THE WAGES SYSTEM. 59 



much of the possible advantages of voluntary cooperation 

 among those who would divide profits. 



It is a dream of some that wages should disappear, and that 

 all should become partners in business. This would be 

 desirable, were it feasible. I should be glad to see the whole 

 community raised to that standard, that working for wages 

 should be confined to the young ; that every man should aim 

 to become an owner, — and, at last, become an owner, sole or 

 in part, in business. The thing that now renders this impos- 

 sible for all, — and, perhaps, always will render it impossible, 

 — is the want of thrift. A home of one's own ; a business of 

 one's own, means laying up money. So long as men so plan 

 their lives, and so live, that their wages are spent as soon as 

 they are earned, or before, a home and a separate business 

 are impossible. So the escape from the wages system can 

 come only through hard work, economy and wise living. 

 When W'ill the whole communitj'^ come to that? 



The first scheme of cooperative farming that I shall 

 mention, w\as one founded on generous views of human 

 nature, on the supposition that the common farm-laborers of 

 England, if supplied with capital, land and appliances of the 

 best kind, would, at least, be able to supply their own wants, 

 and keep the property good by their united labor. In other 

 words, it was an attempt to see if men who had been accus- 

 tomed to the wages system could not be brought into a better 

 condition on the principle of cooperation, provided they had 

 every needful advantage supplied to them. 



Mr. William Lawson, from 1862 to 1872, atBlennerhasset, 

 in Cumberland County, England, tried the experiment of 

 cooperation by buying and stocking a large farm, going into 

 extensive improvements, buying expensive implements, and 

 providing all the appliances of scientific farming. The 

 defects of the experiments seem to have been, — 



1. Leaving the work to incompetent hands. His parlia- 

 ment, in which all had a right to speak and vote on the man- 

 ner of conducting the business, was a failure. Decisions 

 were made by those ignorant of the work. 



2. It was known that there was a deep purse to draw upon, 

 and so individual responsibility for success was in a measure 

 lost. 



