CO-OPERATIVE INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 54

CO-OPERATIVE INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS.

THE HON. W. M. BOLT'S SCHEME.

The Hon. W. M. Bolt, iv his paper which was read before % meeting of delegates of trade organisations on Saturday, llbh iusb., referred to the grounds upon which the establishment of industrial settlements were urged, and also to the reasons why we aa a colony had aided in advancing Battlement. He then proceeded to say :—: —

Believing that what I propone would affecb a great and beneficial change in our social life, I shall now proceed to sketch out a few details oE an industrial settlement 6uch as I think we might attempt to establish in this colony. I h<vve no doubt in doing this I shall be guilty of some sins of omission and commission, aDd by some be deemed to be guilty of a great many more than I should like to father, but at any rate I cv.n say I have not done my work thoughtlessly. From various quarters I have endeavoured to gefc information and also corroboration of my views and estimates, and in the hope that something m«y be accomplished — something, if only a step in the ascending scale to higher and better things ■— I shall go on to the more prosaic work ot my task. This, I think, will be fittingly approached by summarising the objects sought to bo attained by the establish meat of industrial colonies ou the lines now proposed.. OBJECTS.

1. The extension of the economic freedom of the worker to the limit of that enjoyed by the industrial community of which he is a member.

2. The stability of the family, founded upon and supported by the stability of the community of which it foims a"parfc.

3 The independence and security of the community, founded upjp an industrial system which embraces both agricultute and manufactures within its own bordeis, thus, with few exceptions, providing for its own wants.

4. The attainment of a higher morality resulting from social and economic conditions — conditions which, without weakening the responsibilities of the individual, will yet so moderate th-s sttuggle for existence, and so soften the asperities of lite as to encourage the growth of the nobler and more amiable instincts of the people. The fear of want is the foundation of the world'd curse— gieed and selfishness, — and the grounds of this fear would be -well-nigh eliminated.

5. The Wrll-being of tha State by rearing an industrial community, lelf-centained and selfsupporting, which makes no claim on the State fer employment, no demand for charitable aid, none for eld age pensions.

In order the belter to carry out the above objects ib is suggested the settlement should be ba-itd on the following

PRINCIPLES.

1. That all capital aud ell'ort used for productive purposes shall be used collectively by the whole community.

2. That the land shall be held fiom the State under a tenure of lease in perpetuity.

3. That all building-!, machinery, implements, and improvements of every description shall be used by and be the property of the community. 4. That no member of the community shall be allowed to carry on within the settlement any business, trade, or profession from which he derives, directly or indirectly, pdvAte or personal advantage ; nor shall he be connected with anything outside which conflicts with the interests of the settlement.

5. The community in its corporate capacity to be responsible for the employment of its individual members.

6. 'I he individual members to be responsible to the community for good behaviour aad faithful discharge of duties.

Along with a few interjected observations on the subjects treated of I now beg to submit a few rules which, in my opinion, tthouli be embodied amongst such others as may bs adopted for the guidauce aud good order of' the settlement.

KUI.ES, REGULATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS,

1. That the community, shall in the first instance consist of 30 families, to be known as the pioneer families, the head of each family to be the registered owner of a share as defined in rule 3. The number of families and shares to be increased from time to time as provided for in rules 13 and 14. *

2. Persons belonging to the community become members of the same on reaching 21 year* of age, and thereupon become eligible to vote at any meeting of, or be elected to any petition in the S.ettlemeiiu.

3. That a fchare or interest ia the settlement shall be of the value of .£SO, and shall cot be dispose 1 of or purchased for a greater or lesser sum. 4. Tlut no member of the community shall hold more than one share, and not more thau one share shall be in the possession of any one family.

E>. That members wUhing to sell out and leave, the settlement, or persons wiahirg to buy into' the same, must do so through the committee of management, ani no sale or purchase of a, share or bhares shall be deemed valid that is not transacted through the committee.

(?. That no shareholder on leading the settlement shall receive more tb.au the face value of his share, and this shall only be paid to him at the convenience of the committee of management. It shall not be competent for * shareholder to raise an action at law for the recovery of this or any sum due to him by the community, providing his leaving is his own fiee will and choice.

