1 10 3 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/a47983de9b4aadee5d28c21cf85bf4f7.pdf?Expires=1777507200&Signature=IGMSTvL-p7eXCveDLSm%7EOyEdoUOFmjV3bA6zQNXr3U2fa6Oup5RtwG5SsMUechVN9Z5ulDXypO9rEoYby2zR2IZY2MC8ddZTtJm6LIld9KWhbUc7%7EkW5D7w5ebd-TudrdYFq6V6jsdzmYLTCBbUk0vfopvR2ElbAgGqc%7EHk8WOsPYYdTeg0yEukux9Y81fpm3vQpuGmJtoL8iCUL6jVBmj3lObuS4hlTQUZtti-w4eTFpkfGiDeJcICQ1JvSWInqwmNQdzvxCiUDx9enTsWw7MKaEPTljNA3QTrzk9EnSKGbiPT%7EXFMAaIj7tGu9L8H-FGieAdw1-6OiaeVLgH3bLQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 9ea70a55215aacf463295e5c7b16add3 PDF Text Text Az CAPITAL AND LABOUR; THEIR RIGHTS AND DUTIES: A ^RETROSPECT OF THE TAILORS’ LABOUR AGENCY ^jonUnir: WILLIAM FREEMAN, 102, FLEET STREET. 1861. �T. e* vr? »VP CO., Iirst-XTSK ASB GSSEXKL PSSTSSSj, �[CAPITAL AND LABOUR; THEIli RIGHTS AND DUTIES. Ten years’ experience, and the signal success of the “Tailors’ Labour Agency,” may j ustify a few words of self-gratulation, and warrant a simple statement of past achievement and future expectancy. To look back upon the hindrances which have obstructed us, the encouragements which have cheered us, and the accomplishment of many of our purposes, will be a retrospect not unpleasing to ourselves, and may have something of profit in it for others. We would like to speak with diffidence on a subject on which there is not entire unanimity of opinion, and while we admit that in carrying out our views we may not always have done the fitting thing at the fittest time, yet we are confident that our purpose has been a good and a righteous one, and we still cling to it hopefully and unflinchingly, thankful for the (measure of success which has attended our efforts, and in no degree dismayed by thajloubts and scepticism of well-tried friends, or the ill-disguised hostility of mistaken opponents. It were well, perhaps, that working men generally were better acquainted with the science of political economy, a science which has, in the main, established itself on principles of commercial and social soundness; though some of its expounders have driven their dogmas so hard and heartlessly, that many have been justi­ fied in their aversion to the investigating those principles upon which much of their welfare depends. Money, and how to get it, has become of far greater importance than labour and how to live by it; and while the working classes deem themselves excluded from the sentiments and sympathies which make life �4 cheerful and useful, the opinion is entertained by many that it is the interest and desire of the high and the wealthy to oppress the poor and the lowly; that position, power, and influence are ^associated only with the possession of money—that it is the ■destiny of the worker to work on for the enrichment of those that employ him—and that while capital is increasing in the hands of a few, and one class advancing in opulence and living in luxury, there is another and far larger class whose labour •can barely find them subsistencej who are living continually •on the verge of pauperism, into which they drift at last, leaving the like hopeless toil and cheerless prospects as the “heritage of woe” which the working man bequeaths to his 'children. This view of the matter is rather gloomy, and is certainly to some extent erroneous, but any one who has mixed considerably with our working population, our average working men, neither those who are leading vicious lives, nor those whose vocation is dubious and uncertain, must be aware of much in their condition that is unsatisfactory, and even perilous. With all our national greatness, our freedom of commerce, our vast achievements in science, and the growing intelligence among all classes, it surely ■cannot be that the claims of society, the progress of business, or •even the spirit of competition itself requires that our millions of workers, who are the right arm of our strength, and our bulwark -of defence, should be crushed in their struggle for bread; that the body should be exhausted by daily toil till the mind become paralysed, and the moral nature be overborne by physical wants and necessities, rendering the higher aims, enjoyments, and even duties of life a bitter mockery, and a stern impossibility. If this be the fate of labour—if there are laws inexorable in their ■demand, and unyielding in their requirements, which assert this •condition to be inevitable—then is the fate a hard one indeed. But we do not believe it There are some men whom much political economy has made ’unreasonable and unfeeling, who would not deny that in many •trades the workmen may be inadequately remunerated, and in ■some scarcely remunerated at all, but they would leave all that �5 alone. ’’These things, they think, will ultimately adjust themselves by some laws of their own, and any meddlesome inter­ ference with their operation they earnestly deprecate. Such mem opposed any interference with the employment of children of' tender years in factories, and of women in coal mines, and they would rather support the working man from the poor-rates, as a. pauper, than countenance any effort by which the wages of' labour might bejkept above starvation point. They cannot deny the right of the working class to combine to fix the price of their labour, but according to them this is never done at the right time, nor in the right way; and if hostilities are provoked between Lcapital and labour, capital generally contrives, by calling to its aid some extreme maxims in political economy, to get the best in the conflict. This has come to be considered by a large class of operatives as more owing to the power of the moneyed interest than to any inherent justness of the cause in the question at issue,, and antagonisms have thereby been provoked and embittered to the manifest detriment of both parties in the conflict. But, after all that can be said, money has a power—will always, have a power—as the representative of accumulated savings, and the engine by which commercial enterprise is set in motion, and labour made productive; and working men would have long er© now seen their true interests in relation to capital, but for the selfishness of a certain class of employers who look upon their workmen only as the means of money-getting for them­ selves, who think that to be rich is the best thing, and Ke next, best thing to appear to be rich; whose political faith is that “ Poverty is disgraceful, and hard cash covers a multitude of sins,”—whose regard for the workers is dictated by the same­ consideration which makes them oil then machinery—who view them only physically and socially, and overlook those moral relations which are the bond of a common humanity, and the only means by which a people may become happy and virtuous. We are no unqualified adinirers of Trades’ Unions, on the principles by which they have hitherto been conducted; and speaking as working men ourselves—whom, perhaps, fortunate circumstances* �6 and somewhat of an aptitude for business have raised a shade above the merest operative—we deplore the errors into which they have led those connected with them, and the deep suffer­ ing which their unwise counsels have often produced; but we do say that it will be a happy day for this country when the millions of those who sweat and toil, shall have intelligence and union enough among themselves, to combine for securing the same con­ sideration for their labour, as the capitalist can secure for his money; and by prudent, well-regulated lives, promote those measures of social progress, which shall give them a power in the ■commonwealth to which they have never yet attained. These views are not mere sentimentalities. Some of the sternest of political economists have put forth opinions to the same effect. Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, asks :— “ Is an improvement in the circumstances of the lower ranks of the people to be regarded as an advantage, or as an inconveniency to society?” “The answer,” he continues, “seems at first abundantly plain. Servants, labourers, and workmen of different kinds, make up by far the greater part of every great political society. But what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as any inconveniency to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labour as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged.” Mr. M’Culloch, in his Principles of Political Economy, says:— “ The best interests of society require that the rate of wages should be elevated as high as possible; that a taste for the comforts, luxuries, and enjoyments of human life should be widely diffused, and, if possible, interwoven with national habits and prejudices. Very low wages, by rendering it im­ possible for any increased exertions to obtain any consider­ able increase of comforts and enjoyments, effectually hinders them from being made, and is, of all others, the most powerful cause of that idleness and apathy that contents itself with what �7 •can barely continue animal existence.” Again, in his Principles of Population he has this remark :—“ I really cannot conceive •anything much more detestable than the idea of knowingly con­ demning the labourers of Great Britain to rags and wretched­ ness, for the purpose of selling a few more broadcloths and ■calicos.” Dr. Wade, too, in Iris History of the Middle and Working Classes, says:—I am .a great admirer of political economy, but do not implicitly adopt all its dogmas. National happi­ ness is more important than national wTealth very unequally ■apportioned. Repudiating witlheontempt the idea that the rich are in a conspiracy against the poor, and that they do not ■wish to improve their condition; still, I think, that in all fiscal and •domestic measures the maxim should be acted upon, that it is 'better a hundred persons live comfortably than one luxuriantly. High wages are, therefore, more important than high profits •, it is better—should they ever be at issue—the people •should be happy than foreign trade prosperous. It is less an evil that the minority should undergo a privation of the luxuries, <than the majority of the necessaries of life.” With respect to the feeling which ought to obtain between employers and the employed, a writer in a late number of the Quarterly Review has the following :—il Employers ought not to stand too strongly upon their rights, nor entrench themselves too exclusively within the circle of their own. order. Frankness and cordiality will win working men’s hearts, and a ready explanation will often remove misgivings and dissatisfaction. Were there more trust, and greater sympathy between classes, there would be less disposition to turn out on the part of men, and a more accommodating spirit on the part of masters.” And so, in organising and conducting the “ Tailors’ Labour Agency,” it has not been our aim to propound any new scheme of a societary or communistic kind, or any involved or abstruse doctrines; but, believing that practice was more at fault than principle, we have sought to deal with old facts and sub­ sisting relations, and taking the ordinary intercourse and arrange­ ments between the employer and the employed, endeavouring �8 to rear o-ut of that, a scheme of co-operation which should enhance the interests of the workmen, while it promoted the success of the business which gave them employment. For it is certain, that even in tailoring, depreciated and maligned though it be, there is as much scope for excellence in taste and skill, as in occupations of a more artistic kind; and were a body of workmen got together, stimulated and encouraged by an em­ ployer, bound to him by some tie more enduring than the precarious one of here to-day and away to-morrow, were they sufficiently educated in mind and eye, and fully alive to the. importance of earning and sustaining a reputation for superior workmanship, why, a business, steady, certain, and amply remu­ nerative, would reward their application and industry, realise for them what the life of a competent honest artisan ought to be, and surround them with manifold comforts and enjoy-J ments to which a large number of working men are too often strangers. Fair wages for the worker we therefore hold to be of the first importance, necessary as a matter of policy and justice, demanded by the rights of labour, and enforced by the duties of capital. There may be some law of supply and demand which-, would appear to take it out of the category of ordinary obliga­ tions, but justice and fair dealing are amenable to a higher law,, and will not be set aside by arithmetical figures, or mathematical, definitions. The supposed existence of a law in our social economics, by which every relation in life is defined with mathematical precision, has a tendency to destroy that sympathy and kindliness of feeling, which should be for the interest of all classes, and produce a cold and hard exaction on the part of those, who, making haste to be rich, seek to increase their profits out of the wages which labour ought to receive. The man of contracted and ungenerous nature, who is dead to the sympathies of his kind, and has never been raised above himself' by one wave of impassioned feeling, seizes with avidity upon an argument, or seeming argument, by which his selfishness may be dignified with the name of prudence, shrewdness, or common sense ; in this mood of self-complacency he is regardless and �9 Indifferent about the misery, the want, and wretchedness, the debasement which under-paid labour produces among the numerous class of workers whose interests and well-being are vitally important to the community. It is reported that a member of a tailoring firm in this metro­ polis has lately purchased, a landed estate at a cost of nearly ■£30,000. For making a coat, known by the name of “ Oxonian,” that firm pays its workmen six shillings. The time required for making such a garment, is about two days, and the price paid for making it by most other houses in the trade is ten shillings. Now, would not a portion of that £30,000 distributed among the workmen in increased wages, and expended by them on bread and meat, On better clothing, better house accommodation, and more suitable furniture, on the education of their children, and surrounding them with happier, healthier influences, have been a greater social benefit than one man rising to speedy affluence, and becoming the ancestor of a landed proprietary ? It is, no doubt, necessary that wealth should be accumulated, and very necessary that there should be security for retaining it when it has been Btauired; but surely it is more worthy, more noble, more honest to be content with small gains, that labour may have its Equivalent, that the working man may stand erect with a sense of manhood and self-respect about him, than by taking advantage of a supposed redundancy in the population, and pitting the labour of one man against another, seek to extract from that labour the means of sudden wealth, while those who produce it are compelled to feel that increasing labour and decreasing pay are a condition of slavery, most real and degrading. It is a question for politicians how far the franchise may be ex­ tended to the working classes ; but it is miserable trifling, and Something more, for those to whom capital has given a power over labour, and who use that power solely for tffigir own aggrandisement, to contend that working men cannot be the safe custodians of power, and ought not to be entrusted with it. The working­ classes, no doubt, have their vices, many of them arising from want of sympathy and encouragement in the numerous ■difficulties that beset them, but we question if they are worse �10 than the extreme selfishness manifested by many of their employers, which has separated interests which ought to have been in harmony with each other, creating and fostering asper­ ities which have occasionally threatened to disturb the peace of society, and have been at all times the source of much angry feeling. There is nothing in the relation which ought to. subsist between the employer and the employed that implies a right on the one side to domineer, or a duty on the other to be over-obsequious, and it is certain that a kindly consideration and regard on the part of the one would produce a respectful attach­ ment on the part of the other, and make the situation of both much more agreeable. At all events, it would appear that some such principles^ sincerely entertained, and honestly avowed, are in unison with the feelings and sympathies of many thoughtful and reflecting men, as evinced by the magnitude of our business, (Appendix A,) and the increasing power and influence, which, in various ways, it has been able to put forth; and this second report of our proceed­ ings is issued in answer to inquiries which reach us from many­ quarters, and which we hope will remove some misapprehension,, and impart some information as to the exact position we have taken up. The origin and conduct of “ The Tailors’ Labour Agency ” does not rest upon the purely benevolent or philanthropic idea; we might rather describe it as the result of a mind speculative and theoretical, flitting about somewhat vagrantlyand restlessly in quest of a social system free from the extremes of affluence and indigence, which make such a wide gulph in the present aspect of society, and then in utter disappoint­ ment settling down upon the old system, and in the sphere which seemed to open itself up to us, resolved that the men whose labour we had to purchase, should, by a commingling of interests, a gentle compulsion, and a genial intercourse, be helped to wipe away the reproach that their order is more indifferent to the duties of life, and less capable of discharging them, than those in other classes of society. “ The Tailors’ Labour Agency,” then, is simply a proprietary establishment, conducted like any other- �11 "business for the benefit of its promoter, but recognising in various ways the duties which capital owes to labour, and com­ bining several projects, which, while seeking our own interest, may conduce also to the interests of those with whom we are associated. Let us state these a little in detail:— 1st—The system of employment, and its remuneration. 2nd.—Means for the intellectual improvement of the workmen. • 3rd.