CO-OPERATION

New Zealand Tablet, 15 May 1919, Page 17

CO-OPERATION

(By Archbishop Redwood.) , in a previous ■ article“ Right Control of Industry by Democracy/ ’—it. was asserted that it ; would be a mistake to consider public ownership as the chief means to; : r obtain democratic control, of industry. The main field for/this, achievement is Co-operation. Already it has been a success in several directions ; for instance, in . the ; co-operative bank and the co-operative store. The all-important question is how to extend ; Co-opera-tion to the field of production. On serious consideration it will be found that its application is most complex and difficult in the matter of the co-operative ownership and management of industrial enterprises. The co-operation here contemplated is entirely volun-tary-nothing Socialistic or Communistic about it. It presupposes that the instruments of production belong to the men, who operate them according to the individual shares in the - co-operative enterprise. To preclude the old abuses of Capitalism, the number of individual shares must be strictly limited, else a few members, more clever or unscrupulous, might absorb the whole ownership of the means of production. The old Guilds were keenly alive to the wisdom of such restrictions as necessary to secure the welfare of the greatest number, and also permanent social contentment. In their opposition to private ownership, of capita], Socialists commonly make the egregious mistake of referring to the Communism of the early Christian Church. But ' their argument is fallacious' for many reasons. It overlooks the fact that Communism was only local," not universal ; that there is no record of any communistic productive enterprises carried on by the early Christians : that in the localities ■ where this sort of Communism was tried it remained purely voluntary, and was never made an obligatory condition for embracing Christianity; and, finally] that it proved a complete failure, just like other similar communistic enterprises. The only recorded success of such Communism is that of the Religious Orders of the Catholic Church—and that success is due to the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience originated and centred in the love of God. % The practicability of productive co-operation has been proved by its successful application to the/land. In the Netherlands alone, for instance, we have the significant fact that 66,600,000 pounds of butter were produced in 1910 by co-operatives, and only 27,000,000 pounds by private factories. The general markets of the world are supplied with a variety of articles — cheese, bacon, wine—produced by co-operation.g The middleman is excluded by co-operative buying . and selling, to the farmer !s great gain. In like manner, cooperative ownership of the larger and more intricate

machinery has often been adopted with advantage. In Catholic, Italy we have a capital example of co-opera-tive societies, renting even the land, not to speak of the machinery, oxen, and utensils owned in common. IN ay, the harvest is often sold in advance to co-opera-tive societies in the vicinity. Also in America, one learns with surprise that the products co-operatively e°o non nd R ? ld by the farmers reached the sum of £340,000 in the year 1915. - In the Irish Monthly . for November, 1917 Mr ■ Cruise O’Brien .gives us a valuable illustration of what results from wise co-operation. He is describing a co-operative creamery. ‘‘Here (as in the co-operative ??? T . lave He same rule as to open membership, although it would be much more profitable for the , , members of the creamery to close their share list when they were strong enough; and although, indeed, it often involves a certain sacrifice on their part to keep their membership open to newcomers at a time when the original members have borne the heat and burden of the day. Here also we have a rule limiting the amount of shares which the member may hold, and also the interest which he may receive on his share capital, Eveiy member is paid for his milk at regular intervals, . usually each month, and is given, to begin with, a price less than the value it will ultimately fetch as a manufactured article. The difference in value is made up at the end of the year, and represents what is called a dividend, as in the case of the co-operative stoic-, ’ but what is really the deferred payment, just as in the co-operative store the so-called dividend is really a saving. Finally, the co-operatively organised producer in his creamery provides for a bonus to his employees, just as the co-operatively organised consumer in his store. Here you have detailed the very idealism of brotherhood. No doubt, like all things human, it may have its faults and shortcomings, yet it comes very ni-di to the genuine Christian spirit. ° But now comes the crucial question of all. Can the practicability of Co-operation be shown in the case of the ownership of industries? Dr Ryan (Distributive Justice p 223) puts the difficulty as clearly as can be, when he deals with what he calls the “perfect” form ot productive co-operation, which he defines as the lonn ini which all the workers engaged in a concern own all the share capital, control the entire management, and receive the whole of the wages, profits, and nteiest. A luoing to pre-war conditions, he says: In this field the failures have been much more numerous and conspicuous than the successes. Godin’s btore works at Guise, France, is the' only important enterprise of this kind that is now in existence. Great -muain has several establishments in which the workers own a large part of the capital, but apparently m T ? 11 !'',*! f Je y are the sole proprietors and mane e.s. 11.0 labor societies” of Wily, consisting mostly of diggers, masons and bricklayers, co-operatively wnh , T 1 ™’ 1 " f,,r tllC performance of public Nn-’ U I n UC 111 U,C p, (,f!ls <>f 11, undertaking in sou,l ion to their wages; but the only capital that they novule cxnisisis of comparatively simple and inexpen;.vc too s. the raw material en.l Ollier capital is furtrael ”7n . 1G imOm ; u, Hority which gives the conuacl. (Distributive Justice, p. 223.) in.r w Ry . an 1 . r « adil .y admits Hat He obstacles standcurredn individual cc-opcra 1 ion. such as risks to bo St et ace? i"■ IMUdI f a P ital aml vei *y able directive the Dnd 6 not iH«upcral>le. What has been done on : (1 ‘ gradually come to be done in the cities, ticaltoi-H f” greater drawbacks. The pra? described" b SS r? !'??°'° peratlVe enterprise are thus described by Cruise O’Brien:.. .‘A number of people, operative say, i bootmakers, -form themselves into a coiv?? Ive society tn order to carry on their work. The people who actually make the boots are the owners i f the society They elect their committee from amoim themselves; they provide capital, and instead of as might expect, taking all the profits for themselves', ?Zn d T de He profits- between labor, capital, and punnaßcio. J-Heir other rules Jip ? vs exactly the same • . • ■ • -- ■■ A r— ' _ g g _ ' ■- *~~ w—rr-~ : —: ~--f " . ■