7. Labour in the community to be paid for by division of surplus profits at each half-yeaily meeting, as provided for in rule 12 ; but the committee of management may make monthly advances on account of work performed up to 50 per cent, of the committee's estimate of the value of such work.

8. That all stock and production of every kind whatsoever shall belong to the community and be under the charge of th« committee of management for the time being in office, and may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the committee on behalf and for the benefit of the community. 0. That when such disposal has taken place the committee, afte.- making due provision for the settlement of claims against the community, and .-also for the future profitable walking of the settlement, shall divide the remaining portion of the proceeds among the workers of the community in ptoportion to the time-they have worked, and otherwise aa provided for in rule 12.

10. That the surplus profits so divided shall become the personal property of the parties receiving the same, and may be u*ed by them in any way they may desire, the community having no voice or say in the matter, provided the owner in so usinc them does not violate any of the rules or principles of the community as here laid down.

11. Having regard to the fact that inequality of wealth has been productive of immeasurable evil in the past, and is now the cause of great misery and injustice, and also to the fact that in the region of politics we have recognised the principle of equality, it is, I think, desirable a step should be taken towards this principle in an iudustrial colony when dealing with the division of profits. Accordingly I would suggest the ing:That the working age shall begin at the close of 16 and end at 65, and that the adult age shall commence at the close of 21. That the people between the ages of 16 and 65 be graded as follows :— (a) Girls between 16 and 21; (b) bojs between 16 and 21; (c) women between 21 and 65 ; (d) men between 21 and 65. That the persons in the respective grade? shall be on an equality in respect to sharing profits on the basis laid down in rule 12.

12. That for the purpose of providing a basis for the apportionment of surplus profits at each halfyearly meeting, the earnings of the persons in grades "a" and "b" shall be computed on the average of wage 3 respectively obtainable by similar persons outside the settlement during the years between the respective' periods named asainst each grade. Thus for a girl £—

Wages ruling outsideFirst year — sa^ Average, 15s par week for Second ■■ — 10s i whole period, to be reekThird ti — 153)- oned as the basis on which Fourth 11 — 20s I td compute proportion of Fifth n — 25dy " profitsearnediiigrade"a."

13. That similarly the earnings in grades "a" and "d" shall be respectively* computed on the average of wages obtainable by similar persons in the several departments of labour outride' the settlement.

That the earnings of the persons in the several grades being so ascertained, the surplus profits shall be divided in due proportion accordingly.

14. That if a marriage is contracted between two persons, both of whom are resident in the settlement, and both of whom are upwards of 21 years of age, they shall be entitled to ba credited in the books of the settlement with a fully paid up share of the value of £50, such share to be subject to all the conditions affecting, other shares. Provided that if the parties desire to leave the settlement no money shall be paid to them in respect of such share unless they have resided for a period of live yeats consecutively since their marriage. 15 That should a member of the community not already a shareholder contract a marriage outside the settlement, such member and spouse, should they desire to live iv the settlement, shall pay into the fuuds of the same the sum of £50, and thereupon shall rank as othdr shareholders, such payment to be deducted in four equal instalments from the quota of profits comiug to them at the four half-yearly m^etinas next ensuing. 16. That the member iv whose name a share is registered shall be deemed to be the head of the household in which ho resides, and he may dispose of such share by will to any meniWer of hts own family, , providing such an on-^ ia not a bachelor over 40 yeais of age. Or, subject t6 the approval of the committee of, management, to any member of the community outside the family not disqualified under rule 4. i Note. — My objection to a bequest of this sort go ng to a bachelor of 40 years of age, I may here state, is that if his intelligence has not been euflici«nt to lead him in'o the married state before he arrives at such an age, it may bs taken for granted h<» is mentally unfit to occupy the position above referred to.

