted 
 upon industry by the rules which these societies 
 enforce upon their members. Some of these 
 rules may be regarded simply as trade regulations. 
 Thus it sometimes happens, that a member of 
 a trades union is not permitted to take more than 
 a certain number of apprentices, and only one 
 of his own sons can be apprenticed to the trade. 
 In some cases the members of these societies are 
 obliged to do their work in a particular way. 
 Thus it was alleged by the employers, although 
 it was denied by the men, that the bricklayers 
 were ordered by their unions to adopt a certain 
 method in laying their bricks, whereas, if they had 
 been laid in a different manner the work would 
 have been more quickly and better done. Again, 
 it has frequently happened, that the members of 
 these societies will not continue to work if a 
 certain machine is used, the employment of which 
 they erroneously suppose will be detrimental to 
 the labourer. Before we inquire into the policy 
 or impolicy, and into the justice or injustice of 
 these rules, we will consider how the power is 
 
 13 
 
194 T^J^^ Economic Position 
 
 obtained, which gives these rules their authority. 
 In some branches of industry the trades unions, 
 so far as the labourers are concerned, are om- 
 nipotent. I believe there is not a single person 
 employed in the wool-stapling business who is 
 not a Union man. When a trades union is in 
 this position it is not difficult to maintain its 
 authority. The majority becomes supreme, for if 
 any master employed a non-union man, all his 
 other workmen who belonged to the union would 
 immediately refuse to remain in his employment. 
 Hence this question arises, Are the labourers 
 justified in pursuing this course of conduct, and 
 are they really benefited by it? They do no- 
 thing illegal as long as they refrain from all acts of 
 physical violence. Sometimes however they en- 
 deavour forcibly to coerce those who will not join 
 their union ; sometimes also, they destroy the pro- 
 perty of those who insist on employing non-union 
 men. But in these instances, an offence is com- 
 mitted, which we should all hope to see punished 
 with the utmost rigour of the law. For such social 
 tyranny exercised by the majority over the minority 
 ought to be regarded as one of the most detestable 
 kinds of oppression. It must however be acknow- 
 ledged that such offences, which are now known 
 as trade outrages, are confined to a few localities, 
 and that those who perpetrate them are vehe- 
 
of the British Labourer. 195 
 
 mently denounced by the general body of trades 
 unionists. Sheffield has obtained an unenviable 
 notoriety for the dreadful trade outrages which 
 have been committed in that town. It has more 
 than once happened that a file grinder, because he 
 refused to join the union, has had a destructive 
 bomb thrown into his house, or has had his grind- 
 ino- machine filled with some explosive material, 
 the explosion of which will endanger his life. This 
 abominable tyranny has become almost unbear- 
 able, and if it is continued, Sheffield may not im- 
 probably lose some of its most important manu- 
 factures. Large steel works have already been 
 established at Manchester, and it has been stated 
 that Manchester was selected, in preference to 
 Sheffield, in consequence of trade outrages being 
 so prevalent at the latter place. 
 
 I have already said, that trades unionists rarely 
 do any act which can be regarded as illegal ; but 
 they maintain and exercise their authority, by ex- 
 ertino- an influence which often bears too much the 
 character of social oppression. Those who refuse 
 to join the union are subject to a great variety of 
 petty annoyances and slights, which, though diffi- 
 cult to describe, yet may make a life very miser- 
 able. You can best conceive what has to be borne, 
 by imagining what a barrister would suffer, if he 
 should do anything which his fellow-barristers 
 
 J — - 
 
ig6 The Economic Position 
 
 might consider as unprofessional. He would not 
 be permitted to dine at the bar mess; some of the 
 leading members of the bar would perhaps refuse 
 to hold briefs with him ; and by resorting to these 
 forms of social punishment, the bar is enabled to 
 enforce as much obedience to their rules, as if these 
 rules had a legal sanction. It is curious to remark, 
 that the rules to which the members of trades 
 unions are bound to pay obedience, are, in many 
 respects, similar to those which regulate the con- 
 duct of the members of the legal profession. Thus, 
 a barrister is not permitted to appear in court for 
 less than a certain fee; and a trade unionist is not 
 permitted to do a particular kind of work, unless 
 he receives a certain remuneration. Again, no at- 
 torney can have more than two articled pupils. It 
 may, on the one hand, be maintained that such a 
 restriction is necessary, in order that every member 
 of the profession may be properly taught; but, on 
 the other hand, it may with some reason be urged 
 that the real object of such a restriction is to limit 
 competition, with the view of augmenting the gains 
 of those engaged in the profession. In a similar 
 way, it is a rule of many trades unions, that no 
 workman should have under him at the same time 
 more than a fixed number of apprentices; and in 
 some employments, such as the wool trade, it is 
 ordered by the rules of the union, that a workman 
 
of the British Labotirer. 197 
 
 should not bring up more than one son to his own 
 trade. The workmen, in the same way as the law- 
 yers^ defend these regulations by maintaining that 
 they are necessary in order to secure the efficiency 
 of labour; for if the number of apprentices was not 
 limited, labour would not be properly trained, 
 work would be badly done, and thus the perma- 
 nent prosperity of the industry might be jeopar- 
 dised. Others may fairly take a different view, 
 and may think that the real object sought to be 
 obtained by limiting the number of apprentices is 
 to restrict competition, and thus artificially raise 
 the rate of wages by diminishing the supply of 
 
 labour. 
 
 Any number of individuals, as long as they do 
 not interfere with the perfect freedom of action of 
 others, have an undoubted right to agree amongst 
 themselves to be bound by a common code of 
 laws. But I would earnestly ask the workmen 
 calmly to consider, whether they are really doing 
 justice to themselves, and whether they gain any 
 sufficient advantage in sacrificing so much of their 
 individuality. It certainly seems wrong, that a 
 father should not be freely permitted to train his 
 son to that particular employment, which his natu- 
 ral endowments may best qualify him to follow. 
 A man would feel in after life that a cruel injustice 
 had been inflicted on him, if he had been prevented 
 
198 The Economic Position 
 
 by the arbitrary regulations of trade-societies from 
 engaging in those branches of industry in which 
 nature had apparently destined him to achieve suc- 
 cess. Mankind in general would suffer, if those 
 who may be physically weak, but are gifted with 
 delicacy of touch, are driven to pursue those kinds 
 of labour which chiefly require muscular strength; 
 whilst, at the same time, those who have the sturdy 
 limb and the strong arm, are unnaturally forced 
 into an industry which requires not strength, but 
 the trained dexterity of hand and eye. Moreover, 
 the labourers should remember that wealth is in 
 England accumulated so rapidly, because in in- 
 dustry, we are able to compete successfully with 
 the whole world. In many trades the competition 
 is so keen and so close, that victory only just turns 
 in our favour. The balance of advantage is so 
 slightly on our side, that if we were hampered by 
 many vexatious restrictions, other competitors 
 would readily undersell us, and thus our foreign 
 commerce might soon be imperilled. Sheffield has 
 to contend against Liege, Manchester has to com- 
 pete against Rouen and Mulhouse, and the silk 
 manufacturers of England, although they have the 
 advantage of cheap coal and admirable machinery, 
 must not forget that their brethren in France can 
 employ operatives who work for lower wages, and 
 who seem to inherit a more exquisite taste for the 
 
of the British Labourer. 199 
 
 beauty of colour. If, therefore, the balance of ad- 
 vantage should even be turned slightly against us, 
 we may lose the advantage which we now possess, 
 and an industry which employs thousands of hands, 
 may gradually decay. 
 
 I have endeavoured, with as little prejudice as 
 possible, to discuss the influence exerted by trades 
 unions. I have shown that these societies often 
 perform a most important service, by enabling the 
 labourers to make a provision against any disasters 
 which may be brought upon them, either by illness, 
 or by the fluctuations of trade. I also trust that I 
 have been sufficiently explicit in warning the la- 
 bourers against the impolicy and injustice of en- 
 forcing any arbitrary trade regulations, which may 
 either impede the successful prosecution of indus- 
 try, or may coerce the individual freedom of those 
 who do not wish to join these trade combinations. 
 I have hitherto purposely avoided associating trades 
 unions with strikes, because it is generally erro- 
 neously assumed, that between trades unions and 
 strikes there is a necessary and an inevitable con- 
 nection. The origin of this error may be easily 
 explained. A strike and a trades union both 
 Imply a combination; but those who combine to 
 form a trades union, may never consent to allow 
 the combination which is thus formed, to supply 
 the organization which a strike requires. Many 
 
200 The Economic Position of the British Labourer. 
 
 working men are as much opposed to strikes as 
 are their employers; and yet not a few of the work- 
 ing men who hold these opinions are members of 
 trades unions. It is easy to understand how it 
 comes to pass that these societies are so constantly 
 connected with strikes; a strike requires combina- 
 tion; and a trades union always has, as it were, 
 ready at hand the combination which a strike 
 needs. 
 
( 20i ) 
 
 
 CHAPTER VI. ^..^^^^^ \ 
 
 Emizratiofi. 
 