—Provision for the education of their children. THE SYSTEM OF EMPLOYMENT, AND ITS REMUNERATION. The condition of the working tailor has been for some years greatly deteriorating. Various reasons have been assigned for this decadence. Some have traced it to the strike of 1834, which disorganised the trade societies, and introduced a number of women into the employment; others have attributed it to the excessive competition in the show shops, the “sweating” system, or the employment of middlemen, and the consequent giving out of the work to be done upon the premises of the workmen. These have undoubtedly been great evils. With the sweater, and those who work under him, one cannot associate the idea of respectability, comfort, decency, or any of the homely virtues which are the stamina of domestic felicity. This home-working, in its worst iorm, has got the name of “sweating,” because a scheming and unscrupulous middleman interposes between the employer and his workmen, and, by means, more iniquitous than any truck system, contrives to get the most of their earnings into his own pocket. He feeds and lodges them, after a sort, and the miserable abode in which they work, and sleep, and eat, is redolent of odours neither pleasant nor wholesome ; it is in truth, a cheerless, hopeless, miserable life, alternating between excessive working and excessive drinking, a life physically debilitating, and morally debasing, and folk which, what­ ever he may think of it, the employer who perpetuates it is morally responsible. Several years ago, the iniquities of the practice were ex­ posed in the columns of the Morning Chronicle; and sub­ sequently Mr. Kingsley, in his “Alton Locke” drew a fearful �12 picture of a “sweaters’ den,” somewhat over coloured, per­ haps, but in the main, painfully true; and yet the evil will continue while it saves money to the employers, and while gentlemen, inconsiderate and unthinking about the matter, are content to have their garments made up under circumstances which, could they but sec them in the process of manufacture, they'would recoil from wearing. We determined, as far as we were concerned, to lay the axe* to the root of this great evil, and to restore the workman’s home to that comfort which the undivided attention of a tidy house­ wife seldom fails to give it. We have, therefore, our workshops on our own premises, built with all the requisites for convenience, cleanliness and healthfulness, which the most eminent skill could suggest, and our men come to work and return to their homes with the same regularity that artisans in other trades do, or that is done by men holding situations in mercantile or trading houses ; nor can we refrain from saying that, as a body, -whether as regards character, conduct, or respectability of appearance, they are a sample of the honest, intelligent working-class of this country, of which any employer might feel proud (Appendix B). Why, then, is the pernicious system of home working continued ? Well, you see a workshop is rather an expensive affair. Besides the cost of erection, the implements of trade, and the usual wear and tear, there is a considerable item for certain sewing trimmings, which the employer who gives his work out, generally makes the men find for themselves ; and besides, if a man is at work on your premises, it is necessary that at the end of the week, when you put his wages in his hand, they should be in some measure adequate to the support of himself and family; and hence, in the case of home working, in its least objectionable form, where a man takes out only as much work as he can execute himself, the scanty earnings of the man have to be supplemented by the aid of wife and children, to the manifest neglect of other duties, which are not so claimant perhaps as the bread and butter question, but which are very important nevertheless. In fact, it does seem socially to be of great importance, that a working man’s employment should take him out into the world, to undergo �13 a discipline by conflict and contact with others, which very discipline makes all the more a man of him, and to find the home a retreat and relaxation from the turmoil and cares of a working life, rather than making that home the arena of every conflicting element, the scene of jarring and discord, a place rather to be dreaded and escaped from than longed for and enjoyed. And we find respectable Workmen to hold pretty ' much the same opinion; for, although nearly all the men in our employ had previously worked at home, we can recollect only one or two cases where men have left us to return to their former practice. But then, of course, the 'wages must be fair honest wages, as between master and man, fair too as compared with those of workmen in other trades, and fair in relation to the ordinary necessities of a working man and his family. We do not enter upon any crotchets on the wages question; we disclaim any idea of fixing a standard of wages, or of influencing the labour market; we simply avow our design to carry on our business upon certain principles, and that of helping to sustain the value ©f our workmen’s labour is one of them. It is true, that indirectly we should like to see this influencing' others ; indeed, it has already done so, for we have maife-it necessary for men who never dreamt of such a thing before, in seeking the suffrages of the public, to profess that they pay good wages to their work­ men ; we can only say that we hope their workmen will see to it, that they practice what they profess. The wages in the tailoring trade has now been for many years paid by the piece. What is technically called a “log ” is agreed upon, that is a certain number of hours for every description of garment, and the wages fixed at so much per hour ; the higher priced houses pay at the rate of sixpence per hour, we pay fivepence ; the lower priced houses adopt the more convenient plan of saying, “ Here is a certain garment, the price for making it is so much, and you find your own trimmings.” According to our k “log” the calculation is that a man of average ability shall earn 306'. per week, or 5s. per day of 12 hours, which is a journeyman tailor’s day ; and we have found that calculation a very fair one �14 for the workmen, clever men will considerably exceed it, and slow men will hardly get up to it, but it is such that ordinary men arenot overtasked to accomplish. And then, having a large demand’ for made up goods, we are enabled during the periodical depres­ sion in the trade, by replacing the stock sold in the busy season,, to keep up pretty fairly the earnings of our workmen, so that wehave no need to discharge any of our people in the slack season, but would rather have them attached to our establishment, as much as the workman of any factory in a provincial town ; indeed we would wish to displace the migratory habits of the journeyman tailor, by a desire to fix himself down in a locality, and acquire those influences and opportunities which are necessary to the proper up-bringing of a family, and attaining a social position which may give life a purpose, and enjoyment a reality. In this matter of wages too, we are anxious that the public should be satisfied as well as the workmen. There are many per­ sons keenly alive to the principle of buying in the cheapest market, who don’t desire their articles lessened in price at the expenseof the workman who manufactures them. We know that at the time that public attention was directed to the distressed condition of the needle women, there were many gentlemen who said, that they bought their shirts at respectable shops, and gave a fair price for them, and then were not sure after all that they were not produced at the cost of the poor suffering sempstress. The price for making every article that leaves our premises is vouched by the signature and address of the workman who made it, (Appendix C,) so that should any doubt exist about our pro­ fessions, it is open to an easy solution. We are anxious to say, too, that in being thus explicit upon this subject, we are taking no credit for excessive generosity ; we are quite satisfied that the course we have adopted has been conducive to our own interests,, and moreover, the several schemes which we have in operation for the benefit of our workmen, rest for their success on thebasis of fair remuneration to the worker. �15 Means for the Intellectual Improvement of the Workmen. f The question of the day is said to be social progress, and a very perplexing and undefinable sort of question it is. In its general acceptation it is held to have reference to the respectable work­ ing class, and to the indescribable working class, which is not so respectable. As a theory, it involves a problem which it is difficult to solve, while it has the merit of instituting agencies, and enlisting sympathies, which have had a genial influence on a class which is not “ working.” The well-to-do people, and the scantily-supplied people, have become better acquainted with each other, and there is no doubt that the advantages of their intercourse have been reciprocal. It is avowed on all hands that the working class has made great progress during the last thirty years. Their intelligence, thoughtfulness, and provident habits,. have well nigh extinguished the occupation of the agitator and the stump orator; they are more disposed and better qualified to investigate those subjects which have a bearing upon their own interests, and less inclined to take their opinions on trust from any man or set of men. The Press has undoubtedly exerted a great influence to this end. Mr. Charles Knight, the Messrs. Chambers, of Edinburgh, and John Cassell, have been the knirveyors of a literature which was not poprdar, but which has held on its way, and done its work, to the almost extinction of' the diluted trash which used to be the current literature at the poor man’s table. Literary institutions, too, have not been all the failures they are sometimes said to be. In provincial towns especially they have been the centre of attraction for youthful, sardent, and inquiring minds, and stimulated now by the Society of Arts and its annual examinations, they promise to be of’ increasing interest and usefulness. And yet the subject of adult instruction for working men is very difficult, if not discouraging. With but few opportunities for the acquisition of knowledge systematically, with habits formed, and tastes acquired, which make it necessary to unlearn much, before much can be learned ; the utmost one can hope to- �16 do, is to impart something of a relish for intellectual enjoyment, and, by a little training, accustom, the mind to reflecting and reasoning, so as to direct the judgment to right conclusions on those important subjects with which it is necessary to be well acquainted; an education, too,which can cast an en lightenment upon the conscience, and quicken the moral as well as the intellectual faculties ; in fact, such an education for the working classes as will make them better as working men, rather than induce a desire to be something better than working men. When we erected our Hall, eight years ago, it was intended chiefly as a day school for our workmen’s children, with a kind of vague design, that it should be sometimes used by the men for discussing topics in which they took an interest, or for hearing lectures on both sides of a debatable subject, that they might form their opinions for themselves. A little after­ reflection convinced us that something more than this would be necessary, and therefore we took means to organise for ourselves a regular Literary Institute, with its Lectures, Classes, Readingroom, and Library, and such other adjuncts as experience might, show to be needful. The premises which are occupied by our Institution havebeenfound to be well adapted for our purpose, and we are now recognised as the “ Tailors’ Labour Agency Literary Institute,” in union with the Society of Arts. Although as yet we can point rather to means than to results, still, our Institution has in various ways exercised a wholesome influence, and in some cases has effected a decidedly educational improvement. Our classes have been Arithmetic and English Grammar, English History, Literature and Biography, Music and Erench. The number of persons in our employ is about 110, who are members of the Institution, and the attendance at the •classes has fluctuated from 10 to 40, those for English History, and Literature and Biography, being the most popular. Our Lectures have necessarily been of a miscellaneous sort, but the Lecturers have been men of high attainments, who have attracted large audiences, and done some measure of good. In our Library and Reading-room we are amply provided with the means of passing our evenings in an interesting and profitable way; �17 and experience has deepened our conviction, that could we get our people more disposed to avail themselves of such advantages, much good in every way would come out of it. Working men have many arguments, which cannot easily be set aside, for seeking enjoyment of a different kind; it is only, after all, a small per centage of their number who have the taste or desire for the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, or who would make any sacrifice for a course of mental training, which does not promise them a present good pow and then a man will start out from among the rest in pursuit of some subject which has arrested his attention, and if he has the courage to apply himself to it, and the resolution to persevere in the application, his intellectual faculties get quickened, and by intercourse with others who are like-minded, he gets “ a little knowledge,” which opens up to him a new life and prospects, affording him sources of pleasure which the illiterate can neither understand nor enjoy. Such a man be­ comes a power among other men : the salt which in a great measure has preserved the working classes, has been the intelli-gent, self-taught men who have sprung up among themselves— the “ little leaven ” which may yet help to leaven the whole mass. We have often said that we would stand by our Institution while there were six men interested in it and likely to be pro­ fited by it. We have been frequently disappointed of large re­ sults, but we know that it has been to some a haven where they have found solace and shelter, and we would rather go on hoping ever, than abandon the principles which have sustained us hitherto, or lose faith in the efficacy of working and waiting for an outcome of our labours. PROVISION FOR THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN. It was not because we supposed that there was any deficiency in the means of education in our neighbourhood that we opened a day-school in connection with our Institution—we have seve­ ral excellent public schools and many private ones; but we thought that a school, supported by our own people conjointly, �18 attached to their own Institution, and to some extent under their own management, would have for them a greater interest than any school of which they had a knowledge only hy common report. We thought, too, that from various causes the attendance of the children would be more regular, and longer continued than at an ordinary school; and, that as our members were all acquainted with the schoolmaster, whose interests and sympathies were with them, who conducts an adult class among themselves, and is editor of a manuscript journal, to which they are contributors, he would be more accessible, if they needed to consult him on matters affecting the education and habits of their children, than an entire stranger would be. In all these respects we thought rightly. Whatever difficulties we may have had about adult instruction, we have had few, if any, with the children—our school has been the most encouraging feature in our enterprise, •and we would respectfully ask those interested in the cause of •education to pay it a visit, assured that half-an-hour would con' vince them that this experiment, so interesting to ourselves, has not been altogether fruitless. The number of scholars vary from 70 to 80, boys and girls, some of them being the children of neighbours who have sought admission to the school, and been received at a fee of 6<7. per week. The instruction given includes the ordinary branches, with history, geography, and social eco­ nomy. In addition, the girls are taught plain, useful needlework, with some little fancy affairs included. Some of the lads whom we have trained have now entered upon the business of life with every promise of success, and others, ■who have been with us five or six years, are preparing to follow them. For the especial use of those we intend to have evening classes twice a week, for the study of such subjects as may be most useful to them, and to keep up that pleasant intercourse to which we have looked for­ ward as one of the results of the educational efforts w’e have been making at our Institution. May we here add, deferentially, a kind of practical solution of the much vexed question of voluntary education and state paid education ? If every trading firm, employing a large number of workmen, were to build a school-room as a matter of �19 course, as they build their workshops, and encourage their men to provide duly for the education of their children, it would do the “ State some service,” and might save somewhat in the expense of the machinery by which enthusiastic educationists seek to establish their theory of voluntary education. We have now a few words to say respecting the pecuniary resources by which these various schemes are sustained. Apart altogether from the business premises, and on the1 other side of the way, we have two houses, in one of which is the hall and committee room, library, class and chess rooms, with warm baths on the basement beneath^ ThA enlargement and altera­ tions necessary in this part of thfe j/r'einfises cost'krver £1,000. In the other house running parallel with the hall, and of the same extent, is the workshop, large enough for 80 men, and which with its conveniences, cost £800. The burrent expenses of the Institution are defrayed by a charge upoit 'Ofc member of 6tZ. on every twenty shillings of wages he barns. Thus, a man earning thirty shillings a week, would have to pay 9d., and for this he would be entitled to all the benefits of the Institution, and to school instruction for all his children, what­ ever their number may be. Then, again, we 'hive a weekly penny paid to the library fund, which is expended on books, and in supplying the reading room with newspapers, magazines, &c.; these pennies usually amount to about £20 yearly. We will put this matter in a form which will be readily understood, and we are the more anxious to do so because it will appear that while an Institution like ours may need to be helped a little during its infancy, it is sure to become self­ -supporting, and able to walk alone. Income. Per Centage on Wages ... Letting Hall ... ... ... Extra Scholars ... ... Library Pennies ... ... Rooms let at top of House ...£150 45 ... ... 35 ... 20 ... ... 18 ... ... £268 �20 Expenditure. Bent and Taxes School Master and Mistress Books and Newspapers Lighting and Warming Lectures, &c. Cleaning and Attendance Bepairs and Sundries ... ... £70 102 ... 20 25 10 20 ... 