17 A member nity be expelled from the community uuder the following circumstances :— (a) If he has been convicted of an offence punishable under the Criminal Code Act ; or, (b) If his conduct has been such as to n>ake him particularly offensive to his fellow memberc Provided 'the committee of management, at the request of not less than 20 members, have madeproperarrangementsfoi 1 and taken a vote by ballot of the wa^nibers ef the community ; and it is found ou counting the vo'es that two-thirds of the members have recorded their votes in

favour of expulsion. 18. In all cases of expulsion the expelled tneiul»er, if he is the holder of a share, shall be paid the full value of such share before leaving the settlement

].'). That with the view of bringing the scheme into operation an " organising committee " be set up for the purpose of making — (d) Arrangements with the G>vernraent in respect of land and finance, and (i) Proper selection of peoprs, h'tving special regard to character and to the relative proportion of traces represented by those

selected,

20. ibas m regard to laud special attention should be given at to position, climate, quality of soil ; also the natural i&jourc c, such as timber, w,ilcr power, proximity to railway, &c.

Note —In another portion of this paper the area required is put down at 1500 acres and the value at £5 per /acre. This being unimproved value the soil should be excellent. If improvements were on the land the cost would necessarily be more, but that should not adversely affect the profits of the undertaking. Fifteen hundred seres to 30 families is equal to 50 acres each, or, say, 10 acres to each individual. As it is proposed to introduce manufactures, this makes ample provision for future increase ef population.' If tfce products of a first-class 30-acre orchard were pold in the manufactured etatf*, it would of itself support in comfort more than half the number of families mentioned. As a fact, there are less than two acres <>f land per head of the population in the United Kingdom, and of the total amount on*»-tnird would be looked on by us at least as absoluti ly useless.

22. Management — As regards management, I am very glad to" say the Hon. the Minister for Lands has agreed to give the settlement the invaluable advan<agij of periodical visits from the experts attached to the Agricultural department ; consequently, the resident manager of the settlement need nol be an expensive man, but he would nevertheless be esseutial to the organisation and good government of the settlement. The term " Maoage^r" has a slight Legree odour about it not altogether in keeping with the spirit of comradeship wh'ch should prevail in an in* dustrial colony, and to my mind " Father of tha Settlement" would be a much more suitable term, conveying as it does the idea of kindness combined with authority. Printers have recognised this in their trades union.

23 It would be the duty of the " Father "to Bee that the tim» of the workers was accurately kept. He would generally direct the proceedings and see that none of the various matters requiring attention was overlooked. He would preside at the i) eetinga of the committee of management, and would be responsible for duly giving effect to its decisions, aud for this responsibility should be paid a sum in addition to his share of surplus profitfl. 24. The committee of management, including the "Father," to number seven persons, to be elected each year, should be representative of the more important industries in the settlement. It would be the business of the committee to carry out the by-laws regulating the municipal life of the community ; to see tbat the trading, storekeeping, and financial operations were properly conducted, aud generally take counsel together for for warding i he interests of the settlement. 25. That while it is important that tr-dea and c-llings which would have to be taken up at the start should be represen'ed in due proportion by those s-'lecled, yet those so selected must be made to distinctly understand that the whole labour force of the community is to be placed unreservedly under the control of the "Father" and the committee of management, and that the committee will have full power to utilise the labour of the community, irrespective of trades or calling*, in any way they may d<>eni for the communal good. .But, although liable to be placed to any occupation, the 30 pioneer settlers should, in my judgment, be made up as follows :— 1 working manager, 2 carpenters, 1 blacksmith, 1 baker, 1 pomologist, 1 apiarist, 1 poultry expert, 1 mechanical engineer, 1 butcher, 1 stock raiser. 1 agriculturist, 1 bricklayer, 7 ploughmen, 10 general labourers. „ 20. As regards the village iteelt the site would naturally be as near the centre of the best of tne land as c : rcumstances would admit, but it must be borne in mind that the settlement is intended to be something more than a farm — it is intended to be a little town, with its rows of houses and gardens frontiug it? little streets, and the aid of the surveyor and the architect and the landscape gardener must be brought into operation to eive it symmetry and grace and beauty. That will c.&t very little, but it will enkindle in every breast in the community a love for their co-opera-tive homestead. The gardens attached to the houses should not exceed a quarter of an acre each, and on ho account must fowls or animal* other than domestic animals be allowed within them. * In this respect, principle No. 4 should be rigorously enforced.