 'ib 
 
 During the last few years, the present and future 
 position of our labouring population has been most 
 powerfully affected by emigration. Many of the 
 circumstances which we have already discussed, 
 are perhaps somewhat uncertain in their operation. 
 Opinions may differ as to the consequences which 
 would result, if a greater area of land was owned 
 and cultivated by labourers, and if a greater por- 
 tion of our national industry was carried on through 
 the medium of co-operative institutions. No one, 
 however, can deny the great influence which has 
 already been produced upon the condition of our 
 labourers by emigration; and if this emigration 
 continues on a large scale during many years, the 
 remuneration of labour may be so greatly increased 
 as materially to affect not only the labourers, but 
 also every other section of the community. Hitherto 
 we have had a surplus population which has sup- 
 plied with labour many countries which are gradu- 
 
202 The Economic Positioji 
 
 ally rising, or which have already risen into wealth 
 and prosperity. We have therefore accustomed 
 ourselves to consider emigration, without dwelling 
 upon the no less important effects which result 
 from an immigration of labour into a countrj'. 
 Some nations have a population far more dense 
 than our own. China is peopled as thickly as it 
 can be, until its resources are developed with 
 greater skill and knowledge. The underpaid 
 Chinese labourer has already shown an anxiety 
 to leave his own country, in order to obtain the 
 large wages which are paid in Australia and Cali- 
 fornia. It is therefore not an impossible suppo- 
 sition, that as labour becomes dearer in our own 
 country, we may witness a large immigration of 
 labour into England. I therefore hope to lay be- 
 fore you some of the many reflections which are 
 suggested, not only by emigration, but also by an 
 immigration of labour on a large scale. 
 
 At the beginning of this century, when Malthus 
 published his celebrated Essay on population, the 
 great social and economic problem which then re- 
 quired solution, was the relief of an over-stocked 
 labour market. The truth of the law was receiving 
 a sad and practical illustration, that as population 
 increases food becomes more expensive, unless a 
 greater demand for agricultural produce is met by 
 augmented importations, or by the introduction of 
 
of the British Labourer. 203 
 
 agricultural improvements. No pen can ever ade- 
 quately describe the sufferings which our poor en- 
 dured, at the period to which we are referring. Their 
 misery becomes the more deplorable to think upon, 
 when it is remembered that the cheap food which 
 was required was prevented from being sent to 
 these shores by protective duties, a policy which 
 remains a lasting monument, of either the ignorance, 
 or the selfishness of those who then governed the 
 State. If seasons were unpropitious, our own de- 
 ficient harvest could not be supplemented by sup- 
 plies from other countries where the crop might 
 have been more abundant, until corn advanced al- 
 most to a famine price. Men then seemed born to 
 be a burden to themselves, and to everyone else 
 around them. During the winter months, great 
 numbers of able-bodied agricultural and other la- 
 bourers, in vain endeavoured to obtain employment, 
 and they were obliged to live on the parish rates, 
 in order to avoid starvation. With a view of les- 
 sening the pecuniary burdens which such wide- 
 spread pauperism entailed, various expedients were 
 resorted to, which in many respects only aggravated 
 the misery of the poor. Employers, not unreason- 
 ably feared, that if workmen should be attracted to 
 a particular district by a sudden demand for labour, 
 they would remain there to swell the surplus popu- 
 lation of the locality, if industry should again 
 
204 . The Economic Position 
 
 become inactive. Various laws were consequently 
 passed with the avowed object of preventing la- 
 bourers from moving from the locality in which 
 they were born. These various regulations, which 
 were termed the laws of settlement, inflicted the 
 greatest hardship upon the labourers, because they 
 were prevented from seeking employment in those 
 districts where the highest wages were paid. 
 
 But bad as w^as the condition of the labouring 
 classes of England, it was infinitely worse in Ire- 
 land. In no civilised country has the mass of the 
 people ever existed in more abject misery. And 
 yet Ireland has natural resources well adapted 
 for the production of great wealth. It is idle, in 
 fact, it is almost wicked to explain Ireland's mis- 
 fortunes, by saying that the Celtic is naturally 
 inferior to the Saxon race. Ireland has produced 
 soldiers, orators, statesmen, and thinkers, who 
 have added lustre to the history of our empire. 
 Moreover, the people who grovel in the huts of 
 Tipperary at once possess so many industrial 
 virtues, when they can labour under favourable 
 economic conditions, that they have become the 
 pioneers of civilisation in the Western world, and 
 have there been the chief founders of nations 
 which seem likely to rival us in wealth and pro- 
 sperity. In Ireland, everything apparently com- 
 bined to lower the condition of the people. Those 
 
of the British Labourer. 205 
 
 who owned the land were absentee landlords, who 
 never performed one of the duties which ought 
 to attach to the possession of property. The land 
 was let to peasant farmers, who were termed 
 cottiers; they possessed no capital, except a few 
 rude tools and the scanty furniture of their miser- 
 able dwellings. They cared not what rent they 
 ofifered to pay; their only object was to obtain 
 possession of a plot of ground; for they knew 
 that however much they became indebted to their 
 landlord, they had no property which he could 
 seize, and that he must leave them sufficient 
 potatoes to enable them to subsist. They had 
 no motive to be industrious, or to exercise any 
 prudence, for if they produced anything beyond 
 a bare subsistence, it would be taken from them 
 to pay their arrears of rent. They consequently 
 married with the utmost recklessness, and the 
 land, since no capital was applied to its culti- 
 vation, gradually became more and more impo- 
 verished. Since the population constantly increased, 
 and, at the same time, the soil was more and more 
 exhausted, the mass of the people sank deeper 
 and deeper into the depths of abject poverty. 
 In the year 1847 all this misery accumulated into 
 a terrible crisis. The potato, which had become 
 almost the sole food of the people was diseased, 
 and the nation was decimated by the most ter- 
 
2o6 The Economic Position 
 
 rible famine which has been witnessed in modern 
 times. There was not enough food in the 
 country to provide a bare subsistence, and one of 
 two alternatives became inevitable. The people 
 must either starve or leave their country ; the tens 
 of thousands who died from starvation can never 
 be accurately enumerated; and an emigration 
 commenced on such a gigantic scale from Ireland 
 to America, as can be only compared to the exodus 
 which is described in Holy Writ. This emigration 
 soon acquired an accumulating intensity, for these 
 emigrants settled in the United States, where 
 fertile land was cheap, and where labour was highly 
 remunerated ; their whole habit of life was changed. 
 Those who had been made improvident by hope- 
 less wretchedness soon showed that they had the 
 virtues of prudence now that they had an oppor- 
 tunity of accumulating wealth. The first object 
 to which they devoted their savings was to send 
 money back to Ireland, to enable all their relations 
 and friends to emigrate. The amount thus remit- 
 ted between 1847 and 1864 has been not less 
 than ^10,000,000; no statistical fact is more asto- 
 nishing or more instructive. In this way emigration 
 has been so powerfully stimulated, that in twenty 
 years, from 1841 to 1861, the population of Ireland 
 was reduced from 8,100,000 to 5,800,000. This 
 emigration must be regarded as a most happy 
 
of the British Labourer. 207 
 
 circumstance; for if it had not occurred, a great 
 part of the nation must have fallen victims to all 
 the horrors of starvation. It cannot however be 
 denied, that the events which have occurred during 
 these few years, form a mournful epoch in the 
 history of our nation. It is not unfrequently 
 asserted that Political Economy is a hard-hearted 
 science; but in Ireland, everything w^as disregarded, 
 w^hich according to Political Economy would pro- 
 mote the production of wealth ; and the result was, 
 that it became absolutely necessary that the nation 
 should be depopulated, either by starvation, or by 
 emigration. If a retributive Providence governs 
 the destinies of nations, we ought to feel that we 
 must in future do much by thought and deed, to 
 prevent the wrongs which Ireland has suffered 
 from being avenged on those, who have misruled 
 and mismanaged that country. I almost shudder 
 when I sometimes hear the Irish opprobriously 
 described as low, ignorant, and indolent; it is like 
 cruelly thrusting a daughter into the streets, who 
 has naturally noble instincts, and generous senti- 
 ments, and then upbraiding her because she 
 becomes an outcast of society. Our sovereign 
 would do well to take every opportunity of show- 
 ing the most tender attention to the Irish, and 
 thus try to soothe the memory of the many cruel 
 wrongs which they have endured. Our legislature 
 
2o8 The Economic Positio7i 
 
 ought to be careful to discover whether in Ireland 
 there are any abuses still to be remedied, which 
 are the remnants of an oppression based on reli- 
 gious intolerance; and Irish landlords should strive 
 by judicious liberality to make some amends for 
 the wrongs which were committed in those days, 
 when it seemed to be thought that there were 
 rights, but no duties connected with the ownership 
 of land. 
 
 The almost sudden reduction of the population 
 from 8,000,000 to 6,000,000 has been a remedy, 
 which, though severe, has nevertheless produced 
 many happy results. The drafting away of this 
 surplus population relieved the country from an 
 onerous burden; the supply of labour of course 
 became greatly lessened, and, as a consequence, 
 wages have rapidly advanced. Previous to 1847 
 able-bodied agricultural labourers in many parts 
 of Ireland worked for fourpence a day, whereas 
 now^ there is little difference bet^veen the wages 
 paid in Ireland and in England. Formerly any 
 additional demand for labour would cause thou- 
 sands to flock from Ireland to England ; our 
 harvests were thus to a great extent reaped by 
 labourers who came here from Ireland for two or 
 three months in the year. But the number of 
 labourers who leave Ireland for the English harvest 
 has steadily diminished; and a very intelligent 
 
of the British Labourer. 209 
 
 observer, who has lately travelled in that country 
 assures me, that if the present rate of emigration 
 from Ireland continues for some time longer, the 
 day may not be far distant, when the Irish har- 
 vests will have to be reaped by English labourers. 
 The reduction in the number of the labouring 
 population has not been the only circumstance 
 which has caused wages to advance in Ireland. 
 
