The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1898.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 350, 6 October 1898, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1898.

There are very few political thinkers who do not bold the opinion that co-operation is the only radical cure for, and sure preventative of industrial war. John Stuart Mill, speaking of the movement, said the movement was the nearest approach to social justice he had ever seen, and Professor Marshall has said, that such a movement raised the relationship of employer and employed on to a loftier plain. Conciliation Boards may have their uses in settling disputes that have arisen, but the system of co - operation prevents these disputes arising. Boards may be a cure, but co-operation is a preventative, and the old proverb reminds us of the superiority of the one over the other. The co-operator and the tradeunionist hold very different views of the relations between capital and labour. The co-operator is on the loftier plain spoken of by Professor Marshall, and gives effect to the theory that society should be considered as made up of members of one body, and not of warring atoms, that workers were to be fellow-workers and not rivals, and that justice, not selfishness, should be the basis of the law of exchange. The trades-unionist maintains in practice, if not in theory, propositions which are almost the opposite of those cited ; these lead to conflicts between persons whose interests must to a large extent be identical, with disastrous results to both, and in the recent dispute in the engineering trade amounted to almost a national calamity. Our attention has again been called to this question by the report of the National Co - operative Festival, held at the Crystal Palace, London, which appears in the papers by last mail. Figures were submitted on this occasion which show the rapid strides forward which the movement has made since 1864. In that year there were 450 societies doing a business of £2,500,000. At this date the business totals £50,000,000. There are two branches of co-operation—distribu-tion and production. The object of the former is to purchase in the cheapest market and save the profits of the middleman. The object of the latter is to secure that all engaged in production shall share in the profits. Tt was claimed by speakers at the festival that the union of the two branches is essential to healthy progress and the attainment of the best results. It is contended that co-operative works only turn out the best class of goods, and that the distributing stores could in consequence dispense with the expense of skilled buyers to judge as to quality. On the other hand it is claimed that Union labour, unless most carefully watched, only turns out inferior work. There can be no doubt but that co-operative production will educate the workmen to appreciate the difficulties which an employer often encounters consequent on fluctuations of markets and demand, which modify profits. Earl Grey, in the course of his presidential address, instanced a manufactory run on cooperative principles, which for some years had paid out of profits 7£ per cent. on share capital and a dividend to labour of 7h per cent, on trade union rate of wages. The success attained he attributed to assistance from the distributive stores. We have written enough to direct thought to the great question of co-operation. We will deal with other branches of the subject in future articles.