10 £257 We ought to remark that the sum set down for Lectures is only the incidental expenses connected therewith, the Lecturers sympathising with our objects, having given their services gra­ tuitously. This was a necessity which cannot continue. The source of our income is an expansive one, and will grow with the growth of our business, and the small surplus we have now, will soon become a fund out of which we can pay for the services of eminent Lecturers, and enable us to make Lectures a feature of our Institution, and a boon to the neighbourhood. We feel bound in this place to record our obligations for very valuable services, to the Bev. F. D. Maurice, the Bev. Sydney Turner, the Bev. Paxton Hood, the Bev. G. Bogers, the Bev. D. Thomas, Messrs. Henry Vincent, Appleby, Liggins, J. C. Plumptre, Gearey, Edevain, &c., and for wise counsel and generous encouragement we have been indebted to many whose names and labours have long been associated with the progress of education and the social, well-being of the people. We hope that we have set forth what will sufficiently indicatethe theory and practice of the “ Tailors’ Labour Agency,” and that the one will not be considered altogether visionary, nor the other quite unfruitful of results. It has certainly been our aim to make the worker more satisfied with his condition, by making' that condition more worthy of his satisfaction. It is true that our sphere is but limited, but within that sphere, we would like to become an influence for good to those around us, convinced, that wherever such an influence has been put forth zealously and disinterestedly, benefit has never failed to ensue. It is a trite �21 remark, but we believe it to be true, that the present times are -auspicious for working men putting forth their strength, and rising to the true dignity of that position which they are destined yet to occupy. “ On all hands we see a stir and movement in the public mind which is becoming more alive to the necessity of social ameliorations. Evils which forty years ago would never have been the subject of remark, are now examined with a care that betokens a wide spread intelligence and philanthropy. Every well considered measure, brought forward in a right spirit, not only does good in itself, but makes it easier to do more good. Difficulties which appear insuperable, doubts which cannot now be solved, vanish of themselves when we grapple boldly with the -duty which lies nearest at hand. The evils of society, as of the individual, are of our own creation, and are already half con-quered when we look them in the face. No society ever yet perished which had the will to save itself. It is only where the will is so enervated, that a, community had rather shut its -eyes to the dangers which menace it, than make the necessary ■•sacrifices to avert them, that its situation is desperate. Let every one who in his public or private capacity can do anything to relieve misery, to combat evil, to assert right, to redress wrong, -do it with his whole heart and soul, and trust to God for the result.” Newington Causeway, May, 1861. �22 APPENDIX. (A) The amount paid in wages, in each of the last will show the progress of the business :— 1854 ............... ... ... £3952 1855 ... ... 4035 ... 1856 ............... ... 4086 ... 1857 ...3494 ... 1858 . ... 4171 1859 .. ... ...4976 1860 ............... 4 d if’ ... 6709 seven years-* 19 2 0 51 2 2 9j 11 3 11 6. 10 a (B) The following extract, from the “ Conditions on which theWorkmen are employed at the Agency,” will illustrate the kind of connection we seek to establish between them and our­ selves :— “ 5. The first three months’ employment on the establishment will he probationary. After that time, no Workman will be liable to immediate discharge ; but, in case of negligence, imperfect work, or any impropriety of conduct, the Foreman may suspend till the charge be investigated by the Manager, the Foreman, and any one of his fellow-workmen whom the offending party may nominate : and, if dismissal should be the result of such investigation, that Workman shall not, under any circumstances, be again employed on the Establishment. “ 6. A decided preference will always be given to those who are careful and industrious in their habits, and clean and orderly in their appearance. It is, therefore, earnestly desired that the Workmen cultivate habits of per­ sonal and domestic cleanliness ; as it is the avowed design of the Agency, through its entire proceedings, to make connection with it uncomfortableand uncongenial to men of irregular habits and confirmed intemperance.” �23 We may mention, also, that for several years we have had an Annual Holiday ; on which occasion our premises are entirely closed; and the Workmen, with their Wives, are conveyed, by railway, some twenty or thirty miles in the country, where an, ample Dinner and abundant rational enjoyments are provided for them. We have, also, a Christmas Soiree, at our own Hall, when Tea, Coffee, and a Vocal and Instrumental Concert are the entertainments for the evening, These re-unions have had the happiest effects amongst us, and are always anticipated with pleasure and enjoyed with propriety. (C) DUNN’S TAILORS’ LABOUR AGENCY, 12, 13 and 14, NEWINGTON CAUSEWAY. WORKSHOPS—39 and 40, Bridge House Place, Opposite. For Mr_______ ____________________________ No________ Price of Garments_____________________________________ Wages-----------------hours, at five pence per hour. This form of Ticket is intended to verify the amount of Wages paid to the workman, and will accompany every garment, with the maker’s signa­ ture and private address for inquiry. A®" The Wages are calculated at 5s. a Day of Twelve Hours. Printed by P. Grant & C'O., Red Lion Square, HoILorn. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Capital and labour; their rights and duties: a retrospect of the Tailors' Labour Agency Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 23 p. ; 20 cm. Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by F. Grant & Co., Red Lion Square, Holborn. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available William Freeman Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1861 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G5212 Subject The topic of the resource Labour Movement Working conditions Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource [Unknown] Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Capital and labour; their rights and duties: a retrospect of the Tailors' Labour Agency), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Capitalism Conway Tracts Labour Movement Socialism Wages Working Classes https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/12a974651e2c4cfed05f6db2819d1b09.pdf?Expires=1777507200&Signature=FRA2gtCpBw-sVHsIJ594fGC2063vkaoZTV1EKwkYwvVxG8cJG-9w07AiqeRU2EUEMm7yPtjvjCpeT6wv0iBHJVSqQwxFuCURNuqj0y9FMkfjeviRgKylR8HbWkp%7EzAhun65Tr-9csartViWHEwPrVpI%7EOh80pE53GRm-BBMhgtdop1EdwRfJZXnZmSI-AhJe3CFR7HoOcQYT%7E1AyWHqtW2J51I1rhBM-HL7mMOg7jr6gH0j7QL15A2PCI02pFF%7EWYck70d6hZNBDu6hugsUt3bTMx2LQL1S0FylK1iTXq3YHt-ssXw1P1txLGWOR4zPZnYPBw9bwvuZC0wtPyd1nsA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM f9f712daa758baf04cf9c2d9de037b92 PDF Text Text THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE . WORKING CLASS. * *\ & ftttert Delivered to a Meeting of Trades Unionists, May 7, 1868. BY EDWARD SPENCER BEESLY, PBOEESSOB OP HISWEY IN UNIVEBSITY COLL EC®, LONDON. “ The working class is not, properly speaking, a class at all, but constitutes the-body of society. From it proceed the various special classes, which we may regard as organs necessary to that body.”—-Auguste Comte. Reprinted from the “Fortnightly Review.” LONDON: E. TRUELOVE, "256, . . HIGH HOLBORN. ± 1869*1^ ��THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS.1 We live in a day when social questions are for the first time con­ testing precedence with political questions. In the first French revolution the distinction was not apparent; at all events it was not recognised even by sharp-sighted observers, though we, looking back to those times, can detect the signs of it. During the reign of Louis Philippe—from 1830, that is, to 1848—the distinction became every year more marked. It is the fashion to speak of the revolution of 1848 as a very small affair—as a feeble imitation of the old revolu­ tion. If looked at from a political point of view, in the narrowest sense of that term, it certainly was a much smaller affair than the old revolution. But to those who have realised in their minds that there has been in truth but one revolution, which began in 1789 and has been going on ever since, and that the year 1848 marks its transition from the purely political to the social phase,—to such persons, I say, the last epoch will seem even more momentous than the first. The attempt of 1848 was a failure, no doubt. But the history of the French revolution was not closed in 1848, as most of us here present will live to see. In England we have travelled the same path, though hitherto without such violent shocks. We are all of us, French and English alike, moving rapidly towards the most fundamental revolution Europe has yet undergone ; a revolution in comparison with which the great political changes in the time of our grandfathers, and even the great religious changes three centuries ago, were, I had almost said, insignificant. I will not pretend to say how far workmen may have clearly realised to themselves this prospect. I am inclined to think that not many of them have more than a vague conception of it, although they are instinctively working towards it. But the middle class have no conception of it at all. I am not speaking of the stupidly ignorant part of that body, but of its more enlightened and active members. They sincerely believe that the series of political changes which they commenced in England forty years ago is nearly completed. When they shall have abolished the State Church, reduced taxation somewhat, obtained the ballot and equal electoral districts or something like it, they think reform will be completed, and that England will enter upon a sort of golden age. (1) This lecture was the last of a series of three delivered last spring, by request of the London Trades’ Council, to meetings convoked by that body. The first two were "by Dr. Congreve and Mr. Frederic Harrison. �2 THE SOCIAL FUTURE 0$ THE WORKING CLASS* They do not contemplate any serious change, either political or industrial. Politically, we are still to be governed by Parliament. In industry we are to have the reign of unlimited competition. ' Now we can all of us understand that some men, either from education or mental constitution, do not believe in progress at all. They think that all change is for the worse, unless it is a change backwards; and they are convinced that nothing but firmness is wanting to resist change. There always have been such men, and we can understand them. But what is less easy to understand is that there should be men who believe heartily in progress, and yet shut their eyes deliberately to the goal whither we are tending. The truth is that their belief in progress does not rest on any reason­ able basis. It is nothing better than a superstitious optimism, a lazy semi-religious idea that the world must have a natural tendency to get better. As for what getting better means, that they settle by their own likes and dislikes. Consequently the middle-class man interprets it to mean a reign of unlimited competition and individual freedom; while the workman understands it to be a more equal division of the products of industry. Although the workman’s circumstances have led him to a truer conception of progress, perhaps he has not arrived at it on much more reasonable grounds than those on which the middle-class man has arrived at his. For, after all, it does not follow because we long for a certain state of society that therefore we are tending towards it. The lot of the poor is a hard lot; there is no denying that. With a very large number of them life is absolute misery from birth to death. Though they may not actually starve, they are more or less hungry from one week’s end to another; their dull round of toil occupies the whole day; their homes are squalid and frightful, seldom free from disease, and the heartrending .incidents of disease, when aggravated by poverty. For them life is joyless, changeless, hopeless. “ They wait for death, but it cometh not; they rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave.” Those who have mixed with the very poor, and have been startled by the strange calmness with which they contemplate and speak of death, whether of themselves or their relatives, will not say that this picture is much over-drawn. But it is not of this poorest class that I now wish to speak. I say that the lot of the skilled artizan earning his 30s. or 35s. a week (when he is not out of employment) is a hard lot. Perhaps it may seldom or never happen to him to go for a day with his hunger only half satisfied. But his position compared with that of a non-workman is one of great discomfort. People often seem to forget this. It is not uncommon for rich men, when addressing an audience of workmen to say, “ My friends, I am a working man. I have been a working man all my life. I have been working with �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. 3 my brain as you have with your hands.” Yes, but there is just that difference. The one man has risen, say, at eight in the morning, from a comfortable bed, has come down-stairs to a comfortable breakfast, read his newspaper, reached his place of business towards eleven o’clock, and then worked perhaps hard enough for some hours, but in a comfortable office, and with interest in his work so intense that he perhaps prefers it to any amusement, and then back to his comfortable dinner and bed. The other man has risen perhaps before daylight, has toiled ten or twelve hours, it may be under a broiling sun, or a chilling rain, or under other conditions equally disagreeable, and at work which cannot have very much interest for him, first, because it is monotonous, secondly, because the product will not be his when he has produced it. He has snatched his coarse food at intervals during the day, and has returned at night to an uncomfortable home. I think rich people are too apt to forget that, though habit counts for much, a poor man’s, muscles, lungs, and stomach,.are, after all, not very unlike their own, and that no amount of custom makes such a life Otherwise than disagreeable and even painful to him; and that the main question for him in reference to civilisation will be, how it alleviates his condition. How are we to answer that question? Everyone is familiar with the hymns of triumph that are raised from time to time on the platform and in the press. We need not enter into particulars, because no one disputes that, so far as they go, they do point to progress of a certain kind. No one disputes that the production and accumulation of wealth is an element of progress J but it is only one element, and if even this is confined to a comparatively small section of the com­ munity, it must be admitted either that society as a whole is not progressing, or that its progress must be proved by somewhat better evidence than the statistics paraded in budget speeches and news­ paper articles. There is no question about the material progress of the non-work­ man class. There are many thousands of houses in London infinitely more commodious and luxurious than the palaces of Plantagenet kings. But there is very great question whether the workmen generally have made any real progress in comfort. Some of them have, no doubt. The skilled artizan in London gets enough to eat. He is perhaps no better lodged than his forefathers, but he dresses better, and he has greater opportunities of enjoying himself and moving about to better himself. But among the agricultural labourers what state of things do we find ? In many parts of England they are positively worse off than they were a hundred years ago. In the Eastern Counties, where agriculture is carried on by the newest lights of science, the horrible gang-system has come into existence within the present century. Nor is such misery confined . b 2 �4 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSJ to agricultural labourers. It has been proved in official reports that ' the workmen in such extensive trades as shoe-making, silk-weaving, and stocking-weaving, are on an average worse fed than the Lancashire operatives were during the cotton famine.1 Now, wretchedness of this terrible kind does not exist even among barbarous nations and savage tribes. The child of the North American Indian, or the Caffre, or the Esquimaux, does not begin to work in a mill or in an agricultural gang almost as soon as it can walk. It gets better food than the English child, and leads a healthier and more enjoyable life. The West Indian negro has been treated as an irreclaimable savage because he will not toil like an English labourer, and the reason assigned is that he has plenty to eat and drink without working hard for it. I fancy most English labourers wish they could say the same. Really, if progress and civilisation mean nothing but an increase of wealth, irrespective of its distribution, Rousseau had much reason to prefer the state of nature. It is childish to remind the poor man that his ancestor under the Plantagenet kings had no chimney to his hut, no. glass in his windows, no paper on his walls, no cheap calico, no parliamentary trains, no penny newspapers. He was no worse off in these respects than the Plantagenet king himself, who was equally without chimneys, glass windows, calico, railways, and penny newspapers. There are parts of the world now where the labourer is still in that condition. But he gets sound and healthy sleep out of the straw spread on the floor of his windowless hut, which is more than three or four families huddled together in a single room in St. Giles’s can do, though they may have a glazed window and a chimney. A poor Englishman might be ashamed to walk about in a good stout sheepskin; but he is often clad in garments much less warm and durable. What sort of progress is this, in which the larger part of the community remains as miserable, if not more miserable, than in a state of barbarism ? If progress is necessarily so one-sided, it were better—I say it deli­ berately—it were better it ceased. It were better that all were poor together than that this frightful contrast should exist to shake men’s faith in the eternal principles of justice. Happily, we are not shut up to so discouraging a conclusion. If . we look at the whole history of our race in Western Europe, instead of studying one short chapter of it alone, we shall soon see what its progress has been. The labouring class have steadily advanced in dignity and influence. Once they were slaves, with no more rights than horses and oxen. Then they were serfs, with certain rights, but still subject to grievous oppression and indignities. Then they became free hired labourers, nominally equal with the upper class before the law, but in practice treated as an inferior race, and them(1) Public Health; Sixth Report, for 1863, pp. 13, 14. �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. 