 The sale of the property of embarrassed land- 
 owners has been so much facilitated in Ireland, 
 that 2,800,000 acres, or one-seventh of the whole 
 area of the island, has been sold in the Encumbered 
 Estates Courts. The estates thus disposed of, were 
 as a general rule possessed by those who were 
 deeply in debt, and were consequently unable to 
 carry out improvements; whereas the new pro- 
 prietors are generally married men who have the 
 requisite capital to secure efficient cultivation. 
 Two causes have consequently combined to raise 
 wages. In the first place, the number of the 
 labouring population has decreased, and secondly 
 capital, or in other words, the wage fund, has been 
 augmented. 
 
 From England and Scotland during the last 
 fifteen or twenty years, there has been a very 
 large emigration, although the people have not 
 been compelled to leave these countries by so 
 sudden and awful a catastrophe, as that which 
 
 14 
 
2IO The Eco7iomic Position 
 
 caused the Irish exodus. Our labourers did not 
 emigrate in order to avert imminent starva- 
 tion, but they left our shores with a view of im- 
 proving their material condition, by settling in 
 countries where labour was dear and land cheap. 
 When we reflect on the pecuniary advantages 
 which every emigrant may reasonably expect to 
 obtain, it seems surprising that our labourers have 
 not left us in much greater numbers. I have 
 already endeavoured to show you that a large 
 proportion of our working population are in a 
 state of miserable poverty. The ordinary wages 
 of our agricultural labourers are not more than 
 nine or ten shillings a week; many of them live 
 in dwellings which do not deserve the name of 
 human habitations. It is scarcely possible for 
 them to obtain the necessaries, much less any of 
 the comforts of life. They cannot make any pro- 
 vision either for sickness or old age, and when 
 their strength is exhausted by the hard toil which 
 they have endured, they must bear the humilia- 
 tion of becoming parish paupers. It seems won- 
 derful that men who are in this condition, do not 
 emigrate en masse; the United States, Australia 
 and others of our colonies Avould gladly purchase 
 their labour at four or five shillings a-day; they 
 would be the citizens of a free government, and 
 enjoy all the rights which Englishmen possess; 
 
of the British Labourer. 211 
 
 they would live in a climate as healthy as our 
 own, and they would join nations which speak 
 our language, which inherit our instincts, and 
 which honour our institutions. In fact those who 
 live here in poverty without the slightest hope 
 of advancement might feel when they had emi- 
 grated, that a career of affluence, and an honour- 
 able social position was open both to them and 
 their children. But we must remember that there 
 are many obstacles which prevent labour passing 
 from one country to another, with the same ra- 
 pidity with which capital is transferred from one 
 investment to another, when the realization of 
 larger profits appears to be probable. There are 
 powerful feelings, which are implanted by nature 
 in the human breast; thus, love of country is an 
 instinct which has preserved society, and which 
 has prompted man to perform some of his noblest 
 deeds. Again, the human character would soon be 
 corrupted by selfishness and by other evil pas- 
 sions, if men did not feel a strong affection for 
 their family, for their friends, and for their early 
 associations. We may therefore hope that men 
 will always show a great reluctance to leave their 
 native land, and consequently some very powerful 
 motive must operate to induce people to emigrate. 
 But love of country and affection for family 
 and friends have not been the only causes which 
 
 14 — 3 
 
212 The Economic Position 
 
 .have restrained the English and Scotch from emi- 
 grating. It is well known that the more ignorant 
 people are, the more terrified they feel at the 
 prospect of a long sea-voyage. 
 
 Unskilled workmen, such as agricultural la- 
 bourers, are those who obtain the greatest benefit 
 from emigration. In the first place, these are the 
 labourers who in our own country are the worst 
 paid, and these labourers moreover supply that 
 kind of labour which is most required in young 
 countries. When a nation accumulates wealth, a 
 demand arises for commodities, which only can be 
 made by workmen who possess refined taste and 
 dehcate skill. The peculiar qualities which give 
 value to the labour of our more skilled artisans 
 would be of little use to the emigrant, for he has 
 often to be the pioneer of civilization in the 
 boundless prairies of the far West, or in the almost 
 untrodden wilds of Australia. He therefore needs 
 a strong constitution, a muscular frame, and that 
 determined energy which arises from physical 
 strength. Agriculture is almost certain to be the 
 chief industry of a young colony; manufactures 
 cannot thrive until population so increases that 
 large masses of people are aggregated together. 
 Consequently agricultural labourers, and others 
 who are accustomed to outdoor employment have 
 been chiefly those who have emigrated from our 
 
of the British Labourer. 213 
 
 country; but it so happens that these individuals 
 are amongst the most ignorant of our population ; 
 our emigrants have been drawn from a class who 
 would be most powerfully affected by a dread 
 of the dangers and difficulties to be encountered 
 in distant lands. From these and various other 
 reasons, emigration from England and Scotland 
 has not yet been on a sufficiently large scale to 
 cause a serious disturbance in any branch of in- 
 dustry. It may in fact be said, that hitherto this 
 emigration has produced unmixed good. Our sur- 
 plus population has alone been drafted off, and no 
 branch of industry has as yet been impeded by 
 a deficiency in the supply of labour. If this sur- 
 plus population had not been thus absorbed, 
 labour would no doubt be cheaper, but I doubt 
 if this would have conferred any real benefit upon 
 the capitalist class, for it must be remembered that 
 when men are unemployed they become a useless 
 and a very expensive burden ; they have to be main- 
 tained by parish relief, and each advance in the 
 poor-rates really takes so much from the profits 
 realised upon the capital invested in business. 
 For instance, it is quite certain, that during the 
 last few years, emigration has produced a very 
 considerable advance in the wages of all our la- 
 bourers ; and yet I believe that the average rate 
 of profit obtained by employers has increased, 
 
214 ^/^^ Economic Position 
 
 instead of being reduced. It is a well-established 
 principle in Political Economy, that the rate of 
 profit depends upon the cost of labour, and that 
 the cost of labour is determined, not only by the 
 wages paid, but also by the amount of work which 
 is really done for these wages. Many of our 
 labourers at the present time can barely obtain 
 a sufficiency of the necessaries of life. A reduc- 
 tion in their wages might diminish their strength, 
 and in this way the cost of labour might be in- 
 creased instead of being lessened. We can all 
 appreciate the false economy which would be prac- 
 tised, if a horse was so much stinted of food, 
 that he could only do half as much work as he 
 would be able to perform if he was properly fed. 
 
 These considerations justify the conclusion that 
 emigration has achieved the great result of bene- 
 fiting those who have left our shores, and at the 
 same time has effected a marked improvement in 
 the condition of our home population; moreover, 
 these striking advantages have been secured, with- 
 out causing the slightest loss to the rest of the 
 community. There are however other most im- 
 portant consequences which have resulted from 
 emigration. I have already told you that as a 
 nation advances in population and wealth, food has 
 a tendency to become more expensive. Hence 
 arises the chief economic difficulty which a pro- 
 
of the British Labourer. 215 
 
 speroiis nation, such as England, has to surmount. 
 For it is manifest that if food becomes more ex- 
 pensive, wages must be advanced in order to pre- 
 vent a deterioration in the condition of the labourer.' 
 But the profits of the capitalist must be diminish- 
 ed, if wages are advanced in order to compensate 
 the labourer for an increase in the cost of living. 
 The amount of capital which is accumulated, de- 
 pends cceteris paribiis upon the average rate of profit 
 which can be realised. Hence dear food is prejudi- 
 cial both to employers and employed. The em- 
 ployer suffers, because he is obliged to pay higher 
 wages, and the employed cannot continue to ob- 
 tain such additional wages as will recompense 
 him for a rise in the price of food ; since if profits 
 are diminished less capital will be accumulated, 
 and therefore a less aggregate amount will be 
 distributed in wages. It consequently becomes of 
 great importance both to employers and employed 
 that the cost of the ordinary necessaries of life 
 should not be augmented. 
 
 The cheap food which is thus so essential to us 
 as a nation, is to a great extent supplied to us from 
 those countries whose resources have been chiefly 
 developed by our emigrants. Our average impor- 
 tation of wheat is not less than five million quar- 
 ters; a very considerable portion of this is sent 
 to us from the Western States of America, where 
 
2i6 The Economic Position 
 
 boundless tracts of the richest corn-land In the 
 world still remain uncultivated ; each emio;rant 
 who tills this productive soil increases the quantity 
 of cheap food which can be imported into our own 
 country. Emigration consequently not only im- 
 proves the condition of our people by drawing off 
 our surplus population, but it also confers a signal 
 benefit both upon the labourer and upon his 
 master; for through its agency a bountiful supply 
 of cheap food is afforded, and if this cheap food 
 was not forthcoming, an increasing population 
 must gradually decline in prosperity. 
 
