that the machine would achieve completeness in all its operations. Consequently, ignorance, by impairing the efficiency of labour, inflicts upon the nation a most serious pecuniary loss. But this is not all; crime, and that improvidence which inevitably produces destitution, are in a great degree caused by ignorance. Our criminal and our pauper population involve an expenditure which is an onerous burden upon our industry. Hence if our labourers were better educated, the 'nation would be relieved from some of its most severe imposts; labour would become more efficient, and thus the production of wealth would be stimulated; the people would then possess sufficient intelligence to enable them to combine and to cooperate for a common object; the condition of the industrial classes would thus be regenerated, and the happiness and glory of the country would grow, as its poverty and crime diminished. We ought not to rest contented with our civilization, whilst nearly 130,000 criminals are annually convicted in England and Wales, and whilst one out of every twenty of our population is a pauper. The last fact is perhaps a more melancholy one than the first. A crime is often the result of some sudden outburst of passion; but wide-spread pauperism exhibits a settled evil which is permanently in operation. The existence of this poverty

is in itself a reproach, and its legalized relief is fraught with manifold evil. Many of those who claim parochial support, are, and will always continue to be the indolent, the profligate, and the intemperate; many too have become paupers, either because their parents have neglected them, or because they have been stricken down by diseases which have been chiefly generated by insufficient food, and by the pestilential air of unwholesome dwellings. These causes which produce poverty will gradually cease to operate, as the labourers become sufficiently advanced to raise their condition by cooperative efforts; then they will not be dependent on others to relieve them either in old age or in sickness. Now, when a man's strength is exhausted, either by old age or sickness, it seems to be considered that his proper destiny is to live upon the parish rates. Until that day comes, when a life of toil shall lead to some happier result than this, every Englishman should feel that a heavy stigma rests upon his country. This is one reason why I so earnestly desire some change in our existing economic relations; as long as the labourer simply works for hire, I know his condition will not be materially improved; I also know, that if the efficiency of labour is to be maintained, and if England is to continue to grow in wealth, happiness, and pros

118 The Economic Position of the British Labourer.

perity, the labourers must participate in the profits yielded by their industry. The object I have had in view in this Chapter has been to show you, how Cooperation in its various forms will enable this participation in profits to be accomplished.

1:9

CHAPTER IV.

The Causes which regulate Wages.

IT is essential to our investigations, that a clear conception should be obtained of the causes which regulate the wages which are paid in any employment. It is not unfrequently assumed, that wages are only controlled by the arbitrary caprice of the employer. If therefore they are supposed to be too low, he alone is blamed; and he is often denounced, as if greed and selfishness prompted him to deprive the labourer of his just reward. Such opinions as these are often maintained by well intentioned men, and consequently their philanthropy becomes a futile and misdirected effort. These opinions are also the origin of much of that illfeeling which exists between employers and employed; for accusations will constantly be made against employers, if labourers believe that the amount of wages they receive is solely determined by the will of those for whom they work. It is therefore most important to show that wages are

regulated by fixed and well ascertained laws; and that these laws are as certain in their operation, as those which control physical nature. If a body is in motion, and you wish to change its direction and velocity, you can only do so by acting on some of the causes which produce this motion. In the same way, if you wish to alter the wages paid to any class of labourers, you can only do so by first ascertaining, and then acting upon some of the causes which determine the particular rate of wages which may happen to be paid. I will therefore proceed to consider the various circumstances which regulate the remuneration of labour.

I think that you are all sufficiently acquainted with the elementary principles of Political Economy, to know that the circulating capital of a country is its wage-fund. Hence if we desire to calculate the average money wages received by each labourer, we have simply to divide the amount of this capital by the number of the labouring population. It is therefore evident that the average money wages cannot be increased, unless either the circulating capital is augmented, or the number of the labouring population is diminished. I have used the expression 'money wages,' because the price of commodities is one element, in determining the actual remuneration which the labourer receives; for it is