3 selves looking on the rich with much deference and awe. Now we have come to a time when the workmen are almost everywhere standing on their rights, and resisting what they deem unfair or oppressive. They have learnt the secret of combination. With freedom and dignity has come confidence—confidence in each other. They have grasped the idea that the main object of government and industrial organisation should be their comfort and happiness. What is more, everybody is beginning to hold the same language. Every proposal publicly made, whether to destroy or to create, is represented as for the good of the lower classes. The very employers who are trying to destroy your trade societies profess to be doing it out of pure love for you. How astonishing and incomprehensible would all this have been—I do not say to the ancient slave-owner, or to the mediaeval baron—but to the wealthy men of the last century. Is not this progress ? What if a minority only of the workmen have as yet derived any benefit from the increased production of wealth ? Is it nothing that the arms are being forged with which all shall at length get their share ? Material improvement has always begun, and always will begin, not with. those who need it most, but with those who need it least; and the higher classes of workmen are now making the experiment which the lowest will repeat after them. Once firmly grasped, this truth throws a flood of light on history, and makes clear what at first sight, is so obscure—the unbroken, continuous progress of society. We see that even in the so-called dark ages, when the splendour of Roman civilisation appeared to be extinguished by the barbarian—when science, art, and literature were lost and forgotten, and the world seemed to have retrograded ten centuries—even then, in that dark hour, our race was accom­ plishing the most decided step forward that it has ever made. When the philosophers and poets and artists of Greece were lavishing their immortal works on small communities of free men—when the warriors and statesmen of Rome were building up the most splendid political fabric that the world has seen—the masses were sunk in a state of brutal slavery. . But when savage tribes, with uncouth names and rude manners, had poured over Europe,. when a squalid bar­ barism had superseded the elegance and luxury of ancient society, when kings could not read, and priests could not write, when trade and commerce had relapsed into Oriental simplicity, when men thought that the end of a decayed and dying world was surely near —then were the masses, . the working men, accomplishing un­ noticed their first great step from slavery to' serfdom. What I have already said amounts to this: that the improvement of the condition of the working class is the most important element of human progress—so important that even if we were to make it �6 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. the sole object and test of our public life we could not justly be said to be taking a one-sided view of political and social questions. I shall endeavour presently to draw a picture of the workman’s life, as it ought to be, and, as I believe, it will be in the future. But I must first examine some of the means by which the transition is being effected. I will put aside the various schemes of Socialists and Communists., which have found so many supporters on the Continent. Widely as they differ from one another, I believe they all agree in demanding that the State shall intervene, more or less, in the direction of industry. Now that' opinion has never found much favour in England, nor is there at the present time any large body of workmen who support it. In France the first idea of every reformer or innovator is to act through the Government. This tendency arises partly from the jealousy with which all Governments in that country have repressed voluntary association, but partly also from the logical and orderly character of the French mind, which abhors anything partial or patchy either in thought or action. But in England, where there has always been considerable facility for private and associated action, it is our way rather to depend upon ourselves than to wait till we have a Government of our way of thinking. Hence the only two methods which have any serious pretensions to promote the elevation of workmen in England have both of them sprung, not from the brains of philosophers, but from the practical efforts of workmen themselves. This is shown by the very language we employ to describe them. In France the labour question has meant the discussion of the rival schools, the Economic School, the school of Fourier, the school of Proudhon, the school of Louis Blanc, of Cabet, of Pierre Leroux, and so on. In England we do not talk of schools, but of Unionism and Co-operation, which began in a practical form, and have continued practical. There can be no doubt that all work­ men who care for the future of their class are looking to one of these two methods for the realisation of their hopes. Here, as on the Continent, there is no lack of thinkers with elaborate schemes which, in the opinion of their authors, would ensure universal happiness. But whereas the French philosophers, whom I have mentioned, had each his thousands of ardent disciples among the workmen, our theorists cannot count their disciples by dozens, and are therefore not worth taking into account. But Co-operation and Unionism are real forces, and to pass them over in silence would be to deprive this lecture of all practical value and interest for such an audience as I am addressing. The first thing to be noticed about Co-operation is that the word is used for two very different things. There is the theory, and there is the practice. The theory, as you know, is that there should be no �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSI 7 employer-class, that the workmen should divide the profits of produc­ tion amongst themselves, and that whatever management is necessary should be done by salaried officers and committees. Co-operation, nowever, in that sense, does not get beyond a theory. The nobleminded men who founded the celebrated mill at Rochdale did indeed for some years manage to put their principles in practice; but even their own society at length fell away from them, and began to employ workmen who were not shareholders at the market-rate of wages; and I believe there is not in England, at the present moment, a single co-operative society in which workmen divide the profits irrespective of their being shareholders. Co-operation, in this sense, then, may be dismissed from consideration with as little ceremony as the Socialist and Communist theories before alluded to. Like* them it supposes a degree of unselfishness and devotion which wedo not find in average men, and it does not attempt to create those qualities, or supply their place by the only influence that can keep societies of men for any length erf time to a high standard of morality, the influence of an organised religion. The Co-operation which actually exists, and is an important featureof modern industry, is something very different. We must strip it mercilessly of the credit it borrows from its name, and its supposed connection with the theory above described. It is nothing more than an extension of the joint-stock principle. In what respect does the Rochdale mill differ from any other joint-stock company ? A con­ siderable number of its shares are already%eld by persons who do not work in it, and it is very possible that in course of time all, or most of the workmen employed in it, will be earning simply the market­ rate of wages. A certain number of men, by the exercise of industry, prudence, and frugality, will have risen from the working class into the class above. How is the working class the better for that ? What sort of solution is that for the industrial problem ? We set out with the inquiry how the working class was to be improved, not how a few persons, or even many persons, were to be enabled to get out of it. We want to discover how workmen may obtain a larger share of the profits of production, and the Rochdale Co-operative Mill, which pays workmen the market-rate, has certainly not made the discovery. The world is not to be regenerated by the old dogma of the economists masquerading in Socialist dress. The history of Co-operation is this. The noble-minded men who first preached the theory in. its purity, were deeply impressed with the immoral and mischievous way in which capital is too often employed by its possessors,, and instead of inquiring how moral influence might be brought to bear on capitalists, they leaped to the conclusion that capitalists as a separate class ought not to exist. In making this assumption they overlooked the distinction between the- �8 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OB’ THE WORKING* CLASS! accidental and the permanent conditions of industry. Collective activity among men has had two types—the military and the indus­ trial, the latter of which has gradually almost superseded the former. Military organisation has undergone many and great changes, from the earliest shape in which we find it among savage tribes down to its most elaborate form in our own time. But its one leading characteristic has remained unchanged. There has never been a time when armies weje not commanded by generals with great power and great responsibility. Wherever there has been the slightest attempt to weaken that power and diminish that responsibility, there it is admitted that the army has suffered and the work has been so much less efficiently done. Whether the soldiers were mere slaves as in Eastern countries, or free citizens as in the republics of Greece and Rome and America, or mercenaries fighting for hire as has often been the case in modern Europe, the principle of management has always been the same. Discipline was as sharp among the citizen soldiers of Grant and Sherman as among the conscripts of Frederick and Napoleon. Such a thing as the co-operative management of an army has never been heard of. Now in the other type of collective activity-—the industrial—a similar organisation has constantly prevailed. The analogy is striking, and it is not accidental, for the conditions are fundamentally the same. Fighting and working are the two great forms of activity, and if you have to organise them on a large scale, it is not strange that the same method should be found best for both. And workmen will do well to notice this analogy, and insist on pressing it home to the utmost of their power; for the more logically it is carried out, the more striking and overwhelming are the arguments it supplies for their side of the labour controversy. There is not a phase of that controversy which it does not illustrate, and invariably to their advantage. As one instance out of many, I may mention the sanc­ tion afforded by military practice for a uniform rate of wages to the rank-and-file of labour—an argument which was put by one of the Trades’ Union Inquiry Commissioners to the Secretary of the Master Builders’ Association, and which completely shut his mouth on that questioh. But it is for another purpose that I am now referring to this analogy. Special skill and training, unity of purpose, prompti­ tude, and, occasionally, even secrecy, are necessary for a successful direction of industry just as much as of war. “ A council of war never fights ” is a maxim which has passed into a proverb, as stamping the worthlessness of such councils. Yet councils of war are not composed of private soldiers, but of skilful and experienced officers. They are more analogous to our boards of railway directors, whose incapacity, I must admit, does not take exactly that form. Whether the efficiency of our railway management would be improved �Khe soUIAIj future of the Working class. 9 by an. infusion of stokers and plate-layers into the direction, I will leave it to the advocates of Co-operation to say. Another no less important advantage of the old industrial system over Co-operation is that it transfers the risk from the workman to the employer. Capital is the reserved fund which enables the employer to carry on his business' with due enterprise, and yet to give a steady rate of wages to the workman. Great as have been the changes through which industry has passed—^-slavery, serfdom, and free labour—this fundamental characteristic has remained unaltered. In all ages of the world, since industry began to be organised at all, the accumulated savings which we call capital ha^e been in the hands of comparatively few persons, who have provided subsistence for the labourer while engaged in production. The employer has borne the risk and taken the profits. The labourer has had no risk and no share of the profits. Though in modern times there appears to be some desire on the part of the master to make the workman share the risk, he will soon come to see that such a policy destroys the only justification of capital, and thus strikes at the root of pro­ perty itself. The workmen will help him to see this by their com­ binations, if he shows any indisposition to open his eyes. It is one among many ways in which they will teach him in spite of himself what is for his own good. In point of fact, in the best organised trade—that of the engineers—the rate of wages is subject to little if any fluctuation. The separation, then, between employers and employed, between capitalist and labourer, is a natural and fundamental condition of society, characteristic of its normal state, no less than its preparatory stages. We may alter many things, but we shall not alter that. We may change our forms of government, our religions, our language, our fashion of dress, our cooking, but the relation of employer and employed is no more likely to be superseded in the future by Communism in any of its shapes, than is another institu­ tion much menaced at the present time—that of husband and wife. It suits human nature in a civilised state. Its aptitude to supply the wants of man is. such that nothing can compete with it. There may be fifty ways of getting from Temple Bar to Charing Cross; but the natural route is by the Strand; and along the Strand the bulk of the traffic will always lie. ' And so, though we may have trifling exceptions, the great mass of workmen will always be employed by capitalists. Now this was what the founders of Co-operation refused to see; and in their enthusiasm they fancied they could establish societies, the shareholders of which would voluntarily surrender to non-share­ holders a large part of the profits vhich their capital would naturally ^command. But the shareholders were most of them only average �10 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. men; they were not enthusiastic, or their enthusiasm cooled as the money-making habit crept over them. The co-operative theory was not bound up with any religious system, or supported by any spiritual discipline ; and they soon fell into the vulgar practice of making the most of their capital. What is the lesson to be learnt ? Whatever there was of good in the movement belonged not to the industrial theory, but to the social spirit of the men who started it. If those men had been employers, or if any employers had had their spirit, the workmen would have reaped the same advantages without any machinery of co-operation. Therefore we must look for improvement, not to this or that new-fangled industrial system, but to the creation of a moral and religious influence which may bend all in obedience to duty. When we have created such an influence, we shall find that it will act more certainly and effectually on a small body of capitalists than it would on a loose multitudinous mob of co-operative shareholders. Before leaving the subject of Co-operation, let me say that, while I cannot recognise its claims to be the true solution of the industrial question, I heartily acknowledge the many important services it may render to the working class. Even as applied to production, in which I contend it can never play an important part, it will do good for a time by throwing light On the profits of business. As applied to distribution in the shape, that is to say, of co-operative stores, its services can hardly be exaggerated. It not only increases the comfort of workmen, by furnishing them with genuine goods and making their money go further, but it gives them dignity and independence by emancipating them from a degrading load of debt. Moreover, it sets free, for the purpose of reproduction, a large amount of labour and capital which had before been wasted in a badly arranged system of distribution. If we turn now to the other agency by which the labouring class in this country is being elevated, I mean Trades Unions, we shall find more enlightened ideas combined with greater practical utility Unionism distinctly recognises the great cardinal truth which Co­ operation shirks—namely, that workmen must be benefited as work­ men, not as something else. It does not offer to any of them opportunities for raising themselves into little capitalists, but it offers to all an amelioration of their position. Co-operation is a fine thing for men who are naturally indefatigable, thrifty, and ambitious —not always the finest type of character, be it observed in passing— but it does nothing for the less energetic, for the men who take life easily, and are content to live and die in the station in which they were born. Yet these are just the men we want to elevate, for they form the bulk of the working class. They are in very bad odour with the preachers of the Manchester school, the apostles of self-help. �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. 