INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13888, 27 April 1907, Page 5

INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERA-TION.

HOW IT SUCCEEDS IN AUSTRALIA.

(By (J. C.)

It is not a little disappointing to the best friends of the so-called workinjsclasses—tho term is a. great misnnmer in a community like our own where all classes are workers—to find that those representing tho organised unions of skilled and unskilled labour give no sign of starting in business for themselves as manufacturers or contractors. At every labour conference held in this colony, or in the neighbouring Australian colonies, in tho platforms discussed, promulgated, or agreed to there are no end of appeals to Iredics and powers outsido themselves, from Parliamnt downward, to remove disabilities from the path o! labour, or open up new avenues for employment-, b.ut not one syllable is uttered in the ihty of making co-operativc endeavours to' establish factories or trading concerns without the intervention of tho hated capitalist. 'At tho Trades and Labour Conferenco held in Christchurch a year ago over 60 resolutions wero carried suggesting all lands of legislative enactments that were supposed to be in the best, interests of labour, but them was not one self-helpful sign amongst tie lot. The samo absence of a desire to lift a finger for tho purpose of independently working out any scheme for the improvement of their own class conditions was observable in the mors recent conference thai sat in Dunedin. Yet' the evidences of what can be <lono in tho direction of industrial co-operation are so plentiful that he who runa mayread. Thero is t-lie historic instance of the 28 Rochdale weavers who contributed twopence per week until they had accumulated a capital of £28, when thev opened a co-opcrativc store that has not only grown to' gigantic proportions itself, but lias served as an object lesson to Great Britain and to Socialists on the Continent. If such gucccss can be brought about by •a handful of poorly-paid, over-worked mill hands in Yorkshire;, with how much greater caso could 1 the working men of this highly favoured colonv start stores in the large towns, and distribute tho trade profits in welcome dividends to the shareholders, No New Zoaland mechanic need wait, for two years before his weekly twopenny savings aggregated to a pound sterling, but could, if ho chose, pay for a £1 slum out of lis nest "week's earnings. Hut there are instances of successful industrial 'co-operation to be found nearer home. Last month tho fliird annual meeting of the Melbourne Co-opemtivo Brewing Company was held, and tho statements Mibniitfed to the shareholders indicated a continuation of the prosperity that favoured the venture from the start, The brewery was launched bccauso the large capitalistic Melbourne breweries—which, by tlie way, have not paid dividends for many years—proposed to iuaroaso the prico of becv to publicans and storekeepers. The distributors mid retailers very strongly objected, and at onco started a brewery of their own, the largest shareholders being, of course, the publicans and licensed storekeepers. In January, 1905, the new brewery paid its first dividend of 2s 6d per sharo, and a rebate of 7s' 6d per hogshead. Li the following July itho dividend paid was 3s 7d per share, and a rebate of 7s 6d, and evory half-year since dividends and rebates have followed with pleasing regularity. The beer was 6old at the rate of £2 17s 6d per hogshead, the bad debts for tlie past vear totalled the very insignificant-sum-of '5410 12s 4d, and the profits for tho year amounted to over £35,000. If thirsty workers in New Zealand will remember that beer on tap is- sold at threepence ,pcr pint, or sixpence per quart- bottle, in Melbourne, and that. the Co-flpenrt.rvo Brewery Company had to face tho determined opposition of tho large and 1 old-established breweriea, they will realiso the advantage of cooperative trading starting with no more than tho nccessaiy amount of capital, and. with an assured connection. Those two arc vital conditions of success, and the workers can secure them amongst their own belongings, if they will. Melbourne ako furnishes another' instance of such success in the Civil Service Co-operative Society, the chairman 'of which'at a recent eighth half-yearly general meeting of shareholders, had tlie pleasing duty of announcing tho largest net profit yet. rein tho annals of the venture. Tho society was formed' four years since, and the cross-coiuitcr receipts' have steadily grown from £35,616 in 1903-4, to £55,702 in 1905-7. The average trade per member increased during the periods named' from £7 to £12. Tho dividend paid was at the rate of 5 per cent., and members received a bonus of 9d in the pound on their purchases. What is known at- The Mutual Store has been carrying on a largo -and successful business in Melbourno, in very fine premises of their own, for many years, paving both dividends and bonuses to shareholders, and giving discounts to customers who are not- shareholders. This week telegraphic news has come to hand that tlie members of the' Tailoresses' Union in Sydney have decided to start a co-operative clothing factory. It- does therefore seem as if the workers thero were, in some small measure at least, awakening to the advantages to be gained by industrial co-opcration. At the recent sitting of' the Trades and Labour Conference sitting 'in this city a proposal was submitted for the establishment of State industries, including the manufacture of boots and clothing. In both theso-branches of laliour the co-opcra-tive labour principle could be tentatively employed with ejjecial facility, particularly in Dunedin, where cheap cicatrical power will be very shrortly available, aud .woollen mills are in full swing. The output could be nicely adjusted to trade demands, and the workers in the city would—certainly they should—give substantial proof, by becoming purchasers of the locally made article, of their honest belief in the righteousness of preferential trade with their own kith and kin. If in their corporate and individual capacity t-hijworkers put in practice 6ome of'the theories their leaders aro so fond of advocating, and 4 thus demonstrated their practicability, the community at large might be speedily converted to their views, although at present they are looked at askance. If under present economic conditions it is possible to-make sis hours a legal day's work, to give female workers eipial pay for equal work, and to pay every -man according to his needs and not- in proportion to his deeds, those should lie made evident by the doctrinaires. The establishment of such industrial undertakings would bo of incalculable value to workers at large, who aiv possessed of a full share of practical common sense when not perverted -bv shallow thinkers or voluble agitators. If for themselves they would run a clothing, boot, or furniture factory, or start ;i general store, thev would* pel an insight into the manifold difficulties connected with carrying oil successfully trading ventures, and would be, less willing to hedge in business operations with hampering restrictions that cause unnecessary annoyance, creato uncertainty, and give no adequate results. At- the late Trades and Labour Conference srane of the proposals submitted were so utterly impractical that in the debate connected with them the more dear-sighted delegates cautioned their fellows not to get into the clouds. but to stick to tho practical side of tilings, It is just because such sound advice is disregarded, and proposals are submitted far outside the sphere of .practical politics, the claims of Labour are relegated to the legions of comic opeiu, in which the revolutionary demagogue bids bis dupes to look forward to tho tiino when

Tlio poor shall -then all feed on buttered

crumpets, Ai](] tat taut mutton to tho sound of trumpcto; Each bojgiv thc-n shall emoko the best, cheroots.

ir-.vc mother man to clean liis boots.