 But may not emigration proceed too far t This 
 Is a question which may be most reasonably asked, 
 and it is one which well deserves to be most 
 carefully considered. I have already remarked, 
 that emigration, when once begun, continues for 
 some time to operate with increasing force. No 
 one, for instance, can think that the agricultural 
 labourer can have any valid reason to remain 
 here, working hard for nine or ten shillings a week, 
 when either in America or in our colonies, em- 
 ployers would most gladly give him four or five 
 times as much for his labour. But the agricultural 
 labourer is so stationary, because his energy has 
 been damped by ignorance, and all enterprise has 
 been destroyed in him by the dull routine in which 
 he has passed his life. Each man who emigrates 
 
of the British Labourer. 2\f 
 
 and achieves success, is certain to cause his ex- 
 ample to be followed by many of his former friends 
 and associates. They will receive from him a glow- 
 ing picture of his new life. He will entreat them 
 to come and forsake their poverty for the afflu- 
 ence which he is now enjoying, and they will 
 learn from him that it is easy to surmount the 
 many difficulties and dangers with which a voyage 
 to a foreign country has been associated in their 
 minds. The tide of emigration continues to flow 
 with such startling rapidity from Ireland, chiefly 
 because those who have already emigrated are not 
 only constantly encouraging others to follow their 
 example, but are also supplying them with the 
 money to pay for their passage and outfit. It 
 therefore seems to be by no means improbable 
 that in the course of a few years there may be a 
 much greater emigration from our agricultural 
 districts than has ever been known before. Already 
 an alarm is occasionally heard from some of our 
 farmers, that there is a scarcity of labour. Up to 
 the present time, emigration has not produced such 
 an eff'ect upon wages as might have been anti- 
 cipated, and the reason of this is, that we had a 
 surplus population which could be drawn upon for 
 a considerable period without producing much 
 effect upon wages. Let it, however now, not be 
 forgotten, that this source of supply is exhausted, 
 
2i8 The Economic Position 
 
 for at the present time it may be said, that all 
 our able-bodied labourers who are anxious to work 
 can find employment. We have been so long 
 accustomed to speak of our increasing population, 
 that it becomes difficult for us to grapple with the 
 significant fact, that the population of the United 
 Kingdom is at the present time stationary. JThe 
 last returns of the Registrar General prove that 
 emigration is at the present time so great, that 
 it almost exactly absorbs the excess of births 
 over deaths. This statistical fact implies so many 
 considerations of such vital importance that it may 
 be considered to denote a new epoch in the eco- 
 nomic history of this country. 
 
 Our population during each successive period 
 of our history has been steadily augmenting. Fre- 
 quently, population advanced more rapidly than 
 capital was accumulated, and this was especially 
 the case during the earlier years of the present 
 century. At that time the supply of labour greatly 
 exceeded the demand. Consequently there was 
 then a large surplus of unemployed labour. Those 
 who could not find work were maintained by paro- 
 chial relief, and hence the poor-rates gradually ab- 
 sorbed an increasing portion of the aggregate 
 wealth of the country. The burden which was thus 
 cast upon industry so seriously impeded commer- 
 cial activity, that the industry of the country might 
 
of the British Labourer. 219 
 
 have been permanently crippled. It therefore be- 
 came absolutely necessary to impose more strin- 
 gent conditions upon those able-bodied labourers 
 who sought relief. The desired object was effected 
 by the celebrated Poor Law Act of 1834. The 
 great end sought to be attained by this Act was to 
 limit out-door relief, and since that timeevery one 
 who claims parochial assistance can be compelled 
 to become an inmate of the Union Workhouse. 
 The able-bodied have always shown a great repug- 
 nance to the discipline and the restraints to which 
 they must submit whilst they remain in the poor- 
 house. Hence since 1834, parochial relief has been 
 seldom sought, except by those who are either 
 helpless or really destitute. 
 
 But reverting to those times when labour was 
 redundant, you will readily perceive that the wages 
 of the worst-paid labourers would only just suffice 
 to provide them with a bare subsistence, when 
 there was a dearth of employment for those who 
 were willing to work. When such a state of 
 things existed, no employer would be compelled 
 to pay more than what may be termed 'Pauper 
 wages;' if his labourers were not satisfied to work 
 for such a remuneration, those w^ho were unem- 
 ployed would be thankful to work for him, if 
 the wages which he offered them would secure 
 them any small advantages or comforts which 
 
220 The Economic Position 
 
 they were unable to obtain from parochial relief. 
 You will therefore find that the speculations of the 
 eminent Political Economists, such as Ricardo and 
 Malthus, who wrote at the period to which I am 
 alluding, invariably assume as an axiom, that the 
 remuneration of our worst-paid labourers is so small 
 as to keep them constantly on the verge of pau- 
 perism. These eminent writers are even now often 
 ignorantly described as if they were too hard- 
 hearted to have any generous sympathies. Mal- 
 thus and Ricardo, however, devoted their powerful 
 and humane minds to understand the causes which 
 produced, and thence to discover the remedies 
 which would alleviate, the distressing poverty with 
 which their country was afflicted. They appre- 
 ciated the full force of the truth that the wages of 
 many labourers would continue to represent no- 
 thing more than a bare subsistence as long as 
 there was a surplus unemployed population. This 
 conviction induced Malthus to write his celebrated 
 Essay on Population, for the main object of this 
 work was to prove that the condition of mankind 
 must deteriorate unless population was restrained. 
 The opinions which were expressed by Malthus 
 have been frequently misrepresented; for it has 
 been stated that all his conclusions were based 
 upon the principle, that population increases in a 
 geometric ratio, whereas food only increases in an 
 
of the British Laboicrer. 221 
 
 arithmetic ratio. The employment of such lan- 
 guage was no doubt unfortunate; yet no one who 
 reads Malthus, with an unprejudiced mind, can fail 
 to be convinced by the truths which he demon- 
 strated. We must all admit that it has been con- 
 clusively established by experience, that man's 
 power to multiply his species is so great, that a 
 country would sooner or later be unable to support 
 its population, unless causes were brought into 
 operation which either restrained or diminished it. 
 
 Malthus, in his Essay, gave a most detailed 
 and interesting account of the various checks which 
 restrain population in different countries, and in 
 different periods of history. In all countries which 
 are comparatively uncivilized, the increase of popu- 
 lation has been chiefly prevented by war, and by 
 those periodic visitations of famine and disease 
 which seem to be the certain companions of bar- 
 barism. As nations become civilized, the forces of 
 nature are made more obedient to man's control, 
 and famines become much less frequent. The laws 
 of health are better understood and more studiously 
 regarded, and consequently man is no longer de- 
 vastated by those plagues which in former ages so 
 often decimated a nation. It might therefore be 
 thought that population, unrestrained by these 
 checks, would, in the most civilized countries, ad- 
 vance with marvellous rapidity. The present cen- 
 
222 TJie Economic Position 
 
 tury has however witnessed no such increase of 
 population in any European country, and the rea- 
 son of this it is not difficult to understand. Utter 
 recklessness with regard to the future is one of the 
 surest marks of barbarism. But as people become 
 more civilized, their acts are more frequently con- 
 trolled by prudent foresight; the responsibility of 
 causing children to be born into the world will not 
 be incurred, unless parents consider that they pos- 
 sess the requisite means to rear, to educate, and to 
 maintain, the social position of these children. 
 These are the feelings which chiefly impede the 
 full increase of population in such countries as 
 Great Britain. It must however be borne in mind, 
 that these feelings act with very different force 
 upon different classes in the same country. People 
 may become so miserably poor, that they cease to 
 have any care for the future. Thus the wretched 
 cottiers of Ireland married with utter recklessness. 
 No ray of hope ever penetrated their abject po- 
 verty; and whether they had a large family or not, 
 their only prospect seemed to be to obtain just 
 sufficient subsistence to keep them on the verge of 
 starvation; they were hopelessly in debt to their 
 landlords; and hence any surplus which their in- 
 dustry might yield, was as it were absorbed in this 
 insatiable gulf. 
 
 Our worst paid labourers in England and 
 
of the BritisJi Labourer. 223 
 
 Scotland have perhaps never felt their condition to 
 be one of utter hopelessness ; and consequently in 
 these countries, an increase of population amongst 
 even the very poor, has always been restrained by 
 some prudential considerations. If the material 
 condition of our labourers should improve, they 
 will gradually become accustomed to recognise as 
 essential to their happiness a standard of living, 
 with which is associated an increasing amount of 
 comfort. Many individuals in the middle and 
 upper classes are often for a time compelled to 
 resist the desire which they may feel to marry, be- 
 cause they are impressed with the conviction, that 
 they cannot afford it. But when a man engaged in 
 a profession or trade says that he cannot afford to 
 marry, what does this mean.? He would not starve 
 if he married; but he may perhaps think that he 
 should act wrongly if he brought children into the 
 world, unless he could give them the education, or 
 the comforts, which he has had the advantage of 
 enjoying himself 
 
 I trust you will not think when I make these 
 allusions to the speculations of Malthus, I am 
 anxious to express an opinion, that our own coun- 
 trymen, by placing restraints upon population, will 
 either augment their own happiness, or increase 
 the general well-being of mankind. I have re- 
 ferred to Malthus, because at the time when he 
 
224 The Economic Position 
 
 wrote, the truth of the principle was receiving 
 a terrible verification, that the material condition 
 of the people will decline if population is per- 
 mitted so rapidly to increase, that the surplus of 
 unemployed labour becomes steadily augmented. 
 I know it may be said, and said with truth, that 
 the world is as yet most sparsely peopled; there 
 are still vast tracts as yet scarcely trodden by 
 man, which are gifted with such great natural 
 resources, that they might become the home of 
 mighty, happy, and prosperous nations. A glance 
 at the map of the world will abundantly verify 
 the truth of this fact. Australia, for instance, 
 has been only partly explored, and we make 
 a most moderate computation if we say that a 
 population of 100,000,000 might live there with 
 every comfort that man could require. Again, it 
 has been calculated that the valley of the Missis- 
 sippi, if it was cultivated with as much care as our 
 own country, would grow enough wheat to feed 
 all the inhabitants now existing on this earth. 
 Without specially alluding to particular localities, 
 a moment's reflection will convince you, that in 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, there are 
 tracts of land now unpeopled, which, if they were 
 properly cultivated, might support a population 
 as numerous and as wealthy as that which exists 
 on the soil of these islands. 
 
of the British Laboin^cr. 225 
 
 The truth therefore becomes irresistibly brought 
 home to our minds, that if a man finds his labour 
 is not wanted in one country, he ought not to 
 stagnate there in hopeless poverty; there is placed 
 before him in other lands a great and glorious 
 career; a great career, because he may become 
 the progenitor of mighty nations ; a glorious 
 career, because he will abundantly fulfil the be- 
 liests of his Maker, if he causes the wilderness to 
 become the home of civilised man. This world 
 was made for the occupation of the human race, 
 and it never could be intended that fertile soils 
 should grow nothing but rank and useless vegeta- 
 tion; it never could be intended, that rivers which 
 might stimulate the production of untold wealth 
 should always continue to flow through solitudes ; 
 it never could be intended, we may unhesitatingly 
 say, that scenes should continue to be viewed by 
 no human eye, which are so beautiful, that their 
 contemplation must make man look from Nature 
 up to Nature's God. 
 