11 To my mind there is not a more degrading cant than that which I incessantly pours from the lips and pens of these wretched instructors. Men professing to be Christians, and very strict Christians too—■ Protestant Christians who have cleansed their faith of all mediaeval corruptions and restored it according to the primitive model of apostolic times, when, we are told, “all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need ”—these teachers, I say, are not ashamed to talk of making money and getting on in the world, as if it were the whole duty of a working man. Thus it comes to pass, that while they are bitter opponents and calumniators of Unionism,1 they patronise Co-operation, because it enables their model workman to raise himself, as Lord Shaftesbury expressed it not long ago, “ into a good and even affluent citizen,” a moral eleva­ tion to which it is clear a primitive Christian never attained. But you who are workmen, and have a little practical experience of the thing, you do not want me or anyone else to tell you that the men who raise themselves from the ranks are very often not distinguished by fine dispositions or even by great abilities. What is wanted for success of that sort is industry, perseverance, and a certain sharpness, often of a low kind. I am far from saying that those who raise themselves are not often admirable men ; but you know very well that they are sometimes very much the reverse—that they are morally very inferior to the average workman who is content with his posi­ tion, and only desires that his work may be regular and his wages fair. Now the merit of Unionism is that it meets the case of this average workman. Instead of addressing itself to the sharp, shifty men, who are pretty certain to take care of themselves in any case, it undertakes to do the best that can be done for the average man. And not only so, but it attends to the man below the average in industry and worthiness: it finds him work, and insists on his working; it fortifies his good resolutions; it strengthens him against temptation; it binds him to his fellows;—in short, it regulates him generally, and looks after him. Nor is even this the full extent of the difference in this respect between Co-operation and Unionism. While the benefits of the former are exclusively reaped by shareholders, the union wins its victories in the interest of nonunionists just as much as of its own members.. I noticed as a fatal error of Co-operation that it regards the relation of employer and employed as a transient and temporary arrangement which may and will be superseded, whereas it is permanent, and (1) “ God. grant that the work-people may be emancipated from the tightest thraldom they have ever yet endured. AR the single despots, and aU the aristocracies that ever were or will be, are as puffs of wind compared with these tornadoes of Trades Unions, j BufeJ^.have small hope. The masses seem to me to have less common-sense than they had a year ago.”—Zcfter of Lord Shaftesbury to Colonel Maude. �12 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSI destined to survive all attacks. It is an eminent merit of Unionism that it recognises this important truth. The practical good sense of workmen has here shown itself superior to all the cleverness of philo­ sophers. They have instinctively grasped the maxim that we shall best serve the cause of progress, whether political or social, by striving not to displace the actual possessors of power, but to teach them to use their power for the interests of society.1 And there is this further advantage of a practical kind, that Unionism is not obliged, like the schemes of the philosophers, to hover impotently in the air, as a mere speculative phantom, till such time as it can command the assistance of the State to get itself tried in practice. A few dozen men can commence the application of it in their own trade any day they please. Nor is it a cut-and-dried scheme in which every detail is settled beforehand with mathematical exactness; it is of infinite elasticity, and can adapt itself spontaneously to the circumstances of each case. I It is desirable that the workman’s wages should be good, but it is still more desirable that they should be steady. A fluctuating income in any station of life is, as everyone knows, one of the most demora­ lising influences to which a man can be exposed. When an outcry is raised against the unions because -they maintain that wages ought not to fall with every temporary depression of trade, it always seems to me that in so doing they are discharging precisely their most useful function. I have already alluded to the duty of the capitalist in this respect, and Unionism supplies exactly the machinery required for keeping him up to his duty, until a religious influence shall have been organised which will produce the same result in a more healthy and normal way. No doubt unions might offend deplorably on their side against this principle of a steady rate of wages. It is conceivable that they might screw out of the employer every year or every month wages to such an amount as would leave him only the bare profit which would make it worth his while to continue in business. It is manifest that on those terms he could not amass such a reserve fund as would enable him to tide over temporary depression without reducing wages. Every fluctuation in trade would cause a corre­ sponding fluctuation in wages, which would vary from month to month. If Trades Unions were to act in this way they would lose their principal justification. They are charged with doing so now, but the charge is perfectly groundless. Probably in no case do they extract from the employer anything like the wages he could afford to give if he was disposed. I do not believe that unions, extend them as you will, will ever be strong enough to put such a pressure on the employers. I believe that an organised religious influence will here­ after induce employers to concede to their men, voluntarily, a larger (1) Comte Pol. Pos. i. 163 (p. 173 of the translation by Dr. Bridges). �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. 13 sh^?e ofxhew profits than any Trades Union could extort from them. An additional security that unions will never go too far in this direc­ tion is to be found in the fact that some masters, whether from larger capital, greater business ability, or higher reputation, make much larger profits than others. But unions do not pretend to exact higher wages from such masters. The tariff, therefore, is evidently ruled by the profits of the least successful employers. It might have been supposed at first sight that employers would have looked with more favour on Unionism, which leaves them in full possession of their capital, their authority, and their responsibility, than on Co-operation, which proposes to supersede them altogether. But, as you all know, the contrary is the case; and there could not be a more instructive test of the relative efficiency of the two methods. Unionism maintains that capital has its duties, and must be used for a social purpose. Co-operation shrinks from asserting a doctrine so distasteful to the propertied classes, and seeks to evade the necessity for it by the. shallow fallacy that everyone is to become a capitalist. Although everyone will not become a capitalist, no doubt some will, and the net result of the co-operative movement will be that the army of capitalists will be considerably reinforced in its lower ranks. Will that army so reinforced be more easy to deal with ? An exaggerated and superstitious reverence for the rights of property, and an indifference to its duties, is the chief obstacle to the elevation of the working class. The fewer the possessors in whose hands capital is concentrated, the more easy will it be to educate, discipline, and, if need be, gently coerce them. But when the larger capitalists have at their back an army of little capitalists, men who have sunk the co-operative workman in the co-operative shareholder, men who have invested their three or four hundred pounds in the concern, and are employing their less fortunate fellow-workmen at the market rate of wages, why, it stands to reason that the capital of the country will be less amenable to discipline than ever. A. striking example is to be seen in France at the present time. You know that the immediate effect of the old revolution was to put the cultivators in possession of the soil. A vast number of small proprietors were created. Doubtless many advantages resulted from that change. France got rid of her aristocracy once and for good. The cultivators identified themselves with the revolution which had given them the soil, and defended it fiercely against the banded sovereigns of Europe. If the people had not been bribed with the land, the revolution might have been crushed. But there has been another result from it, of more doubtful ^advantage. The whole of this class of small proprietors is fanatically devoted to the idea of property; and in their fear that property should Ue attacked they have thrown their weight on the side of conserfeailSKL and against further political and social progress. The wealthy �14 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSI middle class plays on their ignorance and timidity. All who desire to initiate the smallest social reform, who express any opinion adverse to the tyrannical power exercised by capital, are denounced as Com­ munists and apostles of confiscation. The small proprietors are worked up into a frenzy of apprehension, and fling themselves into the arms of any crafty impostor who talks big words about saving society. Thus the artizans and small proprietors, men whose interests must be essentially the same, for they are all alike workmen living by the sweat of their brow and the labour of their hands, are pitted against one another, and the middle class alone profits by the dissen­ sion. If the manufactures of this country were to get into the hands of a number of small shareholders, simple workmen would soon find the rein tighter and the load heavier. Their demand for the repeal of unjust laws would encounter a more stubborn resistance; the progress they have been making towards comfort and dignity would be abruptly checked. Fortunately, as I have already endeavoured to 1 show, there is no likelihood that so-called Co-operation will ever drive the capitalist employer out of the field. Such are the reasons for which I hold Unionism to be by far the most efficient of all the agencies that have as yet been largely advo­ cated or put in practice for the purpose of elevating the working class, and preparing it for its future destinies. The French workmen have much to teach us ; but I think in this matter they might take a lesson from our men with advantage. I hope they will signalise their next revolution—for which, by the way, I am getting rather impatient—by abolishing all those laws which so iniquitously obstruct their right to combine. Indeed, Unionism cannot be said to have had a fair trial in England until it is established in the other countries of Europe also? It remains to consider what the destinies are for which our work­ men are thus preparing themselves, and to picture to ourselves what their condition will be when society shall approximate more nearly to its normal state. We may do so without indulging in Utopias or extravagant estimates of our capacity to shape the course of human development, because we are not postulating springs of action in individuals, which, as a matter of fact, do not exist, or do not exist in sufficient strength—we are not spinning theories out of a priori notions of what society ought to be, but we are feeling our way by an examination, on the one hand, of the permanent facts of our nature, and the conditions imposed upon us by the external world ; and, on the other hand, of the steady, continuous progress of society in the past. And if it has occurred to anyone that I have been a long time coming to what professed to be the subject of this lecture— namely, “ the future of the working class ”—I must plead, in justi­ �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. 131 fication, that I have in effect been dealing with it all along, and that nothing now remains but to give some practical illustrations of the conclusions already arrived at. That the position of the workman will ever be as desirable as that of the wealthier classes seems, as far as we can see, highly impro­ bable. Some people are shocked when such a proposition is plainly enunciated. They have a sort of hazy idea that the external condi­ tions of our existence cannot be inconsistent with the perfection and happiness of man. They have been taught that this is a world where only man is vile, and it sounds to them immoral to talk as if there was any insurmountable obstacle to an ideal state of society except what they are accustomed to term our fallen nature. The fact is, however, that this is very far from being the best of all possible worlds, and we must look that fact in the face. Human society might arrive much nearer perfection, both moral and material, if there was not so much hard work to be done. It must be done by some; and those to whom it falls to do it will inevitably have a less pleasant life than others. But though to annul or entirely alter the inflnone.es of the world external to ourselves is beyond our humble powers, we can generally either modify them to some extent, or, what comes to the same thing, modify ourselves to suit them, if only successive generations of men address themselves wisely to the task; just as an individual may by care preserve his health in a pestilential climate, though he can do little or. nothing to alter the climate. And so, though there will probably always be much to regret in the workman’s lot, we may look forward to improvements which will give him a considerable amount of comfort and happiness. I will enumerate some of these which we may reasonably expect will be reached when present struggles are over, and when employers and workmen alike have learnt to shape their lives and conduct by the precepts of a rational religion. Employers, though exercising their own judgment and free action in their industrial enterprises, will never forget that their first con­ cern must be, not the acquisition of an enormous fortune, but the well-being and comfort of the labourers dependent on them. Hence there will be an end of that reckless speculation which sports with the happiness, and even the life, of workmen and their families— displacing them here, massing them there, treating them, in short, as mere food for powder in the reckless conflicts of industrial compe­ tition. We shall no longer see periods of spasmodic energy and frantic over-production first in one trade, then in another, followed by glutted markets, commercial depression, and cessation of employ­ ment. For capital being concentrated in comparatively few hands, it will be possible to employ it with wisdom and foresight for the general good; which is quite out of the question while the chieftains �16. THE SOCIAL .FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. of industry are a disorganised multitude, swaying to and fro in the markets of the world as blindly and irrationally as a street-mob at a fire. Thus the workman will be able to count on what is more precious to him than anything else—steady employment, and an income which, whether large or small, is, at all events, liable to little fluctuation. The demoralising effects of uncertainty in this respect can hardly be overrated. Large numbers of workmen at present, from no fault of their own, lead as feverish and reckless an existence as the gambler. When this state of things ceases, we may look forward with confidence to a remarkable development of social and domestic virtue among the working class. To give the workman due independence, he ought to be the owner of his abode, or, at all events, to have a lease of it. In some instances at present we find men living in houses belonging to their employers, from which they can be ejected at a week’s notice. This _is often the case among colliers and agricultural labourers, and what grinding tyranny results from it, I need not tell you. It is not desirable in a healthy, industrial society that labour should be migratory. Ordinarily, the workman will continue in the same place, and with the same employer, for long periods, just as is the habit with other classes. Fixity of abode will naturally accompany fixity of wages and employment. Here, again, we may expect an admirable reaction on social and domestic morality. A diminution of the hours of work is felt by all the best workmen to be even more desirable than an increase of wages. All of you, I am sure, have so thoroughly considered this question in all its bearings, that I am dispensed from dwelling on it at length. I merely mention it that it may not be supposed I undervalue it. If the working day could be fixed at eight hours for six days in the week, and a complete holiday on the seventh, the workman would have time to educate himself, to enjoy himself, and above all to see more of his family. Let us next consider how far the State can intervene to render the position of the workman more tolerable. That ought to be the first and highest object of the State, and therefore we need have no scruple about taxing the other classes of the community to any extent for this purpose, provided we can really accomplish it.1 But of course it must be borne in mind that by injudicious action in this direction (1) As I have had some experience of the criticism (always anonymous) which seizes a detached passage and draws from it inferences directly excluded by the context, I desire by anticipation to protest against any quotation of the above sentence apart from at least the three which immediately succeed it. Taken by itself (although even so it is guarded by a strictly adequate proviso) it might be misunderstood. In the context the proviso is carefully and fully expanded into an argument on social grounds against excessive taxation of the rich. Arguments from the individualist point of view I entirely reject, as I trust my audience did. �THE’ SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. • 17 we might easily defeat our own benevolent intentions. For instance,' it is conceivable that such taxation might become so heavy as to approximate in effect to the establishment of Communism, and the springs of industry and frugality, in other words the creation of capital, would be proportionately affected. Again, the State must not afford help to workmen in such shape as directly or indirectly to encourage on the one hand idleness, and on the other a reckless increase of the population. For example, it must not interfere to lower the price of food or houses; because common sense and experience alike show us that such interference would rapidly pauperise the class it was intended to benefit. But there are, I believe, many ways in which it may add most materially to the comfort and happiness of the poor without at all relieving them from the necessity of exercising prudence and industry. As regards their physical comfort, it may carry out sanitary regulations on a scale hitherto not dreamt of. It may furnish them in London, and other large towns, with a copious supply of good water free of expense. It may provide medical assistance much more liberally than at present. I would add, it may exercise a close supervision over the weights and measures of the shopkeepers and the quality of the goods they supply, did I not hope that the spread of