27. How far the communal form of life may be entered upon, will be for the community to determine. Seeing, however, .no member of the community will have animals or fowla to feed I see no objection to having a field cultivated as a vegetable garden, where anyone might take what vegetables he required, and a certain quantity of milk may also be served out to each house every morning ; but beyond this any advance towards communal ownership should be very carefully considered and only brought into operation when supported by a vote of three-fourtha of the member*. -i£:> finance. i It is difficult to deal with th« financial agDecfc

ef an undertaking such as is now proposed. la the first place, it is difficult to estimate the value of unseen land. Apart from the question of soil, which must in any case be good, itsposition, its natural resources as distinct from its fertility, whether it be forest clad or open country, hare all a direct bearing on financial estimates, and it must be erident that figures given in the absence of knowledge on these points and on many other matters of detail cannot be expected to be accurate, but only reasonable and approximate. In the following estimates of capital and expenditure I have reckoned the land at £5 per acre, which is a very high figure for Crown lauds. If, however, the land was purchased under the Land for Settlements Act, and was nob only of good quality, but in a good position, and also open country and more or less ready for the plough, the price would no doubt be much higher. Presuming in such case it was £8 per acre, the annual charge per family would be £29 in place of £20 10s as stated below, but the settlement would not be thereby prejudicially affected. On the contrary, the facilities for immediate and larger returns would place it in a better position, aud surely a sum of 11s 6d per week cannot be deemed to be burdensome when it includes house rent, land rent, and interest on the outlay on stock, buildings, and implements.

In order lo make the position clear I have assumed the land to be token up on 20th January,;- 1898, and in a tentative-way haTo v - indicated «b follows the ways and means I tUinfc. will be necessary, and aUo what in my judgment should be the mode of procedure during the first three years of the settlement.

Fifteen hundred acres of land at £5 per acre — £7500. Bent, 5 per ceufc. of capital va!u«. To be leased, Bay, 20th January, 1898, and six months rent to be paid en i that dale. From that time rents to be capitalised for the three years ending Ist January, 1901, at which time the capital value of the land, including the accumulated interest 1 , would be, say, £8300. The working capiUl of the settlement would consist of the following :—: — Contributed Capital. 30 original shareholders at £50 £IF.OI) 0 Less half-year's rent paid as abov« ... 187 10 N«t contributed capital £1312 10 Ist January, ISSW, Government advance 2COO 0 Ist January, 1900, Government advance 2000 0 £.312 10 The tobal amount due to the Government, on which the iinst half-ycr*r'e interest would be due on tho Ist January, 1901, would be— On account of land £8300 On nco»iunt of advances ... 4000 Yeai'a interest on first advance 100 £12,400 The in( erc-fifc on this sum at 5 per cent, would amount to £620 per annum, or about £20 10a for ouch of the 30 householders on the settlement. Capital available — First year, January, 1898 £1312 0,0 Second year. Janunry, 1«99 2000 0 0 Third year, January, 15)00 ... ... 2000 0 0 £5312 cTU First year's outlay. All this year's work to be done by contract with the exceptiou of that performed by two f«u»ilie« employed ia looking after stock, fowlc, &•!. Fencing— say, nine miles at £40 per mile £ 360 0 0 Ploughing— breaking up and putting in crop— wheat, maize, vegetables, <fee, say, 120 acres 300 0 0 Re/ping crop, say 50 0 0 Fnrclia-o of stock — 20 milch cows, at £0 100 0 0 130 vouuk cjttlp, at 30s 195 0 0 200 fowls, al3o eggs, for setting, and feed 50 0 0 Two families, at 3iis per week each ... JSO 0 0 £1205 0 0 Balance in hand at end of year. 107 0 0 £1312 0 0 ; 1899.— Capital ... £9000. Second Year's Outlay. — (First of Settlement.) Building 12 houses at £75 each £900 0 0 Other buildings, Siy 300 0 0 Horses and implements ... 250 0 0 130 young cattle at 30s 195 0 0 £16i5 0 0 Bilance from previous year ...£lO7 • Balance as above 355 n £462 I The above sum of £462 with slight ascistunce I from the fatra would meet the grocery bill of the community for tb» 12 montbs. 1900 —Capital ... £2000. Third Year's Outlay. — (Second of Settlement.) This sum would be mainly expended in the erection of buildings and otherwise completing the equipment of the settlement. By arrangement, btuJdiog may be allowed to proceed dating previous year by giving bills payable in January. With the exception of purchasing some pigs to consume the was) c products of the now enlarged dairy, but little addition would require to be made fco the stock.- The youDg cattle purchased during 1898 would presumably be mainly heifers, and an increase might now be expf cted from them. There would also be some increase from the cows purchased that year, and considering other sources of supply, the demands of the community during the 12 months would not have greatly diminished .the etc ck j)urcb.as ed in 1899. If properly attended to during the year 1899 the poultry farm (with the aid of the incubator) might easily now number two or three thousaud fowls. The half-year's rent due on the l6t of January, 1891, ought to be mtt with no trouble from this Eource alone.