 The experience of the last century would seem 
 to show, that it is peculiarly the destined mission 
 of our own country to become the mother of 
 nations. Small as is the area of these islands, they 
 have chiefly supplied the emigrants, from whom 
 have sprung the population which now occupies 
 the vast continent of North America. Already 
 
 15 
 
226 TJie Economic Position 
 
 there are not less than 30,000,000 on American 
 
 soil who speak our language, and who must look 
 
 to us as their progenitors; before 100 years have 
 
 passed, the number will probably be quadrupled. 
 
 In the course of a few years, our emigrants have 
 
 founded the Australian colonies, and already more 
 
 than a million of British subjects are living there 
 
 in a state of comfort and affluence, which our own 
 
 labourers unfortunately do not enjoy. Twenty 
 
 years since, the colony of Victoria was little more 
 
 than a vast unoccupied pasture ; it now has a great 
 
 trade, it has a constitutional Parliament, in which 
 
 State questions are discussed with great ability ; 
 
 and its capital city, Melbourne, has streets and 
 
 buildincfs which would do honour to our most 
 
 thriving towns. These are the facts which give to 
 
 England her special greatness and her peculiar 
 
 glory. The mighty nations which have existed in 
 
 bygone ages have perished, and have left behind 
 
 them no living testimony. Greece was adorned 
 
 with a civilisation which has in many respects 
 
 never been equalled. No prodigies of valour have 
 
 ever surpassed those which were performed by 
 
 Grecian heroes. Grecian buildings have had to 
 
 bear the ravages of time, and yet their exquisite 
 
 beauty still suggests models for modern architects 
 
 to strive to imitate. Greek orators, Greek poets, 
 
 and Greek historians, have left behind them only 
 
of the British Labourer. 227 
 
 fragments of their works, and yet they form the 
 finest literature which one language ever produced. 
 Again, Rome had an empire as vast as our own, 
 and yet when the greatness of Greece and Rome 
 had departed, they left behind them, as it were, no 
 offspring to inherit theix institutions, and to trans- 
 mit their glory from generation to generation. Our 
 countrymen, without feeling any excess of national 
 pride, may reasonably believe that the greatness 
 of our race will be perpetuated, although Great Bri- 
 tain may not maintain her present pre-eminence. 
 
 But amidst the emotions which reflections on 
 such topics as these suggest, let us not forget some 
 of the more immediate consequences which may 
 result from the tendency which our labourers now 
 exhibit to emigrate to any locality where their 
 labour will receive its best reward. Two agencies 
 of potent influence which scarcely existed in the 
 days of earlier Political Economists are each year 
 operating with increasing force. In the first place, 
 it must have been remarked by all observers, that 
 until recent times modern nations were in a state 
 of chronic war. Legislators moreover framed 
 protective tariffs with the view of impeding com- 
 mercial Intercourse; hence capital was only in a 
 slieht dep-ree transmitted from country to country. 
 But at the present time the capital which one 
 nation accumulates is not alone applied to support 
 
 i;— 2 
 
228 The Economic Position 
 
 its own industry; capital is freely sent to any 
 country, if the rate of profit which can be realised 
 upon it is sufficiently attractive. Again, until a 
 recent period, labourers would seldom leave their 
 own country, and they would even often appear 
 bound by an inexorable destiny to remain in the 
 locality in which they were born. When capital 
 and labour thus remain stationary many economic 
 principles could be enunciated which have now 
 lost their applicability. Then it could be said, 
 with approximate truth, that the rate of wages 
 in each country depended upon the number of its 
 labouring population, compared with the amount 
 of capital which was accumulated in that country. 
 But now this principle has to be modified, for only 
 a portion of the wealth which is, for instance, an- 
 nually saved in England is retained to assist our 
 own industry; the vast sums of English capital 
 which are annually invested in foreign countries 
 do not immediately produce any augmentation in 
 our own wage fund. Formerly, if the births 
 greatly exceeded the deaths, it could positively be 
 asserted, that there would be an increasing number 
 of labourers competing for employment. Now, 
 however, it may happen, that numbers who are 
 born in this country may never seek employment 
 here, but may be drafted off to far distant labour 
 markets. 
 
of the British Labourer. 229 
 
 These considerations show that the principles 
 of Political Economy have to be stated with con- 
 stantly widening generality. Formerly, the condi- 
 tion of any class of labourers was mainly deter- 
 mined by the amount of capital accumulated in 
 one district, compared with the number of labourers 
 who happened to be born in that particular local- 
 ity. In different counties of England, the same 
 kind of labour would receive the most various rates 
 of remuneration. Agricultural labourers might 
 through a long series of years have received fifty 
 per cent, more wages in Yorkshire than in Dorset- 
 shire, and yet no single labourer would leave 
 Dorsetshire, in order to enjoy comparative pros- 
 perity in Yorkshire. This immobility of the la- 
 bourer was partly due to ignorance and to the 
 want of enterprise which ignorance engenders; it 
 was, however, chiefly encouraged by the Laws of 
 Settlement, which were connected with our system 
 of poor-relief These Laws of Settlement, which 
 may be regarded as amongst the most cruel wrongs 
 that ever oppressed a class, are now happily modi- 
 fied by a more enlightened legislation. Railways 
 and other improvements in the means of com- 
 munication have wonderfully increased the facility 
 of passing from one locality to another, and edu- 
 cation has made the labourers more enterprising. 
 All these influences have combined to cause the 
 
230 The Economic Position 
 
 remuneration which is paid for the same kind of 
 labour in different parts of the same country, to 
 approximate each year more and more to uniform- 
 ity. This tendency to equaHse the wages which 
 are paid for the same kind of work in different 
 locahties of the same country, will gradually ex- 
 tend its influence, and labourers will show a greater 
 willingness to emigrate, if in other countries their 
 labour will receive a higher remuneration. 
 
 Let us therefore for a moment reflect upon the 
 position of an agricultural labourer in England, 
 and then let us ascertain what will be his lot if he 
 emigrates to Australia. The average weekly earn- 
 ings of a Dorsetshire or Wiltshire labourer, do not 
 certainly exceed eleven shillings a week. In the 
 winter months, he only receives nine shillings a 
 week, in the summer, he not unfrequently earns 
 twelve or fifteen shillings a week ; but it must be 
 remembered that these wages are obtained for 
 piece-work, and they really indicate not a higher 
 remuneration for labour, but that the workman 
 has an opportunity of making overtime. An 
 English mower or reaper will commence work at 
 four o'clock in the morning, and with two hours' 
 rest for breakfast and dinner, will often continue 
 his monotonous and severe exertion until seven 
 or eight o'clock in the evening. The human frame 
 is probably incapable of greater physical effort. 
 
of the British Lahoicrcr. 231 
 
 From these average weekly wages of eleven shil- 
 lings, one shilling has to be deducted for house- 
 rent, and ten shillings remain to supply the la- 
 bourer with food and clothing. This amount barely 
 suffices to give him a sufficiency of the necessary 
 and essential comforts of life, even supposing that 
 he is a single man, but if the ordinary English 
 agricultural labourer has a wife and family, it can 
 be readily demonstrated by the simplest calcula- 
 tion that ten shillings a week will not always bring 
 to that household enough food to satisfy hunger", 
 or sufficient fuel and clothing to provide an ade- 
 quate protection against the cold of our rigorous 
 climate. As I have before said, many collateral 
 evils result from this poverty; a father is driven, 
 as it were by dire necessity, to send his children 
 to work, directly they can earn the smallest wages. 
 For how can we expect that the claims of edu- 
 cation will be considered, when the two shillings 
 a week, which is given to a child for holloaing 
 at crows, or driving a plough, will perhaps alleviate 
 the hunger of a family, or permit a little more fuel 
 to give some additional warmth to a dreary and 
 comfortless cottage. Children are thus taken away 
 from school when they are eight years old, the 
 
 * The medical officer of the Board of Health has recently 
 declared, after a most careful investigation, that one-fifth of our 
 population have not a sufficiency of food and clothing. 
 
232 The Economic Position 
 
 little they have ever been taught is forgotten ; the 
 consequence is, that a great proportion of our agri- 
 cultural population can neither read nor write. It 
 is, moreover, evident that this melancholy igno- 
 rance is due to causes, which are neither affected 
 by improved schools, nor by a cheap and extend- 
 ing literature. 
 