co-operative stores may render such supervision unnecessary. The State may also do much to make the lives of the poor brighter and happier. It may place education within their reach; it may furnish an adequate supply of free libraries, museums, and picture galleries; it may provide plenty of excellent music in the parks and other public places on Sundays and summer evenings. I think that a London workman in steady employment, earning such wages as he does now, working eight hours a day, living in his own house, and with such means of instruction and amusement as I have described gratuitously afforded him, would not have an intolerable lot. His position would, it is true, be less brilliant than that of his employer. But it does not follow that the lot of the latter would be so very much more desirable. His income, of course, will be lessened in proportion as his workmen receive a larger share of the profits of production. He will live in greater luxury and elegance than they do, but within limits; for public opinion, guided by religious discipline, will not tolerate the insolent display of magnificence which at present lends an additional bitterness to the misery of the poor. His chief pleasure will consist, like that of the statesman, in the noble satisfaction of administering the interests of the industrial group over which he presides. But the responsibilities of this position will be so heavy, the anxiety and the strain on the mind so severe, that incompetent men will generally be glad to take the advice that will be freely given them, namely, to retire from it to some humbler occupation, The workmen, on the other hand. �18* THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSI will lead a tranquil life, exempt from all serious anxiety; and although their position will be less splendid than that of the (employers, it will not be less dignified. For in that future to which I look forward, the pressure of public opinion, directed, as I have several times said, by an organised religion, will not tolerate any idle class living by the sweat of others, and affecting to look down on all who have to gain their own bread. Every man, whether he is rich or poor, will be obliged to work regularly and steadily in some way or other as a duty to society; and when all work, the false shame which the industrious now feel in the presence of the idle will dis­ appear for ever. I am addressing an audience, which, whether it calls itself Republican or not, has, I am sure, a thoroughly Repub­ lican spirit, and a keen sense of the insolent contempt with which labour is regarded by those whose circumstances exempt them from performing it. You will therefore agree with me that of all the changes in the workman’s condition which I have enumerated as likely to be realised in the future, this is by far the most precious— that his function will be invested with as much dignity as that of any other citizen who is doing his duty to society. There are some men who are inclined to be impatient when they are asked to contemplate a state of things which confessedly will not be of immediate realisation. They are burning for an immediate reformation of all wrong in their own time. They think it very poor work to talk of a golden age which is to bless the world long after they are dead, buried, and forgotten. They are even inclined to resent any attempt to interest them in it, as though dictated by a concealed desire to divert them from practical exertions. “ Tell us,” they say, “how we may taste some happiness. Why should we labour in the cause of progress if the fruits are to be reaped only by posterity ? ” I do not wish to speak harshly of workmen who have this feeling. There has been too much of such hypocritical preaching in times past, and it is not strange if they have become suspicious of exhorta­ tions to fix their eyes on a remote future rather than on the present. So conspicuously unjust is their treatment by the more powerful classes, so hard and painful is the monotonous round of their daily life, that the wonder is, not that some men should rebel against it, but that most should bear it with calmness and resignation. Never­ theless, it is necessary to say firmly, and never to cease saying, that such language as I have alluded to belongs to a low moralityJ Moreover, it defeats its own object. For whatever may be the case with individuals, the people will not be stimulated to united action by arguments addressed to its selfishness. The people can only be moved to enthusiasm by an appeal to elevated sentiments. If leaders �THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. 19 of the worst causes find it necessary to invest them with some delusive semblance of virtue that may touch the popular heart, shall we who have put our hand to the sacred task of helping and accelerating social progress, shall we deal in cynical sophisms and play on selfish passions ? We owe it to our race that we should leave this world in a better state than we found it. We must labour for posterity, because our ancestors laboured for us. What sacrifices have we to make compared with some that have been made for us ? We are not called on to go to the gallows with John Brown and George William Gordon, the latest martyrs in the cause of labour; or to mount barricades, like the workmen who flung away their lives in Paris twenty years ago next month. Is their spirit extinct ? Were they men of different mould from us ? Or did they enter upon that terrible struggle on some calculation of their personal advantage ? No ! but so short a time had wrought them up to an heroic enthu­ siasm which made it seem a light thing to pour out their blood if they might inaugurate a happier future for their class. And shall we who live in times less stormy, but not less critical for the cause of labour, shall we complain if the fruits of such small sacrifices as 1 we may make are reserved for another generation ? The worst of this unworthy spirit is, that the exhibition of it is an excuse to the self-indulgent and frivolous for their neglect of all serious thought and vigorous action. One is sometimes ready to despair of any good coming out of a populace which can fill so many public-houses and low music-halls ; which demands such dull and vulgar rubbish in its newspapers; which devours the latest news from Newmarket, and stakes its shillings and pots of beer as eagerly as a duke or marquis puts on his thousands. This multitude, so frivolous and gross in its tastes, will not be regenerated by plying it with fierce declamation against the existing order of society. You will more easily move it by appealing to its purer feelings, obscured but not extinct, than by taunting it with a base submission to class injustice. The man whose ideas of happiness do not go much beyond his pipe and glass and comic song, knows that the sour envious agitator will never be a bit the better off for all the trouble he gives himself; and he sees nothing to gain by following in his steps. But there are few men so gross as not to be capable of feeling the beauty of devotion to the good of others, even when they are morally too weak to put it in practice. And though a man may lead an un­ satisfactory life, it is something if, so far as his voice contributes to the formation of public opinion, it is heard on’ the right side. This is the ground we must take if we wish to raise the tone of workmen. We must place before them, without reserve, the highest motive of political and social action——the good of those who are to come after �20 THE SOCIAL FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS. us. We must hold out no prospect of individual advantage or reward other than the approval of their own consciences. Those who complain most bitterly of the slow rate of progress towards an improved industrial state, would sometimes do well to reflect whether their own conduct does not contribute to retard » it. The selfish spirit follows us even into our labours for others, and takes the form of vanity and ambition. Probably all of us have had frequent occasion to observe how the cause of labour has suffered from ignoble jealousies and personal rivalries. Yet it is the greatest spirits who are invariably most ready to.t^ke the subordinate position ' and to accept obscurity with a noble satisfaction. The finest type k of theocratic government, the lawgiver of the Hebrew nation, was ready to be blotted out of God’s book, so that the humblest and lowest, the rank-and-file of his people, might enter the promised land. The greatest of the apostles wished that he himself might, be accuised from Christ, if at that price he might purchase salvation for an obscure mob of Jews. “ Reputation,” said the hero of the French revolution, “ what is that ? Blighted be my name, but let France be free.” So speaks a Moses, a Paul, or a Danton, while petty ambi­ tions are stickling for precedence, and posturing before the gaze of their contemporaries. Devotion, forgetfulness of self, a readiness to obey rather than an eagerness to command—-if a man has not these qualities he is but common clay, he is not fit to lead his fellows. Det us school ourselves into a readiness not merely to storm the breach, but to lie down in the trench, that others may pass over our. bodies as over a bridge to victory. It is a spirit which has never been found wanting whenever there has been a great cause to call it forth; and a greater cause than that of the workman of Europe advancing to their final emancipation, this world is not likely to see again. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The social future of the working class: a lecture delivered to a meeting of Trades Unionists, May 7, 1868 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beesly, Edward Spencer [1831-1915.] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 20 p. ; 23 cm. Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Reprinted from Fortnightly Review. "This lecture was the last in a series of three delivered last spring, by request of the London Trades' Council, to meetings convoked by that body. The first two were given by Dr. Congreve and Mr. Frederic Harrison". [p. 1]. Title page brown and paper acidified. Tears at edges of title page. Printed by Virtue & Co., London. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available E. Truelove Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G5208 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The social future of the working class: a lecture delivered to a meeting of Trades Unionists, May 7, 1868), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Labour Movement Socialism Capitalism Conway Tracts Labour Movement Political reform Social Reform Socialism Working Class-Great Britain https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/d19d5fde2c9fea7a6a74dd56095bbffe.pdf?Expires=1777507200&Signature=H4devAHqzJbKXYxU15Vq2LRKE5kWIBw17xJf9vKrj7QpxkYCIDTER7A4x0eEEuxthy3%7EDLs4%7EKHAcxcaP8oxuwCTEgyVcYlz3tSiKhtjZwtxoAHTBYZojrcBrsxvChPWnKKCKdVHeQeIZmku7Xy8BQ-%7EK1oHmIXo6IT5uXWSGx1ubUszEb1WM0SBNZ4hJDqabHd0Kh5VgBT9eapZ6tksv%7ElSKTqdAJwunmIfFIZIT61lqFf19WMD8ik88CnRgcbXBUSveNkjuiB1M5FTcbRb8F98rTLw2fwDySMaYmf1MHXm4eK6qSUy407MR6iPIJ0ZvIdhlBS%7EL06%7ELwTTz-UEuw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 58943ba82f323d48f00837847442d178 PDF Text Text £6^ THE SOCIAL QUESTION. y ' • • A SPEECH DELIVERED BY Deputy JOHANN JACOBY, TO HIS CONSTITUENTS OF THE SECOND ARRONDISSEMENT OF BERLIN, ON THE 20th JANUARY, 1870 ■“ Men shall not be masters and servants, for all are born to liberty.” Abraham Lincoln. PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 1870. ��OmL QUES TIO N. T Dear Fellow Citizens and Friends, The mandate you have confided to me expires with the close of the present session of Parliament. I am happy that this meeting of my constituents gives me an opportunity of thanking you once more for the confidence you have so faithfully and truthfully continued to place in me at a time when political convictions are vacillating in the extreme. The last time I addressed you from this tribune, I essayed to n . t xi.„ —n—„„„ w .Xgtuiwh'A bpd J1 ftk tyd twfil nj. M VA ..rt'ioi’ixj 'ifcbVi-M 4‘'-5luofi OS jrp’/, .Axniii'c* M>i /’ , ' <fv >1 ■! b/ir* -.■ii WP ■■ ‘ . ’^301.8W»j MfuJl * ww *• «w‘t '< ♦ “ ini r.tAjitiru 'i- ■’ M0 tfii.ll id " M JjW ln-i’ '** l jaeailBd.Ktoui Li ■>' ' •*»»»<> »•■)-H-sn* *n few’ ■'1 ■ nut you ail Knowxnavcms-wonuei-xia-s git«o « been realised, without the aid of the gods, in the most natural manner in the world, namely, by insight into the laws and by em­ ployment of the forces of nature; that which appeared formerly impossible to the wisest of the Greeks, is realised daily under our eyes. But how has this miracle come about ? How has this happy result been brought to pass, which Aristotle anticipated, of such a state of things ? Experience teaches us that by the grand mechanical discoveries which have been made in our time, national riches have imEneasurably increased, but that the unfortunate and painful lot of the laborious classes has been at best but ameliorated. ’ �ERRATA. Page 1, last line, for “ laborious,” read labouring. Page 5, line 14 from bottom, for “ restoring,” read restricting. Page 7, line 20 from top, after “ credit,” put a comma. Page 7, line 3 from bottom, for “ gem,” read germ,. Page 8, line 22 from bottom, for “ only,” read on. Page 10, line 14 from top, for “ these,” read other. Page 12, line 10 from top, after “ does,” put ratf. Page 12, line 2 from top, for “verum,” read rerum. Same page line 2 from bottom, for K law ” read labour. Page 16, line 13 from bottom, after the word “ majority,” insert —of mankind as wage-labourers. �TH E S 0 C I A L QUESTION. Dear Fellow Citizens and Friends, The mandate you have confided to me expires with the close of the present session of Parliament. I am happy that this meeting of my constituents gives me an opportunity of thanking you once more for the confidence you have so faithfully and truthfully continued to place in me at a time when political convictions are vacillating in the extreme. The last time I addressed you from this tribune, I essayed to explain to you the end which the radical German party had in view, and above all, its position with regard to the working men’s agitation; permit me to-day to take as the subject of my deli­ beration, this working men’s movement itself, or, as it is ordinarily termed, the social question. The political and social conditions of a country being intimately allied, every elector has a right to demand a declaration of social as well as political faith from his deputy. I shall endeavour to answer this question with entire frankness. Aristotle, one of the greatest thinkers of humanity, divides mankind into two classes—free men and men born for slavery. He pretends that the Greeks, thanks to their independent character, were called to dominate over other nations, whilst the barbarian races were destined either to be governed or for slavery. He sees a social necessity in this institution—he considers it as an essential and indispensable basis of the State and of society; for supposing that free citizens should find them­ selves under the necessity of providing by their labour for the needs of life, whence could arise the desire to form their intellect, and the leisure to occupy themselves with affairs of State ? And yet, gentlemen, we find in Aristotle a remarkable passage con­ cerning the possibility of a state of society without slavery. If there were animated instruments (automatons) he says, capable of rendering us those services now performed by slaves; if each of these instruments, comprehending or even acting in advance of the wish of man, could execute the labour confided to him after the manner of the Statutes of Daedalus and the tables of Hephaestus, which, according to Homer, entered of their own accord into the chambers of the gods; if the shuttles could weave alone, and guitars could perform melodies without musi­ cians, then weavers would have no need of workmen, nor masters of slaves. But you all know that this wonder has in great part already been realised, without the aid of the gods, in the most natural manner in the world, namely, by insight into the laws and by em­ ployment of the forces of nature; that which appeared formerly impossible to the wisest of the Greeks, is realised daily under our eyes. But how has this miracle come about ? How has this Bappy result been brought to pass, which Aristotle anticipated, of such a state of things ? Experience teaches us that by the grand mechanical discoveries which have been made in our time, national riches have immeasurably increased, but that the unfortunate and painful lot of the laborious classes has been at best but ameliorated. �4 Permit me now, in conformity with, enlarged experience, fur­ ther to develop the dream of Aristotle. Let us suppose that in some distant future of the human race, the entire soil of the globe shall have passed into a state of private property, and that man, by the progress of science, shall have acquired the mastery of nature, that the inventions of mechanism shall have attained such a state of perfection, that machines shall be constructed, and shall practise by means of other machines, so that all phy­ sical labour shall have become superfluous, . or that at least its necessity shall have been reduced to a minimum. What would be the result of such a state of things ?. It will then naturally happen that in virtue of the force of attraction, which the greater capital exercises upon the lesser,, a relatively small number of rich persons will find themselves in the possession of all the machines and all the means of labour; it is to this small number alone to whom the common revenues of the country will accrue, as well as all the wealth which is neces­ sary for the wants and the pleasures of life, and that from a point of view now admitted as just. But what would happen under such circumstances—and granted the complete depreciation of labour—what would become of the disinherited mass of the working proletariat, if the charity of the possessors of capital did not come to their rescue ? What other resource would remain open to these unfortunate people, but the alternative of dying of hunger, or modifying in their own favour the existing relationships of society and of property, either by force or by fraud ? It will be said that this is a vain phantom, proposed to frighten us, and that a similar state of society will never be realised, either in the present or in the future. I admit this—not how­ ever, because the thing in itself is impossible—but because it is impossible that intelligent men will allow matters to reach such a point. But can we hide from ourselves the fact that existing social life, based as it is upon the domination of capital, and upon the system of wages, tends