THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1869.

Marlborough Express, Volume IV, Issue 168, 3 April 1869, Page 3

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1869.

« Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to ergae freely according to conscience, above all other liberties.* —Milton.

Last week we stated our belief in tlie fact that the means of largely increased prosperity was within our reach, .and promised to point the way by which it might be secured. In proceeding to do so, we have no new-fangled ideas to propagate, but simply recommend the adoption of principles which have been tried elsewhere, and are daily becoming more popular and successful.

The system we recommend is that of Co-operation. By this we do not mean what some call Socialism, nor is it Communism. “ It is a system which has to do solely and simply with the relations between Capital and Labor. It violates no religious principle, or even prejudice ; it has no political purpose in view'.” It merely proposes to unite certain persons together in a business partnership for the purpose of carrying on any manufacturing industry with the capital subscribed by those associated together, and to give each man a share in the profits of the business, in proportion to the capital or labor which he contributes. We are anxious to see some steps taken to establish such Local Industries as the natural products of the country are calculated to render permanent and profitable. Although we have hitherto confined our remarks to the Phormium Tenax, we believe, nay we feel sure, there are many others of the necessaries of life and comfort which we might produce as good and as cheap as those imported; granting for argument’s sake, that we did no more, even that would be an advantage over our present system. The preparation and manufacture of the Native Flax, we believe to be capable of developement with perhaps a more limited capital than some otherbranches ofindustry. We trust at an early date to be able to lay before our readers positive information as to the cost of machinery, &c., in the meantime we most earnestly recommend them to seriously consider the importance of the subject. Our own opinion is that a company should be formed with limited liability, that the shares should be issued at a low price, say £2, so as to enable working men to take up shares, and that shareholders should have the'preference of employment by the company as far as practicable, consistantly with the interests of the general body of the shareholders. We consider that at present it would be premature to enter at any length into the details of management, for we have sufficient business talent amongst us to carry out the necessary provisions of such, an undertaking as efficiently as in any other part of the colony. The most talented statesmen in Europe, and the most enlightened philosophers, look to the principles of Co-operation as one of the most powerful levers for the elevation of the masses ; applied to the establishment of reproductive industry, it cannot fail to be beneficial in its effects. It may be sneered at by the ignorant and unthinking as a leveller, but if it levels at all, it is by lifting up, not -by pulling down. Professor

Fawcett in an eloquent lecture at St. James’ Hall, London, lias declared that Co-operation is among the surest means of elevating the laboring classes in the rural districts of Old England, and strongly advocated the application of the system to Agriculture. John Stuart Mill, and Mr. Gladstone have also declared their belief in the advantages of the system, as applied to the formation and investment of Capital, and the employment of Labor, especially in Manufactures. In 1851, there were upwards of thirty-seven Co-operative establishments in Great Britain, and since the improvement of the law regarding Joint Stock Companies, they have continued to increase. During the recent elections Mr. Gladstone addressed a meeting of upwards of 3,000 persons in a building the property of a Co-operative Society, near Manchester.

The application of the system to storekeeping, and the distribution of wealth, we have no desire now to discuss ; our object is to establish and foster industrial pursuits, and to encourage a settled population. "W e shall spare no pains to collect all the information obtainable on the subject, feeling thoroughly convinced that the developement of our natural resources is the best and surest means of promoting the welfare of the colony, and securing profitable occupation for our children and ourselves.

Since the above was written, tlie Picton Press has come to hand, from which we learn that our contemporary even admits that there may bo something good in the Wairau after all. Following our lead, he has devoted a portion of his space to the Flax Manufacture, and we have pleasure in giving tlie following extract, although we do not know where that portion of the Lower Wairau is situate, “ which a trial has proved to be unfit even for pasture.” He says—“lf it be found to succeed, it will be proved that in many portions of tlie colony, which have hitherto been considered as utterly valueless for all purposes of settlement, we have invaluable estates. We do not refer merely to those irreclaimable swamps in which flax already grows, or could be made to grow ; but also to those extensive districts, such as the Lower Wairau, which a trial has proved to be unfit even for pasture. If it be once proved, as we confidently believe it can, that flax is capable of, and will repay, culture ; a use and value will be imparted to the very floods, which are now the farmers’ greatest misfortune. Anyone who knows anything of flax will admit that, like the rice fields of India, which are useless but for the cultivation of rice, tlie land will be the very best for this valuable product, which is too wet for anything else. No district could he better adapted to the. purpose than the Wairau—a district which possesses all the requisites for flax growing in the first degreee : splendid soil, sufficient overliow of water for irrigation, hut nothing to seriously impede the operations of industry ; abundance of water-power; thousands of acres of the raw material; and every possible convenience for export.”

—He further suggests that our capitalists should endeavor to get all the available data from other Provinces. It will therefore be satisfactory to him to leai-n that we had already taken such steps ou their behalf, and hope shortly to be able to place the result before our readers. We do not know what he means by saying—“lfit be found a feasible project, a use will be found for a noble district, which, if the settlers confine themselves to their present pursuits, will beggar nine-tenths of them.”