 In Australia, a first-class agricultural labourer 
 can readily obtain seven shillings a day; these 
 wages are four times as great as those which are 
 paid in England. The cost of living is probably 
 not greater in the one country than in the other; 
 some commodities are comparatively dear in Aus- 
 tralia, whereas others are remarkably cheap. All 
 the first necessaries of life, such as bread and meat, 
 are much cheaper there than in England. All arti- 
 cles of Eastern produce, such as tea, coffee, and 
 sugar are cheaper, because they have to be im- 
 ported from a shorter distance, and the custom 
 duties levied in Australia are much lighter than 
 those that are imposed by our own tariff Scarcity 
 of labour of course makes all manufactured articles 
 dear in Australia; but such commodities can be 
 imported from England, and there therefore can- 
 not permanently be any greater difference in the 
 price of clothes and other wearing apparel in Aus- 
 tralia and in England than would be sufficient to 
 cover the cost oi carriage between the one country 
 
of tJie Brit is J I Labourer. 23^*3 /j 
 
 and the other. It consequently appears that the 
 wages of the ordinary labourer estimated not only ' y, 
 in money, but also in the amount of commodities 
 which these wages will purchase, are four times > 
 as great in Australia as they are in England. It 
 has been sometimes asserted that the wonderful 
 material prosperity which is conferred by emigra- 
 tion upon the English labourer is more apparent 
 than real; such opinions however are not always 
 disinterested. Australia has a climate as healthy 
 as our own. A settler in that country does not 
 seek a home amongst those who are strangers to 
 his race and language ; the Australians are socially 
 an integral part of the British Empire ; our Queen 
 has not more loyal subjects; they speak our lan- 
 guage; they read our literature, their tastes and 
 their pursuits are the same as our own, and the)' 
 pursue with eagerness the sports and amusements, 
 which have done so much to mould our national 
 character. If a traveller walks along the streets 
 of Melbourne, he would not know but that he was 
 in an English city possessing a peculiar beauty and 
 magnificence; its situation is picturesque, its inha- 
 bitants are wealthy, and its streets obtain from 
 their width an architectural beauty, which is un- 
 known in those countries where towns have not 
 been built and arranged, until land possessed a 
 monopoly value. 
 
234 1^^^^ Economic Position 
 
 An English labourer moreover has no definite 
 prospect of improving his lot; his life is a severe 
 struggle for existence ; those who are born to work 
 for daily wages end their days in the same posi- 
 tion ; an agricultural labourer would be obliged to 
 make severe sacrifices to save £200^ and if he 
 succeeded in this difficult achievement, our poor 
 law system would prevent his position being in 
 the least degree superior to the position of one 
 who never attempted to save a shilling. The 
 guardians who administer the poor-rates, would 
 immediately say to the man who had saved, You 
 possess so many shillings a week, and therefore we 
 shall deduct this amount from the relief which we 
 grant you, if you apply to us for assistance, either 
 in old age or sickness. Contrast the melancholy 
 hopelessness of such a career, with the future which 
 is placed before every man who is willing to be 
 industrious, where labour is remunerated as highly 
 as it is in Australia. The facts which have been 
 adduced, prove that the Australian settler who 
 earns his six or seven shillings a day might with 
 ordinary prudence annually save £^o, and the 
 eligible investments which are offered to him for 
 his capital are such as can never be enjoyed in 
 an old country. It is a well-established principle 
 in economic science, that where fertile land is 
 abundant and consequently cheap, a high rate of 
 
of the British Labourer. 235 
 
 profit will inevitably prevail ; on the other hand, 
 the rate of profit will be low, where the resources 
 of the land must, as it were, be severely strained, 
 in order to provide food for an increasing- popu- 
 lation. England and Australia illustrate the truth 
 of this principle. In the former country, a good 
 security such as a freehold mortgage, will not 
 yield more than 4^ per cent, interest, whereas 
 in Australia the interest which can be obtained 
 for a similar investment is not less than 8 per cent. 
 Again the desire to acquire land, a taste which 
 seems to be implanted in us all by nature, can 
 rarely be gratified by our own labourers. The 
 ownership of landed property is each year more 
 and more becoming a luxury w^hich none but the 
 very Avealthy can hope to enjoy. Our law favours 
 the aggregation of land into large properties, and 
 with the growth of national wealth, a greater num- 
 ber compete for the limited quantity of land which 
 is brought into the market. In Australia however, 
 the whole community may become landed pro- 
 prietors; three or four years of thrift will make 
 the Australian labourer the owner of the land 
 which he cultivates. 
 
 The emigrant moreover loses nothing with re- 
 gard to political privileges; we speak with just 
 and natural pride of a constitution which gives 
 us all equality under the law, and which secures 
 
236 The Economic Position 
 
 us the broadest freedom, both in thought and 
 speech. But our legislators have up to the pre- 
 sent time supposed that the working classes can- 
 not with safety and advantage be permitted to 
 take part in the government of the country. They 
 have to bear the burden of severe taxation with- 
 out enjoying Parliamentary representation ; their 
 welfare is materially affected by laws in the enact- 
 ment of which they have no voice; wars are de- 
 clared, and they have no representatives to give 
 effect to the opinions which they may hold upon 
 the policy which leads to hostilities ; yet the war 
 may cause thousands of lives to be sacrificed, may 
 cause millions of treasure to be squandered, and 
 may thus bring death and sorrow to many a hum- 
 ble home, and may place a more onerous burden 
 of taxation upon unborn generations of those who 
 have to work for daily wages. I do not wish here 
 to express political sentiments. This is not the 
 place either to enlarge upon the dangers, or to 
 speak of the advantages of an extended suffrage. 
 I am simply endeavouring to describe the salient 
 points of difference in the condition of the emi- 
 grant and of the home labourer, and this com- 
 parison would be incomplete, if I did not allude 
 to the fact, that in our own country, the working 
 man seldom possesses the franchise, when at the 
 same time our colonial constitutions give the suf- 
 
of the British Labourer. 237 
 
 frage to every adult who is not disqualified by the 
 commission of some crime. 
 
 In my opinion, the facts which have been here 
 adduced render it impossible for us to resist the 
 conclusion, that at the present time, emigration 
 v/ould effect a most decided improvement in the 
 material condition of the great mass of our ordi- 
 nary labourers. When moreover it has been shown 
 that the emigrant has to submit to no social or 
 political disadvantages, I think that to every one 
 who takes an interest in the future of this country, 
 there is a subject suggested for the most anxious 
 and serious reflection. For if our labouring popu- 
 lation would gain by leaving their own country, 
 can we feel any real security that we shall be able 
 to retain a sufficient amount of labour to support 
 our present industrial development. Ireland still 
 has to witness that exodus of her population, which 
 has now continued with steady force for so many 
 years; and we cannot expect, nor ought we to 
 desire, that labourers will remain in England to 
 drag out a miserable existence on nine or ten shil- 
 lings a week*. I would earnestly entreat our com- 
 mercial men to think upon this subject before it 
 
 * At the present time (the autumn of 1 865), the emigration from 
 the port of Liverpool alone, is at the rate of 160,000 a year. Although 
 trade has revived, the present emigration shows an increase of 30 
 per cent, over the emigration of last year. 
 
238 , TJie Economic Position 
 
 is too late. I venture to ask them no longer to 
 estimate the prosperity of the country by the 
 amount of wealth which is produced. Let them 
 inquire how that wealth is distributed, for, we may 
 depend upon it, that the welfare of the country is 
 not increased, but, that on the contrary, its greatness 
 is being rapidly undermined, if those who possess 
 vast wealth become still more wealthy, whilst at 
 the same time, the poverty of the poor receives no 
 alleviation. Our leading statesmen have been too 
 prone to measure the weal of the country by a 
 fallacious statistical standard. Around us, on every 
 side, there are striking evidences of wealth being 
 accumulated with unexampled rapidity. Our ex- 
 ports and imports have in a few years trebled. 
 The soil is better cultivated, all the material re- 
 sources of the country are developed with the 
 greatest skill and enterprise, and there are all the 
 outward tokens of vast wealth. When we observe 
 these things we are inclined to say, Mark, what 
 proofs of national prosperity! But let it be re- 
 membered, that the labourers may observe the 
 same facts, and then let me ask, if some very dif- 
 ferent thoughts will not be suggested to their 
 minds. 
 
 A man may perhaps have worked upon the 
 same farm all his life; he may remember how its 
 cultivation has improved, and how the produce 
 
of the British Labourer. 239 
 
 raised from It has been increased, yet he finds that 
 he is still hving in the same miserable two-roomed 
 hovel ; his children herd together in the same way 
 that children herded together when he was young ; 
 he is ignorant, and so are his children; his father 
 came upon the parish when his work was done; he 
 can anticipate no other ending to his own life, for 
 he has not been able to save a single shilling. The 
 working miner hears that those for whom he is la- 
 bouring have accumulated gigantic fortunes, and 
 yet he finds that as he advances scarcely beyond 
 the prime of life, his industrial career is virtually 
 ended; for with a constitution ruined by the un- 
 healthiness of his employment, he has to face the 
 miseries of poverty. Those labourers who have 
 been the constructors of our docks, our railwa)^s, 
 and our canals; works which have yielded untold 
 wealth, too often find that while these mighty in- 
 dustrial improvements have been achieved, they 
 who make them, have to live in dwellings where no 
 comfort can be enjoyed, and where every decency 
 of life has to be forgotten. Let us not forget, that 
 whilst we are congratulating ourselves upon our 
 national prosperity, thoughts such as those I have 
 just described may stimulate great masses of our 
 population to seek those countries, where they be- 
 lieve that labour will receive a higher reward, and 
 a more satisfactory recognition. I therefore feel 
 
240 The Eco7ioinic Position 
 
 that it is of urgent importance that our labourers 
 should become more wealthy, and their condition 
 more satisfactory; for if these ends cannot be at- 
 tained, we shall lose, through emigration, the elite 
 of our labouring population; the intelligent and 
 enterprising will go forth first, and leave this coun- 
 try burdened with the young, the old, and the 
 indolent. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought, that I, in express- 
 ing these opinions, am forgetting the strict princi- 
 ples of economic science, and that I am permitting 
 myself to be influenced by the sentimentality of a 
 vague philanthropy. I feel confident however, that 
 I shall be able to convince you, that I advocate no 
 remedial measures which are opposed to any single 
 principle of economic science. I will therefore 
 commence, by recalling to your mind the simple 
 laws which regulate wages. You will remember 
 that the average rate of wages which prevails in 
 any country depends upon a ratio between capital 
 and population, and the wages which are paid in 
 any particular industry depend upon the amount 
 of capital invested in that industry, compared with 
 the number of labourers, who seek to be employed 
 in that special branch of business. At the present 
 time in this country there are not too many la- 
 bourers; no ablebodied man has a difficulty in 
 obtaining employment; the prosperity of the coun- 
 
of the British Labourer. 241 
 
 try will therefore be impaired if an advance in 
 wages should be obtained through a decline in the 
 number of our labouring population ; for unless 
 there is a surplus population, the labourers cannot 
 decrease in number without affecting our industry, 
 and without also depriving us of one of the ele- 
 ments of our national greatness; since we conceive 
 that the greatness of a country is to be tested by 
 increasing happiness diffused amongst a larger 
 population. 
 