to such a direction, that unless obstructed, it would lead us nearer every day towards a state like that we have just described ? Must we not acknowledge, that even at the present time, the distribution of the common revenues of the country is made in such a manner that, at least, a part of the working proletariat is exposed to the distress we have depicted. In such a condition of things, it is the incumbent duty of every honest and thoughtful man, to put to himself the following question:— How can we modify the present relations of society and property, so as to realise a more equitable distribution of the common revenue, and to obviate the distress of the working classes, which daily assumes more extended proportions ? In examining more closely the problem, the solution of which we seek, there are two principal features which characterise the economic relationships of the existing order of society, and which �5 distinguish it from those of the past—the system of wages and great ^collective industry. In the past, the social labours were executed in a great measure by slaves or serfs; since the great French Revolution, there have no longer existed seignorial rights of man over man. By right, that is to say legally, every workman is free and dis­ poses of himself, but in the fact, he is anything but independent. Deprived of the necessary means and conditions of labour, with­ out any other property but the faculty of labour, he sees himself [under the necessity of working in the service of another foi' |c wages,” and for wages which scarcely suffice for the bare maintenance of life. If he finds no demand for the sole mer­ chandise he has to dispose of, that is to say, for his labour, he falls with those depending on him into extreme misery. Not­ withstanding this painful and precarious situation, a labourer ■could with difficulty be found, who would return to the ancient social state; what he wants is an existence worthy of a man, and he knows that it is in liberty alone that he can attain it. As the French Revolution declared the labourer free as regards his person, it also delivered property from the fetters of the middle ages; without regard to primitive obligations and destina­ tions, it gave him who was then in possession the absolute right to dispose of his property. This liberation of property, the employment of steam which soon followed, and the general introduction of machinery into workshops, introduced great and weighty changes into economic End social relations. Trades and small commerce were more or less driven into the background: commerce upon a large scale, End great industry, that is to say, production by capital, took their place. Nevertheless, painful as became the situation of the poorer workman and of the small dealer by this change, the Advantages of great collective industry are too important with regard to the development of civilisation for society ever to forego them. A return to small commerce and to small trade is for the future as impossible as a return to statute labour. In consequence, we must confine our question to the following ■Propositions:— How can we, without restoring the liberty of labour, and without prejudicing the progress obtained by industry (on a large scale), realise a more equitable distribution of the common revenue, and one more suited to the interest of all ? The answer for us at least cannot be a doubtful one; there is ■but one means which can lead us to this end : The abolition of the wage-system and the substitution in its place of co-operative labour. Whoever can read the signs of the times, will not deny that this is the thought, which more or less consciously is at the bottom of all working men’s movements in every country of Europe. Just as slavery and serfdom, which were also formerly held to be necessary social institutions, have everywhere given way to the wage-system, so impends to-day a revolution of the same kind, and not less important; namely, the transition of the �wage-system to labour, and labour free and equal in the right of association. It is needful so to act, that this revolution be effected in the most peaceful manner, which cannot happen except by the unanimous concurrence of all the social forces interested in it. The question which now occupies us should therefore be thus stated:— What must (1st) the workman, (2nd) the manufacturer—the possessor of capital, (3rd) the State do, to advance the transition already commenced towards production by association, and to conduct it to a good issue in the interests of the community ? We see that, to answer this question, we have nothing to do but review the facts which are occurring before us, a certain proof that we find ourselves at present in the midst of a social change. (1.) With regard to the workman himself, it is needful, above all, that he should have a clear idea of his position, and that he should learn to know and to respect the noblei’ side of human nature that is within him. We have already said that, in general, the wages of the labourer suffice only for the miserable support of himself and of his family. If any one doubts this pitiful condition of wages, we would refer him to the testimony rendered some time back by a Commission of the Customs to Parliament, in a report upon the estimate of the wages of workmen; it is written in striking terms. “ We cannot allow the assertion that there is a sensible differ­ ence between the wages of the workman and the means necessary for his bare maintenance to pass unnoticed. The amount of wages is precisely the point around which the whole of the social question practically moves. Workmen affirm the insufficiency of wages, the employers do not contest this in principle, but they declare the amount of wages to be a fixed link in the chain of economic phenomena, and that under the control of the market in which they find themselves, they cannot arbitrarily change it without breaking the whole chain. As long as this contest is not decided, and we fear that it may be eternal (sic), we must rest ourselves as being the sole point of any real solid foundation upon the opinion that the two terms, ‘wages’ and ‘means of indispensable existence,’ generally compensate each other.” “ The indestructible chain of economic phenomena!” Really one could scarcely find a more striking expression ! Doubtless, the lords of capital and the dispensers of labour will not be impeded in the accumulation of capital upon capital; but very heavily does this “ chain of economic phenomena ” weigh upon the working classes. And yet here again the saying of the poet confirms itself— “ There dwells a spirit of good even in that which is evil! ” The dominant industrial system whilst necessitating the assemblage of large masses of labourers in the same locality, furnishes at the same time the first step for doing away with the evil it engenders. As man learns from a glass the knowledge of the features of his own face, so the salaried workman attains to a complete acquaintance of his situation only by perceiving his own �7 •condition reflected m the common misery of his companions in suffering. In common with his equally ill-favoured and equally oppressed companions, by constant intercourse and exchange of ideas with his equals, by the mutual co-operation of reciprocal assistance and of defence against the common danger, there is developed by degrees among the workmen a bond of brotherhood, which supports individuals, educates them, and urges the whole body to struggle for their social rights. It is a singular occur­ rence that it should be production by capital that itself assembles and disciplines the forces destined to put an end to the domination of capital and of the classes which represent it. It is from these great industrial agglomerations that the work­ ing men’s movement has arisen, which for this last ten years has spread itself from England to France, to Belgium, to Germany, to Switzerland, and has acquired by the foundation of the International Association a precise form and a positive power. On all sides we find societies taking root, whose object is the amelioration -of the material condition of the working classes; societies of bartizans and of labourers, associations for instruction, for assist­ ance, for consumption, for advances, and for credit unions for manufacture and production. It is to be foreseen, that under the pressure of prevailing financial and economical relationships, all these institutions proceeding from the workman alone, and founded upon the principle of “ self-help,” will prove insufficient in the face of the common wants. But their services will have been considerable in aiding the intellectual and moral development of the working class and in starting a serious reform in the condition of labour. The true meaning of the inappreciable value of these associations consists in that, irrespectively of their spe­ cific end, they form a school for the members of the Association, and render them capable of managing their own affairs as well as of co-operating efficaciously with others. By education, by pro­ gress in the knowledge of affairs, and by the development of a friendly lien among the workmen, they prepare them insensibly to pass from the wage-system now in vigour to the system of production by association, which is that of the future. It was the spirit of association which elevated the laborious citizen class, in the middle ages, to such a high degree of civiliza­ tion, of well being, of power, and of importance. The awakening of this spirit of association, will lead us in our own days to ■results, similar, yet more fruitful, not for a single state, but for the entire human society. The labour question, as we understand it, is not a question of mere bread and money ; it is a question of justice, of civilization, and of humanity. Our pretended saviours of the State and Society, “ the glorious conquests of politics by blood and iron,” will long, like a superannuated legend, have fallen into the profoundest oblivion, when it will be accorded as a merit to our time to have awakened and fostered the spirit of association, the gem ■of human virtue and greatness. By this means, our epoch will have laid the foundations of a new social life founded upon the �8 principles of equality and fraternity. The creation of the mosh insignificant working man’s association, will be to the future his­ torian of civilization of more importance than the sanguinary day of Sadowa 1 Let us proceed now to the second question. (2.) What ought the manufacturer, the enterprising possessor! of capital, to do ? All we ask of him is simply to consider in each workman, “ the man; ” we ask of him to recognise, and to treat the hired man he employs as a being who has exactly the same rights as him­ self—in one word, as his equal. Every medal, it is said, has two sides; in this saying there is a good deal of populai' good sense; the most difficult problems of science and of life find therein a satisfactory solution. Just as the medal, man also has two sides: the one peculiar to him as an individual; the other general, stamping him as a member of a great community. In fact, these two sides are inseparable and without a defined limit, for it is but in their entirety, and in their unity that they constitute man; but it is nevertheless possible that one of these two sides, temporarily or lastingly, may manifest itself in excess, and thus exercise a decisive influence upon our thoughts and upon our actions. Let us suppose, for example, that it is the more particular or individual side, which allows itself to be felt and becomes pre­ ponderate in the conscience of a man. First of all, there will result a more exaggerated appreciation of personality, a deeper sentiment of his personal value and a greater confidence in self. “Aid yourself! man is his own architect.” This is one man’s motto, the rule of his thought and his actions. If he preserves at the same time his sentiment on the other side, that is only the general side of his existence, if he does not lose sight of the entirety, which binds him to his equals, he will say, that his own isolated forces will not suffice to procure for himself a life worthy of a man; that man can only live and prosper in the society of his fellow creatures, and that a fraternal co-operation with others is his interest if well understood. Reverence for others, the sentiment of community and the spirit of fraternity, will constitute the necessary counterpoise to his egotism and self-confidence. But the case is quite different when this personal egotism develops itself to excess. Even then he will doubtless not overlook the insufficiency of his isolated individual power, for the consciousness of the general and universal side can never be completely stifled, but it is th J consequences which he therefrom deduces, which are quite different; he will consider other men not as beings who are his equals, not as members of a great whole to which he himself belongs, and in which they have all equal rights with himself, butas members subordinated to his individual self, as simple instru­ ments, destined to the satisfaction of his own wants and desires. It is thus that the personal feeling, so laudable in itself, degene­ rates into egotism—confidence in self into arrogance. Cupidity* �9 pride, ambition, will decide him to make of his neighbour a servant of his will, and of that which he deems his own interest. What we have just said of each, man in particular is true also of man in the abstract; the same forces which act upon the mind of the individual, act also upon the life of peoples, and upon the history of the human race. Domination of man over man, right of the stronger, exploitation of the weaker, these are the characteristic features, which, distinguished alike the history of antiquity and that of the middle ages. Is it otherwise at the present time ? Does not social ordei’ even to-day, notwithstanding our boasted: progress, repose upon the same principle of human servitude ? Has the present epoch, in truth, a right to contemplate with, pride and satisfaction its present state in contrast to the social, relations of pagan antiquity, and the Christianized middle ages ? With a frankness which cannot well be surpassed, a statesman of the nineteenth century, Count Joseph de Maistre, thus ex­ presses himself. “ The human race has been created for the benefit of a few. It is the business of the clergy, of the nobility, and of the high functionaries of state, to teach the people thatwhich is good or bad, true or false, in the moral and intellectual world. The rest of mankind have no right to reason on such subjects, and must suffer all things without a murmur.” If the style is somewhat highly-coloured, the portrait is taken from nature. As long as the leaders of the people “ shall make war without consulting the people; as long as ecclesiastics shall unite in council or] in synod to give judgment under the auspices of the Holy G-host, upon the false science of man,” we shall have no right to give a denial to de Maistre. His error consists alone in approving a similar state of things, and of supposing that such a state can and ought to last for ever. Allow me to cite another testimony. From this double view the truth will be elicited. Robert Owen, the founder of the co-operative system in Eng­ land, meets one day in the house of a Frankfort banker, therenowned statesman, Frederick von Gentz. Owen expounded his socialistic system and displayed its excellence; if union could, but replace disunion all men would have a sufficiency. “ That is very possible 1 ” replied von Gentz, “but we by no means wish that the masses should become at ease and independent of us, all government would then be impossible.” This, gentlemen, is in two words the social question of the present time ! For Owen the enigma of the solution is, “union.” Gentz indicates the source of the evil which opposes this solution, “ the spirit of domination among the privileged classes.” Aristotle, you will remember, also divided mankind into two classes: the one destined by nature to dominion, the other to servitude; but this difference was to be attributed to nation­ ality, and it was the character of the Greek or the barbarian,, which was the basis of his distinction. De Maistre and Gentz, Hon the contrary, established a distinction in the same race, �10 between a limited aristocracy called to power and well being, and the rest of the masses condemned to be governed and to suffer want. If we consider the relationships of the Church, the State, or of society in general, everywhere, we cannot conceal from our­ selves the fact, that the domination of classes and the system of tutelage, such as it existed in the middle ages, are to be found. The only difference between the present and the past is that, thanks to the reform in Germany and the revolution in France, these convictions penetrate daily into lower and lower strata of society, and this state of things cannot last long. It is now understood that man is not born to be governed, lorded over, condemned, and despoiled by his fellow-men; it is now exacted in fact, from the State and society, that these doctrines be seriously applied. There was a time, and the oldest among you may remember it, when he who placed a doubt upon the right of absolute rule was declared a “ rebel.” In the same manner is treated in the present day, whosoever dares to shatter the chain of economic relations. Endeavour to attack the privileges of the well-to-do classes, the abuses of power of the great capitalists, the dominant system of credit; or only to talk of a more equitable distribution of material rights, in a certain sphere, you will be at once condemned as an enemy of all social order, as a heretic towards society and as a communist. But do not let this impede us from frankly and openly recognising this truth—that all individual property, material no less than intellectual, is at the same time the com­ mon good of society. Just as man, so has the property of man also its particular side, which makes it the property of the in­ dividual, and its general and universal side, upon which the community have positive claims. That the State and the com­ mune levy rates and taxes upon the fortune of each in di vidua,!, that the law should limit the disposal of property in each, is legitimate in the eyes of all. But we demand, has not the proprietor other duties besides those which the law of the State prescribes, and when necessary imposes ? Has he not duties towards society, as he has towards his family, the community, and the Church ? Is the sum total of what each man possesses in goods, real or personal, the product of his own activity ? Is he not indebted for the greater part of it to the co-operation of others, to the common and social labour of his predecessors and his contem­ poraries ? As the individual cannot attain property without the assistance and succour of others, so neither can he enjoy its fruits without the assistance and succour of others. It is only in society that property can have any value, it is only in society that man can enjoy his property. The moral duty of every proprietor is therefore to make such a use of his property, as shall profit not himself alone, but also the community at large, and especially that part of it less liberally endowed than himself. “ Riches are the wealth of all, when it is a man of worth who possesses them.” �11 The remarkable working-men’s movement of the last forty years has produced excellent results in this respect. It has awakened in the workman a sense of his social rights, and in the well-to-do classes a sense of social duty. We willingly acknow­ ledge this; there are manufacturers to whom the workman is not a machine to be bought, like any other merchandise, at the lowest possible cost, in order to make the greatest profit, and then to be got rid of. In England, France, and with us also in Germany, there are manufacturers, enterprises, commercial men, and great landed proprietors who make it a duty to ameliorate the hard lot of the workmen they employ, by raising their wages and reducing their hours of labour, by organising savings’ banks, benefit societies for succour and for old age, by procuring healthy habitations for their workmen, and, at a small cost, asylums, hospitals, schools, &c. We designate in particular the system known under the name of participation in benefits (industrial partner­ ship), by which the workman, besides his wages, obtains a share in the profits arising from his labour. In England alone, more than 10,000 workmen find themselves in this position with regard to the manufacturers, and the two parties have reason to be contented with the result. But let us not forget that here again, all depends more or less upon the good will of the employer, and that under the most favourable supposition, only isolated workmen or groups of workmen find their condition ameliorated. However profitable these efforts may be as a means of education and preparation, they are not less insufficient as a remedy for the social evil arising from the system of wages, than the efforts made by the workmen themselves. To obtain this remedy another power is needed, that shall act in a general manner and upon all points. And this leads us to our third question:— (3.) What is to be done by the State to obtain a peaceable solution of the labour question ? The new Constitution of the Canton of Zurich, of the date of “the 18th April, 1369, gives us the following answer:—■ “ Art. 23. The State promotes and facilitates the development of Association founded upon the efforts of individuals (self-help). It decrees by the agency of legislation all the necessary measures for the protection of the workman. “Art. 24. It institutes a Cantonal Bank, with the object of developing a general system of credit.” The primary drawing up of this project was yet more precise : it ran as follows :— “Art. 23. It is the duty of the State to protect and to further the well-being of the working classes, as well as the free develop:ment of Associations.” Art. 24. As above. Protect and further—these two expressions clearly and precisely denote the end of the great Association termed the State. But what are we to understand from this direct protection and furtherance by the State ? �12 The despot also terms himself the protector of the people, and war is extolled as a means for advancing civilization. Vera verum vocabula amisimus. “ The real sense of words has been lost to us.” It is all the more necessary to explain the sense attached to these. The protection of the State means to us, the duty incumbent upon each community constituted into a State to procure for each individual, in the free development and manifestation of his faculties, a sufficient protection, in so far as it shall not militate against the liberty of others. Protection alone, however, does constitute the entire duty of the State; notwithstanding, that certain politicians limit it tothis, the mutual advancement of the members of the State must necessarily be added. “ By the advancement by the State ” we understand, the duty of the community to interfere by every means in its power wherethe providence of the individual will not suffice to ‘procure him an existence worthy of a man. As the protection of the State answers to the principle o£ “ liberty,” and the advancement by the State to that of “ frater­ nity,” it results that protection and advancement become at the same time, and according to their respective needs, the lot of each, and that thus the principle of equality is satisfied. You see, gentlemen, that the social doctrine I have put forward is the same as that which I summarised, upon a previous occasion,, in the following formula:— Each for all—this is the duty of man. All for each—this is the right of man. But what, some one will ask, if protection and advancement by the State is to be equally the lot of each, why is the working class specified in the Zurich Constitution ? The working class—is it to be a privileged one on the part of theState, and favoured at the expense of the others ? This objection; is a specious one at first sight, but it will not sustain a closer examination. Let us recollect, first of all, that the equality of all consists in that each is protected and supported according to his wants, and who can deny that in our time, it is exactly the wage-receiving class who have need of protection and support ? Moreover, allowance being made for the most pressing needs,, another circumstance here presents itself, which for the present, as well as for the impending future, imposes the duty upon theState of having especial regard to the situation of the working classes, in order to hasten the advent of the justice which equalises and reconciles. Consider only the origin of what is ordinarily termed “ capi­ tal,” and you will at once understand what I mean. However different may be the ideas formed of capital, all theworld agrees in considering it as an economised labour, accumu­ lated and destined for productive purposes. But who, we ask, has furnished this law ? Is it those who possess the capital ? Do the manufacturer, the merchant, and the great proprietor owe �13 pffeir capital, this accumulated labour, to their own activity and to that of their ancestors ? On the other hand, is the want of capital, the poverty of the labourer, and the proletarian, merely the consequence of his own faults and of those of his ancestors ? No one will dare aver this ? If, therefore, the actual inequality in fortunes is not alone the result of the economic system of those who possess, and of the anti-economic system of those who do not possess, to what other cause must we attribute this inequality? How does it happen that, day by day, capital accumulates in the hands of a small minority, whilst tbe majority of the wages scarcely suffice, notwithstanding the labour, for the needs of the masses ? It is evident that one must seek the solution in the iniquitous redistribution of the return of labour in respect of the labour provided. Listen to what one of the most celebrated political economists of England says upon this question— “ The produce of labour,” says Stuart Mill, “ is redistributed .at the present time in an almost inverse ratio to the labour sup­ plied: the greatest return falls to the lot of those who never work: after these, to those whose work is only nominal, and thus in a descending scale, wages are reduced in proportion as the labour becomes more onerous and more disagreeable, until at last that which is the most fatiguing and pernicious to the body can .scarcely secure with certainty the acquisition of the immediate necessities of existence.” We will not inquire by what concatenation of historical events the labourer has been by degrees deprived of the means of labour, and how the disproportion which exists between wages and labour has been brought about. The question before us is the following:— What has the State done to obtain a more equitable distri­ bution of the products of labour ? Has it ever tried either by laws or by other institutions to pro­ tect the labourei’ against the preponderance of capital and to place a limit to the social inequality which daily increases ? If we examine the history of all States, we shall find that up to the latest times, nothing or nearly nothing has been done in this respect. The nobility, the clergy, or the higher civic class have exercised for centuries, one after the other, or at the same time, an almost exclusive influence upon public affairs; they have never hesitated to employ the power and resources of the State which ought to be the inheritance of all for themselves and for their particular interests. Legislation itself, far from producing equality in com­ petition and in economic relationships, has contributed by con­ ceding privileges on the one side, and by limiting liberty on the other, to enlarge the social gulf between those who possess and those who do not. How can we then be astonished that working men, having at last attained the consciousness of their rights and of their strength, exact from the State that it shall take into particular �14 consideration their interests so long neglected? If the Con­ stitution of Zurich accords to the labourers alone the protection and assistance of the State, it is not a violation of the principle? of equality. It is not a question here, as some timid minds fear, to maintain the needy workman at the expense of the well-to-do citizens; much less is it a question to create, by a lasting assistance on the part of the State, a kind of labour feudality | the legislator was only desirous to recognise in a frank and loyal manner, that a duty was incumbent upon the State to make amends for the past, to efface the injustices committed, and to remedy the social evil it has contributed to produce. It is merely a question how to realise what we have called the demands of an equalising and reconciling justice. The Constitution of Zurich does not content itself, it is true, by proclaiming in general terms the duties and obligations of the State; it indicates at the same time, in clear terms, the means by which we can come to the aid of the working class. “ The State must favour and facilitate the development of association founded upon personal effort.” The final end of this development is the cessation of the wage by the insensible transition of the wage-system to that of free labour through the means of association. Let us now survey, one after the other, the exigencies which are imposed upon the State, that is to say, on the body of the citizens. In the first place, is the absolute liberty of manifesting one’s opinion and the unlimited right of meeting and association. We must renounce all limitation or, according to the usual term, regiementation (organisation) of liberty. Hence the equal right of each to participate in political life, whence results universal and direct suffrage, and, as a necessary consequence, the direct and universal participation of the people in legislation and in administration. We ask, moreover, gratuitous instruction in public institutions which should be independent of the Church, and the establish­ ment of a popular militia in the stead of permanent armies. We combine these two propositions, the one with the other, for the instruction and the military training of the people find them­ selves in mutual relationship; to make war, above all, money is needed, and capable soldiers, and both are obtainable by means of good schools. The wealth of a country depends upon the productive labour of its inhabitants, and labour is the more productive, in so far as the labourer is able to calculate the pro­ duct of his own activity, that is to say in proportion to his intelligence. And as the labourer, so also does the soldier by means of education become more able to perform his task, which is to defend his country. With us, and with the majority of European countries, nearly half the revenues of the State are expended in preparations for war, whilst insignificant sums are awarded to educational instruction. Reverse this order of things, and the public income will be increased tenfold, without the respective value of things diminishing. �15 A minister of instruction, who understands his business, is at once the best minister of war and of finance. For the working classes in particular, and that having in view the general interest, we ask— Seduction of the hours of labour, and a fixation of the day’s work. The paid labourer (or receiver of wages) must also have time and the leisure to form his mind and watch the affairs of the State. The congress of the English Working Men’s Associa­ tion, which was held in the month of August last year, at Bir­ mingham, advises a period of eight hours as a common measure for all trades and expresses the conviction that by this means, will be fortified the physical and intellectual energy of the work­ man, and we shall thereby further morals, and diminish the number of the UnemployedProhibition of the employment of children in manufactories, and an equal rate of wages, both for women as well as for men, are necessary steps to prevent the diminution of wages, and to the decline of the rising generation. Furthermore, we desire the abolition of indirect contributions, and the establishment of a tax progressive and proportional to the fortune of the individuaL Every tax upon consumption, is a tax upon the strength of the labourer, and consequently, an impediment to the production of wealth, and a prejudice to the well-being of the people. Finally, reform of the system of credit, and the furtherance of associations, both industrial and agricultural, by the means of the institution of credit, or by the protection of the State. It is necessary to lay open the road to credit to the work­ man. What the State has done hitherto, and to such an extent directly and indirectly for the support and protection of capital, it must now effect, and that in its own interest, for the advance­ ment of the working classes and working men’s association. Nothing is so advantageous to the community as justice in all thin gs. These are the first conditions of the reform of labour. Work­ men have been advised, perhaps with good intentions, to keep themselves aloof from all politics, and to concentrate all their attention on their economic interest, as if we could separate economic and political interests, as we cleave wood with a hatchet. W'hoever has followed the course of our considerations will not doubt, I hope, that it is just the working classes whose interest it mogt imports to modify public relationships on the side of liberty’ The assistance of the State, no less than that of the individual, is necessary to secure to each workman the complete and intact product of his labour, that is to say, the possibility of an existence worthy of a human being. The State alone can come to the workman’s aid, and the free State alone will do it 1 Let us now briefly summarise what we have said:— The wage-system answers now as little to the exigencies of 'ngficc and humanity, as slavery and serfdom in former times. �16 Just as it was with slavery and serfdom, the wage-system was formerly a progress by which society has derived incontestable ^advantages. . The social question of our times consists therefore in the aboli­ tion of the wage-system, without prejudice to the advantages resulting from the common labour of great collective industry. There is for this but one means, the system of free labour by association—the co-operative system. The present time is a transition period from the wage-system (system of production by means of capital) to the system of labour by association. In order that this transition may be effected in a peaceful manner, it is requisite that the workmen, employers, and the State act in common. It is the duty of workmen to unite, in ordei* to resist the oppression of capital and to raise themselves by education to moral and material independence. It is the duty of the employer to engage himself in the cause •of the workman’s well-being in a philanthropic spirit, and espe­ cially to accord to him a share of the profits of labour. Finally, the' State, by the protection of association, by fixing the hours of labour, and by giving gratuitous instruction, ought ■to further the efforts of workmen towards civilization. Upon the State devolves, at the same time, the duty of protecting the system of production by association on a large scale, of a reform in the system of banks of credit, and of the institution of State Credit ? As such help can only be expected from a free State, it is clear that the workmen and their friends must, before all, procure for themselves political liberty. Political liberty, social liberty, liberty of the citizen, without sacrificing the majority, this is the problem of our era. The conquests of the blood and iron policy, the din of arms, which has reverberated in our day, the struggles and the combats which occur for the sake of dominion and power, for fortune and for advancement—these are but ripples on the surface of the stream of time; in the hidden depths, slowly but steadily advances the science of nature and of mind, and with this science, the consciousness of the independence of man — the world-moving idea of the Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity of ali. Years and years may pass away, and still that saying of the Scrip/ture will be fulfilled—that joyful message which the electric-wire brought as a first greeting from free America to Europe encum­ bered with arms : “ Peace on earth and good will towards men.” THE END. Printed by Austin & Co., 17, Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street, E.C. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The social question: a speech delivered by Deputy John Jacoby, to his constituents of the second arrondissement of Berlin, on the 20th January, 1870 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jacoby, Johann [1805-1877.] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 16 p. ; 19 cm. Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Printed by Austin & Co. for private circulation Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1870 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G5243 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The social question: a speech delivered by Deputy John Jacoby, to his constituents of the second arrondissement of Berlin, on the 20th January, 1870), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Labour Movement Socialism Conway Tracts Equality Labour Movement Political reform Social Policy Socialism