It will ba noticed that it is proposed to ask for an advance of £4-000 from the Government in two pums of £2000 each. This Amounts to about £133 per family, or very little over what is sometimes advanced uuder the improved farm system. Bub in the present case the settler contributes £50, and gives improvements represented by two years' labour, while seven-eighths of the Government advance is itself in the form of permanent improvements. Shortly put, the £1312 of contributed capital form? a good basis of security for the first advance of £2000, and the two years' labour of the community must ba considered as a good basis of security for the second advance.

The expenditure on houses is intended to . amount to £75 each — really tne cost of a couple of rooms. And now I fancy I bWr a sneering reminder from some critical friend about " substantially builfc homes, filled with story and fcradittoD," &•;., referred to in an early portion of the paper. The eld proverb, that fools should not ccc half-done work, comes in handy as a reply. These hounes are not even half dona. The full plans will be drawn, and the houses will be completed by the carpenters belonging to the settlement as soon aa means will permit. Provision for Old Age. — Provision for old »ge should be made by insurance, and should be affected on the lives of children when three years of age. A community of, say, 150 in- ! dividual! insured at this aae. by paying »B

"annual premium of £100, or 13s 4-d each, would, on a 3 per cent, basis, secure an annuity of £26 for life to those of its members who reached the age of 65 years. An income of 10a per week in the settlement, would be equal to 15s in the town?, and, as there would be no possibility of ousting anyone from a job, this sum might, ab the discretion ' of the committee of management, be supplemented by supplying light work at small remuneration to those who might desire it. Of course, if a general pension fund was provided by the colony there would be no necessity for communal insurance.

The scheme no«r proposed will no doubt be looked on by some as conservative, by others as Utopian. That does not trouble me, I ha\e not written with the view of pleasing anyone, but 'with the view of suggesting and advocating what I think would be a-great and bent-fioia.l change in our system of social li r e. In doing this I have not unrler-estimated the difficulties, moral and economic, that lie in the path of a greab reform. Our existing social system is such a perplexing tangle of conflicting interests that the course of reform is bound to be devious and sometimes uncertain.

That others in attempting to work out reforms on lines in some respects similar have blundered and failed is no reason why another attempt should' not be .made. Innumerable failures* of agriculturists and merchant) do not deter-nien from tilling the fields or entering on commercial pursuits. The failure of Nansen to reach the Pole will not prevent others from making another attempt. .Failure ! The whole field of human effort that ltj-s between the the naked savage and tbe man pf science is filled with failure, and, with Goethe, all of us are forced to exclaim :—: — Oh, with what difficulty are the means Acquired, that lead us to the springs of knowledge ! And when the path i 3 found, ere we have trod Half the long way— poor wretches ! we must die ! The poet here voices the experience of the race. It is a true epitome of the story of struggle, a cry of effort and disappointment and renewed effort that echoes \long the whole line of hum vi development. Bat there is another poet who declares not less truly that Life is the sea'oa God has given To fly from hull and rise to Heaven !

These words, apart from their theological, have a secular and very real significance. With the progress of education tn<* tortures of our e«rthly Hades are daily becoming more, unbearable, because more- clearly apprehended, and although we cannot fly from this veritable vale of tears, we can do a great deal to m*ke its gloom and its misery fly from us, and in so doing, we will rise to higher and purer levels of social life.