December 10, 1886.] 



8CIENCE. 



531 



number, considering the size and 'circumstances 

 of the great metropolis : in fact, the mortality 

 from this cause during the entire year has been 

 remarkably low. Diphtheria, on the other hand, 

 has markedly increased, there being recorded 165 

 deaths, as against 85 for September. This is the 

 largest number of deaths since February, with the 

 exception of the month of May, when exactly the 

 same number of deaths occurred as in October. A 

 corresponding inciease in this disease is noticeable 

 in the city of Brooklyn. Diphtheria is very preva- 

 lent in other cities as well, notably in St. Louis 

 and Chicago. The largest number of deaths in 

 any one day in the month was 118, on the 

 31st. The largest daily mortality of the year was 

 240, on the 8th of July. 



The mean tem]3erature for October was 54.90° 

 F., slightly below the mean for the past ten years, 

 that being 56.33° F. At 3 p.m. oa the 12th the 

 thermometer registered the highest temperature 

 of the month, 78° F, The mean for the past ten 

 years in October is 79.5° F. The lowest tempera- 

 ture was 38° F., at 5 a.m. on the 17th, the mean 

 for the ten years being 85.3° F, The rainfall dur- 

 ing the month amounted to 3.07 inches, the aver- 

 age for the decade being 3.34 inches. Taken as a 

 whole, October of the present year may be looked 

 upon as an average October, differing in no im- 

 portant respects from the same month in other 

 years. 



CO-OPERATION IN A WESTERN CITY. 



The American economic association is to be 

 commended for the practical and educational 

 value of its publications. This association has an 

 object in view, and that object is, by historical 

 and statistical inquiries and examinations into 

 actual conditions, to reach conclusions which will 

 aid in solving the social and economic questions 

 now so prominent. 



Following Professor James's admirable mono- 

 graph on ' The relation of the modern munici- 

 pality to the gas-supply,' which attracted such 

 wide attention, the association publishes this his- 

 tory of co-operation in the city of Minneapolis, 

 throwing light upon one of the most important 

 phases of the labor problem. Dr. Shaw has had 

 the opportunity of observing the development of 

 the most successful examples of co-operation 

 which this coimtry has yet furnished, and in a 

 clear and pleasing style has sketched their organ- 

 ization, growth, and results. 



The most valuable part of this monograph is 

 that giving the history of the co-operative coopers 



Co-operation in a western city. By Albert Shaw. 

 Baltimore, American econom. assoc, 1886. 8°. 



of Minneapolis. In the introduction, reference is 

 made to the marvellous growth of Minneapolis, 

 now the largest wheat-receiving market and flour- 

 milling centre in the world ; the daily capacity of 

 the mills being about thirty-five thousand barrels. 

 To supply the demand for barrels requires about 

 seven or eight hundred coopers, a large majority 

 of them working in co-operative shops. 



The co-operative movement in this city dates 

 from tlie spring of 1868, when several journeymen 

 coopers informally opened a co-operative shop. 

 This experiment, owing to the want of proper 

 organization and management, was short-lived. 

 A like attempt in 1870 came to an end for similar 

 reasons. 



In 1870 began those experiments which have 

 made Minneapolis the milling centre of the world, 

 and as a consequence this city became a coopers' 

 Mecca. From 1871 to 1874 the journeymen coop- 

 er's were able, through their union, to secure good 

 terms from the ' bosses.' But, owing to the con- 

 stantly increasing number of coopers, employ- 

 ment became precarious, and wages were forced 

 down. " To escape the unjust and often tyrannical 

 treatment of the bosses, a number of the journey- 

 men decided in 1874 to organize a co-operative 

 company upon business-like principles. 



In November, 1874, the Co-operative barrel 

 manufacturing company was incorporated, and 

 business was commenced with a brotherhood of 

 sixteen men, each making an initial investment 

 of fifteen dollars. The most important features 

 of the company's by-laws "are those which pro- 

 vide that all members must be equal shareholders, 

 and that the gains or losses of the business are to 

 be apportioned, not pro rata among the members, 

 but in proportion to the work they have done. 

 Losses and gains of a different sort — for exam- 

 ple, those resulting from the work of hired help, 

 from outside ventures undertaken by the associa- 

 tion, gains from the appreciation of real estate, or 

 losses from fire or from non-paying creditors — 

 are to be apportioned equally among the mem- 

 bers. The distinction between the two kinds of 

 profit and loss — one kind affecting the men as 

 capitalists, and the other kind affecting them as 

 laborers — shows keen economic insight, and has 

 great practical value," 



From its meagre beginning in 1874, this co-op- 

 erative enterprise has prospered, until, in March, 

 1886, the president of the company estimated the 

 cash value of its assets at $58,000, its total liabil- 

 ities not exceeding $13,000. In addition to this, 

 the entire membership of ninety are estimated as 

 property-holders to an average amount of at least 

 $3,000 each. A majority of the members own 

 homes, and of this number it is interesting to 