 As therefore we do not wish to see our popula- 
 tion decrease, and as wages can only be advanced, 
 either by an increase of capital, or by a decrease in 
 the number of labourers, we are reduced to a con- 
 sideration of the following problem. What can be 
 done to cause more capital to be distributed in 
 wages? It will be at once admitted that the 
 amount of capital invested in any industry, is de- 
 termined by the rate of profit ; the greater is the 
 rate of profit, the greater will be the amount of 
 capital embarked. It might therefore appear that 
 we are placed in a hopeless dilemma; for if wages 
 are advanced, the expenses of production are aug- 
 mented; the profits of the employer will conse- 
 quently be decreased, and he will be induced to in- 
 vest less capital in his industry. Hence it appears 
 that no advance in wages can permanently be main- 
 tained, which i:ends to diminish the rate of profit. 
 
 16 
 
242 The Economic Position 
 
 It may however perhaps be thought, that em- 
 ployers could charge a higher price for the com- 
 modities which they produce, and thus compen- 
 sate themselves for the payment of additional 
 wages. I have already alluded to various agen- 
 cies which may be brought into operation, and 
 which may prejudicially affect both employers 
 and employed, if an additional remuneration to 
 labour causes the price of commodities to be in- 
 creased. Thus, suppose the wages of English 
 operatives were so much increased that English 
 manufacturers could not obtain an adequate rate 
 of profit, unless they raised the price of their 
 goods 10 per cent. If England was commer- 
 cially isolated from the rest of the world, this 
 augmentation in price might be fairly regarded 
 as beneficial, because it was due to a circum- 
 stance which would denote a more satisfactory 
 distribution of wealth; those who purchased ma- 
 nufactured goods would of course have to pay 
 more for them; but this could not be regretted, 
 since labour would be better remunerated. But 
 England is not commercially isolated; both her 
 import and her export trade extend over the 
 world; in many branches of industr>^, there is be- 
 tween her and other countries a keenly contested 
 competition. If the foreign producers could ob- 
 tain any relative advantage, our own manufac- 
 
of the British Labourer. 243 
 
 turers would be undersold, both in the home and 
 foreign market, and the existence of Important 
 trades would be imperilled. This consequently is 
 a danger, which may threaten our commercial pro- 
 sperity, if emigration from these shores should con- 
 tinue, and should thus so diminish the supply of 
 labour, as to cause wages to advance, and thus 
 make the cost of labour here to be greater than in 
 other countries. 
 
 Let us therefore inquire whether the danger to 
 which I have alluded can be averted. It is a dan- 
 ' ger which not only threatens, but may be regarded 
 as impending; for nothing seems to be more cer- 
 tain, than that emigration will continue, unless our 
 labourers become more wealthy and comfortable, 
 and thu^are able to enjoy many of those advan- 
 tages which now attract them to other lands. Once 
 more I will venture to impress upon you the fun- 
 damental principle, that the condition of the la- 
 bourer cannot be permanently improved, if the ad- 
 ditional remuneration which he receives diminishes 
 the profits of the employers. But can no change 
 be effected in our present industrial economy.? 
 Can no arrangements be adopted which will cause 
 labour to be more efficient in the production of 
 wealth.? If the same amount of labour produced 
 an increased quantity of wealth, there would then 
 be more to be distributed both amongst the em- 
 
 16—3 
 
244 ^^^^ Economic Position 
 
 ployers and the employed, and profits and wages 
 might both be augmented. 
 
 It appears to me that the reply which can be 
 given to these questions will determine what will 
 be the industrial future of this country. In at- 
 tempting to supply an answer, I wish you to re- 
 member that in this country, industry is carried on 
 by capitalists and by labourers; these two classes 
 consider that they have distinct interests, and be- 
 tween them there is consequently no bond of pe- 
 cuniary sympathy. I believe it is only by modi- 
 fying these unsatisfactory industrial relations that 
 we can hope to retain the best portion of our in- 
 dustrial population; for it should not be forgotten, 
 that at the present time many countries are eagerly 
 competing for the skill and the energy of tlie British 
 labourer. 
 
 I am chiefly induced to anticipate the future 
 of our country with confidence and with hope, 
 because each year supplies some gratifying indi- 
 cation, that our present industrial economy is sus- 
 ceptible of a beneficent change. Twenty years 
 since cooperation was looked upon as the mis- 
 chievous dream of democrats, and copartnership 
 was never mentioned, without provoking the 
 contemptuous derision of practical men. You are 
 familiar with some of the great achievements of 
 the cooperative movement; and before many years 
 
of the British Labourer. 245 
 
 have passed, there is every reason to suppose that 
 in many of our largest commercial establish- 
 ments, a copartnership between capital and labour 
 will have been established. It is impossible to 
 exaggerate the blessings and the material advan- 
 tages which may result from thus uniting capital 
 and labour, for the antagonism of these interests 
 has been fruitful of the most baneful consequences. 
 Some successful schemes of copartnership have 
 been described in a previous chapter. The Messrs. 
 Crossley of Halifax, who employ between 4000 
 and 5000 hands, and whose carpet manufactory 
 is perhaps the largest in the world, have es- 
 tablished a copartnership between capital and 
 labour. They have converted their business into 
 a joint-stock company; they have retained a cer- 
 tain proportion of the shares themselves, and have 
 preferentially allotted the remainder amongst their 
 workmen. The workmen are to be represented on 
 the board of direction. It is manifest that those 
 who are employed in this establishment are placed 
 in an entirely different position compared with the 
 ordinary labourers. The antagonism of interests 
 between employers and employed is at once de- 
 stroyed, and thus harmony and sympathy will 
 take the place of hostility and distrust. The dull 
 monotony which must depress human energy if no 
 other prospect is offered except to work through 
 
246 The Ecofwmic Positio7t 
 
 life for daily wages will rapidly vanish ; for a man's 
 career will seem to be bright with hope and pro- 
 mise, if he knows that some self-denial will enable 
 him to save sufficient to make him a partner in 
 the particular business to which his labour is 
 applied. 
 
 It will of course be said that such schemes 
 are impracticable, that trade could not be carried 
 on, if masters were subject to the interference 
 which they would have to endure, supposing they 
 permitted their labourers to become, even in a 
 modified sense, their partners. But the practical 
 difficulties of the scheme will soon receive a solu- 
 tion. It need only be said that those who have 
 suggested and are making the experiment, are 
 men who are unrivalled for their commercial 
 sagacity and ability; they speak confidently of 
 its success. The ground of this confident hope 
 can be briefly and simply stated. The labourer's 
 position will be vastly improved by copartnership, 
 and therefore his labour will become much more 
 efficient. Under our present industrial system, 
 there is no force constantly in operation, to call 
 forth the utmost energy and skill of the industrial 
 classes. The remuneration of labour is regarded 
 as a transaction of buying and selling; labourers 
 are therefore frequently tempted to do as little 
 work as possible for the wages received. Hence 
 
of the British Labourer. 247 
 
 although a very great expense may be incurred 
 by employing foremen and others to overlook 
 labourers, yet no amount of watching can be so 
 effectual as to prevent work being often shirked 
 and badly done. These defects which so seriously 
 diminish the efficiency of labour would evidently 
 be cured by copartnership; if therefore this new 
 industrial system can be successfully introduced, 
 the great economic problem of the age will have 
 been solved. The labourer will have been made 
 more wealthy, more happy, and more comfortable, 
 and at the same time the prosperity of other 
 classes will be in no degree diminished; because 
 if labour is made more efficient, there will be a 
 greater amount of wealth to distribute amongst all 
 classes of society. 
 