features as we have noted in the other two types of society which we have touched on (i.e., the co-opera-ti\e store and the ' co-operative creamery).” . The first difficulty-din-the-way- of co-operative proauction is the large capital required in many industries. let it is a fact that billions of dollars have been Handled annually in the co-operative banks of a single country. According to a pamphlet issued by the International Institute of Agriculture at ; Rome, the business transacted by urban , co-operative banks 'in Germany in 1910, reached the large sum of £746,120. Yet there existed, besides these banks, another rural co-operative system. The former banks were managed on strictly business lines, showing a completely developed organisation. The second difficulty is co-operative, management. lleie we have the example of the Co-operative Wholesale Society of Manchester, whose sales annually before the war, were £30,000,000, and were increasing at the rate of a million pounds per annum. Few can til e establishments in the world have ever run so large a business. Yet the society nevSr borrowed and had money to lend. The Wholesale Society was built up, by. means of members from the retail societies in a definite proportion, and the latter societies took out one share for each member valued £l. In reference to management we may quote the report regarding it drawn up, some years ago, by the United Mine Workers of America: “The business of the wholesale co-opera-tive societies is managed by 32 directors, elected by the local societies. These directors give their entire time, at a salary ol 1750 dollars per annum. It is almost unthinkable lor the average American business man to consider a proposition of this kind: 32 men coming up from the ranks of ordinary consumers by popular election, conducting an enormous business more economically than the large establishments of trade in England, and giving their best efforts entirely lor the motive of rendering good service and securing a comfortable salary, with the honor that goes with a public service efficiently performed. We should judge iiom what we learn that these directors are more devoted to their business than the ordinary business man. Their efficiency cannot be challenged.” these facts are uncommonly interesting. Still with all this said, we cannot fail to notice the vast difference between these enterprises, made up by creditors and consumers, and the co-operative production as exemplified in the self-governing workshop. Even under co-opei ation if religious principles are set asideone class of workers may possibly oppress another. Yet one point needs emphasising. It is this: Co-operative pi eduction, though confronted with difficulties which have rendered its success less certain than in other co-operative enterprises, may in future be carried on more auspiciously under wise Government aid and foresight. A true religious spirit, such as the Catholic Church could infuse, would certainly lead to success.. Progressive taxation of incomes, limitation in the future purchasing of shares, definite regulations regarding the shares of those who no longer are actively engaged in their respective industries, stability of ices t$ prevent the evils of excessive competition, and • other similar methods, might yet make of Co-operation the system which may become the leading factor in social reconstruction. In all probability it will co-exist with other forms of ownership, both public and private, and a more perfect Government regulation. But what must be ever borne in mind is that coiterative production differs essentially from Socialism in every respect. It is based upon the private ownership of capital by all the workers, instead of depriving them all alike of this benefit. It is purely constructive in its nature, while Socialism is mainly destructive and revolutionary. It is - not dependent on confiscation, on political machination, or even upon the ballot, but must obtain its recognition solely through superior efficiency and the rightful Government protection. Where the Socialist promises, the Co-operator acts.