 I moreover believe that as the labourers gra- 
 dually become both morally and materially im- 
 proved by copartnership, they will be trained to 
 enjoy a higher phase of social life; for although 
 we may be sincere admirers of the cooperative 
 movement, yet we cannot fairly conceal from our- 
 selves the fact, that the past life of the labourers 
 of this country has not fitted the bulk of them 
 immediately to partake of the advantages of co- 
 operation. They must receive some preliminary 
 training ; they must be taught some economic 
 truths, and copartnership is admirably fitted to 
 
248 The Economic Position 
 
 give this training, and supply this teaching. Thus 
 the workmen who become partners in the Messrs. 
 Crossley's estabHshment, will have impressed upon 
 them by the force of experience, some of the most 
 important truths in economic science. They will 
 themselves witness the functions which capital 
 performs, and they will consequently soon cease 
 to rail against capital as if it exercised a despotic 
 power over them. They will also become ac- 
 quainted with the requisites for commercial suc- 
 cess, and they will soon perceive that no mercan- 
 tile skill can always avert depression in trade. 
 They will also quickly discover that periods of 
 great prosperity are often succeeded by periods of 
 corresponding adversity ; they will therefore know 
 that the most thriving establishment would soon 
 be ruined, if there was not sufficient prudence on 
 the part of the managers, to set aside a portion 
 of the great gains which are realised when trade 
 is good, and thus create a reserve fund, which 
 will enable trade to be continued when either 
 only inadequate profits can be realised, or when 
 perhaps heavy losses have to be incurred. As this 
 varied experience is brought to bear upon the 
 labourer, his whole character will receive such 
 salutary training, as to fit him to participate in all 
 the advantages of cooperation. 
 
 But as we dwell upon this possible future, so 
 
of the B7'itisJi Labourer. 249 
 
 bright and so happy for the working classes, and 
 so encouraging to every one who is anxious for 
 the welfare of his fellow-man, an interesting re- 
 flection may be suggested. Although in distant 
 parts of the world, great, wealthy, and populous 
 nations have been founded by European emi- 
 grants, yet hitherto there has been no immigration 
 of labour into Europe from other countries which 
 may be more thickly peopled, and in which labour 
 receives a lower remuneration. Neither have la- 
 bourers emigrated to any great extent from one 
 European country to another, although in most 
 of these countries very different rates of wages 
 prevail. Wages are lower in Germany than in 
 England, yet Germans have not emigrated to this 
 country in sufficient numbers to produce any per- 
 ceptible effect; they have however thronged in 
 such multitudes to the United States, that the 
 traveller in the far West may often imagine, as 
 he passes through one of the many towns which 
 have there sprung up with such startling rapidity, 
 that he is in Germany; the people are German, 
 the language he hears spoken is German, and they 
 still retain many of the tastes and manners which 
 they had in their own fatherland. When these 
 facts are before us, can it be regarded as an 
 impossible contingency, that in the course of a 
 few years there may be a migration of labour on 
 
250 The Economic Position 
 
 a large scale from one European country to an- 
 other? 
 
 The condition of our own labourers must 
 rapidly improve, when emigration becomes, as it 
 has become in Ireland, a great national move- 
 ment. If therefore emigration continues, the la- 
 bourers who remain here will gradually find that 
 their industry will obtain as high a remuneration 
 as it would obtain, either in the Colonies, or in the 
 United States. But since our own country may 
 before long possess almost the same economic ad- 
 vantages for the labourer as the United States or 
 the Colonies, what is there to prevent the tide 
 of European emigration flowing to us.-* A long, 
 expensive, and a wearisome voyage would be 
 saved; moreover, it must be borne in mind that 
 all the tendencies of the present age, encourage 
 such a migration between contiguous countries. 
 If we place faith in the progress of civilization, 
 we must believe that war will become less fre- 
 quent, and that the barriers of prejudice and an- 
 tipathy which have separated nation from nation, 
 will be gradually swept away. It was formerly 
 thought that hatred of foreigners exhibited all the 
 virtues of high-minded patriotism. But the time 
 is rapidly coming, when those most distinguished 
 for virtue and nobility of character must have a 
 wider sympathy than love of country. A desire 
 
of the British Labourer. 251 
 
 to see your own countrymen prosperous and happy 
 will then be regarded as selfish and narrow-minded, 
 if it is not associated with a sincere anxiety for 
 the welfare of the whole human race. As the 
 prejudice against foreign countries declines, an 
 increasing readiness will be shown to pass from 
 one country to another, in order to secure a higher 
 remuneration for labour. Agencies will in fact 
 be brought into operation, similar to those which 
 at the present time cause capital to be readily 
 transferred from one country to another. In those 
 days when wars were constant, and a general 
 distrust was thus engendered, almost the whole 
 of the capital which England accumulated was 
 invested in her own industry. Now however Eng- 
 lish savings are distributed over the world; let it 
 only be proved that an industrial enterprise is 
 likely to be profitable, and English capital is 
 sure to be forthcoming. 
 
 But there is another migration of labour which 
 is perhaps destined to be far more momentous 
 in its consequences than the one to which we 
 have been referring; for to what an extent may 
 not the future of the human race be affected, if 
 the densely populated, and comparatively uncivi- 
 lized East should pour vast crowds of labourers 
 into the civilized countries of the Western world.? 
 China has a population of more than 300,000,000, 
 
252 The Economic Position 
 
 and her numbers are only kept within these limits 
 by an actual want of subsistence. If she yielded 
 all the food which might be produced by the 
 proper development of her resources, the popula- 
 tion of China would probably be rapidly doubled. 
 Everything connected with this country is strange 
 and anomalous. When Britain was a dreary waste, 
 occupied only by rude savages, China had a 
 peculiar civilization of her own, and had made 
 discoveries in science and art which for centuries 
 were unknown to the Western world. But what 
 China was 2C00 years ago, that she is now. She 
 has remained isolated and stationary. The Chi- 
 nese, confident in their superiority to the rest of 
 mankind, thought that their country would be con- 
 taminated, if foreigners were permitted to enter 
 its sacred precincts. But these barriers could not 
 withstand the active commercial enterprise of our 
 country; having once obtained a footing there, we 
 quickly forced our way by fire and by sword, 
 and we have by successive treaties extorted from 
 tliis inferior race, the right to trade and travel 
 unmolested. But the opening of China may be 
 accompanied with consequences which were pro- 
 bably never anticipated by our statesmen or our 
 merchants. As soon as we forced our way into 
 China, the Chinese seemed ready to meet us with 
 reprisals; they acted as if they wished to say. 
 
of the BritisJi Labourer. 253 
 
 You were determined to come to enjoy the ad- 
 vantages which our country could offer to you, 
 and now we will go forth and see, if there are 
 not some benefits which we might obtain in dis- 
 tant lands. 
 
 People who are comparatively uncivilized have 
 always shown that there is no wealth which they 
 value so much as the precious metals, and the 
 same feeling which caused such a rush of Euro- 
 pean and American emigrants to Australia and 
 California, induced vast numbers of Chinese to 
 seek wealth in these newly discovered gold fields. 
 The inhabitants of Australia and California be- 
 came greatly alarmed. They said, we shall soon 
 be overrun with these yellow-skinned emigrants; 
 all other races will be outnumbered, and our 
 country will be converted into a vast Chinese set- 
 tlement. Californian politicians were not restrain- 
 ed by checks from a home government; they 
 therefore at once adopted energetic measures, 
 and immediately passed a law which absolutely 
 forbade the Chinese entering the countr}^ The 
 Australian legislatures did not resort to so ex- 
 treme a remedy. Moreover in these Colonies; 
 there was a great and influential party, whose 
 self-interests prompted them to favour this Chinese 
 immigration. Australia had always wanted labour, 
 
254 The Eco7iomic Position 
 
 and this want was pressing with peculiar intensity, 
 because the gold-fields offered an attraction, which 
 the working classes could not resist. Consequently 
 the advent of these Chinese immigrants solved 
 the difficulty with which the Australian employers 
 had to contend; for it was soon found that the 
 Chinese were cheap and excellent labourers; they 
 were industrious and ingenious, and they proved 
 themselves to be excellent shepherds and gar- 
 deners. Hence this Chinese immigration soon 
 became a great question between capital and la- 
 bour, and the dispute was keenly contested in the 
 Australian Parliaments, and on every hustings. 
 On the one hand the employers urged, that the 
 industry of the country would be paralysed, if 
 labour could not be obtained; and on the other 
 hand, it was vehemently argued that the vices of 
 the Chinese, who were accompanied by no women, 
 would demoralise the community: it was also no 
 doubt perceived, although not so prominently sta- 
 ted, that the remuneration of the wage-receiving 
 class would be seriously diminished, if some check 
 was not imposed upon this inexhaustible supply 
 of labour. The dispute was ultimately settled by 
 a compromise, and a poll-tax of ;^io was im- 
 posed on all the Chinese who landed on the Aus- 
 tralian shores. 
 
of the British Labourer, 255 
 
 This policy must suggest many curious reflec- 
 tions, when we remember how long, how severe, and 
 how costly has been our struggle to break down 
 the barriers, which so completely isolated China 
 from the rest of the world. Moreover we should 
 ask ourselves. What will England do, and what 
 would be the effect on our country, if the Chinese 
 at some future day should show the same anxiety 
 to come to us, as they have shown to settle in 
 Australia and California? The contingency may 
 be thought too improbable and too remote to be 
 worthy of consideration, yet such speculations may 
 possess interest and importance, if we desire to 
 reflect upon the aspect which progressive civiliza- 
 tion may in future ages assume.. Probably, in 
 every community, there must be always *' hewers 
 of wood and drawers of water;" and if a whole 
 nation like our own should advance as greatly in 
 wealth, intelligence, and happiness, as we could 
 desire, an inferior race may perhaps come amongst 
 us, to perform the comparatively menial duties 
 which industry requires. Increasing enlightenment 
 and humanity would prevent such a race being 
 treated with injustice, indignity or cruelty ; liberty 
 and all the rights of property would be secured 
 to them, and thus the lot of the whole human 
 race might be improved, if inferior races were 
 
256 The Econofnic Position of the British Lahoui'er. 
 
 gradually enlightened and elevated, by bringing 
 them into contact with the ideas and institutions 
 of a high civilization. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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